Cruise ship business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cruise ship business - Essay Example A population size of 1.7million people with only 0.5% unemployed reveals that the service sectors are well versified with manpower. A look at business venture in this area shows that 10% corporation tax is charged for foreign companies and nil for local companies. The Qatar tourism authority has opened avenues for making visitors experiences pleasant and efficient as they cruise in the country. The government involvement ensures great security around its ports and has been boosting the much welcomed economic growth area. Qatar has a full capacity of ships and other vessels at the targeted port of Doha, with the 12 berths present. The year 2014 will attest the opening of the new Doha port that will allow for the growing demand of vessels around this area (Jeff, 2007). Due to the high number of visitors in the country every year, the cruise business has been expanding with many investors targeting long distance voyage e.g. seven seas voyager. The short distance cruise of up to a week h as not been exploited around this port. The eye capturing view of the capital city is one of the sites that make a cruise business worthwhile along Doha port. Along its 7.5km stretch, Doha has very many tourist sites worth seeing e.g. historical museums, escapades, water sports et cetera. The market area for the capital city is ever increasing with the projected new port construction to accommodate more room for tourists (Qatar economy, 2011). The cruise industry is soon becoming flooded as more people can afford the prices from the previous high prices decreases. The cruise ship prices have also excruciated from 10 to 40% the initial price of a ship with capacity of 5300 people. The targeted for the cruise industry would entail a smaller vessel to maintain the high class clientele as well as privacy of the business around Doha. Precisely the cruise industry faces challenges of seasonality and

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Act 2 Scenes 1 and 2 Essay Example for Free

