Performance between Islamic bank performance and commercial banks - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1522 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Banks are a one of vital institution in the development of an economy (Jairus 2007), since they are the key drivers of the economy in terms of ensuring that the financial system is running and there is money in circulation (Ayub 2007). From the primitive set-up, that was banks in the past, to the present set up of the same, banks have continued to demonstrate their pivotal role in ensuring that businesses are conducted through the provision of credits, savings facilities, safe holdings, intermediary in local and international transactions and even advisory roles (Mahlknecht, 2009). Some of the best known banks in the world like Barclays and HSBC have been in operations for many years (Rahman 2010) and are hence shaping the way in which business is conducted, by shown the best practices in the banking sector. Unlike the other sectors of the economy, banks operate on two fundamental different rules, first, banks hold money and monetary instruments and they trade on these as opposed to the other businesses which operate on other forms of goods and services against money, secondly, banks mainly operate in liabilities and not assets and their strength is indirectly gauged by this (Jairus 2007), for instance, banks take up deposits from investors and account holders (this is a liability that the banks undertake to keep other peoples money) and using this money, the banks lend to borrowers and other banks and charge interest on the same therefore, they create a financial system that is developed on the basis of liabilities (Akgunduz 2009). This mode of trading is what separates the banks from the other financial institutions and as such make the banks to be increasingly relied upon by other stakeholders in the business environment (Rahman 2010). The increased usage of money as opposed to the old aged barter system has also made the banks to be imported in all major activities of selling and buying of goods and services and in reality, riches and success are measured in terms of money (Iqbal , Llewellyn 2002, Timur 2005). As stated earlier, the normal or conventional banking system is based on the premise of interest charges that the banks have to levy in order to remain in trade, and therefore, different banks have in the recent past, made significant effort to tailor their products in such a way that the interests and other charges will be accumulated and contribute to their profits (Mahlknecht, 2009). This is not to say that interests alone make their profits, since, according to Ayub (2007), profits can also in increased by identifying the business units that require cuts and implementing these cuts. Now, the conventional way of trading as given above, is mainly based on the Western worlds model of banking which to some extent is hinged on Capitalism and has been called by (Akgunduz 2009) as a simple way to rip other off. This does not really fell well with certain ideological leanings and certainly not with th e Islamic ideology, which mainly advocates welfare and support to the have nots by the haves, and on this premise, the banks have a duty to provide to those who are lacking (Jaffer 2005). According to Islamic teachings the Riba and usury or interest is not to be levied and is prohibited in certain terms hence it is Haraam unfair or prohibited (Timur 2005). However, this concept seem to have started just in the near past, since according to Lewis , Algaoud (2001) , a look at the works of Qureshi Annwar (1946), Naiem Siddiqi (1948) and Mahmud Ahmad (1952) show a tendency to profit sharing and not interest charges, so the company is expected not to charge interest as a way of sharing its profits (Schoon 2009). The first Islamic bank was later on formed in Egypt, but this was held secret for fear of being seen as an Islamic fundamental group and this was in 1975 (Rahman 2010). At present Islamic banking institution are worth about $400 billion and Saudi Arabia has world known ban ks like the Al Rajhi, and the bank Mellat. Being an Islamic nation as most of the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) , it could only follow that it is a good idea to ensure that this banking concept develops in this region to serve those clients in a way that responds to their religious needs (Hassan, Lewis, 2007). This is not to say that Islamic banks can run in isolation, especially in the wake of international business and with the recent accession of KSA to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), thereby making business between KSA and the world to increase (Rosly, 2006), besides, KSA is the largest producer of crude oil (Timur 2005), which is a product in demand all over the world and in this inter-national trade, banks must act as underwriters or even agents to the buyers and sellers (Hassan , Lewis 2007). Also, according to (Jaffer 2005), and as seen earlier, Islamic banks have been developed along the principles of conventional banks with a few but important differ ences. From an investors point of view, the choice of investing in an Islamic bank or a conventional commercial bank in KSA is therefore an issue that requires careful thought (Timur 2005), this is because, while an assumption can be made that being an Islamic bank in an Islamic nation, there are obvious advantages to the investor (Pock 2007), this assumption may be disputed, since, in the same environment, the conventional commercial banks may ensure that they counter the advantages of Islamic banks with tailor made products that respond to the clients needs and therefore, they may be more beneficial to the clients (Lewis , Algaoud 2001). It also depends on what the investor is looking for, because, individual investors like the corporate investors have varied investment objectives, and while it can be said that in general, corporate investors may be patient and hence looking for long-term investment, individual investors may need quick benefits (Mahlknecht, 2009). Again, suppos e the investors are considering monetary benefits, which is often the case for many (Khan 2010), what banking concept are they likely to invest in and at what investing limit (threshold or minimum investment) must they commit in order to achieve their objectives? (Iqbal , Llewellyn 2002). THE PROBLEM These are important questions that have driven the interest in conducting this study. The researcher wishes to find out what bank or banking concept is more likely to benefit investors. In this context, investors will be viewed as individual investors who have the power to save their money in the hope of achieving certain benefits in due time. According to (Akgunduz 2009), and also (Rosly, 2006), there is a need to find out what might motivate investors to consider investing in Islamic banks, even though, the concept of interest is forbidden and hence they are unlikely to earn any, or what might motivate them to invest in conventional commercial banks although there are charges and minimum amounts to be invested to realise some benefits. It is therefore important to ensure that a comparative analysis is conducted between Islamic and Conventional Commercial banks is undertaken with a view to fully establish the major differences in various operational aspects of these banks and also to evaluate what banking concept of the two would be most beneficial to the investors. Hypothesis: In this study, the research is based on the premise that conventional banks still provide the best option to investors compared with Islamic banks and that as time goes by and competition in the banking sector increases, there appears to be more differences between the operations of these banks as each bank seeks to provide more diverse products and services to their clients. The research sought to evaluate the following research questions; Are there fundamental differences between Conventional commercial and Islamic banks? What are they? What are the differences in operations of Islamic and Conventional commercial banks, in KSA? What are the monetary benefits to the investors in the Islamic and Conventional banks in KSA? What banking concept would you consider for the investor in KSA in terms the general benefits? The following objectives have been evaluated: Identifying the operational differences between Islamic and conventional banks in KSA. This involves an investigation into the functional areas of these banks as they seek to get and keep their clients including other functions that support business both locally and internationally. Discuss the performance between the Islamic and commercial banks in KSA: In this section, the financial ratios will be evaluated including liquidity, gearing and profitability ratios. Assessing the monetary benefits to the investors in investing in either Conventional or Islamic banks in the KSA. Assessing and recommending the best banking concept to the investor in terms of the long t erm, and short term benefits: In this section the research considered the issues of interest, duration, benefits of tailor made banking to the investors, other collateral benefits that say and account holder would be given, that non account holder would not have. The Scope: This research will mainly consider investment benefits while comparing the banking sector in KSA with relations to the banking conventions in the KSA. The focus will be on KSA, which has strong Islamic and Conventional banking sectors. CHAPTER 2 2.1 LITERATURE 2.2. METHODOLOGY CHAPTER 3 3.1 METHODOLOGY 3.2 CASES AND ANALYSIS CHAPTER 4 4,1 PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY CHAPTER 5 5.1 DISCUSSION 5.2 CONCLUSION CHAPTER 6 Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Performance between Islamic bank performance and commercial banks" essay for you Create order

The Impacts Of Premarital Sex And Cohabitation On Marriage

Phat (Kevin) Phan English 1302 Professor Randall Watson December 8th, 2014 The Impacts of Premarital Sex and Cohabitation on Marriage Becoming popular from the 1950s until now, premarital sex and premarital cohabitation have been considered as the norms in the United States. While most people agree that premarital sex is one of the ways to find out whether the couple is perfect for each other, others incline its consequences. Because the United States is described as the Salad Bowl, in which numerous ethnicities, religions, and cultures are not assimilable, it exists some different perceptions about sex out of marriage. By reviewing the reasons and pointing the consequences of having sex and living together before marriage, it is obvious†¦show more content†¦Defending the judgment that premarital sex and cohabitation is acceptable and permissible, people who had sex before their marriage or just agree with it expound some reasons. First of all, living together and sex outside marriage have been increasing because of social pressure. In a community, a person who does not follow common norms is abnormal. Acc ording to the research in 2011, Mashau learned that a person would be seen as stupid, rural, and sophisticated without participating in premarital sex as his/her peers. It means that some people might neither agree nor disagree with premarital sex, yet they try to ‘simulate’ what most people do in order to be ‘normal’. Giving another reason to protect their opinion, people believe having sex and living together before marriage help them be ready for marriage. Marriage is the most important event in a person’s life; thus, everyone wants to find a fitting spouse with whom they are going to live in the rest of the life. They worried a wrong decision will destroy their marriage, even their life. The contribution of premarital sex and cohabitation is a suitable choice which not only helps the couples understand each other but also gets their relationship closer. The couples believe engaging in sex and living together before marriage are the processes whic h they are more likely experience the needs of marriage than the couples did not. As a result, the couples that think they

