Risk identification is an underdeveloped art Discuss and include an Essay - 1

Risk identification is an underdeveloped art Discuss and include an overview of risk identification aids and techniques in yo - Essay Example Risk management is the concept that allows the management to look after future uncertainties like that of high inflation, volatility of market, recession, change in market demand, competitors, change in regulations, etc. Therefore it becomes a responsibility of the management to analyze and identify such risks. Otherwise, they may lead to financial turmoil and create issues like liquidity or even bankruptcy (Georges, 2013). Under the financial markets where uncertainties are high and investors expect to receive good returns, a diversified portfolio is maintained by the financial institutions. This is done in order to minimize the exposure to the risk by making investments in both equity funds and fixed deposits. It can also be said that risk management is the mitigation of the uncertainties, hence, allowing better decision making and prediction regarding the future outcome (Alexander, 2001). Risk Identification Risk management is part of the regular management processes and responsib ilities in the organization. It is an ongoing process that continues throughout the life of the project. It is often seen that entities face issues in locating and identifying the risks that may hamper their project or investment. Risk management is the two-step process. ... Other than few general terms of risk, they find it hard to locate the barriers that might hamper the success of their project or entity as a whole. Like risk management, risk identification is also a complete process and different methods or techniques can be used for successful identification (H. & J., 1999). With proper management, it is probable that most of the associated risks can be identified. Before discussion of the risk identification techniques or methods it is important to discuss its purpose, scope and process. Risk identification process Risk identification is a deliberate and a systematic process to identify and document the potential key risks that the organization as a whole might face. The objective is to understand what would be at stake. The risk identification process should cover all the risks irrespective of whether they are in control of the organization or not (Lubka, 2002). It is a diverse process and requires inputs from all the stakeholders of the organiza tion, whether internal or external. Following briefly highlights the risk identification process: Risk identification usually starts before the project is initiated and the number of risks increase as the project matures through the lifecycle (Merna & Al-Thani, 2005). Identification can be of both, operational risks that are associated with the organization as a whole or project risks specific to the project. Methods that the management would be using to identify the risks and set of different sources that would be used to gather the information. It is important that set of risk identification tools and techniques is used Identified risks must be documented and the probability of occurrence of such event evaluated in order to analyze the resources that would be

Vidsoft technologies Essay Example for Free

Vidsoft technologies Essay Vidsoft technologies was an Internet company in California and it developed enterprise software to solve the procurement needs for its clients such as Cisco systems, Johnson and Johnson and Telespain companies. Keith Nash who was the companys chief executive officer of Vidsoft had instilled a culture in the organization where employees were free to speak their minds, work hard and deliver customer satisfaction because he believed that so long as the Vidsoft customers were success full, so would the company. The organization also encouraged employees and it had several motivational activities for its employees which included football pingpong tables and social gathering during Fridays so that the employees can enjoy themselves and feel free to talk about the events of the week and what they felt about the company or any situation which may be there. Managers were promoted from within the organization and the company always looked for those who were better than the existing ones. However as Internet need expanded, they few individuals remaining demanded high salaries therefore the criteria for hiring people relaxed where they chose to employ people then train them. Babatunde was the senior technical support manager, Hsu was a technical support engineer who was a hard worker but was not a team player and wanted to climb the corporate ladder faster. Babatunde promoted Li into management and although she was determined to fit, Hsu was not happy that Li was his boss and wanted to be transferred to another group because he did not respect Li, he joined Vidsoft because of Babatunde and therefore wanted him to remain his boss and that Li was not experienced for the job so there was nothing which he would learn from her. Although Babatunde tried to resolve the situation, Hsu did not want to be under Li and she did not want him to leave because she feared that others may have negative views of her. In this case Babatunde can resolve this situation by making Hsu the manager of the group dealing with the other line of the product because it did not yet have a manager and he had necessary skills for the position. This would be a powerful motivator for Hsu and he would be able to learn to associate with others and also involve himself in the team work which was highly valued by the company. The internal promotion of Hsu would also generate loyalty through his recognition and it would increase his morale by fulfilling his need of increased status and his want to climb up the corporate ladder. This is because Hsu was an experienced person for the managerial job and with his degree in computer engineering, he would effectively manage the other group and bring good results to the customers and the company. Due to Hsu attitude and his response to Lis promotion, there was no surety that he would be comfortable with the other new manager who would be brought to manage the other group if he was to be shifted from Lis team. This therefore means that if he was the manager, he would be directly under Babatunde which he always wanted and he would be comfortable in his position. Through this promotion also, others would not despise Li as they had already started to be influenced by Hsus attitude because there would be a good reason for removing Hsu under her management. This situation could have been avoided initially by first talking to each and everyone in the group which was to be managed by Li about the decision of promoting her as their manager. Those not comfortable like Hsu would have then been given the chance to move to the other group initially therefore the problem would not have occurred. Other employees would have also been informed about the promotion so that whoever who might has been interested such as Hsu would have a chance to be taken as one of the candidates to fill the position. In future, this problem can be avoided by talking to all the people concerned and the entire group which will be managed before making the move of promoting one of them so that they are all comfortable with the decision. Others should also be taught on how to accept others and their capabilities but not just think of themselves and how they can be able to move up the corporate ladder, they should