Child and young person development Essay

Development in children is gaining skills and experiences in every aspect of the child’s life. The different types of development are split into three main categories: physical development, communication and intellectual development and social, emotional and behavioural development. Physical development improves the child’s body skills such as gross motor development, which is using large muscles such as the muscles within arms and legs, and fine motor development, which is the use of precise muscles such as those of the hands and fingers. Communication and intellectual development allows the child to communicate and connect with different members of society – family, friends and all others – whilst also improving the child’s understanding and thinking skills. Social, emotional and behavioural development allows the child to develop relationships with other children and adults whilst learning the necessary skills to live in society with others and a llows the child to form their own unique identity and self-image. Although each child develops at their own rate, there are things or certain milestones that are to be expected when reaching a certain age. Between birth and 3 months old babies cannot understand what is happening to them. They do not understand that they are being cared for, and they do not even realise that they are people. They feel ‘happy’ when they feed but don’t fully understand what ‘happy’ is. As babies are not able to think, they will pick up on somebody’s feelings and mirror them. Although babies grow to exist by themselves, outside of their mother’s womb, most of their bodies are still very immature. As they don’t understand their environment, babies can become very distressed if they are given too much to see. From birth to 3 months, babies communicate with others by crying. This allows their carer to know when they are hungry, tired, etc. From birth, when a baby’s cheek is touched, they will turn their head towards the feeling. By six weeks old, babies can smile responsively. By 2 months old, a baby can usually kick its legs vigorously. By 1 month old, a baby can follow a moving light, however, by 2-3 months old, they can watch a moving face accurately. Between 3-6 months old, babies are beginning to understand their surroundings. T hey start to know and recognise regular people within their lives, e.g. their mother, father, grandparents and siblings. They begin to make eye contact and at this age, start to smile. If they see that an adult looks cross, they will feel and look worried. Babies have trouble grasping  that themselves and their primary care-giver (usually the mother) are separate. It is between 3-6 months old that babies start to gain some control over their bodies. They start to explore their hands and feet and begin to understand that they can feel on the outside as well as the inside. Babies ‘coo’ for pleasure and they are able to ‘talk’ to their toys by 6 months old. Between 3-4 months old, they are able to hold objects, and swipe at dangling objects, but usually miss. Between the ages of 4-6 months, a baby will usually learn to roll over. By 6 months old, a baby will usually be able to support their own weight by standing on their feet for very short periods of time. Between 6-12 months is the stage that babies explore through physically doing. They will begin crawling and rolling over independently. From 6-8 months they will be able to sit up with support, and from 9 months onwards will be able to do so on their own. From 9 months old, babies will be able to use things such as furniture to stand up. Babies can imitate sounds and actions and recognise words and phrases. They can say a few words unclearly and it is at this point that they begin to respond to their name. Between the ages of 6-12 months, they are able to point to familiar things and they realise that things still exist when they are out of sight and will begin to look for them. Tow ards 10-12 months old, babies like to put things in containers. They like to remain physically close to their primary care giver, and shows pleasure when that person returns to them. They seek comfort when they are upset and start to read other people’s emotions. Babies, between the age 6-12 months, enjoy games such as Peek-a-Boo, and they play purposely with toys. They become anxious around strangers and may cry or cling when their parents leave.

Looking for Alaska Essay

John Green’s 2006 novel Looking for Alaska personally affected me as I could relate to one of the main characters Miles (Pudge). The theme of belonging was also very relevant as this novel touches on the concern of Miles fitting into his new school and finding out how everything works at Culver Creek Preparatory. I directly can relate to Miles in this sense as I am still new and am trying to figure out how my new school works and also finding a friendship group that I am comfortable in. This novel is great because it raises questions about individuals understanding of true friendship, love, loyalty and having a sense of belonging. It shows the importance of truly living life to the fullest rather that just watching it fly by. The conflicts within the characters themselves lead readers inward to examine how much everyone needs a sense knowing where we belong. Pudge buys the cigarettes to show that he can be a part of his new friendship group’s crowd. A certain amount of peer pressure was probably involved, with Pudge worried about ‘fitting in’ and making friends. â€Å"The Colonel talked me into paying five dollars for a pack of Marlboro Lights I had no intention of ever smoking. † I think that by Miles giving into this peer pressure he would hope that it would make him feel more normal and apart of that what his friends were partaking in. The use of first person narrative point of view allowed me to experience things as Miles does. It gave me a deeper understanding of how he is affected by people, events and his own reactions and feelings as the novel progresses. This is no more clearly seen than in the event of Alaska dying, I was limited to Miles’ own feelings and emotions surrounding her death. The idea of guilt and loss becomes apparent as we see him struggle to deal with her death and the role he played in it, with him trying to figure out where he belongs. He experiences a loss of innocence as he is forced to re-evaluate his philosophy on life and find his own place in the world. Alaska’s death aids in Miles’ coming-of-age journey. â€Å"I felt the total loss of her, still reeling from the idea that she was not only gone from this world, but from them all† This can be very relatable for other audiences who might have suffered a great loss like Miles’. Looking for Alaska depicts many messages about one’s vital need to belong, some of which I can personally relate to. As well as other aspects of the novel that other audiences can personally relate to.

Cultural Manifestation Via A Game Of Street Basketball Essay

Two hoops, ten players, one basketball court and one leather ball to dribble, pass, shoot and score points with. The other aspects of basketball – the rules, the technicalities – are all fluid and bent by the whims and preferences of the existing culture, even the existing playing teams. Street basketball may not be the roots of the sport, but through the years, it has becoming both the foundation of professional basketball as well as the avenue for the exercise of the growing subculture in street basketball. Ballard (2004) elaborates: â€Å"Within the caged confines amidst the bohemian community of Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan can be found the essence of street basketball: all the grit, showmanship, competition, and spectacle that make the game great† (pg 35). To those who are not indoctrinated in the culture of street basketball, it is easy to say that what they see being played on the street and what they see flashing on their television monitors are both the same game of basketball; that they share so many similar attributes and that the only thing different in street basketball compared to collegiate or professional basketball is the level of popularity. But that is far from the truth – because those who know and understand street basketball, those who lived and breathed street basketball, those who bled and literally died in the cement floors of the street basketball courts know that what they do where they do it is so much different from what high salaried pro basketball players do in the NBA. They have different stages where they play; they have different rules as well as different ways of enforcing it; they have different cultures and different reasons why they play basketball. The only thing they have in common is that they all want that leather and rubber spheroid up in the air and then inside the rim, swooshing the net that makes a catcall for such a sexy swing. Professional basketball is all about winning the coveted ‘ring’, about being able to parade around town like rockstars and hoist that championship trophy alongside guys who you might be elbowing the following season. In professional basketball, there is a certain convenience for players and team owners to just move from one team to another because it is just a job for them, but on the street, one’s alliance to a basketball team is a binding oath; jumping to another team is never about the job of getting the Ws and finishing the season with the ‘ring’, and most players who see a former teammate desert them always take it personal, because street basketball is never a job. It is a brotherhood where loyalty is the most expensive and most important aspect of a player, and those who sell it cheap will always have a ‘low market value’. Street basketball and professional basketball have different set of ethos – in street basketball, they play for their team’s pride and for the wager while in professional basketball, they play for their own personal pride and for their own personal salary, especially in today’s era when even the best of players are traded to other teams in exchange for the chance of the team’s long term vision to take shape. In street basketball, it is always here and now, every game feels like the last game, and it is hard to go home with a monkey on your back because when you lost, you did not just part with some of your money, you also parted with some ounces of self respect and the respect of the people in the neighborhood about you, your team and your game. Observing and analyzing human behavior – Like every cultural vestige and like every subculture type, included in the consideration for the analysis of certain cultural practices is the assessment of human behavior. In street basketball, there are also a set of prevailing human behavior and the dictating factors on why such patterns exist, appear and persist. The manifestation of these sets and patterns of human behavior inside street basketball is two-pronged; those which the average eyes can see and those which only the trained eyes can detect happen simultaneously. It is both reflected and hidden in the way they dress, in the way they talk and in the way they play the game. The human behavior patterns in street basketball depict that of the prehistoric tribes – it requires that only the fittest with the toughest set of behaviors survive. And what are these behaviors? The behavior in fighting, in negotiating, in people management and control of power – all of these behaviors are essential for a person to survive the culture of street basketball. Without some of these behaviors, the individual is forced outside the circle of street basketball. Players fight for their place to be among those who are considered as respected basketball players in the street. Outside the five-on-five, there are those who wield similar power, clout and influence – those who fix wagers, those who tap, harness and control budding talents and those who are present in the circuit for their own socio-political reasons. One needs only to sit down by the bleachers and take a good look around to see the abundance of a diverse set of human behavior present inside one confined yet open spaced rectangular domain of street basketball. African American guys play with white guys and vice versa, and so does the relationship of those who have different ethnic descent, and this reflects the behavior of the individuals inside street basketball when it comes to ethnic sensitivity. Other easily discernable behaviors found in street basketball include the penchant of most basketball players for gambling, their obvious disregard for socially accepted behavior while in public like going topless for most of the time, spitting, cursing and the prevalence of foul and derogatory terms hurled at each other, the integration of gang related separatist attitude and the resorting to physical assault as a way to settle differences of avenge any feeling of indignation. Looking at street basketball players, the universal behavior noticeable is their take on street basketball as the end all and be all of their lives – they gamble every paper bill they have on the pockets of their pants, sometimes, even money that they don’t have, on a round of street basketball without serious regard for what will happen in the future in the event that they lose their bet; most of them would rather spend their days playing ball and cementing their hold among their peers and their social cliques, which sometimes result in the creation of strong bonds of brotherhood between two persons or among members of a group or the creation of intensive animosity as well; school is never an equally important priority, and the preference for the type of work they would engage on is similar on how they battle, win and lost in street basketball – exciting, thrilling and promises the yield of a quick buck.. Street basketball is a religion, while professional basketball is a mere day job for night shift dribblers, and the rituals that are involved in the daily exercise of their faith exists in different aspects – there are rituals of battle, rituals of praise, rituals done to ask for intercession and divine intercession as well as the rituals for both the victorious and the defeated. At some point, the ‘real’ and the ‘sports-based’ religion meets in the middle, when religion is infused in the practice of a competitive sport, because there is one ultimate human behavior that is manifested greatly in street basketball – and that is the desire to win, because winning is always more than the scorebook statistics; it is about winning wagers and bets, winning the respect of the crowd as well as the opponents and winning your own sense of self respect towards yourself. A sports activity is a particular cultural event, and like any other cultural event, st reet basketball is unique in different places. But despite these differences, this cultural event shares the same characteristic – and that is this: that it is the showcasing of the most primitive instinct that is present among humans inside the society; it is a display of skill, grace, strength and the set of values to which a person will be remembered for; it is a reminder of how fiercely competitive the world is, how one should earn everything with his bare hands standing on his own two feet alone. Street basketball speaks a lot about a place’s culture; pro basketball is plain entertainment. Works Cited: Ballard, Chris. â€Å"Hoops Nation: A Guide to America’s Best Pickup Basketball. † University of Nebraska Press, October 2004.