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in Act 2 Scenes 1 and 2 Essay Introduction The Macbeth play was written around 1603 by William Shakespeare. During this play, Macbeth and Banquo started off as best friends, after they met the three witches, they gave Macbeth some predictions about his future. Macbeth was delighted whereas his wife, Lady Macbeth becomes power crazed about this. She persuaded him to kill the king, Duncan (in Elizabethan times, it was the biggest crime that can be committed). Afterwards his mind started to play tricks on himself, so he decided to go back and revisit the three witches; they then told him three new prophecies. Others now have suspected that Macbeth killed Duncan, so when Macduff went to England, he decided to kill Lady Macduff and her children. When Macduff came back and heard that his family is all killed he was furious and decided to have his revenge. When he arrived, to kill Macbeth, Macbeth on the other hand thought he cannot be harmed due to one of the prophecy that the witches told him but all at the end Macduff won. During the Elizabethan, all of audience believed in many supernatural things such as, witchcraft, religion, owls etc. In this play, the witches show us that they are creepy and unreliable due to all those set ups for Macbeth. This constructs a feeling for the Elizabethan audience that they are horrifying things. Shakespeare presented Macbeth as a brave and loyal person towards the King, he respected the King and is a really good fighter, but later on the play, he started to be controlled and changed into a horrific person. Lady Macbeth made Macbeth kill many innocent people; she is power crazed and evil and would do anything to be the queen. Start of this play, the themes mainly about murders and how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth changed. Section 1 Throughout Act 1 Scene 3, Macbeth was delighted when he heard the three witchs prediction of his future, Stay, you imperfect speakers. Tell me more, this quote demonstrates that he wants to know more about his future and he is keen to find out what great things will lie ahead of him. Furthermore, he called the three witches imperfect speakers, this might due to the fact that he does not really know what they are as he might not seen them before. In addition, the word imperfect lets me think of that the three witches are not telling the truth and are hiding some secrets. Macbeth uses a high tone of voice when talking to the three witches, Speak if you can, from this quote it creates a feeling that Macbeth is from a higher social class who is looking down onto the three witches, perhaps he is trying to give the impression that he is the Thane of Glamis. Macbeth also seemed to be confused that the witches told him, he will become the Thane of Cawdor, But how of Cawdor?, from this quote it portrays that Macbeth do not really know how he will become the Thane of Cawdor, he currently is quite happy that he is Thane of Glamis. Shakespeare put in this historical question to make people hooked in, as the audience will ask themselves lots of questions such as, how is he going to become the Thane of Cawdor?, how do those witches know? Etc. When the witches finished talking to Banquo and Macbeth, the three witches vanished into the air, Melted, as breath into the wind. Would they have stayed, this quote shows us that Banquo and Macbeth wondered what happened to them, Shakespeare uses this is due to that during the Elizabethan audience would really believed in witchcraft, this makes people wonder more and ask themselves further questions. Macbeth started off in a really good relationship with his friends and the king. King Duncan really respects Macbeth also Macbeth was a fine fighter for him. O worthiest cousin, this quote demonstrates that Duncan trusts him a lot and that he is really loyal towards the king. Duncan likes Macbeth, he even call him cousin which in my point of view is that Macbeth is like one of Duncans cousin and is really kind towards him. The king called him by the title My worthy Cawdor; this quote suggests that Duncan knows that he is a brave, loyal person. The word Cawdor which indicates that he actually is really pleased that Macbeth is the Thane of Cawdor. Near the start of the play, after Lady Macbeth read the letter, she thought that he would not make it to become the king as he is very weak and too kind, this shows us that the relationships between these two are weak, It is too full othmilk of human kindness, this quote indicates that she thinks Macbeth is too kind and would not have the strength to become the King, from this we could really tell that their relationship is very awful. On the other hand, Macbeth and Banquo was best friends near the start of the play, they were two friends that would never break up, Worthy Macbeth, this quote gives the impression that he really trust in Macbeth and that he is also confident in him, he knows that they would always be friends. Lady Macbeth started off in Act 1 Scene 5 where after she read the letter, she did not have any hope in Macbeth at all, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear, this quote signifies that she want to tell him what to do so he will not ruin this up as she does not have any trust in him. She described him as being weak and cannot do anything right, It is too full othmilk of human kindness, from this it portrays that she think he is like milk which is pure and white and he does not have any darkness in him. Shakespeare made Lady Macbeth seem really nasty, he probably wants us to know that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth never get on with each other so that it gives us a bad feeling that she is evil and horrible towards other people. Lady Macbeth is also two-faced, she is talks about how to get rid of King Duncan and come up with lots of plans but when she meets the King, she is really kind and pleasant, All our service, from this quote it shows us that Lady Macbeth is kind and loyal, she wants to give good impression towards the king so that King Duncan will think that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are very helpful and kind towards people. This gives the audience a feeling that she is very evil and full of darkness. Section 2 For Act 2 Scene 2, it was set during the night when it is dark, with a torch-bearer before him, this quote suggests that during that time there was no light, only one that the servant is carrying, by setting it in darkness gives people the feeling that someone is going to get murdered, in addition, it gives the Elizabethan audience a feeling of something frightful is about to happen. Shakespeare wants the audience to consider that the place is starting to get suspicious due to that it is dark, Theres husbandry in heaven, Their candles are all out, this quote indicates that the night is really dark, darker than normal, as he is saying that there is no stars. This gives the audience a feeling that something is like messing with the heaven, this builds up the tension for the play also it hooks the audience to it. Near the start of this scene, Banquo had a feeling that something frightening is about to happen. When someone was coming, Banquo asked for his sword and held out his sword straight away, Give me my sword, this quote implies that Banquo does not know who it is and he suddenly prepared himself for unexpected visitors. This lets people think of that Banquo is really worried, but he does not know what is going to happen. Shakespeare uses this to give the audience a feeling that Macbeth is up to something and due to late night and still has not gone to sleep. Banquo had a feeling that something is not right which causes him cant sleep, And yet I would not , this quote gives the impression that Banquo is expecting something to happen so he cannot get to sleep. Banquo mentioned about the three wield sisters, I dreamed last night of the three weà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½rd sisters, this quote portrays that Banquo is testing out Macbeth, he wants to know what reactions Macbeth will have, as Banquo knows that one of the prophecies became true, he is testing out Macbeth to see if he thinks about them. The audience would know that Macbeth thinks about the witches a lot, Shakespeare wants people to understand what kind of person Macbeth is. From this part of the play onwards, the audience would start to see that their friendship is starting to break due to them testing each other because they are trying to find out more about each other. Macbeth responds to it as if he is really surprised about it, I think not of them, this quote indicates that he quickly tells Banquo that he does not, he do not want Banquo to be suspicious about him as he is about to kill the king. Macbeth wants to talk the three witches, We would spend it in some words upon that business, If you would grand the time, this quote shows that clearly Macbeth talk about the three witches, also this quote indicates that he is testing Banquo as well to see if he wants to talk about the three witches. In addition, I believe that Macbeth is starting to feel guilty about what he is about to do, he knows he does not want to but have to do it. Macbeth also tests Banquos loyalty to him, If you shall cleave to my consent, when tis, It shall make honour for you, this quote suggests that Macbeth is testing Banquos loyalty to him, he wants Banquo to listen to him but Banquo does not want to betray Duncan, maybe he does not want their friendship to break up, he knows that it will end. Shakespeare keeps the audience entertained by making them worrying about if everything will turn out well, . This makes Banquo suspicious about it, as he does not know why he is saying that as Macbeth knows that Banquo will still be loyal towards the king. Shakespeare uses this to show us that both of them are testing each other to see what and how they will respond to it. Section 3 Shakespeare made Macbeth in a nervous state of mind, Is this a dagger which I see before me, this quote signifies that Macbeth is already seeing the crime that he is about to commits. He is confused, does not know why he can see the dagger, he thinks the vision is telling him to kill Duncan. Shakespeare uses this to show us that Macbeths mind is playing tricks on him, is encouraging him to commit the crime and that he has some evilness in him. The audience would think that he is now crazy and seeing things which is just his mind persuading him to do it. Macbeth is now asking lots of question, Proceeding from the heat-oppressà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½d brain? this quote portrays that he does not know why he can see the dagger, he is wondering that it might be his brain is over-heated, this makes the audience wonder more about how he can see it, they might even ask themselves question. Shakespeare wants the audience to have a picture in their minds of Macbeth following the dagger and to give us a vision that he can see it but cannot touch it. A quote could be And such an instrument I was to use, this quote represents that Macbeth got the dagger