be made to think of the company first and how it can be made to improve it and this will in future prevent such scenarios from reoccurring. The employees should also be taught ti respect each other and be ready to work under the supervision of any of them who would be promoted for a more superior position. Vidsoft technologies and its management should also provide opportunities to the employees through a job-bidding procedure or during the performance evaluation of employees by the managers to declare any interest which any of them may have in a specific promotion opportunity in the organization. The employees should be notified that they should identify higher positions which they may be interested in and they should not only use a general statement that they would someday want to have a better job but they should be clear and specific so that the management can be aware and therefore monitor such an employee for any possibilities of leadership or management skills. Performance evaluation should also be conducted on all the employees on basis of written specifications and all the standards which are related to the job and the appraisal should also be written so that they can be used in future. Vidsoft managers should conduct meetings with individual employees so they their evaluations can be signed and also determine their abilities in management. A system should also be developed so that the employees can be alerted on when any promotional opportunity is available in the organization so that they can have a chance to express their interest in the positions given (Devon 2007). Transactional leadership works in situations where clear structures are created and it is very clear of what is needed of the subordinates and the rewards they are meant to get when they follow orders given to them by their seniors. Although punishments are not mentioned, the subordinates understands them well and there are formal ways of instilling discipline in them which is put in place. The early stage of transactional leadership is where the contract is negotiated, and the subordinates are given salaries and benefits and managers gets authority over the subordinates in the company. The work allocated to subordinates by the managers is considered his/her responsibility whether or not there are resources available to do the work and in case anything goes wrong during work, the subordinate is seen to be at fault and is given a punishment for the failure just the way they are rewarded if they succeed in their work. The transactional leaders uses management by exception where they work on the principle that if something is operating to defined performance, then it does not need to be given any attention and that exceptions require praise for exceeding expectations and collective action is applied for performances which are below expectations. Transactional leadership is based on contingency where reward or punishment are contingent upon a persons performance. It is still a popular approach for managers despite its limitations such as the assumption of the rational man who is seen as a person who is mostly motivated by the money given to him/her or the simple rewards offered therefore their behaviors can be predicted. While the common transactional leadership relies on the assumptions about human beings, their motivators and how the organizations work, today these assumptions are seen as incorrect, false and inaccurate. This kind of leadership is linked to behaviorist approach to human functioning which is incomplete and it focuses more on management not leadership. Transformational leadership Transformational leadership is the process which changes or transforms individuals where they are made to want change, to improve and to be led. They access employees motives, satisfy their needs and value them and they are likely to make the organizational more successful. Transformational leadership begins with development of a vision which may emerge from different discussions and then the vision is sold where the transformational leaders convince others to contribute. The leaders seeks to transform the organization as well as the followers so that they can be good leaders. The major differences between transformational and transactional leadership is that while transformational leadership deals with building need and meaning in individuals, transactional leadership deals with building on the need to get the job done and make a living out of it. Second is that transformational leadership is usually pre-occupied with purposes, values, morals and ethics while transactional leadership is pre occupied with power and position, perks and politics. Transformational leadership transcends daily affairs and is oriented towards the long term goals without compromising on the human values and principles while transactional leaders swamp daily affairs and look at short term goals. The transformational leaders separates causes and symptoms and work to prevent and treat, and it focuses more on missions and strategies to achieve the goals, it makes the full use of the available resources such as human interactions, they design and redesign jobs so that they are meaningful and challenging and strive to work effectively within the human potential in the current systems of the organization and they align the internal structures and systems to reinforce the goals which have been set. On the other hand, transactional leaders confuses the causes and the symptoms, they focus on the tactical issues, rely on human relations to oil, they follow and fulfill the expectations from their roles and they support structures which reinforce they organizations goals (Bass Riggio 2005). Transformational leadership creation of a moral aspiration for followers and leaders alike Transformational leaders motivate their followers so that they can take action and do their work well by appealing to the shared goals and values and by satisfying the higher order needs of the people whom they are leading. They satisfy the aspirations and expectations of the people whom they are leading and it becomes moral because it raises the level of human conduct as well as their level of ethical aspirations of both the transformational leader and the people whom they are leading and therefore it has a transforming effect on both the leader as well as the led. Transformational leaders fosters the appropriate changes by adding into and shaping the common goals, needs and wants between them and followers and they also develop and carry an evaluation of others in accordance to the set values in the organization. There are four factors of transformational leadership which create a high level of moral inspiration to both the leaders and their followers, these are one, it has an idealized influence which describes managers who are exemplary role models for associates and therefore the followers like them because they believe that they will help them. Second is inspirational motivation which describes managers who motivates their followers to commit to the organizations vision and they also encourage team spirit to reach the already set goals. Third is intellectual stimulation which describes the managers who encourage innovation and creativity through challenging beliefs or views given by a group and the forth is individual consideration which describes managers who act as coaches and advisors to the associates or followers by encouraging them to reach goals so that they can help themselves as well as the organization (Sadler 2003).