Africa During Colonialism Free Essays

Africa of course, would be colonized by the many Europeans. However, a lot of African groups/colonization would start too. They would start and older ones would be expanded. We will write a custom essay sample on Africa During Colonialism or any similar topic only for you Order Now The slave trade had decreased due to British pressures and so Africa started trading more of other items with the rest of the world. This same thing was happening in Asia and the Middle East too. In South Africa, the Zulu kingdom would be formed, and in Western Africa, an Islamic caliphate, Sotto Caliphate would be formed. Many of these civilizations were being formed by a bunch of African peoples around the continent. At first, In Southern Africa, there were the Unsung people, Just farmers and cattle herders that existed for a very long time. Soon, however, a drought would strike, hurting their agriculture. This caused the end of the Unsung people. A military genius and leader, Shake Zulu would take control and create a new civilization, the Zulu people, who, compared to all other tribes In Southern Africa, was the most powerful and formidable, because of its strict military drills and practice and they even used ox-hide shields. The Zulu warriors expanded their kingdom, by attacking many other tribes and Invading them, taking their cattle, children and women. Parts of the Zulu, they split off making their own military bands and they too did the same thing as the Zulu. Soon, this made so many new kingdoms going up all the way to Lake Victoria. As this increased, so did the number of refugees and terrified, depressed people from these To stop the Zulu tribe’s growth and power, two kingdoms formed, Swaziland to the north and Lesotho to the east, which was made up of many refugees who came to those mountains there. Both Lesotho and Swaziland exist today. Shake successfully made a national identity and a nation in just 10 years of rule. He took all the young people in the nation and split them into deferent groups, called regiments, based on age. These people of the regiment lived with each other and they all celebrated Shake. Etc. They celebrated his rule and they were all heavily disciplined. Cow herds were a measure of wealth in this kingdom. Meanwhile, in the Western Savannah of Africa, there was a big religious struggle. Islam was prevalent over there. However, that was only In the cities and trade areas, ND not in the rural areas. The rural areas still followed regular customs. At first, Islam allowed people to mix their older beliefs with Islam. Now however, Psalmists started denying this idea of allowing them to have their customs and wanted them to follow pure Islam. They made a â€Å"holy war†, called Jihad, which made Assaults take over many rural and other new lands where they enforced Islamic laws and spread the religion. These Islamic retorts first took place in the Hausa states to northern Nigeria. A leader in the Hausa states, Susann Dan Food, called a lot of the kings there, unbelievers of religion or Islam and led people away from god. He led a Jihad on the King of Gobi, overthrowing him. A lot o f Muslims Joined to gather to spread Islam and spread it all around Hausa. All this Islam would come together to make a caliph under the capital city of Sotto, called the Sotto Caliphate. The Sotto Caliphate became a center for teaching Islam and reform. It added many new centers, quickly, to teach Curtain and Islamic subjects to boys. Many people were attracted to it because of the Sotto library, which was pretty huge. Muslims ere allowed people to follow their own religion but had to pay a special tax. They were not allowed to do their tribal dances and rituals and any who opposed the spread of the Jihad were killed, slaved or converted. The Sotto caliphate sent off tons of slaves for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, mainly women and children. Slaves mainly farmed, and so this allowed women to actually leave the home this time. Sotto not only sent a lot of slaves, but it also had a lot of slaves in itself too. In fact, it had more slaves than any other American commonly. Napoleon would come and fight in Egypt. This would last in Egypt as a great triumph for the Europeans and a great loss for the Egyptians. After Napoleon left Egypt from his losses, Muhammad All took rule. Muhammad All took rule of Egypt. He modernized and industrialized Egypt, making it follow a lot of the Western styles. He increased trade of Egypt. He brought a lot of education to Egyptians, and allowing them to replace the old aristocracy. He replaced all the European experts and sellers of products with Egyptians. However, one bad thing was, that he made a burden on the peasants to give military and labor service. The army and Egypt was making its own textiles, paper, weapons, military uniforms. Seeing this western movement, many groups in Egypt, of Islam mixed with this Western Culture. For example, European technical manuals were translated to Arabic. Small was the grandson of Muhammad All. He was more keen on westernizes than All. But his efforts, in the end, would Just create a bunch of Egyptian debt to French and British banks. At first, in his first 10 years of rule, it was all good with a lot of wealth thanks to increased trade, more exports, new irrigation annals, railroads 800 miles, postal service and Cairo. However, after the American Civil War, exports went down again and debt would be one of the reasons for French and British partial occupation of Egypt. Ethiopia was Christian for 1 500 years. They too were trying to modernize themselves. Ethiopians Emperor, Terrors II of Ethiopia was the one who first started Westernizes and ordered a lot of weapon purchases from Europe and also encouraged some local maturating. One time, they even made cannon that could shoot a half ton shell with the help of Protestant missionaries. However, they tried to get some more weapons by holding British officials hostage and demanding for weapons, but the British would end up actually invading Ethiopia. Terrors would commit suicide to prevent capture. Then the British would withdraw, and then King Haynes would take the throne. King Haynes took over a lot of the lost land of Ethiopia, except for one major land part, Shoo Kingdom, ruled by King Moonlike. The beginning events of Rupee’s scramble for Africa were when France took over Algeria. Algeria originally was a major supplier of olive oil and grain to France. They even gave them grain to Napoleon to take over Egypt. Now, France still owed them for this and several disputes took place. The new French government wanted to show nationalism with an easy overseas victory. However, the struggle for Algeria would go on for 18 years, even after French government would be overthrown again. Bad al- Qatar was an Algerian holy man who led them against France but he would die, weakening and nearly ending their 18 year struggle. However, conflict in the mountains would take place for 30 years. Settlers would then come in and kill off 140,000 people. How to cite Africa During Colonialism, Papers

British Airways Accounting Management - Free Samples & Answer

Question: Explain how management accounting can supply information to assist the management of an Airline company (for example Easyjet, Emirates airline, British Airways etc) of your choice. Answer: Background to the British Airways British Airways is one of the biggest commercial airlines globally. It is reflected as the countrywide carrier of the UK (United Kingdom)due to its enormous convoy, pair flights as well as term in uses. It is connected to more than 561terminuses and 160countries internationally, comprising USA, United Kingdom, Asia, Africa, UAE, etc.(Monti, 2007 ). It is also being premeditated like the frontrunner in the airlines business globally. It is recognized for its fineness, eminence, and amenities (either on the ground or in in-flight). Apart from the biggest global listed air company in The United Kingdom, British Airways presented numerous facilities and services to its clients to assure their suitability. The airline company is also being denationalized, and its shares are transacted on the stock-exchange of London. As past smidgen its roots again, British Airways was created with the arrival of British Overseas Airways Corporation, Cardiff Airlines and North-east Air Company from the ye ar 1975. Conversely, British Airways had its first flight facility from the First World War that makes it as ancient as an era. All the way through the past, British Airways had extended its actions by buying numerous min or air companies under its business(Woodley, 2006 ). Presently, The United Kingdom, as well as Spanish banner-transporters, have amalgamated and turn up with an official contract that British Airways and Spain Airlines, will syndicate their actions in a novel business named as Global Airlines Group. They have agreed to amalgamate due to a slump that seriously smashes the operations of both air companies. Due to the inauguration of novel terminal-5 at Heathrow airfield by the British Airways, the airlines also confronted issues with the training of employees that also led to flight termination and grievances of misplaced baggage. Furthermore, the increasing petroleum rates also result in an increase in rates of tickets. So, the objective of this report is to describe in what way management accounting can assist the administration of British Airways, chiefly the key techniques that are constructive to the airlines (Jarvis, 2014 ). Review of the Management Accounting Management accounting is a limited kind of accounting where the provided information is additionally explicit. Moreover, it subsists to aid administrators by assisting them work as resolution creators, organizers and supervisors of their particular divisions or zones of accountability. It also helps the managers in creating judgments or solving issues and providing accounting info essential to create accurate prospect strategies (ABDEL, 2011 ). They are expected to deliver fiscal or monetary information that is chiefly accessible to those in administrative place. These are required in the jobs of policymaking, forecasting and controlling to facilitate the industry work efficiently and competently. Strategy-making and forecasting are one of the critical jobs enacted by the management accounting. There are examples that the organization wants to resolve with the finest selection to be followed that at the similar period constructive to the business. The determined passages of an Act will be assessed as to its expenses and welfares that are the part of forecasting. Moreover, the information will be additional operative if the outcome of the review revealed that the profits offset the expenses. Control is another crucial job that comprises an evaluation of actual presentation with the strategy, so that deviancies from the novel strategy are recognized and remedial action is performed(Thukaram, 2007 ). Financial Accounting, as well as Management Accounting is the two fold zones of accounting in that they are dissimilar from each one about the data they deliver as well as to where the data is anticipated. Management accounting offers limited information for the management, but finan cial accounting information is all-purpose in nature projected to entire investors. The job of management accounting isaugmentedby the practice of diverse management accounting methods, for example, absorption costing, cost accounting, revenue costing, etc. Key Techniques and Methods of Management Accounting The part enacted by management accounting is quite critical as occasionally there all results are dissimilar from the forecasts, and the welfares did not offset the expenses of delivered information (Holtzman, 2013 ). Due to these disadvantages and to append age above role, management accounting techniques are presented. Activity-Based Costing (ABC): It is a costing method that classifies activities in a company and allocates the cost of every activity with resources to all goods and facilities conferring to the real depletion by each one. The management accounting techniques that is beneficial for the constant developments of British Airways is the Activity-Based Costing. This conventional methodology is recommended by numerous experts and researchers as the application of ABC has a constructive impact on the fiscal performance of the company. It also delivers information regarding cost as well as performance measurement. This technique is also valid in confronting the unadorned competition as it will provide the business the capability to control its expenses and valued their goods competitively. United Kingdom companies that implemented ABC overtook the corresponding non-ABC companies by around 28% in the 4 years. This technique might be supportive to British Airways chiefly when it decided to syn dicate work with Airlines of Spain(Bradtke, 2007 ). The amalgamation has been fruitful in the market place as the prices of shares of both air companies have upsurge. Conversely, the agreement amongst British Airways and Airlines of Spain has to contemplate numerous consequences that required instant consideration. One of British Airways main difficulties is the apportionment of expenses for labor agreements as well as workers retirement pension. It has a shortfall of Dollar 5.71 billion in its workers retirement pension proposal, and it needs to be settled instantaneously or else Spanish Airlines may extract out of the contract. Financial experts recommended that with the cost data of ABC, costing might be informal for British Airways established on a specific demand for every activity. For instance, if British Airway simplements ABC technique it will ensure an exact distribution of their funds(Zeuner, 2013 ). Short fall is sue regarding its workers retirement pension proposal as w ell as mislays instigated by cutting of expeditions will be controlled if managers of the company nimplemented ABC in creating decisions. Sensitivity Analysis: This technique is practically applied in decision making, forecasting as well as in evaluating threats. An example of air company investments is the amalgamation of British Airways with Spanish Airways that is a quite dicey decision. But, by sensitivity analysis, British Airways leaders will have the option to gaze at every contribution separately and critically evaluated the consequence of the project in the nearby prospect. Queries regarding the susceptibility of dissimilar choices will be retorted by this technique; for example, in what way the incomes of British Airways will be exaggerated if it amalgamated with Spanish Airlines. All the decisions will be verified to recognize the influence of consequences. For instance, British Airways has dual choices to contemplate to expurgate its expenses i.e. to amalgamate with Spanish Airlines so that operational costs will be abridged or reduce its figure of terminuses to govern overhead(Chatterjee Hadi, 2009 ). There are some other management accounting techniques whose notions are not appropriate to the current condition of British Airways like ratio analyzes or standard costing. Management accounting is prospect-leaning, and the idea of the above techniques does not match the conditions. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Analysis The role of a management accounting must be acknowledged first so that application of management techniques becomes additional operative. The Certified public accountant, as well as managers should recognize that how plans must be altered from period to period in order to deal with the persistently varying situations. For instance, maximum of the air companies currently are bearing in mind the notion of amalgamation. This notion should be sustained with facts and data that need to be progressive, so that the investigation can be reflected secured. There must be a wide-ranging opinion of the company as well as the accounting info must also be comprehensive to all persons that are the nmfragment of it. This analysis might be strengthened more if gain access to financial records, competitions as well as the fiscal system of British Airways is made accessible(Little, 2008 ). The entire accounting records must correspondingly be revolutionary and not olden to overlap through the notion of management accounting. There is a narrow-minded attention on this analysis bearing in mind that the maximum of the period the issue is concentrated on the amalgamation deeds of British Airways and Spanish Airlines. If entire required facts are made accessible, like, whole market place investigation in every apprehensive area, then there will be abundant understandings on what additional techniques the business must think through. SWOT Analysis Of British Airways Strengths 1. Robust Support of UK Government. 2. Sturdy Core in UK. 3. Resilient trademark existence and exceptional universal manifestation. 4. It has a convoy dimension in excess of 271 airplanes. 5. It has approximately 161 global terminuses through 7 continents. Weaknesses 1. Stark Rivalry from other Airlines in UK. 2. Strong competition leads to restricted market segment. Opportunities 1. The Heathrow Terminal is the main pivot through the world and it has a chief existence in UK. 2. Increasing its worldwide operations. Threats 1. Increasing Petrol Prices. 2. Escalating Labour Expenses. 3. Growing Competition in the marketplace of Europe.. Conclusion British Airways has upheld its individuality to grow into one of the frontrunners in the commercial airline business(Pine Gilmore, 2011 ). It is essential to conclude that regardless of the universal slump the air company still succeeded to develop its plans and increase its funds. The amalgamation process with Spanish Airlines is virtuous chance for British Airways to create status and accordingly augmented its marketplace share price. Though the amalgamation had created difficulties but British Airways still succeeded to uphold its image and status in the marketplace. By implementing the diverse management accounting techniques, the supervisors learned to create improved decisions as well as vigilant planning to control expenses(Steffan, 2008 ). Bibliography ABDEL, G., 2011. Review of Management Accounting Research. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Bradtke, D., 2007. Activity-Based-Costing. Germany: GRIN Verlag. Chatterjee, S. Hadi, S. A., 2009. Sensitivity Analysis in Linear Regression. New York: John Wiley Sons. Holtzman, P., 2013. Managerial Accounting For Dummies. New Jeresy: John Wiley Sons. Jarvis, P., 2014. British Airways. Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing Limited. Little, G., 2008. Test of Professional Competence in Management Accounting. Oxford: Elsevier. Monti, G., 2007. EC Competition Law. s.l.:Cambridge University Press. Pine, J. Gilmore, H. J., 2011. The Experience Economy. Harvard : Harvard Business Press. Steffan, B., 2008. Essential Management Accounting. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Thukaram, M., 2007. Management Accounting. New Delhi: New Age International. Woodley, C., 2006. The History of British European Airways. South Yorkshire: Casemate Publishers. Zeuner, P., 2013. Activity-Based Costing. Germany: GRIN Verlag.

