The Consumer Guarantees

The Consumer Guarantees Act is a cornerstone piece of legislation. Its role is to protect consumers. Under the Act, your consumer rights are expressed as a series of â€Å"guarantees† that a seller automatically makes to you when you buy any goods or services ordinarily purchased for personal use.In this guide, we explain what those rights are, and what to do if you think your rights have been breached. The Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 A Summary Introduction: The Act came into force on 1 April 1994 and does not apply to any contract for the supply of goods or services made before this date (Section 56). It is a significant piece of legislation and is aimed at imposing guarantees in contracts for the supply of goods and the performance of services for the consumers benefit. It provides a right of redress against suppliers and manufacturers in respect of any failure of the goods or services to comply with the guarantees. Definitions: Certain terms are defined in the Act itself (Section 2). These definitions are important in determining in what circumstances the Act will or will not apply. The Act defines â€Å"Goods†, â€Å"Service†, â€Å"Supplier†, â€Å"Manufacturer†, â€Å"trade†, and other terms. The key definition in the Act is â€Å"Consumer†. This is defined to mean a person who:- (a) Acquires from a supplier goods or services of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic, or household use or consumption; and (b) Does not acquire the goods or services, or hold himself or herself out as acquiring the goods or services, for the purpose of: (i) Re-supplying them in trade; or  (ii) Consuming them in the course of a process of production or manufacture; or (iii) In the case of goods, repairing or treating in trade other goods or fixtures on land.† The definition of â€Å"Consumer† is unusual and difficult. The focus is the ordinary use for which goods or services are acquired rather than the use intended by the acquiring purchaser. By way of example a contract for the supply of crockery to a company that owns a restaurant will be a contract of supply of goods subject to the Act because although intended for commercial use, crockery is ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use and consumption. As far as the services supplied by travel agents are concerned it would be best to proceed on the basis that virtually all of the services will be viewed as a kind ordinarily acquired for personal or domestic use or consumption with the consequence that the Act will apply to those services. Guarantees: The Act establishes one set of guarantees which apply in relation to the supply of goods and a different set of guarantees which apply in relation to the supply of services. This summary deals only with the guarantees which the Act imposes in relation to the supply of services. TAANZ also has a summary of the guarantees which are imposed by the Act in relation to the supply of goods and if a member has a problem involving the guarantees applicable to supply of goods the member can obtain a copy of that summary by contacting the TAANZ office. Guarantees in Respect of the Supply of Services Where services are supplied to a consumer there are four guarantees provided by Part IV of the Act. These are:- (i) Guarantee as to Reasonable Care and Skill (Section 28). A guarantee that services will be carried out with reasonable skill and care. This guarantee restates in statutory form the existing common law obligations on Travel Agents to exercise the skill and care of a reasonable competent professional travel agent in performing their services. The guarantee does not extend the existing legal obligations of a travel agent to act with reasonable skill and care in the performance of their function on behalf of their customers. Travel Agents had these obligations before the Act was passed. (ii) Guarantee as to Fitness for Particular Purpose (Section 29) A guarantee that the service, and any product resulting from the service, will be reasonably fit for any particular purpose, and of such a nature and quality that it can reasonably be expected to achieve any particular result that the consumer made known to the supplier. This, the second guarantee, is significant and establishes a new liability on travel agents in relation to the performance of services for customers. The Section (Section 29) requires the consumer to have made known his or her purpose to the travel agent at or before the time of making the contract for supply of services for the customer. The difficulty with this particular guarantee is that it is possible that travel agents may be liable for the actions or defaults of other suppliers of product where the other suppliers fail to perform at the levels expected of them. By way of example, if a customer makes known particular needs in terms of a holiday, for example, a resort which contains a golf course and tennis courts, and the travel agent recommends a particular resort as being able to provide those services and facilities, if the resort (for whatever reason) fails to provide those facilities then the travel agent may be liable. Accordingly, this particular guarantee has the capacity to extend the liability of the travel agent to include failures on the part of the suppliers of the actual facilities of travel accommodation. This particular guarantee is modified in part by Section 33 of the Act which states that there shall be no right of redress against a supplier under the Act in respect of a service or any product resulting from a service which fails to comply with that guarantee only as to fitness for particular purpose if it fails to comply with that guarantee only because of any act, or default, or omission of, or any representation made by any person other than the supplier or an agent or servant of the supplier. TAANZ members should nevertheless take special care when they are dealing with a customer who has specified a particular purpose or that the arrangements which are made for him are to have a particular nature or quality or to achieve a particular result. In such cases the travel agent should be aware that if the customer complains that the programme or plan prepared by the travel agent did not satisfy the particular purpose or provide the facilities of the nature and quality specified by the customer then there is considerable potential for the customer to take action against the travel agent pursuant to this particular guarantee. This guarantee will not apply where the circumstances show that the consumer does not rely on the suppliers’ skill or judgment, or, it is unreasonable for the consumer to rely on the suppliers’ skill or judgment. TAANZ members should also ensure that their professional indemnity policy will cover them for breaches of this guarantee in circumstances when they have not been negligent. A more detailed analysis of this section is contained in the case studies which appear at the end of this summary. (iii) Guarantee as to Time of Completion (Section 30) A guarantee that the service will be completed within a reasonable time in any case where the time is not fixed by the contract nor a method for calculating the time provided in the contract. This guarantee is not likely at a practical level to create problems for travel agents. Travel agents do not have problems completing their tasks with a reasonable time frame. Modern technology enables travel agents to carry out reservation and booking work virtually instantaneously and the consumer is frequently advised at the time of enquiry as to whether seats or accommodation are available at the relevant time. (iii) Guarantee as to Price (Section 31) A guarantee that the consumer is not liable to pay to the supplier more than a reasonable price for the service in any case where the price is not fixed in the contract nor a method for calculating the price provided in the contract. When there is failure to comply with this guarantee the consumers right of redress is to refuse to pay more than a reasonable price. Here again the nature of the services provided by travel agents and the basis on which they are remunerated mean that from a practical point of view this guarantee is not likely to be one which affects travel agents in any significant way. Rights of Redress Against Suppliers In Respect of Supply of Services Where the supplier of a service fails to comply with the guarantees a consumer may exercise certain remedies depending on whether the failure can be remedied or not (Section 32). Where a failure can be remedied the consumer may require the supplier to remedy it within a reasonable time. If the supplier neglects or refuses to do so within a reasonable time a consumer may have the failure remedied elsewhere at the suppliers’ cost, or, cancel the contract for the supply of service in accordance with the requirements of the Act. Where a failure cannot be remedied or is of a substantial character the consumer may cancel the contract in accordance with the requirements of the Act or obtain damages in compensation of any reduction in value of the product of a service below the charge paid or payable by the consumer. â€Å"substantial character† is defined in the Act (Section 36). In either situation (can be remedied; cannot be remedied) the consumer can claim damages for any loss reasonably foreseeable as liable to result from the failure. The exception is that no right of redress is available against a supplier in respect of a service or any product resulting from a service which fails to comply with the guarantee as to fitness for a particular purpose (Section 29) or the guarantee as to time for completion (Section 30) if the cause is independent of human control or caused by an act or default or representation made by any person other than the supplier or servant or agent of the supplier (Section 33). Right to Cancellation: Once the right of cancellation has arisen Section 37 of the Act sets out the rules applying to cancellation. Cancellation does not take effect until made known to the supplier, or where it is not reasonably practicable to communicate with the supplier, by means which are reasonable in the circumstances. Cancellation may be made known by words or conduct (Section 37). However, where there is a provision in the contract of supply requiring notice of cancellation in writing this provision will apply (Section 37(3)). Where a consumer cancels a contract for the supply of services the consumer is entitled to a refund of money or other consideration paid less any amount the Court or a Disputes Tribunal orders that the supplier may retain (Section 38). Contracting Out: Section 43 deals expressly with contracting out of the Act. The Act is to have effect notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in any agreement (Section 43). To purport to contract out of the Act is deemed to be an offence under the Fair Trading Act 1986 (a false representation) and fines of up to $200,000 for corporations and $60,000 for individuals may be imposed. The principal exception to the prohibition against contracting out is where the supply of goods or services is to a consumer who acquires the goods or services for business purposes. Where this criteria is satisfied an agreement to contract out of the provisions of the Act must be in writing and record that the supply is for â€Å"business purposes’