Critically assess, compare and contrast the RANDOM NETWORK and the Essay

Critically assess, compare and contrast the RANDOM NETWORK and the SCALE-FREE network proposed by Barabasi and Albert. With the - Essay Example An examination of the vulnerability of scale-free networks is also discussed in this paper, and the effect of power law distribution on the network topology is analyzed. The removal of nodes in these network models and the effects of such removal are discussed. The contrast between Scale-free networks and random networks in the area of resisting failures is analyzed, as it has been suggested that the strongly connected nodes are responsible for the failure of scale-free networks. This paper also includes some theoretical syntheses, the proposal of new and exploratory conceptual models, theoretically grounded discussions of methodology, the analysis of historical developments with clear implications for current and future theory, theoretically relevant discussions of timely and important network issues, and comprehensive literature reviews with strong theoretical implications. INTRODUCTION In recent history, evolving networks have been seen as a relevant and very popular area of resea rch among physicists. Reka Albert and Albert-Laszlo Barabasi introduced a concept of evolving networks that is based on preferential attachment, in order to understand the areas from which the ubiquity of scale-free distributions in real networks originates. Reka Albert and Albert-Laszlo Barabasi studied a highly connected network model which was later called the scale-free network. â€Å"Networks have become a general tool for describing the structure of interaction or dependencies in such disparate systems as cell metabolism, the internet, and society.† (Barabasi A-L, Albert R 2002) With scale free networks, even in very large networks, nodes can be selected arbitrarily and connected through other nodes which serve as the intermediary nodes. â€Å"There are features that the scale-free network contains that are lacking in the random network. In a scale free network, a small number of nodes contribute heavily to connectivity. These nodes are called hubs. In a random network , each node contributes approximately the same to the overall connectivity of the network.†(Barabasi, Albert-Laszlo 2002) In a scale-free network, the network is self-similar, in that different parts of the network are statistically similar throughout the entire network. This self similarity is a major feature of fractals. â€Å"The term "scale-free" was first coined by physicist Albert-Laszlo Barabasi and his colleagues at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. In 1998, they mapped the connectedness of the World Wide Web and found, to their surprise, that the web did not have an even distribution of connectivity (so-called "random connectivity"). Instead, a very few network nodes (also referred to as hubs) were far more connected than other nodes. In general, they found that the probability P (k) that a node in the network connects with k other nodes was, in a given network, proportional to k. They named this kind of network connectivity "scale-free". They also argued that there is a simple explanation for this behavior. Many networks expand through the addition of nodes to an existing network, and those nodes attach preferentially to nodes already well-connected. When this is the case, a scale-free network naturally arises.† (Watts, D.W 2003) Although a scale-free netw

Mid term assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mid term - Assignment Example is 1.3%, European Union: 1%, Japan: -0.4%, China: 9.8%, India: 6.6%, Ethiopia: 8.5%. (C.I.A., 2009). As a general rule the LDCs tend to have higher average rates of growth as compared to high income economies, which implies that eventually, such poor countries may equal the per capita incomes of wealthier countries, which in an economic term is referred to as: convergence. b. Technological innovation is almost certainly a key driver of long-term economic growth. However, developing economies require more than mere technological advancements, to effectively achieve economic progress since economic growth, in the absence of proper and adequate manufacturing capabilities, along with the implementation of state of the art technological knowhow, no innovation can actually be expected. Moreover, there must be the existence of sufficient resources that facilitate such innovation, which in turn drives economic growth, such as exceptionally high quality of human capital, an adequate level of educational system and science and technology, as well as effective implementation of institutional reforms across the country. c. The institutional reforms must be accompanied by advances in science and technology as well as nation wide political, and legal reform policies. Also, these countries must make optimum utilization of their natural resource base such as wind and solar energy, by taking into consideration the differences in its technological capacity and energy requirements. Furthermore, long term sustainable development can be ensured through partnerships with industrialized nations which enable LDCs to share and implement valuable information regarding policies to ensure growth and development. 2. Vietnam has successfully managed to accomplish a noteworthy reduction in poverty in the recent years which further substantiates the belief that poverty could be concentrated considerably within a specified time limit with the help of effective market reform policies.

EVOLUTION Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

EVOLUTION - Term Paper Example Genetic drift on the other hand leads to variation in the gene pool while non-random mating and gene flow results in reduction of differences among populations. 12. Biogeography is concerned with the geographical location of species all over the planet. Related species or species that share common ancestry can be found in different regions with similar climatic conditions. 13. Analogous structures occur due to convergent evolution for instance wings in both insects and birds while homologous structures are similar in anatomy but different in functions such as bat and birds which have pterodactyl wings. Vestigial structures are redundant with no biological importance or use like the ear bones in humans. 14. Embryonic development is important in explaining evolutionary relationships in that related species usually have patterns of embryonic development that resemble one another. Moreover, similar patterns of development are hypothesized as to have only evolved once. 18. Microevolution refers to changes within a genetic pool which results in small changes in an individual while macroevolution is significant changes in individuals resulting in creation of new species. 20. Barriers to reproduction can either be pre or post zygotic isolation mechanisms. In Pre-zygotic isolation, the mechanism occurred before breeding and include; gametic, mechanical and habitat isolations. On the other hand, post reproduction isolation occurs after copulation in includes mechanisms such as hybrid sterility, zygote mortality and non viable hybrids. 21. Allopatric speciation occurs when species are separated by a physical barrier while parapatric speciation takes place when species are not separated by barriers but live on the same area but develop different adaptations due to things such as pollution. On the other hand, sympatric speciation is controversial because it takes place in members within the same geographical location. 25. Cladistic approaches

Writing 115 Integrating quotations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Writing 115 Integrating quotations - Essay Example King reaffirms his commitment to non-violence in the struggle for civil rights. 1. â€Å"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair,† urges Martin Luther King to the crowd gathered to hear his speech. King attempts to inspire African Americans reeling under the blows of police violence and racial discrimination. He confidently asserts that their aspirations for civil rights and justice will be met in the near future. 2. Martin Luther King declares that African Americans will not rest until they receive justice. With the words â€Å"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair,† King encourages those who have suffered the torment of racial discrimination not to lose hope. He assures his listeners that they will soon win their struggle for civil rights and liberty. 3. Martin Luther King reaches out to those who have suffered the cruel effects of racism. He inspires them with his words, â€Å"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.† He assures them that he has faith in the dawn of true freedom for African Americans. Barbara Huttman’s essay, â€Å"A Crime of Compassion,† is a deeply moving account of euthanasia. Huttman’s writing is so graphic, that the reader can easily visualize Mac’s transformation from â€Å"a young, witty, macho cop† to â€Å"a 60 pound skeleton kept alive by liquid food we poured down a tube† (Huttman, 343). Huttman’s detailed account of Mac’s symptoms, and the various medical procedures he is subjected to, evoke a deep sympathy. The anguish felt by Mac is conveyed through his heart-rending cry, â€Å"Mercy . . . for Gods sake, please just let me go†Ã‚  (Huttman, 343). Huttman’s account is very effective, largely because it is a first-hand narrative. It is a criticism of the â€Å"death-denying  society† (Huttman, 343), which insists on using scientific techniques to prolong life, regardless of the quality of life or the wishes of the patient.  The writer’s credibility is further enhanc ed by her