Comparison: John Donne and William Shakespeare

Comparison: John Donne and William Shakespeare In light of Shakespeare’s 450th anniversary a comment has been questioned about his sonnets relevance in today’s time. Many students arguing and questioning why it is relevant for Elizabethan sonnets to be studied in today’s literature. The question of how Shakespeare relates in todays times is always been asked and through this reflective essay I will demonstrate how and why it is relevant. I will be discussing in a number of paragraphs why it relates in todays time through the understanding of the theme, structure and the poetic techniques through the use of John Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10 and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18. The themes of the poems draw on ideas of different types of power, including the power of religion and the power of the written word. Donne captures the power of belief flawlessly in his metaphors and personification of death. By Donne highlighting a person’s fear of death and playing on the idea a person’s soul can survive death; through this he successfully creates a powerful theme and a paradox of immortality. This theme can be seen throughout his poem for instance line 8: ‘rest their bones and soul’s delivery’. Donne’s theme s plays on the ideas of the role of death in a normal life. He portrays it as the way to break free from the troubles that accompany one lifetime. Donne may seem to be mocking or attacking death but he is in fact not but instead he opposes the normal idea that death is horrible which can be seen in line 2 â€Å"Mighty and dreadful, for, thou art not so.† These themes in sonnet 10 still relates to today’s time for many reason. Firstly, throughout the sonnet Donne gives the idea of life after death, or the fact that you will ‘break free’ after you die. These lines help relate to many religions that are still around in todays time. The thought of life after death has been a ‘hot topic’ in today’s time as it was in Donne’s time. This belief of your soul’s eternal life helps relate to countless people, since just like me people are afraid of death and believe in an eternal life after death. Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare focuses on the power of the written word and how the poem itself makes love eternal. In sonnet 18 Shakespeare emphasizes the idea that, when envisioned in a poem, love never dies: â€Å"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives life to thee† (lines 13 and 14). This sonnet relates to todays times, as many people including myself believe that love never dies. In the movie â€Å"The Noteb ook† the theme â€Å"love never dies† demonstrates itself well throughout it. With the idea of the two characters being in love from such a young age proves to me that love never dies which relates sonnet 18 in todays time through the use of movies. Both Donne and Shakespeare wrote and both used many necessary techniques of this form of poetry. Both poems consist with the use of quatrains and a couplet in a 14 line sonnet. In Donne’s Holy Sonnet 10 he used a rhyming scheme that is similar to a Petrarchan sonnet which is made up of 14 lines and a rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme will usually goes ABBAABBA which is then usually followed by CDCDCD. However, in sonnet 10 Donne finishes it slightly differently. The sonnets last six lines are made up of CDDCAA and if you look carefully you can notice some different things happening. In line 13 the word â€Å"swell’st,† which rhythms with previous words â€Å"dwell† and â€Å"well.† Donne has just placed an extra rhyme which is known to be a bit strange. Donne has structured his poem in a way that would require you to pronounce certain words to make them rhyme. For instance you would have to pronounce the words form â€Å"eternally† and â€Å"di e† to â€Å"eternal-lie† just to make it rhyme. This can relate in today’s time through the use of music. For instance, a famous rapper named Eminem was able to rhyme the word orange to a number of other things that didn’t spell the way of a rhyme but instead through the use of the pronunciation a rhyme was made just like Donne in sonnet 10. Rap is great example of how these sonnets still relate to todays time as they both use the structure of rhyme. If you were to think of music in today’s time you would be able to notice that most artists would consist of a certain structure to their music to keep it flowing especially rhyming. The Holy Sonnet 10 also used the iambic pentameter to help assist with emphasizing particular words which are important. These especially occur at the beginning or ends of the sonnets lines. Sonnet 18 has structured their sonnet with the use of rhetorical questions. For instance, the first line of sonnet 18 â€Å"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?† This line has used rhetorical question to improve the exaggerative language and comparisons which create the story and are common in most poetry. The rhyming in sonnet 18 contains an ABAB CDCD EFEF GG rhyme scheme. Voltas are also evident in sonnet 18as the author uses end stop lines to help enhance the system of control which helps strengthen the story. Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 successfully uses Iambic pentameter to create a feeling of obviousness as well as a peaceful sense. This structure is evident in today’s time. Just like Donne’s sonnet 10 the use of rhyme in music helps tell me that the structure of sonnets is still relevant to this day. There are a number of poetic techniques that can be found in Donne’s sonnet 10. Donne’s poem often uses alliteration to support in rhythm and rhyme which can be seen in line 4 and 6; â€Å"much pleasure then from thee much more must flow (line 6). Donne’s sonnet uses conceits throughout the sonnet as it proclaims that sleep and death are similar. The sonnet also uses personification of death to help express to the reader that death is not the end, and expectantly the reader will relate to it which then increases the theme of eternal life. The sonnet then uses an wide paradox about eternity as Donne submits that death does not kill but only puts you to sleep, this paradox helps improve and highlight the intended theme and story of the poem which is eternal life. These poetic techniques can still be seen in today’s times. For example in many children books the use of alliteration to help rhyme words can be seen. This can be seen in a famous author Dr Seuss who specialised in alliteration to ensure his poems would rhyme. This helps me realise that poetic techniques are still relevant today and are used to help develop young children’s brains. Shakespeare’s sonnet uses various amounts of poetic techniques. Firstly the use of alliteration can be seen in lines 7; â€Å"And ever fair from fair sometimes declines†. Which helps keep a sense of rhythm and rhyme in Shakespeare’s sonnet. Just like Donne’s poem Shakespeare also uses conceits in his sonnet which can be seen when he compares a person to a summer’s day. Shakespeare also uses hyperboles throughout his poem which helps exaggerate and highlight the comparisons of his friend or lover to nature. Shakespeare’s 450th anniversary has raised many question of why it is still relevant in today’s time. In this reflective essay I have discussed why it is still relevant in today’s time through the use of theme, structure and poetic techniques. I have discussed how themes are still relevant in today’s time through the use of movies and how structure and poetic techniques can be seen in music and books. I believe it is still relevant in today’s time through all the present day things that require and use these ancient techniques. Life: A Fusion Of Pleasure And Pain Life: A Fusion Of Pleasure And Pain A mixture of happiness and sorrow; a beautiful blending of light and dark. Human existence is comprised of an interweaving web of joy and despair; a web from which we cannot escape. Many of the works that we have read in class reflect on this fusion that we call life. Maurice Blanchot adequately summarizes the essence of human existence as quoted from The Infinite Conversation: The man of the world lives in nuance and by degrees, he lives in a mixture of light and shadow, in confused enchantment or irresolute mediocrity: in the middle. Tragic man lives in the extreme tension between contraries, going from a yes and no confusedly merged back to a yes and a no that are clear and clearly preserved in their opposition. He does not see man as a passable mixture of middling qualities and honest failings, but as an endurable meeting of extreme grandeur and extreme destitution, an incongruous nothingness in which the two infinities collide.1 Essentially, ambivalence defines our life: the tragic world. Humans are unique in the fact that we can be wounded, not merely in the physical sense, but in the reality that someone or something can shatter our integrity. Georges Bataille states that man differs from animal in that he is able to experience certain sensations that wound him and melt him to the core. 2 This undeniable reality is what makes us susceptible to the ambivalence of life; the certainty that emotional suffering can be inflicted onto us by others. In Madame Edwarda, Georges Bataille ironically refers to the prostitutes vagina as a wound; 3 inferring the fusion of pleasure and pain for the narrator. At first glance, one might think that her wound should bring nothing but sexual pleasure to the narrator, however her wound ultimately causes him emotional distress in many ways. Madame Edwarda identifies herself as God, drawing the narrator further into her seductive hypnotism. By presenting the concept of God in the form of an attractive, yet tainted prostitute, Bataille addresses the sacreds irresistible nature, with her mixture of attraction and terror. As Madame Edwarda is standing under the Porte Saint-Denis, the narrator is watching from a distance (as she is losing her mind.) He soon accepts the fact that She had not lied, that She was GOD. 4 This scene could also be viewed as Madame Edwarda playing the role of God and guarding the gates of heaven. The narrators clear apprehension when approaching her hints at his fear of entering into Purgatory and receiving his Final Judgment. Underneath the arch, he is consumed with emptiness and accepts any suffering that he might endure. The narrator lusts for her secret 5 so much that he would tolerate any amount of pain to receive answers and obtain the truth. These frightened, yet hopeful emotions that the narrator experiences are caused by Madame Edwarda and her wound; the same character who had previously provided him with incredible sexual pleasure. It can therefore be said that Madame Edwarda symbolizes our ambivalent life: an opposing balance of pain and pleasure. Sigmund Freud also explores the idea of human life as a fusion of happiness and sorrow in his essay called The Uncanny. Uncanny is the English translation of the German word unheimlich, which is the main focus of this essay. Freud provides the definition of unheimlich in 8 different languages, thoroughly demonstrating the contradictory meaning of the word. He summarizes these descriptions stating: the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideason one hand it means what is familiar and agreeable, and on the other, what is concealed and kept out of sight [..uncomfortable]. 