Henry Ford, Engineer Essays - Antisemitism In The United States

Henry Ford, Engineer Henry Ford, Engineer Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863 to William and Mary Ford. He was the first of six children. He grew up in a rich farming household in Dearborn, Michigan. He enjoyed a typical childhood, spending his days in a one-room schoolhouse and doing farm chores. Ever since he was young, he showed an interest for the mechanical aspect of things, and how they worked and functioned. He used to take things apart and put them back together to get an idea of the inner workings of basic mechanical tools. In 1879, at a young age of 16, he left his home to travel to the near by city of Detroit to work as an apprentice for a machinist. He occasionally returned home to work on the farm. He remained an apprentice for three years and then returned to Dearborn. During the next few years, Henry divided his time between operating and repairing steam engines, finding occasional work in Detroit factories, and working on his fathers broken down farm equipment, as well as lending an unwilling hand with other farm work. Henry got married to Clara Bryant in 1888 Henry supported himself and his wife by running a sawmill. In 1891, Henry became an engineer with the Edison Illumination Company. This was an important event in his life because it signified that he had made a conscious career move into industrial pursuits. He was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1893. This gave him enough time and money to devote attention to his personal experiments on internal combustion engines (Lacey 13 - 14). In 1891, Henry became an engineer with the Edison Illumination Company. This was an important event in his life because it signified that he had made a conscious career move into industrial pursuits. He was promoted to Chief Engineer in 1893. This gave him enough time and money to devote attention to his personal experiments on internal combustion engines (Lacey 13 - 14). The high point of this research came with the completion of his own self-propelled vehicle, the Quadricycle. This bike had four wire wheels and was steered with a tiller, like a boat. It had two forward speeds, and no reverse. Although this was not the first self-propelled vehicle, it set Henry Ford as one of the major pioneers whom helped this nation become one of motorists. Ford decided that he wanted to become an automobile manufacturer. After two unsuccessful tries, Ford motor company was finally incorporated in 1903 with Henry Ford as the Vice President and Chief Engineer. When the company first started it was only producing a few cars a day at the Ford factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit. A group of two or three men would work on one car from components made to order by other companies. Ford realized his dream of producing an automobile that was reasonable priced, reliable and efficient with the introduction of the Model T in 1908. This vehicle initiated a new era in personal transportation. It was easy to operate, maintain, and could handle rough roads. It was also very reasonably priced at 850 dollars. The cars sold fast and for the first time, the middle class could afford a car. By 1920, about 4 million Model T's were sold. The model T revolutionized America in many different ways. For example, while the Model T was in production, the assembly line was used on a large scale. The assembly line was a powered chain that brought the chassis of the car to each of its parts. The parts were then attached to the chassis of the car and moved on to the next station. It usually took fourteen hours to build one Model T, and with the assembly line it only took six. Henry built a huge factory based on the assembly line. The assembly line added more jobs and significantly lowered the cost of production. Since the assembly line, Ford was able to produce many more cars than usual, therefore increasing profits. Since the profits were increased, Henry was able to raise the workers' salaries from $2.50 an hour to $5.00 an hour. He also cut the workday to only eight hours a day, making the workers very happy.

Cuban Trade Embargo essays

Cuban Trade Embargo essays Time for a Change: Forty-Two Years of Isolation and Deprivation Since the day when President Kennedy issued the US-Cuban Trade Embargo which prevented any trade being done with Cuba either directly or indirectly it has left the island of Cuba isolated and deprived of the wealth of tourism. "The United States never remembers and Latin America never forgets," is a well-known Latin American cliche which illustrates the depth of Cuban distrust about the United States and the everlasting revelation of Americans manifesting about Cuban dictatorship. Americans today ponder upon the question in which haunts politicians of the past and present, How the United States could have let a small island nation only ninety miles from its shores produce a communist regime that has outlasted the USSR? (Paterson 263). On the contrary, Cuba continues to be outraged at the way the United States still undermines and ignores Cuban dominion. The issue at hand is as we (the United States) have embarked on th e twenty- first century we still remain entangled in an economic war of slow destruction with an island market begging for U.S. dollars . After forty-two years of isolation, deprivation and failed objectives against the island of Cuba, its time for a change, a revision, the lifting of a failed trade embargo. Can we ever move on and change the embargo when flamboyant leaders continue to wave the bloody flag and open decade-old wounds. A European diplomat asked a Clinton official, "Why should the U.S. maintain economic sanctions against Castro if it is willing to trade with Hanoi and Beijing?" a senior Clinton official could only reply, "History matters" (Fedarko 54). History matters to the United States, but the history of prosperity of the Cuban people also matters as they remember history before the trade embargo. It is difficult for a generation of Americans to forget events such as the failed military blockade of the Bay of Pigs and t...

Writer's choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Writer's choice - Essay Example The draft ensured that these young men were enlisted in the military force. It was compulsory the young men to be in the military as the few in the military and the volunteers could not sum up to a number that would ensure the country’s safety. Refusal of anyone to be inducted to the military, would lead to severe consequences, like lack of jobs and funds for college. This way, most young people joined the military, trained and when wars came up, they went out to fight for their nation. Thus, the government ensured that they had a strong enough military for wars like the world war. The military draft today should not be upheld. It is a draft that was used a long time ago for reasons that were important to the state. However, today, retaining the military draft would lead to more negative effects than positive ones. The government has discussed the draft a few times in congress. Coming back to the draft would lead to losses like jeopardizing the futures of most young people; wars are less today and more funds would be used to ensure that the ones, who enrolled, were maintained. These are but a few reasons that would make the draft a heavy task. First, it is important to note that the military draft was helpful back then due to the reoccurrence of wars and because the military had few people. However, the military today has had quite a success. So many people have volunteered to join the military as an occupation. The number of people in the military force is not little. This is one of the reasons why upholding the draft would not be necessary (Scherer 2). The military has enough people who are experienced and well trained and are ready to fight for the country in case of anything. The force already fully represents the nation well, thus retrying the draft would not be important. Secondly, the draft would require the government to spend so much, which is unnecessary. As said earlier, the draft required so many people to enroll to the military.

Sontag, In Platos Cave from On Photography Essay

Sontag, In Platos Cave from On Photography - Essay Example n individual may perceive a story that consists of different objects and or people, the story will remain in a particular form in the mind of absence of a photograph. When the individual observes a photograph on the scenario later, then the notion that was formed in the mind originally changes automatically. The impact of the photo would depict a sense of superiority of the event or an individual. Again, the photograph have targeted objects during their time of creation or presentation. A photograph may consist of several objects but only the focal point matters amongst the observers. In most scenarios, the observers prioritize the central objects on which the photographs emphasize. As per the descriptions provided in the previous paragraphs, a rational evaluation of a photograph demands transparency. In a practical scenario, consider the photograph of a presidential candidate and analyze the main attributes. In 2008vpresidential elections in the United States, the contents of Obama’s photographs and especially the posters were stunning. Moreover, Obama’s polished picture with his name at the top and the slogan, â€Å"Yes We Can† at the bottom had the main impact on the voters. Indeed, photographs have a broad command in influencing notions, imaginations, and the viewing right. Impression is the most important aspect in the sense of sight (Sontag,

Childhood Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Childhood Experience - Essay Example The paper tells that during the author’s first day in the new school, his mother dropped him off and he was led by the Principal into his first class. The researcher was very nervous and also excited. When he was introduced by the teacher as a new student, he noticed that all the students looked at him strangely – like he looked different or he was growing horns or something. This made him feel very shy and even more nervous. A chair was pointed out to the author and when he took his seat, he felt them all staring at him, particularly one girl sitting two seats in front of the author. When he braved a look at her, he saw that her eyes were squinted at him, like she was angry at him. He felt threatened by her intimidating stare. The researcher tried his best to ignore her and just listen to his teacher. During their recess, he was too nervous to go out with the other children to play, so he opened his lunchbox and just took out the sandwich his mother prepared for him. A s the author laid it out on his table, it was suddenly snatched from behind. The researchers looked at him and it was the girl who was staring at him during our class. She thanked him for the sandwich and then took a bite out of it. She then went on to spit out what she bit, saying it was disgusting. The researcher was too shocked and surprised to react to what she was doing. He did not know what to do, and when he tried to get his sandwich back, she pushed him back to his chair. At that point, their teacher came in and asked what was happening.... In the playground, I ran straight for the farthest part of the grounds, looking behind me to check if Annabelle was following me. Fortunately, I was not followed. I found a big bush with a bench behind it and I could not help but cry. I felt so miserable and lonely. Then I heard the rustling of the bush and suddenly a red-headed girl emerged. She asked me why I was crying and I told her about Annabelle. She told me that Annabelle was the class bully and she was always mean to the other children in the class. She said her name was Kathleen. She confessed that she was also bullied by Annabelle when they were in their first grade and it looks like she found a new girl to bully, namely me. She told me that whenever Annabelle is coming near, I should go close to any of the teachers and Annabelle would eventually back off. I felt better after having met Kathleen. For the next few weeks, I did what she taught me and Annabelle could not get close to bully me anymore. One time though, she cau ght me alone in class again and was trying to grab my bag. It was a good thing that Kathleen saw me being bullied and she ran to get our teacher who immediately came to reprimand Annabelle. Annabelle was sent to the Principal’s office. She never tried to bully me after that, especially as Kathleen and I grew to be best friends, keeping each other company and protecting each other when we could. Annabelle’s parents were later called and they told of their daughter’s bullying habits. The following year, Annabelle was transferred to another school by her parents. Kathleen and I have remained good friends throughout the years. And although I had a difficult time that year, I gained a friend in