What are the essential aspects of melodrama Essay

What are the essential aspects of melodrama - Essay Example Melodrama could be part of a play, a film, or a book. Today it is employed effectively in television serials also. It could take the form of a tragedy, a comedy, a romance or adventure. Melodrama has been used since the early nineteenth century. According to George Rowell, (1968), pp 450-451, who had reviewed the book: The World of Melodrama by Frank Rahill, the account has the merits of a wide range and considerable detail. Manifestations of melodrama on both sides of the Atlantic are covered, and Rahill’s careful handling of the French form is notable. Melodrama was long dismissed by literary critics as good theatre but bad drama. Melodrama was more to do with quantity than quality, and appealed more to the eye than the mind. One of the chief merits of melodrama was the vitality that it possessed. Films: During the last forty years, Douglas Sirk and his family melodramas have achieved an almost legendary status in film studies. Sirk’s work has been critically acclaimed since the 1950’s and he is universally defined as the subversive master of melodrama. Some of his works are: Magnificent Obsession (1954), Written on the Wind (1957), and Imitation of Life (1959). He was dedicated to critiquing the bourgeoise. The sophisticated family melodramas of Sirk and others realized the genre’s historical capability to act as a revolutionary form during times of cultural struggle. Sirk demonstrated how melodrama often considered a trivial genre, could achieve the status of a serious artistic and cultural form. (Barbara Klinger, 1994, pp.xi-xii). The relationship between melodrama and the prevailing ideology, culture and history can be noted. Critics have continually interpreted individual films as responses to times of national and social crises; from the moral dilemmas of post-revolutionary France to the class conflicts and forbidding sexual mores of the Victorian era,

International Outsourcing of Clothing Industry Dissertation

International Outsourcing of Clothing Industry - Dissertation Example At international level several attempts have been made by the international trading bodies like WTO to liberalize the trade system and as a result there is increase in the outsourcing of different industries. Globalization has drawn lasting effects on the clothing industry as well and global outsourcing is occurring in the industry at increasing rates. Outsourcing of different industries draws significant impacts of the performance of that industry as well as on the entire economy. There are different view points about the potential effects of global outsourcing. Some researchers (e.g. Antras, Helpman, 2004) believe that increased global outsourcing cause unemployment of thousands of domestic highly skilled professionals as the companies offer the employment opportunities to the labor of another country from where they might get the labor at low wages or salaries. On the other hand some social scientists (e.g. Bruce S. Berton, 2004; Amiti, Wei, 2005) strongly believe that the economies in the 21st century must need outsourcing in different industries because it bring variety of benefits and advantages to the countries like the consumers get more choices available in front of them and they also have an easy access to purchase the products at different levels of distribution. Along with these effects of global outsourcing attempts are also made to examine the impacts of outsourcing on the workforce of the countries (e.g. Campa and Linda S. Goldberg 1997; Maria Pia Hernandez, 2004). Despite the fact the a considerable portion of literature is concerned with examining the effects of global outsourcing on industries and the economies, there are few researches that study the impact of global outsourcing of clothing... The dissertation unfolded the international outsourcing of the clothing industry from the US and also provided the information about the various issues that are related to the clothing industry outsourcing. It came out from the study the clothing industry is being outsourced internationally from America for many years ago. It means that there is enough awareness in the businesses of the American clothing industry that they paid attention towards the outsourcing and discovered that the outsourcing will provide them certain benefits. As a result of this thinking outsourcing of clothing industry by the US, clothing firms become a common practice and many of the famous brands also get their clothing assembled in other countries where the manufacturing cost is less than America. The two important factors that were pointed out as the main player that encourage the outsourcing of industries (Technology advancement and Trade liberalization measures) also played an active role in the internat ional outsourcing of the US clothing industry. The clothing firms of US is not only facilitated by the technology to get into the outsourcing practice but the favorable investment and trade condition also makes it possible that the companies to look towards international outsourcing and save the money that is saved from the labor salaries. The clothing industry mostly looks towards the positive consequences of the international outsourcing and they do not take much care of the matter that what will happen to the skill and unskilled labor of home country.

Essay over the electoral college Essay Example for Free

Essay over the electoral college Essay In the United States today, we use the Electoral College to decide who is going to be the next president. The presidency is not necessarily won by popular vote. The founding fathers opted for the Electoral College, because they were afraid of the masses. They wanted the president to be chosen by those who are qualified, well informed, and have the ability to chose a president more efficiently then the so called mob. Although I believe the Electoral College needs many changes, it is necessary in order to have a successful government that is fair. Thee main argument against the Electoral College is that the presidency should be won by popular vote alone. It shouldnt be that one candidate could win the popular vote, but lose the election. At first I completely agreed with this, because we do live in a democracy, and I believe that a democracy is a government for the people by the people. This would mean that the mass population decides who is the president, not a hand picked group of men to vote on who they wish, because they do not always have to vote on the candidate in which the state has voted the majority on. Although the Electoral College may take away the presidency from the candidate that won the majority vote, it evens things out across the nation. The Electoral College is necessary to make every state important in the voting process. If you did not have the Electoral College, those who were running for office would only campaign in the major states, that way they could get the majority of the population. For example the candidate would advertise and campaign in New York, especially New York City, because there is such a vast amount of people who live there, so he would try to assure that he had the votes for this city, and majority of the state, and would not have to worry about Montana. They candidate would then not go to smaller less populated states like Montana, South or North Dakota. He would not worry about the states or cities that had little populations, because are all he needs to worry about is that the majority of the people in the United States vote for him. It would be much easier to win an election by getting more people in more populated cities to vote, and not worrying about the little populations. This in fact takes away from the idea of a democracy, because it conveys the message that the only thing a presidential candidate  needs to worry about is getting the majority of the votes, and this does not have to be all over the nation, because there are parts of the nation that the population well exceeds other parts. The founding fathers developed the electoral college because they were afraid of what the government would be like if the masses were allowed to determine who they wanted in office. They were aware that it would turn into a popularity thing, and that is not what was needed in order to run a government efficiently. Although the population must have a say in the government, there has to be some form of control, and that was the basis of the Electoral College. I think that in order for the Electoral College to be successful, and to function properly, there has to be some major changes to it. The biggest change needs to be the fact that the electors themselves need to be abolished. I think that it should be set up to where the popular vote in the state decides whom the electoral votes from the state go. The majority of the time this is what happens, but it does not have to. If an elector wanted to vote for someone other then that the state allotted popular vote to, they very well could. I do not think that it should be allowed, because by doing that it takes the democracy out of the government, because it is never a certain thing that the populace wish will be carried out. If you want to go even farther you could break it down into districts with in the state. Each district gets one Electoral College vote, and the vote goes to the candidate in which has the majority of that district. The Electoral College is definitely needed in this country in order for the election process to be fair to all states and thus to all constituents. Although winning by popular votes sounds like the way to go in a democracy, it is not. If that were the case then there would be no equality among states, and the fact that everybody matters in a democracy would not be. There would be very little concentration on other small or less populated states, because you could win the election without them.

