Brave New World Conformity Essay

In Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, Huxley creates a futuristic world governed by conformity and submission to society. Citizens of this World State are conditioned to follow a set lifestyle determined at birth in order to create a stable civilization. However, there is still some form of individuality in each person, specifically in the characters Bernard, Lenina, and Linda. Within each of these characters, their difference in personality does not fit the norms of society, and they therefore try to suppress their own traits with unique methods such as soma. In times of sadness and despair, Bernard, Lenina, and Linda each give up a part of their own individuality and ideology, sticking to the conventions of the World State society which consequently adds to their struggle of trying to fit in with the rest of the world. Looking at Bernard, his physical appearance sets him apart from being a normal Alpha: â€Å"Bernard’s physique was hardly better than that of the average Gamma† (64). Along with his physical appearance, Bernard also has the capability to think differently than most citizens of the World State, apparent on his date with Lenina when he comments about the sea: â€Å"It makes me feel as though . . as though I were more of me . . . Not just a cell in the social body† (90). However, despite his different physical and personality traits, he doesn’t exercise his differences that would challenge the World State. For example, he strives to want to be like Helmholtz, â€Å"wishing . . . that he could have as many girls as Helmholtz did,† instead of embracing himself for who he is; Bernard continually falls into conformity and tries to follow an order than is not compatible with whom he is. Instead of exploring and questioning the world around him, he takes soma as his form of suppression to try to solve his problems of fitting into society. When Bernard gets humiliated in front of the Arch-Community Songster, he chooses to take soma which only delays his problem further and makes his condition worst: â€Å"The intoxication of success had evaporated; he was soberly his old self . . . the old self seemed unprecedentedly heavier than the surrounding atmosphere† (178). By setting aside his personal traits, he becomes another conformist to the conventions of World State. Similarly, Lenina possesses mental characteristics that do not fit into the World State. Lenina tends to be in a relationship with only one guy, rather than going out with many guys as conditioned by the World State. Once John comes to visit the World State, Lenina immediately falls in love with him and can not stop thinking about him, displaying human emotions that citizens should not have in the World State. Her human emotions are apparent during the evening when she waits for John to come out for the Arch-Community Songster: â€Å". . . she sat in a corner, cut off from those who surrounded her by an emotion which they did not share . . . † (173). From her personality, Lenina is fit for a love that involves emotion and connection, but Lenina decides to abide by her society and chooses to have a love surrounding by blind sex and no feelings. Through this decision, she conforms to the norm, actively contributing to the conditions of her society opposite of her true self. She goes further to take soma after John does not show up for Bernard’s presentation, which, similar to Bernard’s soma fix, only prolongs her problem: â€Å"But in the intervals I still like him. I shall always like him† (188). Through her usage of soma, she follows the methods of the World State, throwing away her individuality and causing herself more distress and conflict with her love affairs. Finally, Linda has unique characteristics due to her life spent in the Savage Reservation and giving birth to her son John. Linda, despite being conditioned to be horrified at the idea of having a baby, still loves her son John. This is apparent when John talks about his childhood experiences with Bernard, describing the time Linda was beating up John: â€Å"He opened his eyes again and saw that she was looking at him. He tried to smile at her. Suddenly she put her arms round him and kisses him again and again† (127). Since Linda has an emotional attachment to John, she has a personality different from the other citizens of the World State Society. However, despite the motherly connection that she could have continued with John, she chooses to sell her life to the drug soma. When Lenina lays dying in the hospital with John next to her, she unconsciously chooses her life of sex and soma she used to have over John: â€Å"She knew him for John, her son, but fancied him an intruder into that paradisal Malpais where she had been spending her soma-holiday with Pope† (205). In the very end, Linda suppresses her emotional love for John with soma and goes back to the principles and pleasantries of the World State Society. Bernard, Lenina, and Linda all have unique characteristics that set them apart from the regular citizens of the World State Society. However, all three of them have unknowingly fallen into the conformities of the state’s maladaptive rules, preferably choosing to emanate the state’s values that do not fit their own characteristics. The World State’s guidelines and regulations pull all the citizens of the World State, including Bernard, Lenina, and Linda, into one lifestyle of living through a domino effect of conformity: the more people that conform, the more harder it is to resist the urge to conform with them. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World shows the devastating effects of conformity – a force that strips away your individual potential and identity.

Women in the 21st Century

Society is constantly changing, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse, and different country’s society’s change at different paces, and some don’t change at all. For some countries, their society will change entirely, for everyone, and for some, their society will change for only one race, or one gender. In Canada, specifically, society and the way the country operated changed for women drastically between 1914 and 2004.Canadians had learned to accept women for their gender, and accept that they had the ability to perform tasks that men could. In Canada’s society, people viewed women different politically, socially, and environmentally when the 20th century began. Some things, however, didn’t change at all for women, and these things are what they still struggle with today. The status and value of women has changed significantly due to the catastrophic events of the Great Wars. During the war, women became the primary bread winners o f the family while the men went out to war.It was the first time in Canadian history that women were eligible to work in factories to support the war effort. Women were able to vote on behalf of their fathers and husbands that fought in the Great War. Judge Emily Murphy became the first female judge of Canada in 1916, appointed by the British Government. The role of a judge was predominantly a male job that held a high status in society. Women were starting to get political job opportunities as women fought for gender equality.Emily Murphy became a beacon of hope for gender equality as she was one of the Famous Five. It wasn’t until the end of the century that a female earned the role of prime minister. Kim Campbell became the first female Canadian prime minister in 1993. During her time served as prime minister, she amended the criminal code to better suit laws regarding firearms and sexual assault. Since the beginning to the First World War to present day, women have earned a position as equals in the political scope.Socially, women began to be more accepted by their families at home, as well as when working, and when outside of their homes. At home, instead of women only cooking and cleaning, they began to do jobs that required more effort and skill. Women were allowed to be educated and receive an education, meaning that they were able to work, and replace a man’s role in a workplace environment. For example, during the Second World War, when men had to enlist in the war, women replaced their jobs in the workplace in the meantime.While at war, women worked in factories to sew and provide for the war, as supplies from Canada were sent to where the war was taking place. Environmentally, women began to be more widely accepted, especially as the 21st century rolled around. During the 21st century, women were still faced with gender discrimination in the workplace. Women in the 21st century are still faced with a glass ceiling, and are not offered the same positions as men are, and are also not paid as much as men are for doing the same positions as them.Furthermore, environmentally, women were faced with a lack of rights to their gender entirely. In the late 1900s, women finally began to fight for equality in Canada, and created many organizations in order to do so. As a whole, women began to be recognized around the world and in Canada especially for their movements to become known, and treated equally. As you can see, people in the 20th century, many people believed that women couldn’t perform the same way that men could, nor qualify for the jobs that men could.Furthermore, many believed that women shouldn’t have been allowed to get an education, and that women wouldn’t be nearly as close as they are today. Specifically, now women can run to be president or prime minister of any country, they also qualify to be lawyers and judges in the supreme court of Canada. Also, women proved them wrong. Throughou t the years, women proved that with hard work and dedication, that anything could be possible. Now, women are recognized politically, socially, and environmentally all around the world, and are widely accepted as individuals.

Nordstrom Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nordstrom - Assignment Example Nordstrom, like other departmental stores has a central management in Downtown  Seattle,  Washington with stores spread in many other states. Another defining characteristic of Nordstrom as a departmental store is its high level of customer service, though this comes at a price, making Nordstrom products and services more expensive than in other retail outlets. Customer Service Nordstrom has cultivated a culture of full customer service whereby all the firm’s employees know the true meaning of putting customers first. First, important customers are identified, served well, and measures put in place to ensure they return over and over again to give Nordstrom business. The first measure is sparing no efforts to ensure that the customer leaves the premises with maximum satisfaction. In addition to acquiring goods, the customer gets high quality service utility. Secondly, business cards are exchanged between the customer and the sales person that they interact with. This ensur es that the sales person has complete control of this relationship that is free from interference by the management. This sales representative acts as the link between Nordstrom and its customers, with only a rule stating that the former uses their best judgement to ensure customer satisfaction. Another strategy for ensuring a long-term relationship in Nordstrom includes follow up calls on customers informing them of new products. In summary, Nordstrom identifies its customers and gives them undivided attention to ensure a thriving long-term business relationship. On the other hand, there is Target. Target is a business enterprise that does not provide much choice of products for customers. In addition, Target has been widely accused of poor customer service and its lack of concern for customer needs. In contrast to the expensive Nordstrom, Target sells designer merchandise at discount prices but there are stringent rules for their sales. For instance, Nordstrom exchanges goods for customers even if they did not sell the said goods but in Target, after three days, sales are not reversible. Nordstrom encourages its customers to do business with them while in Target a willing customer may get a hard time in an attempt to be served. Factors Contributing To Company Success Six managerial and positional components of service in Nordstrom ensure the survival in a highly competitive environment including the six P’s i.e. product, place, promotion, price, presentation, and personnel. First, on product, the firm only sells according to its customer requirements as Eric Nordstrom said that business has to go on even if only one shoe was in sale. Second is the place consideration whereby the management puts all possible factors including, gut feeling, into consideration before setting up a new business. Promotion is the third factor and Nordstrom uses the customers’ word-of-mouth as their main promotional vehicle, giving customers the best service and count ing on them to spread a good word about Nordstrom. The other factor is price and Nordstrom exploits the common belief that a higher price translates to higher quality of goods and services. Prices at Nordstrom are above normal. However, customers flood into the stores expecting premium quality service and Nordstrom does not disappoint. Presentation is the fifth strategy whereby products are presented just the way