6 Investigating this definition further, it is simple to see how an uncanny experience can evoke both pleasure and pain. A pleasant experience is one that is familiar and agreeable, and humans strive to keep painful experience out of sight and out of mind [a function of the pleasure principle]. Since the uncanny is that which is unfamiliar on the grounds that it is too familiar, it is fair to say that an uncanny experience evokes both pain [in the eeriness of the given situation] and pleasure [feelings of familiarity and homeyness] to whoever is experiencing it. Freud believed that the ego employs defense mechanisms when threatened, including the repression of painful memories deep into the unconscious mind. The uncanny is basically a defense mechanism that unconsciously reminds us of our own id, our forbidden and thus repressed impulses that are kept out of sight because our super-ego perceives them to be threatening. 7 The reemergence of these repressed memories are those experiences which we deem as uncanny. Freud further describes the idea of the uncanny as a defense mechanism by stating: ..[the] uncanny is in reality nothing new or alien, but something which is familiar and old-established in the mind and which has become alienated from it only through the process of repression. 8 As suggested by this quote, the uncanny is an example of a situation in which the pleasure principle cannot adequately cope because it is fails to keep repressed impulses out of our conscious. This quote also relates back to Freuds theory of human drives which were discussed in another Freudian work that we studied called Beyond the Pleasure Principle. In this essay, Freud reevaluates his prior theoretical beliefs regarding his theory of human drives. Previously, he had proposed that the human psyche could be divided into three parts: the id, the superego, and the ego. He defined the id as the impulsive portion that operates on the pleasure principle; the superego as the moral component; and the ego as the rational balance between the superego and the id. Freud suggests that the pleasure principle is deficient because of the general compulsion to repeat. This compulsion to repeat un-pleasurable experiences explains why traumatic nightmares occur in dreams.9 He argues that the unconscious repeats undesirable experiences in order to desensitize the body. Using this thought process, Freud proposed his new theory, stating that humans are driven by two conflicting central desires: the life drive and the death drive. The life drive is concerned with preserving life by seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. Contrastingly, the death drive is the instinctual desire in all living things to return to a lower state that existed before we were born. Freud reasons that all living organisms want to be dead because theoretically we were all dead before we were alive. He explains how human drives consist of a balance between pleasure [life drive] and pain [death drive] when he states: It is plain that most of what is revived by the repetition-compulsion cannot but bring discomfort to the ego, for it promotes the bringing to light of the activities of repressed impulses; but that is a discomfort we have already taken into account and without subversion of the pleasure-principle, since it is pain in respect of one system and at the same time satisfaction for the other. 10 As summarized by this quote, every experience or stimulus that we encounter is providing satisfaction for one drive while simultaneously inducing discomfort on the other. Thus reiterating the belief that our life consists of an intricate blending of pain and pleasure. On page 24 of Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Freud states further comments on this theory by saying that the repetition-compulsion [death drive] and direct pleasurable satisfaction [life drive] seem to be inextricably intertwined. As indicated by this quote, it is impossible to have one impulse without the other because they exist concurrently. Freud firmly believed that the life and death drives of our mind are locked in an eternal battle; thereby insinuating that our human existence is comprised of a mixture of pain and pleasure. In his preface to Madame Edwarda, Georges Bataille nicely sums up this common theme seen throughout various works we have studied: A combination of both conditions [pleasure and pain] leads us to entertain a picture of mankind as is ought to be, and in that picture man appears at no less great a remove from extreme pleasure as from extreme pain.. 11 It is easy to recognize the ambivalent nature of our existence. Pain and pleasure intertwine in unpredictable relations throughout the discourse of this human lifetime. One could not exist without the presence of the other. This fusion of pleasure and pain is referred to as life. Notes 1. Maurice Blanchot, The Infinite Conversation. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1999), 99 2. Georges Bataille, Madame Edwarda. (New York: Marion Boyars, 2003),140 3. Bataille, 150 4. Bataille, 152 5. Bataille, 153 6. Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny. 224-25 7. Wikipedia. The Uncanny. Last modified October 21, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny 8. Freud, 241 9. Wikipedia. Sigmund Freud. Last modified October 23, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud 10. Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle. (Mansfield Centre: Martino Publishing, 2010), 20 11. Bataille, 137 Agriculture industry: Development of country Agriculture industry: Development of country Agriculture is a very important industry to every country; most countries start with agriculture before further economic development. Agriculture as it provides the resources for; the basis basic of human beingshomo sapient livelihoods, environmental protection, economic activities and further developments. In most countries, agriculture has been at the fore front of economic development. Agriculture seems to have begun around 10,000 BC in China As (Ali, 2009) Shamsavari stated in his lecture notes of Agriculture and Economic Development page 1, especially in China, agriculture has a long history of supporting human life and dynasties growth. To discuss the contribution of the agriculture industry towards development of a developing countryLEDC, we first have tlo clarify the definition of agriculture. Therefore, in the essay, the first paragraph will be used to explain the industry, its components and its features to give a whole picture of the concept of agriculture. This will be followed by the industrys major contributions to the developments of China such as surplus of food, reproduction of food, greater division of labour and its influences to economic development; problems that arise, such as Urban Bias will be examined after that; prospect of Chinas agriculture industry will also be discussed and followed by a summary of the essay in the last paragraph. Different from the early stage of production systems, agriculture alloweds humans to grow food before they needed it, instead of hunting and searching for it only when they are were hungry. Agriculture composes of farming and growing crops, like wheat, millet and rice; keeping animals, such as chickens, sheep and cattle; Fishing, which provides seafood; logging, providinges wood for furniture, paper and construction and finally;; Growing flowers and plants for household consumption, such as gardening and festival related purposes. Agriculture is the second of the three stages of production systems, it has two main features: surplus of food and reproduction of food of social. Both of them contribute to the development of a country and will be discussed later in specific to the Chinas development. As mentioned before, agriculture has two main features of providing surplus of food and reproduction of crops for future. Agriculture helps humans to create food which is more thanbeyond their needs. A surplus of food released some of the workers from the agriculture industry into other sectors, such as manufacturing, industrial and intellectual activities. In China, the surplus of food from agriculture made her become one of the early civilization countries. Some inventions such as gunpowder, compass, paper and printing had been achieved and improvements of farming technology had been made during civilization. People in China started to use iron tools and cows to help farming. Before that, tools were made of wood or stone and human labour iswas required to pull ploughs. After the invention of iron tools, cows are were replaced to work with iron ploughs and enlarge farming spaces in a shorter period of time. The surplus of food from agriculture not only feeds all the workers in China, it even provides seeds or baby animals for reproduction of food. People in the country no longer hunt and search for food only when they are hungry, instead they stock food and plan for their future by delaying their consumption of it, such as keeping baby animals instead of eating them straight away so that they can reproduce and more can be consumed later. A greater division of labour was another result of the agriculture industry. The increase of in division of labour is vital for the further increases of in productivity, and thus it becomes a basis for modern development. Contributions brought by agriculture to the economic development including include three aspectsadvances: agriculture as an economic activities activity or an industry, as a livelihood and as a provider of environmental services according to the World Bank of 2008. The agriculture industry helps to enlarge the consumption market by making people become consumers for goods. Farmers, fishermen and butchers do not just consume their own product to survive,survive; they also have demand on for other goods, which makes them becomemakes them a consumer of in the market and have contribution a contributor to the industriesy development. For example, a Chinese lady working as a raw silk washing lady would like to buy food and cosmetics in the market as welltoo. Besides consumption, they are suppliers for those industries at the same time. Farmers supply raw materials, textiles and food; fishermen supply seafood; butchers supply meat and leather for industries to function. Agriculture also ac ted as a basis for providing factors of production to different industries, these input factors included labour, land and capital. For example, around 100 to 200 AD, Chinese people started an industry to produce ceramics. Llike other industries, to get workers to work in the industryobtain workers, China needs needed to have a surplus of food in order to allow some workers from the agriculture agriculture industry to join the ceramics industry, (known aswhich is the labour). To start their production, they needed a piece of land for the manufacturing process to take place. By cutting down forest, land could be used to develop an industry. According to Irving Fisher, capital refers to any productive asset capable of generating a stream of future services or income. Kilns and clay are both the capital of the industry.Apart from domestic industries, agriculture also supported trade between China and the rest of the world. Export of agriculture products brought foreign exchange into Chi na and allowed her to spend on imports, international trades with other countries fasten speed up Chinas economic and technology growth.Lots of people in the world depends on agriculture as a livelihood, not only producing food for survive, but also acted as a security base. Recently, many people in Guangdong province returned to their farming industry after they lost their job in exports field during the financial crisis in 2008. The Aagriculture industry can also be good for the environment in a few ways: it helped to create varieties of produce and the economic prosperity that brought by the agriculture also helps to save the endangered animals, like the giant pandas in China. 