Agricultural Wage †Productivity Relationship Analysis

Agricultural Wage – Productivity Relationship Analysis A STUDY ON AGRICULTURAL WAGE – PRODUCTIVITY RELATIONSHIP WITH REFERENCE TO GROUNDNUT CROP IN CHITTOOR DISTRICT (ANDHRA PRADESH) Dr. E. Lokanadha Reddy, Abstract— The increase in production and productivity are influencing agricultural wages. But the results of empirical studies have shown a positive relationship between real wages and productivity. It is also observed that the real wages seem to have declined or remained stagnant in spite of increasing agricultural production. However, a close relationship may be found between wages and productivity. There are number of studies on the agricultural sector in Chittoor district. But the research on agricultural wage – productivity relationship is very limited. This paper aims to study the Agricultural Wage – Productivity Relationship with reference to Groundnut crop in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. An attempt has been made to study the relationship between wages and yield, output price of major crop ‘Groundnut’ for entire district as a whole. A regression model is used to study the relationship. In the present study, the relevant secondary data fo r explanatory and explained variables is collected from the Census of India 1991 : Population Census and also from handbook of statistics and other unpublished official records of the Chief Planning Officer, Chittoor. The primary data required is collected through field survey : 1998-99. In case of female agricultural labour, regarding the lagged yields, the rate of increase in real wages (0.19) is twice as compared to that of money wages. This increase in real wages over money wages reveals that the economic position of the female agricultural labour may be increased due to raise in lagged yields. Owing to the lagged price, the rate of increase in real wages of female agricultural labour (0.39) as compared to the female agricultural money wages (1.41) is approximately one forth. This result shows that about 3/4th of the monetary gains of the female agricultural labour has been taken away by consumer price rise. From this rate of increase in real wages, it may be concluded that the real economic position of the female agricultural labour has been deteriorated marginally. The same variables for the male population is studied and analysed . Further, the same was calculated separately for the three revenue divisions of Chittoor District. Keywords- Agricultrual Productivity; Female Money Wagerate; Female Real Wagerate; Male Money Wagerate; Male Real Wagerate; Regression Co-efficients; I. Introduction The term agricultural productivity we mean the varying relationship between the agricultural output and one of the major input such as land. The most commonly used term for representing agricultural productivity is the average yield per hectare of land. After the introduction of modern agricultural technique along with the adoption of hybrid seeds, extension of irrigation facilities and application of intensive methods of cultivation in India, yield per hectare of all crops has recorded a steep rising trend. Agricultural productivity in India has undergone an abrupt change in the Post-Green Revolution period. But the fruits of green revolution were mostly available to some particular states only, as the introduction of new agricultural strategy was very much restricted into some particular states like Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttarpradesh. Thus while the agricultural productivity in all other states remained more or less static or increased slowly but the agricultural productivity of some crops in those particular states adopting new agricultural strategy has increased substantially. All these had led to a high degree of inter-state differences in agricultural productivity in the country. The condition of Indian agriculture still largely remains backward although it is considered as the backbone of the Indian economy. Agriculture productivity which is composed of both productivity of land and labour as well, is among the lowest in the world. Average yield per hectare in India is quite below the world average in all crops. It is much lower as compared with even the yield rates prevailing in less advanced countries of the world. With the introduction of economic planning in India, although some steps have been undertaken for improving the conditions of agriculture, its conditions have not changed much. In subsistence farming, the relation between wages and productivity is not like that in the modern sector where additional labour is employed to increase output and we imagine an employer equating wages with the marginal product. Wages and productivity are related in the sense that wages are paid out of total product, which depends upon productivity. The increase in production and productivity are influencing agricultural wages. But the results of empirical studies have shown a positive relationship between real wages and productivity. It is also observed that the real wages seem to have declined or remained stagnant in spite of increasing agricultural production. However, a close relationship may be found between wages and productivity. There are number of studies on the agricultural sector in Chittoor district. But the research on agricultural wage – productivity relationship is very limited. Hence an attempt is made to study the Agricultural Wage – Productivity Relationship with reference to Groundnut crop in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. II. OBJECTIVES The following is the objective of the study: To study the Agricultural Wage – Productivity Relationship with reference to Groundnut crop in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh. III. METHODOLOGY An attempt has been made to study the relationship between wages and yield, output price of major crop ‘Groundnut’ for entire district as a whole. Therefore the following regression model is proposed to study the relationship. Y = a+ b X1 +c X2 (1) Where, Y = Real/money wagerate X1 = Lagged yield (Quintals per hectare) X2 = Lagged price (Rs. Per quintal) a, b and c are the constants. Both the linear and log-linear models have been estimated to the above model and it is decided that the log – linear model yields good results. Hence, the analysis has been carried out to log – linear model only. The log – linear model is as follows : logY = a+ b logX1 +c logX2 (2) In the present study, the relevant secondary data for explanatory and explained variables is collected from the Census of India 1991 : Population Census and also from handbook of statistics and other unpublished official records of the Chief Planning Officer, Chittoor. The primary data required is collected through field survey : 1998-99. IV. FINDINGS It is proposed to study the relationship between wages with yield and output prices per quintal of groundnut. Between the linear and log-linear estimates; log-linear model gives better results than the linear estimates. The equation (2) given in the methodology is estimated. The results were analysed based on log-linear estimates for the entire district as a whole. The estimated regression equation for female money wagerate is Y = -7.2169 + 0.0821 X1 +1.4356* X2 (0.2840) (0.1258) R2 = 0.9064 , F = 76.8136* * Significant at 5 per cent probability level. The two estimated regression co-efficients of lagged yield (X1) and lagged price (X2) are positive. It means, the effect of these two variables on money wagerate (Y) is positive. An increase in these two variables will increase the female money wagerate in Chittoor district. An increase in one unit of lagged yield will increase the female money wagerate by 0.08 units, but this increase is not significant. Similarly, an increase in one unit of lagged price will increase the female money wagerate by 1.44 units. This increase is significant. Hence, female money wages are influenced by changes in the yield and prices of output. One unit increase in output would result in more than one unit increase in money wage showing the improvements in real wages. With respect to the groundnut yield, the positive co-efficients of yield implying that wages are influenced by changes in the yields. It indicates that the benefits of technology has not reached the agricultural labourers at significant lev el. This indicates that the benefits which accrued to the groundnut farmers through a rise in the output prices also percolated to the agricultural labourers. The co-efficient of constant or intercept is -7.2169. It means the factors which are not considered in the model shows negative effect on female money wages. The collective effect of the two independent variables – X1 and X2 is shown by the value of R2. The value of R2 is 0.9064. It indicates that 90.64 percent of variation in female money wagerate is observed by these two independent variables. The value of R2 is significant. The estimated regression equation for female real wagerate is Y = -4.392 + 0.1886 X1 +0.3938* X2 (0.1505) (0.0666) R2 = 0.7541 , F = 51.4269* * Significant at 5 percent probability level. The two estimated regression co-efficients of independent variables – X1 and X2 are positive. It means the effect of these two variables on female real wagerate (Y) is positive. An increase in these two variables will increase the female real wagerate in Chittoor district. An increase in one unit of lagged yield will increase the female real wagerate by 0.19 units. But this increase is not significant. Similarly, an increase in one unit of lagged price will increase the female real wagerate by 0.39 units. This increase is significant. Hence, female real wages are influenced by changes in the yield and prices of output. The co-efficient of constant or intercept is -4.392. It means, the factors which are not considered in the model show negative effect on female real wages. The collective effect of the two independent variables – X1 and X2 is shown by the value of R2. The value of R2 is 0.7541. It indicates that, 75.46 percent of variation in female real wagerate is obser ved by these two independent variables. The value of R2 is significant. The estimated regression equation for male money wagerate is Y = -6.8562 + 0.0901* X1 +1.4094* X2 (0.0349) (0.0155) R2 = 0.8982 , F = 70.5855* * Significant at 5 percent probability level. The two estimated regression co-efficients of lagged yield (X1) and lagged price (X2) are positive and significant. It means the positive relationship is observed between independent variables X1 and X2 with dependent variable (Y). An increase in these two variables will increase the male money wagerate in Chittoor district. An increase in one unit of lagged yield will increase the male money wagerate by 0.09 units. But this increase is significant. Similarly, an increase in one unit of lagged price will increase the male money wagerate by 1.41 units. This increase is significant. Hence, male money wages are influenced by changes in the yield and prices of output. One unit increase in groundnut price would result in more than one unit increase in money wage showing the improvements in real wages. The positive and significant co-efficient of yield reveals that wages are influenced by changes in the yield. It mean the benefits of technology have reached the agricultural labourers at s ignificant level. It indicates that a rise in the output prices is beneficial to the groundnut farmers which in turn effects the agricultural labourers. The co-efficient of intercept is -6.8562. It means the factors which are not considered in the model show negative effect on male money wages. The collective effect of the two independent variables X1 and X2 is shown by the value of R2. The value of R2 is 0.8982. It indicates a variation of 89.82 percent in male money wagerate is observed by these two independent variables. The value of R2 is significant. The estimated regression equation for male real wagerate is Y = -0.2138 – 0.0513 X1 +0.3252* X2 (0.0189) (0.0835) R2 = 0.6702 , F = 16.267* * Significant at 5 percent probability level. The estimated co-efficient of lagged yield (X1) is negative and insignificant. It means the negative relationship is observed between X1 variable and male real wagerate. An increase in the lagged yield will decrease the male real wagerate in Chittoor district. The estimated co-efficient of lagged price (X2) is positive and significant. It means the effect of independent variable (X2) on male real wagerate is positive. An increase in the lagged price will increase the male real wagerate in the district. An increase in one unit of X1 variable will decrease the male real wagerate (Y) by 0.05 units. But this decrease is not significant. Similarly, an increase in one unit of X2 variable will increase the male real wagerate (Y) by 0.33 units. This increase is significant. Hence, male real wages are affected by changes in the yield and prices of output. The co-efficient of constant is -0.2138. It means the factors which are not considered in the model show negative effect on male real wages . The collective effect of the two independent variables X1 and X2 are shown by the value of R2. The value of R2 is 0.6702. It indicates that, 67.02 percent of variation in male real wagerate is observed by these two independent variables. The value of R2 is significant. V. CONCLUSIONS In case of female agricultural labour, regarding the lagged yields, the rate of increase in real wages (0.19) is twice as compared to that of money wages. This increase in real wages over money wages reveals that the economic position of the female agricultural labour may be increased due to raise in lagged yields. Owing to the lagged price, the rate of increase in real wages of female agricultural labour (0.39) as compared to the female agricultural money wages (1.41) is approximately one forth. This result shows that about 3/4th of the monetary gains of the female agricultural labour has been taken away by consumer price rise. From this rate of increase in real wages, it may be concluded that the real economic position of the female agricultural labour has been deteriorated marginally. Whereas for male agricultural labour, in case of lagged yield is observed that there is a decreasing trend in male real wages (-0.05) and an increasing trend in male money wages (0.09). This results indicates that the declining trend in real economic position of the male agricultural labour. With respect to the lagged price, the rate of increase in real wages of male agricultural labour (0.32) as compared to the male money wages (1.41) is just marginal. This results tells that about 3/4th of the monetary gains of the male agricultural labour has been taken away by consumer price rise. From this rate of increase in real wages, it may be concluded that the real economic conditions of the male agricultural labour has been decreased marginally. references Misra, V.N., and Gupta, S.B.L. (1974). Productivity, wages and its determination in Gujarat Agriculture : An Inter-District Analysis. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol.XXIX, No.3, July-September, pp.22-34. Pandey, R.K., and Dixit, U.N. (1974). Inter-Temporal Analysis of Productivity and Wages of Farm Labour in Ferozepur District (Punjab). Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol.XXIX, No.3, July-September, pp.34-40. Pandey, V.K., and Pandey, R.N. (1974). Trends in Agricultural Wages in Uttar Pradesh. Indian Journal of agricultural Economics, vol.XXIX, No.3, July-September, pp.70. Sisodia, J.S. (1974). Trends in Agricultural wages in Madya Pradesh. Indian Journal of agricultural Economics, vol.XXIX, No.3, July-September, pp.73. Raju, V.T. (1974). Impact of Green Revolution on Wages and Incomes of Hired Labour in IADP District., West Godavari. Indian Journal of agricultural Economics, vol.XXIX, No.3, July-September, pp.74. Prudhvikar Reddy, P. (1998). Trends in Agricultural Wages : An Inter-Regional Analysis in Andhra Pradesh. Economic and Political Weekly, vol. XXXIII, No.13, March 28, pp. A.15-A.19. Sidhu, H.S. (1988). Wage Determination in the Rural Labour Market – The Case of Punjab and Haryana. Economic and Political Weekly, Review of Agriculture, December, 24th – 31st, pp.A.147-A.150. Kalpana Bardhan, (1973). Factors affecting Wagerates for Agricultural Labourers. Economic and political weekly, vol.VIII, No.26, June 30, pp.A.56-A.66. Pandey, S.M. (1973). Wage Determination in Indian Agriculture : An Empirical Analysis. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, vol.9, July, pp.83-99. Singh, M.L., and Singh, K.K. (1974). Factors Determining Agricultural Wages – A Case Study. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol.XXIX, No.3, July – September, pp.54-60. Paramar, B.D. (1981). Wage Determination in Developing Economy : The case of Gujarat Agriculture. The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, vol.XXIII, No.4, January, pp.231-240. Pushpangdan, K. (1993). Wage Determination in a Casual Labour Market : The Case of Paddy field Labour in Kerala. The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, vol. XXXVI, No.1, January – March. Acharya, Sarthi. (1989). Agricultural wages in India : A Desegregated Analysis. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol.44, No.2. Gough, J.W. (1971). Agricultural Wages in Punjab and Haryana. Economic and Political Weekly, vol.VI, No.13, March.27. Grewal, S.S., and Bal, H.S. (1974). Impact of Green Revolution on Agricultural Wages in the Punjab. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol.XXIX, No.3, July-September. Jose, A.V. (1974). Trends in Real Wage Rates of Agricultural Labourers. Economic and Political Weekly, vol.IX, No.13, March. Jose, A.V. (1988). Agricultural Wages in India. Economic and Political Weekly, vol.23, No.26, June. Krishnaji, N. (1971), Wages of Agricultural Labour. Economic and Political Weekly, vol.6, No.30, September. Parthasarathy, G., and Adiseshu. (1982). Rural Wages of Agricultural Labour in Andhra Pradesh – Two Decades of Stagnation. Economic and Political Weekly, vol.XVII, NO.31. Rao, V.M. (1972). Agricultural Wages in India – A Reliability Analysis. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol.XXVII, No.3, July – September. Acharya, Sarthi, and Papanak, G.F. (1989). Agricultural Wages and Poverty in India – A model of Rural Labour Markets. Asian Centre Discussion Peer, No.3, CADS, Boston University, Boston, U.S.A. AUTHORS PROFILE