Decision traps and biasis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Decision traps and biasis - Essay Example For example, if the probability of a person having AIDS is 0.0001, but a test shows that 100 people out of 10,000 have the disease, a person will tend to think that the population has a higher chance of having AIDS, rather than considering the an\mount of false positives. The gambler’s fallacy is when an individual erroneously believes that the occurrence of a certain event is based on the occurrence of a previous event; believing that since an event has occurred a lot of times, it will not occur again in the near future. Anchoring with insufficient adjustment occurs when an individual tries to make a decision by considering the first instance of the decision variable and adjusting upwards or downwards without considering whether the variable selected is sufficient for the decision. The other factor that affects individual when making a decision is overconfidence, an instance when an individual thinks that the probability of being right is very high, therefore, leading the individual to think that a negative outcome cannot be expected. This also leads to search for information that only confirms a decision, instead of looking for information that supports both the positive and negative sides of a decision. The search for only confirming information will lead an individual to make a decision without considering the negative implications. The last factor, hindsight bias, occurs when an individual considers events as more predictable than they really are, leading the individual to make wrong decisions. The biases listed above can be avoided by a simple sequence of events; finding the decision problem, gathering as much information on the problem as possible, and dividing the information into positive and negative effects. After this is done, a decision should be made based purely on the pros and cons identified, or the individual can consult other individuals to help in the decision-making process. The individual can also look at the

Technology Strategy & Innovation Management Assignment

Technology Strategy & Innovation Management - Assignment Example There are several external factors that are affecting Motorola. I will use the PESTEL framework to analyze them. The focus, therefore, will be Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Environment and Legal.. Let us now take a look at them in details. Political: In spite of technological advancements we have not yet reached a stage where we exist in the virtual dimension. Businesses are done through remote collaboration tools and solutions but those who collaborate operate from and within certain jurisdictions. Those jurisdictions have laws and they affect how any company operating within them can operate. Multinationals like Motorola must adapt to the political climates of their host nations. Socio-cultural: Motorola shows social responsibility and maintains good relationships with their host communities. An example of their social responsibility is the supplier diversity programme which endeavours to give certain disadvantaged groups an opportunity. Technological advancements: New solutions, new platforms and the pace of these innovations. From MRP we now have ERP and are quickly heading towards the Virtual Enterprise. Software breakthroughs have brought an expanded horizon. There are many business solutions and platforms that are constantly affecting the way we do business. Motorola is also taking advantage of these solutions and platforms. Environmental: Motorola has long term environmental policies that include designing all their products to be environment friendly, recycling or reusing all waste materials and conserving natural resources. Legal: Motorola has a well established legal department. This is demonstrated by the fact that they have an audit committee line which main aim is to allow access to the Audit and Legal Committee of the Motorola's Board of Directors. THE INTERNAL FACTORS THAT ARE AFFECTING MOTOROLA Now I want to discuss the internal factors that are affecting Motorola. I will concentrate on the threat of entry, threat of substitutes, the power of buyers, the power of suppliers and competitive rivalry. The threat of entry: Nokia, previously a minor in telecommunications overthrew Motorola the former undisputed king of telecommunications. Another smaller company could repeat what Nokia did. The challenge is predicting correctly the next technological trend. A new or smaller company can literarily become the world leader if it makes the right forecast and positions itself well to capitalize on it. There are other threats posed by certain platforms: As described by Hardwick and Bolton (1997), "Virtual enterprise companies share costs, skills, and core competencies that collectively enable them to access global markets with world-class solutions their members could not deliver individually." (Eom & Lee, 1999) This has afforded Motorola a better way of increasing efficiency while reducing costs. However, it has also opened up the door for less funded competition to increase their productivity. Threat of substitutes: The internet is growing and with this growth also comes a lot of opportunities and threats. The cost of doing business online is relatively low. This means that a less financed

Differences Between Football and Baseball Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Differences Between Football and Baseball - Essay Example Baseball was most popular in the 1950s and the period prior. The Yankees were always the best during baseball leagues (Rogers, 2012). They always won the first position. The Cleveland Indians took the second place and the Chicago White Sox mostly took the third place. Baseball, however, evolved in the ‘60s as pressure was mounted to incorporate people from other cultures (Lowenfish, 2008). There was also pressure to expand the baseball leagues from the usual eight that often played to ten teams. The teams were to increase later to twelve. Some major groups also relocate from the Northeast to the West Coast. The baseball league management also introduced a watering down of scores and points. It was successful as now teams could score more easily, but it destroyed the credentials that baseball had and lost more fans. Baseball was more like an American game watched and celebrated in America while football is a global game (Rogers, 2012). All countries have a team, and the team represents the country. The best teams are the ones that play in the final leagues. The positions are awarded on a merit basis. The best football teams globally can run their football clubs more like companies. Therefore, teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, among a few others are run like businesses and have their shares even listed on the stock exchange. The fact that investors can chip into these companies makes them be able to ‘buy’ the best players from other small teams. The small teams agree to it because they get cash in exchange that they use to try to improve their team or for costs. Football is popular because it is an international game, more of a competition and the best team wins. As teams try to fight for the championship, the game becomes more attractive, and people are lured into following it. There is also the aspect that there is always a big chunk of money to be paid to the team that

HNC Summer School Project Briefing (Mechanical Engineering) Essay

HNC Summer School Project Briefing (Mechanical Engineering) - Essay Example expected limit, the automatic system through its sensors will be able detect the change in temperature and automatically activates the coolants to propel in order to decrease the temperature. The project outline and describes the design and the working principles of an automatic cooling system. The design of a cooling system will encompass the use of sensors to control the temperature change as well as the use of a thermistor. Primarily, a thermistor is a kind of resistor whose resistance varies or fluctuates due to temperature change. The thermistor consists of a sensitive material which is able to detect even small changes of temperature variation. The change in temperature will be converted to electrical signal and carried to the amplifier. The amplifier then augments the electric signal and send it to the comparator. At this juncture, analysis is done by the comparator by comparing both the input signal and the reference signal. Principally, the relay device is activated when the input signal is larger than the reference signal which control temperature at different capacity levels. Likewise, the propeller is deactivated by the relay device when the temperature drops gradually below the limit. This process will be repeated continuously as long as there is a temperature change. Fundamentally, Manufacturing, industrial and mechanical machines or other appliances are ineffective in one way or another but majorly due to heating effect due to lack or inadequate coolants. These machines are subjected to heating effect while under operation. Sometimes the heating effect might be too high and unmanageable interfering with the operation of the machine thus can lead to inefficiencies. The heating effect lowers the effectiveness of the machines at the same time increasing the operational and maintenance costs (Allen and Lasecki, 2001). Most of the coolers which have been used since time in memorial requires more manpower to operate and are time consuming. Introduction

Unit 1 Lab Assignemnt Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit 1 Lab Assignemnt - Coursework Example To enable a DHCP client to use an address permanently, one creates client reservations. DHCP options pass additional IP setting to clients. Some of these options include DNS server and Domain name. The design of DHCP options involves definition of settings to establish the boundaries of a given DHCP configuration. Server options apply the options to all scopes defined while scope options apply to a single scope (It Essentials: Pc Hardware and Software Companion Guide 53). In addition to the DHCP configuration, there exist advanced settings. One can enable the pool configuration or specify additional service availability settings. Configuring a DHCP relay agent involves configuring the relay agent program in a computer allowing messages to be relayed across different subnets (It Essentials: Pc Hardware and Software Companion Guide 76) Setting up a relay agent on a computer on each subnet allows message traffic to be relayed to computers on different subnets (Bender 67). Configuration Protocol for IPv6 can also be configured for DHCP. The use of IPV6 allows many subnets to be created. Networking is important in any IT field. Proper understanding of this lab concepts helps prevent network errors that come about from improper configuration. Traffic jam, which is common problem to large networks, can be prevented if one adheres to proper configuration. Network security can also be guaranteed by proper

Wuthering Heights Essay Example for Free

Wuthering Heights Essay The main thematic element of the famous novels Wuthering Heights and Frankenstein are inserted in a certain context, under a revenge and betrayal bias, which are ultimately the main triggers of the dramatic action. There are similar scenes in both novels firstly the way Heathcliff gets exploited by Hindley in similar how Victor abandons his ‘son’. They both had emotional experiences that triggered their desire for revenge. In Wuthering heights when Catherine declares she is going to get married to Edgar, Heathcliff’s plan for vengeance on Edgar and Catherine is to marry Isabella, ‘I love him more than ever you loved Edgar. This clearly suggests Isabella is ignorant of love and of men because she has never experienced either. Heathcliff wants to hurt Edgar because of his marriage to Catherine, also wants to get revenge on Catherine by making her jealous. This is similar to Frankenstein because the monster takes its revenge by killing Victor’s new wife because Victor refuses to make another companion for the monster because he believes it could be disastrous to make another monster like him. The monster becomes more furious and says to Victor, ‘I shall be with on your wedding night. ’ So he kills Elizabeth, for not making a companion for the monster.