The Joy Luck Club

joyHigh-context Cultures and Low-context Cultures The Joy Luck Club  explores the clash between Chinese culture and American culture. One way of understanding the difference is to look at communication in these cultures. Chinese culture can be classified as a high-context culture and American culture as a low-context culture. First I will define these terms, then explain the significance of these two categories, and finally apply them to The Joy Luck Club. * Culture  is the way of living which a group of people has developed and transmitsfrom one generation to the next.It includes concepts, skills, habits of thinking and acting, arts, institutions, ways of relating to the world, and agreement on what is significant and necessary to know. Race, ethnicity, class, and gender are cultural creations; they derive their meanings from the culture. * Context  is the whole situation, background, or environment connected to an event, a situation, or an individual. * A  high-context cult ure  is a culture in which the individual has internalized meaning and information, so that little is explicitly stated in written or spoken messages.In conversation, the listener knows what is meant; because the speaker and listener share the same knowledge and assumptions, the listener can piece together the speaker's meaning. China is a high-context culture. * A  low-context culture  is one in which information and meanings are explicitly stated in the message or communication. Individuals in a low-context culture expect explanations when statements or situations are unclear, as they often are. Information and meaning are not internalized by the individual but are derived from context, e. . , from the situation or an event. The United States is a low-context culture. High-context Cultures In a high-context culture, the individual acquires cultural information and meaning from obedience to authority, through observation and by imitation. To acquire knowledge in this way and to internalize it, children must be carefully trained. High-context cultures are highly stable and slow to change, for they are rooted in the past; one example is the Chinese practice of ancestor worship. They are also unified and cohesive cultures.In such cultures, the individual must know what is meant at the covert or unexpressed level; the individual is supposed to know and to react appropriately. Others are expected to understand without explanation or specific details. Explanations are insulting, as if the speaker regards the listener as not knowledgeable or socialized enough to understand. To members of a low-context culture, speakers in a high-context culture seem to talk around a subject and never to get to the point. The bonds among people are very strong in a high-context culture.People in authority are personally and literally responsible for the actions of subordinates, whether in government, in business, or in the family. (In the U. S. , on the other hand, the general practice is to find a â€Å"fall guy† or scapegoat who takes the blame for those with more power and status. ) In a high-context culture, the forms (conventional ways of behaving) are important; the individual who does not observe the forms is perceived negatively; the negative judgments for an individual's bad behavior may extend to the entire family.In embarrassing or awkward situations, people act as though nothing happened. Individuality, minor disagreements, and personality clashes are ignored, so that no action has to be taken. Taking action tends to be taken seriously, because once started an action must generally be completed. Individuals can't stop an action because they change their minds, because they develop another interest, because unforeseen consequences arise, or because something better comes along.Consequently there is greater caution or even reluctance to initiate an undertaking or to give a promise. Chinese parents may overlook a child's behavior, because they expect that the strong family tradition, which is based on ancestors, will cause the child ultimately to behave properly. The Clash of Low-context and High-context Cultures in  The Joy Luck Club In a low-context culture, as Edward T. Hall explains, â€Å"Most of the information must be in the transmitted message in order to make up for what is missing in the context (both internal and external). In a low-context culture change is rapid and easy; bonds between people are looser; action is undertaken easily and can be changed or stopped once initiated. The mothers in  The Joy Luck Club  expect their daughters to obey their elders and so learn by obedience, by observation and by imitation, as they did in China. Their elders did not explain. Because the mothers internalized values and knowledge, they seem to assume that knowledge is innate and that it is present in their daughters and only has to be brought out or activated.The internalization is so psychologically complete and so much a part of the mothers' identities that they speak of it as physical. Am-mei, for instance, sees in her mother â€Å"my own true nature. What was beneath my skin. Inside my bones† (p. 40); to her, connection to her mother or filial respect is â€Å"so deep it is in your bones† (p. 41). But in this country, the mothers' warnings, instructions, and example are not supported by the context of American culture, and so their daughters do not understand. They resent and misinterpret their mothers' alien Chinese ways and beliefs.Similarly, the mothers do not understand why they do not have the kind of relationships with their daughters that they had with their mothers in China. The Joy Luck mothers were so close to their own mothers that they saw themselves as continuations of their mothers, like stairs. The communication problems that arise when one speaker is from a high-context culture and the other is from a low-context culture can be seen in the conversations of June and Suyuen, â€Å"My mother and I never really understood one another.We translated each other's meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more† (p. 27). June looks for meaning in what is stated and does not understand that her mother omits important information because she assumes her daughter knows it and can infer it; her mother, on the other hand, looks for meaning in what has not been stated and so adds to what has been stated explicitly and comes up with meanings that surprise her daughter.The difficulties of growing up in a family from a high-context culture and living in a low-context culture appear in other Asian-American writers. The narrator of Maxine Hong Kingston's  The Woman Warrior  is unable to decide whether figures she sees are real persons or ghosts, whether stories she is told are true or fiction, what the meaning of those stories is, why she is told the stories, and whether an event really happens or is imagi ned. The Talk Story One way of maintaining and instructing children in traditional ways which Chinese immigrants adopted is the traditional Chinese talk story.According to Linda Ching Sledge, the talk story â€Å"served to redefine an embattled immigrant culture by providing its members immediate, ceremonial access to ancient lore†; it also â€Å"retained the structure of Chinese oral wisdom (parables, proverbs, formulaic description, heroic biography, casuistical dialogue). † In the talk-story the narrator expects the listener to grasp the point, which is often not stated (unlike the Western  Aesop's Fables). Tan adopts the Chinese talk story in the mothers' warning stories to their daughters.The talk story serves another function in this novel; E. D. Huntley explains, Talk story enables women who have been socialized into silence for most of their lives–the  Joy Luck  mothers, for instance–to reconfigure the events of those lives into acceptable p ublic utterances: painful experiences are recast in the language of folk tale; cautionary reminders become gnomic phrases; real life takes on the contours of myth. More significantly, the act of performing talk story allows the storyteller to retain a comfortable distance between herself and her audience.Thus, the storyteller manages in some fashion to maintain the silence to which she is accustomed, as well as to speak out and share with others the important stories that have shaped her into the person that she is. An issue for both mothers and daughters is finding a voice, that is, finding a way to express the essential self. Themes in  The Joy Luck Club Identity. The stories tell of events which shape the identities of the mothers and daughters and give direction to their lives.Though David Denby is speaking of the movie, his description applies equally well to the novel, â€Å"each story centers on a moment of creation or self-destruction in a woman's life, the moment when he r identity becomes fixed forever. † The mothers do not question their identities, having come from a stable culture into which their families were integrated. Their daughters, however, are confused about their identities. Communication between American daughters and Chinese mothers.The mothers see their duty as encouraging and, if necessary, pushing their daughters to succeed; therefore, they feel they have a right to share in their success (the Chinese view). The daughters see the mothers as trying to live through them and thereby preventing them from developing as separate individuals and from leading independent lives (the American view). The link of the Chinese mothers and Chinese daughters. The Chinese mothers form a continuity with their mothers in China, a connection which they want to establish with their American daughters.Love, loss, and redemption. Throughout there exists what David Gates calls a â€Å"ferocious love between mother and daughter† both in China and in this country. But the women also suffer loss, which ranges from separation to abandonment to rejection, in the mother-daughter relationship and in the male-female relationship. Sometimes the loss is overcome and the love re-established. Connection of the past and the present. The mothers' past lives in China affect their daughters' lives in this country, just as the daughters' childhood experiences affect their identities and adult lives.Power of language. Without proficiency in a common language, the Chinese mothers and American daughters cannot communicate. St. Clair cannot communicate with his wife, and so he changes her name and her birth date, taking away her identity as a tiger. Lena St. Clair mistranslates for her father and for her mother. Also, words have great power. Expectation and reality. The mothers have great hopes for their daughters; their expectations for their daughters include not just success but also freedom.They do not want their daughters' lives to be determined by a rigid society and convention, as in an arranged marriage, and made unhappy as theirs were. The American reality fulfilled their expectations in unanticipated and unacceptable ways. Another way of expressing this theme is The American Dream and its fulfillment. Chinese culture versus American culture. This conflict appears throughout the novel, from the struggles of the mothers and daughters to Lena St. Clair's Chinese eyes and American appearance and Lindo Jong's Chinese face and her American face.