Child Trafficking In Nigeria Social Work Essay

Child Trafficking In Nigeria Social Work Essay Human trafficking in Nigeria has been one of the greatest problem in Nigerian history. Human trafficking can be traced to the period colonialism when human beings are been traded for mere commodities to the Europeans, to help them in their plantations in their own country. Due to the abolishment of slave trade in Nigeria by 1885-1950, the act of human trafficking was reduced and some few years later they started child trafficking since the children are more vulnerable. Child trafficking is a form of human trafficking that involves the transportation, harbouring, receiving ,recruitment of children in the purpose of exploitation. The issue of child domestic labour is very complex and problematic. Domestic child labourers are among the most invisible child labourers. The number of children exploited in private households is unknown because of the hidden nature of the work. Many of these children are girls and in many countries domestic service is seen as the only employment option a girl might have. Children exploited in domestic service are paid little or nothing, are malnourished, are very vulnerable to further abuse and exploitation, and do not go to school. However, because child domestic workers are employed within an informal family environment, they cannot be integrated as a professional group within conventional working systems because such integration would presuppose an acceptance of the idea of child domestic labour. At the same time, without legal initiatives, it is difficult to combat child domestic labour. Furthermore, the terms, norms and standards to regulate the employment of children are lack ing because children work in a largely invisible domain outside law and the public sphere and their domestic labour cannot be integrated under normal labour laws. Although the final goal of all laws should be the prevention and elimination of child domestic labour, it is acknowledged right at the outset that this is a long term goal. In the interim, there is a need to accept that children do, and will continue, to work until effective alternatives make it unnecessary for them to work. In the meantime, the best interest of the child principle together with the notion of the child as a rights holder should guide any lawmaking on child domestic work. Law and policy reform can play a powerful constitutive and transformative role in improving and changing the lives of both the girl child and male child domestic worker; however, in envisioning workplace and domestic arrangements it is important to see that sex stereotypes are not reinforced. Just as much as law has the profound power to p revent and regulate domestic labour, it has the power to reinforce it by creating loopholes through which employers can continue to hire child domestic workers. Laws can often spark social change only if they are translated into action. In drafting new laws or revising existing laws, child domestic labour should be seen in the context of historic sex discrimination. There is an apparent tension when laws and policies are blind to the differences between the girl child domestic worker and the male child domestic worker such as the girl childs weak bargaining position and low status, which increases her vulnerability to coercion by her family and employer. Child trafficking in Nigeria is something the government has not really put enough effort to ensure that child trafficking is reduced or eradicated this is due to the lapse (corruption) of the whole government system because most of the child traffickers are top government officials and this makes it very difficult to investigate any problem that has to do with child trafficking. According to a research carried out by United nation children fund (unicef) say the average age of children been trafficked in Nigeria is around 15years but the age varies, especially with girls and also it says 60-80% of girls in the sex trade outside the country are in Italy (over 700 in Italy while Belgium and Holland is experiencing an upsurge in the number of Nigerian girls. On the average About 10 children pass Nigerian borders daily originating from fostering and extended family system. Children that are been trafficked has so many reasons which include domestic help, prostitution these are especially for girls while boys are used as scavengers, car washing, bus conducting, drug peddling and farming. Child trafficking has so many effects on both the child and the country. Trafficking of migrant children has unquestionably affected individual children and their communities in various immediate and long term ways. It sometimes endangers the childrens lives. The obvious impacts of child trafficking often mentioned is on deteriorating their education, physical and mental development. Moreover, the trafficked migrant children are disempowered in many ways. They are in the foreign country with foreign customs and foreign language. They are transported and sold or deceived as bonded labour, treated like property, and work under slavery-like conditions. Whenever they feel depressed, or suffering, or face difficulties, or are tortured, commonly they have no one they can turn to as they tend to live in isolated areas. Even if they have a chance to seek help, they often do not know where to go or what to do or whom to ask because they are illegal migrants and are afraid of police. In some c ircumstances, they may encounter racism from the police, authorities, and general people among whom may be their own employers. A major result of child trafficking can be loss of lives, increasing prevalence of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) including HIV/AIDS, increase in violence and crime rate, increased school drop-out, impaired child development, poor national image and massive deportation of Nigerians especially girls. And also, There are diverse reasons why many Nigerian children are vulnerable to trafficking, including widespread poverty, large family size, rapid urbanization with deteriorating public services, low literacy levels and high school-drop out rates The demand for cheap commercial sex workers in countries of destination strongly contributes to the growth of this phenomenon and the success of this criminal network. Parents with a large family, often overburdened with the care of too many children, are prone to the traffickers deceit in giving away some of their children to city residents or even strangers promising a better life for them. Traffickers exploit the trust of people rooted in a widespread, culturally accepted common practice in West Africa of placement and fostering as part of the extended family safety net. In some instances, desperately poor and uninformed parents willingly co-operate with the traffickers, giving away their children in exchange for a small fee. In the hands of unscrupulous guardians, these children are increasingly trafficked and exploited for money. But All hope is not lost as every problem has a solution. The government can still curb this evil practice in order to save children and the good name of the country. Firstly, government should provide free education in every government owned school in the country from the nursery to the secondary level so that parents will have no excuse of giving out their children to strangers in the pretext of taking them to learn new sill in new environment. Secondly, government should pay workers salaries at the end of each month because they have personal bills to foot; children to cater for and they depend solely on their salaries. Thirdly, the parliamentary arm of the government should make and amend law that all Nigerian families should not have more than 3 children and any found to go against the law would be punished because one of the causes of child trafficking in Nigeria is the inability of parents to cater for so many children. Also, government should make laws for children against child abuse and intimidation which should be strictly adhered to. Last but not the least, government should come to an agreement with leaders of other countries that any Nigerian child suspected to be abused or trafficked should be rescued and the trafficker, punished. In an effort   aimed at battling child trafficking within Nigeria and the sub-region, Nigeria and the government of Benin Republic have signed a memorandum of understanding to co-operate in the   area of prevention of child trafficking as well as the repatriation of offenders to countries of origin for prosecution. Executive Secretary of National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters(NAPTIP), Mrs. Carol Ndaguba disclosed this at a one-day workshop on Anti Child Trafficking Network Project in Nigeria held at the UN House Abuja. According to her, Nigeria and the government of Italy, United Kingdom and Spain also have understandings on joint initiative on modalities for prevention of child trafficking and slavery, adding that the Italian government as well as UNICEF have been providing huge financial and capacity building support to the agency in carrying out its task. On the issue of house-help or domestic servants in the country, NAPTIP Executive Secretary regretted that the phenomenon had been exploited by traffickers to batter, sexually or emotionally traumatize victims, adding that the so called syndrome must now come to an end. She identified the challenges faced by the network project to include   expansion of the network from 22 states to 36, sustaining awareness campaign at the state and community levels, and capacity building of the state working groups. In her remark, Deputy Country Representative of UNICEF, Barbara Reynold said that although the anti-trafficking agency was already doing a lot to put an end to the menace of human trafficking, more needs to be done in the area of conscientisation and increased awareness by   a broader section of society.

The Happiness and Misery of Monsieur Lantin in The Jewels Essay

The Happiness and Misery of Monsieur Lantin   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the beginning of â€Å"The Jewels†, Lantin meets the woman of his dreams (and of every other man’s) and immediately falls in love with and marries her. Their lives go on in perfect harmony and happiness, and every day Lantin falls more deeply in love with his adorable wife. Lantin has only two complaints about the character of his wife: her love of the theater and her love of fake jewelry. Eventually Lantin stops going to the theater, and his wife goes alone. After returning from the theater one night, his wife develops a cough and dies eight days later. This point marks the beginning of Lantin’s misery as he uncovers more about his wife than he might have wanted to know.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lantin is very happily married to his wife, and the reader gets the impression that everyone else in the community feels she is a fine woman to have as a wife. â€Å"Happy the man who wins her love! He could not find a better wife† (Maupassant 105). The reader learns just how devoted he is to his wife when he confesses that after six years of marriage, he loves his wife even more than he did at first. Lantin’s life seems a perfect picture of what a happy marriage should be, but then it changes suddenly and drastically.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Lantin’s wife comes home one night with a chill and dies eight days later, Lantin is devastated. His life is filled with sorrow and despair and even â€Å"time, the...

