Pan Africanism Essay

Pan-africanism has a dual character: it is at the same time (i) an international political movement and (ii) a socio-political world-view, a philosophical and cultural umbrella concept, which seeks to correct the historical and cultural outrage that Europe has perpetrated on the continent during the past several centuries. An international movement As an international movement, the term denotes the forward-looking elements in Africa that have as their common goal the unity of all Africans and the elimination of colonialism and white supremacy from the continent. The First Pan-African Congress was held in London in 1900, and was followed by others in Paris in 1919, in London and Brussels (1921), London and Lisbon (1923), and in New York City in 1927. These conventions were organized chiefly by W. E. B. Du Bois[1] and attended by the North American and West Indian black intelligentsia. These, however, did not propose immediate African independence, rather, they favored gradual self-government and ‘interracialism’. In 1944, several African organizations in London joined to form the Pan-African Federation, which for the first time demanded African autonomy and independence. The Sixth Pan-African Congress was convened   in Manchester, England,   in 1945,   to which came future political leaders of Africa such as Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kwame Nkrumah of the Gold Coast, S. L. Akintola of Nigeria, and Wallace Johnson of Sierra Leone.   At the Manchester congress, Nkrumah founded the West African National Secretariat to promote a so-called ‘United States of Africa’. Pan-africanism can also be considered as an intergovernmental movement; which was launched in 1958 with the First Conference of Independent African States in Accra, Ghana. Ghana and Liberia were the only sub-Saharan countries represented; the rest were Arab and Muslim. Thereafter, as independence was achieved by more African states, other interpretations of Pan-Africanism emerged, including: the Union of African States (1960), the African States of the Casablanca Charter (1961), the African and Malagasy Union (1961), the Organization of Inter-African and Malagasy States (1962), and the African-Malagasy-Mauritius Common Organization (1964). In 1963 the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was founded to promote unity and cooperation among all African states and to bring an end to colonialism; and by 1995, it had 53 members. The OAU struggled with border disputes, aggression or subversion against one member by another, separatist movements, and the collapse of order in member states. One of its longest commitments and greatest victories was the end of apartheid and the establishment of majority rule in South Africa. Efforts to promote even greater African economic, social, and political integration led to the establishment in 2001 of the African Union (AU), a successor organization to the OAU modeled on the European Union. The AU fully superseded the OAU in 2002, after a transitional period. A socio-political world-view Pan-Africanism is also a sociopolitical world-view, which seeks to unify and uplift both native Africans and those of the African Diaspora, as part of a â€Å"global African community†. As originally conceived by Henry Sylvester Williams of Trinidad, pan-Africanism referred to the unity of all continental Black African cultures and countries. The concept soon expanded, however, to include all Black African-descended people worldwide, who had been dispersed to the United States of America, the Caribbean, Latin America and even parts of the Middle East and South Asia through the trans-Atlantic and Islamic/East African slave trades and, later, immigration. More recently, the term has expanded to encompass the Dravidian Blacks of India, including the Tamil, Siddi, Kamil, Kanikar and others; the Andamanese Island Negritos and the Black aboriginal populations of Australia, New Guinea and Melanesia. Pan-Africanism as a movement actually began in the West Indies, not Africa. Williams coined the term at the 1900 Pan-African Congress. To date, the Afro-Jamaican Marcus Garvey[2] has led the largest pan-African movement in world history with his UNIA-ACL organization that he founded in Kingston, Jamaica in 1912, and ‘Garveyism’ quickly spread in the United States when he moved his headquarters to Harlem in 1914. Pan-Africanism in essence means the unity of all Black African descended people worldwide irrespective of ethnicity/culture or nationality. The Rastafarian movement of Jamaica grew out of pan-Africanism, when Marcus Garvey declared ‘look to Africa for the crowning of a Black king’; the Rastas looked to Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. (Ironically, Garvey criticized Selassie on many issues).   Also a branch of the pan-African movement is the Afro-centric movement, of whom Cheikh Anta Diop and his ‘idealogical son’ Molefi Kete Asante are the champions. This movement centers on reexaming African history from a pro-African perspective as opposed to the a pro-European one, a return to traditional African concepts and culture and often espouses the view that Egypt and some other civilizations were and should be acknowledged as having Black African origin. Also associated with pan-Africanism is Black Nationalism. During apartheid in South Africa there was a Pan Africanist Congress that dealt with the oppression of Black South Africans under White apartheid rule. Other pan-Africanist organizations include Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association-African Communities Pan-Africanism is often criticized for overlooking the cultural and ethnic differences as well as different socio-political circumstances. Role of Pan-africanism in the modern history of Africa The role that pan African movement has played in minimizing inter-governmental conflicts and ‘civil war’- like situations in some African countries has been very significant. The restriction of the page limit for the essay does not permit me to go into the details of these conflicts. However, the pivotal role that the movement played in the proposals to reform the United Nations Organization deserves more than a cursory mention. The campaign for the proposed reforms of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), while producing fireworks around the world, has also opened up old historical wounds and heightened regional rivalries in Africa. The hottest rivalries have been in Asia, particularly between India and Pakistan, and between Japan, South Korea and China, but Africa has also exhibited some kind of divisions along regional and language lines as countries scramble for permanent seats in the Security Council. African countries jockeying for the permanent seats have been South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Libya. To that list, Senegal has been the latest addition, The African Union (AU) is flummoxed as to which of its member states to endorse, and has yet to establish the criteria to be used for selecting African countries to the reformed Security Council. The entry of Senegal into the race has only increased the dilemma, and is an indication of the AU’s indecision. In creating this leadership vacuum, the AU is leaving the selection of who will represent Africa on the expanded UN Security Council to be determined by foreign busybodies and regional power struggles. A working group that was appointed in January 2005 during the Abuja Summit of the African Union to make recommendations on the proposed UN reforms presented its report to the Foreign Ministers on March 7, 2005 in Addis Ababa, but was deafeningly silent on the selection criteria for Security Council permanent seats. What the AU stands to gain from a reformed Security Council According to the â€Å"Ezulwini Consensus,† which was adopted by the AU Foreign Ministers as Africa’s common position on UN reform, â€Å"Africa’s goal is to be fully represented in all the decision-making organs of the UN, particularly in the Security Council, which is the principal decision-making organ of the UN in matters relating to international peace and security.† Many observers feel that the UNSC is now more important than ever to Africa, particularly concerning matters of intervention in the conflicts occurring within the region. A consensus as to the criterion of UNSC membership is the least expected of the African States.    References    Kadiatu Kann,   Ã‚  African Identities: Race, Nation and Culture in Ethnography, Pan-Africanism and Black Literatures, ROUTLEDGE, LONDON, 1998. Kwame Anthony Appiah,  Ã‚   In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture, Oxford University Press, 1992

Reflection of Internship Technology

What steps did I take to tackle this monster? I enlisted the help of our service engineer Bryan Irvine who owns the service and Is the subject matter expert to the entire company. Bryan showed me how to use Zones and how to actually go into Zones-Dive and implement changes and sample templates before pushing them to prod. I wrote some very basic python scripts and was able to create templates for a new API service used to run the Nintendo e-Shop environment that rolled out in March. From the time started at Nintendo, I have read through the Zones user's manual and watched a short merman on It through Youth.I used this tool everyday Inside the Network Operations Center and feel pretty comfortable with it from a user†s perspective. From what I learned, I did not have to learn how to manage or setup Zones in order to perform my duties as a system administrator. That particular responsibility is that of our systems engineer. So to conclude, I did not complete my overall objective b ut at the same time, my objective was way too big. I learned that I should be more aware of what Is expected of me before loading myself up with super high expectations.In arms of learning Linux commands, I learned the basics in the first 60 days of my internship. I did look over the Linux in a nutshell book at my desk and discovered how rarely I needed to use any commands outside of the most basic ones such as Is, UDF, who, Greg, AS, l, and SSH. Because most of the server health checks are scripted and automated into Zones, sometimes it was Just a matter of point and click. Usually it was when I needed to Investigate further Into an Issue or If I wanted to verify manually what Zones was reporting that old SSH into a server using putty. Ex and utilize Linux commands. I felt that I completed my overall objective of becoming familiar with using Linux commands but again, I believe my goal was set a bit high. One good thing that came out of my experience is that Linux commands are not t hat hard to learn and they show an immediate result / return for what is typed unlike scripting and programming. Fertilization was a topic which I thought would become a mall focus for me. I become more familiarized with fertilization by running my own virtual machine through Oracle Virtual Box.It was a good learning experience when I had to figure out how to configure the proxy through the VIM to access data on the internet as all traffic through my workstation passed through our corporate proxy server. I utilized vespers to troubleshoot and investigate degraded service conditions. Much of the time all it took was a reboot of the VIM to bring a service back up, otherwise It was a systems engineer's role to configure and maintain in vespers and feel very comfortable navigating around it.Again, I believe I set my objective a bit high and broad in this circumstance and feel satisfied with what I have accomplished over all despite it not being what I originally planned. My 6 month inte rnship at Nintendo has taught me a lot. As an individual I realized how difficult it was for me to find my voice amongst the team. As an employee I could not help but always feel that I could do a better Job in supporting my team mates. I learned that everyone on my team was not as closed off as I thought they were.When I initiated conversations with them and opened myself up, they reciprocated and I felt very safe and happy working with them. Looking back I wish I had taken more risks in getting to know them and share with them who I was and where I came from. I believe my supervisor would say that I am an assertive employee that is quick to read between the lines. I really liked how he offered to serve as a personal reference in my future job hunt. I believe my other coworkers really value me and are always happy to see me and ask about whatever I was up to.They make me feel really at home and as a functioning team member, they always tend to compliment on my intelligence and I fi nd it quite flattering. Professional workplace skills I need to improve including being more open to people. I wish I could smile a lot more and communicate how happy and grateful I am to be working with them. Asking more questions and not being afraid to speak up is one thing I will definitely make a priority for wherever my ext Job might be. Building a relationship with the people around me is one area I want to tackle on head first.My internship experience through Year Up and at Nintendo of America is immeasurable in terms of what it has done for me. I feel like a whole new person equipped with experience and knowledge in the areas I used to lack in. Communication and drive was my main concern before starting Year Up and today it is an ongoing challenge to supersede new goals that I set for myself every day. I learned that I tend to over analyze and over compensate for technical knowledge when it may not be most practical.Clearly my objectives that were set in the beginning were extremely difficult where it may have been something that required superhuman potential to achieve. From my perspective looking back, if I had completed my objectives I would have the qualifications of someone who has worked in IT / Unix Engineering for around 3-4 years gathered in less than 6 months' time. It was a good learning experience nevertheless; I plan to continue tackling my career and life with the same attitude but now with more emphasis on personal relationships and practicality.

