Comparison Of Smes Between China And German Economics Essay

Nowadays the universe economic system has entered the epoch of planetary competition. Economic competition is far more intense than any old historical period, and its strength is turning really fast, so many SMEs face a crisis and a bad state of affairs. The Nobel Laureate in economic sciences, Stiglitz ( cite? ) pointed out that the current globalisation procedure is driven by the involvement of international companies, and it has exacerbated the inequality in the universe. When foreign endeavors enter one state, they frequently destroy local rivals and crush down the aspirations of local SMEs to develop their national industry. Chinese SMEs have 95 % of the entire figure of the national endeavors, and over 3/4 of the urban employed population working in SMEs. Statisticss besides show that SMEs in China are the most dynamic portion of its economic, involve about 65 % of the patented engineering, and more than 75 % of the engineering invention. 80 % of new merchandises are developed by SMEs. Big concern besides comes from the development of SMEs. There is no uncertainty the hereafter of China ‘s economic system to a greater extent dependant on the development of SMEs. Stiglitz besides pointed out that unemployment is more harmful than waste of resources, it is likely to destruct the full market economic system ( mention! ) , while the engine of making new occupations is SMEs. So, how can SMEs to cover with the challenges of globalisation? Possibly the German companies can supply us with the best illustration. The German professor of direction, Herman Simon started to analyze the German endeavors because he was asked such a hard job when he sing Harvard Business School: Germany ‘s top 500 endeavors, in the universe ranking public presentation, are non outstanding, so how can Germany go the universe top exporter for such a long clip, and how did Germany go a universe economic heavyweight. The ten old ages of research findings surprised him.The original German exporters every bit good as the pillar of the economic system is non those familiar companies like Siemens, Bayer, Mercedes-Benz, and so on, but some unknown SMEs such as Brita, Hauni, and Xilabulan. They focus on a peculiar industry, but far more in front in the international market than any other concern, such as production of Brita H2O filters which now have 85 % of the universe market. Most of these SMEs are non familiar to media and public, but they are the true title-holder exporters. There are 100s of those stealth title-holder companies in Germany. Do non believe that they are now little size concerns. For illustration, in the production of tropical fish provender, the Tetra company owns 60 % of the planetary market portion, .Although this is a niche merchandise, it has a turnover of 6 billion USD, and Tetra have wholly-owned subordinates in more than 100 states in the universe. The ground why these SMEs in Germany are little-known to people, is that they are largely non able and non willing to pass 1000000s in self-promotion, or they even intentionally avoid contact with the media in order to avoid excessively many trouble because it might increase the figure of rivals and impersonators. In drumhead, for the developing Chinese SMEs, by comparing the endeavors criterion, direction public presentation, fiscal intermediation and societal services, we should be able to sum up the differences between the two states and seek to derive experience for China.Methodology:Will utilize the methodological analysis of comparative surveies, statistic analyzing, inductive logic.Research inquiry:Differences of endeavors standard, direction public presentation, fiscal intermediation and societal services between China and German.a†¦ . Enterprises standard comparative survey between China and Germany.Standard of the Germans SMEs At present, the popular criterions for SMEs in Germany are the new commissariats for SMEs criterion introduced by the SME Research Center in Bonn and the European Union in 2003. The consequence of Standard Research from SME Research Center in Bonn is shown in Table 1 Table 1 The SME criterion of Germany and the European Uniona‘? Firm size Employees ( No. of individual ) Gross saless per twelvemonth ( 10,000 of EURO ) Firm size Employees ( No. of individual ) Gross saless per twelvemonth ( 10,000 of EURO ) Assetss ( 10,000 of EURO ) Micro & lt ; 9 & lt ; 200 & lt ; 200 Small a†°Ã‚ ¤9 & lt ; 100 Small 10~49 & lt ; 1000 & lt ; 1000 Medium 100~499 100~5000 Medium 50~249 & lt ; 5000 & lt ; 4300 Large a†°?500 a†°?5000 SMEs a†°Ã‚ ¤250 a†°Ã‚ ¤5000 a†°Ã‚ ¤4300 Standard of the Chinese SMEsa‘ µ Chinese SME criterion is introduced by the National Development and Reform Commission Ministry of Finance, National Bureau of Statistics survey in 2003 formulated the â€Å" Probationary Regulations on Standards for SMEs † , such as shown in table 2. Table 2 The SME criterion of chinaa‘ µ Industries Firm size Employees ( No. of individual ) Gross saless per twelvemonth ( 10,000 of RMB/EURO ) Assetss ( 10,000 of RMB/EURO ) Industry Small & lt ; 300 & lt ; 3000/290 & lt ; 4000/387 Medium 300~2000 3000~30000/290~2900 4000~40000/387~3868 Construction Small & lt ; 600 & lt ; 3000/290 & lt ; 4000/387 Medium 600~3000 3000~30000/290~2900 Wholesaling Small & lt ; 100 & lt ; 3000/290 Medium 100~200 3000~30000/290~2900 Retail trade Small & lt ; 100 & lt ; 1000/97 Medium 100~500 1000~15000/97~1451 Transportation system Small & lt ; 500 & lt ; 3000/290 Medium 500~3000 3000~30000/290~2900 Postal services Small & lt ; 400 & lt ; 3000/290 Medium 400~1000 3000~30000/290~2900 Hotel & A ; providing Small & lt ; 400 & lt ; 3000/290 Medium 400~800 3000~15000/290~1541 3. Decision In drumhead, by comparing of the SMEs criterion between China and German can pull the undermentioned decisions: First, the SMEs criterion of China is different from Germany, except the criterion of figure of employees, with entire assets and gross revenues of three commonly are utilizing international indexs, industry indexs as standards for categorization of endeavors with Chinese features. In the standard demands of the seven industries, the primary industry and third industry is non included. The major difference between different industries is the figure of employees.a†¦? . Business direction public presentation comparing between China and Germany1. Business public presentation of Germany SMEs At the terminal of 2005, the figure of SMEs is 99.7 % a‘ ¶of entire figure of endeavors in Germany has reached 33.8 million of gross revenues, in the terminal of 2004 micro-enterprises ( less than nine workers and gross revenues in 2 million euros or less ) ocuppy 81 % of SMEs, making 18.2 % of entire employment. By the terminal of 2005 the gross revenues of German SMEs achieved 39.1 % of entire, supplying 70.9 % of employment ; by the terminal 2004 the added value created 46.7 % , 51.5 % of investings, exports of 66.4 % .The development of SMEs in Germany has a clear difference between parts and industries. There is a rapid develop of west Germany SMEs. German SMEs has an absolute advantage in the agribusiness, forestry and piscaries, building, adjustment and catering industry. Among them, little and average endeavors occupy 94 % of all agricultural endeavors, 85 % of all building endeavors, adjustment and catering industry, 89 % , services 60 % .a‘ ¶ 2. Business public presentation of Chinese SMEs Since 1997, SMEs have been turning quickly in China after authorities declared that the private sector is an of import portion for the state ‘s economic development. The figure of Small and medium endeavors in late 2006 range 42 million, busying more than 99 % of the entire figure of enterprisesa‘ · . At the terminal of 2002 the figure of Micro-enterprises ( less than nine workers ) reached 23.5 million, busying 56 % of the full little and average endeavors. Among them, micro-enterprises create 26.8 % of employment for entire registered labora‘? . During the tenth five-years plan period, little and average industrial endeavors reached about 28 % mean one-year growing rate of value-added, created 60 % of concluding goods and services and about 50 % of taxa‘ · . SMEs have become the chief channel for spread outing employment, supplying more than 75 % of urban occupations, and more than 80 % of discharged workers were re-employed in little and average endeavo rs, the bulk of migratory workers are working in little and average endeavors. A group of powerful SMEs explore the international market really actively. The information from the Ministry of Commerce shown that by the terminal of 2005, there is 88 % of endeavors investing is SMES in Africa a‘? . Chinese SME occupied 68 % of exports in late 2005 a‘? . The development of SMEs in China is besides evidently differences differences between parts and industries. SMEs are located in the eastern part, particularly the southeasterly coastal countries of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Shanghai and Beijing a‘? . Harmonizing to information provided by â€Å" China ‘s Economic Development Index for SMEs † , the fastest improving industry is the power, gas and H2O production and supply sectors and the index of bettering is 66.76 % ; The second is the building industry, for 66.09 % ; and 3rd is information transmittal, computing machine services and package industry, which is 65.92 % ; and the last is the fabrication sector with 63.22 % . In 1993, the norm registered capital of little and average endeavors is RMB 286,000, in 1995 is RMB 40 million, in 2002 it grow to RMB 2.5 million a‘ » . Because the deficiency of statistical informations for Chinese SMEs bankruptcy rate, there is a unsmooth estimation, bankruptcy rate of Chinese SMEs after the constitution in 3 to 5 old ages is every bit high as 50 % a‘ » . Because deficiency of statistical informations of Chinese SMEs bankruptcy rate. A unsmooth estimation, bankruptcy rate of Chinese SMEs after the constitution in 3 to 5 old ages is every bit high as 50 % a‘ » . 3. Decision In drumhead, through the comparative of little and average endeavors runing public presentation survey between China and Germany, the undermentioned decisions can be drawn. First, whether in the underdeveloped China, or in the developed Germany, little and average endeavors played a prima function in economic development, with the addition exports and make the new occupations. It stabilizes and be the hardcore for economic development and societal development. However, due to the particular background of China ‘s passage economic system, the SME absorb a big figure of discharged workers and excess rural labour force who fired by the state-owned endeavors. Regional is the 2nd ground for the differences between the development of SMEs in both states. The chief difference in Germany is because it divided into East and West. In China, it is because of the coastal countries and inland countries. Therefore, the development of little and average endeavors and regional degrees of economic development are closely linked. Third, due to the lower capital ratio, Chinese and German SMEs both have a high rate of bankruptcy.a†¦? . A Comparative Study of Chinese and German SME fiscal intermediation1. German SME funding The chief resource for SMEs loaning is from sedimentation Bankss, which is about 44.8 % within the entire loans, 20.3 % from the co-operative Bankss, 20.2 % from the private Bankss ( Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank and Postbank ) . This proportion of loaning does non alter much in the market portion for a long clip already. There is a direct relationship for the application of bank loans between the successful and the direction of the house. If the gross revenues are less than 100 1000000s euro, the rejection rate for the application of loans reaches 34.7 % . However, if the gross revenues are over 5000 million euro, the rejection rate is merely about 6.6 % .a‘? Harmonizing to the study for the rejection of bank loans, 49.3 % of houses are unable to supply warrants or collateral, 46.8 % is because of the deficiency of free capital and there is 36 % for the alterations in banking policy.With the development of the capital market and the banking system in Germany, there are some alterations for funding within SMEs: ( 1 ) . the standardisation of first balcony funding reduces the cost and the proportion is increasing in the funding market. The German first balcony financing market becomes the 2nd largest market and the first is United Kingdom. With the addition of the first balcony funding, the houses are able to increase their ain capital ratios, thereby increasing the sum of external finance to broaden the beginnings of funding. ( 2 ) . the plus securitization and private capital investing has became the chief resources for the funding in German through the rise in capital market. CLOs: Collateralized Loan Obligations is issued by the bank for the plus securitization in SME. The German Reconstruction bank, KfW Bankengruppe, has developed PROMISE for comprehensive merchandise trading. This market in Germany developed quickly and the trading sum reached 20 billion euro for the first 6 months in 2006. The SME loan securitization market development will take the connexion between the traditional and modern banking establishment. This helps the SME ‘s funding and greatly heighten the liquidness, security of dealing and profitabiliy for Bankss. 2. Chinese SMEs Financing In the World Bank study about China ‘s investing environment, they compared with other Asiatic states and shown China ‘s SMEs are confronting a more serious recognition restraint. In 2000, single and private endeavors received short-run loans merely, by all fiscal establishments to 1 % . The proprietor of the portion of ain capital funding will be reduced as the graduated table of concern rise. Large-scale endeavors ( with figure of employees from 100 to 500 people ) funding from the proprietor ‘s ain financess accounted for 22 % ; but in less than 50 individuals is 45 % . If the proprietor ‘s ain financess and retained net incomes are added as a beginning of funding within the figure of employees is less than 52 little concerns and 67 % of the financess is from the endogenous funding ; in more than 100 big endeavors, the per centum is 57 % . In add-on, the successful rate of obtaining bank loans for the large-scale endeavors is clearly more than the little endeavors. If the bank loans and financess received from the rural recognition co-ops as a amount of intermediation of financess from fiscal establishments, there is merely 8 % for the little concerns get financing while big endeavors are 27 % .. a‘? Professor Lin Hanchuan ( 2003 ) a‘?conducted two studies for the current state of affairs of SMEs in 1998. The first study showed that 75 % of surveyed venture capital funding comes chiefly from self-financing ; acquire bank loans, finance companies accounted for 53.5 % of them state-owned endeavors accounted for 94 % . Bank loans from state-owned banking establishments in the bulk, there are a little figure of corporate endeavors received loans from rural recognition co-ops. And 25 % of private SMEs funding is from non-formal funding channels. The 2nd canvass for the first clip similar consequences, 55 % of the surveyed endeavors to capital derived from the ego, 24 % of the surveyed companies 50 % of the working capital come from self-financing, merely 9 % of endeavors to capital come from bank loans. China Industrial and Commercial Federation and the China Private Economy Research Committee make five probes in 1993,1995,1997,2000 and 2002. Self-financing is the chief signifier of capital funding for SMEs, accounting for 65.5 % , bank loan funding is 21 % a‘? . In the 2002 study, 3258 was merely 23.4 % of SMEs surveyed by the funding Bankss and rural recognition co-ops. Obtaining bank loans to finance companies, 30 % of the endeavors get bank loans for less than RBM 10 million, 73.4 % of endeavors less than RBM 100 million. 