Digital Fortress Chapter 50-54

Chapter 50 Only yards from TRANSLTR's hull, Phil Chartrukian stood over a patch of white lettering on the Crypto floor. CRYPTO SUBLEVELS AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY He knew he was definitely not authorized personnel. He shot a quick glance up at Strathmore's office. The curtains were still pulled. Chartrukian had seen Susan Fletcher go into the bathrooms, so he knew she wasn't a problem. The only other question was Hale. He glanced toward Node 3, wondering if the cryptographer were watching. â€Å"Fuck it,† he grumbled. Below his feet the outline of a recessed trapdoor was barely visible in the floor. Chartrukian palmed the key he'd just taken from the Sys-Sec lab. He knelt down, inserted the key in the floor, and turned. The bolt beneath clicked. Then he unscrewed the large external butterfly latch and freed the door. Checking once again over his shoulder, he squatted down and pulled. The panel was small, only three feet by three feet, but it was heavy. When it finally opened, the Sys-Sec stumbled back. A blast of hot air hit him in the face. It carried with it the sharp bite of freon gas. Billows of steam swirled out of the opening, illuminated by the red utility lighting below. The distant hum of the generators became a rumble. Chartrukian stood up and peered into the opening. It looked more like the gateway to hell than a service entrance for a computer. A narrow ladder led to a platform under the floor. Beyond that, there were stairs, but all he could see was swirling red mist. Greg Hale stood behind the one-way glass of Node 3. He watched as Phil Chartrukian eased himself down the ladder toward the sublevels. From where Hale was standing, the Sys-Sec's head appeared to have been severed from his body and left out on the Crypto floor. Then, slowly, it sank into the swirling mist. â€Å"Gutsy move,† Hale muttered. He knew where Chartrukian was headed. An emergency manual abort of TRANSLTR was a logical action if he thought the computer had a virus. Unfortunately, it was also a sure way to have Crypto crawling with Sys-Secs in about ten minutes. Emergency actions raised alert flags at the main switchboard. A Sys-Sec investigation of Crypto was something Hale could not afford. Hale left Node 3 and headed for the trapdoor. Chartrukian had to be stopped. Chapter 51 Jabba resembled a giant tadpole. Like the cinematic creature for whom he was nicknamed, the man was a hairless spheroid. As resident guardian angel of all NSA computer systems, Jabba marched from department to department, tweaking, soldering, and reaffirming his credo that prevention was the best medicine. No NSA computer had ever been infected under Jabba's reign; he intended to keep it that way. Jabba's home base was a raised workstation overlooking the NSA's underground, ultra-secret databank. It was there that a virus would do the most damage and there that he spent the majority of his time. At the moment, however, Jabba was taking a break and enjoying pepperoni calzones in the NSA's all-night commissary. He was about to dig into his third when his cellular phone rang. â€Å"Go,† he said, coughing as he swallowed a mouthful. â€Å"Jabba,† a woman's voice cooed. â€Å"It's Midge.† â€Å"Data Queen!† the huge man gushed. He'd always had a soft spot for Midge Milken. She was sharp, and she was also the only woman Jabba had ever met who flirted with him. â€Å"How the hell are you?† â€Å"No complaints.† Jabba wiped his mouth. â€Å"You on site?† â€Å"Yup.† â€Å"Care to join me for a calzone?† â€Å"Love to Jabba, but I'm watching these hips.† â€Å"Really?† He snickered. â€Å"Mind if I join you?† â€Å"You're bad.† â€Å"You have no idea†¦.† â€Å"Glad I caught you in,† she said. â€Å"I need some advice.† He took a long swallow of Dr Pepper. â€Å"Shoot.† â€Å"It might be nothing,† Midge said, â€Å"but my Crypto stats turned up something odd. I was hoping you could shed some light.† â€Å"What ya got?† He took another sip. â€Å"I've got a report saying TRANSLTR's been running the same file for eighteen hours and hasn't cracked it.† Jabba sprayed Dr Pepper all over his calzone. â€Å"You what?† â€Å"Any ideas?† He dabbed at his calzone with a napkin. â€Å"What report is this?† â€Å"Production report. Basic cost analysis stuff.† Midge quickly explained what she and Brinkerhoff had found. â€Å"Have you called Strathmore?† â€Å"Yes. He said everything's fine in Crypto. Said TRANSLTR's running full speed ahead. Said our data's wrong.† Jabba furrowed his bulbous forehead. â€Å"So what's the problem? Your report glitched.† Midge did not respond. Jabba caught her drift. He frowned. â€Å"You don't think your report glitched?† â€Å"Correct.† â€Å"So you think Strathmore's lying?† â€Å"It's not that,† Midge said diplomatically, knowing she was on fragile ground. â€Å"It's just that my stats have never been wrong in the past. I thought I'd get a second opinion.† â€Å"Well,† Jabba said, â€Å"I hate to be the one to break it to you, but your data's fried.† â€Å"You think so?† â€Å"I'd bet my job on it.† Jabba took a big bite of soggy calzone and spoke with his mouth full. â€Å"Longest a file has ever lasted inside TRANSLTR is three hours. That includes diagnostics, boundary probes, everything. Only thing that could lock it down for eighteen hours would have to be viral. Nothing else could do it.† â€Å"Viral?† â€Å"Yeah, some kind of redundant cycle. Something that got into the processors, created a loop, and basically gummed up the works.† â€Å"Well,† she ventured, â€Å"Strathmore's been in Crypto for about thirty-six hours straight. Any chance he's fighting a virus?† Jabba laughed. â€Å"Strathmore's been in there for thirty-six hours? Poor bastard. His wife probably said he can't come home. I hear she's bagging his ass.† Midge thought a moment. She'd heard that too. She wondered if maybe she was being paranoid. â€Å"Midge.† Jabba wheezed and took another long drink. â€Å"If Strathmore's toy had a virus, he would have called me. Strathmore's sharp, but he doesn't know shit about viruses. TRANSLTR's all he's got. First sign of trouble, he would have pressed the panic button-and around here, that means me.† Jabba sucked in a long strand of mozzarella. â€Å"Besides, there's no way in hell TRANSLTR has a virus. Gauntlet's the best set of package filters I've ever written. Nothing gets through.† After a long silence, Midge sighed. â€Å"Any other thoughts?† â€Å"Yup. Your data's fried.† â€Å"You already said that.† â€Å"Exactly.† She frowned. â€Å"You haven't caught wind of anything? Anything at all?† Jabba laughed harshly. â€Å"Midge†¦ listen up. Skipjack sucked. Strathmore blew it. But move on-it's over.† There was a long silence on the line, and Jabba realized he'd gone too far. â€Å"Sorry, Midge. I know you took heat over that whole mess. Strathmore was wrong. I know how you feel about him.† â€Å"This has nothing to do with Skipjack,† she said firmly. Yeah, sure, Jabba thought. â€Å"Listen, Midge, I don't have feelings for Strathmore one way or another. I mean, the guy's a cryptographer. They're basically all self-centered assholes. They need their data yesterday. Every damn file is the one that could save the world.† â€Å"So what are you saying?† Jabba sighed. â€Å"I'm saying Strathmore's a psycho like the rest of them. But I'm also saying he loves TRANSLTR more than his own goddamn wife. If there were a problem, he would have called me.† Midge was quiet a long time. Finally she let out a reluctant sigh. â€Å"So you're saying my data's fried?† Jabba chuckled. â€Å"Is there an echo in here?† She laughed. â€Å"Look, Midge. Drop me a work order. I'll be up on Monday to double-check your machine. In the meantime, get the hell out of here. It's Saturday night. Go get yourself laid or something.† She sighed. â€Å"I'm trying, Jabba. Believe me, I'm trying.† Chapter 52 Club Embrujo-â€Å"Warlock† in English-was situated in the suburbs at the end of the number 27 bus line. Looking more like a fortification than a dance club, it was surrounded on all sides by high stucco walls into which were embedded shards of shattered beer bottles-a crude security system preventing anyone from entering illegally without leaving behind a good portion of flesh. During the ride, Becker had resolved himself to the fact that he'd failed. It was time to call Strathmore with the bad news-the search was hopeless. He had done the best he could; now it was time to go home. But now, gazing out at the mob of patrons pushing their way through the club's entrance, Becker was not so sure his conscience would allow him to give up the search. He was staring at the biggest crowd of punks he'd ever seen; there were coiffures of red, white, and blue everywhere. Becker sighed, weighing his options. He scanned the crowd and shrugged. Where else would she be on a Saturday night? Cursing his good fortune, Becker climbed off the bus. The access to Club Embrujo was a narrow stone corridor. As Becker entered he immediately felt himself caught up in the inward surge of eager patrons. â€Å"Outta my way, faggot!† A human pincushion pawed past him, giving Becker an elbow in the side. â€Å"Nice tie.† Someone gave Becker's necktie a hard yank. â€Å"Wanna fuck?† A teenage girl stared up at him looking like something out of Dawn of the Dead. The darkness of the corridor spilled out into a huge cement chamber that reeked of alcohol and body odor. The scene was surreal-a deep mountain grotto in which hundreds of bodies moved as one. They surged up and down, hands pressed firmly to their sides, heads bobbing like lifeless bulbs on top of rigid spines. Crazed souls took running dives off a stage and landed on a sea of human limbs. Bodies were passed back and forth like human beach balls. Overhead, the pulsating strobes gave the whole thing the look of an old, silent movie. On the far wall, speakers the size of minivans shook so deeply that not even the most dedicated dancers could get closer than thirty feet from the pounding woofers. Becker plugged his ears and searched the crowd. Everywhere he looked was another red, white, and blue head. The bodies were packed so closely together that he couldn't see what they were wearing. He saw no hint of a British flag anywhere. It was obvious he'd never be able to enter the crowd without getting trampled. Someone nearby started vomiting. Lovely. Becker groaned. He moved off down a spray-painted hallway. The hall turned into a narrow mirrored tunnel, which opened to an outdoor patio scattered with tables and chairs. The patio was crowded with punk rockers, but to Becker it was like the gateway to Shangri-La-the summer sky opened up above him and the music faded away. Ignoring the curious stares, Becker walked out into the crowd. He loosened his tie and collapsed into a chair at the nearest unoccupied table. It seemed like a lifetime since Strathmore's early-morning call. After clearing the empty beer bottles from his table, Becker laid his head in his hands. Just for a few minutes, he thought. Five miles away, the man in wire-rim glasses sat in the back of a Fiat taxi as it raced headlong down a country road. â€Å"Embrujo,† he grunted, reminding the driver of their destination. The driver nodded, eyeing his curious new fare in the rearview mirror. â€Å"Embrujo,† he grumbled to himself. â€Å"Weirder crowd every night.† Chapter 53 Tokugen Numataka lay naked on the massage table in his penthouse office. His personal masseuse worked out the kinks in his neck. She ground her palms into the fleshy pockets surrounding his shoulder blades, slowly working her way down to the towel covering his backside. Her hands slipped lower†¦ beneath his towel. Numataka barely noticed. His mind was elsewhere. He had been waiting for his private line to ring. It had not. There was a knock at the door. â€Å"Enter,† Numataka grunted. The masseuse quickly pulled her hands from beneath the towel. The switchboard operator entered and bowed. â€Å"Honored chairman?† â€Å"Speak.† The operator bowed a second time. â€Å"I spoke to the phone exchange. The call originated from country code 1-the United States.† Numataka nodded. This was good news. The call came from the States. He smiled. It was genuine. â€Å"Where in the U.S.?† he demanded. â€Å"They're working on it, sir.† â€Å"Very well. Tell me when you have more.† The operator bowed again and left. Numataka felt his muscles relax. Country code 1. Good news indeed. Chapter 54 Susan Fletcher paced impatiently in the Crypto bathroom and counted slowly to fifty. Her head was throbbing. Just a little longer, she told herself. Hale is North Dakota! Susan wondered what Hale's plans were. Would he announce the pass-key? Would he be greedy and try to sell the algorithm? Susan couldn't bear to wait any longer. It was time. She had to get to Strathmore. Cautiously she cracked the door and peered out at the reflective wall on the far side of Crypto. There was no way to know if Hale was still watching. She'd have to move quickly to Strathmore's office. Not too quickly, of course-she could not let Hale suspect she was on to him. She reached for the door and was about to pull it open when she heard something. Voices. Men's voices. The voices were coming through the ventilation shaft near the floor. She released the door and moved toward the vent. The words were muffled by the dull hum of the generators below. The conversation sounded like it was coming up from the sublevel catwalks. One voice was shrill, angry. It sounded like Phil Chartrukian. â€Å"You don't believe me?† The sound of more arguing rose. â€Å"We have a virus!† Then the sound of harsh yelling. â€Å"We need to call Jabba!† Then there were sounds of a struggle. â€Å"Let me go!† The noise that followed was barely human. It was a long wailing cry of horror, like a tortured animal about to die. Susan froze beside the vent. The noise ended as abruptly as it had begun. Then there was a silence. An instant later, as if choreographed for some cheap horror matinee, the lights in the bathroom slowly dimmed. Then they flickered and went out. Susan Fletcher found herself standing in total blackness.

Are People Using Too Much Electronics Professor Ramos Blog

Are People Using Too Much Electronics â€Å"Your Cell Phone Will Ruin Your Vacation† James Butte 11/7/18 English 010 Ramos Are People Using Too Much Electronics? I am convinced that kids and teenagers are using too much electronics. While we should all be outside doing something like I remember we would all do in my childhood, most of my friends stay at home and rather play online with each other. Even if I have nothing to do I’ll stay and hangout like I think we’ll do something cool, they get on their headset and it is if I aren’t even there. That’s when I go home and figure something else out. Even when people are on vacation and doing something fun like parasailing, people have a very hard time just setting the phone down for a couple seconds to listen to instructions so in case of an emergency they know how to help save themselves. Some people never get off their phone the entire trip, they’ll take selfies the majority of the ride and stuff like that. Some people even skip out on the best part of the ride ( dipping their feet in the water ) just because they don’t want their Phones, cameras, Earpieces etc. To get wet. â€Å"According to a 2016 Pew Research survey, 77 percent of Americans own a smartphone, and other recent stats have found that users are on their phones an average of more than five hours per day- almost double the rate in 2013.† (http://mentalfloss.com). â€Å"The gap between Internet users and nonusers is associated with income and age, but no longer with gender and race† (https://doi.org/10.1016/S0308-5961(03)00068-5). As people used to differentiate with age and race, people are starting to differentiate more with more of what type of content their into on the internet. According to Hotels.com 81% say their smartphone is their number one travel accessory. And on average, travelers spend three hours a day looking at their mobile devices. (FOXBusiness.com).  Vacation is meant to get away from all of our stress, yet people still have a constant addiction to their phones when they probably don’t have internet service. Albers says that â€Å"by relying on our phones daily, it’s hard to disconnect for even a short period of time. Our electronic devices have arguably become extensions of ourselves, and therefore we end up living our lives through them, almost like being at a sporting event and watching a game on the jumbo screen instead†. I am also guilty of always using my phone like when I’m bored, or texting someone. I often find myself staying up till 1 in the morning because I get sucked into different apps like youtube, instagram, snapchat, and it can be hard for me to just turn the phone off and go to bed, I would defin itely say that my phone affects my quality of sleep, and I can feel my eyes trying to adjust to the dark which doesn’t seem all that healthy. Instead of posting pics to show off or not feel left out by seeing what your friends are doing, we should be more connected to our surroundings and live in the moment. I have some friends that will put almost everything they do on Facebook whether it’s going to the bathroom, eating lunch, or their views on something nobody cares about. According to Today.com â€Å"32 percent say they feel unimportant when their parents get distracted by their phones.† (Lowin). Some people have adopted the rule of no phones at the dinner table to get each other interacted and talking to each other to find out what’s going on in each other’s lives. As said by Telegraph.com â€Å"Google Maps is in danger of doing what satnav did for motorists turning them into zombies who blindly follow instructions while taking in nothing from their surroundings.† when we actually get to know our surroundings we have a better understanding of where we are, where to go, and what’s around us. We get to keep our brains exercised, if we rely on our phones forever, when we don’t have our phones we build the feeling of anxiety and we won’t know how to figure out our problems on our own. Those behind the wheel may not be the only ones at risk of a cell phone-related auto accident. So suggests a study published in January in the journal Pediatrics that shows that children are more distracted while crossing the street if they happen to be talking on a cell phone.(ABC News) People that are walking while using a phone are at 43% more risk of being hit by a car crossing the street. Excessive cell phone use can be a risk factor for mental health issues in young adults. With the constant notifications, vibrations, â€Å"In a study conducted at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, researchers examined if there is a direct link between the psychosocial aspects of cell phone use and mental health symptoms in young adults.† (MedicalDaily.com) People should worry less about their phones and live more in the moment, and be more connected with their friends and family. Sciencedirect Ronald E Rice, James E Katz. Volume 27, Issues 8–9, September–October 2003, Pages 597-623 â€Å"Comparing internet and mobile phone usage: digital divides of usage, adoption, and dropouts† Foxbusiness By Marissa Piazzola. Published July 08, 2016. Lifestyle and Budget. FOX Business. â€Å"Your Cell Phone Will Ruin Your Vacation† Today.com Aug. 6, 2015 / 11:38 AM PDT / Source: TODAY By Rebekah Lowin â€Å"How cell phones are affecting families and what to do about it† Telegraph.com Natalie Paris, travel writer 28 APRIL 2017 4:05PM â€Å"The science behind why you shouldnt take your phone on holiday† Butte 5 ABC News By DAN CHILDS ABC NEWS MEDICAL UNIT March 9, 2009 â€Å"7 Surprising Ways Cell Phones Affect Your Health† MedicalDaily.com Jul 12, 2013 01:15 PM By Lizette Borreli 5 Reasons Why Cellphones Are Bad For Your Health