from his pocket and he is about to use it. Shakespeare made the soliloquy long is to show us how nervous he is, he might want us to think about Lady Macbeth and how evil she is, by persuading Macbeth to kill Duncan. Macbeth shows us that he is really mixed up, he cannot sort out the right from the wrong, and just simply following his wifes orders. Shakespeare uses a lot of imageries in this part of the soliloquy to increase the tension, And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, this quote indicates that the dagger starts to get dripping blood yet he has not committed a crime. Shakespeare uses foreshadowing to build up the tension for when Macbeth kills the king, maybe he wants to create a feeling like as if we were there next to Macbeth, this hooks in the audiences attention. Macbeth been controlled by the witches, Pale Hecates offrings and withered murder, this quote demonstrates that the goddess of the witches is like controlling him to kill the king, he does not want to do it but the witches are making him do it. The Elizabethan audience believed in witchcraft, they understood that witches are evil. In my opinion, I think that Macbeth knows it is wrong to do but Lady Macbeth convinces him to do it. In Macbeths imagination, he sees murder as a withered man, Alarumed by his sentinel wolf, this quote portrays that he is called to action to kill Duncan. The audience would think that he is been called for the opportunity to kill another victim. Shakespeare uses this to compare Macbeth with other murders and creatures, he wants us to understand the murder he is about to do is massive and that he is like other murders (such as Murders sentinel) going to commit a huge crime. At this point, Macbeth describes the murder as moving, thus with his stealthy pace, this quote shows that he is now pacing like murder itself, walking towards the kings bedroom. He wants the place to be silent, With Tarquins ravishing strides, towards his design, this quote indicates that he is like Tarquin asking the earth to be unable to hear, so he can like moves like a ghost towards the kings room. Shakespeare uses Tarquin is because all the Elizabethan audience would know that Tarquin was the murderous rapist in Roman, this builds up the tension for when he kills Duncan. Due to the present silence of the night suits the horror of what he is about to do, we see Macbeth, a man who wants to be in the silent and deadly figure of horror. As Macbeth still has not done the murder yet, and he has been saying many threatening things, all the things he said inspired him to do the deed. Then when he heard the bell, A bell rings this quote shows that Macbeth finally moves from horrifying words to a horrible deed only when Lady Macbeths bell tell him it is time. Section 4 At the start of the scene, Lady Macbeth was excited, That which hath made them drunk, hath made me bold; What hath quenched them, hath given me fire, this quote suggests that she listens intently, as though she could actually hear the murder being committed. The word them refers to are the Kings two personal guards. Lady Macbeth has drugged the grooms possets. Lady Macbeth, herself has also had some wine, but she feels bold and fierce, this gives the audience a feeling that she feels happy now that the king has died. From this, it shows us the darkness inside Lady Macbeth. But Lady Macbeth also seems to be nervous about it, An Owl shrieks and Hark, peace! It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman, Which gives the sternst good-night. He is about it, from these quotes it portrays that she jumped and thought that she was caught when the owl shrieked, she think it as a good omen due to the screech owl is a natures own fatal bellman, the noise of a screech owl foretells the death of a person, therefore, Lady Macbeth is happy about this. Shakespeare also tries to make the Elizabethan audience jump as well because people did not like owls and crickets which they thought that they are horrible animals that bring evilness. She was still nervous when Macbeth arrived, I heard the owl scream and the crickets cry. Did not you speak?, this quote indicates that she is still frightened and nervous, she asks lots of questions, this shows the lack of security. She even asks her husband if he heard it or not. When Lady Macbeth sees her husband, she thinks that he is a fool, A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight, this quote represents that she thinks that he is worrying too much about it, she is telling him that it is great. Lady Macbeth does not want Macbeth to be weak. This makes the audience think that she is trying to calm Macbeth down as his mind is like somewhere else. She tries to be kind to Macbeth to quiet him down, Why, worthy thane, You do unbend your noble strength to think, this quote signifies that she calls him by the title to make him feel happier and she saying that he is strong and brave, as she knows he likes to be the Thane of Cawdor. Shakespeare uses this to try making the audience think that she is cruel and mean on the inside but kind on the outside. After he calmed down, she changes back into a nasty woman, Go get some water And wash this filthy witness from your hand. Why did you bring these daggers from the place?, this quote demonstrates the filthy witness is the blood from Duncan, which acts as a witness to Macbeths crime. She is telling Macbeth to do all the work, maybe she does not want to be involved in this. She is also annoyed at Macbeth for bring back the daggers, she demands him to take it back. The audience might think that she does not want Macbeth to be caught, she wants Macbeth to make the grooms look guilty instead of them. Shakespeare wants us to think that she is taking care of all the things and knows what to do, this gives the impression that she is bossy. They must lie there. Go carry them this quote shows us that she wants Macbeth to do it instead of her. The audience would think that she does not want to get her hands dirty and let her husband do all the work, it gives us the impression that she is looking down on Macbeth and he is like her assistant. Macbeth feels really guilty about the murder he has committed, they pluck out mine eyes Will all great Neptunes ocean wash this blood Clean from my hands? this quote portrays that Macbeth feels guilty about what he has done, he known that the crime will never be forgotten, from this we could really tell that he feels sorry for the king, Shakespeare uses hyperbole, metaphor and historical question in this quote to create a image that makes the audience feeling that all the water in the universe cannot erase the witness he has committed also it makes it more realistic. It frightens him when he looks at his hands, he looks at them as though he had never seen them before, and he feels that looking at them is like getting his eyes gouged out. It is the blood on his hands that causes this horrible fascination, and he feels that the blood can never be washed away. Before his hands are clean, they will make all the seas of the world turn red(shows how big his crime was). Macbeth describes how the blood will turn seas red, The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red, this quote signifies that nothing will clear away the witness, he will always remember it. We now know that Macbeth feels guilty comparing to Lady Macbeth who thinks it is easy and effortless. A little water clears us of this deed. How easy is it then!, from this, we could understand that she thinks there is nothing to worry about as no one will ever find out. She said it fast and simple; this gives the audience a feeling that she is not loyal to the king and is full of evilness. She said it easily and effortlessly, Shakespeare uses this to show us that she has no kindness and uses this to compare to Macbeth where he described it complicatedly/complex. Lady Macbeth tried to bring back her husband into the reality by comparing herself with him, My hands are of your colour, but I shame To wear a heart so white, this quote indicates that her hands are red, too (because she has been busy smearing the Kings blood on the grooms), but that she would be ashamed to have a heart as white as Macbeths. A white heart is white because it has no blood, and the person with a white heart is a coward. As she delivers this insult, we hear the knocking again, and Lady Macbeth takes her husband away so that they can wash up. In her opinion, it will only take a little water to make them innocent. The audience would think that Lady Macbeth is being too unforgiving and cruel on Macbeth, also she tells him that its childish to be afraid of the sleeping or the dead. Lady Macbeth also tells him he must put on his night-gown, so that if they have to get up and talk to whoever is knocking, it wont look like theyve been up all night. The word knocking makes me feel that someone is watching them talking about the murder, also Shakespeare added in many knocking sounds is because he might want us to think that Duncan has not died yet to calm the audience. He is unresponsive near the end of the scene, To know my deed, twere best not know myself, this quote demonstrates that he seems lost in his thoughts, when Lady Macbeth tells to snap out of it, he thinks about what she has become and the thinks they have done. Now he fully understands what he has done and knows that what a monster he has become. This makes the audience notice that he does not want to know that monster (himself), he knows that he cannot help to do anything better. At the very last, we hear the knocking again, Macbeth wishes none of it had ever happened, as he calls out Wake Duncan with thy knocking: I would thou couldst, this quote indicates that the knocking showed up a few times which Shakespeare might want us to think about why there is knocking, to ask ourselves questions. Conclusion Shakespeare maintains fear and horror throughout the play by reference to the supernatural, such as animal(owl, cricket), this help the play as the Elizabethan audiences does not like these kinds of creatures as they find them evil. He also uses lots imageries such as metaphors, similes etc. to make the audience entertained and hook into the play and also it helps to build up the tension. Shakespeare has also included soliloquy, hyperbole, asides and the use of the tone of voice, these make the play more realistic and them creepy but enjoyable to watch. Macbeth is a person who is scared at fear, at the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described as a brave, loyal man who is kind, but his wife manipulates him by accusing him of being a coward, and throughout the play he denies his own fears. I think that Macbeth is a fine war lord who is loyal to the king, but he shows some of his cruel side, mostly during the middle part of the play. At first, it appears that Lady Macbeth is the dominant partner that is evil and cruel, but after the murder of King Duncan she loses her grip on her husband and becomes weird as she could not even control herself. She is a two-faced woman who pretends that she is kind and lovely to people, especially the king.