Software Associates

Assignment 1: Variance Analysis Report In order to perform a variance analysis report Jenkins calculated the actual revenues and expenses and found the difference which was $296,610 in profits. Then Jenkins did the same with budgeted values and found the budgeted profits to be $606,350. The variance amount in turn is $309,960 under budget. Also, the variance amount for revenues is $32,100. This number is favorable due to the fact that they made more than what they had budgeted for. But on the contrary, the variance amount for expenses was $342,060, which was unfavorable because they spent far more than what they had budgeted for.This information would not be sufficient in order to explain to Norton why their profit percentage is nearly half of what they budgeted. This variance analysis report only shows the raw numbers and not any details to why they spent more on expenses than what they budgeted. Jenkins would have a difficult time explaining details to why they went over budget. Sh e would need to show him a detailed expense report of the budgeted items and the actual amount they spent on the items. Then she would have to clearly define which items went over budget and why.This variance analysis report would not help Jenkins in the 8 am meeting she has would need to provide more information. Assignment 2: Preparing the Budget: Variance Analysis Report In order to provide more information to Norton, Jenkins will need to perform a variance analysis report. Jenkins would be required to use the numbers provided in Exhibit 2. She will use the numbers on the budget and actual income statement to identify revenue quantity, which is provided in number of hours. She will then identify actual and expected quantity.The actual number of consultant hours exceeded the expected number of consultant hours. Then Jenkins subtracted the actual amount of hours from the expected amount of hours and then multiplied by the expected labor price of $90. Jenkins found that Software Ass ociates made a total of $278,100 when providing the extra amount of hours billed. This is favorable for Software Associates if the billing rate was $90 as expected; however the average rate per consultant amounted to $83. 69. Next, Jenkins determined the average billing rate variance by subtracting the actual price from the expected price.She then multiplied the difference in price and the quantity of work done. Jenkins found that they had a deficit of $246,090. This is unfavorable because Software Associates is losing money due to the actual rate drop from $90 to $83. 69. When Jenkins compared the variance of both quantity of hours and hourly rate, this gave her the total revenue variance of $32,100. The total revenue variance is also the difference between the actual revenue and expected revenue. Over all, it is favorable that Software Associates created more revenue.Jenkins then determined whether or not the additional revenue would cover the additional costs incurred for the exc ess consultants. Jenkins used the same method for consultant expenses. By subtracting the actual number of hours supplied (50,850) from the budgeted number of hours supplied (47,250) and multiplying the expected costs, $37, Jenkins found a cost of $133,200. $133,200 is the amount they paid over the expected cost due to the increase in actual labor. Next, Jenkins took the actual cost of $39. 90 and subtracted the expected cost of $37 then multiplied the actual amount of labor hours, 50,850.This amounted to $147,465. This is the extra amount Software Associates paid due to the labor cost change. The two numbers, $133,200 and $147,465, equal $280,800. The difference in consultant salaries cost from actual to expect cost is $280,800. Overall operating expense is broken down into two categories, actual and expected. Subtract the actual operating expense, $938,560, from the expected operating expense of $877,300 to get the variance of $61,260. This amount is unfavorable. Jenkins found the total expense variance by completing the same equation.She subtracted the expected total expense from the actual total expense. The total expense variance was found to be $342,060. The extra hours worked created more costs than the extra revenue acquired. This puts the company in an awful position. The budget was not planned out very well. The price of the billed labor decreased while more labor was done and less was billed for. This is an equation for disaster as you can see. More planning must be taken when figuring out a budget and Software Associates must stick strictly to the budget for reasons like this. Numbers can add up quickly.Assignment 3: Expense Analysis: Spending and Volume Variance Analysis of Operating Expenses Jenkins then needed to analyze the expense analysis. Many of the expenses for Software Associates were not entirely fixed costs or variable costs. Rather, many of the expenses were a combination of fixed and variable costs. Therefore, Jenkins evaluated the ov erhead of the company and prepared Exhibit 3, which shows her judgment about each expenses degree of variability. Due to the increased expenses per consultant, it is also important to study how costs change with the additional consultant.In order to examine the relationship of overhead costs and number of consultants, Jenkins found the amount of the budget, which was deemed variable, and which was deemed fixed. The budgeted variable amount was obtained by multiplying each expense’s budgeted amount by the percent in which was expected to be variable. Then, she subtracted the budgeted amount from the budgeted variable amount to find the budgeted fixed amount. These calculations are shown in Exhibit 3A. Next, Jenkins took numbers and calculated the spending variance and volume variance.In order to perform a spending variance, she subtracted the actual amount spent from the budgeted amount. In this case the actual amount spent was $938,560 and the forecasted expenses totaled $877 ,300. After subtracting those numbers she found that the spending variance was $61,260. This is an unfavorable outcome of the quarter and can be mostly attributable to the eight extra consultants that were hired. The volume variance is determined by subtracting the budgeted quantity from the actual quantity and then multiplying the cost per unit.In this case, the expected number of consultants was 105 but the actual number of consultants was 113. To determine the cost per consultant, she took the total variable cost [$525,000] and divided it by the actual number of consultants [113] and got $4,646. Therefore by multiplying $4,646 by 8 Jenkins found the volume variance of $37,168. This is unfavorable and when compared to the spending variance, she determined that one of the major faults in Software Associate’s expenditures for the quarter was hiring the extra eight consultants which were not budgeted for.Assignment 4: Billing Percentage: Analysis of Revenue Change After analyz ing the expense analysis, Jenkins wanted to understand why the actual number of consultants was nearly 8% higher than the budgeted amount when revenues only had increased by 1%. Jenkins knew if she viewed the budgeted amount of hours allocated for consultants versus the actual hours spent towards consultants she would be able to determine if the consultants were being less productive. First Jenkins viewed the billing percentage by analyzing how much the consultants were billed for versus how much they were expected to be billed for.The consultants were billed for 39,000 hours when they supplied 50,850 hours creating an actual billing percentage of 76. 7%. The budget, however, projected to bill for 35,910 hours when actually supplied 47,250 hours creating a 76% billing percentage. Jenkins noticed there was a difference of 3,600 hours that were billed and supplied for which was not allocated in the budget. Each of these numbers was found by Jenkins referring to Exhibit 4. Jenkins also noticed that the average billing rate per consultant decreased from $90 to $83. 69.Overall Jenkins saw that if she took the actual hours supplied [50,850 hours] and multiplied it by the actual billing percentage [76. 7%] and then multiplied that by the actual cost per consultant [$83. 69] that there was an actual cost of $3,264,073. 1955 spent towards her consultants. Jenkins also noticed that when she recreated this same equation but in retrospect of Software Associates budgeted amount she found that they were only budgeted to spend $3,231,900. 00 on consultants. This was found by taking the budgeted hours supplied [47,250 hours] and multiplying it by the actual billing percentage [76. %] and then multiplying that by the actual cost per consultant [$90. 0]. (Each of these numbers was found by Jenkins referring to Exhibit 4. ) After analyzing the actual amount versus the budgeted amount of money Software Associates allocated towards consultants, Jenkins noticed there was a $32,173. 1955 increase in spending this quarter. Jenkins noticed that the billing percentage increased and the rate per consultant decreased. Based on the increase of consultants allocated and the increase in salary and fringes per consultant, Jenkins realized she is paying more for consulting.Their work does not appear to be more productive in the grand scheme of things. Software Associates are paying a lot more money for more consultants and not receiving a high enough overall revenue increase. Jenkins further analyzed Software Associate’s spending towards their increase in consultants by directing her attention towards the increase in hours supplied by the consultants [3,600 hours= 50,850-47,250] and multiplied that by the expected billing percentage [76%] and multiplied that by the expected rate per consultant hour [$90] and there was a variance of $246,240. 0. $246,240. 00 defines the amount that would have been spent per consultant. This is an unfavorable outcome for Software A ssociates because they are spending a considerable amount of money and not receiving a high return on investment per consultant. The quantity of work is not benefiting the company enough to spend more money on maintaining that number of consultants.

Critical Thinking Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Critical Thinking Questions - Essay Example Training for a profession subtly and overtly reinforces attitudes like trusting or not trusting. Lawyers, accountants or law-enforcement personnel are trained to detect/punish the law-breaker. So they tend to look only at the transgressions of law that people indulge in, and mistrust them for these. The social worker is trained to help and rehabilitate. Rehabilitation is done by building emotional bridges with a person, and this can be achieved only on the basis of trust. Therefore, social workers tend to trust more than those in the law-enforcing professions. People adhering to a certain value system tend to choose professions that mirror that value system. So you have a ‘policeman mentality’ person become a cop, whose mental attitudes are also reinforced by training as a cop. There are, of course, exceptions, as always, to this ‘rule’. It is possible to be both politically astute and trusting. To be a trusting boss one needs to be open, but to be politically astute one need not necessarily conceal. Assuming that the purpose for being politically astute is the achievement of success, it is possible to be successful without concealing. As a boss, trust is built among one’s employees or followers if one establishes one’s credibility. If a boss shows that she does what she does, for the organization as a whole, and keeping in mind the welfare of her people, she will always have their backing, even when she is forced to make unpleasant decisions. Political astuteness leads to success as a leader, if one works for the common good and not just for self. One of the best examples of a combination of political astuteness and openness in a leader is Mahatma Gandhi. He was a very open person with high moral principles. He was politically canny too—he used the much-touted British adherence to the principle of fairness and justice and the British

Analyze film-rligious Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analyze film-rligious - Essay Example Their collision would destroy the beauty of Pandora which reminds about the Garden of Eden of the Old Testament. The movie unfolds the various spiritual colors which are experienced in its pantheism, the early evolution and hyper-environmentalism. The movie highlights the social, moral and spiritual issues that have become the concerning issues for the American society. For example, in Avatar, the comments about as being the blue-monkeys refers to the idea of evolution despite, they had their own language and could speak other language and in addition, they knew how to make tools. In some places of the movie, extreme environmentalism has been promoted by the director. As we can see that pantheism is the concept that has been promoted in the movie which revolves around the concept of worship of the creation. However, the worship of creation was prohibited by the apostle Paul to the humans. Similarly, we can analyze that how Na’vi worshiped the Mother Nature; they believed their gods live inside the trees, plants and other animals. Different kinds of trees were depicted in the movie espec ially one tree which was known as Tree of Souls which they believed is connection between Na’vi and their mother. In the end of the movie, the hero of the movie prays to the imaginary Na’vi god by making the Tree of Soul as a connecting link and pronounces human are not kind and generous enough to serve the planet Earth. He stated that â€Å"There’s no green there (Jake Sully). The extreme environmentalism promoted through this movie was the message that stated, â€Å"They killed their mother and they are going to do the same here’ (Jake Sully). In Avatar, one of the characters that hold a special position is the hero of the movie who was selected by the god of Na’vi. Jake Sully is a protagonist who is incarnated just like how Jesus Christ was. Eventually, he becomes the hero of Na’vi and leads them to a different type