Wal-Mart Business Model Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wal-Mart Business Model - Case Study Example It set-up giant all-in-one stores in small towns which quickly gained patronage because of the service that Wal-Mart associates provide and customers are able to buy the products they need in one convenient place. Today, Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer with $345 billion in sales, with more than 176 million customers per week visiting its more than 6,500 stores worldwide, 61,000 suppliers and providing more than 3 million American jobs. (walmartstores.com 2008) Wal-Mart's continuing success may be attributed to Sam Walton's foresight in including information technology in its business model to facilitate organizational innovation. As early as 1966, Walton was recruiting IT professionals from IBM to help him wire his company. This led to innovations in just-in-time inventory, choreographed logistics and warehousing. (Beckham 2002) Wal-Mart's business model mandates that it provides the products and services that customers would want to buy. With the company's enormous data warehouse which includes customers' purchases, Wal-Mart knows what its customer wants and "it provides merchandise and designs its stores according to customer preferences." (Felgner 2006) In support of its objective of customer satisfaction, through technology, Wal-Mart is able to process more than 20 million customers per day, with credit card approvals done in less than a second. (Scheraga 2004) In 2000, Walmart.com was founded. Aside from fostering the ideals of its parent company, its additional goal is to provide easy access to more Wal-Mart with "more than 1 million products available online" and innovative services such as Music Downloads and Photo Services which allow customers to order online and pick-up at the nearest Wal-Mart, all available to Wal-Mart's customers 24/7. (walmart.com 2008) In 2001, Wal-Mart worked with NCR for the design and deployment of kiosks in the stores to help customers scan in items for bridal and baby registries, an innovation to improve customer service. According to Walton, "People think we got big by putting big stores in small towns. Really, we got big by replacing inventory with information." (Beckham 2002) In its industry, Wal-Mart is acknowledged for its legendary replenishment and forecasting system which Ron Ireland, one of the people who built it, says is what "retailers are scrambling to do today what Wal-Mart achieved years ago." (Hickey 2006) Because of Wal-Mart's use of technology, its inventory accuracy is above 96% vs. 70% for other food retailers. Wal-Mart has improved in-stocks, reduced holding inventory, reduced manual intervention and achieved much greater profit margins, according to Ireland. (Hickey 2006) All these cut down Wal-Mart's cost of operations and contribute to lowering selling prices for its customers. With Wal-Mart's employment of technology and e-Business practices of integration and synchronization among connected players, it is able to achieve operational efficiency and revenue enhancement, according to Ralph Drayer, former vice-president of Procter & Gamble. (Hickey 2006) "Wal-Mart's success is due not just to computers, but many other things besides: the late Sam Walton's entrepreneurship; his strategy of avoiding early competition by 'putting good-sized discount stores into little one-horse towns which everybody else was ignoring"; his insistence on saturating one area with stores before moving on to the next; his drive to keep costs

Personal statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 11

Personal Statement Example He had perfect relationship with his customers, servants and his friends. He used to vanish to the back of the shop in the afternoon for a meal, and would come back in sharp fifteen minutes. He was extremely punctual with his schedule and was rarely absent from the shop. By the time I was a teenager, his business had flourished and expanded to different parts of the city. His qualities of determination, sincerity, integrity and humble way of dealing with people had contributed in success of his social, professional and personal life. I was in awe of this person. He was a ‘Jackie Chan’ for me. All his qualities shaped my passion for business as I realized that success in business not only need intelligence but also need leadership qualities, and drive to bring together people and motivate them to work towards a single goal. This is where my journey towards achieving specialization in business began. My observation had taught me that success in business is possible only when a person has people skills. This lesson made me to learn different skills and work in team environment. I took every opportunity that provided me with an experience of working in new fields and handling new responsibilities. My experience as teaching assistant with ‘God Gifted Art Group’ taught me a lot about people from disadvantageous psychological condition. Helping autistic children, planning activities for them, and researching and planning marketing for the Group needed not only creativity, fresh perspective and maturity, but also a lot of patience. This experience taught me that world is full of people who are different than you in many respects. It also taught me how to deal with people from different social, cultural and educational backgrounds. My next job at Xing Hua Accounting Firm in Beijing gave me a totally different experience as it was all about handling the responsibilities of financial department,

What are the major differences between discount stores and off-price Essay

What are the major differences between discount stores and off-price retailers - Essay Example The retail industry comprises a significant share of the country’s commerce. Yet, there is wide variety in the types of retail stores. There are supermarkets, discount stores, convenience stores, hypermarkets, department stores, etc. New types of retail stores are constantly evolving to fit the needs and changing lifestyles of consumers. This essay will focus on the major differences between discount stores and off-price retailers. The way a discount store works is by offering standard merchandise to consumers at low prices. Though margins tend to be quite low, high volume makes up for it and fetch profits. Previously, discount stores used to cut costs by limiting the range of services that they offered and by operating out of cheap storage facilities in heavily travelled districts. But these days, discount stores sport an improved ambience and have widened the range of services and products. But their success still depends on â€Å"keeping prices low through lean, efficient operations†. (Chapter 13, p. 370) Wal-Mart, which is a leader in this domain, follows this business philosophy. Off-price retailers, on the other hand, came in to replace markets left open by discount stores. As big discount store chains started catered to an up-scale customer base, a market for low-price stores once again cropped up.

Realism Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Realism - Coursework Example It is actually due to the absence of some influential authority at international scale that could maintain peace and order by creating impediments on the way of inflicting injustices and violations at the hands of the powerful states. Consequently, the weak states remain under stress and pressure, and hence are bound to imitate the policies devised and designed by the big powers. William Golding’s world-famous Lord of the Flies (1954) also throws light upon the same notion that absence of any regularity force turns the earth into battlefield in the wake of tussle and conflict between various factions, communities and states as well. Golding has skilfully portrayed the scenario of national and international politics in the novel, where Ralph represents democracy, justice, struggle and determination, while Jack symbolizes strategic and financial power that is misused in order to subjugate others under one’s domination. Similarly, Simon is the representative of intellect, wisdom and philosophy; the intellectuals and philosophers explore and point out goodness and evil, and provide a theoretical outline to lead a civilized life; however, they are unable to implement and enforce the same, and hence lack practical leadership qualities in their personality. Moreover, the cultured but weak nations like Piggy cannot overcome the injustices and malpractices prevailing all around them, and eventually become victim of the same at the hands of the cruel stratum at last. The conflict between good and evil certainly gives birth to the anarchic structure, where the powerful stratum guises as savage and beast, and violates against the prevailing socio-political structure in order to rule over others, as Jack captured the attention of majority boys on the foundation of his physical strength on the one hand, and his financial position

Clinical Pharmacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Clinical Pharmacy - Essay Example It is evident that besides balanced food that is given to the patient some other nutrient supplements facilitate in recovery and reduce the health related troubles that become devastating if deficiency is related with the nutrients required for the well being. Patients are getting variety and choice of nutrition feed because of the commercial availability of many products in the market. Many companies are coming up with a special protocol of feed and related illness. This enhances the awareness of patient about the kind of food essential to combat illness (Concern at nutrition in hospitals). Nutrition supplements are licensed products and can be provided as the sole source of nutrition. They may be prescribed on medical grounds for diverse ailments. Depending on the severity and class of sickness, the nutrition supplements can be taken. Hospitals play lead role in making the patient aware of the consequences if the nutrition is not provided in the desired quantity. Hospital staff must help the patient psychologically, the advantages and disadvantages of the feed type he has been introduced to. This not only prepares the patient mentally but patient also co-operates with the hospital staff. Keeping this in mind the present study is conducted to build an understanding towards the nutritional support products, their advantages and problems and the available products that patient can utilize for better and sooner recovery. Basically three types of feeds are given for diverse ailments these are: Sip feeds, Enteral (tube) feeds and TPN feeds. Sip Feeds Various policies are defined to prescribe Sip feeds or Oral Nutrition Supplements for Patients with poor nutritional status especially those having: Disease related malnutritione.g. Reduced appetite or experience difficulty in swallowing, in cancer of throat or gut. Short-bowel syndrome (SBS) Intractable malapsorption Pre-operative preparation of undernourished patients Proven inflammatory bowel disease Following total gastrectomy Dysphagia Bowel Fistulas CAP Dialysis (Nutrition support in adults) Importance of Sip feed: Help the patient to gain weight or avoid loss of weight. Help the patient to surmount weakness of tiredness Help the patient to take in adequate liquid. Help the patient to alleviate the pressure to eat Help the patient to drink enough when dietary supplements cannot. (Nutrition support in adults) Before prescribing Sip feed it is essential to assess nutritional status, BMI calculation and weight loss by using simple nutritional risk scoring system When prescribing sip feeds * Do try equipped standard food (by adding milk, butter, cheese or cream)as first line therapy (4weeks before stipulating sip feeds). * Ensure that all patients be given suitable dietary advice by a state-registered dietitian or suitable trained member of the primary health care team. * No long term use without regular monitoring and assessment * It should not exceed 500-600kcals daily unless under the care of a dietitian. * Ensure that supplements are not taken at meal times / after meals e.g. as a bedtime drink to avoid reduction in food intake. * It should not be given as the sole source of nutrition except in consultation with