Performance of Goldman Sachs and Financial Ratio Analysis

Performance of Goldman Sachs and Financial Ratio Analysis Conventionally the Bank performance is evaluated by analysis of the financial ratios. However, despite of quite a few number of ratios being calculated, a sculpt that completely convinces the analysis of requirements and bank operations efficiency evaluation is yet to be developed. Hence for these reason, the financial ratio analysis is balance with unlike eminence evaluations, with characteristics such as organization quality, equity structure, spirited position and others which are incorporated in the concluding assessment. In this piece of work we are going to evaluate overall performance of Goldman Sachs and critically analyse how financial ratios are used to evaluate banks performance. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a American investment banking and securities organisation which slot in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and erstwhile financial services principally with institutional clients. Goldman Sachs was founded in the year 1869 and its headquarter is at 200 West Street in the Lower Manhattan area of New York City. It has additional offices in major international financial hubs. The Goldman Sachs offers mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting services, asset management, and prime brokerage to its clientele, which include corporations, governments and individuals. The Goldman Sachs also engages in proprietary trading and private equity deals, and is a primary dealer in the United States Treasury security market (Goldman Sachs Website). Bank Internal Performance Evaluation Strategic planning Goldman Sachs ability to address and tap into important economic and financial trends through roles such as advisor, financier, market maker and asset manager are critical for fulfilling their mission to help spur growth and perform strongly as a firm. Technology Technology is a core part of GS product offering and client experience. GS ability to respond quickly and effectively to address its clients needs with customized systems, products and services helps differentiate the firm. A technological advantage for GS is that they have only one central risk system, which is partially a byproduct of not having done multiple, major acquisitions that often require merging and retrofitting platforms. Personnel development The success of the GSs efforts are measured by how effectively their people act. Over time, effective training and development have enrich their corporate culture and strengthen the values of client service and focus on reputational risk management. Recognition includes compensation, promotion, assignments and mobility opportunities. They have made it clear the link between the behaviour expected of its people and the recognition used to encourage it. This is critically important because it signals broadly the way GS expects its people to behave and conduct business (Goldman Sachs Annual report 2010). Bank External Performance Evaluation Market share GS has frequently performed above the market despite worsening economic conditions. Since the 2008, the company has outpaced the market enough to draw public admiration. With strong profits and expected strong returns, the company has set aside $500M to invest in small businesses. These efforts are a combination to both improve the economy and their public image. Regulatory compliance The Dodd-Frank legislation and new capital and liquidity requirements under Basel 3 are two of the more significant outcomes from the recent focus on enhancing financial stability. Given regulatory implementation is only just beginning, and unclear on how the new rules will ultimately impact the industry. The broad contours of new regulation, however, are clear: improve the safety and soundness of the global financial system, increase the transparency of derivatives markets, limit certain investing activities and reduce the consequences of a failure of a large financial institution. Public confidence Goldman Sachs announced in May 2010 that it formed a Business Standards Committee to reshape its business practices and mend its reputation. Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said at the time that there is a disconnect between how we view the firm and how the broader public perceives our roles and activities. GSs shareholders, BoDs, clients and customers have supported Mr. Blankfein through all the crisis and this shows their faith in bank (Goldman Sachs Annual report 2010). 4.0 Analyzing Bank Performance with Profit Ratios Goldman Sachs financial performance was better in 2009  than 2010 and Q4 2009 was the best quarter since the recession. 4.1 ROE Return on equity (ROE= net income after taxes/total equity) reveal GS capability to produce profits from shareholders equity (further referred as net assets or assets minus liabilities). In other words, ROE shows how effectively a company uses the shareholders money. As seen in graphical representation above, it is clear that Goldman Sachs is tendering a lower return on shareholders equity as compared to year ended in2009. The ROE of GS for the last year was 18.93% as compared to 10.08% this year. There has a been a significant decrease in the ROE which suggests GS is not utilising shareholders money properly. GS return on equity has declined substantially due to deleverage and is only marginally higher than its current cost of capital. 4.2 ROA Return on assets (ROA = net income after taxes/total assets) is how resourcefully a firm uses its assets. From the formula it is quite obvious that higher the ratio, the company is performing more efficiently and thus is generating more profits. A low ROA with enormous assets designate that the firm is handling its asset at a poor rate. As seen in graphical representation above, it is seen that Goldman Sachs has provided a lower ROA of 0.91% this year over 1.58% last year. There is one key differentiation between ROE and ROA and it is debt. In absence of debt, the shareholders equity is same as total assets of the firm which means that in this case, ROE and ROA are identical. Now if the firm come to a decision to take a loan, ROE exceeds ROA. A elevated ROE does not always guarantee a extraordinary performance of a firm. Incidentally, ROA is then a healthier pointer of the financial performance of a firm. With a high ROA and manageable debt, if ROE is also high it means that the company is generating decent profits using shareholders money. But if ROA is low and there is huge debt carried by the company, even a high ROE can only be a misleading figure. 4.3 Net Interest Margin 4.4 Leverage ratio Debt to Equity Ratio 4.5 Decomposition of ROE DuPont Analysis As revealed in Appendix B, The ROE of a bank is dependent on a various factors and thus change in any one of these factor can affect the rate of return on shareholders equity of the bank. As Net Income is the main source to calculate ROE in conjunction with the shareholders equity in the bank, every alteration in the Income and Expense of the bank openly affects the net income and thus influence the ROE of a bank. The detailed DuPont analysis of Goldman Sachs for year 2010 is presented in Appendix B. The ROE is decomposed as follows wrt dupont identity. Now assuming that changes are made in Income or Expense levels of the Goldman Sachs, its effect will be seen on ROA and ROE. Let us consider a case where the Interest Expense for Goldman Sachs goes down by 10% and there are no changes in its Interest Income, following are the effects on ROA and ROE of the bank. Scenario 1 : -5% change in interest expense Change Values after change Interest Expense -10% 6125.4 Interest Income 0% 12309 Effect on NI 6680.6 39841.6 Effect on ROA +0.07% 0.99% Effect on ROE +0.88% 11.68% A few other situations with amendment in Total Non-interest Income and expenses and their outcome on the ROA ROE of bank are given away in the chart below. Scenario 2 : -5% change in non-interest expense Change Values after change Total Non-interest Income -5% 31975.1 Effect on NI -1682.9 37478.1 Effect on ROA -0.19% 0.73% Effect on ROE -1.46% 8.62% Scenario 3 : +10% change in non-interest expense Change Values after change Total Non-interest Expenses 10% 27962 Effect on NI -2542 3160 Effect on ROA -0.31% 0.27% Effect on ROE -4.44% 3.78% Bank Performance Evaluation Based on Economic Profit 5.1 Risk-Adjusted Return on Capital (RAROC) In risk- adjusted return on capital the capital is allocated for two vital motives: (1) risk management and (2) performance evaluation. In support of risk-management rationale, the banks most favourable capital structure can be establish by allocation of capital to individual business units. This course of action entails assessing the amount of the risk (volatility) each business unit chip in to the total risk of the bank and hence to its overall capital requirements. Now, for performance-evaluation function, RAROC structure allocate capital to business units as part of a procedure for shaping the risk-adjusted rate of return and, eventually, the economic value added of each business unit. The EVA of every and each business unit is its adjusted net income minus the amount of equity capital allocated to the unit times the required return on equity. The purpose is to compute a business units input to shareholder value and so to provide a source for effective capital budgeting and incentive compensation at the business-unit level. RAROC is calculated by dividing risk-adjusted net income by the total amount of economic capital assigned which is dependent on the risk calculation. Risk-adjusted net income is calculated by taking the financial data allotment to the bank and fine-tuning the income statement for expected loss. A further modification is also required to take into account the effects on the net interest margin because the attention is moved from book profitability to economic profitability. Thus RAROC = Risk adjusted income / Allocated Capital RAROC for 2010 of Goldman Sachs therefore comes to 2.24 %. Let us consider some scenarios where the risk adjusted income for Goldman Sachs are changed by {-2%, +2%, -5% +5%}, The effect on its RAROC is represented as below. Change in Risk Adjusted Income 2 % + 2 % 5 % Effect on RAROC 2.20 % 2.29 % 2.13 % Economic Value Added (EVA) EVA (Economic Valued Added) is a present day financial dimension instrument which concludes whether a business is earning greater than its true cost of capital. EVA stands out apart from ROA ROE which are most accepted measures of bank performance. This is because it includes cost of equity capital employed. On the other hand, net banking income and the efficiency ratio, also, do not consider the cost of equity capital employed. Therefore, these ratios possibly will propose a banks performance as healthy but in fact it could be deteriorating its value to its shareholders. EVA is essentially a tool that focuses on maximizing shareholder wealth. EVA = Adjusted earnings Opportunity cost of capital {Net operating Profit after Taxes} {Cost of Equity X Equity Capital } With an aim of creating values, the return on invested capital (ROIC) for a bank must be greater than cost of capital. So, the EVA can be possibly increased in quite a few ways, by: 1) Increasing Net operating Profit after Taxes; 2) Lowering the Cost of Equity and 3) Reducing Equity Capital Conclusion Year on year Goldman Sachs revenues have descended by 11.04% from $51.67bn to $45.97bn. This along with an increase in the cost of goods sold expense has contributed to a reduction in net income from $13.39bn to $8.35bn, a 37.59% decrease. In 2010, Goldman Sachs did not generate a significant amount of cash. Cash Flow from Financing totalled $7.84bn or 17.05% of revenues. In addition the company used 6.16bn for operations while cash used for investing totalled $185m. Goldman results were also dragged down by a $465 million one-time expense to cover a U.K. payroll tax and a $550 million outlay to settle  SEC  charges that it favoured certain clients over others.