53.8 % of the companies with â€Å" trouble in obtaining loans † are the obstruction to enterprise development, one of the most of import factor a’ˆ . Chinese SMEs using for bank loans, faced with three â€Å" favoritism † : the ownership of favoritism, size of favoritism and favoritism in the part. Harmonizing to the standard corporate ownership for the types of endeavors, taking to the Bankss of the differential intervention of different ownership endeavors. With the increasing degrees of economic openness and regional favoritism, favoritism in ownership bit by bit replaced. In more developed countries, non-state-owned endeavors are more readily available for bank loans. Guangdong, for illustration, in 1999 for non-state economic system, portion of bank loans has exceeded the province economic system, accounting for 56 % in 2002 lifting to 65 % . Because of the size of SMEs is self-limited with the deficiency of applications for bank loans warrants and collateral, hence, the smaller the size of the endeavor are more hard for bank loans from Bankss and other formal fiscal establishments, fiscal intermediation, which resulted in the graduated table of favoritism in bank loans. Table 3 Loans for SMEs gained from bank when established Loan sum Sample proportion Sample endeavors Loan sum Sample proportion Sample endeavors & lt ; 0.5 3.66 35 30~50 11.84 113 0.5~1 2.41 23 50~100 11.74 113 1~5 13.42 128 100~200 4.51 43 5~10 11.74 112 200~500 15.51 148 10~15 3.04 29 500~1000 3.14 30 15~20 9.01 86 & gt ; 1000 3.46 33 20~30 6.05 62 Entire 100 954 SME loans among banking establishments in different and uneven development. For illustration, Sichuan Province, as of the terminal of 2007, three big state-owned commercial Bankss accounted for the state ‘s little concern loans little concern loans to 50.31 per centum, but merely the bank ‘s loans to 11.42 % ; while metropolis commercial Bankss and recognition bureau issued little concern loans accounted for 23.84 % , but it is the bank ‘s loan balance of 48.48 % a’? . Large state-owned commercial Bankss are merely developing micro-credit operations from the central office with the particular demands and more restrictive conditions, so the enthusiasm is non high. 3. Decision ( 1 ) there is widespread trouble in obtaining loans for SMEs, non merely is a passage economic system like China, that is, the economically developed in Germany every bit good. Endogenous funding is the chief beginning of SME funding, bank funding accounted for 26.3 % in Germany, but in China, this proportion is much smaller. ( 2 ) SMEs using for bank loans to the trouble is due chiefly to the deficiency of security or collateral, equity capital is unequal. However, in Germany, the banking sector SME loaning alterations are hard for particular grounds ; in China it is the ownership restraints. ( 3 ) funding merchandises offered by fiscal establishments in a individual, hard to run into the funding demands of SMEs in specific variegation. In China, fiscal establishments, the chief funding merchandises offered by bank loans. However, in Germany, in add-on to the traditional bank loan funding outside the capital, first balcony funding and securitization funding portion on the rise. ( 4 ) Germany there is a clear division of labour between Bankss, organizing the major banking establishments for SMEs, sedimentation Bankss and concerted Bankss. Local operation of these Bankss are specialised Bankss, has carried out the comparative advantages of SMEs. In China, about all of the banking establishments have developed little and average endeavors financing concern, nevertheless, big state-owned commercial Bankss and deficiency of motive. Fourth, China and Germany Comparative Study of the societal service system for SMEs SME development requires non merely fiscal intermediation of fiscal services, but besides a assortment of security, evaluations, advice, information and engineering, societal services. Social service system, the building and flawlessness is a requirement for rapid development of SMEs.a†¦? . Comparison of societal service between Chinese and Germany SMEs1. Germany ‘s societal service system for SMEs Germany ‘s societal service system for SMEs is comparatively healthy. Auditing organic structures, accounting houses and banking establishments provide SMEs with the chief information services. In Germany, the chief bank for SMEs, non merely in corporate finance has played a prima function, but besides provide SMEs with a assortment of confer withing, information, and assist them explicate a development program and other intermediary services besides play an unreplaceable function. German SME recognition warrant system for the development of early, early in 1954 set up its first guaranteed Bankss. Presently, in Germany, each province guaranteed at least one bank. After more than 50 old ages of development, Garanti Bank has established a sound recognition evaluation system, a major consideration factors such as corporate fiscal factors ( fiscal place, net incomes, etc. ) on their ain qualities ( director ‘s direction ability, concern history ) , enterprise development stat e of affairs ( merchandises, markets, etc. ) , and historical records ( recognition and non-compliance records, etc. ) . Garanti Bank secured rates at 1.75 % ~ 2.5 % , rate accommodations are chiefly based on the industry in which companies, merchandises and markets, risk-related. Germany guarantees bank loans to bank-specific recognition risk-sharing ratio of 8:2. Occurs when the secured bank loan losingss, the Government has to bear the loss of 65 % , the loaning bank to take hazards to 7 % , the security establishments to presume the hazard of 28 % . In add-on, the Garanti Bank asked to command the loss rate of 4 % or less, the excess by increasing the guaranteed rate, loss ratio or the Government to increase investing write-down, owned, etc.. At nowadays, single warrants Bankss mean loss rate of about 1 % . SMEs have to cut down costs borne by the administrative scrutiny and blessing. In 2003 the German authorities, harmonizing to a study undertaken in the endeavor 460 sorts of administrative scrutiny and blessing costs, borne by SMEs accounted for 80 % . SMEs in order to cut down the costs borne by the administrative scrutiny and blessing, the German authorities promulgated the â€Å" cut down the load on SMEs jurisprudence † . Among them, a really of import step is the criterion Quasi-oriented little and average endeavors to set up, alteration, confer withing services, systems and procedures and processs, to better and heighten services at a velocity and quality. In add-on, when the constitution of little and average endeavors by simplifying administrative scrutiny and blessing processs, set up an electronic enrollment processs to enable endeavors to put up every bit long as on-line enrollment can be completed within a few yearss. 2. China ‘s development of a societal service system for SMEs ( 1 ) Government better the societal service system for SMEs, the steps the Chinese authorities attaches great importance to the development of SMEs, the determination in the â€Å" Eleventh Five-Year † during the execution of the â€Å" SME development undertakings. † This is China ‘s SME development plan of action, including bettering the societal service system for SMEs and improves relevant Torahs and ordinances, heighten the ability of scientific discipline and engineering invention of SMEs in nine steps a‘? . Laws and ordinances in the edifice of little and average endeavors, the Chinese authorities has promulgated the â€Å" SME Promotion Law of The People ‘s Republic of China † â€Å" the State Council on Encouraging, Supporting and steering the person and private and other non-public economic development in a figure of sentiments † , and formed a â€Å" SME Promotion Law † as the nucleus, the relevant supporting paperss to back up the publicity of SMEs and non-public economic development of Torahs, ordinances and policy model system to supply SMEs with a sound external environment for puting the foundation for the jurisprudence. The security system, China has started the pattern of SMEs recognition warrant in 1992, by 2006, the National SME recognition warrant establishments more than 1,000, a sum of 28.7 billion fund-raising, the cumulative sum of loan warrant 120 billion kwais, the cumulative security companies 5 10000.a’‚ In the proficient sup port for SMEs, the Chinese authorities chose Qingdao, Hefei and other metropoliss, combined with technological systems, established a city-backed, engineering invention services for SMEs, regional, professional engineering centre, while set uping and assorted types of technological invention and improved services. ( 2 ) the societal service system for SMEs, although the Chinese SMEs in the development of the societal service system has experienced from abrasion, from little to big rapid development, but still necessitate to foster better and hone. The chief jobs are: Servicess, higher costs. Banking Bureau in Sichuan SME study, the high cost of societal services is to forestall the funding of SMEs, a really of import ground. Small concerns in the procedure of using for bank loans may hold to pay, including audits, indirect appraisals, mortgage enrollment, security, notary, insurance, legal advice, recognition evaluation, concern enquiries, and other disbursals more than 10 points, its amalgamate disbursal ratio may be up to 10 % . Assessment and mortgage enrollment fees occupy a big proportion in bank loan. Mortgage registered in the duplicate of the enrollment, rating and fees, and charges required by the Government has non purely enforced and others are caused by extra direct cause of the high cost a’? . System is non perfect. Management of bank loans because of the high cost of a deficiency of societal recognition direction system, banking, industry and commercialism, revenue enhancement and other societal service bureaus have non yet set up a unified recognition direction system. Government in SME recognition warrant system to step in excessively much in the outgrowth of capital, operational construction and direction of many jobs. For illustration, many local authoritiess funded the constitution of fiscal security bureaus, on the one manus a erstwhile injection of financess, deficiency of compensation mechanism, warrant financess to little ; the other manus, the deficiency of commercial operation, can non fulfill the diversified demands of SMEs. Even in the U.S. , Japan and other large-scale government-funded national, policy loans guaranteed no more than 10 % of SME loans. Therefore, the SME policy entirely can non vouch security, but besides to play a private capital and commercial security function. 3. Decision ( 1 ) Germany ‘s societal system is sound and SME services, including accounting, confer withing, scrutinizing, information and other societal service bureaus. Banks non merely provide fiscal services to SMEs, but besides includes other information and consulting services. Chinese SMEs in the service of societal system, the building and betterment, the biggest job is how to better the warrant system for little and average endeavors. ( 2 ) The German authorities attaches great importance to the development of SMEs, but how the Government will play a back uping SME development, the two states have important differences. The German authorities wage attending to utilize of indirect, economic and legal agencies, such as revenue enhancement policy, through the national policy Bankss indirect fiscal support, to set up a incorporate information system, standardisation of the Government ‘s assorted administrative scrutiny and blessing systems and processs. In add-on, the German authorities by supplying more instruction and preparation chances and better the capacity of endeavor directors to accomplish long-run and sustainable development of SMEs. The Chinese authorities in advancing the development of SMEs in the greater usage of the direct administrative steps and intercessions. For illustration, fiscal investors to set up a recognition warrant system for little and average endeavors, direct operation and directio n of recognition warrant establishments, direct fiscal subsidies. ( 3 ) The German Government has set up export-oriented SMEs in specific administrative and societal service system. By the China Enterprise Evaluation Association in the â€Å" export-oriented SMEs in the survey † points out that China ‘s deficiency of specialised concern services for export-oriented societal system. In the surveyed endeavors, 51 % of export endeavors need to finance and consultative servicesa’? .a†¦Ã‚ ¤ . Enlightenment1. Chinese SMEs are little, but employed more workers, this is the alone consequence of the development phases and conditions. Due to the passage of Economic and societal system, China ‘s SMEs faces an more particular development environment. To work out the specific jobs of SMEs development in China, we ‘d break larning from international experience of other advanced, but besides need to considerate with the particular conditions of China. 2. Chinese SMEs criterions require timely updates and uninterrupted polish. 3. Chinese SMEs faced with the general trouble in obtaining loans, which are an of import beginning of funding. 4. Chinese SMEs warrants system for the commercial operations need imperative development. Guarantee bureaus need to set up a sound capital injection mechanism, modulate the investing of authorities financess and compensation mechanisms to accomplish the variegation of support beginnings. Learn from the successful experience of Germany, the debut of risk-sharing warrant establishments and compensation mechanisms. 5. The constitution of SMEs exporting to China ‘s societal system of professional services. With the uninterrupted development of China ‘s export-oriented economic system, export portion of gross national merchandise is lifting, it should better the export-oriented SMEs, including finance, and consulting, international operations required a assortment of particular services. The Government should put up specifically for the export-oriented SMEs, service platforms, and simplification of administrative scrutiny and blessing processs, hastening the blessing procedure. 6. Rationally specify the authorities ‘s function in SME development. International experience tells us that the Government should utilize economic and legal and other indirect means to cut down the direct administrative intercession and capital subsidy, thereby heightening the effectivity of policy execution to advance sustainable growing of SMEs.