Eminent Domain Law in California Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eminent Domain Law in California - Case Study Example Supreme Court's finding in Kelo v. City of New London that the government may use eminent domain to "take" property from its owner for the purpose of transferring it to a private developer (California). However, as noted above, the issues brought into the voting arena were oversimplified by the media. Because of public concern about the possibility of rent control being phased out and the fact that both propositions were efforts to amend Article I, Section 19, of the California State Constitution, the California voters made the decision to reject the proposition that they thought might do them the most harm, namely Proposition 98. Instead of informed debate leading to eminent domain reforms, each political campaign waged in this battle focused on one issue only. Therefore, it is highly likely that further study of this issue will be necessary in an effort to determine what changes must be made to Article I, Section 19, of California's State Constitution so that the public will be pro perly served. The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution applies to rights of persons and in terms of eminent domain states: ". . . nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation" (U.S., par. 1). This compensation clause contains the requirement that "the taking of private property be for a public use" (U.S., par. 4). ... The California State Constitution was ratified on November 13, 1849, just prior to California attaining statehood in 1850. Because of this, a new state constitution was established in 1879 (California). Over the years, there have been many amendments, which makes the California constitution one of the longest in the nation. For purposes of this paper, however, Article I, Section 19, will be discussed. Article I is based on the Fifth Amendment, and Section 19 focuses on eminent domain. Implications of Kelo v. City of New London The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 opened discussion in California on how California law could be changed to further protect the rights of private homeowners and businesses while still using eminent domain for legitimate public purposes (Keene). Kelo found that a Connecticut redevelopment authority had the right to seize private property for hotels, shopping centers and other private developments, and it is well known that California real estate developers and hotel planners are always looking for a way to acquire land for private purposes. It was noted by the California Senate Local Government Committee that there was a similarity between eminent domain use in California and New London, Connecticut. Suggestions were made by the Committee as follows: Clarify definition of "public use." Tighten the "blight" definition in Statute. Remove or lengthen time limit to challenge a blight designation. Proposition 98 and Proposition 99 As a result of Kelo, two propositions were initiated and presented to the people of California for a vote. Neither of these propositions completely resolves the possibility that private property might be seized by the government for private purposes. There are

Management Portfolio in Civil Engineering Essay

Management Portfolio in Civil Engineering - Essay Example Civil Engineering Projects are executed to achieve specific objectives that are the cause & means of socio-economical & environmental changes. Thus the project management of a civil engineering project need to play the role of social change agents comprising of immense managerial qualities like being futuristic, resilient, optimistic, tenacious, committed, passionate, patient, emotionally intelligent, assertive, persuasive, empathetic, ethical, competent, experienced, etc. In the role of change Agentry the project management should be able to: Every project brings with it a number of challenges - materials management, supply chain management, labour management, storage management, health & safety management, environment management, waste management, delivery management, quality management, legal & statutory management, Risk Management costing management and financials management. In nutshell, the entire civil engineering project requires a wide management portfolio to take care of all these aspects of management and such that the project can be successfully taken to completion. This paper critically examines the essentials of such a Management Portfolio and its application in a Civil Engineering Infrastructure Project. Health, Safety and Environment Management In a large Civil Engineering Infrastructure project, the issues & risks pertaining to health, safety and environment are required to be managed effectively. The global guidelines followed are in line with the recommendations on Safety & Health at Work & the Environment by International Labour Office (ILO-OSH), OHSAS 18001

Gender Reassignment Surgey Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gender Reassignment Surgey - Essay Example The first one is that newborns may be born with sex deformities and must then be assigned to either the male or the female sex at the earliest possible time (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 4). The second reason is that some men or women may believe that they were physically born of a sex different from their mental and emotional make-up. This belief is powerful enough to trigger their desire to have the surgery (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 4). Some considerations for the surgery affect the sex change and often dictate its progress. Many of these surgeries are being performed in the US and are estimated to number about 100 to 500 on an annual basis (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 6). The conversion from male to female involves the removal of the penis, the reshaping of the tissue to make them appear more female, and the construction of a vagina; the vagina is often constructed through skin grafting and through an isolated loop of the intestine (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 7). Female hormones are taken by the patient in order to reshape the contours of the body and stimulate breast enlargement. The other side of the coin – female to male sex change – has not had as much success as male to female sex change, primarily because of the difficulty in creating a functioning penis from the small clitoral tissue in the female genitalia (Devor, p. 51). Penis construction is often carried out after a year from the primary surgery to remove the female organs. The breasts are also modified in order to give them a more masculine appearance. Before sex change operations are carried out, patients are often asked to undergo an in-depth psychological counseling in order to determine what their intentions are and whether or not they are prepared to meet the consequences and the implications of their choice. It is after all an irreversible procedure; therefore, the patient must not have any second thoughts or doubts about the surgery (Encyclopedia of Surgery, 15). It

Article abstract assignments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article abstract assignments - Essay Example In addition, the author uses the empirical studies to ascertain his conclusion on league variations in terms of competitive balance. Notably, lee identifies the effect of, open and closed leagues, intra-seasonal and inter-seasonal measures, and winning percentages aspects on competitive balance. Lee’s methodologies have successfully proved the parity effects of the 1193. Critical assessment of the author on other research and studies appreciates the effect of the 1993 Collective Bargain Agreement for its contributions towards a competitive balance. National football league commitments have led to inter-frachise balance. Although a number of factors are related to competitive balance, CBA triggered an increase in competitive balance. Lee’s review distinguish the different levels of competitive balance in the leagues The author explains the different aspects and factors affecting variations in performance and competitive balance, but used probability analysis in some parts instead of facts. However, there are drawbacks of the report by lee. One of the drawbacks is that the empirical method used arbitrary teams, which might have distorted the overall results owing to the fact that different teams differ in terms of rules and regulation not included on the review. Second, the author should have incorporated and compared other Football league associations to come into concise conclusions regarding competitive balance in NFL aster the 1993

How men perceived women in the Middle Ages and Renaissance Essay

How men perceived women in the Middle Ages and Renaissance - Essay Example Women from time immemorial experienced several social issues such as sexism as well as physical and emotional abuse. They have been perceived and treated differently by different people of different ages and race. With the continuing arguments about women even in this modern age, it would be beneficial to consider how different great minds have thought about them. It is an interest in this paper to dissect the human form of the woman in comparison to that of a man if they have been created only to identify one from the other, how are good women perceived, the roles they play in the society and what kind would they be on an extreme. With such discussions, it is the purpose of this paper to enlighten readers and let them understand more the qualities women hold. An interesting presentation of arguments about the creation of the woman is evident in â€Å"The Production of the Woman† where it is suggested that the woman should have not been produced for reasons such as â€Å"the female is a misbegotten male†, the woman is of less strength and dignity than man, causing sin and therefore, inequality and because God foresaw that the woman would cause the man to sin (Aquinas). Nevertheless, the author argues on the point of view of the Bible from Genesis 3:16 that man should not be alone but should have a partner comparable to him. As a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, Aquinas might have been compelled to base his arguments from the Holy Book and thus quotes from the Word of God that there was a necessity for the creation of the woman. Furthermore, he goes on to explain how women should be treated by their husbands; that they were not made to become helpmates in the accomplishment of tasks but helpers in the sense that they were to produce children together as partners. With regard the woman being called ‘misbegotten’, the author suggests that the intention of nature depends on God. As for inequality, the circumstance is claimed to have a lready existed even before sin was born. God knew that Eve will sin but still created her because if ‘God deprived the world of those things (Eve included) which proved an occasion of sin, the universe would have been imperfect† (Aquinas). The author believes that with God being omnipotent, He can direct any evil to a good end. On the second argument, Aquinas refutes that the woman was correctly created out of the rib of the man for the dignity of the man himself. In addition, this will make him cleave even more to the woman and as a consequence, the woman would acknowledge that the man is the head of the woman. Figuratively speaking, the situation speaks about the church and Jesus Christ; that as the woman was taken from the man, the church is also taken from Christ. About kinship, Eve may have been taken from Adam but she was not born from him so that the man did not marry his daughter. Continuing on the third discourse, Aquinas discusses that indeed, on a natural mann er, a bigger thing cannot be made from a smaller thing. However, the creation of Eve from the rib of Adam is similar to the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand people from the five loaves of bread. Just as the five loaves have been increased, the small rib of Adam had been increased to create the size of Eve. Aquinas showed that the removal of the rib of Adam did not make him imperfect by putting it in

Critique review on Kopczak & Johnson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critique review on Kopczak & Johnson - Essay Example These shifts have guided, and will guide the managers in implementing the initiatives and enablers of the supply chain management, that should be implemented internally and with their partners. Instead of considering the impact of the field in terms of programmes and results, if the impact is considered in terms of business focus executives feel the strategic role of supply chain management in their business. Outsourcing, globalization and business fragmentation has compelled to redefine the supply chain processes which were complex and expensive. The authors stress the need; as the supply chain management conveys the idea that the supply process should be viewed at a multicompany level. With this multicompany nature, the supply chain is not just simply an order fulfilment process but it should be the part and parcel of the product design, introduction, fulfilment and recycling. If considered fully in the business strategy and throughout the product life cycle, the full impact of the supply chain can be achieved. With their research authors found that six major shifts in the business focus are the result of supply chain management. Shifts have redefined the business question, collection, sharing and the dissemination of the information from the management's point of view and the questions were posed from the point of view of the supply chain. ... e and the disappointments in the initiatives of the industries like efficient consumer response and software projects were due to the less managerial focus on the business problems. The paper analyses the six major shifts in the business thinking. Shift one focuses on shifting from the old question as to how various functional areas of the company can be coordinated to supply the product to the immediate customers, to the new question of how the activities of different companies can be coordinated across companies and internally to supply the product to the market that is cross-functional integration to cross-company. Many forms of cross company coordination has evolved, the private initiatives taken by the industry-dominant brand companies, public or industry-level initiatives, the semi public or shared initiatives such as the third party logistics in which net works of companies from different industries have attempted to create cost benefits through scale economies. The companies now realise that to derive the real benefits, it is not the type of the initiative but the competitive risks and tradeoffs associated with the integration should be addressed. Shift two focuses on shifting from the old question of reducing the costs of production and distribution to the new question of minimising the costs of matching supply and demand along with reducing the costs of production and distribution that is from the physical efficiency to market mediation. Companies that excel in supply chain management effectively manage two aspects of the supply chain physical supply and market mediation. In industries for which demand is fairly predictable, the costs of the physical supply dominate, in industries which are innovative and highly responsive to changing fashions