What Should Altiuss Objectives Be What Essay Example for Free

What Should Altiuss Objectives Be What Essay What should Altius’s objectives be? What trade- off’s must it manage? With Altius staying just focussing with the manufacturing top of the line golf balls, their business would only continue to drop. Fortunately the brand value of Altuis was recognised and respected very much by many top notch golfers of the country, but this does not mean that they had a lot of profits. Focusing on the low price golf equipments, such as Elevate golf ball and changing the marketing strategy from targeting proficient golf equipments to low cost golf equipments and more fun oriented golf equipment for new golf players will enhance the profitability of Altius. This is because golf industry is vitalizing by the efforts of USGA, through the encouragement of new golf players to play golf with relaxed rules. Therefore, it is a good time to mark new players through widespread marketing of low cost and non-confirming golf balls, which enables new golf players to hit the ball perfectly. The new golf ball â€Å"Elevate† being sold below the 40% of its premium Victor TX brand, enables Altius Golf to capture a new generation of golf players. Other competitors were becoming very competitive; they were providing the best service to elite players and also were reaching the casual players with cheaper products, hence reaching more golfers than Altius. Maintaining the current strategy will make Atius obsolete pretty soon. In a business, trade off’s are quite common. You tend to be having a core competency at one aspect but not all, this does not mean you stick to the former. Hence Altius must enter the not so costly markets. This might mean that the 70% profits have to reduce by at least 10% and utilised in trade offs. This 10 % has to be used to reach the broader recreational market. Altius can very well get back to producing and being the producer of top quality balls. But on the long run they should create an impression which made them look concerned for the game as well as increasing, motivating players. Altius Golf’s balls are expensive as compared to competitor’s golf balls and new golf players are not willing to spend more on expensive golf equipments. Also there could be a possibility of creating a group for searching lost balls which were costlier when sold , repairing them and selling them as a low cost but high quality balls for the casual golfers. They could market this by bringing up the environmental aspects involved while using the materials used for making  the balls. Altius Golf’s competitors are moving with the industry trends and are trying to offer balls and other golf equipments which are easy to use and helps new golf users to hit the shot as they require, while Altius Golf is still offering equipments which are for professionals, although golf professionals value the equipments of Altius but the industry trend shows that recent recession period has decreased the number of professional golf players and new golf players are being encouraged to play golf.

Analysis of Obesity in the UK

Analysis of Obesity in the UK Obesity in England:  Reason Consequences Generally, the objective of this statistics report is to evaluate the obesity in England. 1.0 Abstract The main purpose of this report, is to identify the statistics analytical report regarding ‘Obesity in England’ that is specifically based on the physical activity and the lifestyles of people in England. In addition to the objective of this report, is to highlight the fact that peoples physical activities and lifestyles are changing year by year. Additionally, this report will analyse the obesity statistics of the population in England. The report will then discuss about the physical activity of the population relating to obesity in England. In order to ease the understanding of the reader, historical tables and pie charts will be included in this report which can also help readers to make comparisons between the obesity rate, physical activities and lifestyle statistics. 2.0 Introduction Figure 1 represents the calculation formula of BMI with different units of measurements. The unit of ‘masses in BMI can be applied by using Kilograms (kg), Pounds (lbs), or Stones (st). However, the SI units for BMI is still remain on kilograms. (Figure 1) Obesity can be defined as an individual who is overweight with a significant degree of body fat and fatty acid (NHS, 2012). In the past twenty five years, the occurrence of obesity in England, was measured and studies found that the statistical records, had doubled the figures from the past years (Publich Health England, 2014). There are several reasons that could cause obesity to happen. The two main factors influencing obesity are, due to lack of physical activities and lifestyles. Obesity is undoubtedly harmful for an individuals health. An individual who face obesity, may encounter some severe health issues such as diabetes, strokes, heart disease and even some common cancer such as breast cancer or colon cancer (NHS, 2012). The question is, how can one determine whether an individual is considered obese or not? An individual’s weight can be measured in various ways and measurement to determine the severity of overweight. However, according to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), the method that is widely practice for body weighting is the body mass index (BMI). By using the calculations in (Figure 1), individuals can acknowledge whether he/she is overweight or obese. BMI overweight severity is separated into a few categories. For instances, individuals with BMI range of 25-29 would be considered as overweight, while individuals who falls in the second category with BMI between 30 and 40, would be considered as obese, followed by people who has his/her BMI over 40, would be considered as unhealthy obesity (NHS, 2012). This report will provide essential statistics data to give a bigger picture of obesity in England for readers. The statistics will be supported with graphs, tables and pie charts that will be included as well to demonstrate a better illustration of the comparison between the variables. Last but not least, by the end of the report, readers will understand the potential reason of obesity in terms of physical activities and consequences of obesity. 3.0 Methodology The information that was used in this report, were collected through various types of sources such as online journals, articles, internet and books. These sources were done using secondary data. In addition, several reliable websites and annual reports of official institutions were used to interpret and analyse the data and was converted into information to discuss this statistics report. The websites that were used in this report consists of Guardian, Telegraph, and National Health Service (NHS). Furthermore, regarding to the obesity’s data and information, the data were mainly obtained from the reports published by NHS in order to improve the creditability and reliability of this report. In short, the information, data and materials in this report are extremely genuine, trustworthy and reliable. 4.0 Findings 4.1 Statistics of obesity in England by age group (2002 to 2012) (Graph 1) Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health Social Care Information Centre (2014). According to (Graph 1) above, the graph specifically shows the statistics of obesity in England from year 2002 to 2013 according to age groups from the age of 16. The statistics showed that the obesity’s population in England, is trending up from 2002 to 2013 for all age group (16 to 74 and over). In 2002, there was a record of 29,237 people facing obesity while in 2003 the obesity rate had significantly increased to 33,546 people which calculated 14.74% change. During that moment, the population of obesity in England rose rapidly from year 2004 to 2009 with 21.45%, 27.68%, 29.20%, 20.39%, 27.28% and 38.90% increase respectively. In population, the numbers of people suffering from obesity, had gone up dramatically from 40,741 to 142,219 people. By comparing to year 2009, the percentage change of the obesity’s population had reached its peak which is 48.91% in 2010. There was a record of 211,783 individual which are obese from the age of 16 to 74 and over. Additionally, the statistics of people facing obesity in England climbed up to 266,666 with a 25.91% change comparing to year 2010. Last but not least, the total population of obesity in England in year 2012, had reached up to 292,404 people. However, this increase had accounted to only 9.65% change in population of obesity. In the bigger picture, the population for obesity in England had been escalated from year 2002 to 2013 with an increase of massive 900%. 4.2 Obesity between men and women in England (Year 2002-2012) (Graph 2) Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health Social Care Information Centre (2014). As you can see, (Graph 2) represents the obesity’s population between the men and women in England. The graph shows a significant uptrend formed with the recorded statistics of obesity’s population. Other than that, you can see the difference between the obese men and women. The difference between the men and women that are obese, showed that both genders were increasing year by year. In 2002, the number of women who suffered from obesity (17,169 people) were 5,100 people higher than the number of obese men (12,068 people). Furthermore, in 2007, the number of obese women (48,829 people) had a 16,749 people of difference compared to the obese men which was tripled the result of year 2002. Nevertheless, the most significant data recorded was in year 2012. The population of women being obese (192,795 people), was approximately twice as many as the population of obese men (99,579 people). In result, we can conclude that regarding to England’s obesity’s population, the number of women who suffered from obesity are higher than men. According to the research, lack of physical activity were the cause of obesity. 5.0 Physical activity Physical activity is known to bring healthy benefits to individuals and it is proved that this will reduce incidence of many chronic conditions such as obesity (HSCIC, 2012). However, individuals that are lack of physical activity may suffer from obesity. 5.1 Physical activity guidelines MPA (minutes/week) VPA (minutes/week) Active 150 10 Some activity 60-149 30-74 Low activity (Overweight) 30-59 15-29 Inactive (Obese) MPA: Moderate intensity Physical Activity VPA: Vigorous intensity Physical Activity (Figure 2) Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health Social Care Information Centre (2014). HSCIC (2012) had set up a standard for physical activity guidelines as shown in (Figure 2). The activities are divided into four categories to determine whether an individual is active or inactive. Individuals must meet the requirements of at least either MPA or VPA or both in order to fall into that category. 5.2 Self-reported physical activity of men and women (Chart 1) (Chart 2) Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health Social Care Information Centre (2014). HSCIC (2012) stated that individuals must have at least 30 MPA in order to get rid of obesity. Low activity and inactive individual will be considered as overweight and obese. Chart 1 and Chart 2 are the pie charts that represent the self-reported physical activity data that HSCIC (2012) collected. According to both of the figures, the percentage of active individuals in terms of physical activity of men (67%) is obviously more than the women (55%) by a difference of 12%. Relatively, 26% of women in year 2012 are inactive regarding to their physical activity. Furthermore, the percentage of low activity of women is slightly (2%) higher than men. In contrast, the inactive population of men in their physical activity was just 19% which is 7% lower than the women. In comparison, the percentages of inactive women are higher than inactive men whereas the percentages of active men are higher than the women. In short, since the individuals that fall in the ‘low activity’ and ‘inactive’ category, are considered to be overweight and obese. Therefore, referring to (Figure 3), we can conclude that physical activity is be one of the main reasons that caused obesity and it also showed why the population of obese women was more than men since year 2002 until 2012. 6.0 Comparative rates of adults’ obesity in 2010 (Graph 3) Source: National Obesity Observatory, International Comparisons of Obesity Prevalence, available at: www.noo.org.uk/NOO_about_obesity/international/ Graph 3 shows latest data of comparative rates of adults obesity in year 2010. As we can see, the countrys highest obesity prevalence is the United States (35.70%). This is followed by Mexico, Scotland and New Zealand coming in second, third and fourth place accordingly with the obesity prevalence of 30%, 28.20% and 26.50% respectively. England’s obesity prevalence is 26.10% which is considered high by comparing to countries such as Australia (24.60%), Northern Ireland (23%), Luxembourg (22.50%) and Slovak Republic (16.90%). Last but not least, Japan and Korea have the least obesity prevalence by comparing to other countries in the graph shown; they have a percentage of 3.90% and 3.80% relatively. Ultimately, this graph shows that the obesity level of England which is considered severe. 6.1 Map of excess weight of England Map 1 shows the percentage of adults that are involved in obesity from different regions of England. Guardian (2014) stated that it has an average of 64% adults bringing obese in England by considering all the regions. (Map 1) 7.0 Cost of Obesity The cost of obesity, consists of human cost and National Health Service (NHS) cost. This session will discuss about both the cost for obesity. Figure 2 shows the relative risk of women and men in terms of the diseases caused by obesity. The table consist of diseases that may cause hypertension, stroke and cancer. It can be seen that the relative figures of women, is higher by comparing to the men especially in the Type 2 Diabetes which is two times more of the probability. Type 2 Diabetes can cause serious life shortening that will affect the mortality of human being (NAO, 2011). 7.1 Human Cost of obesity Disease Relative risk Women Relative risk men Type 2 Diabetes 12.7 5.2 Hypertension 4.2 2.6 Myocardial Infarction 3.2 1.5 Cancer of the Colon 2.7 3 Angina 1.8 1.8 Gall Bladder Diseases 1.8 1.8 Ovarian Cancer 1.7 Osteoarthritis 1.4 1.9 Stroke 1.3 1.3 (Figure 2) Source: National Audit Office estimates based on literature review 7.2 NHS Cost of Obesity (Graph 4) Source: National Audit Office estimates (2012) Graph 4 shows the approximate obesity cost in 2012. It is estimated a spending of  £457m on obesity cost, is considered as a burden to the England’s economy. NAO (2012) estimated that the obesity cost for year 2015, will increase dramatically up to  £6.3 billion and up to  £9.7 billion by year 2050. The reason behind the cost of obesity will be significant high, is because of the indirect cost of lost output in economy. NAO (2001) stated that the economy will be in recession due to the sickness or death of the England’s workforce caused by obesity. Therefore, the consequences of obesity must not be ignored but must be taken into serious considerations. 8.0 Conclusion In short, the statistics of this report identified some important details regarding obesity in England. It is important to understand how the impact of obesity and the growth of population can cause the increase of people with obesity to be two times more in the past 25 years. Furthermore, the trend for obesity in all different age groups, showed an increase in England from year 2002-2013. The differences between the genders as well, will show the reasons to why there is an increase in obesity in relations to physical activities because of the activeness of men, inactiveness of women and vice versa. Importantly, this report stated the consequences of obesity which is severe illnesses that causes death with related risk statistics about men and women. Lastly, the report showed the comparison between other countries related to obesity, the percentage of obesity in the regions of England, followed by the human and NHS cost of obesity. 9.0 Recommendations As aforementioned, the level of obesity in England is getting more and more significant year by year. Government should conduct more campaign to fight obesity as it will provide more information about importance of physical activity in life to individuals or families. In addition, government should continue to subsidise NHS for the ‘Health Check programme’ in order to prevent and avoid severe disease such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Besides, government should not just focus on physical activity; they must focus on other reason that causes obesity as well, such as diet and lifestyle. Government could implement some political strategy to fight obesity, such as increase the taxation of fat-food in order to stop people from buying the unhealthy product. Last but not least, government could also increase the advertising of healthy campaign and advertisement of disadvantages of obesity to encourage people to get rid of obesity. 10.0 References: Boseley, S. (2014). The Guardian: Almost two-thirds of adults in England classed as overweight by health body. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/04/two-thirds-adults-overweight-england-public-health [Last Accessed 28th March 2014]. National Health Service. (2014). Obesity: Introduction. [Online] Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Obesity/Pages/Introduction.aspx [Accessed 27th March 2014]. Public Health England. (2014). Trends in Obesity Prevalence. [Online] Available at: http://www.noo.org.uk/NOO_about_obesity/trends [Accessed 20th March 2014]. Figure 1: Source :http://healthy-living.knoji.com/does-your-bmi-really-matter/ HSCIC. (2014). Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: England 2014. [Online] Available at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB13648/Obes-phys-acti-diet-eng-2014-rep.pdf [Accessed 20th March 2014]. HSCIC. (2012). Physical activity in Adults. [Online] Available at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB13218/HSE2012-Ch2-Phys-act-adults.pdf [Accessed 24th March 2014]. NAO. (2012). An Update on the Government’s Approach to Tackling Obesity. [Online] Available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/tackling_obesity_update.pdf [Accessed 24th March 2014]. HSCIC. (2012). Chapter 7: Health Outcomes. [Online] Available at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/searchcatalogue?productid=13887returnid=3945 [Accessed 24th March 2014]. NAO. (2001). Tackling Obesity in England. [Online] Available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2001/02/0001220.pdf [Accessed 28th March 2014]. Public Health England. (2013). Social Care and Obesity: A Discussion Paper. [Online] Available at: http://www.local.gov.uk/documents/10180/11463/Social+care+and+obesity+-+a+discussion+paper+-+file+1/3fc07c39-27b4-4534-a81b-93aa6b8426af [Accessed 29th March 2014]. HSCIC. (2012). Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: England, 2012. [Online] Available at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB05131/obes-phys-acti-diet-eng-2012-rep.pdf [Accessed 20th March 2014]. HSCIC. (2013). Statistics on Obesity, Physical Activity and Diet: England, 2013. [Online] Available at: http://www.bhfactive.org.uk/userfiles/Documents/obes-phys-acti-diet-eng-2013-rep.pdf [Accessed 20th March 2014].

