The Louvre

With a surface of 210,000 m2 of them are devoted to exhibitions. This museum holds 35,000 masterpieces and eight different collections. To be able to visit the entire museum I had to go several times and take over from where I left. What really fascinated me and grab my attention is the Egyptian antiquity section. I was charmed about this because it had all the details about the volution and life style of this wonderful and fascinating culture and civilization.I'm personally very interested in studying the Egyptian civilization and knowing all the aspect of this culture and this exhibition gathered all the necessary information that I needed and I asked to have. The evolution of this civilization was in front of me in the same place. It was a dream that became a reality. I had all the tools that they used In their dally lives In front of me, I couldn't believe my eyes. I was watching their dresses and their makeup and Jewelry.I was fascinated about their Inventions and creations that Inspired us and still Inspiring us till today. The Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the Louvre museum houses a major Egyptologlcal collections of the world with 50,000 rooms. This section covered every single detail about this amazing people. The collection covers all periods of ancient Egyptian civilization since the time of Nagada to the Roman and Coptic Egypt. Among the most famous exhibits found at the time of Nagada knife Gebel el-Arak and the range of hunting.The major piece of art illustrating the time thinite is the stele of King Snake. Among all exposed sarcophagi, one finds that of Dioscorides, a Greek general during the reign of Ptolemy VI who decided to be buried according to ancient Egyptian local customs, choosing to do make a sarcophagus. This proved the power of this civilization and how It Influenced others clvlllzatlons. I also liked the Islamic art section since It's about my religion.The Department of Islamic Art from the Louvre, stablished in August 2003, brings together the collections from an area between Spain and India, dating from the origins of Islamic civilization (622) until the nineteenth century. This department includes several gems of Islamic art: the al- Pyxis Mughira an ivory box dated Spanish 968, the flat peacock, an important Ottoman ceramics, especially the baptistery of St. Louis, one of the most famous pieces and most enigmatic of all Islamic art, created by Muhammad ibn al-Zayn the early fourteenth century.Since 22 September 2012, Islamic art are exhibited at the Louvre in the Cour Visconti. This space allows the display of 3000 works from the collections of the Louvre, but also the Mus ©e des Arts d ©coratifs. It is remarkable how this section take place under a canopy with undulating shapes, recalling from the architects Marlo Belllnl and Rudy Ricclottl a â€Å"dragonfly wing† or a â€Å"flying carpet†. Vlsltlng this museum was a very enriching and fascinating experience where I learned a lot of new things about the civilization that I'm most passionate about and my own rellglon

Report on Web Programming

INTRODUCTION TO HTML What is HTML? The explosive growth of the World Wide Web is relatively unprecedented, although it resembles the desktop publishing revolution of the early and mid-1980s. As personal computers became more common in homes and offices, people began to learn to use them for document creation and page layout. Although early word processing programs were not terribly intuitive and often required memorizing bizarre codes, people still picked them up fairly easily and managed to create their own in-house publications.Suddenly, the same kind of growth is being seen as folks rush to create and publish pages of a different sort. To do this, they need to learn to use something called the Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML). HTML at a Crossroads HTML and the World Wide Web in general are currently in a stage of development similar to that of the desktop publishing revolution. Still working to reach maturity as a standard, HTML is feeling the same growing pains that early word p rocessing programs did-as more users flock to HTML, there is a growing need to standardize it and make it less complex to implement.These days, word processors are much more intuitive than they were 15 years ago. There are fewer codes and special keystrokes required to get something done. The applications have matured to the point where most of the low-level formatting is kept hidden from the user of the application. At the same time, the printed page is now more completely mirrored on the computer screen, with accurately represented fonts, emphasis, line breaks, margins, and paragraph breaks. Although programs are quickly being developed to offer similar features for HTML development, these tend to be less than ideal solutions.Currently then, anyone who decides to learn HTML is going to have to know some codes, memorize some syntax, and develop pages for the World Wide Web without the benefit of seeing all the fonts, emphasis, and paragraph breaks beforehand. But anyone who has had any success with word processing programs of ten or 15 years ago (or desktop publishing programs as recently as five years ago) will have little or no trouble learning HTML. Ultimately, you'll see that HTML's basic structure makes a lot of sense for this emerging medium-the World Wide Web.And, as with most things computer-oriented, you'll find that once you've spent a few moments with it, HTML isn't nearly as difficult as you might have originally imagined. A Short HTML History HTML developed a few years ago as a subset of SGML (Standard Generalized Mark-up Language) which is a higher-level mark-up language that has long been a favorite of the Department of Defense. Like HTML, it describes formatting and hypertext links, and it defines different components of a document.HTML is definitely the simpler of the two, and although they are related, there are few browsers that support both. Because HTML was conceived for transmission over the Internet (in the form of Web pages), it is muc h simpler than SGML, which is more of an application-oriented document format. While it's true that many programs can load, edit, create, and save files in the SGML format (just as many programs can create and save programs in the Microsoft Word format), SGML is not exactly ideal for transmission across the Internet to many different types of computers, users, and browser applications.HTML is more suited to this task. Designed with these considerations in mind, HTML lets you, the designer, create pages that you are reasonably sure can be read by the entire population of the Web. Even users who are unable to view your graphics, for instance, can experience the bulk of what you're communicating if you design your HTML pages properly. At the same time, HTML is a simple enough format (at least currently) that typical computer users can generate HTML documents without the benefit of a special application.Creating a WordPerfect-format document would be rather difficult by hand (including all of the required text size, fonts, page breaks, columns, margins, and other information), even if it weren't a â€Å"proprietary†-that is, nonpublic-document format. HTML is a public standard, and simple enough that you can get through a book like this one and have a very strong ability to create HTML documents from scratch. This simplicity is part of a trade-off, as HTML-format documents don't offer nearly the precision of control or depth of formatting options that a WordPerfect- or Adobe PageMaker-formatted document would. Marking Up TextThe most basic element of any HTML page (and, therefore, any page on the Web) is ASCII text. In fact, although it's slightly bad form, a single paragraph of regular text-generated in a text editor and saved as a text file-can be displayed in a Web browser with no additional codes or markings An example of this might simply be: Remember that HTML-formatted documents aren't that far removed from documents created by a word processing prog ram, which are also basically text. Marking up text, then, simply means you add certain commands, or tags, to your document in order to tell a Web browser how you want the document displayed.One of the most basic uses for HTML tags is to tell a browser that you want certain text to be emphasized on the page. The HTML document standard allows for a couple of different types of emphasis including explicit formatting, where you choose to make something italic as opposed to bold, or implicit formatting, where it's up to the browser to decide how to format the emphasized text. Using part of the example above, then, an HTML tag used for emphasis might look something like this: Welcome to my home on the World Wide Web.In this example, and are HTML tags that tell the Web browser which text (in this example, my home) is to be emphasized when displayed. The browser isn't just displaying regular text; it has also taken into account the way you want the text to be displayed according to the HTM L tags you've added. Tags are a lot like margin notes you might make with a red pen when editing or correcting term papers or corporate reports. After you've entered the basic text in a Web document, you add HTML mark-up elements to tell the browser how you want things organized and displayed on the page.In most word processing documents, the â€Å"mark up† that describes the emphasis and organization of text is hidden from the user. HTML, however, is a little more primitive than that, as it allows you to manually enter your text mark-up tags to determine how the text will appear. You can't do this with an MS Word document, but, then again, MS Word documents aren't the standard for all Web pages and browsers on the Internet! The World Wide Web and Web Servers Probably the most important thing to remember about the World Wide Web and the Internet in general is that they are global in scale and often a very cooperative venture.Information on the Web tends to be distributed arou nd the world, and it's just as easy for you to access a site in New Zealand or Japan as it is to access Web information in your own state. The basic reason for learning HTML is to create pages for the World Wide Web. Before you start, though, you'll want to know a little about how this whole process works. We'll begin by taking a look at Web browsing programs, then we'll talk about how the World Wide Web works, and we'll discuss some of the terms associated with surfing the Web.Finally, we'll round out the discussion by talking about the Internet in general and the different services available on the Internet and how they interact with the Web. What's the World Wide Web? The World Wide Web is an Internet service, based on a common set of protocols, which allows a particularly configured server computer to distribute documents across the Internet in a standard way. This Web standard allows programs on many different computer platforms (such as UNIX, Windows 95, and the Mac OS) to pro perly format and display the information served.These programs are called Web browsers. The Web is fairly unique among Internet services (which include Internet e-mail, Gopher, and FTP) in that its protocols allow for the Web server to send information of many different types (text, sound, graphics), as well as offer access to those other Internet services. Most Web browsers are just as capable of displaying UseNet newsgroup messages and Gopher sites as they are able to display Web pages written in HTML. This flexibility is part of what has fueled the success and popularity of the Web.Not only do the Web protocols allow more interactive, multimedia presentations of information, but the typical Web browser can also offer its user access to other Internet resources, making a Web browser perhaps a user's most valuable Internet application. The World Wide Web is the youngest and most unique of the Internet services. Its protocols allow it to transmit both text and multimedia file format s to users, while also enabling Web browsers to access other Internet services. The Web is based on a concept called hypertext, which means that text within the paragraphs on a Web page is designed to act as links to other Web pages.There is no hierarchy on the Web, which is only loosely organized by this system of links. Other services that can be accessed via the Web include Gopher, WAIS, UseNet, e-mail, and FTP. Each of these older Internet services has its own scheme for formulating addresses. Most of these services require a server computer of some sort to allow Internet applications to access their information. These server computers have specific addresses on the Web which you need to know in order to contact them. The World Wide Web is the youngest and most unique of the Internet services.Its protocols allow it to transmit both text and multimedia file formats to users, while also enabling Web browsers to access other Internet services. The Web is based on a concept called h ypertext, which means that text within the paragraphs on a Web page is designed to act as links to other Web pages. There is no hierarchy on the Web, which is only loosely organized by this system of links. Other services that can be accessed via the Web include Gopher, WAIS, UseNet, e-mail, and FTP. Each of these older Internet services has its own scheme for formulating addresses.Most of these services require a server computer of some sort to allow Internet applications to access their information. These server computers have specific addresses on the Web which you need to know in order to contact them. Creating Basic HTML Documents It is important to realize that an HTML document must be built on a very specific framework. This framework, in its simplest form, consists of three sets of matched container tags. A tag is a simple markup element, and always takes the form . A container is a pair of HTML tags of the form . You can think of the element as turning something on, while t he turns that same thing off.For example, consider this line of HTML: This is in Italics. But this isn't. The first HTML tag, , turns on italics. The second tag, , turns them off. When displayed on-screen, this line of text would look like this: This is in Italics. But this isn't. The tags themselves don't appear on-screen. They just tell the browser program how to display the elements they contain. The simplest possible HTML document is given in Listing 4. 1. The entire document is enclosed in the container tags. The first part of the document is encapsulated in the container, which itself contains a container.Finally, the body of the page is contained in a container. The Simplest HTML Document A Very Basic HTML Document My name is Ogbonnaya Stephen Success. The most fundamental of all the tags used to create an HTML document is, not surprisingly, the tag. This tag should be the first item in your document and the corresponding end tag, , should be the last. Together, these tags in dicate that the material contained between them represents a single HTML document (refer to Listing 4. 1). This is important because an HTML document is a plain text ASCII file.Without these tags, a browser or other program isn't able to identify the document format and interpret it correctly. Brief Introduction to PHP What is PHP? PHP stands for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor PHP is a server-side scripting language, like ASP PHP scripts are executed on the server PHP supports many databases (MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc. ) PHP is an open source software PHP is free to download and use Basic Requirements in Working with PHP Notepad++ Xampp server Web Browser 2. 5. 2 SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT TOOL NOTEPAD++; Notepad++ is a text editor and source code editor for Windows.Fig 2. 5. 2a Screen shot on Notepad++ XAMPP; is a free and open source cross-platform web server solution stack package, consisting mainly of the Apache HTTP Server, MySQL database, and interpreters for scripts written in the PHP and Perl programming languages. X (meaning cross-platform) Apache HTTP Server MySQL PHP Perl The program acts as a free web server capable of serving dynamic pages. XAMPP is available for Microsoft Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X, and is mainly used for web development projects. This software is useful while you are creating dynamic webpages using programming languages like PHP, JSP, Servlets.Uses Officially, XAMPP's designers intended it for use only as a development tool, to allow website designers and programmers to test their work on their own computers without any access to the Internet. To make this as easy as possible, many important security features are disabled by default. In practice, however, XAMPP is sometimes used to actually serve web pages on the World Wide Web. A special tool is provided to password-protect the most important parts of the package. XAMPP also provides support for creating and manipulating databases i n MySQL and SQLite among others.Fig 2. 5. 2b XAMPP control Panel Application 2. 5. 3 Basic PHP Syntax A PHP scripting block always starts with . A PHP scripting block can be placed anywhere in the document. A PHP file normally contains HTML tags, just like an HTML file, and some PHP scripting code. Below, is an example of a simple PHP script which sends the text â€Å"Hello World† to the browser: Fig 2. 5. 2 A simple program in PHP using notepad++ The output of this will be gotten by making sure that my xampp server is running and putting in the right address in my web browser. Fig 2. 5. b showing webpage output displaying â€Å"Hello World†. Each code line in PHP must end with a semicolon. The semicolon is a separator and is used to distinguish one set of instructions from another. There are two basic statements to output text with PHP: echo and print. In the example above we have used the echo statement to output the text â€Å"Hello World†. 2. 5. 3 Comments i n PHP In PHP, we use // to make a single-line comment or /* and */ to make a large comment block. Below is a simple program showing single comment line and multiple comment line Fig 2. 5. showing comment line Below is a simple PHP code on PHONEBOOK. This program is able to Add and Delete Name and Phone number in a Phonebook. Fig 2. 5. 4 Output for Adding Data in a Phone Book. From the Output above adding contact name and Phone number, saves the data into the Phone book. While deleting contact also deletes Name and Phone Number in the Phone book. Fig 2. 5. 5; Output after adding Contact Name and Phone number in a Phonebook. The code shown below is a Code Behind file for the sample Phone Book Application that was developed using PHP/MYSQL. Code Behind File