Environmental Pollution Essay Example for Free

Environmental Pollution Essay Environmental pollution is the biggest menace to the human race on this planet today. It means adding impurity to environment. The environment consists of earth, water, air, plants and animals. If we pollute them, then the existence of man and nature will be hampered. It is true that trees are being cut down rapidly. Our earth is becoming warmer. If pollution continues, the day is not far when our earth will be a boiling pan and become a desert. Or it will be covered with sea water causing destruction of mankind. Pure air is always needed for inhaling. If we take pure air, our health improves. On the other hand impure air causes diseases and impairs our health and causes our death. Smoke pollutes the air. It is the root of air pollution. The smoke which is discharged from industries, automobiles and kitchens is the mixture of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane etc. These are all poisonous gases. These cause lung-cancer, tuberculosis etc. which take a heavy toll of life. The glaring incident is the Bhopal gas leak in December 1984. Thousands of the residents of Bhopal died due to lungs problem which was caused by methylamine gas from the Union Carbide Plant. The garbage emitting foul smell, the decaying plants and animals also cause air pollution. Hence the doctors advise the patients having lungs trouble to settle in some rural places because the air of villages is pure and free from population. Then comes sound pollution. The harsh sounds of buses, its, mopeds etc. affect our power of hearing and causes fart trouble. It has been reported that there are two villages named Biraspalli and Devadas Palli near Dum Dum airport m Calcutta where a large number of people have lost their power of hearing. This is because of the frequent sounds of planes coming in and going out of Dum Dum Airport. The evils of sound pollution can be imagined from this example. The water of rivers and seas is being constantly polluted all over the world by various dangerous chemical and biological wastes. Mills and factories discharge very harmful waste waters into many rivers and sea. The water of the Ganges flowing by the side of both Varanashi and Calcutta is extremely polluted and contains all sorts of dangerous bacteria. It is really very strange and laughable that large number of the Indians regard this water as holy. They even drink this water for salvation. There is no doubt that the fish that grow in such waters are poisonous too. Reckless application of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides pollutes the soil. Vegetables and fruits are quite injurious today, because they contain the poison of insecticides and pesticides. If the air we breathe, the water we drink and the soil which produces our crops, vegetables and fruits, all become more and more impure, then our chances of good health and longevity will be very less and less. Environment pollution is a serious menace to our existence. Realising the danger, we must plant trees in large number to absorb impure air. Impure water from industries can be sent back for purification and then it can be used for irrigation purpose. Our government is well aware of the fact and is taking steps to save environment from pollution. We have also I minister to look after the environment.

Lego strategic analysis

Lego strategic analysis Introduction: This essay will consider firstly the position of Lego in relation to both the constraints of the internal and external environment in the lead up to 2004. The essay will then go on to consider the position of the Lego group from 2005 onwards paying particular attention to how the company has reacted to adapt its internal resources in order to meet the needs of the external environment. The Lego group up to 2004: In 2004 the Lego group was under the leadership of CEO Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the company faced a large number of problems including posting a loss for the year of DKK 1,800m despite a group turnover of DKK 6,295m. As a result Kristiansen stepped down from the chiromancy and deposited a further DKK 800,000 of personal funds into the company. Despite these headline figures the problems facing the Lego group in 2004 many be considered has having a longer history than the single year of such great losses and be routed in both problems in the internal and external environment. Five Forces Analysis Porter (2004) outlines five forces which have an impact upon a business coming from the external environment and include the following elements which will now be considered individually: Level of rivalry Power of buyers Power of suppliers Threat of substitutes Threat of entrants Level of rivalry The overall level of rivalry may be seen as relatively intense for the Lego group in the run up until the end of 2004. Whilst Lego occupies a strong position in the market for construction toys with relatively few rivals one must consider that Lego is now competing in boarder market of childrens entertainment which in the lead up to 2004 began in include large incumbents from the electronics sector such as Sega and Nintendo. Power of buys The power of the buyer in the case of Lego may be seen as relatively high with low switching costs between alternative toys and even substitute products such as video games and television. Power of suppliers The power of suppliers may be seen as average, Legos products on the whole may be seen as largely based upon standardised inputs such as plastics and chemicals. There is the consideration that were Lego chooses to move into non-traditional areas such as sets associated with films or games the power of suppliers will increase as a key input becomes that of licences which is a form of intellectual property. Threat of substitutes This may be seen as the largest threat to the Lego group in the run up to the end of 2004. Although it is difficult to define what market a company occupies (Grant 2008, Porter 2004) for the purpose of considering the impact of substitution one must consider Lego to be a provider of childrens entertainment. In this case the threat from substitutes are rather high given that consumers may substitute between alternative traditional toys such as action figures or toy cars through to electronic products such as video games and television. Threat of new entrants The threat of new entrants into both the smaller traditional toys market and the wider childrens entrainments market may be seen as relatively low in the run up until 2004 largely for similar reasons. In order to enter these markets there is the requirement for significantly high levels of investment in both the form of capital investments and research and development costs both of which act as barriers to entry and thus restrict the number of new entrants (Porter 2004). SWOT analysis A key tool in considering the overall strategic fit is that of a SWOT analysis, a SWOT analysis considers both a companys internal elements (Strengths and Weaknesses) and attempts to considers how these factors fit against the external elements of Opportunities and Threats (Lynch 2008). Strengths Legos key strengths may be seen as coming from both its brand recognition and its ability to use innovative technology without moving away from the companys core values. Whilst there are many other competitors in the toy or childrens entertainment market Lego remains the brand of choice in the field of construction toys despite the fall of other long term historical brand such as Meccano (VA 2010) and the rise of alternative substitute products such as video games (BBC News 2004). As the case study indicates despite the traditional nature of the Lego offering the company has a strong association with contemporary IT, design and manufacturing systems which help to make the product both more durable as well as helping to reduce manufacturing costs thus making the field of technology as key strength for the business. Weaknesses Legos key weakness in the run up to 2004 may be seen as two fold. Firstly the company has failed in a key area of the understanding of marketing in regard to understanding the needs of their customers which may be seen as the focal point of the marketing concept (Brassington and Pettitt 2007). This can be clearly seen in the role out of the Explorer range, in this case the company designed a product which failed to appeal to those who were not buying Lego products but subsequently didnt meet the needs of those who were buying the current Lego products. The second weakness of the Lego group in the run up to the changes at the end of 2004 may be seen as the lack of ability to translate key corporate strengths and innovations into implemented strategies. Such considerations are demonstrated by Legos initial development of such innovative actions such as programmable parts for its Technic range as far back as 1986 but a contradictory failure to react to further developments in manufactur ing processes such as CAM and CAD or product developments such as those associated with video games until much later. Opportunities and Threats The opportunities and threats to Lego in the run up until the end of 2004 may be seen as indivisibly linked representing a threat or opportunity based upon Legos reaction to the element hence they will be considered together. The largest threat to Lego may be seen as the changing nature of the market in the run up until 2004. Whilst Lego has remained the market leader in construction toys there must be the consideration that for a large part there has been a decline in the overall market for traditional toys has children have increasingly substituted to alternative forms of entrainments largely in the electronics sector. Despite the threat to Legos core product offering in this trend in the run up to 2004 there was also a significant opportunity for Lego to use such threats as opportunities to generate spine of sales in the form of Lego sets associated with games and films as well as the development of non-traditional Lego products presenting Lego with the opportunity to diversify (Johnson et al 2008). Previous to 2004 Lego had already made some diversifications into the areas of direct retails with its Lego stores and the opening of its Lego Land amusement parks, this however represented at the time a co nsiderable opportunity for further development. The Lego group 2005 and beyond: This section will now consider the position of Lego from 2005 onwards and as such will attempt to consider how Lego has adapted to the issues highlighted as facing the company in the run up to and including 2004. In the first instance one should consider that at the start of 2005 Lego started with a new CEO and by the end of the year posted a profit of DKK 214 a figure which has since risen in 2008 to DKK 1,352. Structure: In the first instance the structure of the Lego group may be seen as changing significantly since 2004. The first change for the companys structure may be seen as beginning with the appointment of a new CEO an action which may be seen as both a large pragmatic change for any organisation but also a significant one from a symbolic perspective (Mullins 2009). Such a change has allowed Lego to re-define its operations allowing the company to move into new diversified markets such as the use of the Lego brand in relation to computer games and the production of traditional sets which are related to television and cinematic spin offs. Other structural changes relate to the companies operations, operations in counties with relatively high labour costs such as Europe and the US have been outsourced to companies in Singapore and Mexico respectively. In addition the companys operations in the Czech Republic whilst remaining under the ownership of the Lego group have been put under the day to day management of the companies joint venture partner Flextronics. These structural changes which have taken place within Legos operational function have allowed the company to make significant savings in labour costs. Despite these advantages there must also be the consideration that there are some draw backs. In outsourcing production there is the consideration that Lego will lose some of the control it had over its operations previously (Slack 2009), this is a key consideration for Lego as the success of the company and its brand has previously relied on a high association with good quality, something which may be damaged if ou tsourcing is not managed correctly. HR: The companys HR policy may be seen as a true test of the organisations wider values against a back drop of changing economic conditions. On the one hand the companys policies may be seen as facilitation an organisation which values organisational learning and development through the medium of its staff. Such considerations can be seen in the specific deployment of such policies of continuous improvement which is a key contributor to the companys high standards for product quality. Despite this following such heavy losses in 2004 Lego made significant reductions of staff from 5,604 in 2004 to a low of 4,199 in 2007 a figure which has since recovered dramatically to 5,388 in 2008. As such the company may be seen as demonstrating that whilst its organisational values are key to its success reductions will be made to adapt to market conditions were necessary. Another contradiction that one may consider is that the company in the case study maintains that it will meet the legal requiremen ts as a minimum in relation to its operations. This raises two concerns in the first case there is the consideration that all companies should in theory meet these minimum standards in any case and so this doesnt really form a policy so much as a statement of the obvious. In the second instance Lego in recent years has outsourced a considerable amount of its operations to areas such as the Far East were HR standards are often much lower (Hutchings 2001). One may consider that in these cases if Lego only aims to meet minimum standards then the policies outlined in earlier paragraphs represent an attempt to present the company in a positive light to consumers rather than attempt to create a genuine learning organisation. Culture/Values: Despite the changes which have been made since 2004 one may consider that such changes have not been at the expense of the companys wider culture and corporate values. In the lead up until 2004 the Lego group may be seen as largely having a corporate cultured built around offering a high quality differentiated product (Jobber 2007) in which the experience of the child as an end user is the key consideration. Despite branching out into alternative products Lego has maintained its commitment to product quality and key concepts such as not promoting war related themes in its product portfolio. From a innovation perspective one may see that Lego previous to 2004 had the technical abilities associated with an innovative culture however in more recent years one may see that the company has been much more successful at moving such innovations from the ideas stage into the implemented strategy stage. IT/Innovation: One of Legos key strategies since the restructuring of the company at the end of 2004 has been the companys attitude towards IT and innovation. In adapting to the new business environment Lego may be seen as adopting two key strategies in relation to innovation and technology. Firstly the company has used new forms of technology for internal manufacturing processes. Such innovations include the use of computer modelling and computer aided design and have allowed the company to speed up the design process as well as well as maintain the companys values in relation to quality and manufacturing tolerances which contribute to the consumer experience. Secondly the company has used IT and innovation in diversifying its product ranges, such innovations have seen adaptations of Legos traditional lines to incorporate more electronic features through to the outright diversification into new product areas such as computer games based upon a Lego theme or using the Lego brand. Such diversifications may be seen as providing a key hedge against the risk which is inherent in operating with a lower level of diversification (De Witt and Meyer 2004). From a strategic perspective this also shows the recognition on the behalf of Lego executives of the need to compete in a wider market than merely that of traditional childrens toys. As such the element of innovation may be seen as one of the most important elements in the turnaround of the companys fortunes since the end of 2004. Conclusions: Having considered the research there are a number of conclusions that may be drawn. Firstly in considering Legos potion previous to 2005 one could argue that the company had a strong set of internal resources but had failed to respond to changing external considerations in the market. The result of such a lack of strategic fit ultimately put the company in a relatively weak financial position generating substantial losses in 2004. Following the appointment of a new chairman in 2005 the company has successfully turned its fortunes around seeing that the key strengths of the company in the form of brand, technological innovation and corporate values have been used to create a strategic fit which matches the challenges of the contemporary business environment. One may take the view that whilst Lego will face significant challenges in the future due to the continuing nature of changes in the market the company has not adapted its structure and processes so as to be able to deal with such challenges successfully in the future.

