European Integration of Ukraine Is the Main Task

European Integration of Ukraine is the main task, which unites government and opposition In connection with the new political season, which began not only in the Ukrainian Parliament, but also in the European Parliament, delegation of MPs of Ukraine from the Party of Regions arrived on an official visit to Strasbourg.Delegation members are Chairman of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction Olexander Yefremov, Deputy Chairman of the Party of Regions for International Affairs Leonid Kozhara, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech and Information Olena Bondarenko, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Banking, Tax and Customs Policy Vitaliy Kaliuzhny.Today, September 13, in the European Parliament took place a public meeting on â€Å"The Future of EU-Ukraine Relations and Ukraine’s Internal Political Situation†, where the Chairman of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction Olexander Yefremov informed about the current situation in Ukraine. Particular attention Olexander Yefremov paid to reforms, which are being carried out by authorities. â€Å"Over the past year and a half great changes took place in Ukraine. Unfortunately, in Europe, few people know what is actually happening in the country.The country's leaders held a number of reforms – this is pension and judicial reforms, adoption of anti-corruption legislation and the new Tax Code,† the politician said. â€Å"Now we are preparing such global documents as a bill on the land market, new Criminal Procedure, Housing and Communal and Labour Codes. In Ukraine these laws have a long history, they are not modernized. And, unfortunately, over the 20 years of existence of Ukraine as an independent state, no one worked on them. It is our task.Therefore we have a lot of work to do. And as you can see, we are working very hard,† said Olexander Yefremov. MEPs stressed the importance of the visit of Ukrainian parliamentarians becaus e now it is a key moment in relations between the EU and Ukraine, and Europe needs first-hand information. Olexander Yefremov reminded that in 2009 Party of Regions started with very bad starting positions. â€Å"When we conducted an audit of the national economy, it was found that in 2009 we began with minus 15% of GDP.It was a disastrous number. And we had to find quickly the tools for economic growth, to overcome the economic crisis. However, our operational work and the actions that we undertook, gave a good positive result. 2011 we are to finish with 5% increase of our economy,† he stressed. Representatives of the European Parliament agreed to this. They noted how significantly increased the intensity of work of Ukrainian Parliament and adopted documents. According to Olexander Yefremov, today the government command faces many challenges.And one of the most important is the European integration of the country. â€Å"And at the moment it is one of the uniting issues for opposition and authorities. There is no dissent and no opponents here. Everyone understands that we need to work on this common goal,† said Olexander Yefremov. Answering the question, what Ukraine will choose: Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with Europe or the Customs Union, Olexander Yefremov said that our first priority is the EU, but at the same time we want to maintain good relations with Russia, if that's possible from its side. In turn, we declare that we want to be a part of civilized Europe,† said the politician. The head of the Party of Regions parliamentary faction got stronger conviction that there is practically no opponent of integration between Ukraine and EU, everybody is trying to help, to give an advice; no one wants to see Ukraine worse or poorer, or further from the EU; everybody is trying to support it. MEPs, in turn, said that Europe would like to see Ukraine developing further and happy people living in Ukraine.The MPs acknowledged that Europ e knows very little about what is actually happening inside the country. In addition, Olexander Yefremov said that judging by the questions he was asked about Tymoshenko case, there is a significant lack of information about the topic. That is, people know about it, but nobody goes into details, and, as a rule, the very essence is hidden in details. He reminded the gist of the charges against ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine. â€Å"In January 2009 Tymoshenko was in talks with Russia on gas supplies.Under the Law â€Å"On International Treaties of Ukraine† the authority to negotiate and to sign international treaties is granted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as a collective body. The Prime Minister can not alone authorize someone to negotiate on behalf of the Government. When negotiations with Russia began, most of the ministers at the Cabinet of Ministers session refused to support Tymoshenko's personal position, as evidenced by minutes of meeting. Despite of this, she p rovided the Ukrainian negotiators a document entitled Directives of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine†, which contained the signature of Tymoshenko and official government seal. Thus, the ex-Prime Minister is charged with single-handed decision and document forgery,† said Olexander Yefremov. In addition, the MP informed about extremely unfavorable conditions for Ukraine, which are in the contract. This, above all, is the highest price, unreasonable amount of compulsory gas purchase (Ukraine consumes 40 billion cubic meters and must buy 52 billion cubic meters), and extremely inadequate penalties.If the country does not buy stated in the contract amount of gas, then there is the penalty 150% in summer, and in winter – 300%. â€Å"If such a contract was signed in the business between the two businessmen, one of them would be admitted to be crazy, that is absolutely inadequate and disadvantageous contract for the country,† said Olexander Yefremov. EU Integra tion and Trade: a Look from the Outside of the EU Eastern Border. Oleksandr Shepotylo*, Kyiv School of Economics and Kyiv Economics InstituteAugust, 2009 Abstract: This paper develops a methodology for trade policy analysis of costs and benefits of alternative regional integration scenarios, based on the disaggregated gravity equation, and applies it to calculate the impact of the EU enlargement on integration strategies of non-member countries. In particular, the paper measures the impact of the 2004 EU enlargement from the standpoint of Ukraine – a country that has been left on the sideline.This angle allows estimating the costs of non-integration that occurred due to trade and investment diversion, and forgone opportunity to carry our structural changes in the Ukrainian economy. According to the results, EU accession would dramatically change the composition of Ukrainan exports by almost doubling exports of manufactured goods by 2007. The costs of non-integration accumulat e towards the end of the investigated period. Projecting the results into the future clearly indicates that the benefits of EU accession for Ukraine would have been unambiguously positive.By showing that costs of non integration are high, the results shed some light on the debates over the benefits of EU integration for the newly accepted states. They also give guidance on the potential export gains from signing a deep FTA between EU and Ukraine which is currently negotiated by policymakers. JEL categories: C33, F12, F17 Keywords: gravity model, EU enlargement, Ukraine, CIS, heterogeneous firms, trade policy Introduction The studies of European Union (EU) enlargement mostly focus on the impact of the enlargement on the current and new EU members (e. . Bussiere et al. 2008, Nilsson, 2000, Baldwin, 1995 and 1997, Gros and Gonciarz 1996). This paper looks at the impact of EU enlargement from a different angle and estimates the costs of non-integration into EU. It develops a methodology for evaluating alternative regional integration scenarios. Comparing costs and benefits of different integration scenarios, a policymaker decides on the best integration strategy for a county. When an additional country joins a regional trade bloc, it imposes additional costs on outsiders due to trade and investment diversion.The costs of non-integration are growing when more countries join the bloc, which triggers a new wave of enlargement, a so-called domino effect introduced by Baldwin (1993). For example, the enlargement of the European Economic Community (EEC) – a process that started in 1960s – induced integration of the members of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) into the EEC: â€Å"The 1960s saw rapid discriminatory liberalisation with the EEC and EFTA. This had a dramatic effect on trade patterns. The EEC’s share of trade with itself rose from 30 to 50 per cent.The share of EEC imports from other European nations stagnated or fell. This discri mination meant lost profit opportunities for exporters in both groups, but since the EEC market was more than twice the size of EFTA’s market (and growing faster), the EEC club was far more attractive to exporting firms. This generated new political economy forces within the EFTA nations – forces that pushed for EEC membership. † (Baldwin, 2008) Currently, a similar process involving the EU and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) trading blocs is evolving.The differences in size and level of development between EU and CIS blocs imply that the EU bloc is more attractive and the opportunity costs of not-integrating into the EU are higher. Recently, EU has expanded by 12 new members, mostly by countries that for a long time had been important trading partners of CIS countries. At the same time, Georgia left the CIS in August, 2009, while Ukraine and Central Asia countries significantly reduced their involvement into the CIS programs.These developments indirectl y indicate that the EU accession strategy looks as an increasingly attractive policy for the CIS countries. However, the literature says little on how the different integration scenarios can be compared. What are the costs for the CIS countries of not integrating into EU? Do the costs of non-integration exceed the benefits of staying in the CIS? Empirically, this question has not been studied and the primary goal of this paper is to evaluate the ex post costs of non-integration. To answer these questions, the paper focuses on Ukraine.De facto, Ukraine is a member of the CIS. However, Ukraine participates in the CIS programs very selectively and the Ukrainian parliament never ratified the CIS Charter. Moreover, after 2004, Ukraine explicitly declared the EU accession as its strategic goal. Ukraine is an eligible candidate for enlargement based on the geographical criteria. It is an important EU trading partner that moves towards EU both politically and economically. In February, 2008 , the Ukraine has started a round of FTA negotiations with EU which is the next step towards the EU integration.The launch of negotiations followed the finalization of Ukraine’s WTO accession process on February, 5 2008 , which was a prerequisite for FTA talks. Therefore, the advantage of looking at Ukraine while comparing costs and benefits of a deeper EU integration vs. deeper CIS integration is as follows. First, it is not a purely theoretical exercise but a question of practical importance. Did Ukraine make a right choice when declaring the EU integration as the policy priority? Second, the answer to this question gives guidance for policymakers of the EU and Ukraine for the decision on the future of the EU enlargement process.How Ukrainian exports would look like if the country joined EU in 2004? To answer these questions, this paper develops a methodology that allows predicting trade patterns of Ukrainian exports in such a hypothetical situation. The offered method assu mes that the main differences between being an EU member and being a typical CIS country stem from the changes in behavioral relationships of the parameters of the gravity equation rather than from the changes in factors that represent the gravity forces per se (see Egger, Pfaffermayr, and Schmidt 2006).By setting its regulatory framework in line with the EU standards, signing a deep FTA with EU, and, in the long run, achieving its final goal of becoming a full-fledged EU member, the Ukraine would gradually evolve from being a part of the CIS trading bloc with its distinct reliance on export of raw materials towards being a part of the EU trading block with a high degree of intra-industry trade in processed goods. Therefore, its trade patterns would become more in line with the trade patterns of the Eastern European countries.The behavioral changes would come from better access to the EU market, changes in the institutional environment, deep reforms of the regulatory framework, and standardization of export and import regulations. To capture the behavioral changes, the gravity model is estimated for two samples: one sample includes sixteen Eastern European countries – twelve EU member countries that recently joined EU (EU12) and four countries that are not member of the EU but are considered as candidates for enlargement in the future (EUC4) ; the other sample includes nine CIS countries .In addition to evaluating the behavioral change, the novelty of the paper lies in applying an estimation of the disaggregated gravity equation using the two stage procedure developed by Helpman, Melitz, and Rubinstein (2008) (henceforth HMR). The method explicitly deals with a substantial number of zero trade flows, and unobserved firm-level heterogeneity.Unlike the HMR method, we exploit both cross-sectional and time dimensions to remove the pair-specific fixed effects that can bias the cross-sectional results and estimate the impact of the EU accession on bilateral t rade flows by the Hausman-Taylor method (Hausman and Taylor, 1981) treating the EU accession as an endogenous decision that correlates with variable and fixed costs of trade. The model demonstrates substantial costs of not integrating into EU.If the Ukraine had became an EU member in 2004, it would have benefited from an increase in export volumes, redirection of trade from CIS trading partners towards the EU trading partners, and restructuring of exports from industrial products with low value added, primarily exports of raw materials, towards exports of manufactured products with high value added and exports of agriculture and food .The benefits would have come not from the EU accession per se but from the gradual process of reforms, economic restructuring, and behavioral changes in the bilateral trade relationships with its trading partners. The initial losses from breaking the trade relationships with other CIS countries would be more than compensated later along the development path. The structure of the paper is as follows. Section 2 compares existing trade patterns of the Eastern European countries with trade patterns of the CIS countries.Section 3 briefly discusses the methodological issues, presents a theoretical model and develops the estimation procedure. Section 4 discusses data. Section 5 presents estimation results for aggregated trade data and discusses advantages of the Hausman-Taylor method. It also presents estimated gains in disaggregated exports from the EU-Ukraine trade integration for two counterfactual experiments. Finally, Section 6 concludes. Trade patterns of EU and CIS countries: first glance at the data The theory of regionalism and preferential trade agreements (i. . Baldwin, 1993; Baldwin et al. 2006) stresses that costs of non-integration into a regional trade bloc increase with the size of the bloc which, in turn, induces more countries to join the bloc due to a so-called â€Å"domino effect†: by lowering trade barriers a nd improving market access, a discriminatory liberalization of trade within a trading bloc gives an edge to the companies located within the bloc over the outsiders and create additional incentives for multinational companies (MNC) to move their activities inside the bloc.This creates an additional pressure for inclusion on outside countries. Hence, once started, the process of regionalization captures ever-growing number of countries. The story of the latest EU enlargement illustrates this point. The Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) that, by 1989, included fifteen Soviet republics, six Eastern European countries – Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Romania, Poland –, and three other countries – Cuba, Mongolia, and Vietnam generated a substantial intra-bloc trade due to a high degree of economic and political integration The economic cooperation with the rest of the world was limited at best and in some instances prohibited. Since the b eginning of transition, Eastern European countries and Baltic States have rapidly moved away from the Moscow-centered economic gravity towards the Brussels-centered one. As was correctly predicted by some scholars (i. e. Wang and Winters, 1991 Hamilton and Winters, 1992, and Baldwin, 1994), this led to the reorientation of their trade flows away from the CMEA countries towards the EU members.By 1995, Eastern European trade flows did not differ considerably from that of similar Western European countries and mostly exhausted the westward expansion of exports at the intensive margins of trade (Gros and Gonciarz (1996). This view is supported by a more recent World Bank (2005) report which shows that currently most of the EU12 countries trade above their potential or ‘normal’ level.