Article Summary: “The Bottom Line: Marketing & Firm Performance” Essay

Leslie M. Fine, author of â€Å"The Bottom Line: Marketing & Firm Performance,† analyzes how marketing relates to how well the firm does overall. A majority of the article is focused on how customer relations’ impact firm performance and can affect shareholder wealth. Firms improving customer equity and reducing the firm’s cash needs, will influence the net present value of the firm. Within recent years, there has been an increase in the awareness that firms should be able to demonstrate that marketing actions affect financial outcomes. Along with this awareness, marketers have realized that the investor is also the customer, especially at the initial IPO, and leading companies to report customer equity statements and customer equity flow statements. The article notes various studies that have been conducted analyzing the impact of customer satisfaction in relation to areas such as the â€Å"stock value gap,† performance of portfolios and the impact of marketing, research and development and operations on firm performance. The studies concluded that â€Å"doing what’s right for the customer is doing what’s right for the firm and shareholder value.† Customer satisfaction has a significant impact on the â€Å"stock value gap† when compare to the top competitor, meaning the lesser the gap the higher the customer satisfaction ratings of the firm. In relation to portfolio performance, the study indicated that portfolios with firms that had high satisfaction scores produced positive trend portfolios. Over a 10-year period those positive trend portfolios yield better than others and more impressively better than the S&P 500. Through reading this article I began to see clearly the importance and relevance of marketing to the success of the firm. As shown by the research indicated in this article, firms should begin to place an additional emphasis of the marketing function throughout the firm. I was particularly interested in the idea of having a Chief Marketing Officer in the boardroom. The idea of having a voice for the customer in the boardroom is positive in all aspects. Firms with a CMO offer additional input if the goal of the firm is to pursue innovation, differentiation and complex branding initiatives. As seen in the articles for this week, innovation and differentiate can excel a firm greatly. Having a CMO will only offer an additional benefit to the firm. Fine also included a section on the â€Å"Bond strategies effecting the firm,† which analyzed that the perceived brand relevance and brand energy provide incremental information to explain stock returns other than the information explained by accounting measures. This section focuses on how mergers and acquisitions use this analysis to determine the value of the target firm. This was interesting to me due to the focus of mergers and acquisitions being on the customer base of the target firm. Typically, my first thought in relation to mergers and acquisitions would be to consider the balance sheet and stock value of the firm as to how the particular target firm could be beneficial. After reading this article I would like to know how much these studies have sparked firms to begin doing in-house research, as well as how many have began focusing on the customer as a driving factor to the shareholder value of the company and performance of the firm.

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case Study Example The investigations carried out on her husband’s semen did in fact reveal no anomalies. The patient has been offered some antibiotics to improve on her situation prior to a myomectomy being carried out. The couple have been advised to consent to a hysterectomy to solve the problem but have declined since they will be requiring their own children in future. The lady has been found to have a permanent condition on her uterus which can cause relentless bleeding and pain. This condition could also be easily responsible for the lady’s infertility problem. The patient could not be informed of the above conditions since she was under anesthesia. Her husband however consented to the operation despite his spouses disapproval. The consent given by the woman’s husband tends to contravene the ethics of medicine regarding the issues of justice, beneficence, nonmaleficence and autonomy of a patient undergoing such a procedure. The doctor has also been unethical by infringing on his patient’s autonomy and beneficence by disclosing her condition to her spouse without consent . He is however justified in disclosing the condition since the condition may affect their marriage and future. Both the doctor and the husband may also infringe on the principle of non-maleficence since the operation could do more harm than good to the woman despite her not consenting to the procedure. This could end up bringing injustices to the woman and her future in their marriage. Finally, the doctor contravenes the principle of beneficence which suggests that he should act in the best interests of his patient. The doctor will be infringing on his patients right of deciding whether or not she should undergo the operation . A nurse at the hospital has raised concerns regarding the consent given by the husband allowing the doctor to proceed on the operation on his wife. The nurse objects to the operation

