Marketing Management of Wal-Mart Research Paper

Marketing Management of Wal-Mart - Research Paper Example The author of the paper states that a clerk working at Wal-Mart will hear approximately 475 blips from her scanner per hour, these scans will then appear within the hour at the company's headquarters via its 460-terabyte computer system. This computer system, according to the New York Times, carries more data than the entire Internet. " Wal-Mart themselves on their website claim, "Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the world's largest retailer, with $285.2 billion in sales in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2005. The company employs 1.6 million associates worldwide through more than 3,700 facilities in the United States and more than 2,400 units in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. More than 138 million customers per week visit Wal-Mart stores worldwide"  With such data that speak for themselves, the mass retailing giant must be doing something right. Marketing m ay be defined as any gesture executed to create, satisfy, and keep customers. Wal-Mart seems to have mastered the art of bringing in customers to its stores as well as retaining them. It has aligned itself unerringly with the six Ps of marketing comprising of price, product (or service), place, promotion, people, and positioning. These six components constituting the marketing mix, when combined to make a winning combination are the basis of a growing business.  Wal-mart's marketing is all about the customer-oriented merchandising. Wal-mart's own unique strategy right from the beginning has held it in good stead. Responding to a customer's requirement of low cost, high value and all under one roof convenience, Wal-Mart squeezed its suppliers, economized on all fronts, and passed onto the savings to the customers. Its widely publicized jingle, "low cost- Always" with a sunny yellow smiley face logo has created an extraordinary perception of the low price that has sent shoppers floc king to its aisle. Although Wal-Mart does less at a very low cost, there are a few items where Wal-Mart is not the cheapest, but people buy it nevertheless, due to the perceived image. Wal-Mart carries 150,000 items beneath one roof thereby making it a one-stop shop for the purchase. This is an added benefit for Wal-Mart in that not only people are offered more choice, but go through their entire shopping list in a single store setting Walmart's cash registers ringing.  Unlike its competitors, Wal-Mart, except for a few seasonal sales does not depend on sales for its revenues. While other competitors lure customers in advertising a few products on sale while hinging on the belief that this will trigger other purchases. Wal-Mart just banks on the perception that the entire merchandise is competitively priced and the customer can pick up an item, based on the contention he is getting the best bargain no matter what he loads his cart with.  With merchandise placed within easy acces s, Wal-Mart associates are more involved in stocking shelves and offer minimal service and this further reduces costs for Wal-Mart.  Customer-oriented marketing was successfully employed at Wal-Mart where the employees were utilized to understand the needs of the customers and the methodology of how they make their choices of products they require. In this way, the research was kept straightforward and simple, and Walmart's marketing was closely aligned to customer needs.

International Vintage International Essay Example for Free

International Vintage International Essay One of Morrisons stunning gifts is her skill in creating ethically unclear conditions for her audiences. In Sula, for one, the reader would be torn in analyzing the depth of character of Sula. Is Sula really the devil others profess her to be, a threat for the otherwise peaceful society? Or could it be that how a person views things as something bad or not depends on ones personal perspective? Sula lives her life without paying any heed to the norms which made the people of Bottom see her as a deviant person. By living her life an uncommon standard the people in their society decided to alienate or estrange her. Even though the society categorize Sula as nothing short of evil, believing that their lives would be a whole lot much better should Sula left, in reality, having Sula there to serve as the sole center of their bad lucks made them live happier lives than it would have been had Sula not lived in the area, thus making her some kind of a scapegoat in the process. In more way than the people in Bottom could imagine, Sulas presence brought more positive consequences than negative ones as they always like to claim. The communitys rationale for labeling Sula as evil is ridiculous. Their attitude only shows that their criticisms of Sula arose more from their need for a scapegoat or for someone to fall the blames into, and Sula happened to be that person. One instance of their preposterous claim could be found on the following quotation found in the book Sula did not look her age. (Morrison 115). Provided that it is true, that Sula did not age as much as the women living at Bottom did, I believe that is not proof enough to treat Sula as the devil incarnate. The people of bottom ignore the fact that most women living in their village only sleeps around (this include Sulas own mom, one of the most well-loved person living in town), and they make this as another of their basis for snubbing Sula. The womenfolk of Bottom detests Sula so much because Sula would lay their husbands once and then no more (Morrison 115), which the women took as some kind of an affront to their very being since they feel like Sula acts all mighty, snatching away their most valuable possession and then throwing it away as though it is nothing of importance. On the other hand, the men folk of the community spread gossips about Sula having had sexual intercourse with white men, which their community views as the lowest thing a woman of her own race could do. Although it is a fact that Sula sleeps with different men as though it is the most natural thing to do, this is more an indication of the way she was reared than of her own malice. If one stop to mull over the fact that Sula had no intimate knowledge of marriage, having lived in a house with women who thought all men available, and selected from among them with a care only for their tastes, (Morrison) and that townsfolk of Bottom have knowledge of Sulas own background and family, it is not really reasonable or just for the townsfolk to alienate Sula on the line of reasoning that she sleeps around with different guys, depending on who she wants to spend the night with. Should truth be told, the people of Bottom does not really care about treating Sula fairly, in that whether they are aware of it or not, they have been yearning for a lone object on which they could hold accountable for everything which would goes wrong, and Sula happened to be that one person they could hold accountable for everything wrong in this world because of her own deviant attitude and outlook in life. Sula, not caring about the way other people sees her and without paying any heed about how the people at Bottom uses hert as a scapegoat, provided positive consequences in the community, contrary to what the people living there loves to claim. In a way, Sulas presence brought considerable progress on the way people lives. Sulas presence brought fear and apprehension among the townsfolk and since they label Sula as the source of their troubles they saw the need to guard and love each other. Thus, contrary to their claim that Sulas presence brought them nothing but misery, in reality Sulas presence prompted them to be good and to love each other better. An example of this could be found among the womenfolk of Bottom, Sulas presence made them realize the value of their husbands making them love and cherish their husbands better than before Sulas return. Men living in Bottom are not really innocent when it comes to bedding other women and Sula is not the only woman they have bedded aside from their wives, yet among the women they have had Sula is the only one which prompted the women of bottom to have better attitude with their husbands. The women of bottom is also to blame for their husbands attitude because should truth be told, a man cherished by their wives is less likely to find another comfort from other women and Sulas arrival in town is like s trigger which prompts their women to realize this thing. Aula also made the townspeople better parents to their children as is the case with Teapots mom. Teapots mother, a drunkard, had not been paying much attention to her son which resulted to her son being hurt and although the doctor stated that the harm was caused by malnutrition, Teapots mother still saw fit to throw the blame to Sula, claiming that the latter hurt her son. After than incident, Teapots mom suddenly became a better mother, treating him with utmost concern and love proving once more that the menace of sulas presence is the absolute driving force for the community to change for the better. The people treated Sulas death as good news, though in reality, it really is a blow and the mass death tackled in the story symbolizes the great loss Sula really was for the Bottom. In fact, Sulas death caused the townsfolk to revert back to their old behavior, once more leaving the elderly to foster homes, the wives neglecting their husbands, Teapots mother abusing him again, and so on. This proves that Sulas absence made the townsfolk feel so hopeless bleak, and miserable. Sula is a motivation which prompted them to act better and like any good motivation, her loss, caused people to revert back to their old behavior. As strange as it may sound, the townsfolk actually needs Sula. Even Nel realized later that she made use of Sula as her own scapegoat, believing that the sorrow she felt was really from missing her husband Jude who had an affair with Sula, realizing too late that what she really missed is Sula, her friend, and not her husband. Being deviant could really make people alienate a person, as was the case with Sula. However, in Sulas case, the estrangement of Sula from the community saved the townsfolk from their own bad behaviors or conducts. Sula, actually caused the people at Bottom to live better lives, making them seek out each other to save themselves from the presence of evil (Sula) in the community. Sulas presence produced good results at the peoples lives at Bottom, in the same way that her death resulted to a loss of hope for the community. Works Cited Morrison, Toni. Acceptance Speech. Nobel Lecture. 7 Dec 1993 Morrison, Toni. Sula. New York: Vintage International Vintage International, 2004. Last Name of Student 5

attention deficit disorder :: essays research papers

In 1917 and 1918 there was a worldwide outbreak of encephalitis. Many children showed ADD like symptoms afterwards, leading doctors to further speculate that the disorder was the result of brain damage, resulting in perhaps the first names for ADD, Post-Encephalitic Disorder and Minimal Brain Damage. When it was later learned that these children were not brain damaged after all, the name changed to Minimal Brain Dysfunction. In 1937 doctors first reported evidence that stimulant medication helped relieve the symptoms of hyperactive children. These reports were largely ignored until the 1950's, when there was a rapid increase in the use of drug therapy in psychiatry. By the mid 1960's, stimulant medication had become a common treatment for hyperactivity. In 1960 Stella Chase and other researchers began to write about "hyperactive child syndrome," which they believed to have a biological, rather than environmental cause. In 1965 the American Psychiatric Association established a diagnostic category for what was now called Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood. In spite of the work of Chase and others, this condition was still largely believed to be caused by the child's environment, rather than being biological in origin. As a result, poor parenting was often blamed for ADD behavior. Over the next 15 years, research began to reveal the neurological origin of ADD. One of the many who studied ADD in the 1970's was Canadian psychologist Virginia Douglas. She is credited with identifying four major characteristics of the syndrome: deficits in attention and effort, impulsivity, problems in regulating arousal levels and a need for immediate reinforcement. It was largely due to Douglas's work that in 1980 the American Psychiatric Association established a new diagnostic category, Attention Deficit Disorder With or Without Hyperactivity. In 1987 the APA revised the name to Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder. More recently, with growing