Secularization Essay -- Essays Papers Religion Society Worldly

Secularization The word secularization is derived from the Latin word saeculum(world) it was first used to refer the transfer of property from the church to the civil princes. Now it denotes the process by which religion loses some or all of its power, dominance and authority. Secularization as a concept refers to the actual historical process whereby this dualist system â€Å" this world'; and the sacramental structures of mediation between this world and the other world progressively breakdown until the entire medieval systems of classification disappear, to be replaced by new systems of spatial structuration of the spheres. The structured division of 'this world'; into two separate spheres, 'the religious'; and 'the secular'; has to be distinguished and kept separate. From now on, there will be only one single 'this world';, the secular one, within which religion will have to find its own place. If before, it was the religious realm which appeared to be the all-encompassing reality within which the secular realm found its proper place, now the secular sphere will be the all-encompassing within which religious sphere will have to adapt. There are several conceptions of secularization. 1. Decline of religion 2. Differentiation of institution, practices and activities from religion 3. Transposition of norms from religion to the world 4. Desacralization of the world 5. Conformity of religion to the world There are also causes of secularization 1. Industrializa...

Be Smart, Don’t start. Essay -- Smoking Tobacco Health Cigarettes Essa

Be Smart, Don’t start. We can vividly recall the endless television commercials from reporters and speeches we received from teachers that informed us of the side affects of smoking. As young boys, neither one of us quite understood what was so bad about smoking. We just knew it was frowned upon, and it was strictly discouraged by our parents. Recently our foundations were shaken when we read an article by Peter Brimelow that presented smoking as beneficial and a preventative tool against certain diseases and cancers. Was our education about smoking just a myth programmed into our heads? According to Brimelow it was. Brimelow provides clear and evident research and statistics supporting the fact that smoking is healthy. Thank you for Smoking In the article â€Å"Thank You for Smoking†¦?† by Brimelow, the major claim is that smoking, in some ways, may be good for one and one’s health. Brimelow reports that people who smoke have half the risk of getting Parkinson’s disease compared to that of non-smokers. People who smoke have been found to have a 50% less chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease. Smokers have a 50% lower rate of prostate cancer than that of non-smokers and a fifty percent chance of developing colon and ulcerative cancer. It is clear that smoking can considerably reduce the chance of contracting some of the most deadly diseases in the United States today (Brimelow 142). Brimelow doesn’t stop with just presenting statistics. He points out that smoking is an individual’s freedom as an American. Every American is defensive toward their rights and freedoms provided by the Constitution, so the issue stirs an up an emotional and value orientated interest. Whether people view smoking as good or bad,... ...ential evidence and data to keep people smoking and to inform people of the benefits of smoking. Readers are also reminded of their individual rights, which is never a bad thing. However, the information presented is somewhat lopsided. The reader is not informed of the terrible negatives caused by smoking. We feel that smoking is a person’s right. However when we endure the effects of second hand smoke, our rights are also violated. Let it be known, that smoking really is bad for one, and the effect can be fatal to the smokers and the people in the environment surrounding them. Be smart. Don’t start. Works Cited Brimelow, Peter, â€Å"Thank You for Smoking...?† The Genre of Argument Ed. Irene L. Clark Boston: Thomson/Heinle, 1998. 141-143 â€Å"Health Tobacco Report.† Carter. 22 Mar. 1998. 7 Oct. 2003 http://www.napanet.net/~joshc/smoking/effects.htm.

Learning outcomes assessment Essay

In order to capture the full attention of the audience, the speaker should be sensitive enough in communicating with his audience. I have learned the suitable voice and tone that you should use in order to express the content of what you are trying to say. It was also discussed that the speaker should convey the content of his discussion by figuring out what the audience needs to know and providing them what they need to know. The best way to disseminate this information is by using proper communication strategies and techniques. Using the right words at the right time is one of the essential components that you should always keep in mind. Whether you’re speaking in a formal or informal manner, proper usage of words should always be taken into consideration. Knowing your target audience will also keep you on track in terms of writing. The student will understand how to tailor their writing to readers of different cultures, with different background knowledge and expertise. If you’re able to decipher this and apply it to your written material, your target audience will appreciate the outcome. Moreover, I was able to generate ideas and practices that I should use in writing. Contemplating and arranging my thoughts are basically part of it. But in terms of working with others, I should be aware of their ideas and how to collate it to be able to come out with a better product. I also learned the techniques on how to write aiming for clarity, coherence, correctness, and conciseness. Achieving these factors will make my written material more reliable and interesting rather than writing without direction. Editing my own work is also an important thing that I learned and will apply whenever I will write. If I have incorporated peer and instructor feedback on my work, I will be able to determine in which I should improve. Through this, I can find my strength and weaknesses and build my own goal in terms of writing. Writing isn’t a complex process, it just tests your ability to express your ideas and organize it into a readable material.

Free Essays on Cortes

The Cortà ©s Expedition Grijalva returned to Cuba and relayed to Governor Velzquez the tales of a powerful and wealthy Native American empire located in the interior of Mexico. This news spurred Velzquez to authorize a third expedition, this time commanded by Hernn Cortà ©s. As Cortà ©s loaded his ships and recruited additional men in Cuba, some of his enemies complained that he was a poor choice to lead the expedition. They convinced Velzquez to cancel Cortà ©s’s commission to lead the force. Cortà ©s ignored the orders and set sail in February 1519 with about 600 men, as well as a few cannons and horses. On the Yucatn Peninsula, the expedition rescued a shipwrecked survivor, Jerà ³nimo de Agà ºilar, who had been held captive by the Maya for eight years. He would provide the Spaniards with a valuable translator of the Mayan language. The expedition sailed west along the Yucatn Peninsula and the Gulf Coast, engaging in a major battle against Tabascan warriors at the mouth of the Grijalva River. Cortà ©s quickly realized the value of horses in battling the Native American peoples- the Tabascans had never seen horses and many fled in fear. The expedition sailed north in search of a good harbor and established a town, La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, at what is now the city of Veracruz. Cortà ©s organized an independent government, renounced the authority of Governor Velzquez, and acknowledged only the supreme authority of the Spanish monarchy. In order to prevent any of his men from deserting because of these actions, Cortà ©s destroyed his fleet. When Cortà ©s started to march inland he had about 500 men remaining. The Spaniards soon encountered the Tlaxcalan people, who lived east of the Aztec Empire and resented Aztec domination. Despite this resentment, the Tlaxcalans initially battled the Spanish invaders. After two weeks of fighting and heavy native losses, the Tlaxcalans surrendered and became allies of the Spaniards agains... Free Essays on Cortes Free Essays on Cortes The Cortà ©s Expedition Grijalva returned to Cuba and relayed to Governor Velzquez the tales of a powerful and wealthy Native American empire located in the interior of Mexico. This news spurred Velzquez to authorize a third expedition, this time commanded by Hernn Cortà ©s. As Cortà ©s loaded his ships and recruited additional men in Cuba, some of his enemies complained that he was a poor choice to lead the expedition. They convinced Velzquez to cancel Cortà ©s’s commission to lead the force. Cortà ©s ignored the orders and set sail in February 1519 with about 600 men, as well as a few cannons and horses. On the Yucatn Peninsula, the expedition rescued a shipwrecked survivor, Jerà ³nimo de Agà ºilar, who had been held captive by the Maya for eight years. He would provide the Spaniards with a valuable translator of the Mayan language. The expedition sailed west along the Yucatn Peninsula and the Gulf Coast, engaging in a major battle against Tabascan warriors at the mouth of the Grijalva River. Cortà ©s quickly realized the value of horses in battling the Native American peoples- the Tabascans had never seen horses and many fled in fear. The expedition sailed north in search of a good harbor and established a town, La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, at what is now the city of Veracruz. Cortà ©s organized an independent government, renounced the authority of Governor Velzquez, and acknowledged only the supreme authority of the Spanish monarchy. In order to prevent any of his men from deserting because of these actions, Cortà ©s destroyed his fleet. When Cortà ©s started to march inland he had about 500 men remaining. The Spaniards soon encountered the Tlaxcalan people, who lived east of the Aztec Empire and resented Aztec domination. Despite this resentment, the Tlaxcalans initially battled the Spanish invaders. After two weeks of fighting and heavy native losses, the Tlaxcalans surrendered and became allies of the Spaniards agains...