Essay on Fundamentals of Corporate Finance

Essay on Fundamentals of Corporate Finance Essay on Fundamentals of Corporate Finance Essay on Fundamentals of Corporate FinanceThe development of the modern banking industry raises a number of challenges and issues concerning the stable performance of banks and their investment attractiveness. The economic recession and mortgage crisis of 2008 have raised apprehensions of investors and their uncertainty about many banks, which used to be quite reliable and stable, including behemoths of the industry. In this regard, I would conduct the detailed analysis of my bank from the standpoint of an investor rather than a customer. In fact, the analysis of the bank’s position and attractiveness for investors takes into consideration multiple perspectives, which help to determine not only the current position of the bank but also its further performance.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First of all, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that my bank was operating in both deposit and investment sectors and it has proved to be quite successful in both o f them, although the investment sector became too challenging for the bank, especially in light of new government regulations that stimulated the bank to focus on deposit branch only (Pine Gilmore, 2009). In such a way, the bank focuses on deposit business only and attempts to attract more customers. The past success of the bank and relatively high interest rate make the bank attractive for customers. Therefore, investors should also consider the possibility of the investment into the bank.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, investors, should take into consideration the fact that the bank offers a high interest rate to attract more customers but the increasing number of customers raises the question of the capitalization of the bank and its further ability to pay customers the interest rate it has already promised to them. The failure of the bank to pay off the interest rate to customers will put under a question the further ability of the bank to survive in the m arket, unless the bank reaches the high level of profitability and its projects turn out to be extremely successful. Nevertheless, at the moment, it is obvious that the bank will have to decrease its interest rate to balance its financial performance and to retain its attractiveness for investors. Otherwise, investors will grow concerned about the financial performance of the bank in the future and its ability to keep maintaining its financial performance at the current level.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the same time, the bank has substantial financial resources, which it has drawn from its investment branch. The bank shifts its financial resources into deposit business to enhance its market performance and to expand its market share. The available financial resources enhance the position of the bank because customers can feel to be secure enough as their deposits are safe and the bank has sufficient financial resources to cover current risks (McDaniel, Martin, Maines, 2002). At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that the bank is not inclined to a risky business behavior. On the contrary, the bank attempts to secure its position in the industry and customers feel being confident in the bank. Therefore, the bank is also attractive for investors.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition, after the shift toward deposit baking instead of investment banking, the bank has got rid of the unprofitable part of its business. Therefore, the bank has managed to optimize its organizational structure and financial performance. As the bank refused from its investment branch, its financial losses have dropped, whereas the deposit business was traditionally profitable for the bank (Parrino, 2006). This is why, at the moment, the bank has the possibility to expand its market share at cost of refusing from short-run profits and offering a higher interest rate to customers. In such a way, the bank expands its market share attracting mo re and more customers from its potential rivals in the industry. In such a way, at the moment, the bank demonstrates its readiness to invest into the further growth of the bank that makes it very attractive for investors.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Finally, the focus of the bank on the market expansion is another positive signal for investors because it implies that the bank is concerned with its further growth. The growth of the bank can bring profits to investors. On the other hand, the market growth can also bring negative outcomes, if the market expansion strategy of the bank fails. However, at the moment, there are no signs of the decline or deterioration of the marketing and financial performance of the bank. On the contrary, the positive dynamics of the bank’s business developments is a positive signal for investors that means that the bank is worth investing.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, the bank is attractive at the moment, but s till its marketing strategy involving the high interest rate, which are attractive for customers, is risky. In this regard, investors, who are ready to take a risk to obtain higher profits, should invest into the bank, whereas investors, who are ready to take such risks, should not invest into the bank.

Reflection of "Slingshot assignment #1 AET Movie Review

Reflection of "Slingshot assignment #1 AET - Movie Review Example Tom, Jim and Tim introduce the video with facts about what used to take place during these historical times where drag racing took the better part of the entertainment. These experiences of people taking pleasure in drag racing, in the backyards during the World War II, gives me a clear insight of the tremendous changes that car racing has undergone. I was taken back by the extent that the spectators took the entire racing as a hobby. I have seen spectators making an event lively but, this one (drag racing) immerses spectators in far much undying feeling of entertaining speed and adrenaline. It is clear that the entire world adored drag racing, which could be a reason for the fast development and change of the sport. In this regard, the sport has seen the light of every new day with tremendous economic changes. These changes have made it even better than before, with many people sparing time to take part in the drag race. Previously, I was worried about the accidents that the drag racers would encounter while attempting to push maximum limits. I thought that this auto racing sport may be a bit unsafe for the racers. I noticed instances where the racers cause accidents. For example, cars exploding, considering that the racer is placed literally on the engine in such a case the results is fatal. Also, the neck breaking speed can easily shatter one into pieces considering the light weight of the machine.There is need for safety measures. If a racing machine can go extremely fast, then it is right to have specific safety measures employed, just in case something bad happens. This may include roll cages, safety clothing and harnessing or an entire modification of the racing machine. This is evident in the modern day racing where significant modifications have been put in place. As a result, safety has improved. From this experience, I learn that, in life, I can push an extra mile, as long as I have prepar ed well for the worst. I also had

Auditing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Auditing - Essay Example These occurrences are known as subsequent events.1 There are two types of subsequent events which an external auditor must evaluate: Firstly, the auditors must consider those evidences which involved conditions with respect to those that existed at the date of the balance sheet and it would affect the financial statements. All the information that is achieved prior to the issuance of the financial statements should be taken into consideration. The second types of event are those events that did not existed even at the time of balance sheet. Some of these types of events are such that disclosing this information would save the financial statements form being misleading. The effects of the subsequent events can be seen in the assets such as receivables and inventories or in the estimation of liabilities because these kinds of events represent the functionalities which exist over a long period of time.2 After the balance sheet date is over, there is a time period when the auditors are c oncerned about completing their different phase of audits. This time period is known as subsequent period and this period extends till the date of the auditor's report. This period may vary from time to time depending on the situations. In addition to the main duties, it is also the task of the external auditor to conduct other auditing procedures and require adjusting and disclosing the essential financial events and occurrences so as to present a completely transparent report, according to the stated accounting principles.3 Solutions Further Audit Evidences This study is on the Platinum Pokie Club in Western Australia. The evidences in the subsequent period are giving for the external audit firm to analyze their outcomes. Audit evidences are basically the information that auditors use for arriving at a conclusion. Auditors do not examine all the information given because generally many of the information are cumulative in nature that is they occur over a long period of time and ma y sometimes be analyzed after the date of balance sheet during the subsequent period. Audit evidences are more reliable when they are receiving from external sources that are unbiased. The evidences acquired directly by the auditor are more authentic that information received indirectly. Moreover, information available in a documented form is trusted more than verbally transmitted information.4 The financial controller of the club reported on 5th august, before the auditor’s report, that Mr. Tan, the general manager has made fraudulent expenses claims of $ 40000 over 5 years. The profit and loss account for the five years during which Mr. Tan was working in the club should be properly analyzed. All the evidences supporting all the expenditures should be received and then estimate the actual amount of fraud expenditures. Moreover, the account details of Mr. Tan can be collected with the help of police authorities to see his bank balances. In the second evidence we see Ms. Pete rs taking legal action against the company and claiming medication and damage charge from the club. For this kind of even, solicitor's advice can be taken, so as to see the likelihood of the customer winning the case and estimate the costs that they would be incurring. The financial controller informed on 18th of August about some serious fire that occurred during a football celebration. For this the insurance money has already been received. But the problem is that the bistro and bar would remain close

Do you agree with Fredrik Barth that to understand the continuity and Essay

Do you agree with Fredrik Barth that to understand the continuity and constitution of ethnic groups we should focus on interaction at the boundary - Essay Example Beliefs of one ethnic group vary from another group and each group strives to preserve its culture. The members of various ethnic groups separate themselves from other groups in the world by raising boundaries around themselves. These boundaries ensure that the cultural and religious beliefs of an ethnic group stay with their group. The book Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture Difference by Fredrik Barth focuses on the ethnic groups and the boundaries which these groups raise around themselves, in order to exclude the outsiders from assimilating in their culture. Fredrik Barth maintains that the association of the cultural differences is an essential feature of ethnic groups. In this paper, we will discuss the significance of interaction at the boundary while studying the continuity and constitution of ethnic groups. I agree with Barth’s claim that to understand the continuity and constitution of ethnic group it is necessary to focus on interaction at the boundary, for these are the boundaries which avert the outsiders from influencing the religious beliefs, cultural values and behavioral traits of an ethnic group. In his book Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Culture Difference, Fredrik Bath discuses ethnic groups and their various features, beliefs and cultural identities. Ethnic groups are defined differently by various historians, anthropologists and scholars. The term â€Å"ethnicity† had been interpreted in numerous ways. Some think that ethnicity refers to a set of religious beliefs that are followed by a group of people while others think that common behavioral traits and language is the essential aspect of an ethical group. Although it is an accepted fact that an ethnic group consists of people who share a common heritage and culture, there are differences among historians and scholars regarding the characteristics of an ethnic group. â€Å"Attempts to find an objective set of criteria which might

Chipotle Grill Essay Example for Free

Chipotle Grill Essay Chipotle Mexican Grill is a chain of restaurants specializing in San Francisco burritos and tacos since it’s inception in 1993. Chipotle is known for chunky guacamole, large burritos, and assembly line production that provides high quality food served with the speed of fast food. Its â€Å"Food with Integrity† motto represents the pride it has in providing wholesome ingredients. The company presently uses 100% naturally raised chicken and pork, meaning the animals were raised in a humane way and never given antibiotics or hormones. Chipotle currently operates 862 restaurants in 33 states and plans to open 120-130 new restaurants in 2009 (Chipotle, 2009). A major challenge is finding new restaurant sites that will provide an adequate customer base and enable continued growth. Chipotle has historically operated on miniscule advertising budgets, but will take a more aggressive stance in the near future. Mark Crumpacker was appointed the company’s first Chief Marketing Officer this past year, and promises to bring new energy and a fresh perspective to enhance Chipotle’s marketing posture. An evaluation of the company’s internal strengths, weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats served as the foundation for this strategic analysis and marketing plan. The plan focuses on Chipotle’s growth strategy and suggests ways in which it can build on existing customer relations by increasing the quality of their dining experience. The company will also aggressively seek to develop new markets in order to sustain growth and strengthen shareholder value over time.