Critical Analysis of Sustainabilty in Marketing Essay

Focus on sustainability has appeared on the face of the earth over the last ten years and a lot of books and articles are published on the topic of sustainability. Early on, John Elkington developed and promoted the concept of â€Å"Triple Bottom Line† in his book Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business which was published in late 1999 (Creating a Sustainable Organization: Approaches for Enhancing Corporate value through Sustainability By Peter A. Soyka, Pg. 1) The concept of sustainability is transformed to cover three basic components known as the Triple Bottom Line which are complexly linked to one another: profits-it is the economical part that balances financial growth with awareness and concern for the social good and environmental stewardship; planet-it is the environmental part that safeguards and preserves the natural qualities of our ecosystem for the benefit and health of future generations; people-it is the social equity part that safe guards the benefits of opportunity and equality for every individual. See more: how to write a critical analysis essay step by step The growing importance of sustainable development establishes a significant and developing challenge for environmental economics and natural resources. This challenge is such big that if it is not measured and controlled then it will ruin the life of the future generations that’s the reason why every field now a days strive to work hard to have Sustainable Value Creation (SVC). The question arises what is sustainability, a more relevant answer is provided by The Brundtland commission (1987) which says to be sustainable is to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. While this looks clear but if we observe it thoroughly and closely there are some complications and difficulties in it (Smart Green: How to Implement Sustainable Business Practices in Any Industry-and Make Money By Jonathan Estes page 6-8). The first problem which is a marketing problem is in the needs of the present and no one today knows of what level of needs we are talking about. The second difficulty is an ethical question that relates to the future and intergenerational justice, how we know what the needs of the future generations will be and how far do we look into the future? These two questions i.e. marketing and ethical must be explained much more clearly and  precisely than the definition of the sustainability suggests. The world economies currently face many challenges in the domain of public and commercial policy and one of the most crucial challenges they are facing is sustainable development. According to the projections of United Nations (UN) on population growth, the population of the world will most likely reach nine (9) billion people by the year 2050 with most of the growth taking place in emerging and developing countries. It is the commitment of UN to improve environmental and social performance associated with sustainable development. It seems that it is highly unlikely to achieve the goals set by the UN with current unbalanced consumptio n, marketing and production practices. KEY IDEAS OF SUSTAINABLE MARKETING: SUSTAINABLE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Creating consumer demand for sustainable products and services is not an easy task because the consumers traditionally behave to maximize their own utility. Many consumers think that anything which is good for the entire society in the long term is always the best option for the individuals in the short term and unfortunately for most of the consumers the positive attitudes toward sustainable development is not shown in their actual consumer behavior and purchases. There are differences in what people say and what they actually do. Sustainable consumer behavior can be enhanced by positioning sustainable behavior with consumers’ self-interest and by making sure that this self-interest is understood and recognized thoroughly and can be acted upon (Encouraging Sustainable Behavior: Psychology and the Environment edited by Hans C.M. van Trijp page 3, 4). Consumers when they consume sustainably also behave in a way that shows or signals there superiority over others. Marketing efforts should be made to enhance sustainable consumption that leads to reduction in the trait of signaling instinct i.e. our inclination to signal to others that we hold valued traits. SUSTAINABLE MARKETING STRATEGY AND PRACTICE The objective of sustainable marketing is to include and combine the environmental concerns in the marketing effort; this means that if the consumers are given better, more complete and more concise information on the sustainable products offered to them this will drive more and more  companies to produce products and services that are good for the environment. Sustainable marketing can take the strategies of conventional marketing to promote sustainable products and services not only by labelling the green products but also from working with positioning strategies of product, promotion, price and placement and rigorously engaging in market creation by addressing a large number of customers. The company’s marketing strategy throughout the supply chain from product development to consumption should include sustainability in it. Many companies are focusing on the implementation of sustainable consumption; they are finding the ways to direct the people’s thinking to forthcoming challenges and problems by using different marketing and communication strategies that lead to sustainable consumption. Sustainable communication and marketing strategies can make the companies think of their long-term socio-economic influence and the long-term perspective of it; this will help the companies to tell the public about their future program without diminishing their present less environmental performance. EFFECTIVE SOCIAL MARKETING Effective social marketing is a community and pragmatic based approach; it brings very operative behavioral change. This approach has five steps i.e. prudently pick the behaviors to be promoted; identify the benefits and barriers which come with the selected behavior; form a strategy that uses the behavioral-change tools to understand these benefits and barriers; test the strategy on a sample of certain community; and evaluate the effect of the strategy when it is tested on a large scale (Design for Environment as a Tool for the Development of a Sustainable Supply Chain by Bevilacqua, MaurizioCiarapica,Filippo Emanuele Giacchetta, Giancarlo, pg 147). Social marketing is different from commercial marketing it takes into account the changes in behavior that contributes social gains while commercial marketing’s objective is to produce financial gains by selling products and services. There are five important areas where social marketing focuses very heavily and they are; communit y involvement, health promotion, environmental protection, financial well-being and injury prevention (Social marketing: A pathway to consumption reduction? Ken Peattie, Sue Peattie. Pg. 262-264) TRANSFORMATION OF TRADITIONAL MARKETING TO SUSTAINABLE MARKETING Marketing has now changed itself it has a sustainability feature in nearly all of the  marketing practices. It is now somewhat compulsory for the companies to consider sustainability in all of their strategic marketing practices and marketing mix. It is a very distinctive and objective task to integrate sustainability in the marketing strategy and at the same time it is not an easy task because marketing strategies are developed by taking into account the needs and wants of the costumers. Previously the companies only tried to fulfill the consumer demand whether it has an adverse effect on nature or environment but now more companies are forming sustainable marketing strategies that makes relationships with customers better by fulfilling their demands and results in good profitability of the company and have good impact on nature and environment. Paettie and Belz (2010) after years of research came up with the idea of 4C’s i.e. (Cost, Communication, Costumer cost and Costumer Solution) and tried to mold traditional marketing Mix i.e. 4P’s (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) into 4C’s (Evolution of sustainability as marketing strategy: Beginning of new era Vinod Kumar, Zillur Rahman, A. A. Kazmi and Praveen Goyal, pg 486-487). SUSTAINABLE MARKETING- CHALLENGES AND ISSUES Developing a sustainable marketing strategy is not an easy task because there are some issues and challenges that should be dealt carefully and prudently before going on with the strategy. The issue is what sustainability principles demand is that we need to conserve the resources and consume less of it and at the same time marketing principles demands to sell or produce more which means consume more natural resources (jones et al 2008). The challenge is how to balance this discrepancy and which means that sustainable marketing strategies should be developed that still result in profits but not creating negative impact on the society or environment. The process of arising of a problem and solving it is an ongoing process one may come up with an idea or solution to an issue but there would be some problems with that solution too (Charter et al 2006). A good thing of sustainable marketing is not only competitive advantage but it also gives rise to innovation and reduction in costs. CONCLUSION The Marketing concept now has redefined which was acknowledged only as a functional concept and this concept is now dying and losing its grip on the  world stage. Now the redefined concept of marketing is strategic business concept that is intended to attain sustainable satisfaction for the three main players or stakeholders i.e shareholders, the costumers and people in the organization. The concept of sustainability marketing strategy started from ecological issues has now come to discuss sustainability issues. A company may have a sustainable marketing strategy if it involves sustainability in its business practices especially the marketing practices. The companies have to resolve the traditional issues and challenges which come in the way of implementing sustainability in their marketing strategies and then it will be a win-win situation for both the costumer and company. It has now becoming an informal moral obligation for a company to be sustainable. In this new era marketing and in the future, the companies have to be sustainable to compete on the world stage. REFERENCES Creating a Sustainable Organization: Approaches for Enhancing Corporate value through Sustainability by Peter A. Soyka, Pg. 1, Smart Green: How to Implement Sustainable Business Practices in Any Industry-and Make Money By Jonathan Estes page 6-8, Encouraging Sustainable Behavior: Psychology and the Environment edited by Hans C.M. van Trijp page 3-4, Design for Environment as a Tool for the Development of a Sustainable Supply Chain by Bevilacqua, MaurizioCiarapica,Filippo Emanuele Giacchetta, Giancarlo, pg 147, Social marketing: A pathway to consumption reduction? Ken Peattie, Sue Peattie. Pg. 262-264, Product, Price, Place and Promotion) into 4C’s (Evolution of sustainability as marketing strategy: Beginning of new era Vinod Kumar, Zillur Rahman, A. A. Kazmi and Praveen Goyal, pg 486-487, Jones et al 2008,