Effect of Anxiety Disorder

EFFECT OF ANXIETY DISORDER Nowadays people suffer from not only physical healt peoblems but mental problems are also quite common. Anxiety disorder is one of the mental problem which people face to handle commonly. Therefore; what is anxiety disorder ? In article of Anxiety Attacks and Anxiety Disorders explained that ;’’ Anxiety attacks( panic attacks ), are episodes of intense panic or fear’’ (2012)*. Some Effects of the anxiety disorder are faster heart beating and breathing,changing social behaviour. Firstly, one of the main effect of anxiety disorder, faster heart beating and breathing happen with increase adrenalin in human body.Because of the this health problem, people feel always warning and they don’t want to meet and see people around. therefore; this people want to be alone because they afraid if they can be disgraced. One of the point that people should care,not every faster heart beating and breathing mean anxiety disorder,faster heart beating and breathing is quite normal symptom of human being sensation;however,anxiety disorder patients have this beating immediately;moreover,without any symbol. Faster heart beating and breathing is simple and common effect of anxiety disorder problem.Secondly,it is really important and bad effect of anxiety disorder;changing human behaviour. people with anxiety disorder,assume that if they can have panic when they speak or meet someone,As    Lyness, PhD state that â€Å"people who have this illnesses,fear if others dont understand their problem;moreover, if they dont show understandablity,if others can ciriticise his or her behaviour unrighteously. Patient afraid of if they can meet misunderstanding,eventhough the anxiety problem is common,people with the illnesses feel alone and misunderstood (October,2012)**.Anxiety disorder effect of changing behaviour is affect even people social,school and family life. Finaly,effects of anxiety disorder problem are faster heart beating and changing behaviour change human life profoundly. Although it has unwell effects,it isnt unrecover illnesses,it has solution. In article Anxiety disorder,according to Mr. Lyness,PhD,steps of treatment are that Tell a parent or other adult about physical sensations, worries, or fears. Get a checkup and make sure wheather it can be physical problem. Work with a mental health professional.Get regular exercise, good nutrition, and sleep(October,2010). RESOURCES **http://kidshealth. org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/anxiety. html#a_How_Are_Anxiety_Disorders_Treated_(first one: summury from under head of How Anxiety Disorders Affect People,second paragraph.. second one(in final part) is summary of under head of What to Do in article start from second paragraph. ) ————————————————- *http://www. helpguide. org/mental/anxiety_types_symptoms_treatment. htm (Under the head of Anxie ty attacks and their symptoms,first sentence,direct quatation)