Assimilation of Blacks in Song of Solomon, Push and Life of Olaudah Equ

Assimilation of Blacks in Song of Solomon, Push and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano      Ã‚   Our African American texts call for close examination of the status of slaves and subsequent generations of free Blacks, how they fit into American society, and their quest for and denial of the benefits of Americanism. So does one assimilate or resist? But The Melting Pot Theory is not inclusive of Blacks since the process of assimilation could not work its magic on black skin.    In the slave narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African, the capture of Africans, their ultimate enslavement in the Americas, the West Indies, and Europe exemplify the assigned inferior status to Blacks in societies of the alien worlds. Blacks have less than their proportionate share of wealth, power, and social status, and are discriminated against by those in the majority. The yoke of slavery did not sanction inclusion, instead it convoluted their status as immigrants or a colonized minority and that sentiment remained a constant. Equiano's race and his life as a seafaring slave narrowed his opportunity of citizenship in a landed community; consequently, he was neither immigrant or colonized. In fact, he was more displaced that ever, sailing under whatever flag happened to be that of his owner/captain. In Song of Solomon and Push the characters are several generations removed from slavery so the question is not whether the po sition of Blacks is that of immigrant or colonized minority, even though it could appear to be either. More importantly, theirs is the problem of dealing with the ambiguities of being "up from slavery," as the characters come into their own. The su... ...rally fixed neighborhoods, or "sell out" by embracing the dominant culture and sometimes attempting full assimilation (although it is realized impossible) in order to advance one's career, and acquire better housing and/or education for one's children is ubiquitous. Total assimilation is not real for Black people, it never has been and it probably never will be and that is a sad commentary on the state of the country.    Works Cited Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudauh Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African. "The Classic Slave Narratives". Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. New York: Penguin Group, 1987. McLemore, Dale S. Racial and Ethnic Relations in America. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1991. Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: The Penguin Group, 1977. Sapphire. Push. New York: Vintage Contemporaries, 1996.

Existentialism Vs. Determinism Essay -- essays research papers

Free Will   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Analyzing our individual free will can be very intriguing and can almost reach the point of being paradoxical. Ultimately, free will determines the level of responsibility we claim for our actions. Obviously, if outside forces determine our choices, we cannot be held responsible for our actions. However, if our choices are made with total freedom than certainly we must claim responsibility for our choices and actions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The readings I chose offered two quite opposite theories on individual human freedom, determinism vs. existentialism. In comparing these two theories the contrasts are quite outstanding.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Evidently, some philosophers felt that human beings did not really have a free will. This view, defined as determinism held that certain casual laws rule what occurs in the universe. There are two major forms of determinism, including hard determinism and soft determinism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hard determinism taught that each of our actions is determined by factors beyond our control such as heredity and environment. From this point of view there can be no real moral responsibility for our actions if our actions were determined by factors beyond our cont...

An Analysis of the Character Du Tenth in the poem Essay

Du Mei is the lead female character in Feng Meng-Long’s poem â€Å"Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger†. She was a famous courtesan belonging to one of the brothels located in the Northern capital of China during the Ming Dynasty. Du Mei was also known as Du Tenth by virtue of being the â€Å"tenth-born of her generation† (837). She was described to be extremely attractive and alluring. Her beauty was said to be flawless and could only be compared to what is most beautiful in nature. Below is an excerpt from the poem: Two arcs of eyebrow traced with green of distant hills; a pair of eyes bright with welling autumn floods. Face like a lotus bud – just like Wen-jun of the Zhou clan; Lips like cherries†¦ (837) Her reputation was so renowned that a jingle was composed in her honor which remarked on her effect on men and how other women pale beside her. Du Tenth exhibited no qualms about taking advantage of her charms. She was more cunning than coy. From the age of thirteen when she lost her virginity and up until the age of nineteen when she met and chose her favored lover Li Jia, she enthralled men and controlled them to squander their fortunes on her. Her cunning once more came to the fore as she negotiated the terms of her freedom. As her greedy madam was trying to manipulate her to get rid of Li Jia who by that time had run out of money, Du Tenth outmaneuvered her and pounced on the prattle of her madam about Li buying her freedom. She worked on the madam’s innate skepticism and managed to get the price down and extend the deadline from three days to ten days. She even got the madam to commit to her word. She likewise worked on Li to commit to his word to buy her freedom and to take her away with him as his wife and start a new life. More so at that time, having a former whore as a wife was unacceptable to polite society and most especially to political families to which Li Jia was a member of. Du Tenth also showed her romantic side and her sense of loyalty by sticking beside Li in spite of his lack of financial capability, his weak personality and numerous shortcomings. She nudged him on and encouraged him by putting up half of the buy-out money and allowing him to save face by giving him the opportunity to complete the other half. She was able to accomplish this without causing undue embarrassment to him. She was level-headed and showed strength in her demeanor not even once shedding tears of frustration unlike Li who cried in torrents. Not once did she waiver on her objective. She was able to deliberate her actions, carefully plan each step and anticipated every need that may come up in her quest for a new life with Li. She also expressed gratitude freely and forged lasting relationships with her sisters in the quarters instead of envy and enmity for being far beautiful than they. Du Tenth’s intelligence and woman’s guile further manifested itself during her travel with Li. She made suggestions instead of outright commands on the best steps to take to gain acceptance back into his family. She demonstrated a keen sense of self-control. She kept her cards close to chest and did not reveal all her plans to Li perhaps in the hope that he just might be able to come up with a plan on his own that would benefit them both. However, in return, he betrayed her instead to Sun Fu. Sun belonged to a family of salt merchants who harbored a malicious intent towards Du Tenth after hearing her excellent singing. Li betrayed her to Sun by revealing her as a whore and he again betrayed her by selling her off for a thousand taels. Upon learning of this betrayal from Li herself, Du Tenth continued to outwardly look calm and collected while seething inside from disappointment and rage. True to form, Li missed the sarcasm of her remark, â€Å"The man who devised this plan for you is truly a great hero. The fortune of a thousand taels will enable you to restore your position in your family, and I will go to another man so as not to be a burden to you† (852). Regardless, she continued to harbor hope that Li might see the error of his ways and fight for their love as she did. However, as soon as the thousand taels exchanged hands, her anger boiled over. She was a woman scorned and she showed her anger in the same deliberate way she acted all her life. Her actions were controlled and measured. She did not scream and throw a fit. Instead, the embarrassment that she had been saving Li from, she finally used against him to maximum effect. She used her cunning and maneuvered to gather as much of a crowd as she can by gradually producing her precious jewelry and with spectacle, threw them overboard one by one. Once she had the attention of the crowd, she cursed Sun and unleashed her disdain for Li. She announced his betrayal of the devoted and everlasting love that she offered. She drove home his error in accepting the thousand taels and made it known to him that with her, he could have had more had he only shown the same loyalty and faithfulness. She had coped with a shameful life and Li further shamed her by casting her aside. In revenge, she shamed both by jumping into the river and drowned herself. Yet, even in death, she showed her gratitude for the kindness she had received while living. Liu Yu-chun, Li Jia’s friend who actually raised the remaining half of the buy-out money, found himself at the other end of Du Tenth’s eternal gratitude. It was because of him, he who believed in the power of the love and devotion that she had for Li, that she was able to experience life of a free woman, albeit fleeting, without the indignity of being a whore. In return, Du Tenth gifted him with the remaining contents of her jewel box. Du Tenth was a cunning and strong-willed woman. She knew what she wanted, had the ability to devise plans and was willing to work on the means to get it. Regardless, she had not failed to show appreciation to all those who helped her along the way. Her experience as a courtesan should have left her jaded. Yet, deep inside, she remained a romantic at heart.