Home Education: Legal and Beneficial Essay -- essays research papers

ARGUMENT PAPER Home Education: Legal and Beneficial Formal Outline Thesis: As parents, we not only have the right to educate our own children, but it is also our responsibility. I. Introduction II. Legality of homeschooling 1. Amendments a. 1st b. 14th c. 9th 2. Cases heard in court 3. State regulations a. teacher certification b. public school equivalency c. compelling state interest d. least restrictive means III. Benefits 1. Emotional 2. Spiritual 3. Educational IV. SOCIALIZATION – the main opposing argument 1. Opportunities for in homeschooling 2. Negative in public (or private) schools 3. Results of testing conducted V. Not a new fad, back to the way we were 1. Notables who were homeschooled 2. History of current homeschool movement VI. Conclusion Home Education: Legal and Beneficial While the idea of schooling children at home is not new to our country, it is new to our generation. Most parents today, including myself, are a product of the school system and rarely explore all of the options for schooling our children. Due to a lack of knowledge, we place our children in a preschool, then a kindergarten, eight years of elementary, and four years of secondary school. Fourteen or fifteen years (preschool is now beginning at age three) of our children’s lives are being spent away from us, and we’re wondering why we’ve lost touch with them. Psychologists now say that it’s not just quality time that we need with our kids, but quality and quantity time. How are we to give them a large amount of our time when they are away from us the majority of their waking hours? Homeschooling is the solution to this dilemma. Because of the lack of knowledge about schooling options, parents have many questions about homeschooling. Some of the major questions include the following: Is it legal?; Can it provide the same breadth of education?; and, most frequently, What about socialization? The responses to these questions make it clear that we have not only the right, but also the responsibility to school our children at home. Forty years ago, homeschooling was illegal in some places, so it is reasonable to question the legality of the homeschool. â€Å"Early homeschooling parents were legally threatened, arrested, and often brought to trial as abettors of truancy, sometimes even as child abusers†(Koetzsch 134).... ...nments were formed, and therefore families are quite capable of managing their affairs, including education, without the help of the government† (Blumenfeld 9).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Recently, an overwhelming lack of trust in public schools has arisen. Not only is the educational rigor disappearing, but there is now also a concern for the safety of our children. Studies have even shown that many high school graduates are not prepared for life after school. Some graduates have found a way to escape notice that they cannot even read, write adequately, or perform simple mathematical functions. A study by John Goodlad â€Å"sent note takers into a thousand classrooms, and they found that less than two percent of instructional time was spent on discussions requiring students to offer an opinion about something† (Guterson 42). A child whose intellect is not developed to the point of creating opinions and discussing them cannot fully participate in the adult world. The only way to make sure that our children do not fall through the cracks is to take them by hand and lead them one by one down the path of knowledge. School your children at home; it’s your right and responsibility.

civils rights :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The humanities course here at Roanoke College have provided me with an in depth look at the evolution of humans, more specifically humanism. The evolution I am talking about is not how we have evolved physically or in the Darwin type sense. What I am talking about is how we have evolved as a race of people. We need to survive and as we learn we use that knowledge to make life easier and survival possible. We not only create ways to entertain and pleasure ourselves but we protect ourselves. In the second half of this humanities course I have learned that surviving isn’t everything, that making things better and right can be just as important. It might be bold of me to say that surviving is easy, but I have faith that I can say challenging the known ways of survival isn’t.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This course begins with Martin Luther, a man who challenged the church, who proposed that what they were doing was wrong and that he intended to change it. This I’m sure was not a very easy thing for him to do. In fact it is known that others before him had spoken out against the church but with no or modest success. He was able to capitalize on one thing however, the printing press. This newly developed device had enabled him to do what others could not. He used new technology to fight the norm. He wasn’t simply going to let someone tell him, how or when to worship. This could have easily leaded to his death, but others agreed. Martin Luther wasn’t just another guy looking to get rich, he was looking out for the good of humanity. That’s something that I have seen flow through both courses. It takes a strong person to stand up and challenge the established, but we can see throughout time that we have progressed as humans and in society by fighting against what is wrong.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I’ll be the first to admit that it’s easy to not pay attention in class, or that what we are learning would have a little effect on myself. I never expected to be so moved in this class. We read countless literature about people sticking their neck out to say what they felt was right and to protect the rights of others. But I was most affected in this course when we got to the civil rights movement.

