Policy Development Paper

Policy Development Paper Policy Development Paper October 07, 2009 Policy Development Paper This paper will be focused on a terrorism security policy for large events. This paper will also include statistical, factual, and public opinion history information which will support my policy claim. All stake holders such as: politicians, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, correctional officers and administrators, law enforcement officers and administrators, victims, law-abiding citizens, will be included in this paper. Furthermore, their opinions as their opinion relates to my proposed policy and how politics may impact my policy implementation. Additionally, I will provide policy recommendations and the rationale for these recommendations and their impact on contemporary criminal justices issues and globalization. Terrorism is violent acts which is used to create fear or terror. Terrorism is very dangerous because the people who use terrorism which are called terrorist do not fear for their own life therefore, they will not care about anybody else life as well. A terrorist is one that engages in unlawful use or threat of violence against the public as a politically motivated means of attack† (Peace takes Courage, 2009). Another thing about terrorism is that terrorism can come from anyone or any where. Terrorism is man made as well so we must also keep that in mind. All through history, there has been threats made about the security of many nations. The threats that were made and carried out have caused a large scale loss of life, destroyed property, wide spread illness and injury, the displacement of large numbers of people, and lastly economic loss. When a country is harmed by terrorism the loss is great rather the loss is of lives or money. Terrorism is a very scary thing and a very serious thing as well because people who are terrorist do not care about anything but power and if they do not have the power they desire they will do what ever, they want until they get the power they want. The attacks of September 11, 2001 showed everyone in the United States that we were vulnerable to terrorist attacks. As a result of the attacks we have now created a way to fight back nd keep ourselves protected from terrorist. The first thing we did was create the Department of Homeland Security. There are three goals that are to prevent terrorist attacks in the United States. Next, they are to lessen the vulnerability to terrorism. The last goal of the Department of Homeland Security is to minimize the damage from potential attacks and natural disasters. The next thing they did to help keep us protected was create tool that is to keep everyone updated about terrorist threats. The tool is the color coded terrorism risk advisory scale. According to (the Department of Homeland Security) â€Å"this scale was created in 2002, with the idea that it would help notify the American population the probability level of terrorist activity and or threat. For the most part seems that the warning stays at elevated and that many people have come to mock the system. † Another thing that was created because of the terrorist attacks was the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act is a set of laws which are suppose to protect us, as a result of September 11, 2001. Another thing about the Patriot Act is that the Patriot Act is a 300 page document. According to (Girl, 2005) â€Å"This is stated in Section 213 of the Patriot Act which allows for the government to delay the notification of search warrants. With the protection of the fourth amendment the authorities are supposed to notify you of the warrant by knocking on the door before entering your home. This does not exist with the Patriot Act. The authorities only need probable cause to search and seize anything within your premises or person. The Patriot Act is good in one way and bad in another way. The next thing that was created as a result of 9/11 is the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA). â€Å"Marked a departure from existing federal catastrophe insurance market policy in several respects† (Lakdawalla, Zanjani, 2005). Terrorism has caused a lot of nations to tighten up on their security which is a good thing because every citizen deserves to feel safe. All of the new se curity we currently have is good because as long as the security is tight we as a nation is safe. Terrorism is all about keeping people scared and feeling unsafe. This new policy will help end that feeling and make everyone feel comfortable. This new policy will be on the federal level because on the federal level more powers can be granted and we need more power when combating terrorism. Here is the policy rules:  · All agencies are to report on a monthly basis to the head quarters.  · When there is a active threat each state must be warned.  · Each state must have some type of security precautions in place.  · All federal agents should be on the watch 24/7. There should be doubled the number of intelligence analysts and also tripled the amount of linguists within the entire agency.  · The agencies should also make sure that the terrorist financing is frozen because with out money their operations will have a very hard time surviving.  · All information must be shared with law enforcement and intelligence partners worldwide because they all need to be informed when t heir lives and their citizens lives are in danger after all that is why we are here in the first place to ensure the safety of everyone. Lastly all agencies should also be on the look out for weapons of mass destructions by getting rid of their weapons they will not have a way to fight back weapons of mass destruction would include guns, bombs, dangerous toxics, missiles, and etc. this policy should be followed because this policy was created to help keep everyone safe. I would first like to say that implementation is the realization of an application, or execution of a plan, idea, model, design, specification, standard, algorithm, or policy. When this policy is about to be implemented politics play a major role because politics will have to approve the policy. Politics will also have to approve funding for this policy without the help of politics my policy will not survive. Politics are needed when ever something has to pass into law. Politics also affect how problems are defined and if they will be on the governmental agenda for action. According to (Dievler, 2009) â€Å"politics also affects the implementation process, not only in terms of coalitions and the media, but through the politics of the administrative or bureaucratic process as well. The next thing that would include the implementation of this policy would be law enforcement officers and administrators. They would be included because local law enforcement officers are needed to help keep the communities under control and to help with law and order. Local law enforcement officers are always needed because their job is to keep everyone safe. They must also enf orce the law therefore they are the perfect candidates to help with my policy. Also the implementation of my policy. If the policy is implemented right there will not be any victims however, if there are some victims then they should follow the rules their government has in place. As well as the law- abiding citizens. If everyone follow procedure then there should not be any problems with the implementation of this policy. The policy which is titled the policy to prevent terrorist attacks was created to help keep everyone safe. This policy was also created to avoid being vulnerable like we were for 9/11. There were not any statistics to help with the implementation of this policy. However, the history of terrorism is a different story. The history of terrorism is very different from terrorism today. In 1944, the terrorists group of Palestine, called the Zionists, were called freedom fighters and if you happened to look in the history there were two Israeli prime ministers, including Menachem begin appearing in wanted posters that said terrorists, reward [this much]. According to (Terrorism- Research, 2009) â€Å"The earliest known organization that exhibited aspects of a modern terrorist organization was the Zealots of Judea. Known to the Romans as sicarii, or dagger-men , they carried on an underground campaign of assassination of Roman occupation forces, as well as any Jews they felt had collaborated with the Romans. Their motive was an uncompromising belief that they could not remain faithful to the dictates of Judaism while living as Roman subjects. † The history of terrorism is very different from the terrorism of today. Also according to (Terrorism- Research, 2009) â€Å"The French Revolution provided the first uses of the words â€Å"Terrorist† and â€Å"Terrorism†. Use of the word â€Å"terrorism† began in 1795 in reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government. The agents of the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention that enforced the policies of â€Å"The Terror† were referred to as ‘Terrorists†. As for public opinion they are all over the place. However, the public is more worried about another terrorist attack more than anything else. Therefore, the public is willing to accept any policy as long as the policy will keep them safe. And because of that politics take advantage mainly because they know that people will make a sacrifice if their safety is in danger. According to (Girl, 2005) â€Å" The events of September 11, 2001 have forever changed the way that we as Americans look at outsiders. We have become skeptical of anyone who is not as we expect them to be. † In short public opinion is driven by fear and if the bigger the fear the more people are terrified. If the terrorist threats are weak the public is not afraid but if the terrorist threats are strong and powerful the public will be very afraid and they will give the terrorist all the power they need. That is the public opinion on terrorism. Now, I will attempt to give policy recommendations and the rationale for these recommendations and their impact on contemporary criminal justices issues and globalization. There are not to many recommendations I can give on policing however, I will try to. One recommendation would be to make a policy that do not harm or rights this is important because our rights are all we have and if they are taken away we will not have anything. Our rights are very important. The next policy recommendation would be to make sure everyone is save safety is very important. Another good policy recommendation would be to create policies that will catch terrorist quicker. As for the first recommendation the rationale is that according to (Girl, 2005) â€Å"There are many violations but one of the most controversial is the violation against our fourth amendment rights. † This recommendation do not interfere with the criminal justice system or globalization. There are not a rationale for the second recommendation and the second recommendation do not effect globalization. There also is not a rationale for the last recommendation as well and the last recommendation do not interfere with the criminal justice and the last recommendation do not effect globalization. Globalization has made way for free trade and business and has communication between various parts of the globe. Therefore, globalization will not have any thing to do with the policy recommendations I have made. In conclusion, I would like to say that terrorism is very bad and very scary as well. Terrorism can cause a lot of damage and harm a lot of people. All major points were talked about in this paper. The policy I created was also included and to me the policy I created was pretty good. Lastly, I discussed the politics a lot more than anything else mainly because politics play a major role in policy making. Well, this concludes my paper I hope you enjoyed reading this paper because I did put a lot of work into this paper. References: Dievler, A. (2009). Politics and Policy Making. Retrieved on: October 08, 2009. From: http://www. pubmedcentral. nih. gov/pagerender. fcgi? artid=1508936&pageindex=1 Girl, M. (2005). Terrorism and Policy. Retrieved on: October 8, 2009. From: http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/14236/terrorism_and_policy. html? cat=37 Lakdawalla, D. , Zanjani, G. (2005). Terrorism insurance policy and the public good. Retrieved on: October 09, 2009. From: http://works. bepress. com/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=1032&context=darius_lakdawalla Peace takes Courage. (2009). What is a Terrorist? Retrieved on: October 9, 2009. From: http://www. peacetakescourage. com/terrorist. html Terrorism- Research. (2009). Early history of terrorism. Retrieved on: October 09, 2009. From: http://www. terrorism-research. com/history/early. php