Management - Operations Decision Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management - Operations Decision - Assignment Example These professionals converge as a team to develop and enhance production outcomes to achieve the required level of profitability. Business organizations require outside research to estimate the demand for products and services and will have to entailing information to explore access and capture market places. My role here is as managing consultant to this company, to offer advice that will help them to arrive at a decision as to whether it should shut down totally or continue its operations. The plant operation sector is extremely fragmented in nature, characterized by a large number of small and micro companies. The capacity to react rapidly to emerging opportunity is an absolute necessity to achieve success in the sector. In a swiftly altering atmosphere, it can be complex for small and medium sized companies to cope up with market developments Current Environmental Scan Factors: Current â€Å"environmental scan† (Environmental Scan, 2005, Pg.1) factors of this company inclu de an analysis of both internal and external environmental factors that affect the overall functioning of the company, as experienced below: Internal Factors:  · Organization of equipment and machinery  · Capacity of the technological  · Culture of the organization  · Management systems  · Worker morale  · Financial management External Factors Competition Behavior of the customer Economy Political interference and movement Social atmosphere Technological alterations General environmental alterations All these factors have great impact on plant operations and the management’s decision to continue or discontinue their operations. Both internal and external environment are the foundation in which the organization operates. Environmental scanning also concerns the gathering of relevant information about conditions that affect the business. Appropriate information about internal and external factors of the company will help in understanding the overall performance of t he company. It is also a process of using information of the environment in decision making. This has to be seen from the perspective of improving the overall organizational capability to deal with quick changes. The external environment of plant operation company refers to both its operational atmosphere such as competition, consumers and suppliers, and general atmosphere such as regulatory, economic, technological, and socio-cultural aspects. A firm scans the environment in order to recognize the external factors of change so that they may build up effective responses, which can improve or secure their position in the future. Scan will also help in avoiding surprises, recognizing opportunities and threats, increasing competitive advantage, long-term and short-term planning of performance. The organization's capability to adapt to its outside atmosphere is dependent on knowing and understanding the external alterations that are taking place. Environmental scanning forms a primary m eans of organizational learning. Evaluate the financial performance of the company using the information: The firm presently employs 100 workers to produce 6,000 units. The daily wage is $70, and the price of the firm's output is $32. If the firm continues to work in this capacity, its total revenue will be $192000 = $32 times 6000 units of output. This is the advantage of operating the facility. The price of operating the

Cyclical Fluctuations in Aggregate Economic Activity in the United Essay

Cyclical Fluctuations in Aggregate Economic Activity in the United States - Essay Example ailed as father of modern economics and as the most influential economist of the 20th century explains that a normal circular flow of money will be achieved if people have cash on their hands. He further states that people’s? refusal to spend and resorts to money hoarding creates a liquidity trap which leads to recession and depression. As such, the government has to spend money or to â€Å"pump prime† to regulate once more the circular flow of money. Karl Marx, explained that the cycle of boom and bust is inherent to capitalist system. He provided a comprehensive critique of the capitalist system. He explained the cycle of boom and bust as a logical consequence of laws governing capitalism (Law of Surplus Value, Law of Tendency of Rate of profit to Fall, Law of Correspondence of the production in Relation to the productive Forces, Law of Accumulation and Law of Competition) (Dickhut). However, in contrast to the above economist, Marx major contribution lies in concludi ng that capitalism is deemed towards doomsdays. He theorized socialism as an alternative economic system not just to remedy the impact on the lives of the working class and the nation in general on the devastating effect of the boom and bust cycle but to radically eradicate it and its consequences of unemployment, inflation, recession and depression. III.Critical Analysis Great Depression The Great Depression of 1930’?s ? is widely considered by economist as a bust period. The US stock market declined by 89% (Ferguson).From August of 1929 to March 1933,the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) of US declined by 33%.Unemployment rose from 5 million in 1930 to 13 million in 1932.People are lining for food and are moving from one place to another as they could not afford rents. Children ages 10-18 are already... This essay provides a critical analysis of the reasons behind Great Depression of 1929-1933 and recent Great Recession, that followed the Financial crisis of 2008. Major roots of the Financial crisis are identified in the essay, monetary and fiscal policies of the US governing bodies are also assessed. Cyclical fluctuations in aggregate economic activity are now accepted as quite part of economic life with politicians describing such crisis as a necessary pain every so often. The reality of economic growth, recession and recovery is a classic manifestation of the capitalist cycle of boom and bust. The Great Depression of 1930’s is widely considered by economist as a bust period. The US stock market declined by 89% . Unemployment rose from 5 million in 1930 to 13 million in 1932. The US economy was able to bounce back from depression with then President Roosevelt policy of bank holiday and gave authority to Federal Reserve to provide loans to its non members. In 2008-2009, US experienced 4 quarters of economic contraction, the worst recession after the Great Depression. Unemployment is up by 14.9 million and 300,000 homeowners are losing their property every month on foreclosure after the NBER declares that recession is over in June The US has employed Keynesian theory- boosting its aggregate demand to save its economy from further collapse. The giant corporations have been bailed out by taxpayer’ money, while the value of home real estate has yet to rise up. This kind of solution is artificially boosting the economy.