Product costing and cost accumulation in a batch production environment Essay

As production takes place, manufacturing costs are tracked in the Work-in-Process Inventory account. Every product is made up of three cost components: direct materials, direct labor, and manufacturing overhead. After products are completed, the corresponding cost leaves the Work-in-Process account and is debited to the Finished-Goods account. (A merchandising firm buys its goods already completed and directly debits the items’ cost to Merchandise Inventory.) When units are sold, the Finished-Goods Inventory account is credited and Cost of Goods Sold is debited. A product-costing system must be adapted to match the environ ­ment in which it operates. A job-order costing system is used in an industry where products are made individually, or in relatively small batches, and one product or batch is readily distinguishable from the other. Candidates for job-costing systems would be custom homebuilding, custom printing, custom furniture construction, legal cases, medical cases, audits, and research projects. A process-costing system is employed in an environment at the other end of the continuum: the mass production of like units. Users might include manufacturers of chemicals, gasoline, and microchips. This topic is discussed fully in Chapter 4. 4.ACCUMULATING COSTS IN A JOB-ORDER COSTING SYSTEM A job-cost record is used to accumulate the actual direct materials, actual direct labor, and applied manufacturing overhead costs for each job. The recording of costs on this record and in the general ledger is triggered by various source docu ­ments. Material requisition forms authorize the transfer of direct materials from the warehouse to production. In many firms, the requisitions are based on a bill of materials that lists all of the materials (e.g., parts) needed. Supply chain—the flow of all goods, services, and information into and out of the organization. The supply chain often has ramifications for materials, as manufacturers work with vendors to achieve improved delivery schedules and reductions in material cost. Time records are used to gather the amount of direct labor worked on a specific job. Manufacturing overhead is entered on the job-cost record in the form of applied (i.e., estimated) overhead. Source documents, such as invoices for factory insurance and schedules for factory depreciation, trigger a general-ledger entry that debits the Manufacturing Overhead account. 5.OVERHEAD APPLICATION Overhead accounting involves a number of steps. Chapter 3 focuses on the final step: the application of overhead to jobs and products. Although overhead cannot be directly traced to the product, the use of an application rate should allocate an equitable amount of cost to each job (known as overhead application). Step 1: Set a predetermined overhead rate at the beginning of the accounting period. This is done by dividing the period’s estimated (budgeted) overhead by the period’s estimated number of cost-driver units. Step 2: Use the predetermined overhead rate to apply an equitable portion of overhead to each job. As the actual number of cost-driver units used on a job becomes known, it is multiplied by the predetermined overhead rate. Actual overhead costs incurred during the year are debited to the Manufacturing Overhead control account. In contrast, applied overhead is debited to Work-in-Process Inventory and credited to Manufacturing Overhead. The year-end difference between actual and applied amounts is known as over- or underapplied overhead. This figure is adjusted in the process of closing the Manufacturing Overhead account to zero by either: Charging or crediting the amount to cost of goods sold. This approach is acceptable if the over- or underapplication is small or if most of the products made during the period have been sold. Prorating the amount among work in process, finished goods, and cost of goods sold. Teaching Tip: Emphasize that under- and overapplied overhead is the difference between actual and applied overhead, not actual and budgeted overhead. The budgeted figure is used solely in the determination of the predetermined rate. 6. EXTENDED ILLUSTRATION OF JOB COSTING As noted earlier, the Work-in-Process Inventory account contains charges for direct materials used, direct labor, and applied manufacturing overhead. Period costs are expensed and not charged to Manufacturing Overhead. A sale requires two journal entries: one to record the sales revenue and another to transfer the goods’ cost from Finished-Goods Inventory to Cost of Goods Sold. Teaching Tip: Although the text illustration appears relatively complicated, it is simply presenting the details that accompany the flow of goods (and costs) from work in process, to finished goods, to cost of goods sold. 7.FINANCIAL SCHEDULES FOR MANAGERS The schedule of cost of goods manufactured details the activity in the Work-in-Process account (beginning balance, direct materials used, direct labor, applied overhead, and ending balance). The schedule of cost of goods sold details the activity in the Finished- Goods Inventory account. It is similar to the cost-of-goods-sold schedule as shown in financial accounting courses for merchandising companies, except the â€Å"purchases† amount is replaced with cost of goods manufactured. 8.FURTHER ASPECTS OF OVERHEAD APPLICATION Actual and normal costing Accountants prefer predetermined application rates, which are used in a normal-costing system. Such rates help to smooth product costs over time and allow users to cost products/jobs upon completion. In contrast, users of actual-costing systems derive an actual overhead rate at the end of the accounting period. Product-cost information to management is therefore delayed. Choosing an appropriate cost driver Direct labor has been a very common and appropriate cost driver. Past processes were labor intensive, and products incurring more labor often produced higher amounts of manufacturing overhead. Today, many processes are automated and less dependent on labor. Thus, firms now use machine hours, process time, throughput (cycle) time (the average amount of time to convert raw materials into finished goods), and other measures as cost drivers. Single vs. multiple overhead rates Companies commonly use multiple (rather than single) application rates. With computerized accounting systems, multiple rates are easily generated, thus lowering the cost of producing highly accurate information. A single overhead rate is commonly known as a plantwide rate; multiple rates are often known as departmental rates. Two-stage cost allocation Stage one: Overhead is first accumulated in production departments. This frequently requires the allocation of service department costs to production departments. Stage two: As a final step, production department costs are assigned to individual jobs and products via overhead application. 9.PROJECT COSTING Project costing refers to job costing in a nonmanufacturing environment. â€Å"Jobs† in this case refer to cases, contracts, and/or programs. Costing involves tracking the direct, easily traceable costs and subdividing them by project. Overhead is then applied by using a predetermined rate, with a possible application base being a project’s direct professional labor cost. Technology such as bar coding may be used to track appropriate costs to projects, although this is just one of many possible applications. Service providers, along with manufacturers, are also making use of: Electronic data interchange (EDI), which involves the electronic transfer of information from one organization to another by using a computer-to-computer interface. Extensible markup language (XML), which is web-based and allows users to share structured data such as product order lists and price data. Teaching Overview I begin the topic of job costing by explaining that students should not expect to apply a so-called â€Å"textbook system† to any real-world company, because cost systems must be designed to meet a firm’s unique needs. However, the two traditional system models, job order and process costing, give users the ability to build-in various modifications for use in actual situations. The major difficulty that students encounter in job costing is the concept of manufacturing overhead. The first area needing clarifica ­tion is terminology, namely: Estimated = budgeted Applied = allocatedIncurred = actual The second area in need of clarification is the sequence of procedures for overhead application: calculating predeter ­mined overhead rates, using the rates, and adjusting the over ­- or underapplied amount. This problem stems from the fact that students are doing textbook assignments where all the information is given simultaneously. Therefore, the question arises, â€Å"Why use an imperfect predetermined overhead rate when I have all the totally correct, actual data in the next paragraph?† It is helpful to be on the lookout for this line of thinking when discussing homework assignments and to remind students how and when information becomes available in the real world. (I suspect this is a problem mainly for under ­graduates with limited work experience.) Based on many years of teaching, I also find that students struggle with the journal entries required to handle a sale. Two entries are needed: one to transfer the cost of units sold from finished goods to cost of goods sold; another is needed to record revenue. Students often forget one or the other or exhibit some creativity, creating a new account entitled Profit on Sale. Be sure to spend a few extra minutes with this issue. After the preceding issues have been handled, students generally are quite interested in job-costing concepts, particularly those who have worked in a family business or who plan to start their own business. Students are also interested in job costing in a service enterprise (discuss something as basic as the activities of a sports agent who represents clients across the country) and the impact of changing manufacturing techniques (such as the acquisition of new, state-of-the-art production technology) on product-costing procedures. I recommend Exercise 3-35 (manufacturing overhead) and Problem 3-46 (job costing and journal entries) as lecture demonstration problems.