Journey to Sakhalin

The Saline project was the first Russian production-sharing agreement (AS) with foreign corporations. A AS is a commercial contract between investor(s) who are willing to make a large, long term and high risk investments with the host country that has the natural recourses (usually oil and/or gas) to exploit. The terms behind AAAS are usually deferent than regular commercial contracts, as they usually bypass some of the regulations that the host country imposes on foreign Investments.The agreements also last for the Lifetime of the project. Under the terms of the AS, the investing company gets the larger share of venues at the beginning of the contract to recoup the cost of investment. As time goes by, the net revenues (revenues after the cost of operations) are shared between the investment companies and the host country, usually a 20/80 split. AAAS are controversial In Russia because they bypass some of the taxes and licenses that a foreign company would have to pay.Previous foreig n companies had worked In Russia under the regular tax system, therefore It was argued that AAAS don't treat all businesses equally and create a sense of unfairness. Furthermore, AAAS apply only to Greenfield.. Greenfield are unexploited, undeveloped large pieces of lands with exploitable resources, and some circles felt that Russia should not cheaply bargain away these coveted lands. AAAS are agreements between the foreign direct investors (FED) and the federal Russian government; thereby limiting the power of the mid-level establishment, traditionally and politically a powerful group In Russian Pollock.At the time of the agreement, the local Saline Government, led by Governor Igor Verification, was a key player in the decision, mainly because Verification was politically influential and in favor of the project. After the fall of the communist regime, Russian GAP fell by 50% and up to half of the population was living below the poverty line. Oil and gas constituted the main export earnings of Russia, whose borders encompassed the largest supply of gas In the world (30%). Attempts by Russia to privative state-owned energy firms had mixed results.The OLL Industry produced a number of vertically integrated firms such as Skidpan and Subnet, which formed the basics of a competitive environment. Conversely, prevarication of the gas industry produced a single, dominant company: Gazpacho. At times, it appeared that he Russian Government acted on behalf of Gazpacho due to the significantly higher impact this Industry had on the Russian economy, and because It was a 38% stakeholder In the company. As Gazpacho controlled 20% of the worlds gas production, tenure were gallants political Interests escalated Witt ten development of this industry in Russia.Thus far, Russian's exports were mainly to Europe, as Russia had been unable to build pipelines to East Asia and Japan. The energy sector constituted 20% of GAP, and Gazpacho alone was responsible for 8%. The growing econo mies of the Far East, combined with Russian's need to exploit its oil and gas serves (both for economic reasons, as well as for political influence) helped push Russia to seek Foreign Direct Investment (FED). Russia also required foreign expertise, as transportation of gas to Asia would require a Liquefied Natural Gas (LONG) facility; something they did not have the technical ability to create.Foreign partnerships then offered the fastest and most efficient way of developing previously inaccessible resource field as well as exporting to new markets. Previous administrative scandals (BP Amoco) showed Russia to be politically and financially risky, causing a decrease in FED. A AS agreement would prove a good faith gesture from Russia that it was ready to enter the world economy, and to overcome the bureaucratic history and corruption that has scared away foreign companies.Shell would not have invested $108 in the Saline II project [exhibit 1] without a AS. Russia needed this first AS to attract future FED, and as such would likely be most generous with the terms of its first AS. Successful execution of a AS by Shell, could create future opportunities to exploit additional Greenfield development in Russia. Despite these advantages, there were several downsides. Protectionism by members of the Russian Dumb meant that this AS was rapidly becoming politicized and might face ongoing challenges..One term of the AS was that Saline Energy Investment Company (SIC) needed to use 70% Russian labor and goods for the part of the project measured as measured man- hours and volume of material; however the oil industry in Russia was mainly functioning on ground and had very little experience with offshore activities as exampled by Russian's inability to build and maintain a Liquefied Natural Gas (LONG) plant. The terms of this part of the agreement were particularly vague, as it was roll defined what would be considered Russian â€Å"content† in the project.Additionally, enforcement of the AS would be difficult due to the geographical remoteness of the project. * Investments in Saline did not Just include the production facilities, but also contributions to the local administration. SIC was responsible for the upgrade (or construction) of the island infrastructure as well as other wish-lists of improvements. The SIC also had to provide local community sponsorships of facilities, scholarships and grants as well as maintaining good relationships with environmental activists. Saline Island is a pristine environment.In order to be successful, social and public relations have to be a priority, which could prove to be challenging since the business of exploiting oil and gas is usually brutal to the environment as well as the economic and social landscape of local communities. Care in negotiations had to be achieved in order to sponsor projects that would keep the local residents happy and friendly, and yet keep a tight control on spending for these proje cts and not inflame environmentalists. * Navigation of local politics was also a challenge.In the first stages of a project like this, good relations with local government employees are sometimes more important than relations with politicians higher up in ten unlearning as most approvals are cone locally. As ten project progressed, Ethereal authorities became more important as Putting attempted to reinstitution central authority. Another obstacle was the legal system. Difficulties and delays in obtaining approvals for the Technical and Economic Substantiation for Construction (TCO) as well as a lack of stabilization in the Russian legal system endangered the project as it would not proceed as scheduled without them.Without changes to the legal system, arms of the Saga's agreements that conflicted with current Russian laws could not be enforced and increased the risks associated with the investment. Despite these obstacles Shell should invest in Saline. There are very few Greenfield available with the production capacity of Saline. Exploitation of non-developed lands allows for the building of new technology instead of maintaining old equipment. This is more efficient and therefore more profitable. The initial costs are lower as there is no need to dismantle old facilities to build new ones.It allows Shell to gain a foothold in Russia which has a large reserves of oil and gas. When at full capacity, Saline could produce up to 5% of the world LONG needs making this a critical strategic investment for Russia. Russia needs to rebuild its economy and is now ready to offer better deals then it would in the future. It does not have the technology to build offshore platforms and LONG producing capabilities. It needs these facilities to access new markets and the location of Saline in the Arctic has great potential in these regards.The Saline II AS agreement has terms that will be difficult to match in the future and has the advantage of reducing the influence of the R ussian oligarchy in the business dealings. Russia would not Jeopardize its standing as a 68 country and is motivated to have successful foreign investments. Of course one company to watch is Gazpacho. It is a major player in Russian politics and may feel threatened to have the East Asian market closed to them. Shell should be open to the idea of having Gazpacho be part of the Consortium.To mitigate the risk, Shell should try to attract more investors to distribute the risk, at least at the beginning while costs are high, then buy the shares back once production brings in stable revenues. They should follow the given requirements very carefully and ensure that they keep maintain heir end of the bargain by hiring the requisite local contractors and labor force. Shell should behave as a good neighbor as much as possible by making sure that the environment is being taken care of.Natural resource industries require large capital investments and are politically difficult to navigate. They have such a significant geopolitical impact that the Coos of these companies do not make agreements with the heads of other companies, but rather with heads of state. Their decisions do not just affect the shareholders of the company, but also the access of energy by their win country as well. If the political climate changes with a new government hostile to the home country of the company, no commercial contract can be legally enforced.A company could lose all of its investments in the host country should they be removed from the operations while the plants and equipment remain. Depending on the level of hostility and the impact the resources of a country have on the global energy supply, escalation may involve military force to secure indispensable resources. Usually the countries with the companies that have the most technical expertise do to own the lands that contain the resources and the countries with the resources do not have the technical expertise to exploit them.It creat es a mutual (although wary) Interdependence. An 011 company cannot easily select to another site Ana move Its platforms, refineries and pipelines, while the host country cannot operate the equipment without the technical knowledge of the companies (which is the company's only leverage). Both sides need to do a a diplomatic dance, constantly negotiating give and takes on the exploitation of these resources. Exhibit 1: Saline 2 project

Review on ang lihim ng pamilya rizal Essay

That documentary was quite intriguing especially the thing about Saturnina and her uncle Jose Maria.It got me thinking for an hour or two because if it was true it would be a disgrace to the family. The events links together; Saturnina got pregnant, her mother, Theodora took her on a long vacation and then they’ve returned with Soledad the baby that Theodora claimed to hers and Soledad was meztisa just like Jose Maria. Some questions run through my mind like how did that happen? Was it planned?does Theodora did not raised saturnina like the way she have raised rizal?.Another interesting issue is that the Alonzo family was a bastard because Theodora’s mother, Brigada Quintos was not a legal wife of her father,Lorenzo and the only legal child was Jose Maria. It was cleared to me why Rizal did not live in the alonzo mansion. Also, that’s why the Alberto mansion wasn’t recognized as a landmark because family Rizal wasn’t really connected to the mansion. Today the Alberto ancestral Mansion in Bià ±an laguna is being torn piece by piece for it will be moved to another location. Many people are against it because that is the house that Theodora grew with and it should be treated as a national landmark. I’m against it too because Theodora was an important person in history and she’s the one who mold Rizal into what he’d become. Despite the fact that Theodora wasn’t a legal child, she is still one of the people that have a right to it. The mansion is full of Filipino history and to be destroyed just for a foreign coffee shop? That’s not right. At the end of the documentary, the most important thing I’ve learned is everyone can be a hero. You don’t need to have a good family background; you just need to prove yourself worthy, care for your country and countrymen just like our national hero.

Sentencing, incarceration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sentencing, incarceration - Essay Example No matter what ever the purpose of a particular sentencing policy is, the main aim of all policies is to deter future criminal activity. For example: rehabilitative polices are created to educate and change the mental setup of criminals so in future they do not commit crimes. Similarly, in the case of incapacitation, policy makers keep criminals for prolonged period of time because they believe that they can deter crime by keeping criminals of the streets (Ritchie, 2011, p.7). Even in the case of revenge, policy makers make criminals pay heavy amount of fines and even assign corporal punishment with the intent of ensuring that due to the fear of heavy monetary fines, criminals will not commit crimes and punishments such as corporal punishment will deter those who have an intention of committing future crimes. If I would have been in the shoes of a policy maker and had the authority to make sentencing policies, my policies would have been driven by the purpose of deterring crime. My policies would be backed with both forms of deterrence including general as well as specific deterrence. Policies that are made with the aim of specific deterrence are those due to which a criminal is banned or stopped from committing future crimes. To serve the purpose of specific deterrence I would create sentencing policies that would keep criminals for a longer period of time depending on the severity of the crime. Plus I would implement rehabilitation techniques such as providing psychological assistance and education to criminals so their criminal mind set can be altered and they have enough education to pursue careers that would deter them from the path of crime. Similar policies can be applied to serve the purpose of general deterrence; the prolonged period of jail time would be a lesson for upcoming criminals that if they commit a crime they will be banned from the society for a

If you could change one thing to make the world a better place, what Essay

If you could change one thing to make the world a better place, what would it be - Essay Example Today, the inner world of the man is in shambles. Accumulating more and more wealth is not the solution to find peace within. Spirituality is not the domain of any particular religion. It is all-embracing, and concerns each and every individual. It is about reforming the evil tendencies by changing one’s thought processes. When the thoughts are changed, the mind is changed; when the mind is changed, the man is changed; when the man is changed, the society is changed; when the society is changed, the nation is changed. When the nations change for the better, one can claim that world peace is attainable. Turn the pages of human history, one finds that systems of political philosophies have failed to deliver permanent peace for humanity. An individual is the unit of the society. Changing the individual is the safest and surest of the options for total change. The suggested steps to take spirituality within the reach of the common man are: a) Spiritual education should be made compulsory at the primary school level. It is the wrong notion that spirituality is an after-retirement project and one should take to path of spirituality when one has nothing else to do. b) It should be taught at the higher grades and universities. c) Periodical interactive sessions must be held at all levels to enable the students to have a good grasp of the spiritual truths.