Spatial Spread Of Multinational Corporation Economics Essay

Spatial Spread Of Multinational Corporation Economics Essay As capital accumulates, the situation of the worker be his payment high or low, must grow worseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.It makes the accululation of misery a necessary condition, corresponding to the accumulation of wealth. Marx Capital Vol I. Increased movement of capital cushioned by innovation in technology and communication characteristic of contemporary globalization has transformed mode of production as well as the organization of production. This footloose character of labor and capital has given rise to what is termed as internationalization of business and international division of labor. It is in thos context that Multinational companies have become one of the major progenitors that have taken advantage of economic restructuring and the opportunities made possible by rise of regionalism, free trade facilitated by institutions such as WTO and the opening up of financial, resources and labor markets. The changing role of national governments from initiators to facilitators of growth has furthered this process. This process has had both winners and as well as losers. The economic liberalism attributes diffusion of knowledge, technology and expertise to this spatial spread. MNCs due to their sheer size are able to capture economies of scale and are also characterized by efficiency in their modus operandi. Making available numerous employment opportunities in the host country is another feature highlighted. On the other hand are the critics who are skeptical of the nature of employment generation and welfare of workers. The footloose character of capital has enabled exploitation of cheap labor placed in developing countries that has given rise to proliferation of unorganized sector without social security net. The institution of free trade policies and structural adjustment programmes by the IMF, World Bank and WTO has resulted in highly unequal integration of economies over the world. The African cycle of debt, the Latin American and East Asian crisis due to the volatility nature of financial flows has affected labor in many of these countries. (Rhys, Jenkins 2004).Primary products which constituted a major portion of the exports of LDCs faced deteriorating terms of trade. For example in 1980s under the prescription of IMF and World Bank opening of economies led to a spurt in export of coffee exports but later depressing markets due to overproduction rendering 25million coffee planters growers (Thomas, 2008). Although developing countries have managed to diversify in manufacturing and services, the nature of work has limited value added in the production chain (assembly line production). Feminization of labor characterized by long working hours and meager wages has been one of the outcomes. The scourge across the globe in search for rich renewable as well nonrenewable resources has often led displacement of people from their homes. This has often resulted in what Michael Cernea has outlines the impoverishment risk as a result of this tendency: landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, food insecurity, increased morbidty and mortality, loss of access to common property resource and services and social disarticulation. (Cernea, Michael 1985) Other issues concern around the loss of sovereignty due to their the massive profit that is pumped into the host economy due to which governments of host countries make all possible provisions to attract Multinational Corporation. Governments are losing their ability to bargain with MNCs where national government autonomy is constrained by globalization. It is argued that impact of MNC depends on the way countries, firms and citizens participate in the global economy. (Mosley 2011). Clarke (1985) points out that MNCs have a stabilizing and destabilizing effect depending on the character of corporation, the region, the nature of venture and establishment itself. The above discussion reveals the different threads to look into the impact of MNC in the wake of contemporary globalization. The following paper is an attempt to examine the impact on local spaces due to the spread of MNCs globally. I have used meaning of space not just in terms of its concrete sense but also the occupational mobility of labor which inclusive of their well being. Multinationals: A Historical Background Multinational companies have been crudely defined as having oranisational presence in two or more national jurisdictions (Buckley and Ghauri, 2000). Glenn Morgan (2004) tries to trace out the history of origin of multinational corporations beginning in the late 17th and early 18th century like the East India Trading Company. Global operations started with as they started investment abroad and setting up of subsidiaries outside the home country. Thus it started out as portfolio investment and later there was development of foreign direct Investment (FDI). Companies related to agriculture, mining and oil were the prominent one. Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, Standard Oil and its successors, British amercan Tobacco, Rio Tinto, Dunlop, Lever Bros and Tate and Lyle. There was also increasing internationalization of manufacturing . eg Scottish thread manufacturer J.P coats, UK companies like Courtaulds, Nobel, Vickers and Pilkingtons. The Japanese, German and French began in late 19 80s.(Morgan:556). The FDI flows took place mainly between developed economies and also towards East Asia and Latin American economies. The flows were related to manufacturing and services. Even developing economies have entered this foray: China, India, Phillipines, Thailand, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, South Africa and Egypt. Eg Chinese Lenvo that now owns the IBM pc brand, Indian Tata has taken over corus, Marcopolo (Brazilian company) that sells in more than 80 countries to name a few. (World Investment Report, 2006). China, India and Brazil are the sought after destinations for inflow of FDI (World Investment Report,2011). Nature of Operation MNCs internal operations have been described as sophisticated decision making, complex ownership strategies. Initially firms were vertically as well as horizontally integrated. However with globalization the cost of such integration became apparent and hence came the adoption of subcontracting and franchise sale. There was increase in joint venture and acquisition activities. cost effective measure was adopted in an environment of increased competition. There was establishment of a networked operation with the help of technological convergence. According to a survey conducted leading factors influencing location of industry have been shown in table 1. Table 1 Source : World Investment report 2011 This operation has resulted in global diffusion of knowledge that has enabled outsourcing, mass customization and deduplication. (Pervez and Ghari , 2000). Market servicing strategy involves ownership and location strategies where functions can be differentially localized. There has also been strategy of creating hubs that provides near markets and better source of information. If one market declines production can be switched to other markets provided the shocks affecting the national markets are independent and hub provides gains that only firms can achieve. (ibid:87). There has also been an establishment of global commodity chains buyer driven dominated by retailors and brand names; producer driven chains dominated by monopolies and Oligopolies. (Rodriguez 1986) Jill Rubbery points out the change in employment system from fordist to post fordist systems increased flexilbalisation of labor. The fordist model was characterized by standard employment contracts, hierarchical pay and standard working hours, labor acting as subordinate labor within the organization. This was established through trade union and collective organization backed by proper legislations and regulations. In case of post fordist employment structure there exists flatter hierarchies, flexible and extended working hours with diversity of employment contracts. 1980s and 1990s increased flexibility in labor hiring with the policy of hire and fire and proliferation of the informal sector. The flexible firm model (Atkinson 1984) was to provide firms with the segmentation of labor with experts in core areas given job security while those at the periphery performing unskilled jobs to be employed on flexible basis. This inturn has led to restructuring of labor supply. There has bee n an increased feminization of labor. They are segregated to specific occupations in the entire process of production as a part of flexible part time jobs. Morgan Glenn 2004, has tried to outline the approaches to study the nature of operations of MNC into hegemonic, hybridization and transnationalization. The first looked into how MNCs replicated their home based practices in the host country, the second approach looked into methods by which MNCs adopt and innovate according to host conditions, lastly translation provides an understanding of the internationalization of firms through embeddeddness in the local institutional context and standarisation and control from the headquarters. Ibid: 566. Impact on Space The critiques of spatial spread of MNC often relate it to the spread of capitalism and neoliberlaism. Works of Harvey, Sapna Banerjee Guha, Manuel Castell, dependency views tip in this direction. Harvey (2000) talks about a spatial fix referring to the over accumulation of capital along with creation of uneven spaces. In other words spatial fix refers to the restructuring of spaces in a globalised world that has resulted in uneven development. Physical displacement and Impact on livelihood of the evictees One of the notable examples in this context is the construction of industries by MNCs in the tribal belts of India in the name of development that has induced displacement. This industrial fervor has sidelined the real ends in favor of capital accumulation and double digit growth. Increased privatization is seen as a method of catching up with the developed economies by increasing efficiency un accounting the adverse impacts on local spaces. An estimated 40 million have been displaced since 1950 due to development projects of which 40% are adivasis and 25 % dalits, 75% are still awaiting compensation with deplorable plight of those without patta or land tittle. Around 70% of the total Indian population depends on agriculture for lively hood, burgeoning culture of SEZ (special economic zones) has created space on scarce land at the same time reduced occupational mobility of labor forcing him to sell his labor for meager wages in the absence of self owned means of production. Marginal and small farmers which constitute a majority of the agricultural population become helpless and tend to migrate to cities in search of jobs. Very often they are absorbed into the urban informal sector or rendered jobless reducing their sources of lively hood options. Further absence of labor legislations has forced labor to work in precarious conditions where they are subjected to hire and fire policy. Prior to SEZ act 2005 , there were 1143 units employing over 1.7 lakh persons, private investment was around Rs. 5626.24 crore, the current investment is around Rs. 83450 core employing 113426 persons. (Banerjee, 2008) There is heightened economic insecurity with displacement as the personal disposable income of the write more family is reduced. As mentioned above most rural households are engaged in agricultural activities who depend on land for livelihood. Once displaced they are left with very limited options particularly when they are not hired by the company that has displaced them un the first place. Men usually end up migrating to cities while the woman are left behind. Women in such conditions face high heightened insecurity and lack of work. Most tribals are engaged in forest related livelihood activities such as broom making, minor forest produce, bidi making, broom making and others. But with construction of factories and loss of forest area they are left with no source of income which often results in casualisation of labor. From a survey conducted in RR colony (2009) constructed by Vedanta in Jharasguda district in Orissa prior to displacement main livelihood activity was paddy cultiva tion and kitchen gardening. Displacement and loss of agricultural land has halted all agricultural practices. As a result the displaced have to buy food which becomes an extra strain on the family expenditure. Other primary activities such as domestication of animals is also limited due to neighborhood problems. Similar cases were found in another resettlement colony constructed by Bhusan at Thelkoloi, Sambalpur district of Orissa. Bidi and Broom making was no longer practiced due to absence of forest are and subsitance farming lost with acquisition. This shrinking can also be conceptualized in terms of their reduced opportunities for well being in in the face of limited choices. There is loss in terms of access to common property resources which inturn puts pressure on their budget due to limited availability of fuel wood, fodder, minor forest produce and water. There is often problem related to lack of sanitation and health . Very often resettlement colonies are built near factories spreading all harmful industrial affluents that could be a cause of serious health concern for the residents. Problem related to defecating, bathing become evident especially for women as they have to fix timings for such purpose which was the case before displacement. Communities in rural areas live in a close knit society where social networks act as support systems in offering services such as child care, economic assistance, protection, information, sickness in times of crisis and need (Parsuraman, 1993). With the displacement of the entire village community fragments with breakdown of social networks. In the absence of Resettlement and Rehabilitation act displaced groups become more vulnerable. In addition the RR policies fail to look into gender aspects coalesced with patriarchal environment further shrinks economic and social spaces of displaced women. Major multinational companies expected to engage in mining activities in India include Rio tinto (U.K), BHP (Australia), Alcan (Canada), Norsk Hydro (Norway), Meridian (Canada), Debeers (South Africa), Raytheon (USA), Phepls Dodge U.S.A. The drive for exploitation of resource rich regions by private players has wrecked havoc for the residents there most effected being the tribals. This situation is not just in India but other parts of the world where profits takes precedence over people.   