High-Performance Works Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

High-Performance Works Systems - Essay Example The paper intends to look at the discussion regarding high high-performance systems vis-à  -vis that of human resource strategy to be able to gain the better understanding of SHRM and HPWS in context. Applying principles learned from lean production, contemporary organizations have created paradigms with which employee involvement and participation has been considered as an integral factor in the achievement of the organization's goals and objectives. Being such, there is a continuous effort to come up with structures that will support global competitiveness and sustainability of competitive advantage among organizations in the business environment. In lieu of this, one phenomenal approach comes up – high performance works systems. The term high performance works systems (HPWS) is â€Å"often used to loosely describe a set of work innovations that include autonomous work teams, socio-technical systems, open systems planning, new plant designs and other similar innovations† (Farias & Varma, 1998: 50) It is synonymous with the terms â€Å"high-involvement or high commitment management.† (Tsai 2006: 1513) For, HPWS is technically a â€Å"configuration of structures, practices, and processes† (Gephart & Van Buren, 1996: 6) as organizations sustain their competitiveness in the global market. Another way of looking at HPWS is that it is the â€Å"alignment† (Gephart & Van Buren 1996) of all the units of the organization towards the achievement of the goals and objectives of the organization. And this is made feasible if the individuals in the organization see the objectives, goals, and vision of the organization as congruent and similar with theirs. This is attained when employees are giv en the chance to improve their skills, knowledge of their own field as well as other related fields, and when employees are motivated. While the managers become â€Å"coaches, facilitators and integrators and they share responsibility for decision making and results with employees.†

China,Japan and Korea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

China,Japan and Korea - Essay Example This form of government was in existence since 1644 to 1911 and it had a number of dynasties, for instance Xia, Shang and Tang (ChinaI 2). Though this form of system was in existence for a long period, it had a number of faults that were the main reason for its fall. According to historical studies, some of the problems associated with this form of political system were that it was marred with not only nepotism but also corruption (ChinaI 11). For instance, court officials themselves were corrupt to the extent of planning intrigues against one another. Citizens were levied high amounts of money in form of taxes that the government spent on undertaking expensive military expeditions. Another example of the poor political system emerged during Mao Zedong era. Mao’s form of government was quite dictatorial that no one would dare oppose his opinions. Since not everyone loved Mao’s form of governance, this resulted to the Cultural Revolution in 1966 that lasted for one decade (ChinaVI 3). During the revolution, Chinese students openly criticized the government. The case was similar during Deng Xiaoping reign whereby students were also unhappy with the form of governance, hence held protests in Tiananmen Square. After turning down the order to vacate the square, Deng sent an army to disrupt the protest that resulted to massive loss of lives, most of whom were students (ChinaIV 18). Just like China, Japan also had numerous issues due to poor ancient political systems. Historically, the Togukawa government ruled Japan. The system comprised of shogun, daimyo and the samurai (Japan V 3). Apart from collecting taxes, the Togukawa government also had the task of controlling cities in addition to maintaining civil order. Japan had both formal and informal institutions; informal institutions comprised of Zoku and Amakudari. Whereas Zoku was a policy tribe comprised of politicians working together for a

Ethics and the Criminal Justice System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethics and the Criminal Justice System - Essay Example If, in this case, I would have arrested the person that I pulled over and placed them in a cell until tomorrow because I felt that this person was a threat to the public, than I must do this with this police officer also. It really has nothing to do with whether he is a police officer but whether my belief is that he is a threat to the innocent. Does being a drunk police officer make him less of a risk Maybe. Because he is a police officer he may go home and sleep it off and show up for work tomorrow but he may also decide to drink again and if he kills someone his incident is no registered because you sent him home. Have you then protected the public The answer of course is no. There are many ways to reconstruct this case because we want to say it is alright to do this. We believe somehow it is different because he is a police officer but the bottom line is, he is a danger to the innocent just like everyone else who drives drunk. The only way to make this decision correctly is to make it following the above Code of Ethics. If we do that we will not find ourselves second guessing what we should do. So I return to my original answer. No, it is not ethical to take off the cuffs and send him home in a cab.