Strategy Evaluation for the Lloyd bank organisation Assignment

Strategy Evaluation for the Lloyd bank organisation - Assignment Example Lloyds heavily relies on its brand to achieve success, but also combines this with an excellent grasp of consumer needs (Bicker 2013: 51). As such, the company has formulated corporate objectives that are aimed at providing relevant, customised, and superior services to consumers in all categories. Over the years, the bank has realised that although its brand is strong enough to fuel its success, that alone is not enough to ensure sustainable growth in a rapidly developing banking sector. In lieu of this, the company has developed and implemented a customer satisfaction blueprint that is aimed at providing the best banking services to current and potential customers (Wilson 2013: 36). This blueprint is guided by efficiency, good ambience, excellent customer support, cordial customer relations, and a consumer engagement mechanism that is based on feedback and interaction. Lloyds’ customer satisfaction strategy has been instrumental in its current success, particularly due to th e bank’s ability to develop new, innovative services that improve service delivery. As the banking sector becomes more competitive, financial institutions realise that their service portfolios are becoming increasingly similar. This has prompted a shift to excellence in service, something that Lloyds has embraced as part of its corporate strategy. The UK and global banking sectors are experiencing numerous changes that are driven by innovation and technology. The rise in mobile and online banking is an example of a shift in focus that is driving growth in the sector. However, it is also becoming obvious that banks have fundamentally similar offerings and procedures. This also applies to the technological and innovation aspects of banking, which are now common in almost all banks (Casson & Rose 2014:35). For example, almost all banks in the United Kingdom have mobile and online banking services

Intellectual Property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intellectual Property - Essay Example The inventor of an intellectual property is not supposed to resign the company after creating a property in order to write his or her name as the inventor of that property. Intellectual property is a very important thing for any company. If a company acquires some other firm or company, it also acquires the right of intellectual property of that firm or company. For the proper protection and exploitation of intellectual property, the business owners need to be aware of how and when they created the intellectual property. Once the business owners create the intellectual property, they need to manage their intellectual property portfolio, capture and maximize value of the innovative ideas, monitor the infringements, and enforce the intellectual property rights. Intellectual property is a unique thing, which differentiates a person or a company for other people or companies. For example, a symbol or a logo is intellectual property of a company, which represents the company in the market . Unauthorized use of intellectual property has given rise to a number of court cases. Experts strongly recommend the companies to protect their intellectual properties using four different methods, which include patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.

The English Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The English Legal System - Essay Example Moreover, the method of making laws is not a result of one night’s effort rather it is an outcome of intense thought process. Subsequently, a few prominent methods of law making in England and Wales is firmly rooted in the medieval history while other methods are seen to have a strong affiliation and a set of implications from the post-World War II. Although the differences in the time period is attributed to the methods of law making but the influence of social, technological and political components is apparent in law making methods irrespective of the differences in the time period. A number of processes are required to be completed while formulating laws before their full-fledged enforcement (Weait, 2011, p. 11; Weait and Goodey, 2011, p. 69: Howells et.al., 2011, p. 144). Correspondingly, this essay intends to explain the different processes by which law can be changed. Subsequently, the essay also presents arguments both in favour and against the statement, â€Å"At one level law reform is either a product of parliamentary or judicial activity. Parliament tends, however, to be concerned with particularities of law reform and the judiciary are constitutionally and practically disbarred from reforming the law in anything other than an opportunistic and piecemeal way†. House of Commons and the Houses of Lords constitute parliament in England and Wales. The members of the House of Commons are elected individuals by public from different constituencies. On the other hand, the members of the House of Lords are nominated by Prime Minister of the country. Both the houses of parliament are required to perform various functions among which engaging in discussions and debates in order to pass new laws is considered as one of the major functions. Laws that are enacted by parliament are discerned as Acts of Parliament. These laws are also commonly known as legislation or statute (Arthur et al., 2011, p. 92). The English law system is also widely known

Role of genetics in childhood obesity Research Paper

Role of genetics in childhood obesity - Research Paper Example This essay "Role of genetics in childhood obesity" outlines if the children of obese parents are susceptible to obesity. Even in old times, when the science of genetics did not exist, it was a common knowledge that children inherited many things from their parents, families and ancestors like the color of their hair, the color of the eyes, height, physique and many other things. In the light of this common observation, it would not be wrong to conclude that like the color of their eyes, color of their hair, height, children also inherit a strain for obesity from their parents and families. The more recent scientific studies in the field of genetics have further established that like many other health problems and attributes, obesity in children could also be attributed to a genetic or in other words hereditary link (Smith 1). A recent scientific research which happened to be based on a close collaboration between many related studies has found out that obesity also tends to have a ge netic component. Till a few decades ago, it was strongly believed that people or families who had faulty lifestyles and unhealthy dietary preferences were more likely to get obese. However, this study and many other such studies are forcefully pointing towards the fact that childhood obesity may not be the result of defective lifestyles, but rather a defective gene or genes. Even if people with faulty lifestyles are more prone to obesity, it may that a particular gene in their genetic makeup may be pushing them to stick to unhealthy diet and lifestyles.

Violations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Violations - Essay Example The longer the call lasted, the stronger became my urge to identify myself and say something to the person I called. Violation 2 – Answering the Question â€Å"How are you?† The reactions to this violation were very similar. Whenever I gave them an earful, they looked very surprised. All of them were clearly not expecting me to give them such a long answer. At first, they tried to look interested, but all of them tried to disrupt me as politely as they could. Although this is part of my culture, it made me actually realize that people ask the question without being interested in how I really am. It almost made me wonder why we ask that question in the first place, instead of just saying â€Å"Hello†. Violation 3 – Walk away from a conversation without excusing yourself Most people kept talking to me: they were either asking me where I was going or they were making some kind of ironic remark. Only one person did not say anything at the time and asked me the next day why I walked away without excusing myself. Compared to all other violations, this was the most difficult one, because I felt I was being impolite and disrespectful. It feels bad to just walk away from somebody without excusing yourself or saying anything else, because I have been taught otherwise by my

Ethical Issues in Accountancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ethical Issues in Accountancy - Essay Example The growth of corporate visibility and influence has led to their owning ethical and moral responsibility for their products and actions and consequences thereof on society and individuals. Corporations have been accused of accounting fraud, insider trading, executive over-pay, declining pension funds or in general of corporate 'greed' and 'irresponsibility'. The 1998 OECD guidelines for multinationals lay down responsibility towards human rights, the environment and elimination of child and forced labour. OECD code 2000 is 'the reflection in management practice of various legal, regulatory and social pressures that motivate the company to prevent abuses of market power and to redress other sorts of market failure' (OECD, 2001) Business is faced with a challenge to improve creation of wealth for its shareholders and at the same time to meet requirements of the changed perceptions of social and ethical responsibilities, which in the short-run perspective, might not be compatible. However, with the change in stockholder awareness and scepticism, the company is also being tasked to meet its social and ethical obligations. A specific instance is the negative impact of a company's product on the community and how far is the responsibility to be laid at the doors of management when the cause of the impact might have been due to a product marketed decades back and especially when scientific awareness of the negative impact was not known. ... d examine the different issues involved in the above circumstances, especially in light of the behaviour of James Hardie Industries who were involved in a case based on the negative affect of the use of asbestos in its products, and how these impact the ethical issues in accountancy. Literature Survey Literature survey in this research is targeted at the impact of new requirements of ethics and social responsibility accounting on the basic principles of accountancy and audit functions as well as the literature available on the John Hardie Industries case. These are given as Sections I and II respectively below: Section I Changing expectations and skepticism of the stakeholder, places pressure on companies to accept moral responsibility for the negative impact of their products on the community even though the claims may arise from operations many decades ago. Society is increasingly suspicious about the moves by corporations to avoid their responsibilities, which eventually leads them to bowing to pressure from a society skeptical of their protests of innocence and pretence of compassion for those who have suffered from their activities. The question therefore arises as to how far management is responsible for the negative impact of their products on the consumer and society. "Having a corporate conscience means that a company takes responsibility for its actions just as any conscientious individual would be expected to do. In corporate terms, this means that a company is accountable to the public for its behaviour not only in the complex organisational environment but in the natural physical environment as well. A company is thus responsible for its products and for its effects on the public". (Guerrette, 1986, p 410) It is thus essential that companies disclose