American Gothic Architecture

For only the antique style of architecture is conceived in a purely objective spirit; the Gothic style is more in the subjective spirit. American Gothic architecture was the outcome of a way of thought, the product of a special kind of imagination. Every one will easily be able to see clearly how from the fundamental thought and the peculiarities of Gothic architecture, there arises that mysterious and hyperphysical character which is attributed to it. It principally arises from the fact that here the arbitrary has taken the place of the purely rational, which makes itself known as the thorough adoption of the means to the end.The many things that are really aimless, but yet are so carefully perfected, raise the assumption of unknown, unfathomed, and secret ends, i. e. , give the appearance of mystery. On the other hand, the brilliant side of Gothic churches is the interior; because here the effect of the groined vaulting borne by slender, crystalline, aspiring pillars, raised high a loft, and, all burden having disappeared, promising eternal security, impresses the mind; while most of the faults which have been mentioned lie upon the outside.In antique buildings the external side is the most advantageous, because there we see better the support and the burden; in the interior, on the other hand, the flat roof always retains something depressing and prosaic. For the most part, also, in the temples of the ancients, while the outworks were many and great, the interior proper was small. An appearance of sublimity is gained from the hemispherical vault of a cupola, as in the Pantheon, of which, therefore, the Italians also, building in this style, have made a most extensive use.What determines this is, that the ancients, as southern peoples, lived more in the open air than the northern nations who have produced the Gothic style of architecture. Whoever, then, absolutely insists upon Gothic architecture being accepted as an essential and authorized style may, if he i s also fond of analogies, regard it as the negative pole of architecture, or, again, as its minor key.With the recent explosion of Gothic criticism, scholars have failed to juxtapose Gothic novels and dramas with archival architectural sources to explore the interrelationship between literature and architecture in the United States in the first half of the nineteenth century. The scholars who have rescued the Gothic novel from literary history's dust heap have provided cultural historians with a base from which to examine the sweeping influence of this significant literary genre.In the United States, Gothic novels and Scott's historical romances (which were inspired by Gothic pioneers Walpole and Radcliffe), had an enormous impact on architecture in the period between 1800 and 1850. The groundwork in Gothic literary scholarship allows us to move beyond literature to examine how the Gothic seeps into other forms of artistic creation. One of the earliest American architects to enjoy G othic novels was Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820).Although born in Great Britain and educated in Europe, Latrobe immigrated to the United States at the age of thirty-one, arriving in March 1796. About three months after relocating to Virginia, Latrobe wrote in his journal that he found Radcliffe's descriptions of buildings so â€Å"successful† that he â€Å"once endeavored to plan the Castle of Udolpho from Radcliffe's account of it and found it impossible† . Latrobe began experimenting with Gothic architectural forms for residential design in the United States in 1799.Latrobe's Gothic work includes Sedgeley (built for William Crammond near Philadelphia in 1799 and considered the first Gothic Revival house in the United States); the Baltimore Cathedral design (unexecuted; 1805); Christ Church in Washington, DC (1806-07); the Bank of Philadelphia (1807-08); and St. Paul's in Alexandria, Virginia (1817) (see photos). But, overall, Latrobe's Gothic output pales in compa rison to his rational neoclassical efforts such as the Bank of Pennsylvania (1799-1801). His Gothic Revival designs are symmetrical with superficial Gothic detailing.For example, Sedgeley is a geometric form Gothicized by the placement of pointed arch windows in the pavilions that protrude from the corners of the house. Despite this Gothic touch, there is little mystery or surprise in store for the observer of Latrobe's Gothic creations. Although he clearly read Radcliffe's books and was quite possibly influenced by them, he did not translate the mysterious, rambling architectural spaces of her stories into his own architecture. Other American architects, too, dabbled in Gothic Revival design before the 1830s. Some notable examples include Maxmillan Godefroy's St.Mary's Seminary in Baltimore (1806); Charles Bulfinch's Federal Street Church in Boston (1809); and the unexecuted design for Columbia College (1813) by James Renwick Sr. , engineer and father of the architect James Renwick . Daniel Wadsworth, who designed for himself a Gothic Revival villa called Monte Video (c. 1805-1809) near Hartford, Connecticut, explained that, to him, the Gothic style was not inherently menacing as are the castles and convents of Gothic novels: â€Å"There is nothing in the mere forms or embellishments of the pointed style [†¦ ] in the least adapted to convey to the mind the impression of Gothic Gloom† .His house bears out this belief; Gothic details appear as an afterthought, a decorative motif rather than a programmatic agenda. It was not until the 1830s and 1840s that American Gothic Revival architecture came of age. The most prominent designer of Gothic residences in this period was Davis. Davis was born in New York City in 1803 and, during his boyhood, lived in New Jersey and New York. When he was sixteen, he moved to Alexandria, Virginia, to learn a trade with his older brother Samuel. Davis worked as a type compositor in the newspaper office.Besides work, his four years at Alexandria were filled with two of his favourite activities: reading and acting. An amateur actor who performed in several plays while he was in Virginia, Davis was a voracious reader as well. His two pocket diaries from this period, preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, are filled with youthful exuberance. Often, Davis would begin an entry with an illustration from a text, which would then be excerpted in his own handwriting. Among the dramas that he read and illustrated were Maturin's Bertram: or the Castle of St.Aidobrand and Heinrich Zschokke's Abadilino. Maturin was an Irish Gothic novelist and dramatist who corresponded with an encouraging Scott. After reading Maturin's drama Bertram, Scott wrote that the character of Bertram had a â€Å"Satanic dignity which is often truly sublime† . Starring Edmund Kean, Bertram opened on 9 May 1816 at the Drury Lane Theatre in London, with the support of Lord Byron, who was impressed with the play. In one of his pocket diaries, Davis made an illustration of the play's first act, showing a ship tossed on a stormy sea in view of a Gothic convent.The setting of the play is quintessentially Gothic from the â€Å"rock-based turrets† of the convent to the moonlit â€Å"terrassed rampart† of the castle of Aldobrand. Davis copied an excerpt from the play into his diary and as the budding actor included Bertram in his list of recitations. While he was a youth in Alexandria, Davis engaged in amateur theatricals and became interested in stage design. He dreamed of becoming a professional actor. Davis's illustration filters the Shakespearean scene through contemporary Gothic, emphasizing the mysterious flicker of the nightstand candle and the inky blackness of unknowable architectural spaces.At the age of twenty, Davis moved to New York City, and his fascination with the theatre continued. In the evenings, he frequented the theatre and was on the free list at both the Park The ater and the Castle Garden Theater in 1826 and 1828. He also expressed his love of drama in his artistic work. In 1825, he completed a study for a proscenium featuring Egyptian columns and Greek bas-relief sculpture and numerous portraits of actors in character, including â€Å"Brutus in the Rostrum† and â€Å"Mr. Kemble as Roma†. That so early in his life Davis was fascinated with the theatre is significant to his later Gothic Revival architectural creations.The dramatic images he drew for his youthful diaries display his acute interest in stage design and scenography. Indeed, Gothic Revival architecture is inherently theatrical, a quality often commented upon by architecture critics. Davis often used trompe-l'oeil materials to create theatrical effects, substituting plaster for stone. Davis's houses, then, become stage sets, in which the owners' mediaeval fantasies, inspired by Gothic romances, can take flight. While still in Alexandria, Davis's sensible older brothe r bristled at what he perceived to be the younger Davis's useless pastime of reading Gothic books.Later in life, Davis wrote to William Dunlap about himself in the third person for Dunlap's History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States: â€Å"Like another Franklin, strongly addicted to reading, he limited himself to the accomplishment of a fixed task, and being a quick compositor, he would soon complete it, and fly to his books, but not like Franklin, to books of science and useful learning, but to works of imagination, poetry, and the drama; whence, however, he imbibed a portion of that high imaginative spirit so necessary to constitute an artist destined to practise in the field of invention†.Davis's brother condemned such reading and turned Davis's attention to â€Å"history, biography and antiquities, to language and the first principles of the mathematics†. The architectural allure of Gothic literature fascinated Davis. As a young man , Davis was known to â€Å"pass hours in puzzling over the plan of some ancient castle of romance, arranging the trap doors, subterraneous passages, and drawbridges, as pictorial embellishment was the least of his care, invention all his aim†.Any Gothic novel of the late eighteenth century may have been the subject of his artistic dreaming, but most likely he is referring here to either Walpole's The Castle of Otranto or Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho, two of the most popular and influential of the Gothic novels. Davis's catalogue of books shows that he owned both books. The image depicts a partly ruinous labyrinthine space with a multitude of pointed arches leading to mysterious staircases (perhaps inspired by Giovanni Battista Piranesi's Carceri). Light filters in through barred windows.This drawing shows his early interest in the Gothic underworld, which is described in detail in The Castle of Otranto. The castle of Otranto (see photo) contains intricate subterranean passages that lead from the castle to the church of St. Nicholas, and through which the virtuous Isabella is chased by the lustful Manfred. Scott cannot be considered a Gothic novelist in the same way that his predecessors Walpole and Radcliffe are. Scott's genre is historical romance, but the influence of the Gothic is omnipresent in his work.From his earliest days and throughout his life, Scott read tales of terror. In 1812, after the success of his three poems and before he began writing his Waverley novel series, Scott purchased 110 acres, upon which he built his elaborate Gothic castle (1812-1815; enlarged in 1819). He named his new home Abbotsford after the monks of Meirose Abbey. The architect was William Atkinson. Abbotsford has been described as â€Å"an asymmetrical pile of towers, turrets, stepped gables, oriels, pinnacles, crenelated parapets, and clustered chimney stacks, all assembled with calculated irregularity†.Visitors flocked to Abbotsford to see the autho r and his residence first-hand, and, according to Thomas Carlyle, Abbotsford soon â€Å"became infested to a great degree with tourists, wonder-hunters, and all that fatal species of people†. Architectural historians often praise Strawberry Hill for introducing asymmetry into British domestic design and historicism into the Gothic Revival. But it is also important for another reason: the castle inspired Walpole to write his Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto in 1764.In A Description of the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole, Walpole writes that Strawberry Hill is â€Å"a very proper habitation of, as it was the scene that inspired, the author of The Castle of Otranto†. One June morning, Walpole awoke from a dream: â€Å"I had thought myself in an ancient castle (a very natural dream for a head filled, like mine, with Gothic story) and that, on the uppermost bannister of a great staircase, I saw a gigantic hand in armor† (Early 88). That evening, Walpole sat down to wri te The Castle of Otranto.The setting of the story, as Walpole tells us in the preface, is â€Å"undoubtedly laid in some real castle†; indeed, as W. S. Lewis has shown, the rooms at Strawberry Hill and those in the pages of The Castle of Otranto correspond. Read by British and American readers alike, The Castle of Otranto enjoyed popularity long after Walpole's death in 1797. About the castle, Gilmor wrote: Tis in the most beautiful Gothic (light) style. Much cut up into small rooms, none, except the long picture gallery being large. Some of the ceilings beautifully gilded others beautifully fitted in wood or scagliola.But all things, wainscottings, – door-fireplaces – all Gothic. [†¦ ] These same rooms crammed – most literally crammed – with chef d'oeuvres of Antient and modern paintings, statuary; sarcophaguses, Bronzes and silver carvings of Benvenuto Cellini and others. [†¦ ] In this superb cabinet of curiosities for such the Gothic c astle deserves to be called, I strolled delighted. On 21 September 1832, not long after Gilmor's return in late 1830 or early 1831, Scott died. Two weeks later, on 5 October 1832, Davis makes his first notes on Glen Ellen in his day book.Perhaps Gilmor may have conceived of Glen Ellen as a tribute or romantic memorial to his genial host at Abbotsford. Indeed, as William Pierson has shown, the plans of Abbotsford and Glen Ellen both display a progression from left to right of octagonal corner turret to octagonal bay to square corner tower. But Abbotsford is not the only source for Glen Ellen. Gilmor was very impressed with the rococo Gothic he saw at Strawberry Hill, and the interior decoration of Walpole's residence becomes the inspiration for the exterior ornamentation at Glen Ellen.The battlements, pinnacles, towers, and pointed arch windows all recall Strawberry Hill, and the long rectangular parlour mirrors Walpole's mediaeval gallery. Both Abbotsford and Strawberry Hill are sit ed along rivers; it is significant, then, that Gilmor chose a site for Glen Ellen on the Gunpowder River, twelve miles north of Baltimore. While Town, Davis, and Gilmor were clearly indebted to Walpole and Atkinson, Glen Ellen is quite unlike anything that had come before it in American architecture.Most striking is its adoption of the complete Gothic program: it is asymmetrical in plan and elevation; its rooms are of disproportionate sizes; its ornamentation is both whimsical and reliant on recognizable mediaeval architectural forms. Glen Ellen is certainly not a repetition of Benjamin Henry Latrobe's and Daniel Wadsworth's earlier forays into the Gothic Revival style for domestic architecture. Unlike Sedgeley and Monte Video, where Gothic Revival ornament appears as an afterthought, Glen Ellen wears its mediaeval styling in a more assertive manner.Here Town and Davis enlisted the picturesque element of surprise; the beholder of Glen Ellen views a shifting facade with unexpected to wer protrusions and heavily ornamented bay windows. Although light and airy Glen Ellen lacks the gloom of Radcliffe's architectural spaces, the architects do create a villa in which the element of surprise is paramount. What is most significant about Glen Ellen is its conception as a place of fantasy, a literary indulgence to whet the Gothic appetite of its well-travelled owner.That Glen Ellen imitates the facade of Abbotsford or the interior ornamentation of Strawberry Hill is important; but more momentous is the idea of Glen Ellen as a retreat into the mediaeval world popularized by Gothic novels and historical romances. But Glen Ellen is Gothic fiction transformed into stone, a constant reminder of its owner's preferred reading material. With Glen Ellen, Gilmor pays homage to his favourite writers, thus participating in the cult of the Gothic author. Although he is the first, Gilmor will not be the last to yield to his literary fantasies by creating a permanent reminder of his Go thic passion.Influenced by Gothic novels and historical romance s, American writers James Fenimore Cooper and Washington Irving Gothicized their houses (Otsego Hall and Sunnyside, respectively) after visiting Gothic sites in Europe. After Glen Ellen, Davis went on to design numerous Gothic Revival cottages and villas, including his masterpiece, Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, New York (1838; 1865). Why were American architects, artists, and their clients so interested in mediaeval architecture? Their reading habits tell us a great deal.Mediaeval architecture plays a crucial role in Gothic novels and historical romances, leading some curious readers to visit mediaeval and Gothic Revival architectural sites related to their favourite novels. That American Gothic Revival architecture was closely related to the fictional works of writers such as Radcliffe and Scott is highlighted by a nineteenth-century observer's comments on a Gothic Revival building in New York City. Thomas Aldrich Bailey wro te in 1866 about the University of the City of New York (now New York University; original building demolished) on Washington Square: â€Å"There isn't a more gloomy structure outside of Mrs.Radcliff's [sic] romances, and we hold that few men could pass a week in these lugubrious chambers, without adding a morbid streak to their natures – the genial immates [sic] to the contrary notwithstanding†. Usually, though, the Gothic Revival buildings constructed in the United States in this period were anything but gloomy. Like Strawberry Hill, Davis's designs were light and airy; delicate rather than dark and massive (Davis does begin to experiment more with fortified castle designs in the 1850s).As Janice Schimmelman has argued, Scott's novels recast the Gothic architectural style, moving it away from the barbarism associated with the Middle Ages and toward a more domestic ideal. An American author who wrote at the same time as Scott sums it up nicely by saying, â€Å"A cast le without a ghost is fit for nothing but to live in†. Certain Gothic work in the Boston neighborhood, by Solomon Willard and Gridley Bryant, has a kind of brutal power because of its simple granite treatment.But these early gray and lowering edifices, despite their pointed windows and their primitive tracery, are scarcely within the true Gothic tenor. That remained almost unknown in this country until suddenly, between 1835 and 1850, it was given abundant expression in the work of three architects -Richard Upjohn, James Renwick, and Minard Lafever. Upjohn, in Trinity Church, set a tradition for American church architecture which has hardly died yet; and Renwick, in Grace Church in New York (see photo), showed the exquisite richness that Gothic could give.Minard Lafever's work is more daring, more original, and less correct, but in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn (see photo), only slightly later than Trinity and Grace, he achieved a combination of lavish detail, ima ginative variations on Gothic themes, and a general effectiveness of proportion and composition which make it one of the most successful, as it is certainly the most American, of all these early Gothic Revival churches.Yet even in these, correct as they were in detail, beautiful in mass and line, there was always a certain sense of unreality. The old tradition of integrity in structure, on which the best Greek Revival architects had so insistently based their work, was breaking down. Romanticism, with its emphasis on the effect and its comparative lack of interest in how the effect was produced, was sapping at the whole integral basis of architecture.These attractive Gothic churches were, all of them, content with lath-and-plaster vaults. In them the last connections between building methods and building form disappeared, and in their very success they did much to establish in America the disastrous separation between engineering and architecture which was to curse American building for two generations.The best of the American Gothic work remains in its simpler, its less ostentatious, monuments: the little churches in which wood was allowed frankly to be itself, as in the small frame chapels which Upjohn designed for country villages and distant mission stations; and the frank carpenter Gothic of the picturesque high-gabled cottages which rose so bewitchingly embowered in heavy trees along many of our Eastern village streets. The polychrome Victorian Gothic of England also became a brief American fashion.A number of architects, especially in New York and later in early Chicago, fell under the spell of Ruskin's persuasive writing, and sought as he did to create a modern, freely designed, inventive, nineteenth-century Gothic. But here also the strings that bound America and England seemed too tenuous to hold for long; and in spite of the occasional appealing successes of the style – such as the old National Academy of Design with its black-and-white marbl e front, designed by Peter B.Wight, and some of Renwick's city houses – the Victorian Gothic was doomed in America to swift disintegration into the cheapest and most illogical copying of its most obvious mannerisms, and a complete negation of its essential foundations. It became in a sense a caricature, to be rapidly swallowed up in the confusion of eclecticism which the last quarter of the century brought with it. If we might sum up French Gothic as architecture of clear and structural power, and English as the architecture of personalized rural charm, American Gothic would be the architecture of experimental and dynamic zest.American Gothic architecture was much more than the solution of building problems; it was also the expression of a new America that had been gradually coming into being – a new America which was the result of the gradual decay of the feudal system under the impact of trade, prosperity, and the growth of national feeling. The Gothic Revival in Ame rica was more a matter of intellectual approach than of architectural work. The sudden new enthusiasm for medieval work made all America passionately aware of its amazing architectural wealth, and also acutely conscious of the disintegration which threatened ruin to so many of the medieval structures.Nowhere did the Gothic Revival have a greater and a more revolutionary effect than in America, which had given it its first expression, for nowhere else were the forces behind it so irresistibly strong. In Germany, nationalism had led the architects of the romantic age into the byways of Romanesque and of Renaissance. In France, the strong classic traditions of the Ecole des Beaux Arts held firm against all the attacks of the romanticists and gave, at least to the official work, the requisite classic stamp.But, in America, religious fervor, so closely allied to the desires of the court and the government, made the drive toward Gothic design irrepressible, and there was no academic and c lassic tradition powerful enough to withstand it. Furthermore, the movement was blessed with extremely brilliant and articulate writers, who had the gift not only of interesting the specialist but of moving the general population. Gothic architecture was best now because it was the most Christian, later because it was the most creative and least imitative, then again because it was the most honest – whatever that might mean.The religious facets of the movement had an even greater importance. The whole American church was exercised more and more about the fundamental problems of ritualism and historical tradition. The most important ecclesiastical thinkers were reacting against the routine secularism of the eighteenthcentury church, demanding not only greater seriousness and a more intense devotion to Christian ideals, but also expressing their conviction that the medieval church had been a vital force and medieval devotion a vivid experience that had been subsequently lost, a nd that therefore the easiest way to reform the church was by a return to medievalism.Of the religious controversies these ideas aroused it is not necessary to particularize. Also important is the fact that everywhere these religious controversies focused attention on medieval church architecture, and that there was the closest relationship between architecture and ritual. Therefore, the theory went, if it was necessary to return to the medieval conception of Christianity, it was equally essential to return to medievalism in church design. There more subtle factor behind the Gothic Revival in architecture.The word â€Å"romanticism† has accumulated so many different meanings in the course of a century of criticism that it is necessary to be more precise. Behind the new interest in medieval architecture went a search for emotional expression which was a new thing. Romanticism means many more things than mere antiquarianism, for from the point of view of a mere turn to the past the Classic Revivals might also be considered romantic; but, as we have seen, the architects of the Classic Revival were striving primarily for form which should be serene, well composed, consistent, harmonious, adequate.The true romanticist is not satisfied with this. He demands more; he demands that architecture shall be â€Å"expressive† – that is, that it shall aim definitely at expressing specific emotions such as religious awe, grandeur, gaiety, intimacy, sadness. He seeks to make architecture as expressive and as personal as a lyric poem, and oftentimes this demand for emotional expression he makes superior to any other claims.All architecture is expressive; but, whereas the classic architect allows the expression to arise naturally from forms developed in the common-sense solution of his problem, the true romantic seeks expression first, with a definite self-conscious urge. To the romantic architect of the mid-nineteenth century, Romanesque and Gothic had some how come to seem more emotional than the other styles. References Andrews, Wayne. American Gothic: Its Origins, Its Trials. Its Triumphs. New York: Random House, 1975. Donoghue, John.Alexander Jackson Davis, Romantic Architect, 1803-1892. New York: Arno Press, 1982. Dunlap, William. â€Å"History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States. 1834. † Vol. 3. Ed. Alexander Wyckoff. New York: Benjamin Blom, 1965. Early, James. Romanticism and American Architecture. New York: A. S. Barnes, 1965. Latrobe, Benjamin Henry. â€Å"The Virginia Journais of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, 1795-1798. † Vol. 1. Ed. Edward C. Carter II. New Haven: Yale UP, 1977. Lougy, Robert E. Charles Robert Maturin. Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1975.Pierson, William H. , Jr. American Buildings and Their Architects: Technology and the Picturesque, The Corporate and the Early Gothic Styles. 1978. Garden City, NY: Anchor, 1980. Robertson, Fiona. Legitimate Histories: Scott; Gothic, and the Authorities of Fiction. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. Schimmelman, Janice Gayle. The Spirit of the Gothic: The Gothic Revival House in Nineteenth-Century America. Diss. U of Michigan, 1980. Snadon, Patrick. A. J. Davis and the Gothic Revival Castle in America, 1832-1865. Diss. Cornell U, 1988.