This a quick note which I mentioned it before Essay

This a quick note which I mentioned it before - Essay Example Their applauses sound much louder and the yells are more frequent. Tension slowly creeps in as the game is nearing the end. This is a very tight fight. I don’t know what happened, but suddenly, D seems to pick up momentum and makes several good smashes. The â€Å"thug..thug..thug..† sounds seem more piercing. The players must really be giving hard hits with the racquet. V could not seem to keep up with the overwhelming change in pace. She is not able to give as much good hits like D does. It is almost easy to guess who will win the match. D gives consecutive good hits, sending the crowd to a sudden uproar! Several people are not sitting on the bleachers anymore. They keep jumping and waving and clapping in the air. A Sudden Shift I arrived shortly before noon, approximately 11:00 am at Durham, N.C. I was wearing blue to match the university color, and as I walked inside the open court, I saw several blue-dressed students too. Some faces looked familiar, but several shot a couple of glances with smiles. Surely, they knew why I was wearing blue. I positioned myself at the mid-part of the bleachers..not wanting to be too near nor too far from the event. I felt at home with the several familiar faces I saw in the arena. I seated comfortably as I waited for the match to begin. The announcement of the beginning of the match sent the crowd to happy applauses and excited shouts, and when the game officially began, the air seemed to suddenly stand still. Everyone fell quiet, turning their head from side to side, following the tennis ball from one court to the other court. It had been a relaxed first half of the game, and I did not expect the crowd to be rowdy towards the latter part of the match. I then felt myself getting excited with the crown..my heartbeat drumming in the ears till I can imagine my chest thumping from the intensity of my pulses. I never thought that I could feel so excited for a tennis game. I have watched a couple of athletics games be fore, and never had I imagined that tennis games could send the crowd to a frenzied state. It was indeed a close game! There was that part in the game when I almost could not seem to understand what happened. All it took was an extraordinary nice smash by D, and it seemed like it defined that game. Right after that second, the relaxed excitement was replaced by loud cheers and applause. Even the jeers and boos went relatively louder. It was as if the movements of everyone were suddenly orchestrated. D’s hits became more and more incredible, while V sank further and further down. Even her stance showed a little unsteadiness, like she was not 100% sure anymore. Before, V was able to answer to the nice smashes of her opponent, but during those final moments, she cannot give cheer-worthy smashes anymore. Maybe D felt that, and took advantage of that. I remember during the earlier art of the game, this same thing happened; the only difference was that V was in the lead then. There was a momentum in her that just suddenly stopped when she missed a supposedly-good hit. It is just that it was totally different for D. V had something that stopped her amazing performance, while D here had something that started it. I knew from that second that if it went on, it would decide the fate of these two players in this particular game. The cheers even seemed to have added to D’s performance. As the game went on towards the final scores, the excited claps went on. All the while, V’s fans seemed to have shared her feeling. The quiet,

COMM GROUP ASSIGNEMTN Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

COMM GROUP ASSIGNEMTN - Assignment Example It would inquire respondent student’s personal backgrounds. Possible answers to the question would provide the respondent’s name, origin (such as Hispanic) and marital status. The second question would inquire the respondent student’s place of residence. The third question would investigate the interesting cultural facts in the respondent student’s personal history. Answers to the question would involve the respondent student’s mentioning of any interesting idea. The fourth question inquires the experiences that respondent student have had adapting to new cultures. Due to Modernization and globalization, the world society appreciates shared cultures. The students are likely to share such cultures as website communication through social media, westernized dressing style, food choices and the love for games. They all have a sense of collective professional career pursuit. Despite the pressure of globalization and modernization, the student would still experience some cultural difference between them. For example, students would have such cultural differences as religious beliefs, food choices, peer interaction, racial segregation, ethnicity and social interactions (Timmerman, 2007). Firstly, they must psychologically be prepared to handle one another from a diverse perspective owing to their cultural diversity. They should develop a formidable conflict resolution mechanism among themselves. Moreover, the ought to primarily view themselves as brothers irrespective of their regional, racial or ethnic

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 - Essay Example In the futuristic society people’s main leisure activity is watching TV, independent thinking and reading are illegal, books are burned, and information given to the citizens is censored. The protagonist Montag, who burns books for a living, does not question such way of life. However, a meeting with a teenager Clarisse changes the main character’s point of view. Clarisse does not share the values of the society and prefers traditional pastimes of reading, contemplating and talking to people. Talking to her Montag starts to realize that even though advanced gadgets can make life easier, technology and mass culture can take over human lives. Fast development of technology gives the impression that we already live in the world described by Bradbury in the novel. It is evident in the fact that modern life cannot be imagined without TV, computers, social networks and instantaneous exchange of information. People have the impression that they already live in the future. Howe ver, the future based on digital technology and mass culture hides threats modern people overlook. Ray Bradbury more that a decade ago predicted what the course of development taken by our society could bring. In the novel Bradbury warns us about the danger of: abuse of technology that can distort reality and isolate people; consumerism that lays the foundations for the uniform pleasure-seeking society; manipulation through mass media that can result in the loss of free will. By describing the damage caused by lack of human communication, fascination with superfluous entertainment and media manipulation, Bradbury’s purpose is to prevent such conditions before they occur. For one thing, the more people rely on machines, the less they value and notice humans. As a consequence, in digital society, people are lonely and isolated from real world connections. Through the persona of Faber, English professor made redundant in

Geography discuss from the telegraph to the internet from the point of Essay

Geography discuss from the telegraph to the internet from the point of view of spaces and subjects of modernty - Essay Example As early as 3500 B.C., the Chinese people were busy using written alphabets and printing messages on paperlike material which was used to pass messages across long distances with the postal service that began around 900 B.C. This printed form of language was bound into books beginning around 100 A.D. The shortened form of books, newspapers, began appearing in the cities as early as 1450, but the typewriter wasn’t invented until 1714. All of these methods of communication were effective, even to pass messages across space and time, but they all required the human component to transport them in order to be effective. Joseph Henry invented the first telegraph in 1831 which broke this long-standing restriction, allowing messages to be passed as quickly as a signal could be sent over a wire. Alexander Graham Bell reasoned that if a single sound could be sent via wire, why not a range of sounds, such as a human voice? He perfected his telephone in 1876 and the wires were in place for the first transcontinental phone call to be made in 1914. Things pretty much remained the same on the communications front for a while as inventors explored the possibilities of other forms of communication such as radio, photography, cinema and television (Rowland, 1997). About the time that television was becoming household equipment, the first computers were becoming available for scientific use. As early as 1951, they were being produced and sold on the general market. However, computers as a communication tool didn’t really become an option until the advent of APRANET, the first form of a networked internet that was developed in 1969. These connections were made faster with the introduction of cable wire services in 1972 (Rowland, 1997). At this point, communications methods began speeding up, constantly changing and improving efficiency. In Japan in 1979, the

Oreos and Milk, Chinese Style Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oreos and Milk, Chinese Style - Assignment Example The profit of Kraft in European Union and the developing countries grew outpacing the U.S. profit growth. China, being the fourth largest country, and has the highest population estimated to 1,330,141,295 (as of July 2010) gave Kraft Foods an opportunity in introducing Oreo cookies. Although Kraft introduced the top-selling U.S. style Oreo cookies in 1996, it was only in 2006 that Oreo cookies was totally accepted all over the parts of China. The original Oreo cookies presented was too sweet and too expensive for the Chinese consumers. Kraft however, was not discourage to continue introducing and selling the Oreo cookies in China. This made them think that reinventing the Oreo cookies is the only way that the populous country of China would accept Oreo cookies. Several marketing strategies were made to make their product more acceptable to Chinese consumers. In the event of their study, they found out that, first, the Chinese are not accustomed to sweet foods particularly chocolates (most of the Chinese’ food pattern is more on rice-based products, spices, low calorie diet, soy products, and fruits and vegetables), secondly, China is big which is also divided in two regions, the North and the South, wherein, the two regions has two extreme climate condition (Northern part is extremely cold, while the Southern part is tropical), and third, the Chinese are born thrifty (they find Oreo cookies too expensive). Kraft considered other alternatives to make Chinese consumers patronize Oreo cookies. In 1996, Kraft Foods introduced Oreo cookies in China in the form of the original top-selling Oreo cookies of the U.S. However, even a lot of marketing effort has been done, the sales of the Oreo cookies in China remained flat. This statement is supported with my aforementioned discussion in the research. The study is limited to Kraft Food and its marketing strategy in selling Oreo cookies in China. Kraft’s

Mobile Phone Industry in India Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Mobile Phone Industry in India - Research Paper Example The country was a close-door economy until 1991 and languishing at the low GDP growth rate ever since independence. The country faced severe balance of payments problem in the beginning of 1990s and that forced the then newly elected Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao to initiate the liberalization and globalization process in full swing to put the country in high growth trajectory. That was indeed a turning point in the country. The state behemoth BSNL was the only service provider in the public sector and landline was the only available way of communication to the people. The people of the country had to wait several years to get BSNL landline connection as wait-list was fairly long and state resources were not enough to meet the investment needs of the country. (An Economic History of India) In the wake of economic liberalization process, India suddenly became lucrative and telecommunication was earmarked as one of the thrust areas. The government introduced National Telecom Polic y in 1994 that defined certain objectives and also recognized the fact that the government does not have enough resources to meet the desired objectives. In 1995, the government of India decided to set up an independent regulatory body called TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). The purpose was to regulate and spearhead the growth and investment in the field of telecommunication and formulate all policy matters striking a balance between users and industry.     India is a second largest country in the world in terms of population. As per the latest census, a population of the country has crossed 121 billion marks and that offers huge telecom market in the making. Administratively, the country is divided into 28 states and seven union territories. On religious composition, 80.5 percent of the population follows Hindu religion. Muslims constitute almost 13.4 percent of the population as the largest minority community. Christians constitute almost 2.3% of the population. I ndia is also a land of many languages; however, Hindi is understood and spoken by a large section of the society. Most of the educated classes of the people understand English and majority of them prefer to do their official work in English. Southern states do not follow Hindi language and prefer their own languages such as Tamil, Malayalam or Telugu; however, they too use English in their formal communications. In a way, it can be said that due to British legacy English has become fairly common as a second language of India and widely used as a formal way of communication in all parts of the country. Indian constitution is unique in the sense that in spite of its large section of the population is Hindu, India has established itself as a secular state. Every citizen of the country regardless of their faith, language or origin enjoys equal rights. The current literacy rate as per census 2011 is estimated at 74 percent, which shows a 10 percent improvement from the previous census do ne in 2001. This is attributable to the free education provided in the villages by the government. (Census Data Summary) The customs in India are different than what is observed in the US. It is always advisable to learn and use Indian business customs in India. Hierarchy is given a great respect in India.  Ã‚  