Film Sense Shot Essay Example for Free

Film Sense Shot Essay The development of formalist film theory was deeply connected with the formation of cinematograph as the autonomous art. The specific character of this theory, hence, should be understood in terms of theoretical and practical elaboration of film production instruments and thorny path of mastering various means for delivering cinematographic ideas and content to spectators. It should be noted that the basic elements of formalist film theory, such as montage, lighting, scoring, shooting etc. became generally accepted technical means in cinematograph, which were used irrespectively of theoretical approaches preached by a given director. However, it should be noted, that notwithstanding universal spread of major theoretical and technical findings of formalist theory, it has its own unique historical features, represented by the work of such notable contributors as S. Eisenstein and R. Arnheim. Generally speaking, formalist film theory may be described as the totality of views, which claim the centrality of technical and formal means of film production to maintaining its inherently artistic and cultural nature. Eisenstein, the pioneer of formalist theory, in his major works Film Form and Film Sense Shot claimed that montage is the central practice to film-making, because it covers its both technical and artistic aspects (Beyond the Shot, p. 13). The utilization of technical approaches to montage and shooting is essentially linked with general objectives of film production, as it is understood in formalist film theory, that is, creating meanings and artistic ideas through copulation/combination of images, shots and sound elements. Basic features and premises of the formalist film theory Formalist film theory is premised on the dialectical understanding of relations between form and content in film production. Technical means, including montage, shooting, lighting, sound are not neutral vis-a-vis artistic content of a given film. In contrast, their collision or sequence, help realize artistic ideas. Based on this theoretical underpinnings Eisenstein developed several approaches to montage, which should be utilized depending on specific goals director pursues. Eisenstein defines five basic approaches to montage such as metric, rhythmic, tonal, overtonal and intellectual (Eisenstein 1949 72-79). All these approaches are premised on the complexity of artistic ideas, which director delivers to spectators. The dialectical relations between shots in these types of montage are based on conflicts between volume, rhythm, scale, speed etc. Metric montage may be described as the control of time sequence of different episodes and images, irrespectively of their intellectual content. These include various formal transitions and interruptions in the visual sequence of shots. Rhythmic montage includes metric elements, but pays specific attention to the visual composition and content of shots, which is made to deliver complex meaning. One of the notable examples of this type of montage, developed by Eisenstein and practiced by his colleagues such L. Kuleshov and D. Vertov, is a famous scene from Eisenstein’s masterpiece Battleship Potemkin, often referred to as ‘Odessa Steps’. This scene portrays the massacre of protesters (including women and children) in Odessa by Imperial Cossack Forces. Metric and rhythmic approaches to montage are extensively used to portray the ugliness and brutality of Tsarist regime and its servants and the sufferings of ordinary people. To achieve this effect, Eisenstein ‘copulates’ shots of soldiers’ boots, marching down the steps with shots of baby carriage with a child in it, moving downstairs. Besides this, Eisenstein uses close images of people, who were killed and massive flight, caused by the gunfire. Temporal metric transitions, hence, are copulated with rhythmic elements, delivering emotional content (Eisenstein 1925). Tonal montage ranks the next stage in complexity of emotional appeal. It uses entire image to create certain emotional effects in spectator. Using specific lighting, sound techniques or special effects, a director creates certain aesthetic atmosphere, which communicates new artistic meanings to visual dimension of the episode. The next type of montage, which Eisenstein calls overtonal, represents combination of tonal, metric and rhythmic elements to produce complex psychological impact on the viewers. The characteristic features of each type of the montage are used in complex to capitalize on the volume, rhythm, scale and speed. And, finally, the most complex type of montage is intellectual montage, which does not only affect feelings, but imbues thinking and reflection. Objectives of formalist film theory Hence, the main objective of formalist film theory, as Eisenstein constantly repeats, is creating artistic effects and meanings, which are communicated to spectators. Eisenstein vividly showed this opportunity, provided by montage, referring to Japanese hieroglyphs, which create new meanings by adding new elements to already existing (Eisenstein, Beyond the Shot 14). Formalist theory’s basic objective may be described as creating conditions for artistic representation of reality in film production. According to Eisenstein and Arnheim, using technical means is not neutral vis-a-vis objective representation of reality. Inability to master technical means results in negative implications for films artistic content and precludes ‘intellectual’ perception of reality. Therefore, formalist film theory, seeks to overcome mere reproduction of reality, peculiar to commercial movie projects. Besides this, representatives of formalist theory hold that spectators should be influenced emotionally and intellectually in order to give them proper understanding of director’s ideas and subjective goals. This goal has its real historical reasons, because the formalist theory developed within a tradition of revolutionary propaganda films, such as Battleship Potemkin and Alexander Nevsky by S. Eisenstein. Arnheim, who is another important representative of the formalist film theory, showed that representation of reality peculiar to cinema, essentially differs from physical contours of reality. Hence, according to Arnheim, formal elements of film-making have great significance for creating emotional and intellectual effects (Arnheim 323). Arnheim gives vivid examples of unique modes of reality perception, generated by films. As he states, film images can not be reduced to physical dimensions. Neither a position of shooting, nor its objects can not be defined mathematically, because they are premised on artistic taste and understanding of reality. Moreover, as Arnheim states, film and visual realities significantly differ in depth, as films are neither absolutely two-dimensional, nor three-dimensional, but something in between(Arnheim 324) For instance, in Ruttmann’s film Berlin, the director creates interesting juxtaposition of two physical dimensions, depicting trains moving in the opposite directions (Arnheim 324). Tensions and Contradictions within Formalist Film Theory Notwithstanding positive elements, inherent in the formalist film theory, it has certain contradictions and inner tensions, which are often mentioned by the representatives of opposing film theories. For instance, Andre Bazin, one of the most prominent representatives of realist film theory, claimed that formalist understanding of form and technique of film production is manipulative and precludes genuine communication between spectators and artistic subjects (Bazin 48). Besides this, it should be noted that heavy emphasis of formalist film theory on formal and technical means prevents directors from focusing on objective cognition of reality and its representation, making it (reality) a hostage of subjective manipulation with it. However formalist film theory claims that it provides the tools for objective representation of reality, in fact, it is one of the most subjective approaches, even more subjective than auteurship film theory. According to Bazin, formalist film theory breaks world into many small separate pieces, which are then linked to produce structured, but subjective worldview (Bazin 48). Advantages of formalist film theory and its relation to other film theories Formalist film theory has its unique advantages, which are proved by the widespread utilization of its theoretical findings and innovations by film currents, which theoretically contradict its main premises. The importance of montage and other technical procedures was recognized by the majority of directors, who worked after S. Eisenstein. Today, we can not imagine any film, which does not use montage to produce certain artistic affects. Even documentary films, which represent a separate genre, essentially focus on montage. Besides this, deep connections are obvious between formalist film theory and auteur theory, which both put significant emphasis on the role of subjective artistic appeals and aims, which are necessary to maintain cinematograph as a genuine form of art. Both auteur and formalist film theories oppose neutral and quasiobjective film production, which is prone to standardization of techniques and approaches to achieve certain commercial results. In such kind of film production standard genre elements, ideological prejudices and common sense significantly erode the instance of auteurship, transforming films into faceless (without auteur) products of cinema conveyer. It should be noted, however, that formalist film theory is characterized by excessive emphasis on such elements of film production, which often have negative effect on the quality and artistic value. The parasitizing on formal elements and conscious manipulation, as it was noted, is harshly criticized by representatives of realist film theory. It seems that this critique has proper theoretical grounds. Realist film theory, represented by Bazin, calls upon to following the continuity of real images and events and finding artistic meanings in their mere existence. In this view artistic truths should be found in difficult relations between time and space, which entails montage, having subordinate function. Moreover, unlike realist film theory, formalism leaves practically no room for the freedom of interpretation and understanding, aggressively imposing already designed meanings and interpretations on spectators. Such important elements used in realist film theory as deep shot and focus, which help meet its theoretic goals, are ignored in formalist film theory. Failing to master these tools leads to losing visual integrity of reality, which is, according to Bazin, is even more important than montage (Bazin 49). Formalism in Hitchcock’s Spellbound We have already mentioned the use of formalist theory of montage in Eisenstein’s film Battleship Potemkin. However, it should be noted that crucial aspects of formalist film theory may be found in films, directed by people, who are not openly associated with this tradition. This is, for instance, the case with Hitchcock, who based his techniques of film production on Expressionist approach. Hitchcock’s film is based on psychoanalytic and surrealist subjects, which may be proved by its plot and extensive use of Dali’s designs in the Brown’s mysterious dream. One of the major characteristics of Spellbound, which links it with formalist film theory, is that it distorts normal physical perception of time and space in reality. As we remember, Arnheim’s main requirement for film production referred to its creative approach to time and space, designed to break false continuity and present artistic sequence. Hitchcock pays primarily attention to the characterization of different protagonists and objects, but not on their appearances and actions, which is so characteristic of mainstream thrillers. The characters of Constance, false Dr. Edwards, Dr. Murchison are developed in a coherent way, following strict formal structure of plot development. Besides this, Hitchcock utilizes other techniques of formalist film theory, such as fragmentary editing, psychological collision of shots, various lighting effects, and extreme angles. Moreover, Hitchcock uses different approaches to montage, elaborated by Eisenstein. Rhythmic and tonal types of montage are extensively used in scenes, designed to produce strong emotional effects on the spectators. Rhythmic montage is used in the scene depicting Ballantine/Brown/false Edwards phobia of seeing black lines on white things, when these objects are juxtaposed with protagonists’ scared look. Another example includes Constance reading false Edward’s book on the guilt complex and notices that Dr. Edward’s signature differs from that of the man who is the author of the book (real Dr. Edwards). Intellectual type of montage, developed by Eisenstein is evident in surrealist dream scene, when false Dr. Edwards looks at the wall covered with eyes. The same episode includes rhythmic juxtaposition of the close-up shots of Constance and Brown, looking at each other, as well as purely technical tool of shots’ imposition, which creates flexible and vague atmosphere of surrealist dream. Another episode including this type of montage is when Constance, while recollecting Brown’s dream, realizes that the real murderer is Dr. Murchison. In this scene, her recollection of the dream is juxtaposed with her thinking process and eventual discovery. To sum it up, we have analyzed basic characteristics of formalist film theory, its objectives, positive and negative aspects and relation to other film theories. Practical realization of formalist film theory was researched based on the examples of Eisenstein’s Battleship of Potemkin and Hitchcock’s Spellbound. Works Cited Arnheim, Rudolf. Film as Art. University of California Press,1957. Bazin, Andre. What is cinema? Vol. 1 2 (Hugh Gray, Trans. , Ed. ). Berkeley, University of California Press, 1967-71. Eisenstein, Sergei, Film Form: Essays in Film Theory, New York, Hartcourt. Trans. Jay Leyda, 1949. Eisenstein, Sergei. dir. Battleship Potemkin, 1925, USSR. Hitchcock, Alfred. dir. Spellbound. 1945, USA, Vanguard Films. Ð °

To What Extent Do We Need Evidence To Support Our Belief Philosophy Essay

To What Extent Do We Need Evidence To Support Our Belief Philosophy Essay Evidence in my opinion can be described as some type of an authentication or a proof that is used to support one individuals own belief and thought. In other words, evidence is something that leads us to proof. This proof can be further used to strengthen or validate some kind of belief that we hold. That can then be considered to be a truth or a fact. For e.g. in todays world we dont accept something to be true until and unless suitable evidence is provided. Belief is a truth which might be considered as a truth not necessarily depending on the evidence of some sort. Beliefs in the beginning are thought to be as realistic by many people even when it has not been proved with evidence. It depends if that is going to be true or false. If a belief is proved then it becomes a fact. This undoubtedly means that beliefs are facts that are unproved. In case of past events, since we never had existed in the earlier period world we can never say if history was true at all. But to prove that we need evidences. Till we dont get an evidence for something it remains a belief. It is evidence that acts as a cause or a reason why beliefs can be thought of as something that does exist or is right. History is one such subject that requires some kind of evidence to make people believe that the past events that had occurred did exist. Even when I was taught history in the yester years we only had text books that were a stimulus material to learn and believe history. We were completely dependent on the text books but the examples provided in them sounded realistic. For e.g. we actually dont know if a Mughal emperor named as Shah Jahan ever existed in the Indian history. But to support this we have the beautiful Taj Mahal that is said was built by him for his wife. Here the Taj Mahal is regarded as evidence. Hence, we believe that there was a ruler called Shah Jahan. Likewise, there are many monuments and archaeological evidences that tell us about history i.e. the Harappa civilization and the rule of the British Empire etc. But there are many controversial things and different interpretations based on evidences that they get to know. The question that arises here is If evidence ca n affect our beliefs? How can one guarantee the truth involved in the evidences? A humans belief system does not always work on the basis of evidence. I think belief is made up of many diverse incidents which influence peoples mindset and their behavior. Hence, there is a high chance for someone to simply believe something if it is implanted within their belief even if the evidence is very less or not at all. For e.g. in our childhood days parents embed a thought in our mind that God exists, when in reality we dont really have a concrete evidence to support it. No one has actually seen God. But as we grow up the power of beliefs that are embedded in us slowly decline due to many extrinsic or intrinsic factors. Very little evidence is present in case of religions. Religion is somewhat an area where people believe in it even after being aware of the less evidence or sometimes no evidence present for it. Here, its a personal choice of a person whether to believe it or not. Its faith, that makes them believe in certain things. Many unlike ways of knowing such as perception, reason, emotions and language other than evidence affect the way people form or organize their beliefs in the natural sciences. Science is an area which can be experimented carefully only with the help of proper attentive methods which verify the theories that we have created with the help of other different ways of knowing we have. For example scientists believe that the whole evolution theory was developed. In natural science, we need some kind of a belief or in other words we an assumption to make. With the help of this belief in mind we can further prove them and then they can be known as facts. An example that can be given is when in the previous years the church used to say that its earth that is at the center and the other planets and sun rotate around it. But later this was proved wrong by Galileo Galilei with proper evidence. These types of evidences ultimately thought to be as true. People are more likely to focus on one parti cular piece of evidence which supports what they already believe. However, many areas of natural sciences are very unclear and open to different interpretations for different people. There always comes up evidence which contradicts the other one. That opens up new dimensions to the subject. As many peoples belief systems are so strong, they often choose to only pay attention to the evidence which support their claims. In our daily life, we tend to believe things that we see, hear or feel. There are many facts which are first deemed to be beliefs which if proved with proper evidence are considered to be facts. But there are many facts that dont need to be proved or were not proved. An example for this can be that we dont need to prove that Sun is the source from where we get light. Another example that can be given is it is the gravitational pull that pulls down objects. Evidence is a kind of theory that affects human mind a lot. Humans tend to believe things which have at least some kind of evidence attached to it. Human belief system is biased to the dissimilar ways of knowing. It acts according to the way they come to know about something. Psychologically it can be very difficult for our mind to accept something that has been taught to be right is in fact wrong. Areas of Knowledge: History, Arts, Ethics, Natural Science, mathematics, social sciences