Under Armour Case Write Up

Problem Under Armour has become one of the most successful performance apparel brands in the United States. Despite its recent successes, Under Armour does have a few problems that could adversely affect its future sales. One general environment issue is how the current economic situation in the United States will affect Under Armour’s sales. As consumers change their buying habits it could hurt its sales severely. Two, Under Armour needs to consider how its lack of a diversified supply group impacts its bargaining power. Roughly 75 percent of its fabric is purchased from only six distributors.Three, the company should consider diversifying its product line beyond its current sports apparel majority. Under Armour doesn’t have as much brand recognition in spring/summer sports such as soccer and basketball. Lastly, Under Armour should be more aggressive in expanding to European and Asian markets. Currently, Under Armour heavily relies on U. S. market and there are tremend ous potential consumer power in Europe and Asia. General Environment Analysis There are a variety of different external factors that influence the amount of success Under Armour is able to achieve.One of the biggest factors negatively affecting the firm is within the economic sector. Consumers are spending less money in the retail market. This decrease in spending is causing a broader economic downturn. As a company who sells its products at premium prices, this downturn threatens to damage the company’s sales and decrease profits. There are also several different opportunities offered by the general environment. Under Armour products are useful to athletes. Regardless of the country in which a sport is played, high quality, breathable apparel and durable, innovative equipment are always useful.Because of the cultural transcendence of its products, Under Armour is pursuing international diversification. Their strategy is one of regionalization, allowing top managers within ea ch region to run almost like a subsidiary, reacting to local preferences and competitors. â€Å"Researchers have found that international diversification can lead to greater operational efficiency, which ultimately leads to higher financial performance. † The move toward a more global firm should help the firm to grow, increase profits, and improve brand recognition worldwide. Additional threats and opportunities facing Under Armour are exhibited in Appendix A.

Ownership

In all, If you have the available finances to cover the start-up costs, Snap Fitness Is a great opportunity to become your own boss. The company has put in place many different Owning a Curves franchise is another fitness business that is relatively inexpensive to start-up. Much the same as Snap Fitness, they offer support from the beginning of the process. Starting with an application, an entrepreneur is provided with support in selecting the best financing options, location selection and promotional activities. The financial requirements are $15-45,000 in liquid capital and a minimum net worth of $75,000.The startup costs are as low as $39,900 and include the franchise ownership, equipment (excluding shipping costs) and training. This particular fitness center has the ability to provide service in small areas helping to keep fixed costs down while being convenient and affordable. Another benefit to this Franchise is the ability to cater to the clientele. Curves is providing fitness activities as well as meal replacement bars, accessories and apparel. There is a multipurpose mix, which provides multiple ways to benefit the customer. With the multiple products and proven success in the industry, Curves is a smart start-up.

Wto Case

Tasks: 1) Review the articles and explain what is the core of the dispute * The core of the dispute are economic relations between countries and its companies, which stand in WTO. In these situations each country tries to defend its rights and win, so WTO’s primary task is to solve the arising problems guided with one of the main principles – non-discrimination. The rule requires that a WTO member must apply the same conditions on all trade with other WTO members, i. . a WTO member has to grant the most favorable conditions under which it allows trade in a certain product type to all other WTO members. So in the case of China – USA dispute WTO uses this principle and forces China to open the market for U. S. movies, music and books. China regulated US movies and music so far in order to protect their domestic entertainment market. But WTO ruled that China has to open to foreign entertainment materials according to globalization. ) Find and present at least three another disputes which are at the agenda of the Dispute Settlement Body of WTO. * DISPUTE DS450: China — Certain Measures Affecting the Automobile and Automobile-Parts Industries * The United States requested consultations with China concerning certain measures providing subsidies in the form of grants, loans, forgone government revenue, the provision of goods and services, and other incentives contingent upon export performance to automobile and automobile-parts enterprises in China. DISPUTE DS455: Indonesia — Importation of horticultural products, animals and animal products * The United States requested consultations with Indonesia concerning certain measures it imposes on the importation of horticultural products, animals and animal products. * DISPUTE DS456: India — Certain Measures Relating to Solar Cells and Solar Modules * The United States requested consultations with India concerning certain measures of India relating to domestic content requirements u nder the Jawaharial Nehru National Solar Mission (â€Å"NSM†) for solar cells and solar modules. ) Explain the term â€Å"dumping prices† * Dumping price is name for the practice of selling a product in a foreign country for less than the price in the domestic country, or the cost of making the product. Such a low prices may constitute a competition problem; e. g. when a company, which is dominating in a market, â€Å"dumps† their price, and the price drops so far that the company sells at a loss in order to eliminate a competitor. * Dumping in CZE: Radim Jancura commented a situation about Regio Jet. They have lost about 50mil.Kc in 2012 and he accused CD of dumping prices. Commentator was surprised to hear that from Jancura, who provided tickets for 1Kc from Prague to Liberec in the beginning. And Jancura explained: â€Å"It’s not dumping prices when it’s small beginning company, because it can’t destroy the competition. But when the comp any owns more than 30% of the market, than it’s dumping†¦ † 4) Which other commodities are object of protectionist measures? * As we come closer to a free trade, the protectionist measures become weaker. You can read also Thin Film Solar CellNevertheless, there are commodities, which can be a good example of protectionism. The EU imposes substantial tariff rates on many agricultural markets in order to increase the income of European farmers through increasing prices. The most significant examples are meat, dairy products, vegetables, cereals, sugar and agricultural products. There was a 20-years â€Å"banana war†, which consisted in great tariffs on banana imports from Latin America. Exporters had to pay â‚ ¬176 per ton of bananas.But then 10 Latin American countries signed a â€Å"historic† agreement to end the â€Å"banana wars† and banana prices are expected to fall by 11%. Argentina has increased imports duties on 100 products, including over a dozen agricultural goods. Tariffs on the import of milk powder increased to 9% after there was a threat of falling incomes to Argentinian farmers. Apart from commodities mentioned above, we think it can be also all types of commodities which are somehow important for the domestic economy (eg. because of domestic jobs, certain key industries, etc. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. WTO | dispute settlement – the disputes – DS450. World Trade Organization [online].  © 2013 [cit. 2013-03-05]. Dostupne z: http://www. wto. org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds450_e. htm [ 2 ]. WTO | dispute settlement – the disputes – DS455. World Trade Organization [online].  © 2013 [cit. 2013-03-05]. Dostupne z: http://www. wto. org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds455_e. htm [ 3 ]. WTO | dispute settlement – the disputes – DS456. World Trade Organization [online].  © 2013 [cit. 013-03-05]. Dostupne z: http://www. wto. org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds456_e. htm [ 4 ]. Dumping (pricing policy). In: Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia [online]. San Francisco (CA): Wik imedia Foundation, 2001- [cit. 2013-03-05]. Dostupne z: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Dumping_(pricing_policy) [ 5 ]. Examples and Types of Protectionism – Economics Blog. Economics Help – Simplifying Economics [online].  © 2013 [cit. 2013-03-05]. Dostupne z: http://www. economicshelp. org/blog/6911/alevel/examples-of-protectionism/