SWOT annalysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SWOT annalysis - Assignment Example This paper examines the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as depicted in the Figure 1 below. With regard to strengths, PepsiCo, Inc. is renown in maintaining top brands. Indeed, Pepsi is one of the most recognized brands in the globe. In the year 2008 for example, Pepsi featured in the 28th position in the top 100 global brands rankings. Furthermore, most of its other brands are top brands as well. They include Diet Pepsi, Lipton Teas, Tropicana, Aquafina Bottled Water, Quaker Foods and Snacks, Tostitos, Sierra Mist, Gastorade Mountain view among many others. Most of these brands dominate in over 200 countries worldwide. Another strength of PepsiCo, Inc. is product diversification. In this regards, Pepsi maintains a wide variety of products including juice drinks, snacks, bottled water, breakfast cereals, ready-to-drink beverages, cakes, among other. Also, PepsiCo, Inc. maintains an excellent distribution channel. In this regards, the company enhances proper the delivery of its products directly from the places of manufacture to the consumers and retail stores. The company also markets their own products, giving them a competitive advantage. With regards to weakness, PepsiCo, Inc. heavily depends on Wal-Mart. Approximately 12 percent of PepsiCo’s total net sales is sold to Wal-Mart (Datemornitor, 2011). This therefore implies that PepsiCo is greatly affected by Wal-Mart’s strategies to large extents. For instance, Wal-Mart’s low price strategy mounts lots of pressures to PepsiCo, Inc. Overreliance on the US markets also constitutes PepsiCo’s weakness. In this regards, a substantial portion of PepsiCo’s revenues originate from the United States. As such, the company is largely affected by changes in the economic condition in the US economy. With reference to opportunities, PepsiCo continues to broaden its product base. For example, PepsiCo, Inc. recently

Supply Chain Integration in the Food Industry Essay

Supply Chain Integration in the Food Industry - Essay Example My first action as the new CEO would be to implement an efficient consumer response (ECR) system. As one author notes, "ECR is an approach to supply chain management which...is a managerial approach that starts with consumer demand and then gears the whole of the supply chain to responding to that demand. It is a customer-driven, demand-pull product management system..." (Gillooley and Varley 42). This method makes particularly good business sense in the retail grocery environment because it is based on supplying products by allying all of the elements of the supply chain with customer purchasing patterns. Consider, for example, how this type of SCM system would increase efficiency during the holidays. Normal sales of large, frozen turkeys are generally low during the months of January through October, but spike over November and December. A supply chain which was based on the ECR model would be integrating suppliers, distributors, and in-store inventories to minimize costs and maxim ize what can only be considered as a diminishing profit margin, e.g., the closer to Thanksgiving it gets, the cheaper the price for the birds and the more competitive the market becomes. The alternatives to this integrated approach are either to run out of inventory and lose market share, or to over-stock and suffer a negative product age issue; neither of which are profitable nor efficient. Accordingly, the ECR would be my first move as the new CEO. My second strategic focus on using supply chain integration would focus on operation and information systems. Similarly to Mr. Johnston, I know that information systems efficiency and interoperability is an important area for an SCM. Proper use of technology to maximize efficiency is well worth the investment, as demonstrated by Wal-Mart in past case studies. One reason information systems are so vital is the operational support they provide and the speed and accuracy at which they provide it. This systems integration directly addresses issues like overstocking which, in many retail businesses is costly, but in a retail grocery setting can be prohibitively expensive. As Ketzenberg and Metters note, "although all major grocers use scanner technology at cash registers...[in most stores] stock ordering is still done manually by employees visually checking shelf sets" (31). It is for this reason that I think Mr. Johnston's investment in technology is astute; and I would do the exact same thing. As the information systems are integrated and the operational aspect of inventory tracking moves from visual unit counts to a more efficient and accurate SCM system, additional benefits will be gained; the ability to interface with the ECR system noted above will permit supply chain managers to monitor the relationship between quantities ordered and sold so that accurate forecasting can bring higher efficiency, lower costs, and greater customer satisfaction. The blending of a

Petroleum Resources and the Economy of Angola Essay

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Budget of a city Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Budget of a city - Research Paper Example Each department head articulates their own segment of the budget and presents it to the Village Manager and the Financial Director and consequently funds are allocated in accordance with the evaluations made. The estimations made are then finalized and presented to the Finance Committee and Village Board for review and direction which is then adopted by the Mayor and Board of Trustees (The Village of Niles 1-20). THESIS STATEMENT This paper intends to conduct a descriptive study of the budget prepared for the Village of Niles for the FY 2014.The paper would also provide a detailed study of the different priorities of the budget plan along with the sources of funding for the entity and their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, an explanation of the different segments where the money would be spent would also be provided in the paper. Different ways in which the local government could handle an economic recession would also be ascertained. DISCUSSION Explanation of the Priorities of the Budget Plan. It is considered that every budget plan is prepared with a prime motive. Fiscal budget is essentially prepared to support a number of imperative facets of a nation that require adequate assistances. With reference to the FY budget 2014 of Village of Niles, a few of the priorities that have been stated are listed hereunder: Community Development The community development department is essentially associated with issuing building permits, providing inspectional services within the village and keeping a track of the business and rental licensing within the village. Moreover, the department is also associated with property maintenance inspection within the village. It is worth mentioning that since 2013 the department has also undertaken the responsibility of the Fire Prevention Bureau and economic development marketing of the village. The major reason behind selecting the community development department as one of the priorities for the FY budget 2014 is to develop th e village zoning code in order to meet the growing need of the community, develop short term and long term goals with an aim to develop the economic condition of the village and also to market the village in the national level. The budget also aims to develop the information technology (IT) software associated with the licensing, maintenance and health division within the village for better efficiency that would facilitate to provide more quality services to the public. The budget allotted for the department also covers vital facets such as amended language for Chapter 46, Fire Prevention. It has not been addressed by the government. The budget also aims at inspecting 1300 business within the village (The Village of Niles 28-35). General Government Department The General Government Department is concerned with two primary objectives i.e. to provide high quality service to the villagers and to maximize the efficiency of village service delivery through the use of cost efficiencies. T he vital reason behind selecting the department as the other priority for the FY budget 2014 is to establish a coordinated relation amid the elected officials and the staff of the different departments within the village. The budget allotted for the department also aims to update the emergency operation center plan, the department also plans to collaborate with the Niles Park District Plan for conducting successful

Legal Case Briefs x 3 ( Terry v. Ohio, Katz v. United States, Essay

Legal Case Briefs x 3 ( Terry v. Ohio, Katz v. United States, Tennessee v Garner) - Essay Example The three men were incoherent in their response. That prompted the detective to accost Terry, turn him around and discovered a pistol which he was not able to seize at the moment. He then made the three men to enter the store hands raised, and then frisked Chilton and Kartz. The detective recovered a .38 calibre revolver from the pocket of Chilton’s overcoat on the outside. He did not search the outer clothing of Kartz because he did not suspect him to be armed when he lightly frisked him. The detective as a result of discovery of the weapons arrested the three and charged Terry and Chilton with carrying concealed weapons under Ohio laws and rules. Procedural history Trial court- passed verdict of guilty and convicted. Court of appeal – affirmed conviction. Supreme court- upheld affirmation of appellate court. Issue Admissibility of evidence obtained from suspects without warrants under the fourth amendment if the hunt was restrained /limited and reasonable grounds to s uspect danger depending on the prevailing circumstances before actual proof is obtained. Holding It was proper to stop and frisk the suspects if the police had reasonable grounds of suspicion and it was not contrary to the fourth amendment of unreasonable searches and seizures and that the rule was applicable both privately and in public places. Reasoning Brinegar v. United States 338 U.S. 160 (1949) In as much as probable cause standards are meant to guard citizens against unlawful interference by law enforcement officers, they are also meant to aid law enforcement. A balance has to be struck between allowing the officers too much discretion and what is reasonably practicable under the prevailing circumstances. Application Even though the law provides protection for individuals and guards privacy under the fourth amendment, it must be understood that circumstances arise where it is reasonably practicable to allow personal intrusion for effective law enforcement. The standards of pr obable cause must be regarded in determination of whether arrests without warrants are constitutional or not. Conclusion Activities by law enforcement officers that may seem to be a infringement of the Fourth Amendment in relation to searches and seizures depends on the prevailing circumstances under which the events occur and the reasonableness of actions taken by the law enforcement officers. In order to enhance community protection, law enforcement officers must be allowed certain powers but only which are necessary and not excessive. 2. CASE TITLE: Tennessee v Garner CITATION: 471 U.S.1 (1985) Facts Two Memphis police officers, Wright and Hymon responded to a call October 3, 1974 at a quarter to 11 pm. On arrival at the scene, a woman gestured at the next house and explained to them that she had heard the sound of breaking glass and that it was probably a house break in the neighbour’s house. Hymon positioned himself behind the house as Wright confirmed their presence at the scene to the dispatch scene by radio call. Hyman first heard the sound of a slamming door and saw the suspect fleeing across the backyard. The suspect made a stop at a 6-feet- tall chain link fence. Hyman by the aid of a flashlight could see the suspect and reasonably concluded that he was unarmed, about 17/18 years old and about 5’5’’ or 5’7’’ tall. Hyman called on him to stop but he proceeded to scale the fence.