Environmental Studies Essays Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development

Environmental Studies Essays Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development A small manufacturing company is keen to promote its activitiesas being sustainable. As part of this process, the management has decided toimplement an EMS with a view to obtaining ISO 14001 certification. Withspecific reference to issues that are likely to be relevant to a smallmanufacturing company, discuss the role of the environmental management toolswe considered in workbook 2 and explain how these environmental managementtools are interrelated in terms of both data inputs/outputs and methodologies.Also, describe to what extent the EMS and the use of management tools could beseen as contributing to sustainable developments. Interest in environmental protection and sustainable development has beenincreasing year by year. To meet the challenges, an Environmental ManagementSystem (EMS) is implemented. An EMS is a continuous cycle of planning,implementing, reviewing and improving the processes and actions that anorganisation undertakes to meet its environmental obligations. The worlds firststandard for environmental management systems (EMS) BS 7750 was developed andpublished by the British Standards Institution (BSI) in 1992. This later formed the basis for the ISO 14000, which was developed by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). In 1996, ISO 14001 which establishes the requirements for an EMS was finalised. Implementation of an EMS can improve environmental performance, reduced liability, competitive advantage, reduced costs, fewer accidents, employee involvement, compliance performance, enhance management confidence, increase efficiency, improve public image, enhance customer trust, meet customer requirements and growth management. Thekey to effective environmental management is the use of a systematic approachto planning, controlling, measuring and improving an organisationsenvironmental performance. Common aspects of an EMS are environmental policy,adequate resources, responsibilities and authorities, training, systemdocumentation, operational controls, document control, system audits andmanagement review. Most EMS models are based on the concept of Plan, Do,Check, Act model introduced by Shewart and Deming which emphasises the conceptof continual improvement. Someof the important EMS elements in common EMS models are discussed in detail.Most of the EMS components are inter-related (given in fig 1). The firstelement is the environmental policy, which is the top managementsdeclaration of its commitment to the environment. The environmental policy servesas a foundation and vision of environmental concern by the entire organisation.The policy should relate to the companys products and services, be simple,understandable, and explicit enough to be audited. The policy is relevant tocontinual improvement, pollution prevention and compliance with relevant lawsand regulations. Thesecond element is the identification of environmental aspects which arethe organisations activities, products, or services that can interact with theenvironment. These environmental aspects , which are called as significantenvironmental aspects, determine the environment objectives to beestablished and operational controls and actions defined later. Theenvironmental aspects are essential to establish positive impacts on thebottom line and providing environmental improvements. Legal and other requirements of the EMS may include federalrequirements, state and local requirements, standards in locations in which thecompanys products/services are sold and permit conditions. These requirementsshould be factored into the organisations management efforts to avoidpotential costs as non-compliance can cause possible damage to the environment,revenue loss and impact on public image. Objectives and targets establish environmental goals for theorganisation in line with company policy, environmental policy, environmentalimpacts, the views of interested parties and other factors. This is essentialto help an organisation translate purpose into action. Various EMS implementationprojects for small and medium-sized companies indicate that it is best to startwith a limited number of objectives and expand the list over time. Measurementof progress of achieving targets should be determined. An Environmental Management Program is developed byplanning to achieve objectives. Targets should be set by definingresponsibilities for achieving goals and means and time frame for achievingthem. Therefore, an Environmental Management Program acts as a road map/actionplan for achieving environmental goals. Re-evaluation of the action plan andfocus in continual improvement should be made. Structureand responsibility defines effective roles and responsibilities and ensuresthat the top management provide resources including human resources,specialised skills, technology, and financial resources. Small and medium-sizedorganisations may have advantages over large ones in structuring theirresources for environmental management as resource being limited; people haveexperience in performing multiple functions. Structure and responsibility isneeded for an EMS to live up to its full potential. Training,awareness and competency are important for awareness, motivation,commitment, skills/capability, compliance and performance as every employee canhave potential impacts on the environment by generating good ideas forimprovement. Training should be conducted and tracked and its effectivenessevaluated. Establishment of internal and external communications onenvironmental management issues for neighbours, community groups, otherinterest groups, local officials, regulatory agencies and emergency respondersshould be effected to maintain the flow of useful and required information.Effective communication can help to motivate workforce, gain acceptance for thecompanys plans and efforts, explain the companys environmental policy, ensureunderstanding of roles and expectations, demonstrate management commitment,monitor and evaluate performance and identify potential system improvements. EMSdocumentation by maintaining information on EMS and related documentsshould be done to provide adequate information to the people involved in thesetting up of the EMS and also to external parties like customers, regulators,lending institutions, registrars and the public for better understanding. Documentcontrol is a mechanism providing up-to-date procedures, instructions andother documents to ensure effective management of procedures and other systemdocuments . It ensures that people are consistently performing in the rightway. It is linked with EMS documentation, operational control and records. Operationalcontrol is effected by identifying, planning and managing operations andactivities in line with company policy, objectives and targets which includedocumented procedures to manage environmental policy, significant environmentalaspects, objectives and targets and legal and other requirements. It ensuresthat the commitments of the environmental policy is satisfied and preventdeviations from the policy. Operational control is also needed to managesignificant aspects or legal requirements. Emergency preparedness and response is to be maintained to reduceinjuries, prevent or minimize environmental impacts, protect employees andneighbours, reduce asset losses and minimize downtime. It serves as a tool todetermine whether more training and revision of emergency plans and proceduresis needed. Monitoringand measurement of key activities and performance is essential to evaluateenvironmental performance, analyse root causes of problems, assess compliancewith legal requirements, identify areas requiring corrective action, improveperformance and increase efficiency. In general, is serves as an assessment ofhow well the system is performing and helps to manage the organisation better.Monitoring is done effectively when current and reliable data is available byproper EMS documentation and Document control. Non-conformance and corrective and preventive action is essentialto identify and investigate problems, identify root causes, identify andimplement corrective and preventive actions and make sure actions are trackedand their effectiveness verified. Most EMS problems are identified by internalauditors by accessing information from operation control and monitoring andmeasurement. Records are essential to demonstrate the actual implementation ofthe EMS designed. Records have value internally as well as over time when thereis a need to provide evidence to external parties such as customers, aregistrar or the public. Accurate records is also essential for a system tooperate consistently. Virtually every element of the EMS can result in thegeneration of records as it is inter-linked. An EMS audit is a systematic and documented verification processof objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence to confirm whether anorganisations environmental management system conforms to the environmentalmanagement system audit criteria set by the organisation. In a smallerorganisation, periodic audits can be particularly valuable as managers close tothe work may not often see the problems or insufficient procedures that have beendeveloped. Management review is the key to continual improvement and forensuring that the EMS will continue to meet the organisations needs over time.They also offer a great opportunity to keep the EMS efficient and costeffective. Smaller organisations often favour employee experience over writtenprocedures and documented systems. However, personnel turnover withoutdocumented systems can stall progress. On establishment of an EMS, it isessential to evaluate how useful it is to relate to the companys policytowards sustainable development. For any company, economic growth has been considered as a major indicatorof a healthy society, but lately, the environmental cost has been recognised bythe society. So there is a need to develop sustainable development a meansof satisfying present needs without compromising the ability of the futuregenerations to meet theirs. The implementation of sustainable managementinitiatives has been mainly a reaction to environmental pressures, legalobligations, risk management, customer demands and competition. This has leadto a change in the stakeholders interpretation of sustainable developmentthrough constraints of politics, economics, science, culture and religion. The intent of an EMS is to facilitate a voluntary implementation of aneffective management system for both sound environmental performance and alsoparticipation in environmental schemes. The design principle of an EMS is notto be a regulatory device as such, but as a regulatory device with the objectiveof sustainable development. To evaluate their role in sustainable development,in their current form, EMS only functions for continual improvement onenvironmental objectives and targets after considering regulations, effects ofthe products on the environment, organisational goals and views of concernedparties. Implementing an EMS does not alter the basic obligation to comply with applicable requirements or the requirements themselves. Through compliance, they provide ways to make achievement of that end more sustainable and predictable. So EMS has emerged as a important tool in improving performance above legal minimums and widely accepted. References. Cascio, J.,Woodside, G and Mitchell, P. (1996) ISO 14000: A guide to the New InternationalEnvironmental Standards. New York: McGraw-Hill Education. Hillary (1994)The Eco-Management and Audit Scheme: A Practical Guide. UK: Stanley Thornes(Publishers) Ltd. IAS (1991)International Accounting Standards (2nd Edition). Vol I II.IAS No 1-31. Copenhagen: FSRs Forlag. International Network for Environmental Management. (2004) YourEnvironmental Management Tool Box, INEM. http://www.inem.org/htdocs/inem_tools.html#Anchor-ISO-11481[12/08/2005]. Netrags. (2005)Environmental Management Systems, Netrags. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/netregs/275207/587836/?version=1lang=_e[14/08/2005]. Rao, P K. (2000)Sustainable Development Economics and Policy. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers. SETAC (1991) ATechnical Framework for Life-Cycle Assessment. Washington DC: SETAC. Stapleton, P J.,Glover, M A. and Davis, S P. (2nd Eds) (2001) EnvironmentalManagement Systems: An Implementation Guide for Small and Medium-SizedOrganisations. NSF. Sturn, A andUpasena, S. (1997, 1998) ISO 14001 Implementing an Environmental ManagementSystem (version 2.02, 1998). Available from: www.ellipson.com[12/08/2005].