Investigation of Subgrade Reaction Coefficient in Sandy Soil

Investigation of Subgrade Reaction Coefficient in Sandy Soil Numerical investigation of subgrade reaction coefficient in sandy soils Adel Asakereh1, Hassan Jamali2*, Masoud mossafa1 1 Civil Department, University of Hormozgan, Bandar Abbas, Iran 2Young Researchers and Elite Club, Sabzevar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sabzevar, Abstract The soil-foundation interaction is one of the most important issues in geotechnical engineering relating to soil behavior against side loading. Winklers model is the first and simplest method for considering the soil-foundation interaction. Because to determine the coefficient of the subgrade reaction of the soil before designing structure is vitally important, so, experimental, analytical and numerical methods have been proposed. This research chose a ground characteristic that is in Bandar Abbas (Iran). Purpose is to compare the proposed experimental formulae for determining the coefficient of the subgrade reaction with its corresponding values resulting from the behavioral models. Finite element analysis was performed by Plaxis software and important parameters were proposed by the engineers. Results show increasing footing diameter leads to a decrease in the coefficient of the subgrade reaction due to increasing load area which results in increasing settlement. It is found that i ncreasing each of the strength parameters of the soil can be expected to have an effect on increasing the subgrade reaction, although this increase depends on footing diameter. Also in sand soils, the soil cohesion effects on the increase of the subgrade reaction coefficient more than the internal friction angle. Keywords: Elasticity coefficient, Mat foundation, Subgrade reaction coefficient, Bandar Abbas City, Finite element analysis Introduction The application of mat foundations has a long history. This type of foundation has shown a very good performance in transferring construction forces to the ground. Currently in most cases, engineers use a constant value for the subgrade reaction coefficient to analyze the mat flexible foundations. This constant is obtained from geotechnical experiments such as plate loading. Many researchers have studied soil subsidence and the subgrade reaction coefficient using plate loading test [1-9]. Nomenclatures B Diameter of footing (m) Minimum marginal dimension of footing(m) c Cohesion (kPa) d Plate thickness (m) Df Embedment depth of foundation(m) Soil elasticity modulus (kPa) EI Flexural rigidity of footing (kN.m2) EA Axial rigidity of footing (kN.m2) Height of ith layer (m) If , Is, Id Dimensionless coefficients ks Subgrade Reaction Coefficient (kN/m3) m Constant coefficients P Vertical pressure (kPa) Greek Symbols v Poisson ratio Vertical Displacement (m) Angle of friction (Degree) Unit weight (kN/m3) Dry unit weight (kN/m3) The application of a uniform reaction coefficient over all of the foundation means neglecting the conditions of a continuum for the soil and the effects of cut in the soil layers. One of the fundamental issues in designing and calculating the foundations is the problem of soil-foundation interaction. It is very important to study soil behavior against the external loads. Soil behavior depends on many factors such as moisture content, density, particle-forming mineral types, grain size, grain shape, grading curve, current state of the stress, stress history, pore pressure, saturation point, permeability rate, time, and temperature. In order to study the soil-foundation interaction, many researchers have tried to investigate soil behavior against the imposed loadings to find a model for it. The material model is a mathematical relation for describing the stress-strain behaviour of a small element of the environment. As previously mentioned, soil behavior depends on many factors it is extremely difficult to provide a model including the effects of all factors. Thus in solving the problems of soil-foundation interaction, some properties of the soil are usually excluded to provide a simpler model with fewer parameters. Since the soil at a macroscopic scale is considered as a continuum, the simplest possible state we consider the soil as a linear, homogenous and consistent elastic semi-space. In such a case, the soil will have two parameters Poisson coefficient and the elastic modulus. The first and simplest model for investigating the soil and foundation interaction is a model offered by Winkler in 1867 [10]. In this model, the deformation of any point of the soil ground is related to the point stress value and the effect of the stresses and the changes in other points are neglected. In this model, soil is replaced with a set of independent springs with a specific stiffness coefficient. Thus, only one single parameter is considered for the soil, that is, the subgrade reaction coefficient represented by ks. One of the most prominent properties of this model is its discontinuous behavior [9]. The subgrade modulus is not a fundamental soil property and its magnitude depends on many factors including the shape of the foundation, the stiffness of the foundation slab, the shape of the loading on the foundation, the depth of the loaded area below the ground surface, and the time. As such, it is not constant for a given type of soil, making the estimation of a single general value for design a challenging task [11]. Consequently, researchers have suggested several ways to determine this parameter and several formulae have been offered for determining ks. Many researchers have worked on the calculation of subgrade reaction coefficient. Ismail [12] studied the applications of the artificial neural networks (ANN) and the simple-multiple regression analysis to predict the deformation modulus and the coefficient of the subgrade reaction of the compacted soils from the compaction parameters (such as maximum dry density (MDD) optimum moisture content (OMC), field dry density (FDD), and field moisture content (FMC)). Ding [13] compared four typical methods for determining the coefficient of the subgrade reaction including the test method, Lis method, MIDAS method, and finite element method. He showed that the test method is the one preferred by the designers, that the tangential coefficient should be in a range of one to two-third of the normal coefficient. The internal force of subway structures can be obtained by the test method and modified by a correction factor that is 1.05. Barmenkova et al. [14] carried out calculations of plates on a n elastic basis with variable and constant coefficients of subgrade reaction. In this paper, the calculation of plates bending was carried out by the finite element method. The results were compared for different models of plates on an elastic basis. For a two-layer plate on an elastic basis, which had heterogeneity in the plan, the results of calculation took into account the increase of the height of the upper structure. Kobayashi et al. [15] calculated the subgrade reaction coefficient for a foundation soil in an open pier using an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based on measurements taken during in situ horizontal loading tests on a pile. The numerical results would provide useful information for the future design of open piers and their foundations. Liao [16] reviewed the limitations of various simple and complex methods available for estimating the coefficient of subgrade reaction k, and developed a new method using the results of the plane strain finite element analyses of a loaded beam or slab resting on the surface of a homogeneous elastic soil layer. Although many studies have been carried out on determining the subgrade reaction coefficient, the dependence on many parameters leads to further parametric studies. Experimental and theoretical formulas for determining ks are based on available data from limited sites with some assumptions, so it is possible for them not to have sufficient precision in all areas. Therefore, determining the subgrade reaction coefficient in specific areas such as Bandar Abbas city and assessment of the effective parameters on subgrade reaction coefficient is vital. Besides, the Increasing in footing width, increases effective depth. Therefore, determination of ks in footing with more width is more complex especially in layered soil, because ks obtained from plate load test is different from ks under real loading of structure. Thus investigation of the footing width and the strength parameters of the soil on ks is needed. Performing plate load tests with large diameters is expensive and difficult, thus the present study uses finite element software of Plaxis to investigate the effect of the aforementioned parameters. Parametric studies on subgrade reaction coefficient of sand soil in Bandar Abbas city are few, so this paper uses geotechnical data of a site in Bandar Abbas city (Iran) to determine subgrade reaction coefficient by using of theoretical, experimental relations and numerical methods. Besides, the effects of the strength parameters (c,) and B on subgrade reaction coefficient are investigated too. This study is carried out by using and verifying numerical methods and ensuring the accuracy of the software. Numerical analysis has been done by finite element method using Plaxis software [17]. Analytical methods of subgrades reaction coefficient In order to obtain ks, one can generally apply plate loading, consolidation, triaxial, and CBR tests and experimental and theoretic relations provided by researchers [18]. Among them, plate loading testing and the experimental method are considered the most common methods. In this paper, experimental and theoretic methods are considered. There are several relations including