Nutrition and dietetics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nutrition and dietetics - Essay Example The options that they have are limited since they have to be a member in women’s only facilities, which are expensive and not well distributed throughout the country. They thus choose to stay away from these facilities, which would help them in their exercise activity. This increases the chances of risk since the women do not exercise and reduce fat as well as keep fit. Girls rarely experience any physical activities in schools. This receives basing on the belief of upholding moral quality. The society believes that girls lose their shyness if they change their clothes anywhere aside from home (Kelishadi 2007). As much as moral upbringing is admirable, this practice leads to no exercise for the female children. They have no outlet to reduce excess fat and to keep fit. Another factor is in diet. Many families have poor feeding habits. The family receives exposure to things like energy-dense foods and sugar-sweetened beverages. This consumption of unhealthy foods and drinks increases the chances of obesity quite high. Some women skip breakfast or take snacks rich in fat and calories throughout the day. These unhealthy eating habits reduce nutrition and increase the chances of obesity and chronic illnesses in the women. Higher levels of income lead to a more comfortable lifestyle (Al-Shayji IA 2004). Transport is mainly modern with reduced walking or running. Time spent on the television or internet increases as time passes. This greatly reduces physical activity. Thus, muscles do not undergo stretching and flexing. This leads to increased rate of obesity among the population. According to research, people can maintain good health even in their old age if the prevention and control of chronic diseases receives establishment early in life. This article elaborates a program that will help the Saudi Arabian women in reducing their chances of obtaining obesity. The goals of the program

The theoretical framework of social marketing Essay

The theoretical framework of social marketing - Essay Example (Canada Health, 2005) Social marketing is not a new concept it has been around for a long time in one form or the other. Ever since there have been societies people have tried to persuade, inform, motivate and some how gain acceptance for their ideas and hence bring about a change. But social marketing was first introduced as a discipline in 1970 by Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman when they realized that the same marketing principles and strategies used to sell products can be used to sell and promote ideas, attitudes and behaviors. Kotler emphasized that the only difference between marketing and social marketing was that in social marketing the aim is not to maximize the benefit for the seller but to bring about a social change. (Weinreich, 2006) Six basic principles of social management set it apart it from other marketing approaches. Firstly the marketing conceptual frame work is intended to bring about a change that is the ultimate goal of marketing is to influence an action. Secondly there should be recognition of competition as recommended behaviors almost always have competition that should be understood and addressed. Thirdly there is a consumer orientation which is the focus on meeting the needs of one's consumers. Fourthly seminal research is to be used to identify with consumer's desires and needs that is programs will be more successful if they are based on the target audience's own perceptions and views. Fifthly there is to be a segmentation and careful selection of the target audience as audiences are rarely consistent in their perceptions or likely responses to marketing efforts and thus should be separated. And sixthly there is to be constant monitoring and modification of program tactics as the market is cons tantly changing and the management should be ready to rapidly adjust and alter its strategies. (Social Marketing Institute, n.d) Social marketing relies on the commercial marketing's conceptual frame work to guide program development and implementation. This frame work places the consumer at the heart of the exchange process where they try to maximize their wants and needs and minimize their costs of doing so. There fore social marketing identifies consumer wants and needs and tries to develop ways to satisfy them. In other words social marketing focuses on the consumer and tries to learn what the consumer wants and thus attempts to provide for the his or her needs. The planning process takes this consumer focus into account by concentrating on the elements of the marketing mix. This refers to the Ps of social marketing which incorporate the four Ps of marketing which are price, product, place and promotion as well as a few others. (Meischke, n.d) The first "P" is the social marketing product which might not always be in physical form. Products can be tangible such as condoms, ideas such as environment protection, habits or practices such as healthy eating and even services such as regular medical check ups or exams. For the product to be effective the consumers have to identify the fact that they have a problem and that the product offers a good solution to that problem. Here research can be used to determine the consumer's perception of their problem and how willing they are to solve that problem. (Weinreich, 2006) The second "P" is price which refers to what the consumers

Journal for Notorious Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Journal for Notorious - Essay Example The viewer is waiting for a close-up of the principle character but has to look for the woman in the crowd. It is also necessary to add that Alicia appears as an elegant woman pertaining to the high society. In this case, the director remains ‘faithful’ to this image and the woman appears as the same elegant lady in exquisite gowns throughout the entire movie. When it comes to Devlin, he appears as the ‘mysterious’ Mr. Right. He is sitting in the forefront and only his silhouette is seen. The viewer observes numerous things happening in the room. For instance, the couple is dancing, other people are sitting. It is clear that Alicia is interested in the Mr. Silhouette. The viewers are bound to focus on the mysterious man and wait when his face is seen. It is possible to note that the degree of anticipation is greater when Devlin’s silhouette appears. When it comes to the character’s costumes, he is always elegant and elaborate. 2. The viewer starts caring about the two leading characters when they are on the board of the plane taking them to Rio. Devlin tells the news about Alicia’s father (which is really intimate) and she shares her feelings about her relationships with her father as they used to be. She opens up her heart and it is clear that she is a good person just like Devlin is. It is also clear that the two are destined to be together though this idea comes to the viewers’ mind during the first scenes of the movie when Alicia meets Devlin at the party. 3. Hitchcock sets a romantic and somewhat dramatic tone to the film. There are elements of a comedy but the overall mood is rather dramatic. It is especially vivid in one of the final scenes when Devlin saves Alicia and tells her about his love. There is always a reminder of the war or spy secrets and duty or some plot. More so, the principle female character’s life has been rather tragic and it is not clear whether there will be a happy end for her. She is

Why did capitalism emerge as mature system in Britain Research Paper

Why did capitalism emerge as mature system in Britain - Research Paper Example The topic of capitalism was originally brought about by Karl Marx and his colleague Fredrick Engels, who were both historians and theorists. According to Marx, capitalism originated from the Western Europe, more specifically in England. This is reiterated by Max Weber, who describes England as â€Å"the home of capitalism† (Jean Baechler et al. 1988, p. 185). Capitalism in England can be traced from the sixteenth century which coincided with the Agrarian revolution that was slowly taking place. Capitalism was, therefore, largely seen in the land ownership and agricultural production that characterized this revolution. During the sixteenth century, most parts of Europe were undergoing the Agrarian revolution. Typically, human beings engaging in agriculture in most parts of Europe were categorized into two main groups; the people who practiced agriculture (peasants) and those who appropriated other people’s labor. In this arrangement, those who worked on the land (peasant farmers) possessed land and had access to what they produced on their farms. However, the appropriators of labor (who were either the State or landowners) controlled what these peasants farmers sold or remained with for storage. This surplus produce was taken from the peasants by use of coercion which was carried out through various means such as judicial, military or political power. According to Marx, this kind of exploitation through direct coercion was referred to â€Å"extra-economic† means. This was, however, different from the developed capitalism where the farmers (producers) are completely property-less, onl y relying on wages in exchange of their labor-power in working on landowners’ properties (Wallerstein 2011). In this kind of capitalist relationship between appropriators and producers, what mattered most were the markets and the forces involved in them. For example, markets determined what the appropriators got in exchange

Perceptions of Organized Crime Groups Essay Example for Free

Perceptions of Organized Crime Groups Essay The United States is run by a democratic government that has laws in place to ensure order and organization. However, there are certain people and groups that wish to compromise and profit personally from breaking these laws. According to Understanding Organized Crime (2007), organized crime can be defined by the members and the activities of a group. There are many crimes in which organized crime might be involved, but what separates individual crime from crimes committed by groups of people is the term organized or organization. Organization has been described as a group of people who cooperate to accomplish objectives or goals. Organized crime has been around for centuries; from Outlaw gangs in the western days that robbed stage coaches, the pony express, and passengers of trains to today’s Blood and Crip gangs that dominate public streets for power over territories and drug sales. Gangs have been around for a long time imposing on the lives and liberties of law abiding citizens that wish to obey laws. Law abiding citizens have to live in imminent fear that their lives are not disrupted by the actions of these criminal organizations that wish to indulge in crime. In this paper, we will explore the various definitions, perception, characteristics of organized crime, and explore some high profile groups that indulge in different types of crimes. Perception of Organized Crime A University of Phoenix student named was asked how she defined organized crime. ’s perception of organized crime has some of the dynamics right such as profit, power, and hatred, but the reading further states that organized crime has no real black and white meaning, besides a group of people uniting for a common goal. Her answer was simple; she stated that organized crime is when a group of people break laws and/or violate others in order to gain power, profit, or promote hatred. Organized crime groups incarcerated within the prison system such as Nuestra Familia and Mexican Mafia, break laws to gain power that lead to some form of profit; depending on what they need such as drugs, cigarettes, or privileges from others. Drug Cartels as the Shower Posse and Spangler Posse of Jamaica, involved themselves in organize crime to profit from illegal drug activity, and groups like the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Brotherhood are driven by hatred. Author’s Perception Compare to the Definitions in the Readings The author’s perception of the definition in the reading is similar in the meaning of criminal organization, but the book states that crime can be defined by the members and the activities of a group. This means that crime is what each club sees it to be. This is an interesting point, but very true. Many people (e.g. club members) in society commit crimes for different reasons. Some feel it is necessary to break laws due to their limited necessities in life. It does, in no means make it right, but it is the perception of many. The prisons are filled with individuals/criminals that feel they were doing what they needed to do to defend themselves, take care of themselves, or just was presented with opportunity. Some of them sit in prison for years and still feel that their actions of breaking the law were justified. This is the mentality of most organized crime gangs. All they care about is what they want at the time, and not what the implications of breaking the law ca n lead to, until it hits home. has personal knowledge of different biker groups and 2 Outlaw Motorcycle Gang’s (OMG’s) and was raised in and around the biker atmosphere, but none of those groups that are mentioned in the book. She has heard the mentality of the OMG’s as opposed to regular Biker Clubs. The 1% clubs run their clubs totally different with no regard for breaking the law, indulging in violence, or starting trouble. 1% Outlaw Biker Gangs One of the clubs that she knows of is called the Chosen Few. The Chosen Few is a 1% motorcycle gang that -has first-hand knowledge of. She has known some of their members for a long time and has witnessed how their club is run, aside from other biker clubs that do charitable work in and around their communities, such as toy runs, mentorships, feeding, and clothing the homeless and disable children. In a recent article, from 2010, the Chosen Few M.C. was involved in 3 murders. After this incident, law enforcement officials began to keep a close eye on them and found even more illegal affiliations. The article by Chris Vogel (2011), points out several incidents with Chosen Few members that had negitive run-ins with the law. The article states that agents used confidential informants to buy drugs and guns from members, a member was arrested with more than a kilo of coke, police discovered that a DMV worker was making fake identifications for club members to use in order to buy guns, and a member was arrested with a gallon of PCP which led federal agents to Detroit, where another six gallons of PCP were seized. (Feds Catch Chosen Few Motorcycle Club Members Selling Guns PCP, 2011) According to the characteristics of organized crime with Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMG’s) the Chosen Few, fits the criteria. Characteristics Associated with Organized Criminal Behavior There are certain characteristics of organized criminal behaviors that range from commitment to eminent structure. Commitment is an oath and allegiance to what these clubs, good or bad stand for. It is needed to protect and serve the honor of the organization and all its secrets. Along with this it comes with a sense of power, pride, and protection. Survival is a trait that many organized crime member’s exhibit. It is sometimes used to partake in illegal activities to sustain the worldly goods that obtained. For OMG’s, it may consist of the clubhouse, due paying members, and motorcycles. Punishment is a characteristic that is prevalent in discouraging members from disloyalty, disobedience, or dishonor. These punishments can be in the form of death, beat downs, or in the case of OMG’s fines or snatching of colors. Structure is the final characteristic that needed for an organize crime group to be successful. Like a business is run with a CEO, CFO, and other people in place to ensure order, organized crime groups are ran alike. With a chief officer in place and other members in position to handle different aspects of business to make sure there is no breakdown in with members. In conclusion, organize crime has unique characteristics that has been in place for centuries, and although law enforcement has been investigating the structures of this organizations, it is too many to stop. They are intricate organizations with different reasons as to why they chose to break the law. This is why there is no clear cut definition of organize crime. Mallory, S. (2007). Understanding Organized Crime. Retrieved from University of Phoenix. Vogel, C. (2011). Feds Catch Chosen Few Motorcycle Club Members Selling Guns PCP. Retrieved from http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2011/07/black_biker_gang_chosen_few.php