Eva Smith in An Inspector Calls :: An Inspector Calls J.B. Priestley Plays Essays

Eva Smith in An Inspector Calls Do you agree that Eva Smith is presented as a victim in the play ‘An Inspector Calls’? How does J.B Priestly use the Inspector to make the Birling family aware of their responsibilities to individuals such as Eva Smith and how successful is he? When Eva Smith is presented to the audience by the Inspector, she is immediately shown to be the victim of the play. The Inspector highlights and describes how each of the members of the Birling family has used Eva Smith. The Inspector shows that each character has victimised her and that each of them has a part to play and a partly responsible for her death. The Inspector soon shows us that he thinks she is a victim as he describes her as â€Å"A pretty, lively sort of girl, who never did anybody any harm.† The Inspector tries to make each family member, including Gerald Croft, guilty for how they have treated Eva Smith. ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play all about the social attitudes of the time. The play shows the attitudes of high class people such as the Birlings and how they see other members of the community. The Birlings are a rich family and they don’t feel that they should care for other people. They think that they should only be responsible for themselves and there family and not get involved with helping less well off people. Mr Birling put it that â€Å"if we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody†¦it would be very awkward†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The play shows how Eva Smith is a victim of the attitude of society in 1912. It shows how hard it was for her as she was young, had no family and was unemployed, meaning she had no income to provide for herself. The play shows how some women were forced to beg charities for help to survive or how some young women were even forced into prostitution to provide themselves money to live on. The play highlights the bad way in which women, in a position similar to Eva Smith’s, were treated at that time by society, especially wealthy members of the public with high social statuses such as the Birlings. The Inspector targets each member of the Birling family and shows how they, as individuals, victimised Eva Smith and made her life harder. The Inspector firstly shows how Mr Birling treated her. Mr Birling is the father of the family and has a high status in the community. Mr Birling is a successful business man. He is involved in local politics and is hoping to be given a knighthood.

Experience :: Essays Papers

Experience Plane tickets in hand, my possible girlfriend and I embark on our first vacation to Cozumel, Mexico during the summer of 2000. I had known her for about 7 months and during that time i had grown very fond of her. Our relationship began to blossom and that in the near future we would begin to grow even closer. Boy, was I wrong. We both needed a break from our stress filled lives and i was hoping I could help her overcome whatever tragedy happened in her life because i didn't understand why she was depressed most of the time. She had told me about a few things that had transpired between her and her parents but it just didn't explain all of her emotional problems. Most of the plane ride there was spent bartering with the flight attendants for tasty beverages. She looked out the window with longing eyes. Her eyes seem to say so much and yet, so very little. I didn't quite understand what was missing from her life, but I would soon grasp the emense pain. The plane soon arrived in Cozumel. We were ushered like cattle through customs. Our baggage was taken by Miguel, a three-foot Mexican. We arrived at hotel Paradisus. Paradise, what more could you ask for. Truth be known, I don't think that there is such a place or thing. It's jsut a simple concept we all hope for,but never achieve. We spent that night walking along the beach and talking. She said very little, but I still enjoyed her being my my side. I never in my wildest dreams imagined myself with such a beautiful girl in such a perfect place. I couldn't have been happier, but all good things must come to an end. The next day was spent with fun-filled activites. She of course had located the many bars at our hotel. We had purchases the all-inclusive package. She received alcohol, and I received activities.

Health and My Body Care

Health is the most important thing in a person’s life. It is the biggest personal property. Every person should think more about his health because when health is lost, everything is lost. Good health is better than the best medicine. And if your health is good, you are always in a good mood. But sickness in the body brings sickness to the mind. It even can cause of economic burdens for family. So we shouldn’t wait when health comes like a bolt from the blue, we should do something ourselves.As for me I have many ways to take care of my health. For example, I do morning exercises in the morning. It doesn’t take much time and I can feel bright, I can get back my energy after a long sleep. I try to take long walks in the open air as often as I can. But when the weather is not very bad I sleep with my window open. I also like playing some sports: biking or badminton. I think sport is very important in our life. It is a way leading you to the healthy life.And playing sport is useful for our health. I also have the strict day’s routine. I never do my homework very late in the evening. Evening is my rest time. All my life is planned. I usually try to plan everything ahead so I don’t have to hurry. Beside the day’s activities, food is a factor to improve my health. I eat three times a day. I never miss breakfast or overfeed. I like eating a lot of vegetables and fresh fruit, drink fruit juice.Sugar and fat is a few and I also use a little meat and salt. I also keep my body clean, wear clean clothes. Looking at a person who is clean and orderly dressed you can feel better too. Hairbrushes, toothbrushes are not lent. Every person should use only his personal things. That’s all about my body care. I think if you have a good health you can do everything. Health and wellness brings about a drastic improvement in the overall quality of your life. So, take care of your health best!

Summary of Barbara Ehrenreich’s “What I’ve Learned from Men”

In â€Å"What I’ve Learned from Men† (215), Barbara Ehrenreich describes the things that women should try to learn from men. Through her serious and sarcastic notes, she explains that women should get tough and be able to take credit as men do. The author stresses that gender battles and arguments affect women’s desire to become tough. Women are willing to refuse being ladylike (216) putting themselves in front of men. Ehrenreich argues that women are discriminated as they viewed mentally weaker than men.During the course of Ehrenreich’s writing, she argues that some women used to view men as unclassy and selfish human beings who require the ability to give respect to women and to acknowledge the fact that women are able to take care of themselves and of others without their assistance. Thus, the stereotype of ladylikeness is something that should be broken. Ehrenreich continues her writing offering practical recommendations for women who are willing to be come tough.She writes (217) that small acts of deference must be cut back, and programs to perform ladylike must be re-shaped. Further, women must be encouraged not to take responsibility of every human interaction they are engaged with. However, men will view such deference as deliberate act of hostility (217). Finally, the author recommends learning from men how to deal with anger. She argues that the key difference is that men get mad, whereas women get irritated.Women are recommended to express justified anger clearly and colorfully. Ehrenreich arrives at her definitive conclusion with, â€Å"I stand up and announce coolly, ‘I’ve had enough of this crap’, then I walk out – slowly, deliberately, confidently. Just like men† (218). Works Cited Ehrenreich, Barbara. â€Å"What I’ve Learned from Men†. The Longman Reader. 8th Edition. Eds. Judith Nadell, John Langan, and Eliza A. Comodromos. Longman, 2007, pp. 215-218. .

My Most Unforgettable Character

He is a tall, thin man with a hunched back. His dark, suntanned face with its countless wrinkles and creases, reminds you of a prune. He has sunken cheeks and you will know why when he gives you a broad smile-only one golden tooth is left on his upper gum. He looks around ninety years old. But when you ask him how old he is, he will shake his head and say he was born on the day the Japanese invaded Malaya. It is left to your historical knowledge to count the number of years he has been around. I first met him when I was collecting seashells along the seashore. My parents had always wanted a house by the sea and their dream came true when they inherited some money from a rich uncle. I was walking along the seashore when I saw this old man. He was stooping and picking up something and throwing it into sea. When I drew near, I saw that he was throwing the bright starfish that were washed up along the shore by the high tide. I told him that he was being silly as he could not possibly save all the starfish, as there were countless ones gasping for breath along the seashore. He told me that although he could not change the destiny of all the starfish, he could surely save some, and that made a difference. He said that we were born on this earth to make a difference. It was up to us to choose whether we wanted to or not to contribute towards a better world. From that day on, I became his shadow. I would meet him in the morning and help him throw as many starfish as I could into the sea. It was only when I was much older that I understood the joy of throwing those sea creatures back into the sea. It has been five years since I met Embon Mat. We have become inseparable. I have learnt t appreciate the man with a heart of gold, who leads a simple and humble life. When I approach him in an angry mood he will be quiet until I pour out all my troubles to him. Then, he will advise me. My acquaintance with him has changed my perspective towards life. He has taught me that honesty, diligence and determination are important for success. He tells me not to let success go to my head. â€Å"A courteous, generous, kind and caring nature will attract true friends to us,† he tells me. â€Å"Always speak the truth,† he advises if I ever complained that I was treated unfairly by someone. He is my mentor, my patient listener and my counselor. He gives his advice freely and does not hesitate to scold me when I am in the wrong. Now that I am working in a busy cosmopolitan city, I look forward to the opportunity to drive down to my seaside haven to be with my mentor. I will recognize him from afar-the hunched figure stooping low to pick another starfish and throw it back into the sea. He will not turn to look at me for he knows that I will soon join him in changing the destiny of some starfish. I am truly blessed to have known him.