Conflict In The Middle East Essays - ArabIsraeli Conflict

Conflict In The Middle East Essays - ArabIsraeli Conflict Conflict In The Middle East Conflict In the Middle East Since the United Nations partition of Palestine in 1947 and the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948, there have been four major Arab-Israeli wars (1947- 49, 1956, 1967, and 1973) and numerous intermittent battles. Although Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979, hostility between Israel and the rest of its Arab neighbors, especially with Palestinian Arabs, has continued because of the lack of co-operation by the Arabs. The first war began as a civil conflict between Palestinian Jews and Arabs following the United Nations recommendation of November 29, 1947, to partition Palestine, then still under British mandate, into an Arab state and a Jewish state. Fighting quickly spread as Arab guerrillas attacked Jewish settlements and communication links to prevent implementation of the UN plan. Jewish forces prevented seizure of most settlements, but Arab guerrillas, supported by the Transjordanian Arab Legion under the command of British officers, besieged Jerusalem. By April, Haganah, the principal Jewish military group, seized the offensive, scoring victories against the Arab Liberation Army in northern Palestine, Jaffa, and Jerusalem. British military forces withdrew to Haifa; although officially neutral, some commanders assisted one side or the other. After the British had departed and the state of Israel had been established on May 15, 1948, under the premiership of David Ben-Gurion, the Palestine Arab forces and foreign volunteers were joined by regular armies of Transjordan (now the kingdom of Jordan), Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria, with token support from Saudi Arabia. Efforts by the UN to halt the fighting were unsuccessful until June 1, when a 4-week truce was declared. When the Arab states refused to renew the truce, ten more days fighting erupted. In that time Israel greatly extended the area under its control and broke the siege of Jerusalem. Fighting on a smaller scale continued during the second UN truce beginning in mid-July, and Israel acquired more territory, especially in Galilee and the Negev. By January 1949, when the last battles ended, Israel has extended its frontiers by about 5,000 sq. km (1930 sq mi.) beyond the 15,500 sq. km (4983 sq mi.) allocated to the Jewish state in the UN partition resolution. It had also secured its independence. During 1949, armistice agreements were signed under UN auspices between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. The armistice frontiers were unofficial boundaries until 1967. Border conflicts between Israel and the Arabs continued despite provisions in the 1949 armistice agreements for peace negotiations. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs who had left Israeli-held territory during the first war concentrated in refugee camps along Israels frontiers and became a major source of friction when they infiltrated back to their homes or attacked Israeli border settlements. A major tension point was the Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip, which was used by arab guerrillas for raids into southern Israel. Egypts blockade of Israeli shipping in the Suez Canal and Gulf of Aqaba intensified the hostilities. These escalating tensions converged with the Suez Crisis caused by the nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egyptian president Gamal Nasser. Great Britain and France strenuously objected to Nassers policies, and a joint military campaign was planned against Egypt with the understanding that Israel would take the initiative by seizing the Sinai Peninsula. The war began on October 29, 1956, after an announcement that the armies of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan were to be integrated under the Egyptian commander in chief. Israels Operation Kadesh, commanded by Moshe Dayan, lasted less than a week; its forces reached the eastern bank of the Suez Canal in about 100 hours , seizing the Gaza Strip and nearly all the Sinai Peninsula. The Sinai operations were supplemented by an Anglo-French invasion of Egypt on November 5, giving the allies control of the northern sector of the Suez Canal. The war was halted by a UN General Assembly resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of all occupying forces from Egyptian territory. The General Assembly also established a United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) to replace the allied troops on the Egyptian side of the borders in Suez, Sinai, and Gaza. By December 22 the last British and French Troops had left Egypt, Israel, however, delayed withdrawal, insisting

Hacking a Art essays

Hacking a Art essays In today's fast-paced world, the high-tech computer industry offers a unique opportunity for high-paying jobs. Many people start their careers much younger than I have, so consequently I have to search for a career in a field that will offer me adequate financial rewards in a limited amount of time. I started working with computers four years ago, upgrading systems, and increasing modem speeds to enable me access to the World Wide Web. I find programming to be the most interesting area of Computer Science; there is a subculture within this area that call themselves hackers. There seems to be a negative connotation with the word hacker. This is a misunderstanding because these programmers, who consider themselves to be hackers, are not the evildoers that the media portrays them as. Some misguided souls do attack systems for profit and pleasure, but these are usually the wannabe hackers; they are referred to as crackers or cyberpunks. True hackers do not waste their time with t hese types of antics. It is similar to an artist who, instead of painting a beautiful picture, sprays profanity on a city wall. There are many misconceptions surrounding the artform of hacking. Computers have made our world and lives much easier. In the past, many jobs were done by hand. Computers have replaced calculators. Word processing is now much faster and more conveienent than it was when we had to use typewriters. Not only can we type and correct errors much quicker since it can be done on a computer, but we don't even have to type at all as a result of dictation software, which allows us to speak to our computers. Computers revolutionized our world. We can communicate through e-mail with friends around the world. Research on any form or type of information is readily and easily accessible through the Internet. Computers have opened doors to people all over the world that just twenty years ago were not even dreamed of. Through all this in...

What ACT Percentiles Mean in College Admissions

What ACT Percentiles Mean in College Admissions Much of the ACT data on this site and elsewhere on the web show ACT scores for the 25th and 75th percentile of students. But what exactly do these numbers mean? Understanding the 25th and 75th Percentile ACT Numbers Consider a college profile that presents the following ACT scores for the 25th and 75th percentiles: ACT Composite: 21/26ACT English: 20/26ACT Math: 21/27 The lower number is the 25th percentile of students who enrolled in (not just applied to) the college. For the school above, 25% of enrolled students received a math score of 21 or lower. The upper number is the 75th percentile of students who enrolled in the college. For the above example, 75% of enrolled students got a math score of 27 or lower (looked at another way, 25% of students got above a 27). For the school above, if you have an ACT math score of 28, you would be in the top 25% of applicants for that one measure. If you have a math score of 19, you are in the bottom 25% of applicants for that measure. Understanding these numbers is important when you plan how many colleges to apply to, and when you figure out which schools are a reach, a match, or a safety. If your scores are near or below the 25th percentile numbers, you should consider the school a reach. Note that this does not mean you wont get in- remember that 25% of students who enroll have a score that is at or below that lower number. Why Do Colleges Present 25th and 75th Percentile Data? You may wonder why the standard practice for ACT score reporting focuses on 25th and 75th percentile data rather than the full range of scores earned by matriculated students. The reason is rather simple- the outlying data is not an accurate representation of the type of student who typically attends the college or university. Even the countrys most selective colleges  admit a few students with ACT scores that are well below the norm. For example, 75% of enrolled students at Harvard University scored a 32 or higher on the ACT. However, this graph of Harvard admissions data  shows that a few students got in with ACT scores that were in the mid teens. How, exactly, did these students get in? The reasons could be many: perhaps the student did not have English as a first language but was exceptional in many other ways; perhaps the student had straight A grades and 5 scores on AP exams, but simply didnt perform well on the ACT; perhaps the student had such remarkable accomplishments that the admissions folks overlooked a sub-par ACT score; perhaps the student had a disadvantaged background that made the ACT an unfair measure of ability. That said, if you have a 15 ACT composite score, you shouldnt get your hopes up for Harvard. Without some kind of exceptional story or circumstances, the 25th percentile number of 32 is a much more accurate representation of what youll need to be admitted.   Similarly, even non-selective colleges will get a few students who have extremely high ACT scores.   But publishing a 35 or 36 as the upper end of ACT data wouldnt be meaningful to prospective students. Those high performing students would be the exception, not the norm. Sample ACT Percentile Data for Top Schools   If youre interested in seeing what the 25th and 75th percentile scores are for some of the countrys most prestigious and selective colleges, check out these articles: ACT Comparison Tables: the Ivy League | top universities | top liberal arts colleges | more top liberal arts | top public universities | top public liberal arts colleges | University of California campuses | Cal State campuses | SUNY campuses | More ACT tables The tables will help you see how you measure up in relation to students who were admitted to each school. What If Your ACT Scores Are Below the 25% Number? Keep in mind that a low ACT score doesnt need to be the end of your college dreams. For one, a quarter of all admitted students got in with scores below the 25% number. Also, there are a lot of excellent colleges that do not require ACT scores. Finally, be sure to check out these strategies for students with low ACT scores.