Incident Response Essay Example for Free

Incident Response Essay The emergency services (Police, Fire and Ambulance) have to respond to all emergency situations, but they have different roles and responsibilities and they have graded response policies. All emergencies are graded by the call handler according to the information from the caller and not by the way the incident is reported. If a caller dials 999 believing an incident is an emergency the call handler will assess the information and then decide whether it is top priority or if the incident does actually require an emergency response. Call handlers work under the supervision of team managers and incident managers. The standards of fire cover all fire services in the United Kingdom and were set originally in the 1930’s but were established in 1958 by the Home Office. They were more clearly defined and revised in 1974 and again in 1985. Fire risk assessment, until the current year, has been based upon this guidance, which consists of a prose description of the risk categories and a formula designed to determine a points rating or fire grading of premises. When the risk category of an area had been determined, the criteria set by the Home Office demanded that the fire service response to emergency calls, met minimum requirements in terms of speed and weight of attack. Grading of incidents by the Fire service is split into 5 categories: Category ‘A’ Built up areas in large cities containing large commercial and industrial premises or high rise property where there is a strong chance of fire spread. The recommended minimum first attendance was three pumps, two to attend within five minutes and one within eight minutes, to be achieved on at least 75% of occasions. Category ‘B’ Refers to large cities and towns with multi-storey buildings, including large areas of residential housing as well as industrial estates with high-risk occupants. The recommended minimum first attendance was two pumps, one to arrive within five minutes and the other within eight minutes, to be achieved on at least 75% of occasions. Category ‘C’ Refers to the outskirts of larger towns and the built-up areas of smaller towns and extensive areas of residential dwellings such as terraced houses  and semi-detached houses, blocks of flats as well as light industry/commercial properties. The recommended minimum first attendance was one pump within eight to ten minutes, to be achieved on at least 75% of occasions. Category ‘D’ Consisting of rural property, villages and farms and all areas that do not come under categories A-C. The recommended minimum first attendance was one pump within 20 minutes, to be achieved on 75% of occasions. Rural and remote is a separate category and has no pre-determined response time. The majority of Merseyside (91%) is classed as C or D risk. http://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/foi/Information%20Classes/Policies/item11547.pdf Grading of incidents by the police in England and wales are graded as ‘emergency ‘or ‘non-emergency’ in four grades. Grade 1 is the emergency response. An emergency contact will result in immediate police response. It involves circumstances where an incident is reported to the police which is currently taking place and there is a risk of danger to life, the use or immediate threat or use of violence or serious injury to a person or property. Criminal conduct will be dealt with as an emergency if the crime is going to be serious and is in progress, an offender has just been disturbed at the scene or the offender has been detained and there is a high risk that he is a threat to the general public. When the incident involves traffic collision it will be classed as an emergency if it involves or is likely to involve serious personal injury and also if the road is blocked due to the collision and if there is a dangerous or excessive build up of traffic. Also if the call handler who takes the call feels strongly that the incident should be classed as an emergency. The urban response time for this Grade is 10 minutes and the rural response time is 17 minutes. Grade 2 is classed as a Priority response. The call handler feels that the incident is important or urgent but does not need an emergency response. This could include incidents such as a concern for someone’s welfare, an offender has been detained but is not a threat to anyone, a road traffic accident that has injuries or has caused a serious obstruction, a witness may be lost or a person is suffering distress and is believed to be vulnerable. Resourses for a Grade 2 incident should be sent as soon as is safely possible and  within 15 minutes. Grade 3 is classed as a scheduled response. This is when the needs of the caller can be best achieved by scheduling a response. This could be when the response time is not critical when apprehending offenders or a better quality of policing can be given if it is dealt with by a scheduled response by a police officer or even by that person attending the police station. Incidents should be resolved to satisfaction level of caller as soon as possible and must be within 48 hours of first call. Grade 4 is classed as Resolution without deployment. This is used when an incident can be re solved through telephone advice, help desk, frequently asked questions or other appropriate agencies or services. The caller is advised of an agreed call-back time and to be as soon as possible and within 24 hours. Grading of incidents by the Ambulance Service are placed in three categories, this grading also applies to urgent calls from GPs and other health professionals, as well as calls from the general public. Category A is Priority. This is when an incident is considered to be immediately life-threatening examples are when a person is suffering with chest pains/cardiac arrest, unconscious/fainting or has breathing problems. The response time for a category A is within 8 minutes or less. Category B is where an incident is serious but not immediately life-threatening, examples are when someone has fallen or has serious bleeding, a sick person with no priority symptoms or overdose/poisoning. The response time for category B is within 14 minutes in urban areas and within 19 minutes in rural areas. Category C is when an incident is not serious or life-threatening, examples when someone has fallen over and assistance is required, and a sick person with a range of non-serious conditions such as d iarrhoea or someone with abdominal/back pains. In 2000 the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) became responsible for assessing the training and standards of all drivers who drive emergency response vehicles which are fitted with blue lights and sirens. When talking to other agencies the DSA drew up the Blue Light Users Working Party Expectations Document. This document contained a list of the expectations that drivers of emergency response vehicles should meet before being allowed  to drive these vehicles. This document was accepted by the three main emergency services (police, fire and ambulance). This document includes performance criteria and knowledge and consists of these three elements. All emergency drivers need to be over the age of 18 and in good health also must not have any motoring convictions against their name and this is checked every three years. Element one is the ability to assess the need for an emergency response. Element two is the ability to drive the vehicle safely to emergencies and element three is the ability to show the correct attitude when responding to emergencies. Police Service Drivers have to meet the standards set by the DSA but the police service also have their own driving centres. At the driving centres police are trained and graded according to National Training Standards, which is then approved by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The type of driver training depends on the job role of that police officer. Police drivers can be graded as Standard response drivers, advanced drivers or pursuit drivers. Advanced drivers and pursuit drivers have intense training and they use high powered vehicles and advanced techniques for responding quickly and safely to emergencies. Fire Service Drivers The fire service also has its own driver training centres where drivers are trained to the standards met by their Fire Authority. To drive an Emergency Fire Appliance drivers must hold a Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) Licence and have received the necessary training and assessments. Only then can they be allowed to drive when responding to emergency situations provided the vehicle is fitted with audible/visual warning devices. Ambulance Service Drivers need to hold C1 (medium sized vehicle) and D1 (minibus) licences and receive the appropriate training by the DSA. Although some Ambulance Services especially in London state that ambulance drivers must hold a LGV licence. Ambulance driver training and assessments are usually carried out by independent driver training centres and not the Ambulance Service. Drivers of emergency vehicles also have to understand that bad driving can cause accidents. Drivers of emergency vehicles are not above the law even when attending emergencies they have to show that whilst going to an emergency they drove with care and attention and did not drive in a dangerous way, if they were foun d to have driven dangerously then they can be prosecuted in the same way as a member of the general public can. Also if the driver is convicted of a  serious traffic offence they may be disqualified from driving both emergency and privately owned vehicles. To reduce the danger to themselves and the general public the drivers of emergency vehicles must use their sirens and blue flashing lights to warn other road users as well as pedestrians and cyclists that their vehicle is responding to an emergency. Flashing blue lights and sirens should only be used when attending emergencies although police drivers can use flashing blue lights and sirens when attempting to stop another driver. Drivers of emergency vehicles have to follow the same traffic laws as everyone else, but when using flashing blue lights and sirens they are exempt from a number of motoring rules which means they can go through a red traffic light, pass to the right of a keep left sign, drive on a motorway hard shoulder even against the direction of the traffic and not follow the speed limit. The Highway Code is a book of rules which all drivers have to abide by the Highway Code makes no special rules for the emergency services other than for members of the general public to listen for the sirens and look for the blue flashing lights and to let them pass safely but still taking notice of all traffic signs. During unsociable hours consideration is given to the use of sirens especially around residential areas, unless conditions are bad and they need to use their siren. Blue lights would only be used as they are visible to road users at night. When there is an advantage to a silent approach then driving is altered and speed reduced. Members of the Public service are often judged harshly from the public, when it comes down to the pursuing of stolen vehicles. Although the public services do a good job when they pursuing stolen vehicles or on their way to an emergency incident there have been cases where their have been incidents where it has affected the public services. Example At 11.20 on the 19th of May 2008, Haley Adamson a 16 year old school girl was struck by a police car going 70mph whilst she was crossing a road in a residential area in Newcastle which had a 30mph speed limit. Hayley died immediately from the impact of the police car. The police car was being driven in pursuit of a vehicle that had just been registered on the police number plate recognition system. At the time of the incident the driver Pc