Define Parameters in Computer Programming

Define Parameters in Computer Programming Parameters identify values that are passed into a function. For example, a function to add three numbers might have three parameters. A function has a name, and it can be called from other points of a program. When that happens, the information passed is called an argument. Modern programming languages typically allow functions to have several parameters. Function Parameters Each function parameter has a type followed by an identifier, and  each  parameter is separated from the next parameter by a comma. The parameters pass arguments to the function. When a program calls a function, all the parameters are variables. The value of each of the resulting arguments is copied into its matching parameter in a process call pass by value. The program uses parameters and returned values to create functions that take data as input, make a calculation with it and return the value to the caller. The Difference Between Functions and Arguments The terms parameter and argument are sometimes used interchangeably. However, parameter refers to the type and identifier, and arguments are the values passed to the function. In the following C example,  int a  and  int b  are parameters, while  5  and  3  are the arguments passed to the function. int addition (int a, int b){   int r;   rab;   return r;} int main (){   int z;   z addition (5,3);   cout The result is z;} Value of Using Parameters Parameters allow a function to perform tasks without knowing the specific input values ahead of time.Parameters are indispensable components of functions, which programmers use to divide their code into logical blocks.

5 Digital Publishing Questions for Seth Godin

5 Digital Publishing Questions for Seth Godin 5 Digital Publishing Questions for Seth Godin Today we interview Seth Godin,  American author, entrepreneur, marketer and public speaker. The amazing thing about Seth is that he uses all these skills for his publishing efforts. And some of his ideas for (digital) publishing are so great that we were bound to interview him. Let’s talk about the connection economy.Hi Seth! I was listening to your Ted Talk â€Å"This is broken† from 2006. What’s really broken in the publishing industry today? Discoverability? DRMs? Royalty-share model? Big 5 publishers?The problem is buried in plain sight, but once you see it, it becomes obvious: the entire model of book publishing (advances, returns, publicity, curation, DRM, all of it) is based on the idea that the customer is the bookstore.The bookstore with limited shelf space, the one that demands returns, the one that needs long lead times.Simple proof: every big publisher spends 20 times as much money and manpower on bookstores than they do dealing with readers.When bo okstores go away, then what? Hint: Amazon is not the new customer.Apart from Reedsy, what other innovations in the publishing space do you find interesting?I think the only innovation that’s worth paying attention to is the redefinition of what it even means to be a book publisher. What’s a book? What’s publishing? Who is the customer? What’s the new asset?In a connection economy, do publishers sell or profit from or enable connection? If we don’t, we’re done.You said that â€Å"Publishing is the act of taking a financial risk to curate some content and bring it to a group of people who didn’t know it existed†. How do you think self-published content should be curated?Readers of my book and my blog trust me to curate what I recommend. I’m not sure readers trust Amazon to curate the Kindle, or even Knopf to curate the books they see–because they’re just so much junk and so much noise, they don’t even know the labels, so there is no trust.Trust, of course, is the essence of the connection economy, and it’s way more powerful and far-reaching than brand or shelf space.So, I think the successful self-published author builds connection and thus trust by consistently delivering just a little more than what’s expected.What do you read? Where do you find inspiration?I read tons and tons of books about ‘business’ in quotes, but find less and less to like over the years. I read a lot of cultural history–from Guns, Germs and Steel to the brand new ‘Debt’. I love hard science fiction and read it often. I read a lot of Pema Chodron and Susan Piver and Steve Pinker and Dan Dennett and others that think about thinking. I try to find funny books, Sedaris, etc, but they’re so rare†¦No literary fiction for me. Not smart enough.You’re employing a new marketing strategy for your book, Your Turn. You send additional copies of the book to everyone who orders even a single copy because you want people to share it; can you speak about the marketing theory and your intentions behind this rather cutting-edge approach? And speaking of cutting-edge marketing, can you give some advice to newcomers to the indie marketplace who might be lacking in creativity when it comes to selling their books?Your Turn has been a great success, both creatively and commercially†¦ we’re closing in on 60,000 copies sold direct, in paper only. That’s pretty amazing for a self-published one-man show in 140 days or so.People want to share books, but you need to make it easy!As for advice, I am ready for your question:  my best advice  can be found here  and here. Remember:â€Å"Writing a book is a tremendous experience. It pays off intellectually. It clarifies your thinking. It builds credibility. It is a living engine of marketing and idea spreading, working every day to deliver your message with authority. You shou ld write one.†And regarding Kickstarter: â€Å"Kickstarter campaigns fail when the tribe of people who believe in the idea is too small†.Follow Seth and Reedsy on Twitter.Liked this interview? PLEASE give us a â€Å"recommend† on Medium where it was among the top 10 most voted stories. Seeing it celebrated is our biggest reward for producing good content.

Tells us about a time when you took a risk, including what the risk Essay

Tells us about a time when you took a risk, including what the risk was, what happened, and how the experience change you - ( 400 to 600 Words) - Essay Example This implies that the incoming manager had to be equipped with exemplary skills in restaurant management. Mr, Smith, knew me personally. Furthermore, he knew my future ambition of becoming an entrepreneur. Having been raised in Brazil, he felt my experience from a foreign country would enrich the business through integrating new ideas with the traditional English culture. After thorough scrutiny, Mr. Smith decided I was best suited to take up this risky opportunity. At first, I thought I was not up to the task but then I decided to take up the risk after realizing it was the only way I would gain experience. Thoughts of what a disappointment I would be if I did not deliver or if the business failed to flourish kept crossing my mind. Despite this, I did not give up. Since most of my life I had lived in Brazil, I was not proficient in the English language. This situation made the assignment even more challenging considering the business was in an English setting. I had the task of proving to myself as well as to others that being a foreigner was not an impediment to success. I had no substantial knowledge of the English culture and how to prepare English food. As result, I decided to dedicate my fist day to work on making myself acquainted with these aspects. I also came up with a concept on how to deliver the best services and the kind of foods that would be more appealing. Nonetheless, I developed some marketing strategies that I would incorporate into the business so as to increase sales and achieve set goals. Not to forget how I would train those under my supervision. I decided I would be dedicated to my new job through hard work and commitment. Applying these concepts made the business a success. In a couple of months, the flow of customers had increased. The trend continued as more people brought their friends and families to the traditional English restaurant due to the good services they were receiving. More traffic was

Should English Be Our Official Language Research Paper

Should English Be Our Official Language - Research Paper Example However, such attempts, especially in the congress, have proved futile despite the fact that most of the Americans, i.e. more than 90%, use English as their main language of communication (Lehrer Productions, 2005). This paper is a critical evaluation of whether the US should adopt English as the official language of communication. Despite the fact that English is the most widely used language in the US, the constitution does not mention it or any other language for that matter as the official language of communication. However, there have been attempts from different quarters such as the Congress to enact legislation for that purpose but this has not been achieved. The US is a country, which is full of cultural diversity as its population is a mixture of different races, with some of them having their own unique languages of communication. Some of these languages include and not limited to Spanish, German, Italian, Korean, Greek, and Chinese among others. This has been attributed to the ever increasing number of immigrants entering the country either to do business or to settle and also due to the presence of the descendants of immigrants, who entered the country either as slaves or as settlers during the colonial times. It may be important to note that even the English which is spoken contains different diale cts depending on the speakers, for example with those of African decency, Latinos among others (Crawford, 2000). Various reasons have been brought forward by proponents of adopting English as the country’s official language. This is for example the need to improve national unity. Linguistic diversity around the world has been noted as one of the major contributing factors to bad blood between citizens of a country, and which has the capacity to encourage tribal animosity and violence (US English Inc, 2006).  

Th_ Correlation B_tw__n Attendance Patterns And Math Scores of 10th Dissertation

Th_ Correlation B_tw__n Attendance Patterns And Math Scores of 10th grade High School Students In New York - Dissertation Example Likewise, for Grade 10 mathematics specific to New York State. This study will take two main methodological approaches, first, the correlative method and second, a regression analysis. Both methods will approach the connection between the two variables in question in order to determine whether or not the effect of absenteeism has the same impact as it does on other disciplines and at other grade levels. Both the correlative method and the regressive analysis will also be applied to a number of variables associated with absenteeism. Can it be said that the causes of absenteeism are the very same for low academic results? Likewise, which among the variables can be said to be the most significant among the different correlations related to absenteeism. Is there one variable which stands out amongst all of the others? This question too will be addressed through the correlative method alongside a regression analysis. In the second half of this analysis, this study will look at some of the limitations of the study. It will be argued that OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the following is to establish a methodology in order to determine whether there is a correlation between attendance and achievement in Grade 10 mathematics among students in New York State. ... The following will outline the basic methods for investigation which will be the correlation method – that is, a correlation between achievement and absenteeism. Second, the main methodological approach will be a regression analysis. This will take into consideration further variables including those which contribute to absenteeism. Finally, this analysis will turn to some of the limitations of the proposed study. It will be maintained that some of the main problems with the study in question, concerns some ethical considerations around race and ethnicity, and in turn, the consequences of the study. It will be maintained that while the approach to the study is fairly straight forward in methodological terms, there are some limitations in regard to the subject matter and how the very sensitive issue of race and ethnicity is dealt with in the analysis. METHODOLOGY. CORRELATIVE METHOD: Correlation is the linear relationship that defines two succinct variables, and the coefficient is the measure or relationship between the two variables expressed in a numerical term. In the present study, the main variables to consider as correlates are 'attendance' and 'achievement' in the subject of mathematics. The value of such a correlation coefficient lies somewhere between the integers of +1 and -1 which are positive and negative coefficients respectively, and they both represent a perfect positive or negative coefficient. That is, a coefficient of -1 is a perfect negative correlation and +1 is a perfect positive correlation [Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2005 p. 193]. Phrased in different terms, if an analysis produces either coefficient there is a conclusive relationship defined by the coefficients in question,