40 giant pandas were reserved in China in 2006 due to increase in knowledge and resources in saving pandas. Urban Bias is a theory by Michael Lipton in 1977. The theory brought up the idea of that the agriculture industry had relatively less influence and received less resourcesfewer resources when the leading group of that country is deciding policies to improve peoplepeoples welfare. The reason behind behind this is the lack of knowledge to the industry of the leading power. Normally, leaders in of a country lived in urban areas which wereis far away from the rural areasplace that where agriculture took place. Due to insufficient contact with the industry, when leaders have to decide country matters like resource allocation, tax payment and people welfare, they tends to pay put less attention on the agriculture industry. Inefficiency in allocating resources and widen ther income gaps between the rich and the poor are the results of urban bias. According to figure 1 in the appendix, countries public spending on agriculture industry and the industries share of their GDP are not directly an d proportionally related. And according to figure 9.1,Todaro and Smith (2009, p, 434), it explained that urban bias can widen the world divergence between the rich and the poor. Agriculture industry in China is expected to be more efficient in two ways: little labour capital involved and an increase in output due to efficient use of machinery. According to figure 9.1, the diagram showed that as a country develops, less human labour will be involved in the industry as the GDP per capita rises. Figure 9.2, a diagram showing cereal yields by different countries in the world, using cereal as an example and explaining the output from developed countries are more than that of developing countries. According to many economists, China will take over United States and become the next strongest economy in the near future. If the prediction of these economists is correct, China will soon become a developed country and hence their product yield from agriculture will increase significantly as illustrated in figure 9.2. Agriculture is vital to the development of most of the countries, especially to China. The influences of agriculturiale industry to on Chinas development are not just economically, but also on Chinese morale, principles of Chinese medicines and Chinas politics, etc. Even though it has lots of contributions to the countrys development, problems aroused should not be ignored. The history of China had shown us the importance of agriculture as well as the destructiveness from the problems aroused.

Industrial Music :: essays research papers

Industrial Music Rock and roll is dead. It's a fact. During the eighties romp of techno and fashion bands, people forgot all about it. In the late eighties and early nineties alternative music tried to save rock and roll, but it was too big of a category. If a band didn't sing country or rap, they were considered alternative. Every alternative band had their own idea of music, and it all spread apart, running farther away from rock. Finally, when alternative became more defined and broke off into categories, one specific type of alternative offspring, industrial music, made the best attempt in a decade to revive the long forgotten era of rock and roll. The only problem with this new rock is that it was angered from being forgotten for over a decade and now it's back, filled with angst and hatred. Industrial music has weaved rock and roll with evil and misery. The founder and leader of the industrial revolution is the band Nine Inch Nails. Most people do not classify Nine Inch Nails as a band though. The writer, producer, lead vocalist, keyboarder and guitarist of the band is Trent Reznor. For the past two years, Trent has been the artist of the year in Spin magazine and NIN has been the number two band of the year. In 1994, Nine Inch Nails was announced MTV's band of the year. This was a great honor because MTV spends most of it's time with rap and hip-hop. When NIN's first album came out in 1989, it was mostly rock and roll with a techno twist, containing songs full of depressing, suicidal lyrics. Then as the next two albums arose, Trent became more evil with his music, using machines and pretty much anything he could find that would make his music sound angered and irritated. This hard, twisted music, backed up by words of pure hatred started the industrial ball rolling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One band that has tried to lighten up industrial just a tad is KMFDM, a German industrial band. The band name stands for Klein Mitlied Fuhr Das Merhiet, which is Little pity for the tyranny. Instead of using the suicidal, evil lyrics, KMFDM has used their music as more of a philosophical communication. They sing about how screwed up they think the world is and how much we are controlled by people we didn't know existed. The lyrics may sound depressing still, but the music is a little more upbeat. KMFDM got rid of the tortured machine sounds and added horns and synthesizers, making the music sound more digital and less like grinding gears.