Challenges to The Walt Disney Company

Challenges to The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company Strategic Issues First Strategic Issue Walt Disney has experienced various strategic issues, and their strategic approaches have led to success. Its strategic management has identified the fact that their competitors could take advantage of the strategic weaknesses and pull the company behind in terms of market position. Although the issues are limited in such a successful company, they deserve maximum attention, as it is possible for them to act as threats towards the future welfare of the entire business. From a quick SWOT analysis, Disney’s strengths are diversity and the surplus cash it attains from its business operations. Its weaknesses include the two strategic issues it is recently facing, its opportunities are expansion possibilities, and its threats include stiff competition. One of these strategic issues that Walt Disney has been facing is the loss of a good number of subscribers in the ESPN. Recently, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network of Disney is holding fewer consumers as compared to the past years when the company began. The major reason leading to this shift of customers to other internet programs that offer similar services is the fact that watching sports with Disney has turned out to be more expensive as compared to watching the same sports in other internet platforms. Its historical market position, which was high at that time, had been attained through appealing to customers regarding prices. When it is specifically about sports, there are different types of customers. Both adults and youths across the globe have high interests in sports. However, the youths appear to have more time to invest in the sports as compared to the time adults invest. Therefore, the larger portion of customers consists of young people, who in most cases are jobless or flexible in terms their jobs. It is a fact that with their flexibility regarding careers, the youth does not earn a lot of money, meaning the y will always take advantage of companies that deliver services at the least cost possible. When Disney was affordable, it appealed to the two categories of customers successfully by ensuring that it is the most affordable platform in the world. However, when the internet-based competitors found a way of broadcasting sports at lower prices and others free, Disney did not pay attention to the matching of these standards. For this reason, it lost the youths mostly to other companies. Losing its portion of youths to the competitors is a great issue, which, were it not for other strengths that exist in the business, would have caused the downfall of Disney as an international company. Second Strategic Issue The second strategic challenge that Disney is facing in the presence of its competitors is vitality in the market. Disney is dealing with entertainment, which is all about the preferences and tastes of customers. This dealing is capable of easily leading to its downfall if the c ompany’s management does not focus on the strategic approaches of satisfying the customers’ thirst in terms of what they have a passion for but does not exist in the market. In case the product exists already, it is the duty of the company to modify it and make it more interesting to the customers without altering the likes but scraping the dislikes. With this sensitivity, Disney has faced criticism every time it has a new release in the market as much as it faces motivating response. Bearing in mind that the two types of responses are from customers that the company takes as a duty to please, making changes to attract a larger portion of motivating customers than critics has been an all-time operational goal that may or may never be achieved. It becomes worse when during its evaluation, Disney realizes a loss of positive claims having turned to critics. This is always a clear message from the public that the company has made an unpleasant release and if they take it f or a trend, their market position will be at stake. This is how hard it is for Disney to maintain a good market position having concentrated on the customers’ taste and preferences alone. Other factors such as the cost of services make the situation worse than it already is. These two strategic issues only need to be attended to with the right approach in order to make the company’s future bright (Rukstad & Collis, 2009). Alternative Causes of Action Reduced Quality To address the above strategic issues and realize the best course of action, it is important that attention is afforded to the nature of the issues. This can be achieved through a value chain analysis that helps to indicate the company’s operational strategy and goals. The loss of Entertainment Sports Program Network subscribers must have been brought about by a faulty strategy in the organization’s way of setting its standards. To solve this, the company can buy the cheaper systems ado pted by competitors. When other internet service providers decided to engage in innovative ways of lowering their prices, the company did not embrace this idea, as it looked out for maintenance of quality. As a matter of fact, the internet services providers decided to adopt new and cheaper facilities that enhanced this reduction of prices to reach out to the customers whom in their opinion, watching sports had become expensive. While doing this, the first and most essential side effect they were likely to experience is the reduction of quality. Reduced Prices The company can as well alter their operations in a way to slightly reduce their prices and maintain quality at the same time. As much these services were to be availed to customers at a reduced cost, they were also to be displayed at lower qualities as compared to those displayed by Disney. In this case, the market of the ESPN was split into two. There is the lower quality of services available for those that prioritize the amount of money spent on entertainment, and the other sector of the market generates high quality of services for people who do not mind spending a fortune for the sake of quality. With this division, it means that Disney is not ready to compromise its quality of output in order to lower prices and accommodate more customers. This is how it ended up with a limited number of customers as compared to its competitors providing services through various internet platforms. Reducing prices with maintained quality will help to maintain the current customers and to bring back those that it lost to competitors. Stable Products Thirdly, the fact that Disney deals with mainly entertaining products is the main cause of the fact that it is faced with a strategic issue of dealing with customers’ tastes and preferences. In its market, Disney has a chance of securing its competitive advantage through dealing with motivational and educative films more than the entertaining movies. An educative product is easier to deal with in the sense that it will have nothing to do with the judgment of the customers, and the success will all depend on the effort of the company towards gathering as much knowledge in its products as possible. This way, it is possible to predict the responses of customers to its new releases. Additionally, these types of products will maintain the types of customers that the company is appealing to, bearing in mind that the youths would embrace guidance and the adults too will help respond positively to pieces of advice offered concerning their business and social lives. Just to make the point clear, it is for a fact that Disney has invested partly in these sectors, but the entertainment has taken a better part of its products. This has not only subjected it to the risk of customers’ responses based on their personal tastes and interests but also on the parental force against time wastage. Their cartoon products, for instance, are found to be excessively attractive to the children to the extent that they fail to attend to other demands such as academic works. This creates a force between the cartoon products and parents as they push the children to balance all aspects of life. On the contrary, parents also utilize the products in making promises and rewarding children whenever they want them to engage in or maintain good conduct. An example is a case where the children are motivated to work harder and perform better in class in order to be allowed to watch cartoon during their holidays. All it needs to do is buy facilities that will accommodate this type of production. This would make their output stable, predictable and more profiting. All the above alternatives can be implemented in Disney to stimulate its line of business (Rukstad & Collis, 2009). Recommendations Evaluation The alternative of making strategic alterations to reduce the expenses of producing their products in order to lower the prices of th eir services is a possible approach for the ESPN issue. This will allow them to avail the same quality of services to customers at an affordable price. This means that they will be appealing to both the customers that value quality more than cost and those that are out there negotiating for lower prices. In this situation, they will have attained competition perfection in the sense that competitors that offer services at lower prices as Disney does will not be providing as high quality as that of Disney. On this note, Disney can be boosted by other secondary factors such as making sure that there is a constant flow of game displays throughout the season. This means that they will be displaying sports events even when the companies with the poor quality of facilities will be facing breakdowns for one reason or another. Disney will be the home for customers who are not ready for interrupted sessions while watching matches. However, if Disney decides to follow suit as its competitors a nd produce low-quality products, it will be faced with the con of losing customers who value quality. These qualities of attraction will not only help Disney to retain its current customers but also bring back the youth it has lost as potential customers. This way, the current position of the company in the market will be maintained, and the opportunity to expand will have been utilized to make Disney’s future more promising. As its only con, Disney will experience an added cost of operating. This is why, on a personal level, I would recommend the alternative of making strategic alterations to reduce the expenses of producing their products in order to lower the prices of their services as an approach for the ESPN issue. If the cartoons and other entertainment films do not appear to be interesting to customers as the company expects it, there will be a decline of the income, as the customers will not purchase the product. The worst con of it is the fact that previews that are displayed before the release of the product may lead to customers shying away from the product early enough. The advantageous purpose of these previews is to help the company predict the performance of the product in the market before it is released. The response of customers may help to detect the problem awaiting the release of a new product, but it will not help in offering a solution for the problem. Therefore, although the company will avoid tampering with its good historic reputation, it will not have evaded losses as the product has already been produced, making this alternative not good enough. This is an indication that there is not short cut towards evading this instability other than engaging in more products that will promote positional security in the market. Hence, to curb the second strategic issue, I would recommend that Disney takes advantage of its stability in the market to seize the opportunity of expansion through dealing with the products that it has not dealt with before. Feasibility On the other hand, if Disney decides to embrace the cheap facilities like competitors have one to tamper with quality only for the sake of prices, they will end up losing customers that value quality, which is the major con of this alternative. Secondly, they will have performed below their operational standards of consistently maintaining the high quality of its products. The only advantage of this alternative is the fact that it will earn back its lost customers who value cheap products. The fact that the disadvantages exceed the advantages, in this case, makes this alternative not feasible. The alternative of displaying previews does not help to find solutions for the instability of products. This means that the act will not have delivered the major expectation, thus, making it not feasible. Implementation Disney should make plans to reduce the cost of running and lower the prices of their high-quality goods. This will help the company to reach out to the customers who do not watch Disney sports because of the high prices. Secondly, it should begin to take steps towards embracing other types of products in the market in order to attain stability. Since one of the strengths of Disney Company is that it always has a substantial flow of capital, this means it has the capability to indulge in the line of other products as heftily as it has done with entertainment. Therefore, all that Disney’s management requires is to make decisions based on the expansion strategies that concentrate on this mission as an operational goal. Offering other genres of films and movies will allow the company to attain stability in terms of its market position. Attracting the entire market with motivational and educative products is easier than the entertainment form of attraction. References Rukstad, M. G. & Collis, D. (2009). The Walt Disney Company: The Entertainment King . Brighton: Harvard Business School.

Children & Divorce Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Children & Divorce - Assignment Example Divorce between parents never puts any good effect on children. It is a very hard tragedy for children, which affects their psychological and emotional development. The pain that the children experience after divorce is composed of grief, a sense of vulnerability, loss of the intact family, and strong feelings of powerlessness and rejection (Eleoff, 2003). Some parents are very emotional and overlook the positive effects of parental relationship on children while thinking about divorce. â€Å"Many couples considering divorce refuse to believe that divorce can have a negative effect on their children† (Bilotta, 2007). Such parents cannot predict the future very well and give preference to temporary negative emotions over the future consequences of divorce on their children. Although separation brings short-term relief to such couples but the consequences are not short-term for the children, rather children have to bear the consequences for their whole lives. One of major setbacks for the children is that they start feeling insecure of their future. Children of divorced parents find it difficult to choose a proper direction for their future. Another emotional harm, which occurs for the children of divorced parents, is fear of being alone in the society. â€Å"School-age children are unsettled by the big changes that come with divorce† (Wolf, n.d.). Such children cannot even explain to themselves what has happened to their lives. They are usually average and low in confidence as compared to the children of intact families (Hughes, 2009). They also start feeling dejected and unhappy. Anger and depression are also deeply associated with the emotional development of the children of divorced parents. â€Å"Children who are having a hard time coping with their parents divorce can sometimes very quietly sink to depression† (West,