Discussion Question Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 21

Discussion Question - Assignment Example Southern people feared that the North would gain strength and push abolition of slavery. The regional conflict between the North and South affected the political environment. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 saw the Northerners getting from the Union and formed a new slave state called Missouri while Maine became a slavery-free territory. The stands of North and South on slavery also influenced the compromise of 1850 that gave rise to doctrine of states’ rights (Brands, Breen, Williams & Gross, 2012). Both divisions were pushing for a state that would have equal leaders from slave and Free states. However, the compromise led to a bigger conflict that divided the two regions even further than in the beginning. Anti-slavery call inspired Abraham Lincoln rise to presidency. The North backed his candidacy because his victory would automatically impose their will on South. The Southern states did not have him on the ballot, but he won and brought moderate rule on slavery. The Southern states believed that Lincoln was against them. However, Lincoln did not have plans of violating doctrine of states’ rights in a bid to deal with the tension between the North and the

Criticism of the play <Spring Awakening> Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Criticism of the play - Essay Example The play also portrays some teenager boys on their way to learn about sexuality and experiencing frustrating thoughts and dreams. The teenagers were exposed to some information through some books and pictures that eventually instigate the desire for physical intimacy among them. The play shows their attempts to make them aware of the sexuality and physical relationship. The play is focused upon a highly sensitive but serious and important issue. The play tells about the efforts of the society to step teenage sexuality that have different types of impacts upon them. The original play contains some very bold scenes about abortion and sexuality but this musical adaptation covers all the topics in very effective and interesting manner. The play powerfully portrays the frustration, pain and joys of being young and the intricate feelings and changing emotions that the youngster experience during this phase of life. The play shows that this phase is very delicate and complex and the society and parents should take great care of the children so that they could bit be a victim of any sexual abuse. The excitements of the youth are beautifully presented through rock music in the play. The musical instruments are brilliantly used in the play to effectively describe the emotions and frustrated feelings of the adolsent. Since the issue is very sensitive and complex the words are not always enough to express and explain the desired emotions. At these places, the director has made adequate use of music to convey the ideas and thoughts to the audience in perfect manner. The musical adaptation of the play is very appealing because it involves the audiences and makes them feeling the deep emotions and feelings of the youngsters. The play received very positive response from the literary critics and general public because it allows the audiences to feel

Discussion Question Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 21

Discussion Question - Assignment Example Southern people feared that the North would gain strength and push abolition of slavery. The regional conflict between the North and South affected the political environment. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 saw the Northerners getting from the Union and formed a new slave state called Missouri while Maine became a slavery-free territory. The stands of North and South on slavery also influenced the compromise of 1850 that gave rise to doctrine of states’ rights (Brands, Breen, Williams & Gross, 2012). Both divisions were pushing for a state that would have equal leaders from slave and Free states. However, the compromise led to a bigger conflict that divided the two regions even further than in the beginning. Anti-slavery call inspired Abraham Lincoln rise to presidency. The North backed his candidacy because his victory would automatically impose their will on South. The Southern states did not have him on the ballot, but he won and brought moderate rule on slavery. The Southern states believed that Lincoln was against them. However, Lincoln did not have plans of violating doctrine of states’ rights in a bid to deal with the tension between the North and the

Business proposal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Business proposal - Assignment Example The company records low unit sales and lags behind Volkswagen AG and BMW in China. The stiff competition has to overall underperformance in China. The aim of this proposal is to look at the challenge facing the company and how they can be solved. It targets prospective investors and luxury automobile dealers who are willing to explore business opportunities in order to meet their goals. The audience needs to be concerned because any threat to the downfall of the Mercedes-Benz will affect them. Because the Mercedes-Benz defines class, prestige and luxury, its fall in the market will translate to lose of status and class and profit to the targeted audience. In order to Increase Unit sales and beat the stiff competition, Mercedes-Benz should first carry out research on consumer tastes and preferences to establish their needs. The findings will lead to the second solution of investing on new models. Adjusting its organization structure to be more flexible is yet another solution to the p roblem. A flexible structure ought to be established because it supports quick decision making and newer models will lead to increased market share hence beating the competition. The proposal also gives a solution of developing a cohesive strategy of targeting areas that highly populated with high class persons. Such audience have the capacity of buying the Mercedes-Benz which is likely to boost its sales. Despite having achieved high record sales of 1.46 million cars globally last year, the Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz car faces a lot of stiff competition from the Germany rivals and small cars who are still leading in terms of profitability, unit sales and appeal especially to the younger generation (Acquisdata snapshot 50). The major root of the challenge facing the Mercedes-Benz stems from the China market where it records under-performance. The China market is a vital market to pay attention to because it of its high

A Time of Change in the Market Revolution Essay Example for Free

A Time of Change in the Market Revolution Essay 1815 to 1860 was a crucial time for American commerce and urbanization that not only had strong economic influences, but also altered social and political perspectives. This time period, known as the Market Revolution, stemmed largely from the advancement in technology which led to transportation improvements and the building of railroads. Banks also contributed to the growing economy by increasing economic input and providing loans to merchants, manufacturers, and farmers. The rapid expansion of commerce and transportation had profound effects on American individuals socio-economic goals; a sense of self-confidence and domestic ideology surfaced, perpetuating westward expansion. Along with the spread of urbanization came the circulation of literary publications that fostered the spread of popular opinions; this eventually became an essential component to the many reform movements ultimately caused by the Market Revolution. All of these factors contributed to the republican ideal of individual freedom. Although the Market Revolution promoted economic and social growth through the development of technology and industry, it also led to actions threatening to republican liberties like equality and the inherent rights of man. Concerns of tyranny and disregard to the American Constitution caused many to focus on preserving the American republic through reform movements. The main driving factor of the reform movements that took place following the Market Revolution was the obscurity of republican values. Despite the positive influences the Market Revolution had on quality of life and transportation, many Americans feared the corruption of their individual liberties. They had proper reason to believe that this would be an occurrence caused by the unbalanced power that was established during the Market Revolution. One example of this unbalance was the increasing power of banks, more specifically addressed by Andrew Jackson when he vetoed the Second Bank of the United States. He asserts that the monopolized bank system undermines the rights of ordinary people because it establishes significant distinctions between classes where the upper class holds the power and dominates over the lower class. In a way, he attempts to reform the government-established powers instilled by the Second Bank of the United States by voicing how it is an abuse of power and limits economic opportunity for ordinary people. In addition to the unbalanced power created by the banks, a prominent deterrent from republican autonomy was the inequality that this instability of power caused for individual Americans. The rapid expansion of agriculture and population corresponded to the growth of slavery, which is the most pronounced example of the inequality America experienced during and after the Market Revolution. Slavery was seen by many as a direct violation of the Constitution and the inherent rights of man, which defy republican values. In the Republican National Platform, Abraham Lincoln brings to light that the inequality of slavery threatens national sovereignty, â€Å"That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution, †¦ is essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions; and that the Federal Constitution, the Rights of States, and the Union of the States, must and shall be preserved.† A nationalistic togetherness, while still maintaining individual freedom, is eminent in establishing and fulfilling republic ideology. Slavery was a direct violation of man’s inalienable rights, and therefore many abolitionist movements took place in order to reform the corrupt nation. Acts of slavery and other injustices initiated by the Market Revolution that defied republican values were identified as needing reform, in William H. Seward’s speech in 1855 he said, â€Å"We must restore the demoralized virtue of the nation. We must restore the principle of equality among the members of the State the principle of the sacredness of the absolute and inherent rights of man.† The emerging Democratic party was host to many of the promoters of personal reform and social problems, while the Whig party advocated the reform of moralism and state-sponsored entrepreneurship. One of the initial influences of the reform movements was the moral mending that was deemed necessary by Protestants in order to overcome the sins occurring in society, and enact a sense of righteousness. These ideas of self-virtue and societal justice were reflected in the Second Great Awakening and the Temperance movement in the early 1800’s. The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival that had a strong influence on women, giving them a voice in society and the ability to make an impact for the salvation of American values. The Temperance movement had a similar purpose, to promote self-perfection and eliminate the many sins that became prominent in society during the Market Revolution. The movement focused on alcohol abuse and sexual sin, and although it bolstered self improvement for many individuals, a main impact of both the Temperance movement and the Second Great Awakening was the eminent duty of women to speak out against controversial happenings. Both of these movements had strong positive effects on the preservation of the republic because they fostered public regard to individual goodness, which in turn led to other reform movements and the ability for both women and men to speak out against injustices. Both women’s rights and slaves rights were distinguished issues that violated the equality of the republic, and therefore certain groups sought reform these corrupt aspects of American society. In the 1830’s, the abolitionist movement was initiated in an attempt to dissolve the sin of slavery. Although abolition became the source of immense controversy and even violence, the movement against slavery allowed slaves like Robert Glenn and Frederick Douglass to share their stories in an attempt to bring to light the corruption taking place in America. These movements did in fact help persuade many groups of people, mostly Democrats, of the Constitutional and moral violations that slavery inhibits. However, westward expansion and distinct divisions between the nation made it difficult to prevent the spread of slavery. Despite the fact that abolitionist movements did not have immediate effects on the eradication of slavery, it did open doors for public opinion and womens righ ts. In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott spoke out at the Seneca Falls Convention against the unequal status of women and how it reflects tyranny rather than the individual liberties of a republic. They emphasize the main point of both slavery and women’s rights reformations, â€Å"The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation, because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.† These movements did impact the protection of republicanism through the expression of activists who exposed the exploitation and inequality occurring due to slavery and unbalanced privileges of women. The Market Revolution had a domino effect on the fabric of the republic. It propelled economic growth and industrial expansion which then perpetuated unbalanced power within the government. This obscured the political values of individuals and brought about such a dramatic shift in thinking regarding opportunity and personal liberties that many people were concerned about the loss of republicanism. Members of the public like the Grimke sisters, as well as members of the government like Andrew Jackson, identified the injustices of inequality that were caused by the Market Revolution and felt as though reform was necessary to preserve the republic. The reform movements that took place, such as the Second Great Awakening and the abolitionist movement, exposed the pollution of republican ideals like individual freedom and egalitarianism. Although these messages were controversial between the sectional division of the North and South, reform movements still established a voice for the republic and eventually managed to preserve the prominent aspects of the republic. [ 1 ]. Andrew Jackson, â€Å"Veto Message,† in John Majewski, History of American Peoples, 1840-1920: A Primary Source Reader (Dubuque: Kendall/Hunt 2006), 5. [ 2 ]. Abraham Lincoln, â€Å"Republicans Adopt a Strong Anti-Slavery Platform,† in Majewski, 50. [ 3 ]. William H. Seward, â€Å"The Dangers of Extending Slavey, and the Contest and the Crisis,† in Majewski, 41. [ 4 ]. Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage, Hartmann, The American Promise: A History of the United States, 330. [ 5 ]. Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage, Hartmann, The American Promise: A History of the United States, 322. [ 6 ]. Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage, Hartmann, The American Promise: A History of the United States, 323. [ 7 ]. Roark, Johnson, Cohen, Stage, Hartmann, The American Promise: A History of the United States, 324. [ 8 ]. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, â€Å"The Seneca Falls Convention Advocates Complete Equality† in Majewski, 24.