Methods In Archaeology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Methods In Archaeology - Essay Example By reading the way he presents his work, one can easily connect the various stages and even come up with the relationship between various these varied steps. The archeologist and the geologists use both absolute and the relative dating methods for them to determine the ages of various historical artifacts. However, both the absolute and the relative dating methods have their negative strengths and weaknesses. Limitations of absolute dating methodsOne of the materials used in the absolute dating method are Carbon. When carbon is used, there are various shortcomings that are associated with it. For instance, the half of carbon -14 used is roughly 5730 years. The half-life of this carbon makes it only effective to measure or rather date historical events of up to about only 75000 years. As per this technique, it is very important to note that dating events that occurred past these years are very difficult. Therefore, a person is just limited to investigate events that occurred within th is time frame. This is very unfair since it will not give the best chronology of events in life. It becomes very difficult to give a clear chronology of events that occurred a long time ago that the carbon-14 cannot date. It is also very difficult to date wood using this method since most woods is always burnt and may be found in the form of ash. Therefore, it is very difficult to differentiate when the wood burned and the date of the wood. Thermoluminescence is another form of dating used under the same method that also has its own problems.

Music and Emotion Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Music and Emotion - Research Paper Example In the "Music and Emotion" essay author describes the effect that music has on our brain and how it manipulates our emotions. The association between music, emotion and brain is an interesting topic which provoked the attention of music lovers, psychologists and medical experts. Music can touch the emotions of all kinds of people like introverts, extroverts, simple or tough people. Music has no languages or it has its own language which is understandable only to the music lovers. It is quite possible that a westerner may infatuate by the Indian classical music and an Indian may love the western music. In other words, music is all about the rhythm, composing styles, lyrics etc rather than the normal languages. Emotional association of music is highly subjective. For example, a group of people who hear the same music in the same environment may develop different emotions. One of them may develop happiness because of the fast rhythm and another may become sad because of the lyrics. A th ird person in that group may focus more on the singing style or the voice of the singer while a fourth person may give more importance to the composing of the music. These differences happen because of the individual differences. In other words, the development of emotion as a result of music listening depends on the nature of the individual. Music is effective in the treatment of psychological disorders like autism because of its ability to touch the emotions of the patient. It is difficult to treat psychological problems like autism with the help of any medicines. In the study of how music therapy improves behavioral abnormalities of autism, Griggs-Drane and Wheeler, a music therapist and educational consultant, respectively, in the Richmond Hospital Education Program, performed a study in 1997 with a blind, female adolescent with autism. The client was asked to listen to music, sing with music, and play instruments to decrease her self-destructive behavior. The study did show a decrease in her destructive behavior (Aguila, p.7) The above findings clearly show that music can affect even abnormal people. Music can be used as an effective communication device between an autistic patient and the therapist. The therapist can cultivate many desired feelings in the minds of the patient after recognizing the specific tastes of the patient. It is not necessary that two autistic patients may react in the same manner to a particular music. In other words, the music which was used by the therapist to cultivate a particular behavior in an autistic patien t need not be successful on another patient. The therapist should vary the music to see the effects and to decide which music is suitable for a particular patient. â€Å"Leanne Belasco, a music therapist at the Kennedy Krieger School's Montgomery County campus in Rockville, says music gives structure and a predictable rhythm to verbal directions† (Hwang). Apart from autism, music therapy can be effective in treating some of the phobias. Some people have the habit of developing unintentional negative feelings. Such people often worried about unnecessary things because

Perception and Learning Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Perception and Learning - Dissertation Example Here in the following case study the Vice president of marketing at Hy Dairies Inc, Gilman have the believe that his own way of working as marketing research co-ordinator can also boost the career of his brand manager Rochelle Beauport. In spite of very good track record in the brand management the vice president never asked her about her career interest rather directly told her to join research team as technical support position. These give rise to the employee dissatisfaction and anxiety amongst the employees. Gilman should have identified the social identity of his employees and their likings to enhance their personality (Simply psychology, n.d.). Question 2 What can organisations do to minimise misperceptions in these types of situations? In minimising this kind of situations the vice president of Hy dairies Gilman should give proper attention towards active listening process. Gilman should have discussed with Rochelle about her points and should understand what she wants to do i n her future. Speaking directly to the listener before taking any decision can help to minimise misperception to great extent. Though this type of culture is not considered appropriate in many cases but if done it can be very effective. Lastly one should understand the reason for a particular decision and should clear the points why the particular decision was taken against her. Reference Changing Minds, (2011).

How Does Internet Work Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How Does Internet Work - Research Paper Example There are several benefits of being internet savvy for both business as well as individuals. In modern times, internet has heavily assisted individuals in gain information and education. Due to the advent of the internet it has become possible for individuals to gain distance learning. This means that internet allows individuals to study and obtain knowledge from where ever they are at any point in time. One of the main features of internet is that it is available 24/7 and this has several benefits for both individuals as well as business (Taylor 200). From business point of view, remaining connected 24/7 means that business no longer need to follow a schedule of opening their organizations or outlets to serve their customers. Customers can be served at any point in time and this has helped businesses in gaining consumer confidence in their products and services. Similarly, individuals are even able to gain assistance from businesses regarding product issues and other problems at any point in time. On one end are the several benefits that are associated with internet and on the other end are the harmful and damaging results of being internet users. Internet users tend to share very important information that is personal in nature with various websites such as social networking websites. This information can come in handy for those who know how to use internet for their own benefit over the expanse of others. They use this information to break into bank accounts as well as mentally torture people in order to gain financial benefits. Another issue associated with sharing information over the internet is the issue of privacy (Deitel 65). Internet has even caused problems in individual’

Los Angeles's Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Los Angeles's Globalization - Essay Example Such an activity draws together people from different regions and countries, bringing them into one common place; where the diversity of each participant and audience is experienced. The coming together of communities into a common operation of events that are of global characteristic is the essence of globalization. Contemporary and conventional infrastructure is a component of globalization. Similar architectural designs can be found in more than city, state or country (Johnson, 299). What this means is that a number of countries in that context have shared information, knowledge and skills to the way of getting things done. For instance, China-Los Angeles characteristic relationship between modern structures can represent an aspect of globalization. There are those unique designs and complex architectural developments that can be found in both China and Los Angeles. This aspect depicts an aspect of collaboration in creativity and share of technology in the infrastructure sector. T he only relationship that can lead to such observations is a high level of globalization in the context of the two analyzed scenarios. Concepts of globalization are not limited to any specific notion, motive or mode. Mass movements of people from one city to another, one state to another and from one country to another has been characteristic of the globalization process. Different communities are no longer limited to their native lands; they are getting access to the entire world as globalization heightens. It is in this regard that Jewish communities can be found all around the world, and most importantly in Los Angeles. In order to pump more sense into this, a festival like the Song Kran held in Los Angeles is a clear indication of just how much communities and more specifically individuals have evolved and revolutionized to fit into the dynamism of the world society (Moore 177). Assimilation of foreign traditions, customs and cultures are part of the ever changing world of today . Famous traditions and means of recognizing cultures throughout the world have taken another dimension altogether. Cultural practices that were once only specific to some groups in a given state are now found miles away, assimilated by another society. This just shows how the global trend is moving towards uniting the entire world population. Such is the case in Saigon town of Los Angeles. Chinese traditional designs of major entry points characterize this part of Los Angeles. This aspect presents a noticeable element of a globalized Los Angeles, in comparison to the rest of the world. Religious practices have not been left behind in the quest for globalization. These practices are establishing all over the world as people continue to interact and merge with others from different locations of the world. Los Angeles serves as a common basis for this interest through the availability of mosques. Los Angeles is not an Islam dominated city, but has taken into consideration the interest s of other communities in its development processes. Presence of mosques merges Islamic contexts into the city, allowing for unionism of diverse inhabitants of the city, both local and international (Samudio 108). Another similar aspect of this is the city-within-a-city notion of Los Angeles. Pure Korean activities are undertake right in the heart of Los Angeles, despite the physical, geographical and social differences evident

Week 4 team part of paper team a Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week 4 team part of paper team a - Essay Example The dangers of being sued pass through just about every single facet of the corporate world, and the enormity of prospective losses from suet can be significant. Even ignoring the indirect costs associated with lawsuits, they still represent over millions of dollars in fee opposition. Hence, the determination to report contingencies ought to be centered on the opinion of admission. For instance, as soon as the admission of an incident appends the material subject matter of the financial statements, it should be reported. Occasionally, a few variations of contingencies have the potential to result into self-fulfilling prediction. For instance, a common contend with contingency snag is the reservation of incorporating the potential loss from a litigation. The cash worth of the loss could be projected by consuming the estimated worth criteria, putting projected responsibility on the balance sheet could provide the plaintiff with supplementary confirmation of the organization’s gu ilt. Admission of contingencies may perhaps decrease stock prices and can lead to litigations. Though, overall admission of contingencies ought to be of assistance in evading litigations as they guide stakeholders in developing accurate anticipations. When a contingent liability turns into a legitimate loss, the greatest impact on stock value ought to be in those situations that admissions were unsatisfactory or there was no admission. In the incident that the litigation is lost and it is prior to the fiscal year close, however prior to the financial statements being dispersed, the loss is accrued (the aftereffect of the litigation can be used to establish the amount) and turn into a liability on the balance sheet. At which point an admission in the comments section of the financial statements is proper. In the event that the lawsuit transpires following the fiscal year end, however prior to the financial statements are distributed and the loss is substantial,