Immigration Policy Reforms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Immigration Policy Reforms - Essay Example (Bush, et al, ix) Statement of your position Immigration is a deep â€Å"human issue† as it is concerned with the lives of large number of families and individuals. Immigration deals with the question of American citizenship and helps in shaping up the image of the American nation in the eyes of the world. (Bush, et al, ix) Policy reforms should act as support base for immigrants who come to America to see better opportunities that were lacking in their home countries. My approach to the paper In this paper immigration policy reforms are critically analyzed after seeing through the lens of the American Enlightenment. The point that I have stressed in this paper is that only through legalization of the status of the immigrants can they prove to be beneficial to the country policy reforms should look out for solution by combining the perspective of both federalists and anti-federalists. Immigration in US during the era of Enlightenment The problem of immigration was also a matte r of concern for the Enlightenment leaders like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. The land of America was increasing becoming a â€Å"dumping ground for the European undesirables†. They were concerned with growing number of German immigrants in the eighteenth century. The Germans came from a completely different social background than those of the Americans, and the increasing number of German population within the borders of America were proving to be incompatible with the republican democracy (Zolberg). Comparative and Analysis Social contract (representative governance) In the global arena, America is recognised as the â€Å"nation of immigrants†. This makes it easier for people from all over the world to enter the borders of America. It is a challenge for the policymakers to distinguish â€Å"illusory immigration problems from real problems.† There has been a tendency to neglect the issue of immigration. This â€Å"policy of benign neglect† is n o longer viable in current times. During the last decade, there have been a number of efforts to reform the immigration policies. There has been improvement in the security of the borders. The statuses of people who seek employment are being verified by the employers. The focus of every immigration policy should be on both border security and migrant workers. Ignoring any one of them cannot make any policy successful (â€Å"The Real Problem with Immigration...and the Real Solution†). During the civil war in the nineteenth century, immigration was specifically encouraged in America. From 1882 onwards, the immigration policies started to focus on restricting the flow of immigrants. This was done to protect the nation from undesirable people from foreign countries. People with contagious diseases like tuberculosis were not allowed to enter the nation to protect the health policies. People with immoral characters and polygamists were also restricted (Williamson 184). Classical Li beralism (natural rights) Classical liberalism defines specific activities for the government. The role of the government should be to protect the rights of individuals with relation to property, religion, freedom of speech and press. There should also be the system of â€Å"free markets† to ensure a smooth economic life (Hudelson 37). The continuous flow of immigrants into America can threaten the practice of classical liberalism. The major concern is that the various cultural and economic backgrounds of the

Causes and impacts of the UK currency devaluation Essay

Causes and impacts of the UK currency devaluation - Essay Example ng the currency with the fourth highest trading volume in the foreign exchange market behind the US dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen respectively (Pan). The sterling has been generally regarded as one of the high value based currency reserves of the world. Its value, in respect to the other currencies, has been on the higher side. This has been because of various reasons, one of the main being the good and reliable financial markets that the United Kingdom is able to offer to investors worldwide. Due to the stability within the UK, and the ensuing level of trust, it has been able to attract massive inflows because of the bourses and financial markets, particularly in London, providing burgeoning returns. The high value further, allowed greater consumption by the people of the United Kingdom, allowing greater imports and out of country vacations. The current financial crisis however sees the Pound Sterling being drastically devalued. In recent months, the Sterlings decline in value in relation to the euro is interpreted by economists and some political elements within the United Kingdom as evidence of diminishing faith in the British economy on worldwide currency markets. Political elements, especially those belonging to the liberal side have rushed to blame the policies of the Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the collapse in the Sterling’s value (Heffer). Sources close to the treasury hinted that the decision in the pre-Budget report to increase borrowing to fund reduction in taxes had led to a downturn in economic confidence and thus had affected willingness of people to spend, ultimately leading to the drop in the Pound. A Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman observed that while the decrease in interest rates had been the main reason behind the fall in the sterling’s value, it was supplemented by the expectation that the rates would decline even further (Heffer). The sterling fell almost 17 per cent compared with the euro in 2008 as the Bank of England

Why I want to transfer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Why I want to transfer - Essay Example In addition to social interaction, university will give me a challenge to work harder because the level of competition is very high. Currently, I don’t feel challenged to work harder an aspect that is making me not to put more effort in my studies. I believe I have the potential to compete with university students who scored higher marks before joining the university. My career choice needs high level lecturers who have high experience and knowledge. University will therefore give me an opportunity to be taught by highly qualified lecturers and professors. This will increase the possibility of reaching my future goals. University has more resources that I will use during my training period. In this new institution I will have access to up-to-date books and other library resources such as journal and theses which will increase my knowledge. This is in comparison with college where the resources are limited due to the magnitude of management and the size of the institutions. After transferring to university, I am hoping that I will be able to expound on my skills and knowledge. In addition, I believe that the exposure in university will enable me to relate well with the outside world and working environment at

The player Maradona Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The player Maradona - Essay Example Which clubs did Maradona play for in his active football life? What are the awards that Maradona has won in his professional football life? Which clubs has the former football player managed after his retirement from playing football? I used research materials available on the websites as quoted in the reference section of the paper. The research materials describe the football career of Diego Armando Maradona from his youth career until he retired from professional football. The research is confined to the football career of Diego Armando Maradona to both the football career of Diego Armando Maradona both at club level and international career. Several parts of the search bogged me down. One of them is time limitation. The time allocated for this research was not enough that made me, as the researcher, to work under pressure. Moreover, I was faced by the limitation of insufficient materials with reliable information from where I could obtain the data. Several parts of the research p rocess sparked a breakthrough. One of them is that I was able to retrieve information from other sources that are not available on online media such as the books in printed form. Moreover, I was able to obtain information from newspapers available from the libraries that had sections focusing on the football career of the player. ... From the research, I realized that, Diego Armando Maradona began his professional football life at the age of 16 with Argentinos Juniors where he played between 1976 and 1981. At the club, Maradona scored 115 goals for the club in 167 appearances and helped the club win several awards including the league title. After 1981, Maradona was transferred to Boca Juniors football club in Brazil for a fee of 1 million pounds ( Maradona and Weinstein 5). In 1982, Maradona and Boca Juniors Football Club won their first league championship title. An English club, Sheffield United, made a bid for $180,000 for the services of Maradona but the bid was rejected. In 1982 after the World Cup, Maradona was transferred to FC Barcelona for a record fee of $5 million. The club won Copa Del Rey, a Spanish annual national cup competition by beating Real Madrid in the finals, and won the Spanish Super Cup the same year after beating Athletic Bilbao in the finals. Maradona won the respective awards for his e fforts in helping the club win these competitions (Deutsch 5: Cockcroft and Cardona 2). According to Burns, 47, after a series of wrangles at the club, Maradona was transferred to Napoli Football Club for a record fee of $ 6.9 million in 1984. It is at this club that Maradona reached the peak of his career. At the club, Maradona became an adored figure and a fans favorite where he elevated the club to its most successful era in history. He helped the club win the Serie A Italian championship in 1986/87 season as well as the 1989/90 Serie A Italian championship. Moreover, Diego Maradona helped the club to emerge as the first runner up in 1987/88 and 1988/89. Apart from the league, Maradona helped Napoli Football Club to win

History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

History - Assignment Example To what degree do you find his arguments persuasive? (see the box on pg 793) Brezhnev believed that if a country was shifting from Communism to capitalism, it was the duty of those who support Communism to step in and try to stop the shift. He clearly saw it as a good versus evil issue. When Czechoslovakia appeared to be switching to capitalism in 1968, Brezhnev ordered troops to prevent the uprising, and crush the Prague Spring. His arguments are ridiculous. He refused to listen to the will of the people in Czechoslovakia, preferring to kill them instead. The Prague Spring was not the imposition of an invading force; it was the people making a choice for themselves. His policy was also retroactive. This doctrine, espoused by President Harry Truman, suggested that the U.S. would help subjugated people try to free themselves from domination by Communists. At the time it focused on Greece and Turkey, where Communists were trying to take over, but it eventually extended to many other countries. Truman wanted to prevent the Soviet Union from dominating the Third World and he was willing to use American force to do this. Both of these groups were Cold War military alliances. The West had NATO—the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—that included America, Canada, Western Europe, and a few other countries. The Warsaw Pact was the Soviet Union and its allies. Those who foresaw the Cold War turning into a hot war, believed these alliances would fight one another. In each alliance, the countries had mutual assistance pacts. NATO, for example, considered an attack on any NATO country an attack on all of them. This was a crisis that involved the Soviet Union, America, and Cuba. In the early 1960s, the Americans learned that the Russians were putting nuclear missiles on Cuba and point them at the U.S. This led to a serious standoff and a blockade of Cuba. Many believe this was the

Whatever you choice Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Whatever you choice - Term Paper Example All these were slaves but had different degree of privilege. The essay gives an account of how the Romans farmed. The main source of labour for the Romans was slaves. The slaves were acquired in three ways. First, through conquest in war, this is whereby many landowners went for war and brought back captives (White 1). The captives were sold to other citizens or worked on the capture’s farm. Second, the slaves were bought from the market. Third, by birth that is children born by the slaves also became slaves (Phillips 221). As earlier discussed, each slave had different degree of privilege for proper administration of the farms. Before the establishment of large-scale farming, Romans practiced small-scale farming. There were different reasons for the adoption of large-scale farming. First, the wars brought a drastic decrease in free labor. Second, many farmers were ruined due to the devastation of Italy by Hannibal (McGeough 99). After the war, the rich citizen bought the land and leased it to the government. The government used the slaves as their main source of labour (White 1). Due to the great competition, the small-scale farmers gave up. The rich farmers improved the fencing and drainage system for more productivity. Water was conserved by building of dams and cisterns. Trees were planted around the farms to act as windbreakers. Romans were among the first people to employ mixed farming. This is because due to the depilation of the farms they became infertile (White 23). Because of this, they used farmyard manure from the farm animals to keep their farms fertile. Where stock was not kept, farmers made compost manure using banana leaves, weeds straw and other rubbish, which do not decay easily. Although they did not have knowledge on nitrogen-fixing bacteria, they knew how to plant legumes (McGeough 97). They had mechanisms to test sourness of the soil though they did not have litmus paper. They employed