Human behaviour Essay Example for Free

Human behaviour Essay Arthur Millers The crucible is a play that shows the extremes of human behaviour both good and bad. In this essay I will be discussing these extremes and also hope the essay will help me conclude whether the best or the worst of human behaviour is presented more strongly. I will also aim to link these themes to events, which would have affected the author at the time the play written. I will give examples of each type of behaviour and conclude. I will start by explaining about the background of the crucible. Arthur Miller wrote it in 1950s America but it is set in Salem 1692. Salem was a puritan community that because of the time had very little scientific knowledge so blamed any unexplained happenings on witchcraft. If someone was accused of witchcraft and confessed they were saved from being hanged but if they denied the charges then they were almost definitely hanged. This is how the witch-hunt began, people would be accused and they would confess and blame others and in turn the others accused would accuse someone else. Millers reasons for writing this play were mainly because the events happening in the 1950s America. At this time in America a modern day witch hunt was taking place. But instead of witches they were hunting communists. Communism is a political theory that states that everyone in society is equally wealthy. Russia had already had a communist revolution and communism had spread to China also. This was the cause of much conflict in Vietnam in which America was heavily involved. The American government was afraid that communism would spread to America and the people would overthrow the government. Also communism clashes with the right wing policies of the American government. Senator Joseph McCarthy was a main figure in this and so this was called McCarthyism. They tackled the threat of communism by passing laws to restrict the actions of communist supporters. Arthur Miller himself was accused of being a communist and like many others would have been questioned about his friends, family and political beliefs and also asked to name others involved. In response to this Arthur Miller wrote the crucible to try and show how the hysteria in the 1950s was similar to the hysteria in Salem 1692. The worst of the behaviour in The crucible is shown mainly in the character Abigail Williams. Abigail is from the very beginning a central character in the play and uses most of her time in the play to seek revenge on one woman, Elizabeth Proctor. She manipulates the court and the other girls into helping her with her plan under the pretence of doing Gods work. It is clear from the very beginning of the play that Abigail bears a grudge against Elizabeth from the language used. Cold imagery is used when Abigail describes Elizabeth; Its a bitter woman, a lying, cold, snivelling woman(act1). The reason for this is because John Proctor, Elizabeths husband had an affair with Abigail and Elizabeth subsequently sacked Abigail. Abigail is still in love with John and hopes that if Elizabeth is hanged then John will want her back. Miller helps us understand the passion of the love Abigail feels for John by the hot imagery used; I have a sense for heat, Johnand I have seen you looking up, burning in your loneliness(act 1). Abigail realising her power over the court goes about accusing anybody she can think of. There are a few people however who doubt her however Elizabeth, John and reverend Hale but none of them can stop her. She carries on accusing people up until the end of act three where John Proctor confesses to the court that he had an affair with Abigail and calls her many names whore and Harlot. Abigail then realises that John does not love her and she steals all of her uncles money and runs away with Mercy Lewis another of the girls. Abigail is a character who is selfish and manipulating and one who shows no compassion to those who she falsely accuses. I think this character was not one that the audience would ever feel sorry for because of the way she is portrayed by Miller. I myself felt angry at the character and I think this was because she shows no remorse and even while other characters see the error of their ways and try and put things right she never even attempts to clear her conscience. Another Character who displays one of the worst examples of behaviour is Reverend Parris who is Abigails uncle. Although he does not cause as much trouble as his niece he is a character that is portrayed by Miller as a self-absorbed and selfish. This is portrayed in many ways; one of them is in Act 1 when although he is upset about his daughter he still has time to question Abigail about their actions in the woods. This may have at first seemed like concern for his child (Betty) but then miller slowly brings the audience to realise that he is only worried that his reputation may be damaged a quote which shows this is But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know it now, for surely me enemies will, and they will ruin me with it(act 1). Another is that he is extremely vain and thinks that he deserves the deeds to the house set aside for the minister and although he now owns the house he still talks of more money he needs. John Proctor says something that really sums up Parris vanity Since we built the church there were pewter candlesticks upon the altar But Parris came, and for twenty week he preach nothin but golden candlesticks until he had them(act 2) which shows even though he preaches the puritan way of life he wants the luxuries no-one else is allowed. Even at the end of the play when most of the characters are trying to help John Proctor the only thing Parris is worried about is himself and that there will be a rebellion against the church if Proctor is hanged. Parris pathetic character is shown most prominently at the end mainly in the stage directions which show him sobbing because he has no money and is once again concerned for himself when he starts talking about how much danger he is in You cannot hang this sort. There is danger for me. I dare not step outside at night!

A Critical Analysis Of The Oslo Peace Accord Politics Essay

A Critical Analysis Of The Oslo Peace Accord Politics Essay Account for the success and the failure of the Oslo peace accord. This essay will discuss the ongoing attempts of getting a peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel. The essay will also examine the 1993 Oslo Accords that started the peace process. It will also highlight a brief history of the two nations involved, that brought about the signing the historic Oslo Accords. Also, get some finding after the signing, whether it has encountered any obstacles on its way, and finally made an account of it success and failure. The Palestinians did not feel comfortable, after the Six Day War in 1967, they had planned to crush Israel with the help other armies from Jordan, Egypt, etc. The plan did not work and only did the Palestinians loss the war but it was more than a war. The West Bank and Gaza Strip was now under control of Israel. The creation of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) came in earlier years, under the leadership of Yasir Arafat their motive was political and a paramilitary organisation of Palestinian Arabs. It dedicated to establishing independent for the Palestinians state, around the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and by so doing, their intention was to replace Israel. Some groups within the organisation have not been in agreement with the redefinition of it mandate not to conquer only the Gaza Strip and West Bank but also Israel. Nevertheless, despite the numerous changes in government that has taken place in the 1980s and the 1990s in Israel, all with different political agenda and ideologies, they all seen to be sinking for peace for national development. However, The Labor government elected in July 1992 froze new construction in the West Bank including many of the units that Sharons office had in the pipeline. The Likud government that returned to power in 1996 thawed freeze, but with the comeback to power of Labor in June 1999 and the resumption of the peace talk with the Palestinians, construction for Israelis in the West Bank was no longer a government priority. (Alterman, 2002). In 1992 when the Israels election campaign was at its pick, Terje Larsen, a Norwegian sociologist and the head of an Oslo-based institute of Applied Social Sciences, known as FAFO in Norwegian acronym, Terje was also the main architects of the Oslo agreement. Larsen met with Yossi Beilin who was a member of the opposition Labor in the Israeli Knesset. Both men met and voiced out their doubt if whether the progress could be made in Washington talks on peace between the Israel and Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. (BEILIN, 1999). Beilin was to belief Larsen about the having direct talks between the PLO and Israel will be necessary for any peace, therefore suggested that he talk to Yair Hirschfeld, a senior lecturer on Middle East affairs at university of Haifa. Hirschfeld had express interest in the economic and social-political aspect of the conflict that Larsen was exploring. Larsen on the other was of the believed that, there was the need for the Israeli has to talk to the PLO. However, Israel law banned contact with the PLO officials. Nevertheless, due to the ban, there was the need to fine another means and therefore Larsen suggested a creation of backchannel all the parties involve, including Faisal Husseini of East Jerusalem a prominent member of the PLO. However Husseini was involve in the Washington negotiations because the Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir due to him been a resident of East Jerusalem and his participation will amount to any Israeli concession in the near future of the status of Israels capital. After all the negotiations, limitation and the discussion the 13 September 1993-the day the Declaration of Palestinians (DOP), was sign at the South Lawn of the White House with the US President Bill Clinton as the master of the ceremony, hosting the representatives of the states of Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation(PLO). The signing sealed with a historic handshake between the Israeli and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman Yasir Arafat, it became one of the momentous events of the twentieth-century history of the Middle East. The two leaders redrew a geopolitical map of the whole region. Although the DOP was signed in Washington under the direction of the UN president, all the background woks, negotiation has been in Oslo and initialled the Oslo Accord in late August. Therefore, a more propitiate name than naming it the Washington Accord. The accord itself was in two parts, the first was a mutual recognition betwe en the Israel and the PLO, and it took a form of simple letters, on plain paper with no letterheads, dated on the 9 and 10 September sign by the two leaders. The second part was the Declaration of Principles on the Interim Self-Government Arrangements, in the occupied territories. The Oslo Accord was not a peace deal but a peace process. Under the DOP arrangement there were set of agreement that both parties needed to for fill in the order to come to a peace accord, (Shlaim, 1994). The demands (Palestinians) Independent Palestinians states, states the Palestinians can call their own, Palestinians also wanted lands Israel took in the 6 days war. The Palestinians also wanted Jerusalem as the capital. Return of Palestinians Refugees and the removal of all Jewish Settlements. The Palestinians demands were threat to Israel but there was need for Israel to accept them. However, before all this demand to meet there needed to be true scenes of trust between the two leaders and the Oslo Accord was design for that. Israel commitments: Israeli agreed to accept the PLO not as a terrorist organisation but as legal body under the new name of Palestinian Authority (P.A), it also was ready to transfer lands to the PA. Israelis were committed to educating its people for peace and prepares them for the Palestinians next door. The creation of a P.A. police force of up 10,000, with no provision for terrorist and the Israelis were to supply arms to the P.A. to police their own people and to destroy terror. (Makovssky, 1996). For peace to become successful, the P.L.O was to give some commitment too, and some of the commitments made were: To end all kind of terror activities, they also agreed to recognise Israels right to exist by amending the P.L.O national charter, which call for the destruction of all of Israel. The P.A. made a commitment to destroy all terror groups and size all weapons and to protect all Jewish Holy sites that falls under the PA control, all feature negotiation will be by diplomacy and never again, to go back to terror and it final commitment was to educate for peace. However, Israels commitment to Oslo was so great that it began to talk peace all over, in all levels in schools and it was ready to deal with anyone who will disagree to perching peace. Despite all the effort for peace not all Israelis were convinced, and there were shock when terror came in 1995 when Jewish militant assassinated Yitzhak Rabin. Nevertheless, the success of the Israeli support for peace education was seen as 28% were in support of creating a Palestinians states before Oslo because of security threat, and in the years following Oslo, it went up 51%. Israel had met part of its commitment in Oslo agreement. However, there were still acts of terror from the side of the Palestinians and more than the years before Oslo. The P.A. did not violate it main commitment of ending terror, but all of the commitment made at the signing since the terror groups like Hamas were still operate under the watchful eyes of the P.A. The Holy Site was not protected by the Palestinians received land but Israel did not receive peace. There are no clear words of success to the Oslo Accord, only that Israel was committed to the accord by complying with its parts of the commitment made, moreover, on the other hand of the accord the Palestinians were probably not ready for peace and so did not comply with the commitment it made. However, there are more to say on its failure than one can image, according to Pundak in a 2001 publication by the Institute of Strategic Studies. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Netanyahu sabotaged the peace process relentlessly, and made every effort to de-legitimise his Palestinian partners. His main weapon in his campaign against the Palestinians was the mantra that the Palestinians were not fulfilling its part of the agreements; and therefore Israel would not implement its part. In truth, during Netanyahus government, both sides committed breaches with regard to the agreement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ But the Israeli breaches were more numerous and more substantive in nature. The goals between the two states involve were incompatible with each other existence as few people to lived in peace. A peace agreement out of the balance meant failure was investable.