Economics of the movie business Essay

Most of the movies that are eventually released are cofinanced. This is a term that is used within the movie industry to describe those films for which there are more than one firm that share both the cost of production as well as the revenues. Nearly one-third of all the movies that are released are cofinanced. Various studies have shown that the main reason for cofinancing is to manage and share risk. Most of the major studios are in the category of publicly traded firms where the investors are free to carry out their own diversification decisions. Not always is the cofinancing decision related to the movie returns as the studios rarely cofinance highly risky films1. Demand is difficult to predict and thus financial risk remains to be a characteristic of the film industry since most of the cost is incurred long before the demand can be actualized. It’s thus the reason that most of the authors in this field have argued that the key variable that shapes the industry is the financing strategy adopted. Mainly, there are three ways in which cofinancing would reduce risk associated with the movie production. First, the cofinancing of the relatively risky films by the studios would give them the opportunity to participate in the less risky projects. Second, cofinancing would allow studios to fine tune their portfolios thus gaining the advantage of covariances of the gains across the movies. The third advantage of cofinancing is the simple law of large numbers to share a potential loss . Data collection The data to be used here in this paper is the information provided forth in Goettler, R. L and Leslie, P. (2004) where information on over 3,826 movies was exhibited in the US between 1987 to 2000. The primary source of the data was the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). The analysis focused mainly on ownership choices of the major studios. Out of the 3,826 movies examined, 1,305 were produced by the major studios. The analysis here focuses on ownership choices that have been made by the major studios. Movie profitability has been based on the return on investment, RIO, which is defined as the revenue divided by the cost. Revenue in this case was measured as the North America box office revenue and cost was obtained from the production budget. Film’s negative cost, which is the standard measure of production cost was also used. Other cost such as advertising are in most cases proportional to the cost of production and were thus not evaluated in this kind of study. Thus the ROI evaluated here was basically the relative profitability of the films but not the absolute profitability. Also the measure of revenues in this study excluded some revenues such as foreign box and video revenue. It would be ideal to use all the revenue sources but the approach would have limited the number of films in the analysis as most of this kind of data is only available only to a subset of films. At the same time limiting the analysis only to the films with this kind of extra data may introduce selection bias as most of this data maybe limited to the successful films only1. Identification of cofinanced films The listing of a production company is the first sign that there are cofinancing partners but this is not a sufficient condition. The most important criteria is to know if a firm contributes towards the production cost. Its worth to note that a firm can be credited for having contributed into the production company of a film after initiating then selling the project to a major studio even without retaining revenue shares. This kind of arrangement referred to as â€Å"first-look deal† is common between a semi-independent production company and a studio in a long-term relationship. The criteria used here in determining if a film is cofinanced is that first if a major studio is on the list of the production company for a certain film, then the assumption is that the studio has some ownership stake in the film. Second, Variety magazine was a source of those firms with the first-look deals from the â€Å"Facts on Pacts† list and those that are equity partners. The assumption here was that a firm was a joint owner if it was on the production company list and also on the equity partner2. For those movie that an independent firm and a major studio cofinanced, the question of whether either of these two had the option of being sole-owner remains. In simple term, one may also question which among the two firms initiated the entire project? The available information suggest that the studio usually has the mandate to decide if it will co-own or just be a sole-owner. This kind of decision called â€Å"greenlighting† is usually made during decision point of whether to make the movie or not. Complications do arise like when two companies have the same subsidiary structure such as having the same parent company and at the same time end up owning the same movie. In such cases, it was assumed that the movie was not cofinanced since the production divisions happen to work as integrated components of the parent studio rather than as being competitors. Another point of ownership ignored was the cases where the directors or the star actors negotiate a part of the movie revenues. This was so because most of this happens as a result of the directors/actors strong bargaining power to have a share of the revenue once the movie is successful rather than a strong will to share and manage risk.

Short informational report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Short informational report - Essay Example There is a need of Education that is formal in this area to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of this program (Kotler, Brown & Armstrong 2004). Growth Projections: There has been an increase in sale of cutlery and kitchen utensils in China. The Cutlery and Kitchen Utensil Manufacturing Industry is growing at a rate of 13.9% per Annum, and the approximate revenue in this market is $ 17 billion. In addition, there is growth in the number of companies that produce cutlery and kitchen utensils. The businesses in this industry are 1194, and the total number of employees is 233,532 (Wood, 2013). This growth is a result of the increasing purchasing power in the country caused by the improved economy. There is an increased demand in the domestic markets, due to the increasing rate of western influence on dietary and culinary. This has resulted in Chinese raising the standards of living. The Company has to keep up with the market growth since this creates a great opportunity for its ex pansion. The production industry, therefore, should ensure there is increased innovation and implementation of new and unique ideas to attract and retain consumers. The management should create a good working environment and improve the treatment of employees, such as increasing payment and incentives. This would lead to the attraction of the best talent and skills. The managers could introduce new marketing activities such as internet advertising, and Research and Development (IbisWorld, 1999). Thus, it enables the development of a wider scope of the target market. Improved communication between the customer and the organization would enable the organization to produce kitchen utensils according to the needs and customer’s preferences. Intensive market research would help identify the company’s strengths and new opportunities in the market, hence attaining a better competitive position in the industry (Solomon, 2003). Competition The company faces competition from com panies such as Yongkang Ruixiang Metal Products Company and the Chaoan Caitang Shengfeng Stainless Steel Products Factory. Additional competition is from the local industries in countries where the Chinese Kitchen Utensils Production Industry exports their products, such as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. This is because of the low prices of goods produced locally, since there is no exportation expense (Trade Media Ltd, 2013). The Company should compare its pricing methods to those of the competitors. A low price would lead to the attraction of consumers in the market. In the exporting countries, the company should ensure mass exportation of goods to reduce the costs, hence maintaining competitive prices with the local industries (Jeannet & Hennessey 2004). The Company should develop niche segmentation in the market, whereby there would be production of specialized design of products as per the customer’s request. Marketing research would enable the organization to produce pro ducts that can suite a large number of consumers (Pearce & Dent, 2009). It would enable the company to segment the market according to the needs of the variety of societies in the countries. Customers are attracted to quality products. The organization, therefore, has to produce higher quality products than their competitors to attract more consumers. Intensive promotion of goods, development of attractive labels and

Reflections on Connection of Chemistry to Franciscan Values Research Paper

Reflections on Connection of Chemistry to Franciscan Values - Research Paper Example In school, the value of transformation transcends what is merely physical for the necessitated change comes with spiritual maturity and accountability for others since our transforming thought and act affects not only our state of well-being but as well as our circle of influence within the society. It is, however, saddening to learn that in the modern world of the present, transformation rather bears with it a more physical meaning or something identified as chiefly material in nature. There widely exists, for instance, an extensive research on chemical substances and methods by which to reverse spontaneous reactions and defy aging thereafter yet the main underlying objective has been to improve the quality of commerce and trade for further acquisition of profits by prominent industries. Through recent discoveries in chemistry, majority of us have managed to obtain knowledge and experience of the latest in anti-aging technology and beauty phenomenon. As such, the market of chemical and pharmaceutical goods largely consist of items like BB creams, firming and lifting gels, reconstructing serums, whitening soaps and pills, and other skincare products or services coupled with attractive laser technologies that most people particularly the female population buy into. In the article â€Å"One Chemist’s Accidental Anti-Aging Discovery† by Nina Elias, the author expresses â€Å"What if there was a single naturally occurring ingredient that could fuel a plane, replace saturated fats in baked goods, and repair wrinkles?† Herein, she makes reference to the environment-friendly algae that addresses both health and beauty concerns and somehow, her illustration of the value of transformation coincides with the Franciscan’s insight into transformation with responsibility as the biotech company Solazyme, according to Elias, has come up with innovative solutions which ensure no hazardous impact toward the ecological surroundings. On the other hand, the cosmetic inventions presented via the brand Etude House exemplify a kind of transformation focused on the sole enhancement of external looks and which makes no sensible agreement to the Franciscan attribute of change which ought to include internal foundations of beauty. Moreover, the findings demonstrated in the article â€Å"Can This Drink Save Your Skin?† by Kiera Aaron, nevertheless, may be claimed credible compared to the aforementioned sources in being further responsible to convey the truth despite the product benefits. While Aaron’s composition recognizes the advantage of transformation with respect to drinking collagen, he criticizes the product by using perspectives of other specialists who performed cross-examination of it. Based on this picture, one must have observed the attitude of courage to reveal the truth besides regard for transformation which also constitutes a Franciscan principle. â€Å"Diversity†, as another Franciscan value of choice may be perceived in the flexibility of allowing student body to be variedly comprised of distinct socio-cultural backgrounds to serve the dynamic interest of globalization in helping youth from all over the world unite with each