Network effect Essay Example for Free

Network effect Essay Network effect is seen as a phenomenon where a network service (SNS or PNS) becomes more valuable as the number of users increase. This phenomenon encourages continually increasing membership within the network. This can happen when a user adopts a network service initially to connect with current users, or later, when â€Å"everyone† is using the network service. Although there may be a larger increase in new membership for SNS’s, it is stated throughout the LinkedIn case that new membership for PNS’s is likely to be more valuable to users because of the nature of the connection. Many people will not want to change PNS’s because they will lose their multiple connections already created (Yoffie et al. , 2009). The case examines the likelihood of SNS’s overlapping and taking over PNS’s. This outcome seems unlikely. By examining Exhibit 6 (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 16), the correlation among factors such as age, income, college education, and position within an organization sets LinkedIn squarely within its target market. Also, Yoffie et al. indicates the distinct uses of professional and social apps on Facebook. The multitude of users who use social apps vs. lower use of professional apps shows that Facebook users are less likely to make their profiles into professional networking tools, leaving PNS’s like LinkedIn for leveraging their professional careers (Author, p. 14). Question #2 Emerging companies need to generate new dynamics that are modernized, innovative, and easily adaptive to survive in this world. The new dynamics should be economically viable for the industry because they affect issues of whether to pursue a build or a buy approach to expand globally. LinkedIn Corporation, a PNS, is used by professionals globally to interact professionally. Uses include recruiting, getting expert advice, group collaboration, and more. Differentiating strategies were adopted by LinkedIn in order to separate itself from competition and answer the uestion of whether to utilize a build or buy approach. A build approach involves both monetary and other resource investments from the company. For LinkedIn, Investments in certain professional apps such as conference calendar, a tool used to indicate when certain conferences will be coming up, and which of a user’s connections will be attending, are examples of utilizing the build approach. The buying approach is where the company buys/merges with an existing SNS/PNS and integrates it within the existing systems. Although this expands a company, it constrains the ability of a company to customize the existing network with its own. Therefore, a company amp; its procedures need to adapt to the technology it buys. If they use a build approach, the company can build to their own specifications differentiating itself from existing networks (No Quote, Does not answer question). Question #3 LinkedIn’s strategy is straight to the point, be the best in the market of professional networking services (PNS). By focusing on providing a â€Å"virtual platform for professional interaction† (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 2), LinkedIn would provide various productive services to its users. Services provided include professional search, reference checking, recruiting, advice search, job searching amp; posting, and workgroup collaboration, which were successful because they allowed their users to become more effective in their professional careers. Also, its success was accounted for being involved with countless industries, rather than focusing on a specific industry like other PNS providers. Within its strategy, LinkedIn encompassed three premises which attributed to LinkedIn being the best in PNS, â€Å"remain a strongly differentiated category from SNS,† â€Å"maintain a hold on professional users for reasons both positive and negative,† and â€Å" embrace establishments rather than fight them† (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 3). LinkedIn’s success strongly accounts for maintaining a quality PNS by providing a productive atmosphere, which involves being separated from SNS. It is important for LinkedIn to remain separate from SNS capabilities in order to maintain its high PNS quality and core values. The risk of inheriting this strategy’s premise involves losing the users that want a network that hosts both professional and social networking capabilities. LinkedIn could potentially lose users to SNS businesses, like Facebook, who are starting to provide PNS services in its SNS atmosphere. In the second premise for its strategy, holding its users for positive and negative reasons also brings both success and risk. The positivity hold, having users create positive professional identity, is a success because it is a competitive advantage over SNS providers who only provide social identity or cannot separate the two. But holding onto its users for negative reasons promotes the similar risk as mentioned in the first premise. When users think to switch from LinkedIn to a SNS that provides both SNS and PNS capabilities, LinkedIn banks on the fact that they believe users would not put losing its contacts in jeopardy. This negative hold on LinkedIn users is a risk because it is quite possible that sooner or later SNS companies that promote both PNS and SNS capabilities will also have relatively the same contacts as LinkedIn. It is risky to assume that LinkedIn can keep users based on the premise of this assumption. Lastly, the third premise for its strategy brings on success. Having companies embrace the concept of LinkedIn in the end creates more users. LinkedIn is designed so that professionals will be more productive and more effective in their careers. If LinkedIn does eventually provide SNS qualities in its service, this could pose as a risk. Companies might not want to promote a network that could waste work time with their employees playing games and spending time on personal social interaction on the network. Therefore, companies would end up fighting LinkedIn. LinkedIn has always incorporated a control over its network as part of its strategy. Keeping out non-professional information and photos helps keep the quality of its PNS professional and on top. It also embeds value propositions for its professional users as well as its corporate users which revolve around a simple user interface. Although this is what maintains its quality’s success, it also brings a risk by shying away companies who do not want to be part of a network that they cannot control. Lastly, LinkedIn is successful because of its strategy of how to obtain its revenues. Its five sources of revenue include advertising, subscriptions, job postings, corporate solutions, and primary research that evenly contribute to its earnings. If one of the sources does not do as well as expected, LinkedIn has the other four methods to rely on. Question #4 Companies implement strategies to achieve a target or reach a goal that may e becoming the market leader of the industry, increasing profits by a certain percent, or even attracting new members to use a professional network service. As mentioned in the second week of classes, a company may choose one of the four Porter’s generic strategies that include differentiation, overall cost leadership, focus differentiation, and focus low cost to achieve competitive advantage (Kumar, 2010, p. 24). LinkedIn’s strategy is a focus differentiation since it was first founded, and its strategy has helped the company to become a leader in the PNS market. The differentiation strategy involves constant innovation and providing users with what they need and want in a new or better manner than what competitors can provide. Therefore, LinkedIn and many companies in other industries may ward off its competitors through innovation, quality, and reputation although overlapping products may be present. While Facebook may present threats to LinkedIn with the intent to blur the distinction between SNSs and PNSs, LinkedIn would still maintain a competitive advantage in the PNSs. LinkedIn has always focused on differentiating itself in the PNSs by providing users a different degree of privacy, standards, and quality tools to â€Å"†¦find job candidates for position in their company, to reach out to experts around the world in order to get advice and  make better decisions† (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 4). LinkedIn differentiates from Facebook and other SNSs not only on the type of service that is provided, but also on the value it adds to the professional identity of each user, and the reputation it maintains. SNSs such as Facebook and MySpace may be very popular and well known around the world for the types of applications available, the connectivity advantages, and the numbers of users within the network. However, the SNSs have presented privacy issues as well as reputation issues. As mentioned in class by Professor Kumar and Mehdizadeh (2010) in her article, SNSs provide a self-presentation characteristic of low self-esteem and high narcissism users. Alternately, LinkedIn targets a long-term goal in the attempt to create a different type of environment, a â€Å"professional ecosystem† with the addition of applications and modules to help users increase efficiency in their work and portray the professional self. The existence or emergence of other PNSs would increase competition for LinkedIn; however, LinkedIn already has a well-established professional networks composed of top executives, CEOs/CFOs, and other important professionals that attract individuals who seek advice or just the possibility to connecting professionally. LinkedIn’s users may have difficulty and a cost to switch networks, but they also find value in the services available. The continuous promotion of the benefits that can be obtained and the innovation of new modules such as LinkedIn news and customizable settings will help the company ward off competitors. Question #5 Question # 5a The distinction between social and professional is clear. This distinction likens LinkedIn to the Wall Street Journal â„ ¢, and SNS’s to publications like Peopleâ„ ¢, indicating that creating a more social aspect to LinkedIn will depart from the needs and wants of their target market. The expansion by Facebook into an open platform allowed third parties to develop social apps and created a â€Å"viral [spread]† across the network. Hoffman (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 7) stated that he wanted to prevent this within the LinkedIn network, instead insisting on stringent protocols and reviews of all new apps, so as to provide professionals with â€Å". . . the right sort of tools to interact with their network. † Maintaining a walled garden, as opposed to an open platform, is critical to continuing LinkedIns success. Like stated before, its strategy is based around being the best PNS in the industry. Users flock to this website because of how LinkedIn keeps the network professional, promotes productivity, and enables users to advance their careers success. Keeping this prestige will conserve LinkedIn’s quality and continue to attract its target market, professional users. Question # 5b LinkedIn should not broaden the scope to include elements of social networking. LinkedIn began and still operates since 2003 as a PNS. This strategy has allowed it to flourish, generating a customer base of 75 million users spreading around 200 countries, which includes professionals from all fortune 500 companies (Yoffie et al. 2009). This growth can be attributed to its departure from obtaining the majority of its revenues from advertising, like SNS’s, and creating a focused concept that does not necessarily remove innovation within the network, but instead indicates a policy of professionalism throughout with the controlled inception of professional applications. Different from SNS, of which the majority of revenue is from advertising, LinkedIn has framed its revenue model on five sources: (1) Advertising, (2) Subscriptions, (3) Job Postings, (4) Corporate Solutions, and (5) Primary Research. Steve Sordello, CFO for LinkedIn, stated â€Å"This model gives us a lot of sustainability, even if one of those revenue streams doesn’t succeed as we expect, we have others† (Yoffie et al. , 2009, p. 6). In order to sustain a competitive advantage, in 2007, LinkedIn change a policy to accommodate users who wished to upload a single professional head shot for identification. In 2008, LinkedIn launched a product called Company Groups that brought all LinkedIn users who worked for an organization into a closed forum which provides a collected, protected space for employees to talk to each other, as a part of application program interfaces (API). Other launches included Conference Calendar, as stated above (Yoffie et al. , 2009). Question # 5c LinkedIn has created a successful user base in foreign countries. This growth is attributed to LinkedIn’s concept of build not buy, using an organic growth model, giving it a competitive advantage over its main foreign rival Xing. This advantage is through LinkedIn’s ability to control segments of its business outside the U. S. , separate from Xing who buys outside networks limiting its control, in addition to Nye’s observation that â€Å"being in English first† is an advantage.