Biodiversity Of Punjab Shiwaliks Environmental Sciences Essay

Biodiversity Of Punjab Shiwaliks Environmental Sciences Essay There is an increasing awareness that biodiversity is not only intimately interconnected with long term health and vigor of the biosphere as an indicator of global environment but also as a regulator of ecosystem functioning. Tropical communities are often worse susceptible to loss of biological diversity than temperate communities because tropical species are occur in lower densities and are less widely distributed and often have weaker dispersal capabilities. Increasing human intervention and excessive exploitation of resources have resulted in great changes and provide alarming signals of accelerated biodiversity loss. The conventional species level approach for biodiversity management has major limitations. A major change in the understanding the priorities of biodiversity conservation and management has resulted in a policy shift from conservation of single species to their habitats through interactive network of species at landscape level is considered important (Orians, 1993; Edward et al., 1994). Biodiversity can be represented at various levels of organization, like alleles or genotypes within a population, species or ecosystem across a landscape or even a planet. There is a growing need for better understanding of the biodiversity distribution pattern vis-à  -vis human interventions. India have very varied environmental conditions and are among the countries with high biodiversity. The flowering plants, which provide maximum direct benefit to mankind, comprise about 19395 taxa, which is about 7% of the described species in the world (Karthikeyan, 2000). The vast stretches of coastal belt in south and high mountains species of Himalayas in the north provide a complex environmental set up or niches for plant and animals. It has resulted in the formation micro-endemic centres of plants in the country. The great heights and complex terrain of the Himalayan region, which change frequently, provide endless microclimatic conditions suitable to the species to grow and evolve. The Himalayas have more than 5 micro-endemic centres. Shiwalik ranges are one such mirco-endemic centre. About 125 wild relatives of crop plants have been reported in the western Himalayas and Shiwaliks ranges are part of these. These ranges are among the youngest hills in the world and are active as well as fragile. Shiwalik hills of Punjab state have rich biological diversity and act as major natural green belt of the state. The state is well known for agricultural produce and industries. But the degradational activity coupled with the destruction of forests in the name of developmental activities has altered the natural landscape of the region to a great extent. It is facing threat for its very existence again from mankind in the name development. Because of these increased anthropogenic activities, as a result of population explosion and change in land use practices, the natural landscape has been modified which has resulted in fragmentation of forests with poor species composition. Hence the resulting landscape mosaic is a mixture of natural and human managed patches that vary in size, shape and arrangement. Now it is realized that we must move from the conservation of single species to scales beyond individual sites and levels of organization. Understanding landscape spatial pattern is important since it contains all levels of the biological hierarchy, from ecosystems to species and genes, which are targeted for biodiversity conservation. Remote sensing technology is being widely used world over for the quick assessment of the Earth resources. Because it being a cost effective and repetitive in nature with synoptic coverages technology, has endless application potentials. The technology assumes significance in terms of conservation of natural resources as it provides birds eye view of the ecosystems or landscapes or regions and their status, because conservation is now not limited to a plant or species but much beyond that. Vegetation is composed of several communities and these communities may occur in patches of small to large size and in various shapes. Vegetation composition of these patches is governed by several environmental factors, and there exists a relationship of the biological richness with area of the forest and the influence of biotic factors. Ecologists have established the relationship among these environmental and biotic factors with the biodiversity. Patches can be characterized based on their size, shape, location, area etc. in through geospatial modeling in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Thus various factors can be simultaneously considered and processed in GIS. In this report, vegetation type map derived from satellite data was considered as prime input for landscape ecological analysis of forest ecosystem. Geographic Information System (GIS) is used to derive landscape indices such as fragmentation, porosity, patchiness, patch density, interspersion and juxtaposition, which depict landscape characteristics. These indices were integrated with biotic pressure zones to depict disturbance gradient in the study area. Phytosociological data collected from field sampling was analyzed to derive species richness, biodiversity value and ecosystem uniqueness of various forest types. Ancillary databases such as proximity from the roads/villages, terrain complexity etc. were derived in GIS domain. All above inputs were integrated in systematic manner by assigning relevant weightages to derive maps showing disturbance gradient and biological richness. The resultant maps highlight areas that are biologically rich. 2. Study Area 2.1 Physical Climatic Status The study was carried out in the Shiwalik hills of Punjab state having geographical area of 9448.97 km2 and situated in north western part of the state. It lies between latitude 30o 34 10.82 and 32o 33 02.96 N and longitude 74o 50 30.30 and 76o 52 51.26 E. It is broadly divided into sub-mountainous Himalayas and the eastern and western alluvial plains. The important rivers draining the region are the Sutlej and the Beas. The average annual rainfall varies between 400 to 600 mm and the mean annual temperature ranges from 22.500 C to 25.00 C. 2.2 Geology The composition of the Shiwalik deposits shows they are nothing else than the alluvial detritus derived from the sub aerial waste of mountains, swept down by their numerous rivers and streams and deposited at their foot. This process was very much like what the existing river systems of the Himalayas are doing at present day on their emerging to the plains of Punjab. An important difference is that the former alluvial deposits now making up the Shiwalik systems have been involved in the latest Himalayan systems of upheavals, by which they have been folded and elevated into their outermost foot-hills, although the oldest alluvium of many parts of northern India serves to bridge the gap between the newest Shiwaliks and the present alluvium. 2.3 Lithology The Shiwalik system is a great thickness of detrital rocks, such as coarsely bedded sandstones, sand-rock, clay and conglomerates, measuring between 4,500 and 5,200 m in thickness. The bulk of formation is very closely similar to the materials constituting the modern alluvia of rivers. The lithology of the Shiwliks suggests their origin; they are chiefly the water-worn debris of the granitic core of the central Himalaya, deposited in the long and broad valley of the Shiwaliks. The upper coarse conglomerates are the alluvial fans or talus-cones at the emergence of the mountain streams; the great thickness of the clay and sand represents the silts and finer sediments of the river laid down in the lower plain. The weathering of the Shiwalik rocks has been proceeding at an extraordinally rapid rate since their deposition, and strictly abrupt forms of topography have been evolved in this comparatively brief period. Gigantic escarpments and dip-slopes separated by broad longitudinal strike valleys and intersected by deep meandering ravines of the transverse streams-surface features, which are the most common elements of Shiwalik topography. The strike is remarkably constant in a Northwest-Southeast direction, with only brief local swerves, while it is almost always in strict elevations. 3. Land Use Pattern The recorded forest area (including dry deciduous scrub) of Shiwalik hills of Punjab state is 1599.42 km2, which constitutes 16.93% total geographic area. The major forest types are dry deciduous, moist deciduous, dry deciduous scrub and coniferous forest. The non-forest area such as agriculture, grassland, water body, canals, settlements, riverbed and barren land contributes 7849.55 km2 which constitutes 83.07% of the total geographical area. 3.1 Vegetation type (a) Northern dry mixed deciduous forest (5B/C2) In most localities the tree canopy has been seriously broken by human activities, results in scattered tree and small shrubs. This forest is dominated by Acacia catechu, Anogeissus latifolia with the association of Lannea coromandalica, Aegle marmelos, Ehretia laevis, Mallotus philippensis, Nyctanthus arbor-tritis, Dendrocalamus strictus etc. (b) Dry bamboo brakes (5E9) Only one species Dendrocalamus strictus occurs and forms relatively low brakes with a sprinkling of the tree and shrubs of dry deciduous forest such as Anogeissus latifolia, Lannea coromandelica etc. (c) Dry deciduous scrub (DS1) A low broken soil cover of shrubby growth 3 to 6 m high including some tree species reduced to similar conditions, usually many stemmed from the base. The community is dominated by Woodfordia fruiticosa, Carrissa opaca, and Nyctanthus arbor-tristis with the some association Dodonaea viscosa, Aegle mormelos, Cassia fistula, and Acacia catechu. (d) Khair-Sissu forests (5/1S2) Dalbergia sissoo predominates in this association. The canopy is open associated with Acacia catechu. The older woods have more or less definite under storey, which is mainly composed of young species and few species of Tamarix dioca, Acacia fernesiana, Cannabis sativa and grasses like Saccharum spontaneum, Erianthus munja etc. (e) Shiwalik chirpine forest (9/C1) The pine stands singly or in groups with a scattered with lower deciduous tree story on the ridge and side slopes. There is usually a fairly continuous growth of xerophytic shrubs occurs as under-storey vegetation. Pinus roxburghii is associated with Mallotus philippensis, Pyrus pashia, Syzygium cuminii, Albizzia chinensis, Acacia catechu, and Terminalia chebula. (f) Subtropical Euphorbia scrub (9/C1/DS2) Euphorbia royleana forms consociations sometimes of considerable extent. Their distribution is related to edaphic factors, notably dry rocky ridges, where biotic pressure has been high. 4. Approach Biodiversity characterization satellite remotely sensed data is being used for deriving vegetation cover type map. The vegetation type thus derived represents the habitats and their surroundings. These patches of the different forest types occur randomly as per the existing environmental conditions. Using landscape ecological principals these can be analyzed and quantified. Some of these parameters are fragmentation, porosity, juxtapositions, interspersion etc. and indices are derived to show their characteristics. Proximity of forests to road and villages and their impact is established. All these layers are overlaid to obtain disturbance index. Disturbance index image is the important for characterizing and identifying least or no disturbed areas (Fig. 1). Ground observations are taken through stratified random sampling in all the forest types. Their economic uses have been found from literature. Total Importance Value (TIV) of each plant is established for its value for food, fuel wood, charcoal, timber, medicine etc. Ecosystem uniqueness is established from the list of the species found during survey based on its representativeness, species Fig 1: Approach for Biodiversity Characterization at Landscape Level Using Remote Sensing and GIS (after Roy et al., 1998) endemism etc. Biological richness is obtained after integrating species richness, biological value, disturbance index, ecosystem uniqueness, terrain complexity. 5. Materials and Methodology 5.1 Materials Following satellite remote sensing data have been used for land cover and land use classification of the area (Table 1). Table 1: Details of satellite data used Satellite ID Path Row Date IRS-1D LISS III 93 48 12 Oct. 2000 IRS-1D LISS III 94 48 03 Nov. 2000 IRS-1D LISS III 94 49 03 Nov. 2000 IRS-1D LISS III 95 49 31 Oct. 2000 IRS-1D LISS III 95 50 31 Oct. 2000 5.2 Ancillary data Survey of India topo sheets on 1:50,000 have been used. Relevant literature on flora has been consulted. 5.2 Vegetation Cover type mapping 5.3.1 Preprocessing of satellite data IRS-1D LISS-III data (Oct, 2000 and March, 2001) were used to prepare vegetation cover type map. A total five scenes were loaded and each scene was rectified with respect to 1:50,000 scale SOI toposheet (Total 32 toposheets were used, geometrically corrected and mosaicked to a single image). A second order transformation was followed. Average root mean square error within one pixel was maintained while preparing transformation model. Lambert Conformal Conic projection (LCC) was used during rectification of image (Fig. 2). Each rectified Fig. 2 FCC scene was subjected to radiometric correction before mosaicing it to a single mosaic image. After extraction of required area from this single mosaic image, it was subjected to Supervised Maximum likelihood classification using the ground truth information collected during the fieldwork. 5.3.2 Ground truthing Reconnaissance survey was carried out in the area to acquire the knowledge of the vegetation and other broad land uses. During reconnaissance information on the correlation of image elements with that of ground features was also obtained. Interpretation key was formulated and classification was performed. 