Cross Cultural Influences on Decision Making

Cross Cultural Influences on Decision Making Introduction This chapter introduces the reader to the broader context of the research area with an overview of decision making in cross cultural MA. The purpose is followed by the problem area and research question which will lead the readers through the thesis. Background Decision making is a process that managers face of diverging to explore the probable options and then converging on solutions. As Pratt points out, there is clearly a distinction between what an individual thinks(personality)and the way an individual thinks(cognitive style) (1980). The process is made even more complex when the companies are dealing in decision making in an arena of Merger and Acquisition. Mergers and acquisitions (MAs) have become the dominant mode of growth for firms seeking competitive advantage in an increasingly complex and global business economy(Adler, 1997).Cross-border merger and acquisition has continued to increase at a torrid pace during the last decade and half, to the point that it has become a major strategic tool for growth of multinational cormporations(Cartwright and Cooper,1993). Therefore it is essential for companies to pay attention to the analysis, strategy and planning behind its decision making. The management extent becomes much vast when it comes to different cultures both on the national and even greater on cross border level. The manager chances of successfully dealing with the rapid changes reduces to an extent. Multinational corporations require to hold a varied set of routines if they are to be renouned in a diverse world. Routines and repertotoires are often dependent on the multinational corporations unique institutional and cultural environment, and are therefore not imitated easily by other firms (Barney,1986). As multinational companies increasingly acquire targets in more culturally distant countries, they face new challenges in manageing their external environment (Moren,1980). Along side these encounters it is also important to understand the relation between national cultural distance and cross-border MA performance while devising strategic decisions. The difficulties in MAs are seen due to the lack of strategic decisions makingmade by organization. Managers end up having unrealistic expectations of probable synergies and fail to cope with multiple complexities. Companies now a days publish their cultural norms and values which might not be the real culture of the organization. Anthropoligists have researched that the undertaking of knowledge about a particular organisation culture does not always begin by inquiring the members themselves to identify the particular trait. In reality the cultural norms are recognised by understanding the profundity of cultural influences that are carried out in an interval within an organization. This necessitates to have an insightful long term observation and the foundation of norms,disciplines and new problem solving strategies. The decision-making paradigms have seen to occur in many fields, including management theory, psychology, information systems, management science, and operations research. It is also a fundamental activity of all management, and research and literature concerning decision-making processes.(Stewart, 2003) Problem Companies are equipped to make better decisions if they are more sensitive to cultural differences in a cross-cultural environment. Effective decision-making can enable smootherwork place relationship within and across the border MA, if managers are attuned to cross-culture management. Contextually how do organizations make decisions in a cross-cultural aquisiton is a critical research question in the study of administrative process. Researchers have paid little attention to complexities of decision making, in cross-cultural MAs. Previous research is more concentrated on routine operational decisions that are more available to quantitative analysis and particular descriptions.(Mintzberg, 1999) Additionally other important research questions, especially related to thinking or cognition are prevailing in the dynamic research of decision making, such as; how individuals get benefit from cultural diversity learning, and how do individuals think (Mitchell et al., 2002) and make different decisions. These emerging notions defined our research questions of this thesis. Consequently, we have formulated our research problem in the following questions: 1. What are the cross-cultural difficulties affecting decision-making in the aquired firm? 2. How does these cross-cultural difficulties influence the decision-making of acquired firm? Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to study the influence of cross-cultural implications of MAs on Decsion-Making. Delimitations The study is only concerned with the decision-making process in a cross-cultural acquisition and there is a less emphasis is on the cognitive factors of decision-making but the influence of cross-cultural implications on decision-making behavior in general. Due to time constraint, one case company is used for this analysis consequently the results limit to this Company A only. Moreover, the Company A has agreed to co-operate with an anonymous status of itself and its employees. This also set boundaries to the scope of our analysis and presentation. Further, this research has been conducted on a local Swedish company acquired by an Austiran firm, so analysis and conclusions will be restricted to information obtained locally. As a result, the analysis of Austrian work behavior is also subjective from Swedish employees perspective. Definitions To better understand the research, definitions are presented below to avoid misinterpretation of key concepts used in our study. Decision-making Cross-cultural Company A- It is a company based in Sweden. But has agreed to participate in our research on complete anonymity of itself and its participants and therefore will be refered to as Company A throughout the paper. Its formerly a Swedish organization which was acquired by an Austrian company in year 2000. (More information on Company A and its relevance to our study is mentioned in the Method) 1.6 Disposition The disposition of this thesis will be as follows: This chapter critiques the study and makes suggestions for future research. To fulfill the purpose of this thesis this section answers the research questions. This chapter covers analysis of the empirical findings in connection with theory and results. This chapter present result from the qualitative interviews conducted in Company A. This chapter presents theories within the field of decision-making and cross-cultural acquisitions. This discusses the procedure of collecting data and interviews as our instrument. Reliability, validity and generalizability of the study are also discussed here. Frame of Reference The section will present the previous research and studies in the areas of decision making and Mergers and Acquisitions integration. Further in reference to existent literature this section will discuss the decision making process in MAs. A brief summary of the whole frame of reference is presented at the end of the section in order to make a link with our research questions and to provide a base and guidance for the creation of themes for our empirical data. Frame of Reference Recently, a considerable amount of management research has been developed that focuses on the cultural perspective of international acquisition performance. (Arikan,2004; Rottig and Reu,2005) Researchers argue that a lack of national cultural fit may lead to cultural clashes between the involved workforces (Larsson and Risberg,1998). This may lower employee commitment and cooperation (Cartwright and Cooper,1996), and complicate the post-acquisition integration process (Very and Schweiger,2001) Some studies exposed a negative impact of cultural distance on the performance of international acquisitions (Datta and Puia, 1995, Olie, 1994, Uhlenbruck, 2004), while others identified a positive relationship (Doukas and Travlos, 1988, Morosini, Shane and Singh, 1998). Still other studies indicate that cultural distance either has no direct effect on international acquisition performance (Markides and Ittner, 1994) or is one of the least significant variables affecting performance (Kanter and Corn, 1994). These contradicting views developed the interest in the knowing how much of the cultural differences involved in the decision making in MA. This paper provides a descriptive framework that addresses the complexity of the decision making process of consequences of culture for international acquisition performance. Decsion-making Cross-cultural MAs Methodology A way of gathering knowledge about the social world is the methodology notion refered to by Stauss and Corbin (1998). The specific research methodology we are inspired by for this research is the grounded theory which is consummated by qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. To study the implications that emerge out of a cross-cultural acquisition and its influence on decision making process, we want to take advantage of the theoretical fundamentals and researches that have already been done in the realm of decision-making and cross-cultural acquisition implications. We also want to take that knowledge further through this chosen method by taking into account the case of Company A which was acquired by an Austian firm and has realized decision-making differences between the two units after the cross border Acquisition . 3.2 Research Method Determining the why and how of decision-making in a cross cultural contxt of an acquired frm can be done by finding the first-hand experiences of employees in Company A. To serve the purpose of our study we chose interviews as the primary source of data collection. We felt that person-to-person interaction with semi structured questions will be best in acquiring information. Moreover, considering the characteristcs of our investigation and that all the employees could be reached within a close proximity and in a single premise, the interview schedule was chosen instead of a questionnaire. Since culture can be a sensitive topic and the interviewees could be reluctant in answering, we ensured anonymity at the start of the interview process to make them comfortable as also stated by Kumar, Ranjit (1996). Through primary data we know the reasons behind a certain management decision. Most appropriate way of learning about opinions and behavior that are relative to culture is by asking que stions directly to people involved. (Ghauri Gronhaug, 2010) Information on the Austrian acquisition of a Swedish firm, as Ghauri and Gronhaug also states can only be gathered by asking people who have been involved or have observed the process i.e. of acquisition. Research problems which are focused on uncovering a persons experience or behavior and understand a phenomenon which we know little about are an example of qualitative research(Ghauri, 2004; Marshan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004). Such is the nature of our decision-making and cross-cultural research which includes social and behavioral sciences. The Choice of Research Method The approach is to use use a qualitative research methodolgy of investigation, data collection and analysis. Decision-making is not a fixed and static state to measure and its a cognitive process, besides it is not a steady state phenomenon and changes erratically with time and environment as described by Mintzberg(1997). Quantitative research emphasizes on the quantification of data collection and analysis as argued by Bryman and Bell (2007) and observe social world as an external and objective reality. Holloway (1997) advocated of qualitative research for capturing the way the individuals experience, interpret and make sense of their environment. Bearing this in mind and our focus of discovering and understanding the role of cross-cultural factors in decision-making, we were convinced to use this method. Consequently the choice of our research method, is qualitative and the purpose of the research inquiry is behavioral and therefore interconnected, therefore provides a basis for quantitative analysis. The qualitative study Our approach is purely qualitative. Auerbach (2003) claims that qualitative research involves analyzing and interpreting texts and interviews among others, in order to investigate specific patterns, i.e. examining decision-making amidst cross-cultural challenges in an acquisition. Interviews Interviewing is the most widely utilized method in qualitative approach of investigation, as stated by Bryman and Bell (2007) and this instrument suits appropriately to find answers to our research questions, .i.e. decision-making under the implications of a cross-cultural acquisition. The technique and construction is very important in the formulation of interviews. The interviews can be unstructured, semi-structured or structured (Saunders et al. 2007). As we were more interested in theory of a particular reality Wengraf (2001) instead of the numerical data, we chose to settle on semi-structured interviews. We were very particular in formulating the questions as two cover both aspects of cross-cultural implications and decision-making. On request by the contact person at Company A, we got interview questions reviewed for improvement from our tutor before presenting it to the company. The interview questions were then sent out to the contact person to be distributed to the interviewees in advance. Sampling The choice of subjects that were needed to be investigated for our research questions was crucial. Collins, Onwuegbuzie and Jiao (2006) stated that researchers should decide sample size in both quantitative and qualitative studies. In the sample from Company A, we were looking for all the people cooperating with Austrian counterpart and are making some forms of decisions. It was kind of our contact person at the company, after explaining our research necessity, he arranged ten people from mangers to engineers who were in some way cooperating with their cross border counterpart. Considering this we used purposive sampling technique which as mentioned by Maxell(1997) is used in qualitative studies to select e.g., individuals or institutions based on specific purpose. Data Collection The research design directed us on the empirical data. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews using open ended questions. This permitted us to probe relevant issues which emerged during the interview. We aimed at making the data reliable, to ensure this we recorded the interviews upon permission and also took notes to reduce the chance of misinterpretation. In an attempt to motivate the respondents to co-operate with us and obtain factual data with their trust we ensured the anonymity and confidentiality of responses. We skipped a few questions in two interviews due to shortage of time. We completed a total of ten interviews in a session of three days with an allotted time of thirty minutes each. Reliability and Credibility A reliable and credible data is vital for an authentic research. Throughout our study we took measures to ensure this. During the interviews we did not rely on perceptions which affects the accuracy of our observations and used constant probing to have clear answers. We remained unprejudiced and flexible to have reliable working data. Respondents sometimes perceive risks and may believe interviews to be jeopardizing their emotions and privacy as accounted by McCracken (1988). Knowing this, we assured the interviewees about the privacy and academic purpose of interviews. So they were at comfort in providing information conveniently. To avoid potential bias of our preconceived notions and theories we transcribed only what the interviews said, which we stored in the form of recordings and written notes taken at the time of the interview. We calim to have a plausible study, considering all the measures we took responsibly in terms of organizing and conducting the interviews. Qualitative Data Analysis Our analysis was exploratory as asserted by Creswell et al. (2003) with a focus on understanding the influence of cross-cultural difficulties on decision-making by employees in an acquired firm. Like in most of the qualitative analysis we refer to the inductive approach, as claimed by Bryman and Burgess (1994). Raw data was in the form of interview recordings and our notes taken during the interviews. We read the data vigilantly too derive concepts, themes, or a model which is common in qualitative data analyses, especially grounded theory (Strauss Corbin, 1990). In consistency with Strauss and Corbins (1990), our inductive analysis began with an area of study, which was to investigate the influence of cross-cultural factors on decision-making, and let the theory to develop from data. The analysis was organized as follows: Interview description: To begin with, we recorded all the interviews and took notes during the interview. We read the transcripts many times to get familiar with descriptions. Identifying discourses and theme generation: After identifying the accounts from the data, we recognized relevant discourses from the transcribed interviews, and excluded other irrelevant description. Following this we observed the core information and concluded some patterns of behavior/ theme. Later, formed categories with summary of data sets as behavioral, structural and interaction and communication to do a quality analysis and conclusion. Discussion: In this section we explored the meanings explicitly or implicitly included in our empirical findings and looked for links of cross-cultural difficulties and decision-making. We also put forward suggestions of future research in this clause. Empirical Data The Interviewees Total number of ten interviews that conducted, ee found that from technical engineers to line managers including logistics, project and bid manager everyone is cooperating with Austrian counterpart in one way or another after the acquisition. Consequently, employees at different levels of the organization are all involved in some kind of decision-making that accounts for the cross-cultural differences after the acquisition. Following are some themes that we identified that will be of assistance in developing the analysis. Employees organizational behavioural Swedes in an organization generally work in groups and are independent individuals at the same time. They also have a freedom to express views, owing to a less heirarchical system. Mutual agreement, consensus, structure and logical reasoning is very important to them for which they have a lot of meetings and discsussions. This also refers ot the notion of collective decision-making as explained by Melaville, Blank, and Asayesh (1993). Swedes are solution-oriented and are usually calm. The essence of usual Swedes vs. Austrian behavior was narrated by Interviewee 5 as: There is a great difference in the decision-making process. In Sweden everyone should agree and we ask a lot of people of what everyone think. Then we make decision after hearing all the opinions. And its opposite in Austira, you do not ask the employees if you are working as a manager. I think you are seen as a weak leader if you ask people of what they think. Its positive and negative in both ways I think Swedish way is better for working in a team and but in Austira you really make the decision and you come forward. Austrians on the other hand dont have much freedom of expression due to a heirarchical system in the acquired firm view. Another common view observed was that Managers in Austria alone make decisions and value of consensus is less there. Austrains are social and build relationships. A lot more emotion is involed than facts in their reasoning. Moreover, Austrians are problem-oriented and get usually stressed under a problem. This observation can be futher emphasized by few statements of the interviewees. They have a lot more emotions and we like to base our decisions on facts. , Interviewee 2 said. They have much hierarchy. More power distance. There is a very large distance between the manger and the individual member in the group. Interview 4 affirmed. Decision-making process structure The decision-making process depends on the type of decision. If its a higher stake decision, the process is followed through formal procedures of contracts and agreements compared to daily operational level decisions which are simple. In Swedish unit agreement has to be reached through consensus whereas in Austrian unit, managers give a decision which is to be followed. More decision-making authority lies with managers in Austria than Swedish ones who work more as asupport function. Interaction Communication between units Cooperation at the technical or the lower level works well. At the management level cooperation is difficult where decision making takes longer. Some employees expressed that even with electronic facilities available communication across the border is difficult. Employees cooperating for a longer period developed relationships of trust which helps in cooperation amidst the cross-cultutral differences It doesnt work well when we cant sit together and discuss, makes harder to communicate over cross borders even though facilities are provided like skype ,video conferences, but it kills the team spirit as its not the same as for sitting together Interviewee 5 recalled. On a practical point, the interaction between units is informal. But it depends on the type of decision aswell, i.e. starting a project, would follow a formal procedure of interaction. Project mangers have a closer contact compared to the rest. Informal day to day technical decisions are handled on a daily basis. Its is also hard to predict a response to an interaction from across the border, some interviewees responded. Through data it was also understood that is easier to agree on factual information, which all can straightforwardly agree to. Language barrier has seem to affect the agreeability due to misinterpretations sometime. The technical side of the decisions are easier to agree on, compared to the decisions made at management level i.e. commercial issues. This can be analysed from the figure  [1]  below. The tactical decisions have been observed to have most complications whereas operational decisions are easier. decisionmaking_intro.gif Additionally, we comprehended from suggestions put forward by the respondents that, early in the process of post-acquisition integration, communication on the differences in national and company culture can facilitate decision-making. Understanding of adapting to a culture is important. Performace indicators and clarity on who makes which decisions will also assist. Additionally, diversity courses and communication on how to work together has helped in the past and can also facilitate later on. An interesting point observed by an interviewee during a diversity course; One thing I learned from that cultural diversity course is that people is Austria are more problem oriented and here in Sweden we are soultuion oriented and that affects how we are able to communicate and cooperate. Analysis Analysis Unfortunately a lot of merger and acquisitions fail to achieve their hoped objectives. Solutions are of course complex. MA are different along a number of dimensions. Companies fail to realize a blind spot, by keeping their focus mainly on costs, they minimize or defer until too late the human and cultural dimensions of blending two entities into unified growth-oriented business. In any case organization is generally a collection of people sharing a common vision, one or more location and resources such as money, equipment, and similar processes. Still much of the business management persists in believing that the latter is the most important issue, while people are only sort of the less important side of the scenario. The Challenge of Urgent Realization Clearly there is an urgent need to realize, rationalize, restructure and eliminated duplication the first weeks and months of post-merger integration. Nonetheless rationalization only escalates of the new organization making it a greater value to its shareholders. It is one thing to design a new structure and relationship on paper and quite another to bring them to life. No matter how visionary and driven the leaders are the financier, quickly learns that the synergy cannot be generated merely from above or realize and reacting by reducing headcount or vice versa. Synergy requires the commitment and involvement of the entire organizations. That is the most challenging part. Most mergers are seen of confusion, panic, uncertainty, distraction, limitation and dehumanization. The process is painful and the results are costly. When knowledge capital is vanished due to the turnover of key individuals during an MA, when pride in the company and pride in ones work is not appreciated through ill treatment at the hands of merger managers, when innovations are abandoned in favor of outdated practices just because one group is considered the boss and the new one reasoned expendable, the network that make the organization work break down and fall apart. When employees stop caring, they lose interest and motivation in improving the business processes. If they are not asked for their opinions, they have no means or enthusiasm to inform the new system designers the unrevealed secrets of success. When selection processes do not seem to be reasonable and rational, dynamic management does not step into position they take on new challenges elsewhere. These are not the circ umstances which synergistic growth is likely. Fortunately, the situation can be turned around. The MA can become an opportunity for people to learn, grow and have a voice. Shared visioning activities and cross company MA project teams can provide opportunities to meet new people and gain new perspectives and skills. The problem with the acquired organization is that the managers must rearrange strategy, organizational structure, work on staffing of employees, make changes to systems and culture, all on top of the day to day business performances. They feel the pressure to quickly perform and harmonize the decisions by reaching the performance in the changed worked environment. So they do this by restructuring to create economies of scale, streamlining operations, focusing on product and market synergies while eliminating noncore businesses. During the same time they might be looking for the next merger or acquisition opportunity. This does not allow them the time and effort to ensure a synergistic and sustainable basis of people and operations to support the growth. However for continued growth, building a foundation is the key to sustainable success because it defines how the work of creating the new organization will be continued. Regrettably most post MA implementation plans seems to assume that if the financial priorities are comprehensively addressed the human foundation will take care of itself. The synergy created by a successful MA Conclusions Discussion References Auerbach, Carl F. (2003). Qualitative Data : An Introduction to Coding and Analysis; New York, NY, USA: New York University Press. Bryman A., and Bell E. (2007). Business Research Methods Oxford University Press. Denzin, Norman K., and Lincoln, Yvonna S.(2000). Handbook of Qualitative Research. Second Edition. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California. Holloway, I. (1997). Basic concepts for qualitative research. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Kumar, Ranjit (1999). Research Methodolgy: A step-by-step guide for beginners. Sage publications. Regnà ©r, P., (1999). Strategy Creation and Change in Complexity Adaptive and Creative Learning Dynamics in the Firm. Stockholm: Gotab. Richards, Lyn and Morse, Janice, M. (2007). Users Guide to Qualitative Methods.(Second Edition). Sage publications. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhil, (2007). Research Methods for Business Students, UK, Prentice Hall. Smith, J.A., and Osborn M. (2008). Interpretive phenomenological analysis. In Smith J. A. (Eds.) Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods (2nd Edition). Sage Publication. Strauss, A. L.,and Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. (2nd Eds.). SAGE Publikation. Thomas, Susan, J. (1999). Designing surveys that work Sage Publication. Wengraf, Tom, (2001). Qualitative research interviewing. Sage Publication. Yin, R. (1994). Case study research: Design and methods (2nd ed.). CA: Sage Publications Reference: Pratt, J. The effects of personality on a subjects information process: A comment. The AccountingReview, 1980, 55, 501-506. Adler, N. J., Re-entry: Managing Cross-cultural Transitions, Group and Organization Studies, 6 (1981), 341-356. Cartwright, S. and C. L. Cooper, The Role of Culture Compatibility in Successful Organizational Marriage, Acad. Management Exec- utive, 7 (1993), 57-70. Barney, Jay B. 1986. Organizational cul- ture: Can it be a source of sustained competitive advantage?. Academy of Management Review, 11(3): 656-65. Arikan, A.M. (2004) Cross-border mergers and acquisitions: What have we learned? in Punnett, B. J. Shenkar, Oded, editors (eds.) Handbook for International Management Research, The University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, MI. Rottig, D. Reus, T.H. (2005) The impact of culture on mergers and acquisitions: 25 years of research, Paper presented at annual meeting of the Southern Management Association, Charleston, SC. Larsson, R. Risberg, A. (1998) Cultural awareness and national versus corporate barriers to acculturation, in Gertsen, Martine Cardel, Soderberg, Anne-Marie Torp, Jens Erik, editors (eds.) Cultural Dimensions of International Mergers and Acquisitions: Berlin. Cartwright, S. Cooper, C.L. (1996) Managing Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances: Integrating People and Cultures, 2nd ed, Reed Elsevier: Oxford. Very, P. Schweiger, D.M. (2001) The acquisition process as a learning process: Evidence from a study of critical problems and solutions in domestic and cross-border deals, Journal of World Business, 36(1): 11-31. Datta, D.K. Puia, G. (1995) Cross-border acquisitions: An examination of the influence of relatedness and cultural fit on shareholder value creation in U.S. acquiring firms, Management International Review, 35(4): 337-59. Olie, R. (1994) Shades of culture and institutions in international mergers, Organization Studies, 15(3): 381-405. Uhlenbruck, K. (2004) Developing acquired foreign subsidiaries: the experience of MNEs in transition economies, Journal of International Business Studies, 35: 109-23. Doukas, J. Travlos, N.G. (1988) The effect of corporate multinationalism on shareholders wealth: Evidence from international acquisitions, Journal of Finance, 43(5): 1161-75. Morosini, P., Shane, S. Singh, H. (1998) National cultural distance and cross-border acquisition performance, Journal of International Business Studies, 29(1): 137-58. Markides, C.C. Ittner, C.D. (1994) Shareholder benefits from corporate international diversification: Ev