Dexit †A Marketing Opportunity

The case study discusses the marketing opportunity of Toronto-based Dexit Inc. for the new electronic payment system for retail transactions. The CEO of the company, Renah Persofsky, faced two traditional questions of marketing strategy: the preferable target group and the choice of optimal strategy, â€Å"push† or â€Å"pull†. Marketing opportunity The advantages of for the new electronic payment system for retail transactions were obvious. First, its implementation could make the transactions faster and safer for the end user.Second, the using of similar payment systems gained the wide popularity. Third, the popularity of digital payments without dealing with the cashiers is growing nowadays, and this trend existed in 2002 when Dexit made a decision to launch its new payment system. At least, the competition on this sector was rather low. Thus, the implementation of new payment system was reasonable solution. However, even in this favorable market opportunity the comp any faced two dilemmas.First was the choice between consumers (the users of the Dexit tag) and merchants (the users of the Dexit POS terminals). It was necessary to define which segment would be most profitable to serve. Besides, the issue of different customers approach was topical. The new payment system could gain fast popularity among that group of the customers, which was known as â€Å"early gainers†, but as usual this group couldn’t transform to the group of the most â€Å"heavy customers†.At last, the implementation of new system demanded the new wave of marketing, and it was needed to make a solution about the preferable marketing strategy. â€Å"push† or â€Å"pull†. The choice also depended from the target customer group. Conclusion It can hardly be decided what marketing strategy could be optimal for Dexit; however, the study of the latest trends allowed recommendation to aim the strategy on the â€Å"heavy customers† and make th e system merchant-oriented. References DEXIT — A MARKETING OPPORTUNITY. 905A02. Copyright  © 2005, Ivey Management Services

Humanism and Christian Belief: Change in the 15th Century Essay

Considering that humanism is a movement wherein a focus upon the capabilities of humanity has fueled a myriad of changes in society, it would be rather expectable for one to assume that such a movement was in direct conflict with Christian belief. Interestingly though, Christianity and Humanism did not necessarily lead into philosophical conflicts wherein one would remain while the other weakened or abolished. Instead, humanism brought forth beneficial if not entirely positive changes to the manner in which Christian faith is both interpreted and expressed. In this sense, throughout the following discussion, the impacts of humanism upon Christian belief during the 15th century would be delineated and thoroughly explained. Humanism is associated with a significant shift in the manner through which the world is understood. For example, instead of merely relying upon the interconnections of Greek philosophical texts with Christian concepts, those who embodied humanism instead engaged in a re-evaluation of such accounts without consideration of any external criteria (Blei 63). In addition, the Christian Bible also underwent a similar process of analysis. Scholars during the 15th century realized the need to gain a better comprehension of the Bible through an assessment of Biblical accounts in its original form; superior translations of Hebrew and Greek Bibles were accomplished through such a pursuit (Blei 65). As a result, of such scholarly and faith driven endeavors, the Church eventually came under scrutiny. Desiderius Erasmus, a notable figure in 15th century humanism, enabled the society to realize the errors of Church. In particular, his published books challenged the appropriateness of abuses and the ineptness of some Church authorities in accomplishing the responsibilities of their positions (Blei 65). Through such means, as well as through the presence of unaltered versions of the Bible made accessible to the public, a notable change in the perception of Christians manifested. In particular, instead of merely relying upon the preaching of priests and considering the ways of the Church as undoubtedly faithful to the Bible, people began to question the Church even further. The wealth and power of the Church during such times became a common cause of challenges and questions from the public (Blei 66). Challenging the ways of the Church is not indicative of a waning focus upon Christian beliefs but rather highlights the desire to be truly faithful and worthy in the eyes of God. From being driven by the Church and its authorities, Christian belief and faith once again became rooted entirely from the most sacred text in such a religion, the Bible. As a matter of fact, such a change became the reason for the emergence of the Reformation in the 16th century (Blei 69). Therefore, while it would be impossible to identify all the specific changes brought forth by humanism to Christian belief throughout the 15th century, it is evident that the movement reoriented Christian belief from one that is manipulated by the leaders of the Church to one that is reflected and supported entirely by the Bible.