The Persuasive Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Persuasive Research Paper - Essay Example Others, however, praised the decision of the committee terming it as a timely and accurate. In as much as critics hinted several reasons to support their position, it remains indisputable that the honor was a service granted at the right time to the president. The inventor of this priceless tribute granted to Nobel peace prize holders was Alfred Nobel. The respect was a courtesy offered to reputable people who pledge for and work to restore fraternity among world nations. It is noteworthy that critics of Obama’s recognition consider that the president, by 2009, had insignificant achievement in creating fraternity among nations. They hint at the short service time that the president had, by then, and find it inadmissible to grant honor to the president for that. This argument is remains illogical when used to disapprove the honor granted to the president in 2009. Foreign policy debates were among the president’s promises during his campaigns before his assumption of powe r. Restoring admirable relationship among world countries is unattainable without the art of conviction and deliberation. Among the greatest investments, that the president made to obtain power, was his superb articulation and conviction to boost the country’s foreign relations. ... Critics should detach the consideration of the short time of service from their argument since the president’s foreign relations debate was promising long before assumption of office. Critics against the honor highlight several nominees of the prize who were unsuccessful but, in their opinion, deserved the recognition. Critics point at icons as Joseph Stalin whose nominations in 1945 and 1948 received objection by the committee. Efforts by Stalin to create peace in the world by ending the second war were plausible enough, in the opinion of these critics, to attract the honor. In addition, critics to Obama’s honor attribute his youthful recognition of the president and cast doubts on the committee’s decision. The fact that Obama gained the recognition on his first nomination makes the critics to believe that it was untimely. These claims, however, remain illogical from several perspectives. Advocating for peace among world states is a commitment that does not come with age but an ideology. Alfred Nobel attributed to peace as the most invaluable benefit that humankind would attain in life. That turned to be his ideology and the reason for the respect since his death in 1896. As a reminder to critics of the honor, as ideology is collection of doctrines that find basis on political, social or any other area of knowledge. It is a reflection of the social or political demands of the people pledging for it. There is no relationship between the age, of a society or an individual, and an ideology. Peace qualifies to be among the most recognizable political ideologies, globally, and that is incontrovertible. Arguing that Obama was youthful to receive the honor, therefore, is undeniably wrong and inconsiderate. There are success stories of young economists, politicians,

Nursing acutely ill patient Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Nursing acutely ill patient - Essay Example This work is mainly going to discuss the management of patients admitted in Accident and Emergency departments suffering from Angina. It also focuses on the treatment, pathophysiology, monitoring, and reassurance. Angina can also be referred to as Angina Pectoris1. Angina is condition causes a severe pain in the chest that often spreads to the arms, shoulders and neck. This condition is mainly caused by inadequate blood supply to the heart muscles. Angina is discomfort or chest pain that is caused when the heart section is deprived of oxygen2. It is also subjected to a symptom of heart disease like the Coronary artery disease. There are three main types of angina. They include, variant angina, stable and unstable angina. Variant angina is a type of angina that occurs when one is at rest or during sleeping hours3. It is very easy to treat using medication. This type of angina in not common and occurs free of atherosclerosis that might be there incidentally. 4Some researchers state tha t variant angina occurs because of coronary artery muscle contraction. Stable angina is the most common type of angina that takes place the heart is overworked. It is easy to predict when it can occur, for instance, when carrying out some activities. Stable angina can be relieved either by rest or through angina medications5. The last type of angina, unstable angina, follows an unpredictable pattern unlike stable angina. It can occur during an activity or when at rest. It is rather complex because it cannot be relieved by both medication and rest. Its occurrence may indicate an impending heart attack. 6The symptoms of angina include; sensation of heaviness or pressing pain on the chest under sternum, the breast bone. The pain is mainly experienced in the arms, neck, jaw regions and shoulder. Physical exertion normally increases the condition because angina occurs only when the heart requires excess oxygen beyond the available oxygen from the blood that nourishes the heart. The main causes of angina are extreme temperatures, smoking cigarette, emotional stress, heavy meals and alcohol. Some of the causes of angina are very serious and threatens life. Musculoskeletal is one of the most common causes of chest pain that are common in patients under forty years. Some of the causes of chest discomfort include respiratory causes such as pleurisy and pulmonary embolism, the digestive causes such as esophageal spasm and heartburn7. The worst condition that threatens life is the cardiac chest pain. Cardiac chest pain sums to 18% of the chest pain cases combined. Chest pain reports sums up to 40% of the admissions in emergency hospitals out of which, 5% visits the Accident and Emergency departments. It is very important to differentiate between non-cardiac and cardiac pain in the admissions of chest pain in a hospital, even though, it can be hard to be sure about the nature8. Early assessment helps to know if there is a heart disease within a patient while early treatmen t increases the survival chances of the patient. It is therefore important to do early assessment and early treatment in order to discover the presence of a heart disease and increase the patient’s survival chances respectively. According to various statistics, the incidences of Coronary Heart Disease have been increasing for the last decades; though there were, low death rates. The

The Story as Told in The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Essay Example for Free

The Story as Told in The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Essay Mark Twains Legendary story of Huckleberry Finn is the tale of a young little-minded orphan boy named Huck, who is the narrator, and tells his story in which he is accompanied by a runaway slave named Jim who both embark on various mischievous adventures down the Mississippi River, Jim who is owned by Hucks care takers Ms. Watson and Widow Douglass is faced with the most challenges in the novel. Throughout the novel Huck Jim are faced with many obstacles on there adventures up and down the Mississippi River seeking the free state of Illinois, where Jims Plan is to gain his freedom and live his dream of reuniting with his wife and children whom were also sold into slavery. Eventhough the novel is touching and compelling in many ways over the last 120 years Twains novel has been attacked by various groups for being a racist novel, while others strongly believe that his novel is the greatest statement in American culture against racism. Twain began writing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn currently after his first novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) which wasnt as much of a controversial novel compared to his best seller. Twain later re-wrote and re-wrote Huck Finn multiple times later finishing it in December 1883. During his writings Twain had a hard time within himself towards his novel due to his character Huck helping Jim runaway to a free state and there strong bond they both shared, which Twain knew wasnt a right thing to do during his time for the fact in the eyes of the average slave owners or racist go-getters. As years passed and many different versions of Twains writings evolved from language to language but still with-held the same context as his original writings. After Twains passing, and Huckleberry Finn having a slight shed under the limelight for some of its vulgar language, and more than many racial slurs toward Jim other characters portrayed as slaves in his novel, real criticism began. Many different types of various groups regardless whether they have there share of pros and cons, on the novel shared there own opinions regarding the use of the N word being used in the novel to be dignified as if it was Jims name. Those who do not approve of Twains writings are those who see the book as a racist novel, which when reading the novel you can see many different clusters of its racism. As you continue to read the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn you tend to notice that Huck is faced with many challenges dealing with the fact Jim is a runaway slave,and Huck is giving his share as being a accomplice in his crime, and that is where many people who see the negative side of the novel try to look passed the helpings of Huck and Jims freedom and just focus on that bubble of racial slurs and the hardships for African Americans of that time who were mistreated and who died trying to live a positive life style passed the mistreatment. Thats in all of the history itself Twain lived in the era where slaves were a household appliance or necessity and in todays days its unethical to own a slave, which many Americans today will all agree on. Many issues the groups who withheld opposition of Twains writings in our decade are trying to shed light on the fact that this novel is being taught in schools all across America, and the use of the racial slurs once again should be censored throughout the novel. Yet once you re-arrange a book to have the slightest bit of change, you create a gap or some type of a road block where you miss the true meanings Twain is trying to approach to his audience, to feel the feelings Jim and Huck felt on there voyage across the Mississippi, and thats when other groups who approve of the message Twain is trying to achieve in his purpose feel as if this is one of the novels in American History that cultivates one of the greatest statements of the true meaning on unity, faith, and the growth of a boy becoming a man all within a time where racism was a huge whirlwind of negativity. Choosing a side to say weather Twains novel is a racist book, or one of the greatest statements in American culture against racism. I would have to choose that, Twain was always giving a positive outlook when writing this story,due to many helpings between the friendship of Huck Jim. Regardless if it was Jim helping Huck or Huck Helping Jim it was an integrated friendship that would of not have been accepted in the society of the late 1800s when racism wasnt at its peak as it would be 50-80 years later in the time of the Civil Rights Movement. Some can and will always argue with the vulgarity scripted page by page in the story but that is what makes it such an interesting story, Twain wanted his reader to experience the feelings he captivated within each character and how hard it really was in his decade for two unlike pairs to help eachother gain more than moral values in life and to take chances in doing whats right than whats expected. Seeing passed the racism issues various groups attack Twains writings on, he tries to give a self point-of-view on what unity should really be like, such as Huck helping Jim be free than later throughout chapters recover Jim from a slave auction where he was forced to stay when the King and the Duke turned him in for ransom. Regardless of his skin color and the crime he committed Huck knew what was right from wrong and did the unexpected and helped out a colored man , at the time where it was not excepted to do so in that specific time frame in American History. You can say the novel shares its negatives and its positives on the opinions of racism, yet many can share there own opinions within eachother when reading the book. Mark Twain had every bit of intention to make his book have many controversies in his present and our future. People need to see the true meanings of Twains work past all of the negativity and a real autobiographical look at his point of view on racism itself, he had every reason for Huck and Jim to be best buddies in his novel because at that time he knew what was right from wrong. So people can his story is wrapped around tightly with words or racism some can say its simply work of great meanings but as I would say its a story of unity of two unlike pairs to be united as one into helping eachother find themselves and the true meaning of life, and becoming there own men, In Conclusion Mark Twains Legendary story of Huckleberry Finn the tale of the young little-minded orphan boy Huck, and a runaway slave Jim who both embarked on a mischievous adventure down the Mississippi River, and faced with many challenges seeking the free state of Illinois. Was really a tale of two unlike cultures coming together and helping one another no matter what color you are friendship is stronger than a racial barrier, eventhough the last 120 years the book has been attacked by various groups for being a racist novel, while others strongly believe that it is the greatest statement in American culture against racism. I strongly believe it is definitely the greatest statement in American culture against racism. Word Count:1266