U. S. Leadership Essay Example for Free

U. S. Leadership Essay Minorities are concentrated in urban areas or CBD’s by a variety of forces. After World War II, many people (mostly African Americans) migrated from the South to the North. The housing demand was much greater than the housing supply. The FHA and other organizations, supported by the U. S. government, began offering low interest loans to white people in the newly developing suburbs. â€Å"While many organizations were providing low-cost financing for houses in the suburbs, such as the Home Owners Loan Corporation and the Federal Housing Administration and the Veteran’s Mortgage Guarantee Program, the FHA refused to guarantee suburban loans to poor people, nonwhites, Jews and other ‘inharmonious’ racial and ethnic groups because the value of homes in the neighborhood, according to the FHA, would drop in value (Chudacoff 270). Because of these low interest loans to aid whites in moving to the suburbs and the restrictive covenants that kept blacks and other minorities out of suburban areas, minorities were not able to move out of CBD’s. So whites fled to the suburbs (a phenomenon called white flight), but minorities were forced to stay. Many jobs went to the suburbs as well, which means that urban jobs became decentralized as well. Black neighborhoods were then further divided by freeways and other projects of urban renewal. The freeways became barriers between whites and other races, as Graham Greene called this â€Å"the racing and placing of America† (Greene 39). Jalbert also sums this up with â€Å"Suburbanization was a decidedly white experience enforced by blatant racism, unequal access to economic opportunity, and restrictive housing covenants† (Jalbert). This segregation affects schools in a variety of ways. Since schools are funded chiefly by state property taxes (except for the 8. 5% from the federal government), suburban schools have always fared better. Economic differences exist between CBD and suburban areas obviously. Because of white flight, enhanced by the FHA’s low interest loans for whites to buy in the suburbs, and restrictive covenants that left minorities out of the suburbs, economic inequity remains. Houses in the suburbs are assessed generously while houses in the CBD are redlined, or assessed for less money because the neighborhoods are mixed). Education is unequal. This is a large and seemingly insurmountable problem in American education. Harris (2002) sums up the entire problem quite eloquently in the following quote. It is perfectly obvious that the highest at-risk students have the poorest, most run-down physical environments, the greatest instability of teachers coming and going, the fewest fully qualified teachers, a shortage of textbooks and instructional materials, far less availability of technology in the classroom, overcrowded classrooms, poor working conditions for the teachers, and fewer resources to teach students to pass the tests that they have little chance of being properly prepared to take. To compare these schools with those serving the most affluent majority of students is akin to comparing a backward, emerging nation with a highly industrialized nation. It is no contest† (Harris. 37). The inequities in education are directly caused by the breakdown of the CBD’s. The U. S. government put money behind the loans the FHA program and others gave to whites. The government even financed the freeway system with 50/50’s so that suburban people could have roads for a faster commute. Minorities were relegated to the CBD’s. Even in recent years, projects of urban renewal have further harmed CBD’s, like Dodger Stadium in an area called Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles. Schools in this country are more segregated than they were before Brown vs. the Board of Education, and schools in CBD’s are mostly minorities. To further illustrate the reality of these inequities in education, a quote by Jonathan Kozol’s recently published article for The Nation is needed. â€Å"The contrasts between what is spent today to educate child in the poorest New York City neighborhoods, where teacher salaries are often even lower. than the city averages, and spending levels in the wealthiest suburban areas are daunting challenges to any hope New Yorkers might retain that even semblances of fairness still prevail. Teachers in the schools of District 7 in Mott Haven, for example, where some 99. 8 percent of children are black or Latino, now receive a median salary that is approximately half the median salary of teachers in the affluent communities of Great Neck and Manhasset. (The actual numbers, which are annually compiled by the state, are $42,000 for a teacher in Mott Haven, versus $82,000 for the teachers in these two Long Island suburbs.) Including all the other costs of operation of a public school, a third-grade class of twenty-five children in the schools of Great Neck now receives at least $200,000 more per year than does a class the same size in Mott Haven, while children in a comparable classroom in Manhasset now receive a quarter-million dollars more. † (Kozol 1) Kozol sums it up absolutely. These are the cold hard facts of urban economics in the schools of New York City. Schools in CBD’s are inequitable; they are segregated. They contain the students who need the most help with the teachers who are least prepared to help them. They need more money for remediation programs, but do not have the property taxes nor the influential parents to get the money. They never had an equal chance from the start, and if education is to play the role of the great equalizer, these problems need to be fixed. Works Cited Chudacoff, Howard. â€Å"The Politics of Growth in the Era of Suburbanization, 1945-1974, in Chudacoff and Smith, The Evolution of American Urban Society, pp. 263-296. Greene, Ronald Walter, Malthusian Worlds: U. S. Leadership and the Governing of the Population Crisis, 1939. Harris, Louis (2002). If You Want to Know About the Schools, Ask the Teachers: A Survey of the Status of Public Education in New York. Prepared for Recruiting Teachers, Inc. (July 2002). p. 37. Jalbert, Matthew, â€Å"Burbs, Blockbusting, and Blacks: Morphosis of the Postwar American City, â€Å"Radical Urban Theory, Accessed March 29, 2007, at www. radicalurbantheory. com/mjalbert/burbs/index8. html Kozol, Jonathan. (2002) Malign Neglect. Children in New York public schools are being shortchanged-again. The Nation. June 10, 2002. Retrieved March 26, 2007, from http://www. thirdworldtraveler. com/Third_World_US/Malign_Neglect_Kozol. html

Successful Corporate Diversification Strategies

Successful Corporate Diversification Strategies Study of rationale behind corporate diversification, its implication and implementation falls under the subject of Strategic Management. Strategic management deals with the long term goals of the corporation. Managers take strategic decisions to react to the changes in the market place and the competitive environment. Decision making at this level is highly unstructured and are generally considered on case by case basis. The cost of corporate diversification is very large hence managers have to make an informed decision to ensure the continued success of their business. Introduction Statement of purpose An attempt will be made to identify the factors that motivate companies to diversify. Using historical data and examples we will try to understand the different diversification strategy, companies employ. However, is it that particular set of strategy more effective than others? Is diversification more common in a particular industry sector? Should a company diversify when it is successful and have surplus wealth or should they diversify when their business is not doing well? Should all the business eventually diversify? Does diversification help companies to minimize risk? These are some of the questions that will be tacked in this final management project. Globalization has brought about new challenges and opportunities for the companies around the world. Phenomenon such increase in competition, softening of trade barriers and advancement in technology and transportation has forced companies to come up with strategies to position them on the path of sustained growth. Despite being acknowledged as an important topic, very few researches have been undertaken to explore the key drivers behind successful diversification decisions. Literature Review The idea of corporate diversification is not new, over the last few decades there have been quite many companies which have diversified its business, some succeeded while others failed. Due to the lack of any influential ideas and frameworks, it is still a puzzle for many general mangers as to what constitute a successful diversification strategy. Academic researchers have also divided themselves in two opposing schools of thought. There are some who describe corporate diversification as a value destroying practice whereas others consider it as a value creation process. According to Michael Porter (1987), diversification records of thirty three large, prestigious U.S. companies from 1950 to 1986 show that most of them had divested many more acquisitions than they had kept. Instead of creating value, it has led to dissipation of shareholder value. Establishment of business school in 1950s and 60s provided manager the necessary general management skills, basic management principles applicable to all kinds of enterprise was the prime focus. Acquisition of unrelated business and growth of conglomerates, served as an opportunity to experiment new ideas and business models. Success of U.S. conglomerates such as Textron and ITT encouraged other European and Asian companies to try out diversification strategy. However instead of applying management principles and following a process of thoughtful evaluation, emphasis was more on the acquisition of companies whose assets were worth more than their stock price. During this period, popular view suggested that managers of the large conglomerates possessed the skills to manage their extensive business operations. Effective application of key management principles like managerial accounting, rigid financial control, detailed budgets and frequent interaction amongst managers were thought to be mantra for successful diversified business. All these seem to justify the fact that diversification, if managed properly would lead to corporate success. As we approach the 70s, things started looking quite different. Stock prices of conglomerates begin to fall; in some cases it was as high as fifty percent as compared to only nine percent decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same period. Even General Electric who pioneered in developing and using sophisticated management practices to manage their diverse portfolio encountered a period of profitless growth from 1965 to 1970. Continued trends illustrating the failure of diversified business forced conglomerates to divest and think about new ways to manage their diversity. Suddenly it was becoming very difficult to manage such diversified business. Managers were confused as to which part of their business should they concentrate. The senior managers began contemplating about on their corporate strategy. By late 1970s formal strategic planning systems and frameworks were put in place, the irony was that it was focused at business unit level and did very little to guide ma nagers handling different business. However Andrews (1980) listed identification of the businesses in which the firm would compete as the main task of corporate strategist, and this became the convention of corporate strategic management. Consulting Groups such as Boston Consulting Group came up with new techniques of portfolio planning that helped executives in allocation of resources amongst different business. Growth/Share matrix and attractiveness/business position matrix etc are still the most widely used strategic frameworks, used to assess the corporate position and opportunities in a particular business. However the problem with portfolio management was found soon. Philippe Haspeslagh (1982) found that organizational framework was an important variable explaining the corporate performance. Different kinds of business had to be managed differently and most companies were missing the right organizational mix/integration/adaptation to run their diversified business efficiently. During 1980-90s, weak performance of many conglomerates drew harsh criticism from prominent management strategists and thinkers like Michael E. Porter. In a bid to restore the faith in diversified businesses, executives turned their attention to Value based planning, motivating them use financial tools such as discounted cash flow, ROE and hurdle rates to improve the stock price and deliver the stockholder expectation. It still did not answer how managers can add value to diversified portfolio. Peters and Waterman (1982) ushered a new wave of corporate view on diversification Stick to the knitting. They observed that successful conglomerates never diversified widely. They specialized in particular sector and focused on building knowledge and skills in those areas. As we fast forward to 1990-2000s the main issues for corporate manager were organizational restructuring, identification of core portfolios and adding values in them. Three philosophies have received support in current management thinking: 1. Limit diversification to business with synergy 2. Diversification should be able to exploit the core competence 3. Build a portfolio that fit within the organizational structure and that has compatible management style at all levels. Methods The research topic will first be explored from an academics point of view, facts and data about diversified conglomerates will be collected from the business/management databases. Management frameworks will be applied to test the hypothesis whether diversification strategy is in line with current academic thinking and whether companies diversified in the right business. List of both successful and unsuccessful diversification will be considered. Websites of the companies can be used as a reliable source to collect information about their different portfolios. Attempts will be made to contact the researchers and academician, who can provide us an updated view on the current diversification scenario.