Vesic [19], Biot [20], and Bowles [6] as well as relations resulting from elastic theory from elasticity theory to determine subgrade reaction coefficient. Biot [20] solved the problem of an infinite beam on a linear elastic subgrade and provided Eq. (1) for subgrade reaction coefficient. (1) Vesic [19] developed Biots work [20] and suggested Eq. (2) for the relation between ks and elastic characteristic of soil: (2) He also showed the difference between Winkler method and continuum does not exceed 10 percent. Bowles [6] showed the numerical value of in ordinary condition may be approximated by 1, and in most cases subgrade reaction coefficient is obtained by Eq. (3): (3) Using elasticity theory is another way to approximate ks. By reformulating the elastic subsidence in rectangular foundation, we obtain the following [21]: (4) These values are determined based on tables in the elastic subsidence section of basic soil mechanic references. m is the coefficient which is equal to 1, 2 and 4 for corner, edge, and center, respectively. ks is calculated in corners assuming m = 1 from Eq. (4) and it is multiplied by 0.5 to obtain k edges or by 0.25 to obtain ks centers. According to the above discussion, it can be seen that there are several formulae to determine soil subgrade reaction coefficient. General and geotechnical properties of the soil The site of the residential- mercantile building is located to the west part of Bandar Abbas city in Iran (Fig. 1) with seven floors over the ground floor (parking lot). The depth of the foundation settlement is equal to the height of the foundation as 1 meter and no groundwater grade was observed until the end of the excavation depth. In order to identify the underground layers, five boreholes were excavated (three 15-meter boreholes and two 20-meter boreholes) using a rotary drilling machine. During soil boring, some samples were extracted for laboratory experiments. After completion of the field operation, the extracted samples were tested for grading, Atterberg limits, moisture content of the natural soil, and direct shear test. The studies on the layers of the site soil show the soil type in the foundation subgrade is mainly silty sand (SM) from the ground level down to the depth of 8 meters, and the soil type is bad-grained sand (SP) from the depth of 8 meters downwards. Fig. 1. Location of Bandar Abbas city. Considering the field and laboratory experiments in order to determine the scale of soil subsidence and the bearing capacity of the site soil, the required parameters were selected from the five excavated boreholes as shown in Table 1. The data of the samplings is available down to 20 meters deep. The soil type was given down to the depth of the foundation effect (around 30m). Moreover, the soil weight at the 20 to 30 m depth (layer 11) has considered as being constant. Table 1. Soil properties of the site No. of Layers Dep. (m) Soil Type SPT (Ncor.) à Ã¢â‚¬ ° (%) c (kPa) à Ã¢â‚¬   (ËÅ ¡) ÃŽÂ ³ (kN/m3) ÃŽÂ ³d(kN/m3) 1 0-2 SM 21 4.1 0 29 17 16.3 2 2-4 SM 17 16.6 0 29.1 18.6 16.23 3 4-6 SM 24 14.9 0 28.8 18.6 16.18 4 6-8 SM 33 15.2 0 30.4 18.9 16.4 5 8-10 SP 38 23.7 0 32.4 20.1 16.24 6 10-12 SP 39 18.1 0 31.2 19.4 16.42 7 12-14 SP 47 24.2 0 31.2 20.6 16.58 8 14-16 SP 50 19.8 0 30 20 16.69 9 16-18 SP 50 19.2 0 32 20 16.77 10 18-20 SP 50 18.8 0 32 20 16.83 11 20-30 SP 50 18.8 0 32 20 16.83 Equations (5) and (6) were used to determine the elasticity modulus of the soil [6]: (5) For unsaturated sands, and (6) For saturated sands. Thus, the elasticity modulus for each of the soil layers is calculated based on the above formulae and the results are shown in Table 2. Table 2. Elasticity modulus of the soil layers No. of Layers SPT (Ncor.) Es (kPa)-dry 1 21 18000 2 17 16000 3 24 19500 4 33 24000 5 38 26500 6 39 27000 7 47 31000 8 50 32500 9 50 32500 10 50 32500 11 50 32500 Numerical analysis procedure First, the results of Brian Anderson et al. [22] were analyzed with Plaxis to verify the software. Brian Anderson et al. [22] performed in situ testing and numerical investigation for predicting settlement of shallow foundations. Accordingly, a 1.8 m diameter concrete footing was statically load tested. Prior to construction, in situ standard penetration test (SPT), cone penetration testing (CPT), dilatometer (DMT), and pressuremeter (PMT) and laboratory tests were performed to determine engineering properties of the soil. A reinforced circular 1.8 m diameter 0.6 m thick concrete footing was constructed using a corrugated pipe coupler as a form. To overcome a thin hard layer surface crust, the footing was embedded 0.6 m into the ground. The groundwater table was at 1.7 m from the ground surface, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Static load was 222 kPa. Due to the symmetry, half of footing with the width of 0.5 B is modeled asymmetrically. Avoiding boundary effects, a 6.5ÃÆ'-5 m model was s elected. The model depth was taken as 6.5 m, that is approximately equal to 4B=6.8 m and the width of the model was taken as 5 m, that is approximately equal to 3B [23] . Results proved that the displacement did not reach the boundaries in the analysis. To investigate the mesh dependency, a number of trial analyses were conducted through the verification study. The model included 1971 nodes and 235 elements. The boundary lines were defined as the limited deformation in horizontal direction and free deformation in vertical direction, and limited deformations both in horizontal and vertical directions at the lower boundary as showed in Fig. 3. Trial analyses proved that with specified dimension and meshing, errors would be negligible. In order to do the modeling with finite element method, the 15-node triangular element was used according to Fig. 4. Table 3 presents the input parameters used for the FEM analyses. Figure 5 presents applied stress-settlement diagram obtained from Plaxis in this study and reference to a point located under plate. There was a negligible difference between two diagrams, so Plaxis was suitable for analysis. Fig. 2. Geometry and mesh of the verification model.  Ã‚  Ã‚   Fig. 3. Soil-footing profile of verification model [22]. Fig. 4. 15-node triangular element. Table 3. Soil properties used in verification according to [22]. Bottom(m) (kN/m3) (deg) E(Mpa) c(kPa) 1.64 18.9 31.4 14.5 0 2.5 17.3 30.1 12.5 0 3.17 15.7 28.6 10.50 0 6.5 14.2 27.1 8.5 0 Fig. 5. Applied stress-settlement diagram. After software verification, the model was developed for determining the subgrade reaction coefficient of Bandar Abbas city and parametric study. In the created model (which included 2011 nodes and 256 elements), the loading was uniform and, a rigid foundation was considered in all phases of analysis. Model depth should be greater than 4B and model width greater than 3B for different diameters. Since it was intended to study the effect of foundation diameter on determining the value of subgrade reaction coefficient, an asymmetric model was used in the software for soil modeling. The relevant parameters of the general properties (wet and dry specific weight) and the relevant parameters of the soil resistance (c,) for all soil layers were derived from Table 1. Considering the results of the experiments and researches and the reliability of the developed numerical model with the results, and considering the soil type of the site (sand soil), Mohr-Coulomb behavioral model for the soil wa s used in this research. Since in Mohr-Coulomb behavioral model the stress-strain relation is fulfilled directly by the soil elasticity coefficient, thus in entering the data of the soil elasticity coefficient as one of the input parameters, the data of Table 2 were used. The values of the dilation angle in all layers were assumed to be 0. Considering the properties of the building in this project and the scale of the imposed loading (dead and live load), the value of the imposed pressure on the soil was assumed to be 120 kN/m2 where the plate element (with the concrete foundation properties) was used to transfer this load to the modeled soil. Among the most important properties of the element, it could be referred to its flexural hardness (EI) and its axis hardness (EA). These two parameters can be used to obtain the plate thickness that is the representative of the foundation thickness in this case. Considering the constant thickness of the foundation by 1 meter in this research, different values would be obtained for EI and EA in different models according to the Eqs. (7) and (8) [24]. Since the modeling was done with asymmetric method, thus half of the diameter of the real foundation was modeled, and the modeling was done in direction of x-axis, three times more than the foundations diameter (3B), and in the direction of y-axis equal to the number of the layers mentioned in Table 1. Moreover, Table 4 shows the parameters needed for determining the plate input parameters into Plaxis software. d=  ½ deq (7) (8) Fig. 6. Geometry of the model. Table 4. Plate parameters EI (kNm2/m) EA (kN/m) E (kPa) Df(m) Var. Var. 2.5ÃÆ'-107 1 Results and discussion Seven models were developed for different values of foundation diameter (8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 m). Then, they were analyzed by finite element method using Plaxis. Because of axis plain strain in Plaxis, foundation is considered as a strip with B/2 of diameter and 1 m, orthogonal to the plane as shown in Fig. 6. Amount of vertical displacement in center and below of the foundation (sections are in center and 1 meter below the above subgrade of soil model) is obtained according to the load determined by the construction analysis (120 kN/m2). The soil subgrade reaction coefficient is calculated by Eq. (9) for any values of foundation diameter [25]: (9)