The Autonomic Nervous System

The Autonomic Nervous System The Autonomic Nervous System is a widespread system of nerves that innervates, with the exception of skeletal muscle, nearly every process in the body. This Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) is a completely unconscious process which is responsible for maintaining homeostasis, as well as having many other functions such as control of digestion. The Autonomic Nervous System was first discovered, and studied by Walter Gaskell (Purves, Augustine, Fitzpatrick and Hall, 2001) who had his work on the ANS first published in 1916, two years after his death. He discovered that certain physiological effects, such as an increase in heart-rate, could be achieved by stimulating certain nerves branching off from the first few thoracic spinal cord segments. Using this, and other similar studies, he then theorized that each system in the body was innervated with two sets of nerves that had opposing functions (Purves, Augustine et al., 2001). These two sets of nerves we now know to be the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic branches of the Autonomic Nervous System; though recently a third branch has been separated from the others and called the Enteric Nervous System, which is found solely in the gut and the supporting features such as the Pancreas (Barker and Barasi, 1999). Although the ANS plays an unconscious process, it can sometimes be over-ridden by conscious thought; one example of this is in breathing, although breathing happens automatically without any need for purposeful thought, it is possible to take control of your breathing, such as holding your breath, or exhaling forcefully (to inflate a balloon for example). As the Autonomic Nervous System is such an important part of the nervous system, studying it and knowing how it works, and how it is controlled, is also very important; in this essay I am going to talk about the three different branches of the Autonomic Nervous System and their functions and differences, and then explain how they are regulated in the brain. The Sympathetic Nervous System When we are faced with what our bodies consider to be a threat we have to be prepared to, either stand and face the danger (fight), or get ourselves out the situation as quickly as possible (flight); this is the job of the Sympathetic Nervous System. These Fight or Flight responses are designed to give us as much of a physical advantage as possible, such as: making sure enough oxygen is reaching our muscles as possible by increasing heart-rate and dilating blood vessels, saving energy by slowing down lesser-needed processes such as digestion, dilating our pupils so we take in as much light as possible thus improving our vision, and makes our hairs stand on end so we look as big and ferocious as possible; all of these would have given us an edge over any predators we faced. The main nerve-trunks of the Sympathetic Nervous System leave the Central Nervous System from the Thoracic and Lumbar segments of the spinal cord, this is also known as the thoraco-lumbar outflow (Bakewell,1995). The cell bodies of the Sympathetic pre-ganglionic neurones are found in the lateral horn of the spinal cord between segments T1 and L2. Some of these pre-ganglionic fibres of the Sympathetic Nervous System synapse with the post-ganglionic fibres in a long chain, known as the Sympathetic Chain, that runs the length of the spinal cord, although some have a separate ganglion outside this sympathetic chain; from the ganglion, the post-ganglionic neurones then synapse with their target-organ. Post-ganglionic Sympathetic neurones have a very extensive network of dendrites that are innervated by many pre-ganglionic neurones; but there are roughly 10 times as many post-ganglionic sympathetic neurones than pre-ganglionic neurones, this divergence is thought to aid with coordination o f activity between neurones projecting from different segments of the spinal cord (Kandel, Schwartz, and Jessell, 2000). The Parasympathetic Nervous System The Parasympathetic Nervous System works in opposition to the Sympathetic Nervous System and therefore gives rise to Rest and Digest responses, which act to rebuild the energy stores that were depleted in the previous period of Sympathetic activity. These responses include: slowing down the heart-rate, stimulating digestion, and constricting the pupils. The cell bodies of Parasympathetic Pre-ganglionic neurones are found mostly in the brainstem, with some in the sacral segments of the spinal cord. In the brainstem, these cell bodies are found in the EdingerWestphal nucleus in the midbrain, which is related to the Oculomotor nerve, the Superior and Inferior Salivary nuclei found in the Pons, and related to the Facial nerve and Glossopharyngeal nerve, and in the Dorsal motor Nucleus of the Vagus nerve, in the medulla and the Nucleus Ambiguus. Because of the location of the cell-bodies of the Parasympathetic Nervous System, the it can also be called the Cranio-Sacral outflow (Bakewell, 1995). There are a few contrasts between the Sympathetic Nervous System and the Parasympathetic, apart from their opposing actions; the first and most obvious of these is that, in the sympathetic nervous system, all the preganglionic neurones are very short, most making synapses in a chain that runs very close to the spinal cord, meaning they have much longer post-synaptic neurones (as the pathway is disynaptic), whereas in the parasympathetic nervous system, the pre-ganglionic neurones are much longer and almost reach their target organ before making a synapse with a post-ganglionic neurone. This is an important difference as pre-ganglionic neurones are myelinated and therefore conduct action potentials a lot faster than the unmyelinated post-ganglionic neurones, suggesting the the parasympathetic nervous system works slightly quicker than the sympathetic (Kandel et al. 2000). Another difference is that there is a lot of divergence in the Sympathetic Nervous System, as previously discussed , whereas in the Parasympathetic Nervous System there is a lot less, with the ratio of Pre-Ganglionic Neurones to Postganglionic Neurones being 1:3, although this is highly dependant on the tissue as in some it is nearly a 1:1 ratio. Thirdly, both Pre-Gnaglionic and post-Ganglionic neurones in the Parasympathetic Nervous System use Acetyl Choline (ACh) as their Neurotransmitter, whereas Post-ganglionic neurones in the Sympathetic Nervous System use Noradrenaline; this is important as it has lots of clinical applications for drugs that target specifically the Sympathetic or Parasympathetic Nervous System. The Enteric Nervous System The Enteric Nervous System is a unique branch of the Autonomic Nervous System that is found lining the sides of the digestive system, specifically the oesophagus, stomach, intestines and secretory glands such as the pancreas (Bear, Connors, and Paradiso, 2007). The Enteric Nervous System is responsible for the control of the tension of the walls of the gut and monitoring the ever-chaning chemical balance within the digestive system, these are highly important functions in digestion. The special property of the Enteric Nervous System is that it can act reasonably independently from the rest of the Central Nervous System, leading to it sometimes being referred to as The Little Brain. The cell bodies of the Enteric Nervous System are connected together in two major structures known as plexuses; these are the myenteric plexus and the submucous plexus, these plexuses line the walls of the gut in two separate layers and control peristalsis, internal mucous levels and every other important aspect of the digestive system, including a role in secretion from the pancreas and gall bladder. Though the Enteric Nervous System is a separate function of the Autonomic Nervous System that deals almost solely with the digestive process, it contains as many neurones as the entire spinal cord does, meaning it has a very. Unlike the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic branches of the Autonomic Nervous System which are limited to either 1 or 2 Neurotransmitters, the Enteric Nervous System has been shown to have as many as 20 possible Neurotransmitters, though they have yet to all be proven to act as Neurotransmitters in this system (Gershon, Kirchgessner and Wade, 1994). The Enteric Nervous System has also been shown to play a role in Immune Responses (Hansen, 2003). Higher Control of the Autonomic Nervous System As the Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Branches of the Autonomic Nervous System work, for the most part, in opposition to each other, there must be some higher control coordinating them to work in harmony, and the first step of this is in the Nucleus of the Solitary tract (Kandel et al. 2000); here, the nucleus receives afferent input from the Facial, Glossopharyngeal and Vagal nerve, and firstly sends this information to both the brainstem and the spinal cord, where basic functions of the Autonomic Nervous System are carried out, but more cleverly, the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract also takes in other information and combines it, the Nuclei of the Solitary tract also project to the Periaqueductal grey, which also receives information from the hypothalamus, the periaqueductal grey takes all this information and then projects to the Reticular Formation of the Medulla, where it controls the co-ordination between behavioural activity and the autonomic nervous system, and example of this is that when doing heavy exercise (behavioural), its important your heart-rate increase so your muscles can get a greater oxygen supply from the blood (autonomic). Another important control of the Autonomic Nervous System is in homeostasis, there needs to be cooperation between the baroreceptors or chemoreceptors for example, and the most useful branch of the autonomic nervous system, so hair can stand on end on cold days to preserve heat, for example; this is the job of the hypothalamus (Kandel et al. 2000) as the hypothalamus receives input from pretty much every sensory pathway in the body; a dated study from Swanson and Sawchenko (1983) proved that the Paraventricular Nucleus of the Hypothalamus had descending pathways to the Autonomic Nervous System. As well as direct control over the Autonomic Nervous System, the Hypothalamus also has an indirect influence over it through the use of relays in other parts of the brain (Squire, Berg, Bloom, du Lac, Ghosh and Spitzer, 2008). In conclusion, the Autonomic Nervous System is a diverse and widespread system that innervates nearly every aspect of the body, meaning that a threatening stimulus can elicit a whole range of responses throughout the body, from increasing heart rate to diverting blood from the gut and widening blood vessels, this means that the whole body is very quickly and efficiently prepared to face the danger, and then the entire body can quickly calm down again to replenish resources; and not only this, but because of its connections with the hypothalamus and other higher centres, the Autonomic Nervous System isnt limited to reacting to physical changes, such as body temperature, but it can react to even mental stimuli such as emotions or the anticipation of something. This is important in evolutionary terms, there is little point in reacting to a danger once it has already causes damage so the heightened physical performance needs to come in anticipation of a danger, so that when the danger p resents itself, the fight or flight response is at its strongest. As this is such an important process in the body, many studies have been carried out into it, and continue to be carried out, and much work is being done on diseases of the Autonomic Nervous System, as, obviously, they have such a dramatic effect on the sufferer. References Bakewell, S., (1995) The Autonomic Nervous System. Practical Procedures 5(5) Barker, R., A. and Barasi, S. (1999) Neuroscience at a Glance, Blackwell Publishing Bear, M. F., Connor B. W. and Paradiso, M. A. (2007) Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain, Lippincott Williams Wilkins: a Wolters Kluwer business Gershon M. D., Kirchgessner A.L. and Wade P.R., (1994) Functional anatomy of the enteric nervous system, Springer Berlin Heidelberg Hansen, M. B., (2003) The Enteric Nervous System II : Gastrointestinal functions. Pharmacology Toxicology, 92(6) 249-257 Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H. and Jessell, T. M., (2000) Principles of Neural Science, McGraw-Hill Medical Purves, D., Augustine, G. J., Fitzpatrick, D. and Hall, W. C., (2008) Neuroscience 4th Edition, Sinauer Raj K. Goyal, M.D., and Ikuo Hirano, M.D., (1996) Mechanisms of disease: the enteric nervous system. The New England Journal of Medicine, 334(17) 1106-1115 Squire, L.R., Berg, D., Bloom, F.E., Du Lac, S., Ghosh, A. and Spitzer, N.C., (2008) Fundamental Neuroscience 3rd Edition, Elsevier Swanson, L. W. and Sawchenko, P.E, (1983) Hypothalamic integration: organisation of the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei. Ann. Rev. Neuroscience 6 269-324