Meno - Shape :: essays research papers

"Shape is that which alone of existing things always follows color." "A shape is that which limits a solid; in a word, a shape is the limit of a solid." In the play Meno, written by Plato, there is a point in which Meno asks that Socrates give a definition of shape. In the end of it, Socrates is forced to give two separate definitions, for Meno considers the first to be foolish. As the two definitions are read and compared, one is forced to wonder which, if either of the two, is true, and if neither of them are true, which one has the most logic. When comparing the first definition of shape: "that which alone of existing things always follows color," to the second definition: "the limit of a solid", it can be seen that the difference in meaning between the two is great. Not only in the sense that the first is stated simply and can be defended easily, while the later is more difficult to comprehend and back up; but also in the sense that the second would have to involve the defiance of mathematical theories and/or proofs in order to stand true, while the first does not. It should also be noted that in the first def inition, the word "a" is never mentioned. Socrates is not making a statement about "a shape" or "a color", but about shape and color themselves. In the definition given to please Meno, Socrates' words are "a shape" and "a solid". It can be taken from earlier discussions in the play that the second definition is simply a definition of a shape, rather than a definition of shape in and of itself. In the simple sentence that Socrates originally gives to Meno, he has not given then definition of a shape, rather he has given the definition of the term shape. For example, if a person was asked what a triangle is, the response would most likely be that it is a shape, but shape would never be defined as shape itself. It is simply an object that falls under the category of shape. Therefore, in one sentence, Socrates has put a definition to shape, for without color there can be no shape, there could not even be a shape to fall under the category that would have once been known as "shape". None of the examples that Socrates and Meno discussed could prove the definition false.

Creating Text Essay -- Writing Technology Technological Papers

Creating Text The process of creating â€Å"text† without using technology appeared to be a simple task that would allow the students to be a creator of his or her unique technology free masterpiece. I just had to come up with a creative, natural way to write text instead of using modern technologies that society takes for granted. How hard and restrictive could this assignment be? I soon found out everything would not go exactly as planned. It took me two attempts and failures before I finally achieved some level of success. My first idea came to me while I was getting ready one morning. Why not use hair to create text! It is a natural part of the human body that is constantly growing, natural and indispensable. I could have taken hair, looped and knotted several clumps together to make letters and then placed those letters to spell out text on any surface. The hair would be portable but undoing the formed letters to create newly formed letters would have been time consuming and difficult. I have several friends who cut hair for a living and I could have easily had them give me hair they cut from their customers. I also attempted to ask my sister for her hair; she has dread locks which would have been easier to work with since they are so thick but she didn’t want to part with them for a homework assignment. The more I thought about this idea the more I realized how time consuming and unrealistic it would be. Using hair would be a creative way to develop text but I would need m ass quantities and lots of patience. My second idea came to me when I took a trip to the grocery store. I went to the produce section and circled around the stands looking for some piece of fruit or vegetable that ... ...gh the writing process can be revised, edited, and visually reviewed where speech is spur of the moment and final. Traditionalists often resisted writing and viewed the process as unnatural and untrustworthy (Dennis Baron 39). However, speech seems to demand more trust because the individual is exposing themselves to their audience which subjects them to high levels of criticism. Overall, this project has exposed the mechanics and technology involved in the writing process. Up until this point I put little thought or recognition into the process I use so widely on a regular basis. After the amount of time, energy, and thought that went in to my attempt to create â€Å"natural† writing mechanics and tools the frustration isn’t worth what seems to be a small victory. In the end the process of trying to think of something natural to create is unnatural.

Good Country People by Flannery OConnor Essay -- essays research pape

Good Country People by Flannery O'Connor Good Country People'; by Flannery O’Connor is an excellent example of irony in literature. From beginning to end it has a steady procession of irony, much of it based on the title of the story: â€Å"Good Country People.'; In the beginning of the story we meet Mrs. Freeman, wife of the hired hand. She and her husband have been working for Mrs. Hopewell for four years. â€Å"The reason for her keeping them so long was that they were not trash. They were ‘Good Country People,’'; according to Mrs. Hopewell. Ironically one of the first things we learn about Mrs. Freeman is that her previous employer has called her â€Å"the nosiest woman ever to walk the earth.'; Then, as the story progresses, we learn she has â€Å"a special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, assaults upon children';. It seems that for a â€Å"good country person'; she has a perverse curiosity in the macabre. She particularly enjoys hearing all the details of how Joy/Hulga had her leg literally blasted off in a hunting accident. As the story moves on we can see the conflict between Mrs. Hopewell and her daughter Joy/Hulga. Joy/Hulga treats her mother with disdain, and does everything she can to emphasize her own individuality. She professes to believe in nothing. She is a proud intellectual and has little doubt of her belief in â€Å"nothingness.'; However, ironically in the end she is proven to be very muc...

A Discussion of Heroism in Literature and Film Essay

Defining Heroism Each individual has their own personal definition of heroism or more specifically the characteristics of a true hero. Some may believe that a hero must be a person of high morals, while others may believe that a hero must a brave person, and yet others may believe that a hero can conceivably be a hero by chance and must not possess any specific qualities. Dictionary.com defines a hero or heroine as a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his or her brave deeds and noble qualities. The Greek philosopher Aristotle defined heroism in his book titled Poetics. According to Anthony Ubelhor, an instructor at the University of Kentucky, â€Å"Aristotle describes the tragic hero as a protagonist who is otherwise perfect except for a tragic or fatal flaw that eventually leads to his demise. In fact, an Aristotelian tragic hero must have four characteristics: goodness, superiority, a tragic flaw, and a realization of both his flaw and his inevitable demise†. However, it is important to note that different societies have different values, and the values of a society do change over time. These differences and changes will affect the concept of heroism. â€Å"Many people who may have been heroes during their time may not be looked upon as heroes today. Davy Crocket, for example, chased away the Indians, raped the land and killed animals. He might not be considered a hero today, but he was during another time in history† (Pendharkar). This author will attempt to define heroism while making an allowance for societal differences and changes. Therefore, this author’s definition of a hero or heroine is a person who performs a legal or ethical act that is of benefit to another entity without first considering any personal gain or  harm that may be received due to said act. In this author’s opinion, this definition means that a firefighter is a hero, a man who rescues abused animals is a hero, and a pimp who happens to catch a stumbling man and prevent him from falling in front of a moving bus is a hero. Of these three examples, the first two are what could be called the conventional types of hero, while the third is what this author believes to be an â€Å"accidental† hero. Examples of Heroism in Literature There are many examples of heroism in literature. Atticus Finch, a character in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, is viewed by many as a hero. In the novel, which takes place in Alabama during 1935, the lawyer Atticus Finch defends a black man accused of raping a white woman. The reader learns through the actions of Atticus Finch â€Å"what it means to behave morally – to do the right thing – in the face of tremendous social pressure. In short, To Kill a Mockingbird reveals the heroic nature of acting with moral courage when adhering to social mores would be far less dangerous† (Profiles in Courage). Nancy Drew is another example of heroism in literature. The character Nancy Drew appeared in several books written by Carolyn Keene. A young girl helping others by solving mysteries, Nancy Drew â€Å"came along in 1930 when girls needed a new kind of heroine, a perfectly groomed teenage sleuth at the wheel of a blue roadster — unflappable and brave in the face of a modern world full of dangers and mysteries† (Otto). A third hero in literature is Robin Hood, who has appeared in countless novels written by various authors. Robin Hood is often considered â€Å"the first hero of the common people of England† (Keen). He fought against the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham for the benefit of the residents who had been subjected to the evil deeds of the Sheriff. The tales of Robin Hood endorse the â€Å"old-fashioned virtues of altruism and swashbuckling heroism† (Roush). Father Merrin in William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist is a fourth example of heroism in literature. In the novel, a young girl is possessed by demons. Father Karras enlists the help of Father Merrin in exorcising the demons from the girl. While performing the exorcism, the demons leave the  girl and possess Father Merrin. Realizing this, the priest jumps out the window to his death. In a classic example of heroism in the face of good versus evil, Father Merrin saves the girl by becoming possessed himself, and then gives his life in order to prevent the demons from leaving his body and entering another. Examples of Heroism in Film Examples of heroism in film are also numerous. However, they are a bit harder to identify, because many films are adapted from novels. For example, The Exorcist, mentioned above, was adapted to a 1973 film that won several awards, including Oscars and Golden Globes. One example of heroism in film is Batman. Originally appearing in comic books, the character Bruce Wayne takes on the identity of Batman in order to fight evil in Gotham City. In the original Batman film, as well as the sequels, Batman fights various evil characters, saves innocent people, and restores order in the city of Gotham. Neither Batman, nor Bruce Wayne, receives any form of compensation for, or personal benefit from, performing these heroic tasks. Buffy Summers from the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer is another example of heroism in film. Buffy discovers that she has been chosen to protect humanity by destroying evil vampires. She does not receive any compensation for her heroic acts. As a matter of fact, Buffy gives up the normal, teenage life that she would prefer in order to protect others. Continuing on this theme, the film was later adapted to television and was a popular series for seven seasons. Conclusion These examples of heroism in literature and film illustrate an important point. There is no list of required acts or characteristics that define a hero. Atticus Finch, Nancy Drew, Robin Hood, Father Merrin, Batman, and Buffy Summers are very different characters, and they are all heroic in different ways. In the end, each of these characters helped others without personal gain as a determining factor. http://voices.yahoo.com/a-discussion-heroism-literature-film-218006.html References â€Å"Hero.† Dictionary.com website. URL: http://Dictionary.reference.com/browse/hero Keen, M. â€Å"Robin Hood a Peasant Hero.† EBSCOhost database. URL: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9110210460&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live Otto, M. â€Å"Girl Sleuth and the Fountain of Youth; At 75, Nancy Drew Continues to Enchant Readers–and Now Academics, Too.† ProQuest database. URL: http://proquest.Umi.com/pqdweb?did=899780321&Fmt=3&clientId=65562&RQT=309&VName-PQD Pendharkar, L. â€Å"The Hero Chronicles.† The Heroism Project website. URL: http://www.heroism.org/decades.html â€Å"Profiles in Courage: Harper Lee’s to Kill a Mockingbird.† National Endowment for the Humanities EDSITEment website. URL: http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=525 Roush, M. â€Å"Rockin’ Robin.† TV Guide. Vol. 55, No. 9, p. 21. Ubelhor, A. â€Å"Fairy Tales, Myths & Other Archetypal Stories.† University of Kentucky website. URL: http://www.uky.edu/~aubel2/eng104/myth/essay2.html