Examples include : Dinka and Nuer in Sudan whose lands are being taken for oil mining, Mistiko lands in Nicargua for gold mining, mining on aboriginal lands in Australia, industrial plantations in tropical forests of Dayak people in Indonesia, coffee plantation on Montagards land in Vietnam, mining in North American Indian lands affecting western shohone, Quenchan Nation, Mohawk and Zuni people. (Christopher Lakra ,1999) Limiting the Opportunities of Well being of Workers. The operation of MNCs are so strategically designed as to maximize profits at the cost of worker wellbeing. This is very well apparent in International Division of Labor that many dependency theorists conceptualized. The shrinking of the opportunities and deteriorating of standard of living is well evident in the working conditions characterizing sweat shops. International Division of Labor The global labor force has increased from 2.74 to 3.21 (1999-2009) billion with 56.3 % located in Asia with the annual rate of increase of 1.6%. ; at the same time global unemployment by 30 million (Economist Sept 15, 2010). Multinationals exploit region specific characteristics of poor countries on an international scale in the name of global production. -Guha,1996. It is important to note the nature of increased flow of capital in developing economies that creates volatile conditions which directly impact labor, impact on regional disparity, its relation with the governments of host countries and nature of employment they create. Multinationals claim that host countries would be benefitted by the entry of technology, management, capital as part and parcel of economic modernization that will further create employment opportunities. Critics on the other hand claim that the State has become subservient to international capital, creating geographies of underdeveloped enclaves and exploitative division of labor. Spatial spread of MNC is determined by its manpower, resources, market and material. Accordingly their activities have been situated globally depending on the place specific opportunities that in turn has resulted in international division of labor. Chandler and Reich (1961) conceptualize the production process into three levels of activities: Level I activities that involves the decision making or the headquarters mostly situated in metropolises of parent countries, Level II activities involves the coordination of regional activities located in the metropolis of host countries and Level III activities include lowest level day to day operations situated mostly in the regions of abundant cheap labor or resource rich areas. This divison in production process has resulted in division of labor operating in different ways in the capital and labor intensive sectors. Capital intensive skilled activities get clustered in highly unequal international space. MNCs higher engineers from Asian ec onomies at half the price that they would have to pay in their home countries. As a result it decreases demand of skilled labor in their home countries while hiring skilled manpower at low rates in host countries. In labor intensive operations has given rise to increased in formalization of labor and swelling of the unorganized sector through the strategy of subcontracting. Ettlinger has termed this as a non fordist stratedgy that involves use of both the organized and unorganized labor thus creating crises in the organized sector of both the home and host country. Eg Profits of MNCs ave increased but the employment has reduced. Between 1986-89, General Electrics employment fell from 373000 t0 292,000 while its revenue increased from 42 to 55 billion dollars. AT and T reduced employment while raising its rvenue by 3 billion dollars. IBM and Fiat trudged the same path of increasing revenue but trimming jobs. Since 1980s Procter and Gamble India has diversified its activities and enga ged in subcontracting hurting the organized labor in the factories. Most products of PG were now being produced by unorganized labor in Hyderabad and Mumbai as a result of which the Kalwa Plant in Mumbai closed down in 1994 making some 300 odd workers unemployed. (ibid: 23). Harvey points out that there has been a significant increase in workers employed in the export and import oriented industriesthat has created global market for labor where countries compete for cheap labor and global competition that has further pushed down wages. With this has come an increase human rights violations with poor woring conditions in areas of subcontracting. Labour Conditions within this Multinational operation. More than 70 workers were found wrking in virtual slave like condtions, behind barbed wire fences, producing million dollars worth garments for retailers ike Neiman Marcus, Filenes and Montomery Ward. (New York Times, 1995) Violation of labor rights takes place in the form of longer working hours, poor working conditions that has negative impact on the health and safety of workers. Reports of human rights abuse from Nike supplier factories, underpayment of wages by subcontractors in Indonesia, use of child labor in production of soccer balls in Pakistan, exposure of workers to dangerous chemicals in China and Vietnam. (Mosley2011). Such sweat shop like conditions are present across the globe and women workers are worse treated. This has also resulted in increased illegal trafficking of women; in a bid to escape poverty in home countries but in turn become slaves in such sweat shops. Eg trafficking of Thai women to Japan as cheap labors and are forced to work without pay till they have repaid their debts. (Human Rights watch, 2000 ). In central and South America similar sweat shops are present. In 2000 Bolivian girls were rescued out of textile factories in Buenos where they were being subjected to slave like conditions, underfed, working 19 hours and abused often. Guatemala coffee growers working on starbucks coffee plantations are underpaid. (ibid) Wal Mart has been accused for underpayment and poor working conditions in Chinese factories. Workers are paid a paltry $.13 an hour) (China Daily,2009). Thus, neither the U.S. government nor consumers are able to discern how bad the conditions really are. The Gap produces clothing in six factories in. cases where workers are paid as low as $.11 per hour and in Honduros Gap workers have to undergo pregnancy tests and work overtime making $4.00 a day. (Global Exchange 2000). William .P.Blade (1987) points out the problem for developing countries may not arise because MNCs are institutions of capital accumulation but when capital is diverted away from host countries. There has been increase in flow of capital towards developing countries since 1970s propelled by technological advancement and neoliberal policies. According to Tinbergen report MNCs extract 50-100 billion dollars from developing coutries annually. (Guha, 1990). A notable example in this case would be the impact of financial crisis on the Asias labor market. (Hyun et al, 2010). Exports have played a major role in the Asian success. Source: World Trade Organization Data Base, 2008 In 2008 as consumer demand in developed economies plunged Asias exports fell sharply. China 25%, Thailand 25%, Indonesia, Malaysia and Phillipines to 26-32%. As a result many firms resorted to cutting back productions through closures effecting labor and remittances flow that are major sources of income for poor households in developing countries 11% Tonga, 11 % in Phillipines and 5-10% in Bangaldesh, Srilanka, Vietnam and Mongolia. Decline in Exports of Asian Economies Source: ibid FDI that accounts for major share of the gross fixed capital formation of Asian economies also declined in 2008. FDI is expected to contract by 30%. As a result of the economic melt down employment in key export oriented sectors as part of the regional, national and global chain have shown a decline. In China 20 million have been retrenched and force to move to rural areas. There has been an increase in reverse migration and workers. In Malaysia there has been a for fold increase in the number of layoffs. In Indonesia bulk of layoffs was reported in the textile industry exceeding 2,37,000. In case of Cambodia employment in garment sector contracted by 15% , similar was the case in Thailand. Impact on Employment (Asian Economy) Source:ibid The largest change in the percentage of Unemployed has been Singapore followed by Japan and Korea. Casual workers have been the worst effected as it is easier to lay them off in absence of proper legislations as well as absence of social security nets. This has also led to shrinking of labor market for the youths as the large number of unemployed chase for scarce jobs. Many firms are also resorting to unpaid leave however such have a negative impact on those who donot enjoy employment benefits. More and more workers are thus getting absorbed into unorganized sectors. In Indonesia the numbers in the unorganized sector swelled by 7.3% as compared to the organized sector 1.4%. in Thailand the increase was 3.2% in own account workers and 3.3% for contributing family workers while the organized employment grew only by 0.6%. The result of falling incomes has resulted in rise in poverty. More than 52 million workers live just 10% above the poverty line ($1.25 per day) while more than 40 million live above 20% above that line. (ILO, 2008). In times crises poor households often cut back on expenditures on health and education, there has also been an increase in child labor as families resort to such alternatives. The number of workers in the unorganized sector in Asian region could range between 1.1 1.2 billion (2009 figures). Decline in Exports of Asian and African LDCs ILO Report, 2011 The above table reveals that merchandise exports for African and Asian LDCs slumped post 2008. Despite recovery the unemployment trends have persisted both the African and Asian countries. (table below) In both regions female labor has been more affected for Africa 7.5% and Asia 4.2% as compared to 6.3% and 3.9%. Employment in Asian and African LDCs Source : ibid Role of the state In this entire discussion of operation of global processes one cannot escape mentioning the role of State and its response. The spatial spread of MNCs also depends on the policy of the host countries and the investment friendly environment. It is impossible for an economy to remain isolated from the rest in this era of globalized world even though the terms of engagement may not be equal. Political economy of the world has created such conditions where governments of host countries are losing out in the bargaining process with the MNCs. During the era of import substitution and protectionist policies state exercised upper hand over the bargaining process to channelize the benefits of private investment to serve development objectives. Contemporary globalization and the push for neoliberal agenda has transformed the state from a initiator to facilitator of development. Haslam 2009, outlines three approaches to study the relationship between state and MNCs : the irrelevance of bargaining, displacement of bargaining and maximization of bargaining. The irrelevance of bargaining implies that the state and MNCs no longer share a conflictual relationship but rather a cooperative one. This can be seen in the adoption of more neoliberal policies and realizing the role of private players in promoting growth. The second approach talks about the displacement of bargaining from state firm towards between states during bilateral and multilateral trade where states protect the interest of the firms. Maximization approach points towards increasing bargaining power of MNCs or constraints on ability of the state to act. In Argentina till 1990 private players were virtually absent and mining was state activity, however Argentina abandoned the state led model with passing of huge legislative reforms in 1993. Government of Catamarca province tried to increase royalties from Bajo Dela Alumbrera project (private mining company) but met with resistance. The federal government fearing loss of investment sided with the mining company. In Chile change in power in 1973 led to privatization but it is only in 1 990s that Chile experienced a mining boom. There was a proposal to increase taxes but was here again it was met with stiff resistance and government had to abandon the proposal. (Haslam, 2007) Lenway and Murthy (1994) on the other hand see the state as a strategist making choices between : authority v/s market, communitarinism v/s individualism, political v/s economic objectives and equity v/s efficiency. (Pervez and Buckley 2000) This reveals that ability of state to bargain is highly constrained. Very often governments of host countries themselves facilitate this process. for eg In Korea labor reform introduced in 1996 that in away allowed casualization of labor along with hire and fire policy. The reaction of this legalization was massive unemployment since 1966 (Tat Yan Kong, 2006). Labor market in Taiwan resulted increased competition among workers as 42 state owned enterprise were privatized. This effort of labor market liberalization falling of employment from 3.1 to 2.3%. In Vietnam introduction of Doi Moi syatem caused labor restructuring due to privatization leaving 1 million workers in the state sector unemployed between 1988 -1992. The educational gap further s egmented the labor where the educated entered the state sctors and the less educated ended up in casual employment. Women were the hardest hit as work participation among women to be very high (It was 74% in 1989 that came down to 60% in 1996). They were forces to enter insecure jobs with loss of employment benefits such as maternity leave and child care provisions. ( Oudin, Xavier, 2004 ). Conclusion Given the shrinking spaces in terms of well being of workers and spatial spread of MNC under conditions of increased global competition that is out to utilize cheap labor; weaker state capacity and poor implementation of labor legislations are major reasons for deplorable condition of workers. This is evident from the fact that very few MNCs consider labor regulations as an obstacle towards investment in developing countries. The prescription usually advised is a step towards improving these conditions : firstly to recognize informal sector and the various forms of jobs that come under it. Secondly there is a need to improve social security benefits of workers more than increasing productivity in such activities that would improve their standard of living. There is also an argument that legislation in developing countries are stricter but without proper employee protection. Minimum wages is one of the tools used but it must also be noted that minimum wage legislation compliance, the penalties for non adherence, whether covering the informal sector etc. employment effect of minimum wage legislation can actually exacerbate unorganized sector employment while having a negative impact on the organized work force as employers look more towards cost cutting. Thus there needs to be more robust alternatives in the form of social security nets cushioned with minimum wages and more importantly unorganized sector must be included. This will thus mitigate shock to labor sector in terms of crises. With regard with the issue of displacement due to construction of setting up of extractive industry there needs be proper facilities provided post displacement to the evictees. Apart from compensation proper training facilities, employment facilities in the factory as well as proper resettlement colony with provision of al basic necessity must be provided. Here the role of the state must come in to ensure that such benefits and compensation are provided. The above discussion reveals the multitude problems emerging due to increased privatization where the state also becomes a business partner rather than placing welfare as a priority. However solutions to such issues are not easy and requires further study the area of MNC State relationship in a globalized world. Globalization is a process that one cannot choose to escape; unequal processes such as this spatial spread are a part of it. Perhaps a better approach towards examining the process would be to understand the global structure of inequalities in which LDCs are embedded into, whether structural adjustment is actually required? Whether receipt of loans from world Bank is worth succumbing to debt cycle ? if there is a need for setting up of large scale industries ta such massive rate? These questions do not have easy answers but still need to be probed as technical fixes are necessary but not sufficient.