Medea by Euripides | Plot Summary

Medea by Euripides | Plot Summary Crazed Mother Medea relates to real life if you watch the news and hear about ex-lovers ending their relationships with murder or suicide. Medea is willing to sacrifice everything to make her revenge perfect. Medea shows her complete necessity for revenge when she says, â€Å"anyone running between me and my justice will reap what no man wants.† Not only does she kill two children, she kills her own two innocent children, because she does not want the kids in Jasons hands. This type of crazed revenge is seen too often in todays society. The play Medea can be interpreted as a crazy mother who takes her heart broken anger out on her own innocent children. At the beginning of the play, the Nurse talks about the years when Medea and Jason were in love. She mentions how she was broken by saying, â€Å"but Jason has turned from her; he calls the old bond a barbarian mating, not a Greek marriage.† Jason harshly betrays Medea and it is obvious that it is going to lead to violence and rage when Medea says, â€Å"And when I have ruined the whole of Jasons house, I shall leave the land and flee from the murder of my Dear children, and I shall have done a dreadful deed.† Medea has set her plan to ruin Jasons life by taking her childrens. Jason is very arrogant, but is he really the hero he is made up to be? Medea knows she made Jason who he is when she says, â€Å"I gave him success and fame; I saved him his precious life, not once, many times†¦I betrayed my father for him, I killed my brother to save him.† The reason why Jason is where he is at in his life is because of Medea. She did all the dirty work for Jason, but he repays her by running off and marrying the beautiful girl. Jason does not understand that the reason he holds power is from Medea. This arrogance is one of the reasons why Medea is so enraged at Jason. Medea gives many hints throughout the play of her final act of retaliation. As the story progresses the need to seek revenge also builds inside of her. The initial signs of Medeas potential behavior appear at the beginning of the play when the Nurse tells how Medea is emotionally hurt. The Nurse says, â€Å"But Medea lies in the house, broken with pain and rage; she will neither eat nor drink.† It is completely natural to want revenge on something that has stung you in the past. Medea comes right out and tells Jason that something is going to happen, â€Å"Something might happen. It is†¦likely†¦that something might happen to the bride and the marriage.† Medea bluntly tells Jason that something will happen to disrupt his marriage and she will have revenge for what Jason has done to her. Medea showed her first signs of craziness when she killed her family members and others to get what she wanted. She offers more signs of her future behavior when she screams out in her mind about what she will do, â€Å"What I need: all dead, all dead, all dead, under the great cold stones. For a year and a thousand years and another thousand: cold as stones, cold, but noble again, proud, strait, and silent, crimson-cloaked in the blood of our wounds.† Medea wants all that have betrayed her to be dead. Even though Jason is still living, his pride and everything he had, like his children and the princess, is dead. She says that once it has all been completed she will be proud, and noble. This self-reflection is a major give away toward her crazy inner soul. In Medea, the three Corinthian women often show signs that they are afraid of Medea. One of the Corinthian women says, â€Å"They say she is dangerous. Look at her eyes.† The women tell us that Medea is filled with crazed rage and will do something dangerous. One of the Corinthian women says, â€Å"Women hate war, but men will wage it again. Women may hate their husbands, and sons, and fathers, but women will never hate their children.† This statement says that Medea will hate her husband, but she did not hate her children even though she killed them, and this is ultimately what makes her crazy. Medea also shows many heroic qualities, especially when she is willing to kill her own brother to be with Jason. When she kills her brother, she shows that she is willing to do whatever is necessary to get the job done. Medea has been not only cheated, but also betrayed by Jason. She will not tolerate this abuse from him and does something about it. Medea says to Creon, â€Å"You see a woman driven half mad with sorrow, laboring to save her little children.† Medea builds up enough courage to confront Jason and get revenge. There are two main reasons why Medea decides to kill her children. The first is that she feels that it is a perfect way to complement the death of the princess in getting revenge on Jason. When she tells the chorus of the plans to kill the children, they wonder if she has the heart to kill her children, and Medea answers, â€Å"yes, for this is the best way to wound my husband.† This shows that she believes that by killing her children, she will basically ruin Jasons life and succeed in her revenge. The second reason for Medea killing her children has nothing to do with revenge. If she left her children with Jason, they would be living in a society that would look down upon them since they do not have pure goddess origins. Since she does not want to leave her children with Jason, they really have no place else to go, â€Å"my children, there is none who can give them safety.† Medea decides that killing her children is the best way to get both revenge, and the assurance that her children are not in Jasons hands. Medea ends the play with her crazed mind when she stabs her two innocent kids to death. She confronts Jason with the dead children and taunts him as she walks on saying, â€Å"I do not leave my childrens bodies with thee; I take them with me that I may bury them in Heras precinct. And for thee, who didst me all that evil, I prophesy an evil doom.† Medea shows her craziness throughout the entire play.

Confidence in Organized Labor :: essays research papers

INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Statement of problem People have opinions and thoughts about many issues relating to the work force. They wonder what is the best occupation to get in, how much money they can make in certain fields, who the best employers might be. Some of the big concerns people have when thinking about employment is benefits. What can a company provide to the potential employee in terms of insurance, vacations, advancement, and all the extras associated with the perks of certain companies? At the time do these people wonder about the organizations that may have a say in those benefits they so covet. The labor unions Through my research I have found very little information that deals with confidence in organized labor. Most of the data that I have obtained is more closely related to unions in general than to the people who have confidence in them; and I will attempt to ascertain whether people have confidence in organized labor, not whether they approve or disapprove of labor unions. With the little information that I was able to obtain in this quest, I suggest that this research would be beneficial to sociology by presenting more information on the topic of confidence in organized labor and giving sociologists a platform from which to proceed with further research in this area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Objectives One objective of this paper is to determine whether there is confidence in organized labor. Another objective is to ascertain whether there is an association between certain independent variables relating to the level of confidence in organized labor. LITERATURE REVIEW   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The topic of confidence in organized labor is an expansive subject which can be studied from the perspectives of many different variables. What I want to know is what others have written about confidence in organized labor, how the different variables of my research react to unions, whether there are any reasons they feel this way, what the unions are doing to gain confidence, and whom they are likely to target for membership. I have read that education may affect the way people feel toward unions (Sares, 1991). Meikasins and Smith’s (1993) article about how professionals are not as unionized as their industrious counterparts tend to show an association about income and confidence. (Most professionals earn more than industry workers.) One of the areas of my research is race (Wilson, 1989): does this variable have any association with confidence in organized labor? Another focus of in my research is whether sex can attribute to one’s view on labor unions (Sares).

Creation and Science Essay -- Religion Creationism Papers

Creation and Science We have all heard about the evolution vs. creation debate. Two sides opposing each other in fits of heated passion. One group believes that humans developed from monkeys, and the other group is a bunch of religious fanatics. Does this sound somewhat familiar? This is one of the most stereotypical views of the dispute, but is, unfortunately, how many people believe it to be. So what is it all about? What makes these groups (there are actually quite a few more than two) so determined to fight and try to win others over to their belief? In the answers to these questions lie the truth about why humans take this aspect of science so personally. There must be some fairly significant reasons that cause individuals to become so committed to arguing their point of view in the evolution/creation debate. Many creationists feel that without a supernatural creation by an intelligent being there is no purpose to the universe and no reason to live (Wager, 1997). Many Christian creationists hope that by convincing others of Godà ­s role in the origins of life, they can more effectively lead others to salvation. Still others believe that it is the duty of Christians to "defend against the godless dogma of evolutionary humanism" (Tyler, 1995). It is easy to see why this topic is so important to people. If one believes that evolution and Christianity are mutually exclusive, as many people do, then it is natural for Christians to want to disprove evolution and eliminate what they perceive as a threat (Wright, 1989). However, the debate is also meaningful to evolutionists. Many evolutionists feel that to try and discredit evolution is to ignore facts and scientific reasoning (Tyler, 1995). Some evolutionists who are dominant i... .../Biol410/Biol410SrSemPapers97/millerl.html Myers, Jesse. (1996). Biology Senior Seminar Student Papers: "A Look At Scientific Creationism." http://www.goshen.edu/bio/Biol410/Biol410SrSemPapers/myers.html Nelkin, Dorothy. (1982). The Creation Controversy. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. Scott, Eugenie C. (1996). "Dealing With Anti-evolutionism." (10/25/98) http://www.natcensied.org/deal174.htm Tyler, David J. (1995). Review of: "Creation Based Science By Phillip Johnson." (10/22/98) http://www.pages.org/bcs/Bcs057.html Wager, Michael. (1997) "Evolution: The Lie." (10/25/98) http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/~mlwager/evovscrt.htm Wright, Richard T. (1989). Biology: Through the Eyes of Faith. New York, New York. HarperSanFrancisco. Zook, Marc E. (1987). Biology Senior Seminar Student Papers: "Origins: A Collection Of Thoughts."