Equity and trust, Case Study. Case-Barclays Bank v Quistclose (1970) Essay

Equity and trust, Case Study. Case-Barclays Bank v Quistclose (1970) AC 567 - Essay Example 2. Facts of the case. Quistclose lent money to a company Rolls Razor Ltd for a specific purpose of payment of dividends to its shareholders at a time when the company was having overdrawn facilities from Barclays Bank. Eventually, Quistclose went into liquidation when Quistclose sought to recover the money it lent lying in a separate account meant for that purpose, with the dividends remaining unpaid. Barclays Bank, which held that money of the customer Rolls Razor in a separate account. The bank contended that the funds lying in that account should be set off against the company’s overdraft account since the funds belonged beneficially to the borrower company.3 The events prior to the insolvency of Rolls Razor Ltd need to be examined. The company had earned a considerable profit for the year 1963 as per the audited statement and an interim dividend of 80 % that had already been paid. On 14th May 1964, the company decided to pay the final dividend of 120 % that worked out to ? 209,719 8 s 6d net of tax deduction. As it had no liquid resources and its overdraft with Barclays Bank had reached a level of ? 485,000 against the limit of ? 250,000, the bank informed the company its inability to meet its requirement of funds for the payment of final dividend. In the AGM of the company held on 2nd July 1964, payment of final dividend of 120 % was approved. The company managed to obtain a loan of ? 209,719, 8 s and 6 d from Quistclose Investments Ltd to meet its commitment of dividend payment on condition that the payment would only be used for the payment of the said dividend amount. Since the cheque was drawn on Barclays Bank, where the lender was having its overdraft account, it opened an Ordinary Divided No 4 account and credited the proceeds of the cheque received from Quistclose Investments Ltd on 17th July 1964. The company could not raise further resources, and it decided to put the company into voluntary liquidation on the same day with due notice to the bank, which then amalgamated all the accounts of the borrower company except the dividend No 4 account. On 5th August 1964, Quistclose demanded repayment from the borrower without any notice to the bank. When the resolution for liquidation was made on 27th August 1964, bank set off the balance in dividend account No 4 against the money owed by Rolls Razors Ltd in part. This led to the Quistclose’s demanding the bank for repayment of the money appropriated by it.4 3. The issue. Quistclose needed to demonstrate that it had proprietary right over the money as otherwise it was liable to be used to discharge borrower’s overdraft with the bank. In other words, the borrower had held the money as a resulting trust for Quistclose, the lender5. The House of Lords raised two issues: whether there was understanding between the respondents that the amount of ? 209,719, 8 s and 6 d should be held in trust in favour of Quistclose in the event of non-payment of dividend and whether t he bank had notice of such a trust or the bank knew of circumstances that would make the trust binding upon them too. 6 4. The reason for the decision. The House of Lords decided in favour of the lender Quistclose for the reason that such

Research paper for Don't ask, Don't tell' policy is a tacit Essay

Research paper for Don't ask, Don't tell' policy is a tacit recognition discrimination in United State armed force - Essay Example men have served their country wonderfully in the past and are striving hard to continue in the same vein in the present leading up to the future is a fact that is also acknowledged by General H. Norman Schwartzkopf. However, the problem that these opponents face, not necessarily citing the aforementioned personal as members of the group of opponents is the notion whether the productivity of heterosexual people will be in any way adversely affected by the presence of these homosexuals in their ranks. This fact is largely based on the apprehension amongst all that allowing homosexuals to serve side by side in the country will only contrive in augmenting the levels of discomfort of the scores of heterosexuals who are serving in the army. This discomfort on the part of the heterosexuals will only lead to the sad demise of the paradigm of â€Å"unit cohesion† i.e. everyone serving in a unit is treated on the same scale and as one entity regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity e tc; and this paradigm of governance is extremely important for the purpose of successful soldiering. Now, the proposition of the notion that these fears are responsible for the creation of a type of an unspoken, unwritten policy of preferential hiring and specific exclusion based on factors that should not be present for the process of recruitment would certainly seem to be a bit unfair at this point. However, we will tackle this problem from this exact viewpoint in order to ascertain whether there is any reason to believe in the truth of this statement. For this matter, we will also look at the empirical example of the military of four countries i.e. Britain, Australia, Israel and Canada and try to extrapolate any inferences for our specific case. Fifteen years ago, President Bill Clinton, the US Congress, and most of the nation were debating about whether self-proclaimed gays and lesbians could serve in the US military or not. Having promised in his campaign to extend this civic right to

How native American were treated Personal Statement

How native American were treated - Personal Statement Example rrently is not much different from how they were treated centuries ago except that discrimination is more discreet now, but every bit as alive as it was back in the day. I feel that the presentation had so many different aspects which are worth discussing and exploring further in detail. It challenged many conventional beliefs in an attempt to expose the reality. For example, the presenter asserted that Christopher Columbus should not be considered a noble figure because of his questionable reputation. This was a big blow to me because great reverence and prestige has always been associated with the name of Columbus. It is widely believed that he was the first ever person to discover the Americas laying foundation for what was to become the United States of America. In contrast to this conventional idea, the presentation accused Columbus of tyranny, imprisonment, lying, and terrorism. It was claimed that on grounds of bad reputation of Christopher Columbus, the Native Americans do not acknowledge and celebrate the Columbus Day. Only the Natives are familiar with the real story of Christopher Columbus and how he played a role in persecuting and elimi nating millions of native people. This real story is masked and decorated with fake embellishments to mislead people and make them believe in the nobleness of whites. This tradition of eliminating the voice of the Natives has survived over the years despite changing times. The presentation was delivered in an attempt to get the voice of the Natives registered and spread awareness about reality. When Christopher Columbus first landed in America, he encountered the Natives. He wrongly began to call them Indians like other Spanish people. This term is still used for the Natives despite the fact that they find it highly offensive. Also, as a way to pay respect to the Natives’ account, people in America should begin to acknowledge this reality that Columbus was not the first European explorer to set foot here. The

Victoria Secret Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Victoria Secret Marketing - Essay Example By way of vast expansion it is felt that they may not be able to stick onto this concept of self preservation. But for expansion of the stores this aspect must be totally changed and a contradictory thought is required in this. There are also whole worlds of opportunities that wait outside the US. Even under calls for protectionism by several business and government leaders, the trade agreements and reconfiguration of certain countries are undergoing and becoming a global marketplace where new ventures can be and are willingly carried out. (The Wide World of International Trade) Though many limited brand companies do recognize the potentiality of the global marketplace, the thought of executing the new venture is found to be discouraging. By way of this expansion there could be a more-deeper amount of commitment and also by opening stores in various other countries we could learn and formulate strategic business plans in wake of the expansion and which specifically addresses the new realities. Firstly to measure the potential of our expansion and target markets, the market study should try to identify certain aspects like similarities in business culture, practices as well as the law in the countries that we are going to expand. There are also other communication barriers being the language. Even the thought of spending, national tradition and religious beliefs of the people have also to be taken into account. The stability of the economic and political background of the market has also to be taken into account. What are the barriers to the limited market e ntry And also the current market size and the potential for growth have also to be taken into account for expansion (The Wide World of International Trade) There are countries that are found suitable in all the above aspects for the opening of new stores and for the expansion of Victoria Sercret. They are Tokyo, Taiwan and Korea, Singapore, Philippines. There is a market open for expanding to nearly many hundreds of stores in Taiwan alone. This is because of the reputable and retailing know-how of the country and also due to the acceptance of the people perspective in inviting new markets. For example the Starbucks Coffee International have agreements signed in opening 12 retail stores in Tokyo, 7 in Hawaii, 6 in Singapore and also in Philippines in 1998. This shows that these countries are very open to new markets and also welcome the new stores and also accept the coming of more markets into their country. (Come one, Come all, Come Every Year!) As a member of the marketing team a very vast potential market could also be visualized in Taiwan and Korea. These countries are suitable for these market expansions due to their perspective of culture and religion. If new stores are opened in these countries there could be an inviting market waiting in these countries which could benefit our expansion in the perspective of culture and religious tourism throughout the year. In this study there were also countries that may not help in expansion. They are Iraq, Syria, Iran and Caucasian countries. There could be no gain in opening new stores in these countries due to less scope in potential market. Whereas, the Arab countries could also be another good place for our expansion for opening new stores, due to the importance given to tourism in these countries. We could gain a good amount of market from the Arab countries

Abacus Distribution plc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Abacus Distribution plc - Essay Example The Group has adopted a customer service policy with more personalised local service and a strong technical support. This ensures the company’s performance in providing quality products and support from a strongly motivated workforce. The company has an office in Asia with manufacturing operations extended in the Far East to supply European customers, quality products at competitive prices. In general, the objective of a company must be to create value for its shareholders. Value is represented by the market price of the company’s common stock, which in turn is a function of the firm’s investment, financing, and dividend decisions. The basic idea of managing finance in any business venture therefore is to acquire assets and invest in new products and services where expected return exceeds their cost, to finance with those instruments where there is particular advantage, tax or otherwise and to undertake a meaningful dividend policy for stockholders. (Ross et al.) These functions define the scope and role of financial management in any organisation. The financial management function thus concerns the acquisition, financing, and management of assets with the overall organisational goals in mind. In line with the above principles of financial management the company has taken the following actions in the financial discipline. During the year 2004 the company embarked on a major capital expenditure in upgrading the business system of the company scheduled to be completed in the year 2007. The company has adopted a policy of acquiring large properties on a freehold basis. In line with this policy the company has invested in the acquisition of subsidiaries to the extent of  £2.1 million, a net investment of  £1.1 million in plant, machinery, and equipments, and a small investment of  £0.1 million in land and building. There is an investment of  £50 million representing the acquisition of Deltron Electronics Group UK having subsidiaries in