Los Angeles's Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Los Angeles's Globalization - Essay Example Such an activity draws together people from different regions and countries, bringing them into one common place; where the diversity of each participant and audience is experienced. The coming together of communities into a common operation of events that are of global characteristic is the essence of globalization. Contemporary and conventional infrastructure is a component of globalization. Similar architectural designs can be found in more than city, state or country (Johnson, 299). What this means is that a number of countries in that context have shared information, knowledge and skills to the way of getting things done. For instance, China-Los Angeles characteristic relationship between modern structures can represent an aspect of globalization. There are those unique designs and complex architectural developments that can be found in both China and Los Angeles. This aspect depicts an aspect of collaboration in creativity and share of technology in the infrastructure sector. T he only relationship that can lead to such observations is a high level of globalization in the context of the two analyzed scenarios. Concepts of globalization are not limited to any specific notion, motive or mode. Mass movements of people from one city to another, one state to another and from one country to another has been characteristic of the globalization process. Different communities are no longer limited to their native lands; they are getting access to the entire world as globalization heightens. It is in this regard that Jewish communities can be found all around the world, and most importantly in Los Angeles. In order to pump more sense into this, a festival like the Song Kran held in Los Angeles is a clear indication of just how much communities and more specifically individuals have evolved and revolutionized to fit into the dynamism of the world society (Moore 177). Assimilation of foreign traditions, customs and cultures are part of the ever changing world of today . Famous traditions and means of recognizing cultures throughout the world have taken another dimension altogether. Cultural practices that were once only specific to some groups in a given state are now found miles away, assimilated by another society. This just shows how the global trend is moving towards uniting the entire world population. Such is the case in Saigon town of Los Angeles. Chinese traditional designs of major entry points characterize this part of Los Angeles. This aspect presents a noticeable element of a globalized Los Angeles, in comparison to the rest of the world. Religious practices have not been left behind in the quest for globalization. These practices are establishing all over the world as people continue to interact and merge with others from different locations of the world. Los Angeles serves as a common basis for this interest through the availability of mosques. Los Angeles is not an Islam dominated city, but has taken into consideration the interest s of other communities in its development processes. Presence of mosques merges Islamic contexts into the city, allowing for unionism of diverse inhabitants of the city, both local and international (Samudio 108). Another similar aspect of this is the city-within-a-city notion of Los Angeles. Pure Korean activities are undertake right in the heart of Los Angeles, despite the physical, geographical and social differences evident

WK 3 DB1 AND 2 SIDS, Morbidity, Mortality, and Associated Costs Coursework

WK 3 DB1 AND 2 SIDS, Morbidity, Mortality, and Associated Costs - Coursework Example SIDS has been identified as the third world chief cause of infant death in the United States. There has been a significant drop in the number of children who die from SIDS because as of 2004 there was a decrease of 0.51% compared to the 1980s where the deaths were at 1.53% per 1000 live births. There has been a continuous drop in the number of infant deaths in Georgia where in 2001 there were 112 deaths from SIDS, which was a decline of 42%, compared to that of 162 deaths in 1990. In my opinion, mothers should be aware of their children sleeping environment and positions to reduce the rate of deaths caused by SIDS. Women’s health is a significant issue in any state because when the state prioritizes on the women’s health they are improving the economy, empowering the women and eradicating poverty and hunger as the women are able to fend for their families. Finances are required to cater for the women’s health there are various financial management techniques that are vital. First, there is the goal setting where the objectives of the department of health in addressing women’s health should be stated explicitly (Gapenski & Pink, 2011). This is because they give a basis as to how much is required to address the issue. Secondly, there should be budgeting skills to establish where the money is going after the goals have been set. Lastly, there is saving money that will be used in the future in case of a situation that is uncalled for and the money be of help. Although this is not an easy technique, it is important because the money comes in handy in the future. An example, the cost- effective plan that can be used to track women’s mortality and Morbidity trends in my state would be registering all women through the Department of Health. This can be done by giving the women of all ages a free clinic and ensuring that all attend (Fogel & Fugate, 2008). However, achieving this can be a challenge and the best way to do it is finding a service that is

Plastic Recycling Essay Example for Free

Plastic Recycling Essay Due to increased the high residence time in the environment, old and used plastics require recycling to not only ensure clean and healthy environment, but also maximize the resource utility. Sorting/ separation is one of the most important stage in the recycling process as it differentiates the plastics from other materials and categorize it into various forms. Depending on the origin of the plastic materials, the sorting process is made easier especially if there was initial separation at the source where plastics are put in different containers from the others types of wastes. Physical sorting method According to Plunket (2005), this separation method involves use of the visible and physical characteristics of the plastics to remove them from other waste materials or separate different types of plastics. This method is labor intensive as it requires manual inspection through product recognition, color and shape of the materials for the plastic being sorted. Many of the American companies make their products in specific plastic shapes and color therefore making it easy to sort and recycle their plastics from the waste stream. Floating mechanism is increasingly being employed by different recycling plants to separate high and low density plastics depending on weight characteristics (Harper, (2006). Besides, the separating centrifuge is also employed to separate the plastics on the basis of their weight on the high speed rotating drums. According to Nigel (2004), physical sorting process is cost effective in that there is minimal capital investment as the method uses staff and low cost investment machines to sort out the plastics. Unlike in the automated method, there is no need of highly skilled manpower and technology in the process thereby reducing the cost of operation with a great margin. The method is highly suitable for small scale recycling process where the quantity of the plastic to be separated is generally low. However, this method can lead to inaccurate identification and separation due to human error. Types and the speed of separation in the process are highly limited since human beings employ only one visual mode in the identification process. Besides, complications arise when different companies use similar shapes for packaging their products thereby creating confusion and making the companys objective to recycle its plastics be highly compromised. To add to that, the process is highly manual requiring a lot of staff for effective completion which greatly reduces the ability and therefore ineficiency to sort the plastics (Tietenberg Henk, 2006). Plunket (2005) argues that, physical method of sorting plastics is highly uneconomical especially for separating large scale quantities of plastics due to the requirements of large staff numbers at any moment. The quantity of plastics that can be sorted at any moment using the physical method is very limited compared to the automated method. Due to the above inefficiencies, the amount of plastics sorted and recycled is low and therefore not cost effective for recycling companies or the municipal authorities who have large quantities of plastics to be separated. Besides, the method do not guarantee the efficiency required for different plastics to effectively be sorted out. This inefficiency may compromise the products made from the recycled materials at the end of the process (Harper, 2006). Automated sorting method This method employs various auto-separation systems which use sensors in establishing the chemical as well as the physical properties of the plastics to be separated (Tietenberg Henk, 2006). Use of x-rays method of automated separation involves employing the radiation which detects the chlorine elements that are found in the Polyvinyl Chlorides (PVC). This method is highly effective for the plastics that contain PVC but limited in application since it cannot be applied on other plastics. Then, the modern infrared method analysis is being applied on a large scale basis to detect as well as separate plastics of multiple characteristics in their composition. Infrared rays are quantified and categorized on the basis of the characteristics of the specific plastic element type that is needed from the waste stream (Myer, 2007). To add to that, optical scanning is also being used by different industries all over the world where the plastics are separated on the basis of their pigment coloration. It ensures uniformity in the separation process and increases efficiency in the specific separation processes. Automated separation methods have also been effectively applied to separate general plastics from the waste mainstream depending on their main or individual characteristics like High Density Polythrene, Pollythylene Telephthalate and Polypropane. The main advantage of this method is that it is highly effective and the quantities of the plastics that can be sorted at any one moment is very high. Myer (2007) notes that, different types of plastics are also easily recycled as the machine error is highly reduced compared to the high human error in the mechanical system. Also, the method is less labor intensive as it employs the modern technology in enhancing efficiency of the work done. However, the method requires high capital investment to install and operationalize the whole system. Protective equipments for the radiations add to the external costs for the people who work and operate the machines. Infrared and x-ray generating machines require specialized experts to operate thus increasing the overhead cost to a very large extent. Besides, there are high hazard risk levels for the people operating with these machines due to exposure on the dangerous radiations of x-rays and high infrared levels (Nigel, 2004). Though the initial cost of machines installation is relatively high, this method is highly cost-effective in the 21st century due to the increasing need for faster plastic sorting and recycling. It is a great tool for conserving the environment and maximizing the resources utility. The quantity of the plastics that can be sorted out at any moment being very high, then the method ensures that the remaining process and eventual processing into finished products receives enough and correct materials. Conclusion. Sorting as indicated earlier, is one of the most important steps in the recycling process as it makes the remaining processes easier and more effective in their application. It captures the plastic materials either from an integrated mixture in the waste stream or from assorted plastic mixtures therefore making it possible to use the material for further other products development. Automated method is thus more cost effective in sorting the plastics due to its high efficiency in dealing with bulk wastes at any particular moment. As the world consumption patters continue changing year after year, the levels of the plastic wastes are bound to increase in the environment and the most cost effective method of sorting this waste should be adopted (Plunket, 2005). Automated method should be adopted by all the municipal authorities, recycling commercial industries and individual industries which recycle their own wastes as it ensures long term cost effectiveness.