Comparing Suppression of Women in Feminine Mystique, Radicalesbians, an

Suppression of Women through Isolation in The Feminine Mystique, Radicalesbians, and Trifles It is far easier to break the spirit of one human being than that of a united group of people. Betty Friedan’s "The Feminine Mystique", "Radicalesbians", and Susan Glaspell’s "Trifles" come to the same conclusion: isolation and separation caused women to be vulnerable to domination by male society. Social stigmatization by men, an inability to describe the situation, and a lack of personal identity kept women apart from one another. A fear of social stigma was one factor that kept women from supporting each other. In "The Feminine Mystique", Betty Friedan discusses how American housewives went about their daily lives "afraid to ask even of herself the silent question – ‘Is this all?’" Women were told that family, a husband, and children would bring them fulfillment and when it didn’t, they were afraid to admit that they weren’t happy. Freidan’s white, middle-class housewives were afraid of living outside the feminine ideal they had grown up heari...

Media is Responsible for the Rise of Criminal Cases Amongst Youngsters

Media is Responsible for the rise of criminal cases amongst youngters. Good afternoon respected judges, teachers and my fellow bosconians. I am going to speak for the motion. Increasing violence is becoming an inalienable problem attributed to every society. According to recent public opinion pools the crime rate is disquietingly growing and if something is not done soon, this phenomenon will become a real calamity. Escalating aggression, especially among the young generation is extremely harmful to the society as a whole.To the most common factors instigating teen violence belong undoubtedly to aggressive films and games, in a word, Media! The youngsters nowadays have completely different opportunities of organizing their free time. One of them, and probably the most popular, is TeleVision. The range and variety of TV programs is widespread and, according to the scientists, this is the media who is responsible for the increasing growth in crime.A few days back i just entered a room where two of my cousin were there one was 11years old and the other 7years and i heard them talking about wwe and even saw them copying the violent actions. This is what Media is growing in, Violence. The media can have a powerful influence on young, impressionable children. India, as a developing country, most of the families have started to own television sets and radios. Furthermore, many youth spend an inordinate amount of time consuming violent media and inappropriate music .Various studies â€Å"have found that YOUNGSTERS may become ‘immune’ to the horror of violence; gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems; imitate the violence they observe on television; and identify with certain characters, victims or victimizers† The media’s use of violence as a form of entertainment has had a negative effect on our society by desensitizing people, especially youngsters, in bringing out aggressive behavior, attitudes, and values.As the amount of prog rams through television, stereos, video games, and satellite dishes increase, media industries are competing for the loudest, most shocking idea to get the attention of the viewer. Throughout the years society has become more liberal. No longer are couples required to sleep in different beds on TV shows and the typical â€Å"clean, happy, family† often represented in shows throughout the 60s and 70s had been replaced with more racy, sexual themes to catch the viewers attention. Out of everyone present over i can say surely that most you watch â€Å"how i met your mother† .Does it not portray what i said right now. Violence and sex have become effective methods in promoting movies and television shows. Often these themes are used to the producer’s advantage as hooks before commercials, in avertisements, and in previews as a glimpse of something exciting that can be shown in a short period of time and interest the consumer. Action films have a high degree of fight s, killings, special effects, and explosions to keep the attention of an audience. Violence is big in many action movies because it is not culture-specific and requires less complexity .Today, violence is being used in media for thrill, which is likely to develop an urge to kill or hurt, in young minds. Those who have criminal instincts together with intelligence and need fast money can easily get inspired by such serials and movies with heavy dose of violence. Media just to gain publicity has started highlighting all the criminal cases and telecasting them. The youngsters facing problems in their lives and after repeatedly trying to overcome the problem but have not succeed yet have started to resort to all sorts of crime.It was just reported 2 days back that A youth allegedly raped a 15-year-old girl in Rajasthan's Alwar and uploaded a video clipping of the act on Facebook. When an asinine psychologically disturbed individual posts such a violent video on a popular social-website, there is a strong possibility that at least one of the viewers will be inspired by such a video, and will be tempted to imitate the act in the video, and this will lead to a crime! As media grows, the exposure to such violent stories has also increased, and it is believed, that such an exposure has inspired a number of people to act violently and commit crimes.Movies like don escalate violence in young minds because at the end the criminal is the hero. Young minds if suffering from problems may resort to such hideous actions. Media should promote the dignity of women instead of disgracing it.They are portraying them as a commodity which can be sold in the market. Media should give more importance to spread knowledge about useful stuff and contribute in shaping young minds and showing them the right path to follow . Media today is the satan in disguise , disillusioning young minds to the path of horror and hepling them achieve their aims and aspirations through negative ways.