Remarks on the Spoudaios in Plotinus Essay -- Ethics Philosophy Papers

Remarks on the Spoudaios in Plotinus Who is the Plotinian spoudaios and what is his function in the Enneads? This question turns out to be fundamental, especially when trying to make out an ethical dimension in Plotinus. Treatise I 4 [46] offers, concerning that question, not only the longest sustained discussion of the spoudaios, but also shows how highly problematic it is to figure out more precisely his characteristics. This is due to the terminological ambiguity with the term sophos, which is also the reason why the two terms are often considered synonymous by translators. It appears in I 4 that this ambiguity is closely related to the question of aisthesis. And this is also perhaps the main problematic point concerning the spoudaios: he is instituted by Plotinus as the paradigm of the ‘living man,’ but is still described as someone who has detached himself from the bounds of the sensible world. So this leads to several conclusions concerning the Plotinian conception of ethical implication. 1. status questionis Who is the plotinian spoudaios and what is his function in the Enneads? This question occurs especially in regard to treatise I 4 [46] which offers the longest sustained discussion of the spoudaios. The main problem which presents itself as regards the term spoudaios is its apparent terminological similarity with sophos. As most translations show, both terms seem to be taken as almost synonymous, the most problematic one being Brà ©hier's French translation of the Enneads where spoudaios and sophos figure as the wise (le sage). This has mainly to do with the tradition of the term of spoudaios, as will be shown further on. What I would like to show in this paper is that the function of the spoudaios has b... ...ry similar formulation in the pseudoplatonic Definitions: "spoudaios: o teleios agathos; ho echon ten autou areten "(415e). (10) Even though within the three Ethics the status of the spoudaios turns out not to be totally equivalent. It is not possible to discuss further this point, as it would lead to considerations which go beyond the purpose of this paper. (11) NE III, 1113a32-33. (12) H. v. Arnim, Stoicorum veterum fragmenta, Teubner, Stuttgart, 1964, vol. III. (13) In Philo, vol. IX, trad. Colson, p. 10-100. (14) Which is the Henry-Schwyzer version, while Armstrong and Brà ©hier read: "kan spoudaios e autarkes†¦" (15) Which is the classic argument since Aristotle, NE, I. 10. 1100a8 and 11. 1101a8. (16) All quotations are from Armstrongs translation, whereas I keep the Greek terms for spoudaios and sophos, so to avoid further ambiguities.

Autonomy and Responsibility The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bombs on Ja

Autonomy and Responsibility The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bombs on Japan Along with being a world superpower comes a long list of resposiblilities. One such responsibility is the decision of how to deal with other nations when they get out of line. People will always point fingers at who they think is at fault when a nation has to go to war with another. One such example of this is when the United States was brought into the Second World War because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. By becoming involved in World War Two, the U.S. had to fight Japan, which led to the most important decision of the century. This decision was whether or not to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This decision was mainly placed on the shoulders of President Harry Truman. Truman did not jump to the idea of using the atomic bombs on Japan right away. In fact, he and other military officials came up with a few strategies for invading the Philippines initially (1, 17). Some military officials first proposed creating a blockade in the Pacific with carriers (1,18). Another plan was a two-phase amphibious assault on the island of Kyushu (1,18). In this plan the first landing would be followed by a larger second invasion (1,19). With this plan, though, it was estimated that Japan would not surrender until late 1946 (1,21). Also, it meant the use of British troops, and Great Britain could not afford to spare any because of the campaign in Europe (1,21). This meant that far too many lives would be lost on both sides, with a startling amount of half a million on the American side. By now the idea of using the first atomic bomb on Japan was being born. Due to the difficulty of fighting the Japanese in the Philippines, partially because of... ...deal world no bombs would be needed at all because there would be no wars,†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.but lets face the fact that that will never happen. There will always be conflicts between nations that can only be resolved through war. Works Cited 1)Fogelman, Edwin. Hiroshima: The Decision to Use the A-bomb. New York: Scribner. 1964. 2)Lifton, Robert Jay. Hiroshima in America. New York: Putnam's Sons. 1995. 3)Sherwin, Martin J. A World Destroyed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1975. 4)Skates, John Ray. The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb. Columbia: University of South Carolina. 1994 5)Hiraoka, Takashi. "Hiroshima" August, 1998. Online posting. 5 Feb. 1999 < http://www.igc.apc.org/napf/hiroshima98.html>. 6)Bernard, Tony. "Atomic Bombs" 1995 Online Posting. 3 Sep. 1997 < http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/City/ABombDamage/01.html>

College Athletes Should be Compensated Essay -- Argumentative Persuasi

College Athletes Should be Compensated    Eddie is a poor boy growing up in a bad neighborhood. He's not too much different from any other boy, except for one thing. He is the most physically gifted athlete that the world has ever seen. His father is in jail and his mother has to work two jobs. Just because there was no way to go to college and impress the pros, the world missed out on watching the greatest athlete that may have ever walked the earth. Everyday, people like Eddie are forced to drop out of school early because of financial trouble. It is also true that a large percentage of student-athlete recruits are from the low middle to lower class families. If more of these recruits had financial help from the school, they could continue their college education, instead of dropping out early. There is no way to tell how much excitement has been missed by not seeing these genuine athletes perform. There is a certain amount of dedication that goes in to college sports, and these NCAA slaves should be compensated for their work. Pay college athletes, it's the right thing to do. One problem athletes have is paying for tuition. The tuition in schools is quite expensive. For example, it costs about $5,000 dollars per semester to go to the University of Las Vegas. If athletes were paid they could pay for tuition and many other financial problems that kids face in college. They could use the money for gas, food, laundry, and clothes. This is why a lot of students drop out, because they are sick and tired of having no money. Paying the hard working athletes would give a reward to the dedicated kids that give up their lives to play for the school. Some people say that athletes can get a job in their spare time that pays well en... ... DeVenzio, Dick. "College Athletes should be paid" Opposing Viewpoints. Laura K.Egendorf. San Diego, Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1999.    Goperlud III, C. Peter. "Stipends For Collegiate Athletes: A Philosophical Spin on a Controversial Proposal" University of Kansas School of Law 5 Dec. 2002 <http://www.law.ukans.edu/jrnl/goplerud.htm>    Johns, Keith. "College athletes sell products but never see the profits" The Summer Post 8 Dec. 2002 <http://132.235.238.184/archives/072596/atoddkj.html>    Martinez, Mark. "Show Them The Money! Do what's right &emdash; give college players their due." Student.com-The College Site 3 Dec. 2002 <http://www.student.com/article/pay>    Shea, John. "What effect has big money had on college athletics?" University of Pennsylvania 8 Dec. 2002 <http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/features/1994/061694/bigmoney.html>