Exploring the aims of the Mercantile System

Mercantilism is the chief economic system, which is used within the 16th to 18th centuries. Its chief end is to increase the wealth of the state through enforcing governmental ordinance refering all of the commercial involvements in the state. It was argued that national strength can be maximized through restricting the sum of imports via duties and raising the sum of exports. It discusses that the economic strength of every state is related chiefly to the fix of positive trade balance. It aims at the thought of doing every state usage export techniques more than import techniques as a manner to stay in an economic and political feasible place. So, positive trade balance upon the mercantilist thought concludes in a manner of utilizing gold in the pattern of state ‘s exchequer ( Mark Blaug ) . The Scots economic expert Adam Smith ( 1723-1790 ) was the adult male who was responsible for the term â€Å" mercantile system. † So, mercantile system was in a contrary side of Smith ‘s thoughts of free endeavor, free trade, and the free move of people and goods. One of the chief averments of mercantile system is the national wealth that will look through the accretion and import of gold or any other cherished metals, like Ag ( Paul Johnson ) . Bing an economic system, mercantile system leads to do foreign competition and disheartenment of direct foreign investing. This term supposesA that the wealth of any state will chiefly depend on the ownership of cherished metals as Ag and gold, but this system can non be achieved everlastingly, because the cosmopolitan economic system would be dead when all states wanted to do exports without imports. After aA really short clip, A a batch of people started to move against the mercantile system thought and stressed the really bad demand of free trade. The uninterrupted force per unit area consequence was found in the execution of â€Å" laissez faire economic sciences † in the nineteenth century ( Lars Magnusson ) . Mercantilism, being a historical period, had been associated with the addition of a peculiar construction of capitalist economy in Europe which referred to it to be merchant capitalist economy. It was a philosophy developed by different economic authors in this period that call for the powerful confederation among the monarchial system and merchandisers. Presents, the mercantile system term is used to see the protectionist trade policies when combined with other governmental policies, straight or indirectly in peculiar industries to get the regional or national trade advantage. Mercantilism has associated with the chauvinistic economic policies shunned by free trade and advocators that argue for minimal province intervention in the international and domestic market place ( Henry William Spiegel ) . The mercantile system stated different policies of chauvinistic trade thought to get the wealth of the state. It can be achieved via five basic elements of mercantile system, as indicated by David L. Sills: The first 1 is nationalism and policy start together with all possible policy directed towards the patriotism. The 2nd component is foreign trade that should ever be thought of in visible radiation of its effects on the province ‘s stock of having cherished metals. The 3rd one is missing domestic mines of gold or Ag ; the cherished metals should be collected by excess the exports over the imports. The forth component is governmental trade governments that should endeavor to restrict imports and give encouragement to exports. The last component is the economic and political foreign policy that should be coordinated in order for the accomplishment of these ends ( Mark Blaug ) . While most of them closely associated with eighteenth century in Europe, the mercantile system term has been used in order to mention to the aggrandisement ‘s general rule of province authorization for the economic benefit of the capitalist category through commanding and pull stringsing trade. For illustration, during the colonial times it took the form of military control on trade paths and big duties imposed on imported goods in general and manufactured merchandises in peculiar ( Lars Magnusson ) . The mercantilist patterns ‘ principle, upon the jussive moods of colonial conquering and imperium, had been reflected in the 18th century constructs of the net income ‘s beginning and the exchange nature. While being the end of for-profit entity, the mercantilists managed to use this sentiment to the whole state. This is in contrary to the belief of the political orientation of market place done by classical economic experts. This exchange should be done on the facet of equivalents. Furthermore, mercantilists believed that the marketer can derive via the loss of the purchaser. Therefore, the state will go richer when it sells or exports more than it buys or imports. Gold or any other money beginnings will be amassed to profit the province. The sentiment related to the excess or net income happened in the unequal exchange in trade goods was absolutely cope with the mercantilist policy in commanding the trade footings ( Paul Johnson ) . Mercantilism had played an of import function but non a dominant function in the passage period from feudal system to the industrial capitalist economy. However, mercantile system did profit greatly big merchandiser companies to transport place goods through trade paths maintained and protected by the state. Foreign trade was the necessary idea to be done for gold accretion because the domestic trade can non bring forth a net net income or excess. Fighting by this position of the net incomes ‘ beginning, merchandisers used exports as a necessary agencies of geting excess net incomes. The merchandisers, such as all better policy shapers, argued that utilizing this policy would profit in bend the whole province Henry William Spiegel ) . These policies in order to accomplish these ends affecting province subsidies of the export industries, high duty was used to promote place production in the prohibition on the gilded sale to aliens, the subsidisation of basic industries when necessary, the control over certain sorts of capital, and the relentless gold import and the natural stuffs from different settlements. The most of these policies contained rigorous control in trade paths and the monetary values stabilisation in province currency ( Steele G. R. ) . Throughout the mercantilist period, the merchandisers had controlled the trading system, but non the production of services and goods. Before the start of industrial capitalist economy, the production was on the line of trades system that embodied leftovers of the really old feudal agreement. In add-on, the industrial capitalist economy emerged the merchandiser ‘s power. They would come to see them taking over or being involved in the production means that would heighten their net incomes through giving them the control over the labour productiveness. However, the merchandisers can non command the production means, as the primary concern lies on merchandising and purchasing. The policies of mercantilists encouraged the imports of natural stuffs that in bend can be manufactured to do different merchandises. The finished goods can be sold and exported later in high monetary value in comparing with the original cost. So, it found its manner to the exchequer of the state ( Mark Bla ug ) . The foundation of the mercantile system started with the beginnings of the capitalist economy in sixteenth and 17th century in Europe. At this clip France, Spain, and some of the Low Countries as Holland and Belgium were transformed into economic systems in merchant-dominated. So, the modern provinces were emerging of being as a political complement in the merchandiser economic system. This system indicated that it was regulated by the competitory labour market. It led to the formation of a new category of people that found them being free from feudal system to the land to be merely forced to sell the labour to guarantee subsistence. The emerging was besides a category of fabrication and industrial enterprisers recruited from the worsening merchandiser category ( Lars Magnusson ) . The merchandiser category paved the manner of losing control over the new economic system to the forces of the capitalist competition when net incomes and monetary value were regulated through the accretion and production of capital. When trading was indispensable for the emerging of industrial capitalist system, the minutess were viewed as a sharing out in the sum of selling monetary value among the buyers and purchasers, including the merchandiser. The construct of mercantile thought, which trade led to the net incomes in the whole system, paved the manner to the sentiment of the classical economic expert that the production and reinvestment of net income was the existent beginning of the wealth of states ( Paul Johnson ) . When the general perceptual experience of the term of mercantile system being one of a really long epoch in the history of economic idea, the mercantilist writers were concern and professional people that wrote and made known of their ideas in a long clip before economic sciences came to be a separate academic subject. Many representative of the mercantilist Hagiographas were English and Gallic authors of the seventeenth century. These practical minds sought the protection, order, and stableness necessity for the enlargement of their activities. This in bend will profit the province. In exchange for the military protection of the trading paths, they succeeded in geting the monopolistic subsidisation from Crown when the state extends its stuff agencies for the colonisation. Wealth found to both the merchandiser elite and the province in signifier of gold and different natural stuffs to add its value, and so exported in signifier of the finished goods. Mercantilists saw production to b e really of import because it merely led to the excess of exports ( Mark Blaug ) . When the merchandiser category had been far from cohesive, the dissensions about policy in the merchandiser category were different to the purposes of a common end of spread outing the extent of trade excess. The mercantilists encouraged exports, except the machinery, works and equipment, which might assist foreign rivals. They discouraged imports, except in natural stuffs and cherished metals. The settlements, including the Americas, had served as a primary export market and the revenue enhancement gross beginning, military bases, and a beginning of Ag, gold, and natural stuffs. The strong naval forces and the military war machine were critical to the care and execution of these policies ( Lars Magnusson ) . As production became more of import, the capitalists realized that in commanding production, this would be possible to diminish costs, increase productiveness, and undercut the rivals by take downing monetary values. The line of thought led economic experts like Adam Smith to oppose the thought that gold constituted wealth. In the powerful review of mercantilists, Adam Smith had pointed out that money reflected the wealth produced while showing the value of goods and services that offered in the market place. Furthermore, struggles among merchandisers in trade monopolies and monetary values made struggle to all the hurt concerned. Many unfavorable judgments of mercantile system had culminated in a annihilating review that is known as the coinage flow mechanism. The Scots philosopher and political economic expert called David Hume ( 1711-1776 ) had pointed out that the really success of a state ‘s mercantilist policies will put in gesture forces, which would be given to change b y reversal trade excess, through the normal operation in markets. Leting in the money free flow, at this clip particularly gold, it was discussed that would be given to ensue in balance of trade equilibrium ( Lars Magnusson ) . While the specie-flow mechanism of Hume is the most known review of the mercantilist idea, his resistance to mercantilist thought started every bit early as the late seventeenth century. The chief thought was that the success of mercantilist policies will trip unintended effects. So, the positive trade balance refers to money positive cyberspace flow, because a batch of money is coming in instead than traveling out. This state of affairs would germinate where excessively much sums of money is trailing few goods, where the system is runing in full capacity, money is non hoarded but kept in circulation. The lone logical consequence is to raise monetary values. As opposed to the states mercantilist excess, money is fluxing out that consequence in the autumn of monetary values. The shortage states will go more competitory in clip. Trade will switch their thought ensuing in trade equilibrium. That philosophy will subsequently go known as the measure theory of money ( Mark Blaug ) . In visible radiation of historical influence, mercantilist policy expanded the lessening of the feudal economic system and the system of guild trades of production. The province policy and merchandiser system complemented each other. The chief aim was to bespeak growing of foreign trade while promoting the influx of the cherished metals and the natural stuffs to which the value could be added for exports. So, mercantile system served to rapid the passage of Europe from the land-based economic system to the pecuniary economic system. Though pure mercantile system is considered a dead economic issue, but traces of it remain ( Henry William Spiegel ) . Mercantilism, in the seventeenth and 18th centuries, many European states believed that the universe wealth was finite and limited. Whatever one of the states gained, the another one doomed. In order to guarantee their ain portion, those states issued an economic policy naming it mercantile system. Because England had followed mercantile system, this policy affected