Foreign Trade Zones Essay -- Foreign Trading Essays

Foreign Trade Zones Source: http://ia.ita.doc.gov/ftzpage/tic.html In reading and going over chapter 17, I learned a lot but what most interesting is that the field that I work in which is a Logistic Company and we export and import shipments all day long. We do lots from holding goods and receiving and shipping out goods to the Georgia Port Authority and we do custom paperwork. So this was very enlightening to me and there was lots of information on the internet. I choose this article because of the homework assignment that was given to us and I think that it was great information to anyone learning about FTZs. Foreign trade zones (FTZs) are designated sites where special customs procedures apply. Foreign trade zones in the United States are comparable to so-called free trade zones in many countries, though procedures vary widely from country to country. FTZs allow domestic activity involving foreign items to take place as if it were outside the customs territory of the United States for duty payment purposes, thus offsetting customs advantages available to overseas producers who export in competition with products made in the United States. WHAT IS AN FTZ? A foreign trade zone is a restricted access site authorized by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board, which consists of the treasury and commerce secretaries (the secretary of commerce chairs the board). FTZs, upon activation under regulations of the U.S. Customs Service, are secure areas under U.S. Customs supervision. These zones are at or near U.S. Customs ports of entry. Formal customs entry procedures don?ft apply in these zones, although FTZs are within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States. WHY WERE SUCH ZONES ESTABLISHED? Congress established the Foreign-Trade Zones Board in 1934 to license and regulates FTZs in the United States. FTZs were established for a number of reasons, the primary being to encourage and expedite U.S. participation in international trade. Foreign goods may be admitted to an FTZ without being subject to customs duties and certain excise taxes. FTZs allow deferred payment of duties until goods are entered into the commerce of the United States. Under zone procedures, the usual customs entry procedures and payment of duties are not required on foreign merchandise until it actually enters customs territory for domestic consumption. Foreign mercha... ...ms clearance. FTZs also assist state and local officials to develop their economies by attracting foreign commerce. And by helping U.S. companies improve their international competitiveness, FTZs can help retain local business and encourage the development of additional jobs. FTZs also facilitate international trade, as noted in the advantages above. DO OTHER COUNTRIES HAVE FTZs? Many other countries operate special customs areas, such as free trade zones (also referred to as FTZs) and export processing zones. U.S. exporters and other interested parties should contact the embassy or customs officials of individual countries for specific procedures, requirements, and arrangements. Although there may be several similarities, it should not be assumed that a free trade zone overseas operates under the same principles as a foreign trade zone in the United States. Contact information for foreign embassies is available by calling the Trade Information Center at 800- USA-TRADE, or by visiting www.export.gov/tic. Many U.S.freight forwarders also have working relationships with trade zones overseas and can provide information on the documentation required to ship goods through them.

The Philosophy and Psychology of Sophocles’s Antigone and The Eumenides

The Philosophy and Psychology of Sophocles’s Antigone and The Eumenides in Aeschylus’ Oresteia There is a consensus among readers of the poetry or plays written in the fifth century that the plays succeed with inspiring profound movement on the audience. The methods or reasons for the reader to be moved by a text are often disputed. Specific to tragic works the concepts of philosophy and psychology are critical elements to understand the cause of the stirred emotions of individuals who response to classical tragedies in a similar manner. Philosophy helps to understand â€Å"why† and psychology â€Å"how† poetry affects and moves human emotion. Philosophy and poetry are united by a common intent. Each searches for an explanation of universal ideals instead of concentrating on the particular. Aristotle described this idea in the Poetics, â€Å"Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular† (Aristotle, 68). Sophocles’s Antigone and The Eumenides in Aeschylus’ Oresteia are examples that demonstrate the use of poetry as an explanation of the universal. Antigone deals with the struggle of Antigone, who sought to obey the moral obligation of burying her fallen brother and the dictation of Creon not to bury him. Creon’s dictation represents the particular. Described by Antigone his declaration develops from Creon being the, â€Å"Lucky tyrant—the perquisites of power! Ruthless power to do and say whatever pleases them† (Sophocles, 84). The declaration is seen not to follow the universal cause but it is specific to situation that Polynices had died while attacking Thebes. Antigone insistent to obey the universal code that sh... ...age† (Knox, 137). Sophocles, like many poets, understood the dependence of poetry on its ability to successful implement both philosophy and psychology to their work. Works Cited Aeschylus. The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1977. Aristotle. Aristotle’s Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. New York: Hill and Wang, 1961. Euripides. Ten Plays: Electra and Iphigenia at Aulis. Trans. Moses Hadas and John McLean. New York: Bantam Books, 1981. Knox, Bernard. Introduction and Notes. Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. By Sophocles. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1984. 131-53. Sophocles. Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1984. The Philosophy and Psychology of Sophocles’s Antigone and The Eumenides The Philosophy and Psychology of Sophocles’s Antigone and The Eumenides in Aeschylus’ Oresteia There is a consensus among readers of the poetry or plays written in the fifth century that the plays succeed with inspiring profound movement on the audience. The methods or reasons for the reader to be moved by a text are often disputed. Specific to tragic works the concepts of philosophy and psychology are critical elements to understand the cause of the stirred emotions of individuals who response to classical tragedies in a similar manner. Philosophy helps to understand â€Å"why† and psychology â€Å"how† poetry affects and moves human emotion. Philosophy and poetry are united by a common intent. Each searches for an explanation of universal ideals instead of concentrating on the particular. Aristotle described this idea in the Poetics, â€Å"Poetry, therefore, is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular† (Aristotle, 68). Sophocles’s Antigone and The Eumenides in Aeschylus’ Oresteia are examples that demonstrate the use of poetry as an explanation of the universal. Antigone deals with the struggle of Antigone, who sought to obey the moral obligation of burying her fallen brother and the dictation of Creon not to bury him. Creon’s dictation represents the particular. Described by Antigone his declaration develops from Creon being the, â€Å"Lucky tyrant—the perquisites of power! Ruthless power to do and say whatever pleases them† (Sophocles, 84). The declaration is seen not to follow the universal cause but it is specific to situation that Polynices had died while attacking Thebes. Antigone insistent to obey the universal code that sh... ...age† (Knox, 137). Sophocles, like many poets, understood the dependence of poetry on its ability to successful implement both philosophy and psychology to their work. Works Cited Aeschylus. The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1977. Aristotle. Aristotle’s Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. New York: Hill and Wang, 1961. Euripides. Ten Plays: Electra and Iphigenia at Aulis. Trans. Moses Hadas and John McLean. New York: Bantam Books, 1981. Knox, Bernard. Introduction and Notes. Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. By Sophocles. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1984. 131-53. Sophocles. Three Theban Plays: Antigone, Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Classics, 1984.