How Is Curley Presented by Steinbeck in of Mice and Men

Curley is one of ‘Of Mice and Men’s’ major characters. Although he does not appear to hold a central role, he is very important in other respects. The first of these is the way in which he treats George and Lennie, and the ranch workers in general on the ranch. Curley is the boss’ son. Therefore he acts like he is the boss himself. He orders the others around, and, although it is true that he does hold some power on the ranch, he does not hold any respect from the workers.He is nasty towards them, treating as though they are them below him, and often trying to pick fights. Curley is disliked by pretty much everyone on the ranch, and with good reason. George immediately dislikes his hostility, and shows the same attitude in return. He himself says â€Å"I hate that kind of a guy† as soon as he has and warns Lennie to â€Å"have nothing to do with him†. Even Curley’s own wife dislikes him, sarcastically saying â€Å"swell guy, ainâ€℠¢t he† when told to talk to him by Candy. Furthermore, Candy, although not directly airing his dislike mentions the he is â€Å"handy.God damn handy. † The way in which Candy says this hints towards his dislike for Candy being on account of his aggressive nature and hostility, rather than simply being due to his nastiness. His desire to fight with people all the time shows two things. Firstly, it shows inferiority complex: Curley is short, and therefore is constantly trying to be better than â€Å"big guys†. Secondly, it shows his aggression. Curley holds a fighting stance when he first encounters George and Lennie: â€Å"his arms gradually bent at the elbows and his hands closed into fists.He stiffened and went into a slight crouch. † According to Candy, Curley is an amateur boxer and is always picking fights, especially with guys who are bigger than he is. Ultimately, Curley is trying to prove his masculinity. Another way in which Curley can be seen as t rying to prove himself is by marrying a physically attractive woman. His wife is never given a name, but by calling her â€Å"Curley's wife,† Steinbeck indicates she is his possession. Curley refuses to let her talk to anyone on the ranch, isolating her from everyone and setting the stage for trouble.This trouble happens in Section 3, where he accuses Slim of being with his wife and is completely wrong. He is ganged up on by the ranch workers, and picks on Lennie in order to vent his anger at being picked on. This turns out to be a mistake. Lennie quickly crushes his hand, and Curley has to be taken to the hospital. Luckily for George and Lennie, Slim comes to there aid, telling Curley â€Å"your hand got caught in a machine†. He makes a big show of keeping his hand soft to caress her, yet also visits the local whorehouse on Saturday night.While he may strut around the ranch because of his position as the boss' son, he obviously cannot satisfy his wife and is mean, or perhaps simply detached from her. Curley beats up any man who dares to talk to her, but ironically, he rarely talks to her himself, and they spend the majority of the book looking for each other. When Curley’s wife dies, Curley, rather than showing the reaction that would be expected of a man whose wife has just been killed. He does not appear to grieve at all in any way, barely looking at the body, or regarding the her death into his immediate future plans.Instead, his first thought is towards seeking revenge and hunting down Lennie. It is perhaps this moment in the novel which epitomises the way in which Curley is aggressive, nasty, and shows no concern for anyone else apart from himself. All of this seems to be negative however. Surely Steinbeck didn’t present Curley in a poor light? Well, there may some positive aspects to Curley, or perhaps those which are not entirely bad. Firstly, he does appear to show some care for his wife. He is constantly looking for her, a nd appears to try and protect her.Although she is more of a possession to him than a person, he is clearly proud of her, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. Also, Curley is a good worker. He is one of the best on the ranch, having grown up there, and this shows in his care for his work. Unlike most of the other characters, Curley doesn’t develop much over the course of the book, but he stands out as a character with whom Steinbeck does not sympathise. Whilst everyone else is struggling, Curley’s busy picking fights and trying to throw his weight around on his dad’s ranch. He seems to be outside of the economic struggle and even the personal struggle of the Depression.Curley’s the kind of person that is needed in contrast to the mild peacefulness of the other characters. Also, someone is needed to be the source of trouble among the men of the ranch who mostly want to get along. In conclusion, if Steinbeck wrote ‘Of Mice and Men' as being a microcosm o f American society, then Curley represents one clear type of person. This is all the men in the country at the time who are petty and embittered, who wish to appear better than all of the others. He acts as a sort of control variable, whose actions and reactions can almost always be predicted, because he is such a simple shallow person.

Memory Cost Essay

Over the past 30 years the cost of Electronics has steadily decreased. The cost of electronic storage has decreased greatly over the past 30 years as well. In this paper I will be talking about the decrease in the cost of RAM and Hard Drive Storage, how much will a 100TB HDD will cost when it becomes widely available in the future, and how much memory I will be able to buy with $100 in 10 years. In 1956, IBM created the first commercial Hard Drive called the IBM 305 RAMAC which held 5MB and cost a whopping 50 thousand dollars! Electronic storage started being more widespread during the early 1980’s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that RAM and Hard Drive Storage begin to be cheap enough for the average person. Back in 1981 the price for one MB of Hard Drive storage space was $340! Most people couldn’t afford a computer back in the 1980’s because of the huge cost. Through the 1980’s the cost per MB fell from around $340 during 1981 then to $40 per MB i n 1988, and finally to $9 per MB in 1990. The cost of one Bit of ram in 1981 was 0.000425 cents, in 1988 it was 0.000005 cents, in 1995 it was 0.000000158 cents, in 2000 the cost per Bit was 0.000000063, and in 2013 the cost per Bit was 7.9Ãâ€"10^-10 cents. To get an understanding of how much memory will cost in the future and when 100TB hard drives will become commercially available, we have to take a look at how the price for memory has gotten cheaper over the past 10-30 years, the ever increasing amount of storage space that can be squeezed onto a hard drive platter, and take in to account the rapid growth in the technology field. According to Chris Mellor in his article (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/01/hp_memristor_2018/) technology giant HP announced that 100TB hard drives could be available as early as 2018. I firmly believe that in 4 years by 2018 there will be 100TB drives for sale to the public but they will probably be very expensive till they go into mass production. In 10 years, we will be able to buy a hard drive with a phenomenal amount of storage space. From 1990 to  2014 the price has gone down exponentially from $9 per MB to under 150 MB per Cent! If we follow that exponential trend we are looking at hard drives that can hold over 100TB that cost fewer than 100 dollars, while the RAM will decrease in price slower. In conclusion, the cost of Storage such as RAM and Hard Drives has gotten very cheap, from over $500 per MB to 5 cents per GB! We will see a continual decrease in the cost of electronic storage and an increase in the amount of storage in smaller packages. Picture Citation: http://www.aei.org/publication/chart-of-the-day-the-falling-price-of-memory/ Citations http://ns1758.ca/winch/winchest.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/01/hp_memristor_2018/ http://www.jcmit.com/memoryprice.htm

Kant the Sublime

The Sublime In Lyotard’s reading Lessons on the Analytic of the Sublime, he explains how critical thought exists within an infinite amount of creativity with no principles but in search of them. Lyotard understands the Kantian sublime as a way to comply with the standards that critically analyze postmodernism using deconstruction. Kant differentiated the sublime between the vastness and greatness and the dynamic sublime. The vastness sublime is so great we can’t just use our senses like we normally do; it requires us to heighten our senses beyond comprehension. The dynamic sublime is the way in which rationalizes things and his perceptions.Lyotard describes the boundlessness of the imagination and reason as a ‘differend’ and this is ‘to be found at the heart of sublime feeling: at the encounter of two absolutes equally present to thought, the absolute whole when it conceives, the absolutely measured when it presents. ’ (Lyotard) Our imagination understands forms and measures while reason understands something without form of an infinite nature of something. There is a separation of imagination and reason and when we use the ‘enigmatic’ power of critical thought we can reflectively judge something.Kant's presentation of the sublime has been taken up by Lyotard and he explores different ways of finding a philosophical understanding of different artworks. Through Longinus and Burke we can explore the pre-modern and modern conceptions of the sublime and through all these critiques we can draw different manifestations of the sublime in art. Kant questions how can someone judge an object before knowing how to properly judge that object and how do they know what proper judging is? Longinus in part of his critique implies that man can go beyond his limitations as a human being by experiencing emotions and language.The art or technical talents was described, as the human while the sublime was something that escaped ou r experience of art. ‘Sublimity consists in a certain excellence and distinction in expression’ (Longinus, pg 100). To understand and have knowledge of the sublime, there needs to be a vague understanding of something that is beyond our experience or senses. He explains that there is more to the human ordinary life because we feel this through the senses, but these senses are an incorrect interpretation caused by a physical perception as opposed to a psychological one.If you think about the sublime, it cannot be pictured or imagined but we have translated and suggested through the arts and poetry. Longinus tells us that nature is the creative and the first principle of the sublime and what follows is a matter luck and good mentors. In Goodbye Lenin, a German film directed by Wolfgang Becker, Lenin tries to hide the unification of Germany during the 1990’s from his mother who was in a coma throughout those months and has to stay in bed. He successfully conned her into thinking nothing had changed by using tricks like old product bottles and filming his own news broadcasts.This film successfully executes the idea of the sublime in what was going on between his mother and the rest of the world. ‘Our faults spring from the same place as our virtues. ’(Longinus)She believed everything around her was real and time had not changed but the people around her were well aware that this was a deception of reality. The way in which Lenin created the same world and reality his mother had always known is overwhelming to the senses and questions what is really for real? Burke believes that the ideas of pain and pleasure cannot be defined, but pleasure of every kind satisfies quickly.He goes on to say that there are two kinds of pleasure: the first that simply is and has no relation and the second that cannot exist without relation. The film has preserved and stopped time that defies nature and in reality cannot be done. The son is so scared an d terrified that his mother will die that he tries to please her by keeping the world exactly the same. This terror is the source of sublime because it creates the most emotion and he imagines the worst. The fear that his mother will die has caused him to be terrified. It explores different areas of the mind by letting her believe this lie.His mother would not survive the fact that everything she has believed in had crumbled while she was asleep and that the world she once knew was suddenly a capitalistic society that now included Burger king, Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Lenin did not want to devastate his mother and cause another heart attack so he had to make everything appear, as it always was wile the outside world was growing and expanding at such an accelerated rate. The kitsch setting of the typical German 1989 apartment filled with yellow flowered wallpaper and dark wood furniture brings calmness to his communist mother.The film captures the nature of humans and their strong social beliefs and how it can affect the human psyche. Burke believes that terror is the source of the sublime and that pain is the more powerful than pleasure. Lyotard believes that pain is not the end point, there is the ‘movement’ of pain to ‘pleasure’ In Joseph Turners Impressionistic painting titled Slave Ship, he has created a seen of vastness that relates to the Kantian sublime but moreover he has demonstrated the use of color and dynamic composition to create a sense of horror.The brushstrokes give a natural look to the painting and the seemingly unintentional brushstrokes create an organized composition. We are aesthetically pleased when we look at the painting because an overwhelming response is experienced when looking at the picture. Burke believed that the Beautiful was very different from the sublime. â€Å"All privation is great because they are all terrible: Vacuity, darkness, solitude, and silence. Low and intermittent sounds and shadows bring a bout feelings of the sublime. Above all, the actions of the mind are affected by the sublime. â€Å"The way in which Turner has used rough brush strokes and lots of contrast between moods and contrasting colors creates the Sublime as opposed to the Beautiful. The use of purple and blue shadows that cast over the foggy night, the bloodline skyline, the flaming enraged sea and the insignificant ship create a sense of horror. The Sublime is experienced in this painting because it is detached from the actual danger of being in an actual situation and rather experienced through the visual arts and poetry in its overwhelming vastness. There is a sense of elation and intimidation when traveling through the painting.Thomas Cole’s Landscape with Tree Trunks create a struggle to be able to understand what is being implied. It becomes uninviting to the viewer as the scary tree trunks in the foreground block our path into the painting and we get further into only for our view to be bloc ked again because of the mountains that come right into the middle part. The painting does not accommodate to human feelings. These are sublime components such as the scary trees, the contrasting light and dynamic sky create frustration in entering the painting make us feel that we are not welcomed and that we are in a wilderness that we cannot control.The overwhelming tree and sky not only creates and unexplained phenomena but also implies that time and power of nature is vast and infinite and these unpredictable forces can in themselves become sublime. The painting composition seems to have been distorted by Cole yet it feels genuine and believable. In the Pianist directed by Roman Polanski we are safe to knowing the reality of the actual circumstance of Jewish victims trapped in a concentration camp but we still enjoy the horrific actions taken against them caused by the overwhelming power of human nature.We are awed, disgusted and in disbelief by the question: â€Å"How can hum an beings do such things? † ‘There is no explanation for the communication of passion, but it is concluded through the experience or premonitions of others. ’(Burke) there is no way to rationalize how the Jews were treated during this time of suffering and we can’t even fathom such events to reoccur, but it still exists today. The pain and suffering that we experience as a witness is subliminal and in cannot be justified. Within the film Szpilman is able to detach from the war and all the pain and suffering he has experienced by playing the piano. When different men have a common faith in the object of admiration we come to the Sublime’ (Longinus). Szpilman creates his own sublime world through the piano. He creates a stimulus of powerful and inspired emotion and he seems to be dignified and elevated when playing the piano, not guilty or ashamed for being a Jew. His talent brings even his worst enemies to respect him and be in completely awestruck by his music breaking all boundaries of human laws and standards and elevating itself to a much higher place that is universal. The unknown and unbound is created in the film when everyone is awestruck and in total admiration of the music.In the end, art has the vastness that allows the mind to be free of obstacles of distraction. Basically, I understand Kant in his way of thinking of art as a way of means to letting the senses experience a feeling far greater than the everyday ordinary life and sublimity only exists in our minds and not in nature, and if we are conscious of this we can become superior to nature within and to nature which does exists without us. Lyotard explains that art should work with no rules and that it therefore cannot be judged and instead be combined and pluralized.Longinus explains that the human is the technical aspect of art while the sublime is the existential part of the human psyche that goes beyond our experience of art. Burke’s modern view of su blimity in art can only be experienced through actual knowledge an actual experience where things are only recreated and reordered. He thinks that death and fear are feelings of the sublime and that what one might expect is very different to what actual really happens and that expectation creates fear which in turn makes us unreasonable and therefore brings about the sublime.