Company Analysis: Sears Holding Corporation Essay

Company Analysis Sears dimension confederacy Abstract Sears attrisolelyes partnership (SHC) is the nations fourth largest broadline retailer with approximately 3,900 full-line and intensity retail com vester memorys in the United States and Canada. make in the later part of the ni last-placeeenth century it was the largest retail each(prenominal)iance in the country until the aboriginal nineties. SHC is soon the starring(p) kinsfolk appliance retailer as substantially as a loss attractor in as wellls, lawn and garden, billet electronics and automotive jam and bread and butter. As a forget of its optical fusion with Kmart in 2005, SHC as well as has Martha Stewart Everyday harvest-festivals, which ar offered exclusively in the U.S. by Kmart. SHC operates with its subsidiaries, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Kmart f scummyerpot. In late classs Sears has chthoniangone major changes in order to maximize its wages and beat its competitors. In the pas t some(prenominal) decade Sears has been the place to go store for internal goods, wear, and fitness equipment and auto repairs. As time progressed they became very comfortable with what they big(p) as brisk(prenominal) companies much(prenominal)(prenominal) as Wal-Mart, orient, Lowes, JC centime crept in and reaped a orchis of its securities industry. In a struggle to re-invent itself, it tries to fight back revolve around on its primary and subaltern target trades.Introduction The Sears guardianship potful is a multinational corporation with retailers buy products in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. It is the fourth largest retailer at heart the United States, with over 3900 locations and shifts numerous contrastive marketable goods for consumers. These goods include products much(prenominal) as tools, branded change state, appliances, sporting goods, electronics, home maintenance and repair, and automotive from to a greater extent a ntithetic retailers (http// www. searsholdings. com/). The Sears prop Corporation is a result of the union between Kmart Holding Corporation with the Sears Roebuck Co. which occurred in 005, and the headquarters is located in Hoffmann Estates, Illinois. The consolidated subsidiaries include Sears, Roebuck and Co. , Lands End Inc. , LRFG, LLC, Sears Brands, LLC, Sears Canada, Inc. , Sears financial Holdings Corporation, Sears Reinsurance Company, Ltd. , Kmart Holding Corporation, Kmart Management Corporation, Kmart Corporation, and the Sears Holdings Management Corporation(http// www. secinfo. com/dVut2. v3ap. 5. htm1stPage). brief History The Sears Roebuck Corporation was founded by Richard warren Sears and Alvah C. Roebuck in 1893.Sears started as a jeweller who made a profit by selling watches. The approximately innovative and kinda possibly the most famous manner of gross tax in act synonymous with Sears was the Sears Catalog. Providing pictures of the products, the pric es, and a cl perpetually item that could be ordered on a regular basis for sales was by far an ingenious method acting of marketing. Consumers would be able to purchase items with no markup, charter knowledge of their budgets required for purchases, and be somewhat assured of the grapheme of the product based upon the appearance, marketable ideas and principally products which could be sold, thus expanding Sears enterprise.Mainly from the early 1900s through forth the 1980s, Sears maintained its tronghold in the Statess consumer market, especially in the 40s and 50s with its fearful expansion. However, towards the 90s and 2000s, as many another(prenominal) big af lovelyes arrived, divestiture, as well as problems associated with employee wage ignores, Sears marketability dropped off until its fusion with Kmart in 2005 (http// en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Sears). Kmart first opened in 1962 and was founded by Sebastian S. Kresge.It was a relatively victorious corporation and em ployd marketing ideas within the store, namely Blue Light Specials which would inveigle nodes to urchase the blue light or discounted items mend they were shopping for their products. Unfortunately, out-of-pocket to failed ideas regarding consumer marketing, failure to utilize the computer technologies for supply chain management, and other setbacks, Kmart had to decl ar bankruptcy in early 2002. (http//en. wikipedia. org/ wiki/Kmart). Merger The merger between Kmart and Sears clear enhanced both of the companies mutual imperfect goals.Sears invested many assets in the formation of Sears gm stores, larger off store malls, and in the process bought many of the Kmart locations which were going out of business. Therefore the merger jocked this process so that it would enable the further festering of Sears at a quicker pace as well as enhance the productiveness and comprise the Kmart Corporation. This was clearly a steadfast decision made by the exe flash backive directors in combining forces so that the marketability of both companies would increase. on with this, the sh arholders could make a tremendous profit with this alliance.Prior to the merger, if the independent companies were not steady increasing their taxation sh atomic number 18holders would lose funds from their investings. The combination of both of the corporations would mprove sh areholder investment returns and thus facilitate the growth of the Sears Holding Corporation. The more investors receive higher returns, the greater investments into the company thus fostering its boilersuit growth. The proprietary brands, selling the aforementioned products, under both companies would be able to murder the target demographic assemblages with greater ease.The palpable estate holdings of some(prenominal)(prenominal) Kmart or individual Sears stores, now under the umbrella of the Sears Holding Corporation, could be leveraged, thus enhancing the ability to sell more of their combined pr oducts to a wide variety of consumers. This was reported to increase gross by nearly 200 one thousand jillion dollars per class. Along with the increased revenue, a slump in overall address for maintenance of both corporations due to the merger would save nearly 300 million dollars per class (http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/ Sears_Holdings_Corporation). A ecumenic projected net increase of 500 million dollars per year is a phenomenal growth rate.As mentioned previously, a global statistical distribution of these stores in the North American continent (from Mexico to Canada) has enabled the Sears Holding Company to expand even further. leadership Overall, this merger supportered Sears Holdings Corporation be a force in the United States market. As the eighth largest company in the US, the profit and revenue have increased tremendously, but the lack of leadership and the constant changing of executive power has been a safety factor in its further growth and means that a co mpany cannot go new marketable strategies that allow come to fruition.Employee stability and satisfaction in a large company is evermore an issue as well, because Job security is always in question when companies merge. Another heapside to much(prenominal)(prenominal) mergers means that the people in executive positions can relocate o other positions at different companies, and strategies that were used to natural spring a single company ability not work due to eightfold variables involved to create a critical point company. Initially, the decisions to run the Joint company big businessman cause disagreements that might not conductfully increase the percentage of revenue on an annual basis.However, after testing market strategies over a period of time, implementing different methods to sell products, and keep investors happy by generating sugar on a per year basis, the company will eventually observe through innovation and investment. SHC faces stiff contention from bi g box retailer such as Wal-Mart and Target. In the mid-tier its competitors include Macys,J. C. Penny and Kohls. Organizational Structure SHC recently employ an judicatureal structure and direct mould that aids in the management of its some(prenominal) business lines thus creating autonomy and accent for business building block management teams.This 5 unit structure enables each organization to focus on their core capabilities and categories which are survive, operating business, brands, online, operating business and real-estate. These endorse units tender administrative and operational support to the areas of arketing, store operations, guest strategy and finance. distributively unit thus comes with a designated leader and an advisory group which is composed of Sears Holding executives. Giving autonomy to each unit futures the business by allowing them to focus on management and profitable of that Unit and the company as a whole (Reuters 2008).With these changes I beli eve SHC will be go against placed to compete and maximize profits. Target market The primary target market for sears is arguably home owners between the ages of 25 to 55 with a moderate folk income 25,000 to 60000 dollars. Homeowners make he majority of the world shopping at sears stores. This accounts for the sale in the hard lines department. Sears proffers home rise solutions to this group of people. This group is attracted by products such as home appliances, entertainment centers, home d?cor, and fitness equipments.The main call down to these customers is home appliances and lawn and garden tools. This is so because Sears has a character for Secondary market targeted by SHC consists mainly the new-madeer generation. In an effort to operate itself up to par with its competitors, they have been providing brands and clothing items in the soft lines department. This group consists of coach age children (4-18). Sears offers products like the kids advantage computer progra mme where parents can purchase shoes for their kids and be able to switch it for a new pair sometime down the road. last-place year Sears teamed upped with LL dispassionate J and MTVto entrust the LL Cool J brand petition to the teenage population. This brand resonates break-dance with young African American and Latino teenagers. Competitors In the hard lines division sears faces major disceptation from hardware retail giants such as Lowes and Home Depot. These deuce have managed to cut off some primary more variety home improvement products than sears. Their yearly sales post better profits than SHC. The soft lines department faces major mop up from JC penny, Macys, Target and Wal-Mart.Macys and JC Penney have managed to minute away some of the market by providing better quality brand named garb such as Liz Claiborne, Baby Phat, and Anne Kline to these customers. twain companies have managed to post better revenue than SHC the previous quarters. Retail Giants such as Wal-M art on-goingly ( presently No. 1) and Target similarly provide stiff tilt for SHC. These two also have managed to fair better than Sears during this harsh frugal period ith Wal-Mart providing a variety of products at super low prices, date target provides more quality apparel at equivalent prices. new Performance The company destroyed revenues of $46,700 million during the financial year (FY) ended January 2009, a less(prenominal)en of 7. 8 % over 2008. The operating profit of the company during FY2009 was $251 million, a ebb of 83. 8% from 2008. The net profit was $53 million in FY2009, a decrease of 93. 6% over FY2008. The decline in operating and net profit was due to decrease in gross bound and higher impairment spudrs. Stock mart Chart SHC http//www. reuters. om/finance/stocks/graph? image=SHLD. OQ The graph chart above illustrates how SHC has performed in the stock market since the merger in 2005.SHC has plann a constant struggle since the merger, the highest gros sing year being 2007 when SHLD stock went for $ 190 and currently at $78 thanks to the current economic crisis. Of all the revenue grossed by SHC in recent and past years only 11% comes from Sears Canada meaning the most of SHC revenue is generated here at home 55% form Sears domestic and 34% from Kmart as demonstrated by the Pie chart below. http//www. wikinvest. com/stock/Sears_Holdings_(SHLD) SWOT Analysts For decades the hard-lines department brought the highest revenue to the business and is considered one of the strengths of sears.Here we see the power of Sears owned brand named products such as Craftsman, Kenmore and the usual home improvement tools and equipments. Such are products that are nationwide recognized as very received tools. In the soft-lines department sears brands such as Lands End and Diehard are also heavy sellers and nationally recognized. One other strength of sears is that it is dedicate to its community and customers. Sears has taken upon its self to p rovide excellence in customer work and for years has had a tring of dedicated customers. Sears is also involved in serving the community and helping the less fortunate.Programs like Heroes at Home and innate Makeover Home Edition has Sears written all over it. This dedication to the community has help exposed it to consumers The weakness of this corporation stands from what whitethorn have been one of its strengths. Though it has a large customer base, Sears has allowed its sales hoi polloi to plummet because they are not keeping up with the changing market environment. They have muddled troubleed with the consumers and competitors when it comes to soft- ines (clothing) and some hard-lines divisions. Sears has undergone too much diversification and has thus lost focus on retail services (Prentice-Hall, 2003).Most of it retail stores today are not reflective of the needs of the consumer. Sears clothing line is old, outdated and out of wind with fashion trends. Currently retail stores are old worn out and do not attack customers. At present its current CEO has been interim so for 18 month indicative of managerial or leadership problems (Gorenstein 2009). Opportunity The merger of K-mart in 2005, was thought be the silverish bullet that would revamp he company, providing a variety of products and obtain an expanded customer base. So far SHC has post several quarterly losses with the most recent of 94 million dollar (SHC 2009).Sears has the luck to revamp or improve sales in the soft-lines department by acquire and capitalizing on brands such as Liz Cleburne, cabaret West that are appealing to customers. They currently have brands such as LL Cool J and Joe Boxers that are comfortable in the male department. For the Hard-line department, while it is thriving sears can still provide affordable and durable products with the kind of plug that they have for Craftsman tools. In general a change to inventory that appeal to the consumers will bring in revenue and make Sears a better competitor.Threats manage any other company in business Sears faces a constant scourge from its competitors. Sears current faces threats from retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Target. More over departmental stores such as Macys and JC Penny are also fighting for its customers. It is worth noting that all these business were babies compared to Sears in the past. More discount stores are opening further driving down sails in certain departments. Sears risk losing its customers if it doesnt re-invent the stores o provide items that appeal to them.The economic down turn hasnt been fair to SHC as they have posted record losses for the whole year and until the postal service improves SHC has to take steps to reduce cost and increase profits or revenue. contribute Chain Management Sears main focus when supply chain management is concerned, is to fill up its inventory as quickly as possible. SHC has 3 basic products seasonal products such a s lawn mowers and sn ow blowers, perpetual best sellers and fast moving products that need to be replenished rapidly. Unlike many of its competitors, SHC provides 6 illion home appliances/home improvement deliveries straightaway to customers homes every year.To do this effectively SHC uses Cross-docking which is a type of distribution in which inbound products are unloaded at distribution centers, sorted by destination and therefore loaded onto delivery trucks. Thus the goods are not warehouse i. e. they are however moved across ducts This reduces the days in inventory positioned its inventory in 4 regional warehouses so it can provide next-day delivery to it customers and quickly replenish store supply. Recommendations How can we stars fixing the problems faced by sears? Starting from the top, a permanent CEO, not another Interim should be put in place to take charge of long term decision making.An environmental analysis would help Sears see where it is and help guide it to where is should be in t he market place. Showing them who their customers are, what the customers want and how they can out-beat the competition for more customers. It is no secret that the brands and styles in the soft-lines department have to be ever changing to appeal to customer in time. SHC needs to invest more bills into remodeling each departmental store, making it slow accessible and more appealing to consumers. In light of the fact that SHC has lost touch with its customer base, decentralization should be considered.This will allow specialty stores that carter to consumers in each region thus increasing customer base and revenue. References About Sears Holding Corporation (2009) Retrieved September 4, 2009 from websitehttps//searsholdings.com/abouthttps//searsholdings.com/about/kmarthttps//www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtmlhttp//wps.prenhall.com/bp_beekman_compconf_6/http//ru.reuters.com/http//www.searsarchives.com/ archives/history1886.htmhttp// www. wikinvest. com/https//searsholdings.com/ht tp//archives.chicagotribune.com/