Sir, Gawain’s Traits

Gawain’s rise to the game. Arthurian legends are medieval romances that tell wondrous tales of fantasy and chivalry. The chivalric code of knights was highly revered as a way of life. This code of bravery honor and loyalty was followed by every knight and royal in the medieval ages. Sir Gawain and the Green knight is a medieval romance that demonstrates Sir Gawain’s demonstrations and lack there of chivalry through his bravery, loyalty and honor. However he follows the code of chivalry more so than breaking it.One of Gawain’s traits that made him a model of chivalry is his bravery in the face of danger. Gawain was ready to take the challenge of the green knight and save his king from it as soon as he could. â€Å"Command me to step down from the dais and take this game. †(ML 123-124) King Arthur was the only knight to step up to the challenge, and seeing this wanting to protect him Sir Gawain decides to take the game from him. â€Å"’only you as my uncle have I any honor. † (ML138) In this situation, Gawain is also being loyal to his king and uncle by saving his life in taking the game. Gawain shows both modesty and hid courtesy towards his queen all just moments from he shows his bravery. â€Å"‘That I might without bad manners move down from my place (though I couldn’t if my liege lady disliked it)’ â€Å"(ML 128-129). Gawain is saying that he will listen to whatever his queen says to do, regardless of the situation he is in. Before he takes the challenge of the knight Gawain states â€Å"’My life would be the least missed if. † (Ml 137) Gawain, while sounding somewhat critical of himself, is actually demonstrating his great sense of modesty during the story Honor is a trait that is not found very much in this day and age. In the end, the lord of the castle discovers that not even Gawain was honorable to him. â€Å"You have failed me in our exchange, so I’ve trapped you here , that sash you wear by your scabbard belongs to me’† (ML348-350). Another trait that is highly regarded in this day and age is faith. There is faith in religion, faith in yourself, or even faith in objects.Gawain puts faith in a magical green sash that is enchanted and would save his life. (67) In conclusion, Gawain follows the code of chivalry and makes a worthy knight of the round table. Granted that some of the traits of chivalry are not his strong suit, Gawain still follows true to the almighty code that all of the knights follow. Any mistake that Sir Gawain made during this he was either forgiven for, or they went unnoticed, given that this is straying from the code, in the end Gawain is still the most worthy knight of the round table.

My Past, Present, and Future

Hard life does not equal reason for failure, but reason for determination. Even though it may seem with so much bad you are bound to fail, with all of my bad I'm bound to succeed. I have been through a lot in life, just as every single mother but I still have what it takes for my future success. Do you have what it takes for a brighter future? The first reason I believe hard times give you determination, is because I had a hard childhood growing up. Beginning with my father abusing my mother and he was never around, a mother who was struggling to figure out who she was and what she wanted in life, and how to take care of a teenager with so many bad experiences. My father was murdered in front of me and passed in my arms when I was seven years old. My only father figures I had left were my brothers who for their own reasons couldn’t be around much. I turned to alcohol at a young age thinking it would make my life better. I felt as if I was alone. I didn’t know I had people that would be there for me. All I knew was my immediate family and my friends, which were not good influences. My mother had turned to alcohol as well and I was always home alone or with my uncle John. I never wanted to go to school; however, my uncle encouraged me to do so. I continued to attend school and did the best I thought I could. I got into skating thanks to my uncle and that is how I got rid of my stress if I had it. Uncle John always took me and my friends to the skating rink to enjoy time, just as a young child should. It made things better for me for awhile I had my father figure back again, but still needed my mom. I was lost and had no guidance; so much had happened to me at such a young age and that affected my life because I believe no matter what happens you can’t erase your bad memories. My beliefs are stated by Sigmund Freud, he said â€Å"The world as we know it is stored in our conscious mind† (Witt & Mossler, 2010, Ch. 2, Pg. 2). Additionally, at age fifteen I was involved in a car accident that everyone including myself thought it ended my life. I was pronounced dead on scene yet revived. I was hospitalized for over a week and had to go though therapy to learn how to walk again. My brain wasn’t coordinating with my legs. I broke five ribs, my lung collapsed, crushed my heel, burned my back, my scalp was avulsed, broken nose, and in general shaken up. I woke up to a paramedic by my side coaching me through my breathing and having faith in my ability to overcome anything. It just so happened with me living in a small town that paramedic was my best friend’s father, Gene Deck. That’s when I got my mom back, and to this day she is always there for me and is my best friend. During that time I had also lost my brother who meant the world to me. He was my role model and was everything to me. I would wait for him every day on the porch to arrive from work. He had been though a lot himself and had went to prison for a few years. He got out of prison and started his life over working in the oil fields, I still remember his smell. It was that time of year for our family reunion, we went camping every year. I remember waking up to his face at five in the morning and him asking me to go on the boat with him to check the trout lines, me at my age was upset about being woke up that early. I pulled the blankets over my head and said â€Å"go away and leave me alone bubba†. Those were my last words to him, which is why I strongly believe you should make sure your words to your loved ones are that from the heart. He had gone out on the boat and it had a hole in it, my brother didn’t know how to swim. They found him late that night after searching all day at the bottom of the river tangled in seaweed. With all those experiences, I knew what I wanted to do as an adult, save lives. So I took it upon myself to try and get my life together and do what was right. I had several inspirations for saving lives, from my life being saved to maybe I could have saved my brothers. I had so much encouragement in my heart now to move forward with my career choice in the future. For now, it was time to focus on finishing high school and being a good daughter so that my mom wouldn’t have to go through anymore pain. I focused on school and promised myself no matter what happened in life I would return the favor given to me from the man upstairs, with a second chance given to me I would help saving lives. It is thanks to God that I am alive today, and for the rest of my life I will thank him every day. I may not be one of those people who go to church every day, but I do know my life is held in the hands of a man that I owe my life to. At age seventeen I ended up being getting in another relationship that I thought would last forever and we decided to have a child. I ended up having too many medical problems and had to drop out of school. I was determined to keep my promise. I set out to get my G. E. D and started running with the Emergency Medical Service in my town as a rider. I then became part of the EMS family as a driver. They paid to put me through school to become an Emergency Medical Technician. I decided that wasn’t enough and started school with a technical school to become a National Registered Certified Medical Assistant. My first born son gave me more inspiration to better myself in life. He was the reason of my existence and the reason I to this day work very hard at everything I do to succeed in life. I named him after my brother that had passed, Keith. I now have four beautiful boys, still have my two certifications, and now attending college working towards a degree. Every day I remember lucky I am to be here and how much I have to be thankful for in life. My fiance Sean is another one of my inspirations. He stays on my case constantly about school and making sure I do what is right. I have everything I need in life to be inspired and achieve my life term goals. I believe that you need three things in life to achieve your goals, a belief system, persistence, and patience. Several things can happen to you in life. It’s a matter of how you overcome what has happened and how you move forward. Although, you may want to just give up and feel you have been through enough in life and you don’t want to put yourself through any more. You need to reconsider, because that is just your way of â€Å"justifying your thoughts or behavior†, called rationalization which is a type of defense mechanism from Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory (Witt & Mossler, 2010, Ch. 2, Pg. 2). Make sure you stay focused on your goal or goals and what lies ahead of you. Always look toward the future and never look back, you will always remember but let it be a lesson learned in life, and the strength you need to move forward. There is nothing better in life than looking back on all you have been through, and then looking at what you have to this day. The best thing is looking at what lies ahead of you and your future of success! Indeed, while some may say a bad past can get the best of you, it’s important to stay focused and determined. I will continue to move forward with my education and become successful. Just remember one thing; you are in control of your life, your attitude, and your actions. You can’t change your past, but, you can change your future!