Rustico and Alibech Storyby Giovanni Boccaccio

Rustico and Alibech by Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio The exact details of his birth are uncertain. A number of sources state that he was born in  Paris, but others denounce this as romanticism by the earliest biographers. In this case his birthplace was possibly in  Tuscany, perhaps in  Certaldo, the town of his father. He was the son of a  Florentine  merchant and an unknown woman, and almost certainly born illegitimate. Boccaccio grew up in Florence.His father was working for the  Compagnia dei Bardi  and in the 1320s married Margherita dei Mardoli, of an illustrious family. It is believed Boccaccio was tutored by Giovanni Mazzuoli and received from him an early introduction to the works of  Dante. In 1326 Boccaccio moved to  Naples  with the family when his father was appointed to head the Neapolitan branch of his bank. Boccaccio was apprenticed to the bank, but it was a trade for which he had no affinity. He eventually persuaded his father to let him s tudy law at the  Studium  in the city.For the next six years Boccaccio studied  canon law there. From there he pursued his interest in scientific and literary studies. His father introduced him to the Neapolitan nobility and the French-influenced court of  Robert the Wise  in the 1330s. At this time he fell in love with a married daughter of King Robert of Naples (known as  Robert the Wise) and she is immortalized as the character  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Fiammetta†Ã‚  in many of Boccaccio's prose romances, particularly  Il Filocolo  (1338).Boccaccio never married, but had three children. Mario and Giulio were born in the 1330s. In the 1340s, Violente was born in Ravenna, where Boccaccio was a guest of  Ostasio I da Polenta  from about 1345 through 1346. The Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio lived through the plague as it ravaged the city of Florence in 1348. The experience inspired him to write The Decameron, a story of seven men and three women who escape the disease by fleeing to a villa outside the city. In his introduction to the

Heroes and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Heroes and Culture - Essay Example But the way these heroes have affected the present cultures is different. They have ignited in people the will and power to be like them and fight for their rights. Today, people imitate them and follow their ideals. Obviously, no one will go to war but people do indulge in a silent war waged through the ideals of their heroes and proper channeling of plans. Today, heroes inspire people to bring about a desired change and fight against terrorism to save mankind. The name of the hero, Beowulf, is accepted as the title of a poem, originally untitled. The greatest surviving old English poem, in a volume of the Cottonian collection now placed in the British museum, London, known as Vitellius A XV. Beowulf a warrior at heart was a young nobleman of Geatas. (a people who lived in southern Sweden}.The main deeds of his bravery depict court life, social and moral problems of the layman. The legendary Geatish Hero killed two super natural demons, Grendel and Grendel's mother, who in human form, were terrorizing the court of Hrothgar, a Danish monarch. The other event depicts the killing of a dragon that was guarding a treasure since three hundred years. He died himself while pursuing this noble deed since Beowulf belonged to the inherited Germanic heroic traditions. ... The ethical values he transpired are manifest by the Germanic code of loyalty to the chief and tribe and vengeance to enemies. The critics see Beowulf as the champion of goodness and light against the forces of evil darkness. His sacrificial death is not seen as tragic but as a fitting end of a great hero's life. Role he played in inspiring others to imitate him Beowulf has inspired heroes in laymen to sacrifice for their people and to gain earthly joy. He has inspired goodness in many and also the common man to wake up from their deep slumber and take a stand. He has inspired heroes in a nation of the then cowardly people. Today, in the 21st century the age old tale has once again brought into light since Beowulf is now an epic movie about to be released soon. The legend has come alive and will inspire many yet again. Wolverine Wolverine is a fictional character and a superhero created by writer Len Wein, artist John Romita and illustrator Herb Trimpe. Recently, the character of Wolverine was refreshed by the movie X-men's writer Chris Claremont. Wolverine's catch phrase describes his character best; "I'm the best there is at what I do, but what I do isn't very nice." Wloverine is a mutant with animal keen senses and incrdible physical capabilities. He has the power to recover from his wounds supernaturally. Using the Weapon X with the indestructible metal alloy adamantium, Wolverine has long razor sharp nails. He is a master at martial arts as well. Deeds Wolverine has a long confusing history but the character gained limelight when it was included in the popular X-men series. He is a super hero who kills evil and especially goes against authoirty of all kinds. His deeds basically depict cunningness, sharpness, quickness and fearlessnes. These qualities

Research report on Australian financial services industry Essay

Research report on Australian financial services industry - Essay Example The economic recession spiralled by the subprime crisis has called upon business organizations particularly banks and other financial institutions to ensure better risk management practices. It also calls for financial institutions to increase the level of compliance. These calls for a collective effort on the part of bankers, central bankers as well as policy makers to formulate policies that seek to ensure financial health and stability of these crucial institutions of the economy. The present study would analyse the financial institutions in Australia with regards to their structure and legal framework. Special emphasis would be given to the banking sector in the report that would also analyse the challenges faced by the Australian banks. Structure of Australian Financial Institutions The Australian financial services industry is divided into a total of nine distinct sectors which includes deposit based financial institutions like banks and other credit agencies, non deposit based financial firms, the central bank, asset investing firms like stock trading companies, pension and superannuation fund management companies, auxiliary firms like stock brokers, mortgage securities firms, life insurance, general insurance and finally the insurance broking companies. The financial sector contributes about 18 billion Australian dollars to the nation’s economy which equals almost 8 percent of the total GDP of the nation. The nation has a total of 30000 financial institutions which also provide employment opportunities to a significant share of the population of the nation that is being pegged at 700000 individuals which includes approximately 6.4 percent of the total workforce in Australia (IBSA, 2010, p.4, 6). Figure 1: Assets of the Financial Institutions in Australia (Source: Austrade, 2009, p.13) The figure above shows the total assets of the financial institutions in Australia as of the year 2009. According to the statistics shown in the figure the total as sets of the financial institutions of the nation was 4431 billion Australian dollars. The compounded annual growth rate is being pegged at 11.8 percent starting from the year 1994. The financial institutions in Australia have also expanded their reach to across all the major and developing markets across the globe (Austrade, 2009, p.13). In terms of investment based funding assets the current value of the total assets in the nation is 541 billion AUD which is the fourth largest in the world. The figure is expected to grow to about 1979 billion AUD by the year 2015 (Austrade, 2009, p.16). Banking Industry in Australia As per the latest information from the Australian Reserve bank there are about 58 banks in the nation that includes 7 major banks, 7 local banks, 9 foreign banks incorporated in Australia and 35 foreign banks. The total cash and liquid assets including notes, deposits and coins apart from other liquid assets amounted to 3 percent of the total assets of residents in Aust ralia. Trading and investment based securities accounted for 9.3 percent and 6 percent respectively. The loans and advances segment including all forms of loans extended to the retail as well as corporate houses in the nation amount to 62.2 percent. Other