The South China Tiger Essay -- Endangered Species Wildlife China Essay

The South China Tiger As a result of â€Å"the South China Tiger [being] one of the most endangered tiger subspecies in the world† (State Forestry Administration, 2000) China implemented the China Action Plan For Saving the South China Tiger. China’s State Forestry Administration developed the plan because it was necessary to minimize the threat of extinction posed by humans to these tigers. Without intervention, the South China Tiger would go extinct. Historically, â€Å"The South China Tiger was widely distributed, [its range area was about] 2000 kilometers from east to west and 1500 kilometers from north to south† (State Forestry Administration, 2000). What lead to the South China Tiger being classified as extinct was the ignorance of people about the tiger’s ecological and reproductive fragility. According to the China Action Plan, â€Å"During the thirty years before 1980 the wild population of the South China Tiger suffered from continuous large-scale hunting, deforestation of their habitats for timbers, reclaiming of agricultural lands, and pollution from chemical fertilizers†. A combination of human encroachment and habitat destruction resulted in both a decrease in the numbers of South China tigers in the wild as well as a decrease in the habitat in which they were able to live. The Ministry of Forest of the Peoples Republic of China combined its efforts with the World Wildlife Federation to conduct a study of the South China Tiger from 1990-1992. â€Å"The outcome of the survey revealed that there were about 20 to 30 South China Tigers living in the wild at that time. Therefore, the South China Tiger [was] on the brink of extinction† (State Forestry Administration, 2000). There are two different types of South C... ...te Forestry Administration, 2000). The South China Tiger is only one of several species that is endangered due to human activities. It is important for both governments and individuals to become aware of the threats that they pose to species in order to prevent extinction in the future. Without knowledge and awareness many species will meet that same fate as those of the Dodo bird and the Passenger Pigeon. However with appropriate awareness, monitoring and preservation programs it is possible for humans to prevent the complete extinction of the so many vital species and organisms that share this planet with mankind. References 1- China Action Plan for Saving the South China Tiger, Draft Outline. State Forestry Administration, P.R. China. Oct. 2000 2- http://www.5tigers.org/Research/Schina.htm. 3- http://www.home.aol.com/tigertrail/china.htm

Free College Admissions Essays: Computer Programming :: College Admissions Essays

Computer Programming Computer Programmer Matt Katz Writing for the Real World Pelkey November 30, 1999 Computer Systems Analyst I push the button, I hear a noise, and the screen comes alive. My computer loads up and starts to process. I see the start screen for Windows 95, and I type in my password. Even though this takes time, I know that I will be able to do whatever I want to do without any trouble, without any glitches, without any questions. My computer is now easier to use and more user friendly because computer systems analysts have worked out the problems that many computer systems still have. It appears to me that a career choice needs to contain a number of different features: One, Will this area of interest mentally stimulate me as well as challenge me; Two, Is there a way of making a living in these areas of interest; Three, Do I enjoy the different activities within this area of interest? From the first day that I started my first computer, I have grasped the concepts quickly and with ease, but the computer as well as I, will never stop growing. I have introduced myself to all topics of word processing to surfing the web. After reviewing a number of resources, I have noticed a relatively high demand for technologically integrated hardware and software positions available with companies that wish to compete with the demand for "networking". ("Computer Scientists" 95) This leads me to believe that future employment prospects will be high and of high quality pay within the next eight to ten years. The past, present, and future have and will see the computer. Since I have seen the computer, I have enjoyed the challenges and countless opportunities to gain in life from this machine. From school projects to games; from the Internet to programming languages; I have and always will feel like that little kid in the candy store. A Computer Systems Analyst decides how data are collected, prepared for computers, processed, stored, and made available for users. ("Computer Systems" COIN 1) The main achievement as a systems analyst is to improve the efficiency or create a whole new computer system that proves to be more efficient for a contracting company. When on an assignment, the analyst must meet a deadline. While striving for a deadline, he must create and comprehend many sources of information for the presentation. Free College Admissions Essays: Computer Programming :: College Admissions Essays Computer Programming Computer Programmer Matt Katz Writing for the Real World Pelkey November 30, 1999 Computer Systems Analyst I push the button, I hear a noise, and the screen comes alive. My computer loads up and starts to process. I see the start screen for Windows 95, and I type in my password. Even though this takes time, I know that I will be able to do whatever I want to do without any trouble, without any glitches, without any questions. My computer is now easier to use and more user friendly because computer systems analysts have worked out the problems that many computer systems still have. It appears to me that a career choice needs to contain a number of different features: One, Will this area of interest mentally stimulate me as well as challenge me; Two, Is there a way of making a living in these areas of interest; Three, Do I enjoy the different activities within this area of interest? From the first day that I started my first computer, I have grasped the concepts quickly and with ease, but the computer as well as I, will never stop growing. I have introduced myself to all topics of word processing to surfing the web. After reviewing a number of resources, I have noticed a relatively high demand for technologically integrated hardware and software positions available with companies that wish to compete with the demand for "networking". ("Computer Scientists" 95) This leads me to believe that future employment prospects will be high and of high quality pay within the next eight to ten years. The past, present, and future have and will see the computer. Since I have seen the computer, I have enjoyed the challenges and countless opportunities to gain in life from this machine. From school projects to games; from the Internet to programming languages; I have and always will feel like that little kid in the candy store. A Computer Systems Analyst decides how data are collected, prepared for computers, processed, stored, and made available for users. ("Computer Systems" COIN 1) The main achievement as a systems analyst is to improve the efficiency or create a whole new computer system that proves to be more efficient for a contracting company. When on an assignment, the analyst must meet a deadline. While striving for a deadline, he must create and comprehend many sources of information for the presentation.

“The Singer Solution to World Poverty”

World poverty has existed for many centuries and still exists today, gradually expanding and intensifying. This is the topic that Pete Singer, a professor of bioethics, calls attention to in his article â€Å"The Singer Solution to World Poverty. † Singer claimed that the solution was simple; â€Å"whatever money you’re spending on luxuries, not necessities, should be given away. † Considering Singer’s â€Å"solution† a controversial point arises between an idealistic, utopian, and morally just point of view and a realistic, pragmatic, and plausible point of view.Singer’s solution, although righteous and ethical, is not probable and thus would not be effective in curing world poverty. The few pros of Singer’s proposal are, at first glance, important and convincing. The money, prospering individuals are spending on luxuries, can total to a great amount, which can help pay for food and medical aid for the poor. With an increase of food a nd medicine, the rate at which children and adults die due to starvation and lack of medical help, can quickly decrease.Nations will less frequently struggle with high mortality rate among newly born and children as well as among adult people suffering from curable diseases. In addition, the donated money can allow for the improvement of educational opportunities for all individuals, which can result in advanced technological, scientific and humanities-focused research and discoveries. Ultimately, Singer’s utopian idea of a cure for world poverty, promises a developed, healthy, and educated world.Although Singer deals with morality and righteousness, one cannot help but criticize Singer’s idealism and naivety and resort to realism, practicality and plausibility. The first issue that comes to light when attempting to execute or enforce this â€Å"solution† is the unknown borderline between luxury and necessity. In reality, it would be impossible for every prosper ous person to agree upon what is and what is not a necessity, and if it were decided, for example that microwaves were a luxury, would the microwave manufacturers go out of business?A large percentage of companies and factories are dedicated to manufacturing luxurious items, however, if people no longer continued to buy these items and instead donated to the poor, this would be at the cost of the factory workers’ jobs; therefore, creating a cyclical effect and intensifying the issue of world poverty. Accordingly, Singer gives a highly idealistic and utopian theory and when we evaluate both pros and cons, it becomes obvious that the obstacles outweigh the advantages.His approach in curing world poverty is not only too extreme, but brings about cyclical and unsolvable issues. It is important to consider and apply this method to real life and then reflect upon all the possible consequences. Singer’s cure fails to provide a realistic solution and promising outcomes. A diff erent approach, or rather first step, to solving world poverty can be keeping to a minimum expensive worldwide projects. For example, millions of dollars are spent on the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, World Soccer Cups, etc.If instead the total money dedicated to these celebrations were to be saved and donated to the needy every few years, progress would certainly be a result. Moreover, the ceremonies can be replaced with simple, yet entertaining concerts performed by artists willing to volunteer and help fund-raise money for the poor. Ultimately, Singer’s â€Å"simple formula† for world poverty in reality is a naive and idealist theory, and most importantly an ill-considered and unfitting solution to one of the 21st century’s greatest issue: world poverty.