The Problem Of Transnational Crime And Globalization Economics Essay

Over the class of human history the universe has proven to be a dynamic of all time germinating topographic point with changeless fluctuations in governmental signifier and political power. As humanity has shifted from the babyhood of civilisation to the most complex signifiers of authorities and political relations at that place has ever been a common complaint blighting their stableness, offense. With the origin of regulations there were instinctively people who sought to interrupt those regulations. The relationship between civilisation and offense is a complex and intricate issue. As civilisation raises the saloon in acceptable behaviour offense expands reciprocally to the new sum of limitations. An first-class illustration of the dynamic growing of offense is best scene in the development of multinational offense. Born from merely smuggling common points in a high duty environment, multinational offense has expanded into an luxuriant system of illicit trade, smuggling and drug dealing. Condemnable justness bureaus have struggled to maintain gait with this exponential addition in multinational offense, but they are hindered by built-in administrative and direction issues, viz. the mutualist nature of multinational offense and condemnable justness bureaus and the bureaucratic nature of condemnable justness organisations. The Situation Transnational offense has existed since the birth of autonomous states. With the separation of states there arose a possible market for goods and necessarily there arose those who would prehend a possible net income market. In its babyhood multinational offense chiefly consisted of the transit of legal goods through illegal channels to avoid high duties. There were of class other fluctuations, but for the most portion multinational offense was defined by the smuggling of common things such as salt and other basic demands. The first displacement to happen in footings of multinational offense came with the lessening in duties. To advance greater trade and more import and export, many authoritiess lowered trade limitations and duties. With the lowering of duties the market for common goods shrank vastly. There was still a demand for such things a salt, but now they could be provided lawfully for a really low monetary value, a monetary value low plenty to cut profoundly into the net income border of smuggling. With this cut into the bottom line runners were forced to spread out into new and other underrepresented fluctuations of illicit trade. One such fluctuation was the signifier most normally represented today by the multinational offense market, the smuggling of prohibited goods across international boundary lines. In truth all international offense is, in some signifier or another, a discrepancy of smuggling. Be it arms, money, people, or information, conveying a forbidden point across international boundary lines is smuggling. This fact exploded with the origin of globalisation which represented the biggest blessing to transnational offense since the creative activity of boundary lines. The conveyance of illicit goods across boundary lines became a much more complex and profitable thing with the spread of globalisation. As defined by Merriam Webster lexicon, globalisation is: the act or procedure of globalizing: the province of being globalized ; particularly: the development of an progressively incorporate planetary economic system marked particularly by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labour markets. Globalization has been marked by an exponential addition of engineering and loosened trade limitations that have drastically increased the mutuality between autonomous authoritiess. This mutuality has reciprocated and furthered the spread of globalisation as more states portion more cognition, wealth and chances. The Problem The important defect with the spread of globalisation is the elitism of the system. Whereas first universe states find the spread of globalisation a blessing to their economic system and position, 2nd and 3rd universe states have small to gain from the legal side of globalisation. As a consequence many less industrialised states turn to the illicit market to vie with their more industrialised rivals. The spread of globalisation serves many positive maps, but it is inherently tied to multinational offense. The simplest manner to explicate the relationship between multinational offense and globalisation is that one facilitates the other, i.e. globalisation helps to ease the growing and enlargement of multinational offense. Taken from chapter four of Transnational Crime in the Americas, Peter Andreas sums up the construct magnificently. â€Å" Governments face an progressively awkward but ineluctable quandary: policy steps that facilitate the flow of legal trade-improved transit systems, deregulating of transportation, denationalization of ports, and so on-also accidentally facilitate illegal trade. † This is the sad truth about the nature of globalisation and the effects it has on multinational offense. While there does be another option, to decelerate the growing of globalisation thereby impeding the advancement of multinational offense, this option is a failed program about from the oncoming. Moises Naim makes a really clear point on why it would be impossible to hinder the gro wing of globalisation in chapter 11 of his book. â€Å" History and common sense say that, in the long tally, market forces tend to predominate over those of authoritiess. † What this means is that, with the market presently focused on growing and multinational mutuality, authorities interceding will be countered in malice of the fact that that this market focal point is bolstering multinational offense. Globalization has served to increase both the legal and the illicit side of trade in many ways. One of the first is the exponential addition of engineering. As engineering increases the avenues upon which trade can happen addition. As an illustration consider transportation. A millenary ago smuggling was alive and prospering, yet ocean trips by see took months and the potency for lading to be damaged or destroyed in so much clip was high. As of today though, travel by ship is both faster and much more secure. To foster the analogy, the origin of aeroplanes revolutionized trade, illicit and legal. Even the steam engine revolutionized overland travel. Another avenue through which trade has prospered is the promotion of communications. While simply another facet of the engineering roar, communications have exhaustively revolutionized international trade and multinational offense to the extent that is has created wholly new signifiers of trade and offense. With the birth of the cyberspace and e-mail the inundation Gatess have been opened for trade. With eBay it is now possible to order a Peruvian rain stick from a place in Vancouver and have it delivered to the receiver in London as a birthday gift. Inversely, it is besides now possible to put a petition for a amount of illicit goods to be delivered by manner of an anon. electronic mail history without the two felons behind the enterprise of all time holding the demand to run into. The Possibilities There exist two chief political orientations of idea refering the proliferation of modern-day multinational offense. The two trains of idea are the â€Å" asymmetrical battle theory † and the â€Å" mutuality theory † put Forth by Moises Naim and Peter Andreas, severally. The two theories differ greatly in position refering the rise of multinational offense, but both writers present relevant and convincing statements for each instance. Moises Naim presents the thought that authoritiess are neglecting in the battle against multinational illicit trade due to the asymmetrical nature of the organisations in competition. Moises rapidly lists the rivals as governmental entities versus organized offense webs and bases the Southern Cross of his statement in the very nature of a bureaucratism versus that of a web. Harmonizing to Naim, all bureaucratisms tend to exhibit the same four key traits that limit their ability to vie against a net work. The first cardinal characteristic is that bureaucratisms tend to be really structured doing communicating between units non portion of the same perpendicular line of bid really hard. In comparing, webs are a loose group of single cells and that allows for rapid decision-making and alteration. The 2nd point that Naim makes is that authorities bureaus have to work within the restraints of a budget. Not merely that, but they have to get the budget which redirects manpower and concentrate from the arguably more major issue of contending the felons. Against this, webs draw their resources from their patronage, intending that financess are virtually illimitable depending on what is supplied and to whom. Continuing on, Naim draws attending to the political and legal bounds that authorities bureaus must work within, while illicit bargainers can work within the restraints of the jurisprudence when the demand suits them, but they besides have the option to work outside of the jurisprudence, which provides more manoeuvrability. Ironically, there is a really disposed quotation mark to sum up this thought taken from Transnational Crime in the America. â€Å" aˆÂ ¦if you play by the regulations and I can rip off a small, I get the benefit of both the regulations and my cheating. † Naim ‘s concluding point is the trouble authoritiess have working outside their ain boundary lines due to the limited authorization, linguistic communication issues and all the other jobs that accompany being in a foreign state. Against this, webs tend to be as comfy abroad as they are at place and even place is get downing to hold a looser definition to webs. The opposing theory to this is the dependence theory put away by Peter Andreas. Andreas describes the self-contradictory nature of the state/smuggler relationship get downing his point on the most obvious issue, runners depend on province Torahs for their being. This thought seems simple, but is genuinely instead profound. Andreas quotes Adam Smith about this. â€Å" A runner is a individual who, although no uncertainty blamable for go againsting the Torahs of the state, is often incapable of go againsting those of natural justness, and would hold been, in every regard, an first-class citizen had non the Torahs of his state made that a offense which ne'er meant to be so. † The fact here is that the Torahs put forth by authoritiess form the footing of the full entrepreneurship of smuggling. Andreas goes on to mention the corruptness and payoffs that ease the force per unit area runners face, and how these under the tabular array payments map as a type of illicit income revenue enhancement. This thought is besides expanded upon in that there are some countries of the universe where illicit trade forms the anchor upon which full economic systems are based. Much of Latin America can be referred to as narco-states ; in that, the greatest export they produce is narcotics. Furthermore, the same can be said for some parts of Southeast Asia. Mexico ‘s 3rd highest gross is remittal from Mexicans smuggled into the U.S. In the face of this, what ground do many topographic points have to check down on illicit trade? Furthermore, is it ethically sound to destruct the fiscal base of some states for any ground? Beyond corruptness, there is besides the fact that the money controlled by runners frequently enters the control of the province through legal channels. One such method is plus forfeitures Torahs. In add-on, much of the illicit goods that enter the state are for the really citizens whose revenue enhancements support a system that is opposed to the really goods they desire. There is besides the fact that much of the information the province has on runners is, in fact, recovered from other runners. Finally, what is arguably the most affecting ground behind the mutuality theory ; it is the really continuity of smuggling ( and the perceptual experience of it as a turning menace ) that is the most important for prolonging and spread outing jurisprudence enforcement. Examined more elaborately, this is could perchance be the footing upon which the remainder of the mutuality theory remainders. The Inference In the face of these two opposing point of views it seems that the mutuality theory holds greater weight. While there is an obvious asymmetrical nature to the battle between authoritiess and organized condemnable webs, the grounds does non back up the difference being that belittling. The current construction of bureaucratisms has managed some really important victory over organized offense. The job that is frequently cited is that even if one cell of the web is shut down another is ready to take over. While this statement seems to back up the asymmetrical theory, the inquiry remains, how are these displacements of power so easy? The mutuality between the province and the illicit trade webs allows for the easy displacement in power. It is easy to state that there is ever person waiting in the wings, but where do they get down to reform the lost connexions of the old mediator? Some corrupt functionaries must willing seek out, or readily accept, new participants to go on the concern of corruptness. If there were a crackdown on corruptness, illicit bargainers would bear much of the political force per unit area they are presently protected from. In add-on, if the construction of bureaucratisms is such a booby trap in the battle against illicit trade, why is at that place merely non a reorganisation of bureaucratisms? This deficiency of alteration could besides be attributed to the mutuality between the province and illicit trade. The current system works to stem some of the flow of illicit trade, but does non, can non halt it wholly. The necessary bond between the province and illicit trade is what keeps this blemished system in charge as a type of via media between what should be done about illicit trade and what is being done. Interdependency stands as the Southern Cross of the issues with the conflict between authoritiess and multinational offense. Equally long as there is such a strong bond between the two forces at that place will ne'er be any important advancement made on the forepart of multinational offense. And yes, while the asymmetrical nature of the battle between bureaucratisms and webs is an issue, it is non the major issue and may even stand for another facet of the job with mutuality. The Decision Ultimately, this weakness in the war on multinational offense is a direct representation to the weakness in the disposal of condemnable justness Fieldss. Whether there is more acceptance to the mutuality theory or the asymmetrical battle theory, both theories posit that there is an built-in weakness in the direction of the regulating organic structures of condemnable justness. Without some kind of elaborate scrutiny and re-haul off the system there can non be any existent alteration in the struggle between condemnable justness bureaus and multinational offense. Globalization is a existent and dynamic thing that is presently reshaping the class of universe history. However, with all of the good that this entails, there is besides much negative. As globalisation forces lowered trade limitations, increased transit locales, and deregulating of transporting to foster the ends of multinational mutuality, these same actions have served to ease the growing and worth of the multinational offense market. To antagonize this there must be a alteration in the direction of the condemnable justness bureaus dedicated to forestalling this. Without such a alteration there can ne'er be a decisive triumph on the multinational offense forepart.