Consider Two Contrasting Characters In The Play Essay

Consider two contrasting characters in the play. How does the playwright convey their personalities and their attitudes to the situation in which they find themselves? The playwright of ‘The Long, the Short and the Tall’ is Willis Hall and he wrote it in 1959. The play is set in the Malaysian jungle in 1942 during the Second World War. It is about a British scout patrol, which is caught in the unexpected Japanese advance down the Malaysian peninsula. It deals with men from all over Britain, from different backgrounds and cultures, and their relationships with each other. The main issue though, is whether the men are able to kill another human being. It shows their reactions in tense and almost unreal situations. World War Two lasted from 1939 to 1945. It was fought in two places; in Europe against Germany and in the Pacific against Japan. Britain and the USA started fighting against Japan because Japan bombed Pearl Harbour in December 1941, which had docked a whole fleet of American war ships. The British and the Americans didn’t expect the Japanese to attack, so they were not able to defend themselves. From here Japan continued to expand into other countries. They quickly conquered South-East Asia. The next thing the Japanese did was to invade Singapore in Malaysia. Again the British were completely unprepared for the attack. All Singapore’s defences were facing into the sea, never expecting or believing that anybody would come down the peninsula, through the jungle, but this is exactly what the Japanese did. Because no one in Singapore believed that they would be attacked from the land side, all the defences were on the ocean side, to protect against a marine attack. The Japanese were so successful because they had had better training in jungle warfare. They wore light clothing, had light ammunition and made use of bicycles for transport. This meant that they could travel great distances in a relatively short time. There wasn’t much hope for the British soldiers, who had little or no training in jungle warfare, they had heavy clothing and ammunition and no suitable transport. Morale in the British army was very low. Most of the soldiers were conscripts who were very cynical about the ability of the generals of the army to direct the army in the right away and also because of the lack of proper training and equipment. This can be seen in the play in the way the characters talk of the radio not working. ‘Damn duff equipment’ is how Johnstone describes the radio. To the British conscripts the Japanese army seemed invincible, with their incredibly patriotic soldiers who were prepared to die rather than surrender. The Japanese believed in the motto ‘Death before dishonour’. They seemed a completely fearless army because of this, which didn’t do the morale of the British soldiers much good. The two contrasting characters I have chosen to look at are Bamforth and Johnstone. I have chosen Bamforth because his character changes a great deal throughout the play and his point of view moves to a different angle and I have chosen Johnstone because his character is one of the few ones, which doesn’t change much throughout the play. Private C. Bamforth is a conscript into the British army and has been posted over to the Far East to help fight the Japanese. He is from London and is in the lowest possible rank in the army. His position is completely different from Johnstone’s. His full title is Corporal E. Johnstone. He is two above Bamforth in ranks and is part of the regular army and is not conscripted. This means that is attitude to the army is different. His attitude is much less cynical and he respects authority more, in terms of Mitchem. He is cynical in one part of the play where he becomes exasperated when the radio won’t work. ‘Damn duff equipment. The whole damn issue’s duff.’ But overall he is much less cynical of the British army’s capabilities. On the other side Bamforth is very cynical of the British army in the way he speaks of it. He apparently quotes one of the Generals, ‘Bammo, my old son, the British army’s in a desperate situation. The yellow peril’s about to descend on us’ Here he is joking about the state of the British army, but he obviously believes it, otherwise he wouldn’t be saying it and it wouldn’t be funny. Also he makes clear that he isn’t prepared to be a hero, ‘I wasn’t meant to be a hero’ he states it clearly and decisively, which shows that he has no doubts about it. Bamforth enjoys making fun of others especially people who can’t defend themselves very well like Whitaker and people who are of a certain area such as Wales or Scotland. He tends to generalise about people of a certain area and call them derogatory names. ‘You Scotch haggis!’, ‘you Cardiff creep’, You’re an ignorant Welsh Taff!’ He is a really unpleasant character in the beginning and obviously resents authrority; ‘Nit’ is what he says under his breath at Johnstone. Johnstone is also unpleasant in the way he threatens Bamforth, but as the person watching the play, with no knowledge of how Bamforth’s character will change, I found that I sympathised with Johnstone and felt glad that he was giving Bamforth what he deserved. Their initial reaction was also very similar, as it was Johnstone who grabbed the prisoner and ordered one of the other men to kill him with their bayonet and Bamforth was the only other soldier who felt able to kill him. He regarded the Japanese soldier as only as important as an animal. ‘It’s only the same as carving up a pig’. The prisoner was very low in his opinion Johnstone has very little contact with the prisoner; he only has direct contact with the prisoner when he has the argument with Bamforth over whether the prisoner should be allowed any cigarettes. He obviously has strong opinions on what should happen to the prisoner; he thinks it is a bad decision of Mitchem’s to take the prisoner back as it is too risky. He tries to argue with Mitchem that they should kill the prisoner right then, before it all got out of hand. ‘Get rid of him. Right now’ Strangely enough, it is Bamforth who befriends the prisoner and talks to him and joke with him. He even begins to regard the prisoner as almost human. ‘He’s almost human this one is!’. His opinion of the prisoner has risen from that of animal to almost human. This is because the prisoner showed him his photos of his family. He indicates that he also has a baby, this is probably why Bamforth begins to regard him with more respect. Next Bamforth offers the prisoner a cigarette, but Johnstone knocks the prisoner’s from his mouth. At once Bamforth demands an explanation from Johnstone. Here he is clearly defending the prisoner’s rights, but also I think that he argues with Johnstone just because he did something that infringed his rights. Later on when the argument about the prisoner’s cigarette case begins, the playwright cleverly makes Bamforth leave so that the argument can progress without anyone coming to the prisoner’s defence. When Bamforth returns the argument reaches a climax; he immediately comes to the prisoner’s defence. He defends him verbally and helps the prisoner. He tells the others that he gave the prisoner the cigarettes. This may not have been true and I don’t think that Johnstone really believed him. He is the one who asks to look at the case before it is returned to the prisoner and he starts another argument about the case. This time Bamforth does not claim to have given it to him, but turns the story back on Johnstone by making Whitaker tell the others how he has a locker full of Japanese souvenirs. He defends the prisoner all the way. This is sign that he has become really attached to the prisoner. By the end when they have to decide whether to kill the prisoner or not, Bamforth has become very attached to the prisoner. He physically stands in-between the prisoner and Johnstone, as can be seen from the stage directions. This is a clear piece of proof that he is now prepared physically protect the prisoner not just argue for him. ‘It’s him and me’. This shows that he is saying that if they want to kill the prisoner, they will have to kill him too. Also he now expresses freely that he regard the prisoner highly. ‘He’s a man’, showing that the prisoner has earned a lot of Bamforth’s respect. Johnstone on the other hand is the one who is trying to kill the prisoner. Johnstone still thinks they should kill the prisoner and his opinion of him has not risen either, ‘It’s a bloody nip’ From this we can see that he regards him as really low because he says it instead of he and uses the derogatory term of ‘bloody ni p’. He orders Bamforth out of the way, but he will not move and appeals to each of the men in turn to help him. But each one turns him down, he appeals to Macleish last of all, probably hoping that at least he was going to help him because his brother could be a POW too. But even he does not help Bamforth. He is obviously desperate because he turns to sheer pettiness when each of the men turn him down. ‘I hope they carve your brother up. Get that? I hope they carve your bloody brother up!’ In the end the decision is made for them as Whitaker shoots the prisoner as he rises, during the fight between Bamforth and Johnstone. The play offers no obvious answers to who was right or what they should have done. It was quite ironic how it is Johnstone left alive at the end who surrenders because it is was he who was prepared to kill their POW, having said this he did not have much choice in the matter. Personally I really don’t know what they should have done because it was such a hard decision, but if I had to make a decision I would probably have tried to take the prisoner back to camp rather than hanging around arguing about it. If they had done that they might have had a chance of getting back alive, but as it was they had no hope. With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that Johnstone was right, when he said that they should kill the prisoner in the beginning, when none of them were attached to the prisoner and there would have been no problem. However I don’t think I would be able to kill someone in that situation – even if I was ordered to.

Implementing Strategic Sourcing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Implementing Strategic Sourcing - Assignment Example The C&C Company outsourced its Human Resource functions to a US based company XperTrans. However, the client did not get what they wanted by outsourcing their HR functions because of the inability of the supplier to undertake the contract. The escalation of commitment to the IT enabled HR business project occurred because the client was not in any position to meet the requirements of the tender. In fact, the supplier, XperTrans was only 10% into the Human Resource Outsourcing business, meaning that they only took this contract as a way of expanding their business strategy. In addition, the big client that the company netted through this contract was another way of creating a reputable brand image for the supplier, especially in the field of HRO The failure of the contract began by the lack of incorporation of the operations department in drafting the contract. The XperTrans left the whole project in the hands of the sales department, which only talked big in order to please the client, but did not consider the ability of the operations department in rolling out the contract. Furthermore, company used a US based software program to undertake all its HRO solutions in all the countries which the client had subsidiaries. This was a wrong move, as the program does not work similarly across all countries due to the specific differences in laws and legal procedures of each EMEA region. As such, it was impossible for the supplier to consolidate all its services, especially the payrolls of all the employees. The ambitious nature of this contract is what led to is massive failure.

The Hero's Journey - The Mythological Structure of Films Research Paper - 1

The Hero's Journey - The Mythological Structure of Films - Research Paper Example For purposes of clarity, the heroes journey will be herein defined to exhibit the following 12 traits: 1)the heroes are introduced in the ordinary world, 2) they receive the call to action or adventure, 3) they are reluctant at first or refuse the call, 4) they are encouraged by a mentor, 5) they cross the threshold and enter the â€Å"special world†, 6) the encounter a series of tests, allies and enemies 7) they approach the in-most cave and cross a second threshold, 8) within this second cave they endure the ordeal, 9) they take possession of their reward, 10) they are pursued on the road back to the ordinary world, 11)they cross the third threshold and experience a resurrection/transformation, 12) they return with the elixir or treasure to benefit the ordinary world (Vogler 2). In this way, Volger sets out to express that the way in which a screenwriter interacts with his chosen topic, works to force it into a reality, and hones the acumen of its message follows precisely t he same steps as that the heroes journey represents. What is particularly interesting about this â€Å"mythological† approach to any given subject matter is that it nearly perfectly applies to the way that almost every story can be told. The author begins by recounting how the â€Å"ordinary world† presents the known reality and easy confines within which the actor(s) will develop. In this way, the hero is presented as an entity that is uncomfortable and/or unaware of the underlying tension and struggle that brews beneath the surface. This develops the actor into the secondary stage or â€Å"call to adventure†. This call to adventure is the impetus and or need that is exhibited by the deficiencies of the â€Å"ordinary world†. As a result of this imperfection this â€Å"call to adventure† exists as a means to answer this inequality. An interesting component of this call to adventure/action is the fact that the protagonist/character/actor is oftentimes reticent to heed its direction. This