deeply the American settlements in the old ages that precede independency. The basis of mercantile system is that the state supply of Ag and gold reflected its wealth and its economic strength. In add-on, the gold enabled states to get military weaponries. The Countries worked in many ways to raise their Ag and gold shops, but the foreign trade became the basic avenue. When exporting more goods than imported, the mercantile states could demand the difference in gold which is the chief international currency of those times ( Lars Magnusson ) . The trading states such as England saw their settlements to be utile participants in the mercantile game. It looked to its settlements for acquiring natural stuffs that could be obtained at low cost. So, settlements became markets for the English exports. By mercantile system, England had forged the early failings and strengths of the immature American economic system. Get downing from the first of the Navigation Acts in 1660, the Torahs passed during the 17th and 18th centuries tightened England control of the American trade and economic system. For illustration, when necessitating the settlements to merchandise through the British Empire, England had limited any trade competition might be presented by its settlements. The Torahs against fabrication besides forced the settlements to import manufactured goods from the female parent state. The merchandises manufactured were routed within England, and transportation was merely limited to English or colonial bearers ( Steele, G. R. ) . Mercantilism is economic patriotism for the intent of constructing a wealthy and powerful province. Bing an economic system, mercantile system leads to do foreign competition and disheartenment of direct foreign investing. This term supposesA that the wealth of any state will chiefly depend on the ownership of cherished metals as Ag and gold, but this system can non be achieved everlastingly, because the cosmopolitan economic system would be dead when all states wanted to do exports without imports. After aA really short clip, A a batch of people started to move against the mercantile system thought and stressed the really bad demand of free trade. The uninterrupted force per unit area consequence was found in the execution of â€Å" laissez faire economic sciences † in theA nineteenth century ( Lars Magnusson ) . The most of import economic principle for mercantile system in the sixteenth century was the consolidation of the centres of regional power of the feudal epoch through big competitory nation-states. Other lending factors were in the constitution of settlements out of Europe, the growing of commercialism and industry in Europe relative to agriculture, and the addition in the comprehensiveness and volume of trade, and the addition in utilizing metallic pecuniary systems, peculiarly Ag and gold, comparative to barter minutess. Within the mercantilist period, the military struggle among provinces was both more extended and more frequent than at any clip in history. The naval forcess and ground forcess of the chief supporters were non impermanent forces raised to stipulate a specific menace or nonsubjective, but they were professional forces. The primary economic aim of the authorities was to command sufficient measure of the difficult currency to back up the armed forces that would disco urage onslaughts by other states and assist its ain territorial enlargement. The policies took so many signifiers. Governments may supply capital to new industries, exempt new industries from club regulations and revenue enhancements, set up monopolies over local and colonial markets, and grant rubrics and pensions to successful manufacturers. In trade policy the authorities assisted local industry by enforcing duties, quotas, and prohibitions on imports of goods that competed with local makers. Governments besides prohibited the export of tools and capital equipment and the out-migration of skilled labour that would let foreign states, and even the settlements of the place state, to vie in the production of manufactured goods. At the same clip, diplomats encouraged foreign makers to travel to the diplomats ‘ ain states ( Lars Magnusson ) . Transportation was peculiarly of import during the mercantile period. With the growing of settlements and the cargo of gold from the New World into Spain and Portugal, control of the oceans was considered vitally of import to national power. Because ships could be used for merchandiser or military intents, the authoritiess of the epoch developed strong merchandiser Mariness. In France Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the curate of finance under Louis Fourteen from 1661 to 1683, increased port responsibilities on foreign vass come ining Gallic ports and provided premiums to Gallic shipwrights ( Steele, G. R. ) . In England the Navigation Laws of 1650 and 1651 prohibited foreign vass from prosecuting in coastal trade in England and required that all goods imported from the continent of Europe be carried on either an English vas or a vas registered in the state of beginning of the goods. Finally, all trade between England and her settlements had to be carried in either English or colonial vass. The Staple Act of 1663 extended the Navigation Act by necessitating that all colonial exports to Europe be landed through an English port before being reexported to Europe. Navigation policies by France, England, and other powers were directed chiefly against the Dutch, who dominated commercial Marine activity in the sixteenth and 17th centuries ( Steele, G. R. ) . During the mercantilist epoch it was frequently suggested, if non really believed, that the chief benefit of foreign trade was the importing of gold and Ag. Harmonizing to this position the benefits to one state were matched by costs to the other states that exported gold and Ag, and there were no net additions from trade. For states about invariably on the brink of war, run outing one another of valuable Ag and gold was thought to be about every bit desirable as the direct benefits of trade ( Geoffrey Parker ) . Adam Smith refuted the thought that the wealth of a state is measured by the size of the exchequer in his celebrated treatise, The Wealth of Countries, a book justly considered to be the foundation of modern economic theory. Smith made a figure of of import unfavorable judgments of mercantilist made a figure of of import unfavorable judgments of mercantilist philosophy. First, he demonstrated that trade, when freely initiated, benefits both parties. In modern slang it is a positive-sum game. Second, he argued that specialisation in production allows for economic systems of graduated table, which improves efficiency and growing. Finally, Smith argued that the conniving relationship between authorities and industry was harmful to the general population. While the mercantilist policies were designed to profit the authorities and the commercial category, the philosophies of laissez-faire, or free markets, which originated with Smith, taken economic public assistance in a far wider sense of embracing the full population ( Lars Magnusson ) . While The Wealth of Nations is by and large considered to tag the terminal of the mercantilist epoch, the individualistic philosophies of free-market economic sciences besides reflect a general disillusion with the imperialist policies of state provinces. The Napoleonic Wars in Europe and the Revolutionary War in the United States heralded the terminal of the period of military confrontation in Europe and the mercantilist policies that supported it. Despite these policies and the wars that they are associated with, the mercantilist period was one of by and large rapid growing, peculiarly in England. This is partially because the authoritiess were non really effectual in implementing the policies that they espoused. While the authorities could forbid imports, for illustration, it lacked the resources to halt the smuggling that the prohibition would make. In add-on, the assortment of new merchandises that were created during the industrial revolution made it hard to implement the industrial policies that were associated with mercantilist philosophy. By 1860 England had removed the last traces of the mercantile epoch. Industrial ordinances, monopolies, and duties were abolished, and out-migration and machinery exports were freed. In big portion because of her free trade policies, England became the dominant economic power in Europe. England ‘s success as a fabrication and fiscal power, coupled with the United States as an eme rging agricultural human dynamo, led to the recommencement of protectionist force per unit areas in Europe and the weaponries race between Germany, France, and England, which finally resulted in World War I ( Geoffrey Parker ) . Protectionism remained of import in the interwar period. World War I had destroyed the international pecuniary system based upon the gilded criterion. After the war use of the exchange rate was added to the authorities ‘s list of trade arms. A state could at the same time take down the international monetary values of its exports and increase the local currency monetary value of its imports by devaluating its currency against the currencies of its trading spouses. This â€Å" competitory devaluation † was practiced by many states during the Great Depression of the mid-thirtiess and led to a crisp decrease in universe trade ( Steele, G. R. ) . A figure of factors led to the reemergence of mercantilist policies after World War II. The Great Depression created uncertainties about the efficaciousness and stableness of free-market economic systems, and an emerging organic structure of economic idea runing from Keynesian countercyclical policies to Marxist centrally planned systems created a new function for authoritiess in the control of economic personal businesss. In add-on, the wartime partnership between authorities and industry in the United States created a relationship-the military-industrial composite, in Eisenhower ‘s words-that besides encouraged activist authorities policies. In Europe the deficit of dollars after the war induced authoritiess to curtail imports and negotiate bilateral trading understandings to conserve on scarce foreign exchange resources. These policies badly restricted the volume of intra-Europe trade and impeded the recovery procedure in Europe in the immediate postwar period ( Geoffrey Par ker ) . The economic strength of the United States, nevertheless, provided the stableness that permitted the universe to emerge out of the postwar pandemonium into a new epoch of prosperity and growing. The Marshall Plan provided American resources that overcame the most acute dollar deficits. The Bretton Woods understanding established a new system of comparatively stable exchange rates that encouraged the free flow of goods and capital. Finally, the sign language of GATT ( General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ) in 1947 marked the official acknowledgment of the demand to set up an international order of many-sided free trade ( Lars Magnusson ) . The mercantilist epoch has passed. Modern economic experts accept Adam Smith ‘s penetration that free trade leads to international specialisation of labour and, normally, to greater economic wellbeing for all states. But some mercantilist policies continue to be. Indeed, the rush of protectionist sentiment that began with the oil crisis in the midseventies and expanded with the planetary recession of the early 1880ss has led some economic experts to label the modern pro-export, anti-import attitude as â€Å" neomercantilism. † ( Steele, G. R. ) Although several unit of ammunitions of many-sided trade dialogues have succeeded in cut downing duties on most industrial goods to less than 5 per centum, trade in agricultural goods remains to a great extent protected though duties or subsidies in Europe, Japan, and the United States. States have besides responded to GATT by raising different nontariff barriers to merchandise. The Long Term Arrangement on Cotton Textiles ( 1962 ) was the first major going from the cardinal GATT regulation of nondiscrimination. Discriminatory nontariff barriers are typically used by industrialised states to protect mature industries from competition from Japan and freshly industrialised states like Brazil, Korea, and Taiwan. These nontariff barriers include voluntary export restraints, orderly marketing agreements, wellness and safety codifications, and licensing demands. And the U.S. Jones Act, which prohibits cargo of goods between U.S. ports on foreign ships, is the modern opposite number of Engl and ‘s Navigation Laws ( Lars Magnusson ) . Modern mercantilist patterns arise from the same beginning as the mercantilist policies in the sixteenth to the 18th century. Group with political power usage that power to procure authorities intercession to protect their involvements, while claiming to seek benefits for the state as a whole. Of the false renters of mercantile system that remain today, the most baneful is the thought that imports cut down domestic employment. This statement is most frequently made by American car makers in their claim for protection against Nipponese imports. But the gross that the exporter receives must be finally spent on American exports, either instantly or later when American investings are liquidated. Another mercantilist position that persists today is that a current history shortage is bad. When a state runs a current history shortage, it is borrowing capital from the remainder of the universe in order to buy more goods and services than it sells. But this policy promotes economic wealth if the return on the capital borrowed exceeds the cost of borrowing. Many developing states with high internal returns on capital have run current history shortages for highly long periods, while basking rapid growing and solvency ( Geoffrey Parker ) .