Hyundai-motor-company-report

Hyundai-motor-company-report PART 1: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY REPORT Business Description Products and Brand: Hyundai Motor Company (hereafter, HMC) formed in 1967, was a part of the South Korean Chaebol the Hyundai Group. In the last four decades, HMC managed to establish itself as a most prominent automaker producing reliable, technically sound and stylish automobiles and commercial vehicles. Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, HMC opened a new chapter in the history of the Korean automotive industry by exporting its first proprietary model, the Pony, to Ecuador in 1976. In the 1980s, HMC exported the Excel to the U.S. In 1991, HMC achieved technological independence by developing the first propriety engines and transmissions. Currently HMC has 78,539 employees around the world working in eight manufacturing plants, 12 RD centers, 5,300 dealerships and sales companies, and CKD plants. As of 2010, HMC established as a global automaker that produces more than three million high-quality passenger and commercial vehicles for sale in 190 countries each year. By enhancing Brand image through high quality products and unique marketing initiatives, once again, HMC is the first and the only Korean automaker to be listed in the Top 100 Global Brands in 2010 by Business Week and Inter-brand since it first entered the Top 100 Global Brands in 2005. Revenue and Profit: In spite of the persistent uncertainties in recent business conditions, HMC achieved some significant milestones in automaker markets in the past few years. In 2009, HMC succeeded in selling 2.4 million vehicles overseas, a meaningful accomplishment considering the global economic crisis. In particular, Elantra, Genesis, Genesis Coupe, Santa Fe, and Veracruz were recognized as the best sales and safest cars in their categories by leading agencies and the media in the US, also, HMC achieved cumulative export sales of 1 million cars in Africa. HMC pledges continuous growth by maximizing brand value in developed markets and expanding its sales capacity in emerging markets. In 2009, HMC posted 31,859 billion KRW in sales. Operating profits increased by 19% to 2,235 billion KRW. The operating profit margin increased by 1.19% to 7.02%. Net profit surged by 104.5% to 2,962 billion KRW and HMCs total assets increased by 12% to 22,029 billion KRW. Despite increased sales and profits, tax payments to the central and regional government decreased due to corporate tax cuts and increased tax exemptions associated with increased RD investments. Financial Performance 2007 2008 2009 Sales (in billion KRW) 30,620 32,190 31,859 Operating Profit (in billion KRW) 1,946 1,877 2,235 Net Profit (in billion KRW) 1,682 1,448 2,962 Operating Profit Margin (%) 6.36 5.83 7.02 ROE (%) 4.91 7.65 14.21 EBITDA (in billion KRW)* 3,111 3,197 3,649 Total Assets (in billion KRW) 18,203 19,652 22,029 (Source: 2010 Sustainability Report, Based HMC operation result only, * EBITDA =EBIDTA : Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) In 2009, HMC jumped to third on the list of Fortune Korea Top 20 Korean companies and generated 91.46 trillion won in revenue, up 14.7 percent from the year 2008 and 2.97 trillion won in net profit, up 246.7 percent (Source: www. koreatimes.co.kr). In 2010, HMC announced global sales of 3,612,487 units (domestic plants: 1,730,682, overseas plants: 1,881,805). Sales revenue rose 15.4 percent to 36.8 trillion won from a year earlier as the company sold more cars and improved its product mix, while operating profit also rose 44.4% to 3.2 trillion won. Net profit increased 77.8 percent to 5.3 trillion won. Hyundai aims to increase sales and enhance brand image in 2011 by introducing new models specifically designed for local customers. In the next decade, HMC will continue in its endeavor to become a leading global automaker company through driving growth the development of world-class eco-friendly vehicles. HMC is striving to develop environmentally friendly vehicles including hybrid electric vehicles; fuel cell electric vehicle and pursuing two-prolonged Blue Drive initiatives which focus on fuel efficiency and the development of alternative fuel vehicles as a fundamental solution for climate change energy security. In the future, HMC focus on vehicles that run on various bio fuels. For the U.S. and Brazil markets, HMC develops flex-fuel vehicles that run on a mixture of ethanol and gasoline. In Europe, where diesel cars are sold in great proportion, the EU has a set of technical standards for diesel fuels with biodiesel content made of palm, rapeseed, soybean and other plant resources, and all HMCs models are capable of running on diesel fuel mixed with biodiesel. Remarkable success since 2007: In 2007, HMC received National Environmental Management Awards Presidents Prize and sales in US exceed 5 million units; its products i30 selected as Car of the Year in Australia; Accent (Verna) selected as Best Car of the Year by the Indian automobile magazine Overdrive; Azera (Grandeur) ranks first in J.D. Power and Associates consumer satisfaction survey. In 2008, HMC received Global Green Management Excellence Award, Global Reporting Initiative Award; it ranked first in National Customer Service Index (NCSI) for eighth year in a row, Avante (Elantra) exceeds 5 million units in accumulated sales; In 2009, HMC was selected as Best Company in terms of customer satisfaction in the automaker category by a consumer research group in China; it ranked Top 60 in Global Brand Value by Business Week and selected as Best Marketer of the Year in the US; Its product i30 and Grand Starex awarded as Best Cars in Australia for the second consecutive year; TAU engine selected as winner of US Wards AutoWorld 2009 10 Best Engines for the second consecutive year; received Presidential Prize at the 2009 Korea New Technologies Award. In 2010, HMC placed in the Top 100 Global Brands in 2010 based on a joint study conducted by Business Week and Interbrand and was named Carmaker of the Year by AM, UKs leading auto trade magazine, in the AM Awards 2010. The TAU 4.6 engine was selected as a winner of the 2010 10 Best Engines of the US automotive media Wards AutoWorld for the second consecutive year. Corporate Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was the key issue in company society relations. CSR has taken a core position of Hyundai Motor included three areas: trust-based management, environmental management, and social contribution. For trust-based management, HMC focused on labor relations enhancement, mutually beneficial cooperation with suppliers, ethics management and transparent management. As for environmental management, HMC proactively responded to global trends and environment regulations. For social contribution, HMC enlarged its capacity and obtained expertise to effectively carry out global social contribution projects and participated in volunteering programs, contributed to development of local communities. In 2007, HMC established the Hyundai Motor Global CSR Network with primary production and sales subsidiaries around the world and also laid foundations by promoting global CSR activities and by developing and opening the Global CSR Web site for information exchange. Challenge of sustainability: Sustainable development satisfies the needs of the present generation without compromising the chance for future generations to satisfy theirs Brudtland Report (1987). Enhancement of stakeholder value through achieving economic profits, environmental soundness, and the fulfillment of social responsibilities in corporate activities with a long-term perspective is the goal of sustainable management. To social and political sustainability, HMC has increase value to stakeholders through engagement and collaboration. To economic sustainability, HMC has responded to fast-changing demands of global customers by fully utilizing strategically placed production and RD facilities and fulfilled fundamental responsibility as a corporation by sharing economic value with various stakeholders including shareholders, investors, employees and suppliers. To environmental sustainability, HMC has tackled the twin challenges of climate change and energy security by developing green technology. HMC develops environmentally-friendly vehicles and the establishment of low carbon value chains to achieving reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, HMC has establish ed a comprehensive hazardous materials management system and making effort to minimize impact on air quality. Climate change: Climate change is the most important issue to be tackled among five core Environmental Management Areas including Recycling and reuse, Air pollution, Hazardous materials, Environment Management System, Climate change. Since increased consumers preferences for low carbon products, therefore, HMC has invested a large amount of resources into the vehicle energy efficiency improvement technologies. HMC has established and implemented a comprehensive environmental strategy throughout the entire lifecycle of products. Its Blue Drive is a strategy that focuses on fuel efficiency improvement of vehicles power by internal combustion engine and the supply of zero emission vehicles in the future. Facing to multiplied challenges of climate change, HMC has striving to develop vehicle that run on various bio-fuels and hybrid electric vehicles, fuel cell electric vehicle, environmentally -friendly vehicles and the establishment of low carbon value chains to achieve reduction in green house gas emis sion. As a first achievement, HMC is the worlds first LPG Hybrid vehicle using proprietary technologies in July 2009 and release in the North American market and the domestic market in 2010. Engages with external stakeholders: HMC conducts business in an open transparent manner to earn and maintain the trust of all relevant stakeholders including shareholders and investors, customers, suppliers, government and communities. HMC have been sharing relevant information with all stakeholders via its sustainability report since 2003. HMC also tries to promote fair trade, mutually beneficial transaction with business its partners. With customers, HMC has been operating a customer service center that handles customer complaints and inquiries for improving customer satisfaction, reflect customer opinions about product and service by means of including regularly scheduled customer satisfaction surveys, customer services hotlines. The success of a surprisingly bold campaign with a new assurance program, which guaranteed customers to be able to return newly bought cars with no credit damage in the case they lose their income amid the still prevailing financial crisis. For suppliers, HMC created the Mutually Beneficial Cooperation Fund and a number of win-win supplier support programs designed to ensure shared growth with suppliers. In 2008, HMC signed a fair trade agreement with approximately 2,400 suppliers to further increase fairness and transparency collaboration with parts suppliers its essential in achieving high product quality in automobiles. HMC has made a sustainable effort to maximize shareholders and investors value through the increasing value of HMC by cash dividends most important means of sharing company profits. In 2009, HMC declared cash dividends of 1,150 billion KRW per each common share. HMC also paid taxes to central regional government, local community and social distribution expense and launched tailored social contribution activities, organized an active employee volunteer service program which serves as the driving force for Moving the world together social contribution campaign. In 2009, 25,851domestic employees participated in volunteer community service. In conclusion, HMC is more likely to achieve success in the long term by taking responsibility for the economic, social, ethical and environmental impact of its activities. Crisis Management In 2007, the antitrust agency of Korea fined HMC an amount of $ 25 million for violations in businesses. At the same time, Hyundai chairman Chung Mong-koo came before the court for corrupting from funds $ 96 million and damage more than $ 224 million from 2000 to 2006 to bribe officials for Hyundai facilitate urban expansion in southern of Seoul. This incident influenced a lot to the company, especially in long-term strategy, reputation and revenue. The global automotive markets which expanded rapidly over the past five years from 2002 to 2007 had sharply declines from the fall of 2008 in consequence of the financial crisis. Under extremely severe conditions, automakers run a race for survival in the global market. To respond to the crisis, HMC and other automotive manufacturers must solve liquidity problems urgently and reduction in production cost. And they also have implemented creative marketing strategies to entice reluctant consumers. The global financial downturn in 2008-9 affected European and Asian automotive manufacturers. The automotive industry was weakened by a substantial increase in the prices of automotive fuels linked to the 2003-2008 energy crisis which discouraged purchases of sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks which have low fuel economy. With fewer fuel-efficient models to offer to consumers, sales began to slide. By 2008, the situation had turned critical as the credit crunch placed pressure on the prices of raw materials. The result of the 2008-9 international financial crisis impact almost economic sectors and left a number of banks and other financial institution in severe difficulties, forcing some to collapse. As a result, inter-bank, corporate and personal lending was drastically reduces, share price fell, and all the companies found themselves in financial difficulty. The world economic downturn led to falling sale and profit, exchange rate and share prices and a shortage of credit finance for business and consumers, unemployment and social hardship. As a result, automotive industry is one of the first industries to suffer from the 2008-9 world recession. Clearly, consumers incomes were falling, business were cutting down on their purchases, credit was in short supply, thus consumers exercised caution and either bought a used car instead a new one. It is not therefore surprising that there was a significant fall in the demand for new cars. In some country, Government responded to the situation by offering financial incentives to persuade consumers to buy new cars. So HMC focused on making effort to make economizing fuel vehicles with minimize cost to respect customers need and have implemented creative marketing strategies to entice reluctant consumers as most experienced double-digit percentage declines in sales. Although the worlds automotive market remains sluggish, and some of the worlds largest carmakers have been sorely tested on how to survive, HMC has weathered the global crisis relatively well. In the midst of the global crisis, Hyundai planned a standalone strategy, because their product line up is not expected to synergistic effects through MA. Despite difficult market conditions, in 2010, HMC succeeded in increasing its sales and strengthening its internal capacity. Strategy over the past few years HMC developed five mid-and long-term strategies: global management, higher brand values, business innovation, environmental management, and strengthening product competitiveness. Especially, HMC selected environmental management as to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations and the society. HMC also intends to promote sustainability development and preservation of the environment. Blue Drive is HMCs low carbon green technology strategy designed to reduce CO2 emissions by boosting fuel efficiency. Blue Drive also stands for HMCs technology development strategy focus on improving fuel efficiency of internal combustion engine-based cars, and with an ultimate goal of developing vehicles with zero CO2 emissions. HMC has focus on three technology areas for improving energy efficiency of the power-train energy efficiency improvement, minimizing energy loss, and creating renewable energy in order to lower CO2 emissions from vehicles. In Europe, HMC succeeded in low CO2 emissions products including the Blue Drive variant of the i30 diesel model, Blue Drive variants, the i10, the i20, the i30, and the Tucson ix blue. In the US, HMC is the most fuel efficient brand with an average combined (passenger vehicle-light truck) fuel efficiency. In the domestic market, a great number of vehicle models including the Click(Getz), the Verna(Accent), the i30, the Avante (Elantra), t he Tucson(Diesel model), and the Santa Fe(diesel model) earned a first class energy efficiency. HMC has expanded its vehicle lineup by including more luxury sedans and eco-friendly cars in order to keep up its strong performance in the U.S. market. HMC sold more than 500,000 vehicles in the USA in 2010 and it is the highest number of cars it has ever sold in a single year since tapping into the U.S. market in 1986. HMC have been aggressively pushing into China as the country has become the worlds largest automobile market. As its first achievement, HMC launched the worlds first LPG-Hybrid vehicles, the Elantra LPi Hybrid, which is developed using proprietary technologies in 2009 and released the Sonata Hybrid in the North American market in 2010 and in the domestic market in 2011. HMCs high product quality innovation was proven in engine technology-the heart of an automobile. Its technical capabilities and the development of high fuel efficiency-related technologies become a true global environmental leader. Under the philosophy of putting quality first, over 5% of its revenues are invested into RD to secure world-leading quality, marketability and technology. HMC has already taken environmentally-friendly investments and research that have resulted in a range of innovative breakthroughs from fuel-saving technology to new materials and responsible treatment of end-of-life vehicles. By adding blast furnaces to its operations, HMC was able to complete what it calls resource circulating business structure that goes from molten iron to automobiles, and from scrap back to unprocessed steel. Since its first concept model Blue Will in 2009 with light-weight bodies made of carbon-fiber, a panoramic sunroof with solar cells minimizing power loss, HMC will launch plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and electric vehicle (NEV) are optimized for in-city use, especially well-fitted for commutes and short trips. Innovative vehicles that pioneer changed in the auto industry through continuous investment in RD and advanced dealer network programs and highly recognized for its sharp sales increase, first-rate dealership programs, and growth in brand awareness. HMC beat other candidates including Ford, Jaguar, and Landrover to be selected as the winner of the coveted title. Vision, Mission, Goals Hyundai Motor Company has grown rapidly to become one of the largest automobile companies with global top five production capability and superior quality, reaching a tipping point the qualitative approach, bringing bigger ideas and relevant solutions to its customers. At this opportunity to move ahead, HMC have developed a new brand slogan that encapsulates the willingness to take the next big step up. Led by new slogan and the thinking behind, HMC will become a company that keep challenging ourselves to open up new possibilities for people and the planet. HMC established a long-term vision of Innovation Humanity and selected five core strategies directions including a global orientation, respect for human values, customer satisfaction, technology innovation and cultural creation. HMC desires to create an automobile culture of putting customer first via developing human-centered and environment-friendly technological innovation. HMC vision is to secure world-best innovations and raise its profile as a premium automaker. Its quest also includes making this world a better place for all by popularizing next generation eco-friendly technologies and creating a new auto-culture through people-centered technologies that move customers hearts. HMC goal is to become a respected global company that contributed the creation of an automobile consumer culture that respects customers need and innovation in environmental technology that minimize the environmental impact of automobile. HMCs success, watched closely worldwide, is a result of continuous and aggressive innovations that have been implemented on behalf of our customers. HMC considers its most important mission to bring the enjoyment of elegance and confidence to its customers, rather than just selling products. Hyundai strives to bring its customers luxury and style. Therefore, Hyundai will continue to stabilize its global management by establishing an effective cooperation system among production bases around the world. HMCs management goal is customer-oriented management and continuous execution of global management. Motivation employees HMC has human resource management policy with fairness and reasonableness as the guiding principle, ensuring protection of human right and maximizing employees satisfaction at the work place. HMC does not discriminate against its employees or job applicant on the basis of race, age, religion, sea, nationality, physical characteristic or any other facture for all personal decisions including recruitment, placement, evaluation, compensation, training, rank or promotion. HMC respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and fully comply with related laws and international labor practice norm including the UN Global Compact principles and ILO guidelines. HMC provide fair compensation for all work at our business sites according to the work guidelines, compensation policy and relevant laws. Also, HMC have created an ethics charter that calls for respect of the right of all workers. HMC focus in increasing health service for workers in the older age group, implementation of policies to recruit and support female employees and provision of more employment opportunity to non-Korean nationals and people with disability improve working conditions for female workers, HMC offer benefits including monthly days off and 90 day maternity leave. Some operation sites offer childcare centers for working mother as well. HMC ensures employees safety pre-assessment, accident prevention activities, increased investment in safety-related facilities and safety training. Therefore, HMC pursue a long-term relationship that is mutually beneficial to both employees and management. Desirability as an employee I would like to work for HMC because HMC is a leading global automaker with competitive edge in product quality, innovation, appealing to the ever-growing emerging markets, as well as the rapidly changing global market. Moreover, it contributes to society, as part of our global corporate responsibility, as well as to secure leadership for future growth through environmental management, forging the way for green growth and the development of world-class eco-friendly vehicles. Actually HMC is an ideal work place, safe and healthy working environment because of its human resource management policy with fairness and reasonableness to ensure human right protection and maximizing employees satisfaction. HMC regards employees as important assets for corporate growth so it has established the HMC ethics charter, the employee code of conduct, and the Guideline on Ethical Business Practices to help employees make the correct decision in the business conduct. It endeavors to provide all employe es with environment training program. HMC is stepping up efforts to ensure fairness in HR decisions, to introduce a rational compensation system, to collaborate with the UN Global Compact for human rights protection, talent development, welfare improvement, and health and safety enhancement. References: Main sources: Hyundai Motor Company. Available from [Accessed 4th March 2011] The road to Sustainability-Hyundai. Available from [Accessed 8th March 2011] The road to sustainability Hyundai. Available from [Accessed 8th March 2011] Global Crisis Enables Hyundai to Grow Bigger, 04-21-2010Â  19:37, Available from [Accessed 9th March 2011] Hyundai Motor joins top 3, in Fortune Korea 500; 10-24-2010Â  18:54. Available from [Accessed 9th March 2011] PART 2: Critically discuss the contention that Leaders are born not made Leadership is the process of influencing people towards achievement of organization goals (Naylor J. (2004) 2nd ed. Management, Harlow. Prentice-Hall) Are Leaders born not made? The answer is both. In todays world, many believe that it is possible to send employees to a series of leadership training classes and make them a leader. In fact, they may promote into a position of leadership, but they lack any of the qualities of a true leader. In short, leaders have something within that the others dont have. It is an intangible characteristic that cant be explained but can be recognized. This is due to certain in-born talent that can never be cultivated via training (e.g. charismatic, verbal approach to persuasion, ability to influence through persuasion). Most of these qualities essential to being a leader can be linked directly to ingrown personality traits, the ability to have a vision and intuition, the natural intelligence factor, the enjoyment of obsessing with self improvement, mastering the natural talents they were born with. These are all aspects of personality and are extremely difficult to learn. It is true that people can be trained through leadership programs; however these trained people will be often pale in comparison with those who have in-born characteristics. Perhaps it varies from person to person. It is really not easy to determine what part of leader abilities is acquired and what part is inborn or natural. Not every leader is born and not every person can be groomed to be a leader. It is not just the amount of training an individual receives that creates a leader; rather it is the in-born abilities an individual possesses and the willingness to learn (e.g. ability to adapt). The training just accelerates the development of the natural talents. True, those born with leadership abilities have distinct traits that separate those from the rest, sometimes even from childhood, but others who are keen enough and intelligent enough can be trained to become good leaders. What if Im not a born leader? Not being born with the skills to lead doesnt mean you dont have chance to become a leader. There are plenty of positions that require leadership skills that also allow to being underdeveloped. Those with ingrained leadership qualities dont get to rest on their talents. Like any skill, if you continually work on improvement and the pursuit of perfection, you will soon find yourself goal. You can only harness your potential by continually striving to improve. With the appropriate demonstrated levels of willingness and ability, a person with potential can be molded into a leader through training. Those continue to learn and develop whatever skills they possess; training or practice will give the character, vision or presence to be a great leader. But the environment will determine whether potential leaders can develop their talents. All of us are born with one trait in common potential. There is much potential of course, but the key in dealing with potenti al is the stimulus and environment that brings it out. So it is seen that leadership characteristics are most likely inherent and can be developed in the right environment. References: Leaders Are Born Not Made. Available from [Accessed 4th Feb 2011] Leaders Are Born Not Made. Available from [Accessed 4th Feb 2011] Leadership. Available from . [Accessed 4th Feb 2011] Leaders Are Born Not Made. Available from [Accessed 4th Feb 2011] PART 3: Critically discuss the following statement: The best way to ensure constant innovation is to hire young, newly-graduated candidates with an interest in innovation and set them up in a think-tank, separate from the main organization so they can develop new ideas unimpeded by the existing business. If you were an employer, what kind of people would you want to hire? Well, the perfect candidate that meet every aspect of the job description of course. Employers know, People who have years of experience may either require a salary too high, may not have knowledge of the newest technologies whereas recent graduates dont have important years of experience, professional knowledge, or highly developed skills but employers realize that if they hire the most qualified and suitable talent from outstanding universities and continue to educate and mold recent college graduates to fits their needs, they will provide enough quality clay to work with to create that perfect mold. Knowledge is the prerequisite for innovation and new technology distributes knowledge. Todays young employees have grown up with the latest technology and they often have a quicker grasp of the newest technical knowledge than older candidates. Many people have a bias that young people are better at innovation, coming out of school fully prepared, multi-skilled, capable of creative thought, much new ideas. The harsh reality is that in the technology world, companies prefer to hire young, inexperienced engineers because hiring fresh graduate with no skills takes less money and they will rapidly learn the latest coding methods and techniques. Â  As well, the older candidates likely have family and need to leave by 6 pm, whereas the young can pull all-nighters. In addition, companies nowadays are increasingly working on an international level in financial jobs and careers in telecommunications, so newly-graduated that study abroad will often have a desired global perspective. Their multi-cultural learning and experience, being bilingual is valued in many fields, especially in existing business innovation. However, the statement that the best way to ensure constant innovation is to hire young, newly-graduated candidates with an interest in innovation so they can develop new ideas unimpeded by the existing business is not really true in individual case. Almost leaders and managers often respect and listen to elders ideas in the company because they know well about organization structure, business strategy, mission, related stakeholders as customers, partners and they can take full advantage of their experience, knowledge by contributing practical ideas to constant innovation in products, processe