5.3.3 Vegetation Classification Based on the a priori knowledge supervised classification method was followed. Training sites were selected and processed and the features with high classification accuracy were extracted. Using binary image the remaining area was extracted and unsupervised classification method was performed. The classified output was finally subjected hybrid classification approach to prepare vegetation type map of the study area showing various vegetation types. The accuracy of the image was evaluated using field knowledge and the ground truth information. Along with the different types of forest, other general lands use / land cover classes were also classified so as to understand the landscape of the region. Following forest classes have been delineated and a comparison with Champion and Seths (1968) classifications scheme is given below (Table 2). List of the land cover and land use classes identified on the satellite data. Moist deciduous forest Dry deciduous forest Dry deciduous scrub (Lantana) Coniferous forest Grass land Plantation/Avenue trees Agriculture Water body Settlement Riverbed/Barren land Table 2:Vegetation classes compared With Champion Seths Classification: Satellite based classification of vegetation types Champion and Seth Classification (1968) Moist deciduous forest Dry bamboo brakes Khair-sissu forest Dry deciduous forest Northern dry mixed deciduous forest Dry deciduous forest Dry deciduous scrub Subtropical Euphorbiascrub Dry deciduous scrub Pine Shiwalik chirpine forest 5.3 Field data One of the most important components of biodiversity characterization is the information on plants or species richness. Information on plant species is further processed for evaluating other parameters like Total Importance Value, Ecosystem Uniqueness, Biodiversity value etc. There it is important that well distributed enough sample are taken for information on species occurrence. Classified vegetation cover type has been used for finding the sample size. Sampling intensity of 0.021 % has been done. Higher sample intensity is adopted (than recommended) in view of variability in the area. 5.4.1 Sampling design Stratified Random sampling approach was followed and numbers of sample points were distributed to its probability proportional to its size. Field data was collected from 74 sample points of 2020 m size during October 2000 (Table 3). The sample plots of 20x20m were used for tree species and nested approach and nested approach has been followed for laying sample plots of 10x10m for shrubs and 1x1m plot (five plots) for herbaceous layer. The data was collected on following parameters in each of the sample plot. Description of ecosystem and forest type including phenology Species name and number of individuals for every species Girth at breast height in centimeters Economic importance such as grazing, medicinal, human food, fuel, timber, charcoal and other uses such as industrial use, rope making, tanning leather etc. This importance value was collected by interviewing local people interviewing wherever possible and from literature. The data was analyzed for deriving various indices indicating biodiversity value, species richness and ecosystem uniqueness for different forest types. Table 3: The distribution of sample points in each of the forest types found in all the Shiwalik Hills of Punjab state Forest Type No. of sample plots Moist deciduous 32 Dry deciduous 31 Deciduous scrub 7 Pine forest 4 Total 74 Database of all the species collected was created in MS Excel for further processing, details have been provided in the section on phytosociological analysis. 6. Database Creation in GIS In geo-spatial analysis integration of spatial and non-spatial data or vector data is important. As discussed earlier the biotic disturbance had played a very significant role in existing biodiversity of toady. Database in GIS domain provides opportunity to analyze their impact zones. Therefore, the following maps were digitized from ancillary sources for their integration: Village locations point and polygon features) Road and railway networks Contour lines with 20m intervals The road and settlement maps were used as input in further analysis for deriving disturbance gradient. Contour map was used to prepare digital terrain model using ERDAS IMAGINE 8.4 software. 7. Landscape Analysis The approaches for biodiversity characterization discussed in the literature contains several broad categories such as genetically based approach, species based approach, ecosystem based approach, and integrative approach. The approach adopted in present study is integrative method that includes significance of ecological, social, and cultural factors to the biodiversity in addition to biological factors. The approach used for the study focuses on following aspects: Rapid assessment for monitoring of biodiversity loss and/or gain Mapping of biological richness to understand its spatial nature, that helps in planning and execution The customized package Bio_CAP is developed at Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun to carry out multi-criteria spatial analysis. The satellite data provide key input i.e. vegetation type, which is used for deriving several landscape indices (fragmentation, porosity, patchiness, interspersion, and juxtaposition) depicting status of forest ecosystem. Ancillary database on roads and settlements has been used to prepare proximity buffer map and contour map is used to prepare terrain complexity map. All these parameters were integrated together with the field data on species richness, ecosystem uniqueness and biodiversity value. The ultimate result is the map that depicts areas categorized as per disturbance index. 7.1 Landscape analysis using Bio_CAP The field data, vegetation type map and ancillary GIS data (roads, village locations, and contour) were analyzed using Bio_CAP (Biodiversity Characterization Programme) a customized package to prepare various indices depicting landscape characteristics. Fragmentation has been the major cause of biodiversity loss and has been measured as a number of forest and non-forest patches in per unit area. Patchiness is a measure of the density of patches of all forest types or number of clusters in a given mask or area. Porosity is a measure of number of patches or density of patches within a particular type vegetation, normally primary vegetation type(s), regardless of patch size. Interspersion is a count of dissimilar neighbor pixels (feature) with respect to central pixel (feature) of a particular grid or measurement of the spatial intermixing of the vegetation types. Juxtaposition is a measure of proximity and adjacency of two or more vegetation types. Higher weightage is given to the classes who share or are likely to share more boundary. Human influence zone is dependent on socio-economic set-up of the area/region and proximity the forest resources and can vary from 0.5 km to 5 km or even more. Proximity buffer or zone of influence from the roads and human settlements has been prepared. 7.2 Disturbance Index: Disturbance has direct impact on the occurrence of plants and animals or biodiversity. Disturbance regimes provide an insight into the impacted area and its degree of impact under various vegetation or other natural resources. Disturbance Index has been considered here as a function of fragmentation, porosity, patchiness, interspersion, juxtaposition and influence zones or distance for the source. The analysis has been performed in the customized GIS package called Bio-CAP for this purpose. 7.3 Biological Richness Biological forms of any area reflect the environmental conditions supporting the growth and evolution. Recently emphasis has been to look at the ecosystems (micro-climatic variations) or landscape diversity and its utility for conservation rather than one species. Therefore, the biological richness here has been considered as a function of ecosystem uniqueness, biodiversity value, species richness, Terrain complexity (computed through DTM by determining variance in DTM values) and most importantly disturbance index. The details of these parameters have been discussed elsewhere (Roy et al., 1999). 8. Observation Highlights 8.1 Vegetation Classification Hybrid approach has been followed to do the digital classification of the data set (Fig. 3). Table 4 summarizes the results of classification in the region. Forest types viz., moist deciduous, dry deciduous, pine and dry deciduous scrub together constitute about 1404.06 Km ², which is about 14.65 per cent of the total geographical area of the region. Non-forest classes such as agriculture, plantation, riverbed, barren land, settlement, grassland and water body makes up about 85.35 per cent of the geographical area. Amongst the forests, dry deciduous forest has Fig.3 classified map wide distribution in the region from Chandigarh to Pathankot and covers an area of 775.85 Km ². Dry deciduous scrub is the next dominant forest type of the region which is mainly constituted with Lantana scrub distributed throughout the region and then followed by moist deciduous forest found in Dhar, Pathankot, Dholba, Talwara, Nangal, Noorpur in a fragmented patches. And coniferous forest covers an area of 6.51 Km ² and is localized on the higher ridges or side slopes in the northern part of the Pathankot district. Table 4:Area under different Land cover / land use classes in the region Land use / cover class Area in km2 Moist deciduous forest 276.46 Dry deciduous forest 775.85 Dry deciduous scrub (Lantana) 345.24 Coniferous forest 6.51 Grass land 38.24 Plantation/Avenue trees 211.04 Agriculture 7443.22 Water body 78.94 Settlement 178.46 Riverbed/Barren land 238.19 Total 9592.15 9. Phyto-sociological analysis Phytosociological analysis was carried out to understand the floristic and vegetation pattern in the region. For the phytosociological analysis the vegetation types were grouped into five major types. Based on the species area curves developed initially an optimized field plots size of 2020 m was adopted uniformly for all the types. In each plot all the species names; height, girth, herbs and shrubs were recorded. The phytosociological database was created and computed the basic structural parameters viz. frequency, basal area and density. Utilizing these parameters the importance value index (IVI) was calculated for all the types (Annexure-II). Fig.4: Graphical presentation of Land use/land cover types and their Distribution. 9.1 Species richness (Shannon-Weaver Index) Species richness can be described as the number of the species in a sample or habitat per unit area. Higher the value greater the species richness. Species richness (Shannon Weaver Index) was measured using importance value index (Table 5, 6). Dry deciduous forest shows highest diversity (3.5361) with total number of 363 species followed by moist deciduous (3.0959) with moist deciduous forests then dry deciduous scrub (2.2666) having 77 species and coniferous forest shows least diversity (1.6207) with 58 species (Fig. 5). Table 5: Biodiversity status in the Shiwalik hills of Punjab state Forest Type No. of Families No. of Species Total no. of Species Total Importance Value Trees Shrubs Herbs Moist deciduous 36 42 24 95 161 10.46 Dry deciduous 31 141 75 147 363 10.53 Deciduous scrub 25 7 12 58 77 9.75 Pine 11 7 15 36 58 8.01 Table 6: Forest type wise Shannon Weaver Index in the Shiwalik hills of Punjab state Forest Type Average Basal Area (m2) Shannon Weaver Index SWI (H) Moist deciduous 38.412 3.0959 Dry deciduous 22.948 3.5361 Deciduous scrub 8.133 2.2666 Pine 6.53 1.6207 9.2 Economically Important Species Economically Important plants are the species, which have social and economic value. In the Shiwalik hills of Punjab state 240 economically important plants were recorded. The total importance value (TIV) for each species was calculated considering 10 important uses. The parameters considered are (1). Food (2). Fuel (3). Fodder (4). Fiber (5). Timber (6). Medicinal (7). Oil (8). Gums/Resins (9). Tannin and (10). Others. These 10 parameters have been weighted for a scale of 1 to 10 wherein maximum value represents highest economic value. Maximum total importance value was observed in dry deciduous type (TIV of 10.53) and coniferous type has the least value (TIV of 8.01) (Table 7). Some of the economically important species are Acacia catechu, Achyranthes aspera, Adhatoda zeylanica, Ageratum conyzoides, Azadiracta indica, Cannabis sativa, Moringa oleifera, etc. List of 232 economically important species and their uses were given in the Annexure II. Fig 5: Species distribution in each habit type Table 7: Total Importance Value of different vegetation types Forest Type TIV % Moist deciduous 10.46 Dry deciduous 10.53 Deciduous scrub 9.75 Pine 8.01 9.3 Medicinal Plants About 132 medicinally important species have been recorded during the sampling. Medicinal usage of these plants occurring in Shiwalik hills of Punjab have been compiled from available literature sources. Some of the important medicinaly important plants are Adhatoda zeylanica, Aegle marmelos, Azadirachta indica, Bacopa monnieri, Cordia dichotoma, Terminlaia chebula, Terminalia bellirica etc. and the list has bee furnished (Annexure.IV). Table 8 provide overview of the per cent utilizable species. Table 8: Percent utilizable species for Total Importance value (TIV) Forest type USES Food Fuel Fodder Fiber Timber Medicinal Oil Gums/ Resin Tannin Others DD 11.15 0.79 9.09 9.8 10.2 31.66 5.02 3.5 5.18 9.83 MD 12.7 2.36 6.94 7.91 2.6 32.1 0.65 0.86 1.3 8.45 DS 10.05 2.21 9.06 9.31 9.55 31.61 6.37 3.18 6.61 8.09 PN 0 0 8.52 0 0 20.78 0 0 0 2.35 Total 33.9 5.36 33.61 27.02 22.35 116.15 12.04 7.54 13.09 28.72 9.4 Ecological importance: The species recorded during the field data collection were screened for their uniqueness with help of RED DATA BOOK (Anonymous, 1987, 1988, 1990) and many other references. All the species recorded were abundant in nature. However, two species were found to be rare, viz., Delphinium danudatum Wall. ex HK.f.Th and Peristylus constrictus (Lindl.) Lindl. 10. Results of Landscape analysis 10.1 Fragmentation Increasing anthropogenic activities created discontinuity in the natural vegetation cover gets fragmented and the class becomes porous. Thus, fragmentation analysis of a land use class is an important landscape characteristic, which defines the status of that class in the present day context. Among all the characteristics of the landscape, fragmentation is more significant. Hence, the results of fragmentation are being discussed. For analysis of fragmentation in the forest, the vegetation map was reclassified as forest and non-forest classes, which resulted in a new spatial layer. A grid cel

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A libertarian would most likely be against this mandate on the grounds that a person should rightfully be compensated if they are to donate an organ and that should not be controlled by the government. A social democrat would most likely be in favor of such a mandate on the grounds that the government would not have to compensate organ donors thus essentially saving money for other practical healthcare matters. The organic view would be in favor of such a mandate on the grounds that the act of donating organs should be of voluntary nature anyways because such selfless acts would help promote the wellness of the community. I would expect a libertarian to be against such a mandate on the grounds that every person should be able to make their own personal choice as to whether they decide to wear a helmet or not. A social democrat would probably be in favor of such a mandate because it overall supports the safety of human life. The organic view towards this mandate would most likely be a favorable one because as more people use their helmets there is a higher likelihood of less casualties or serious injuries thus reducing potential healthcare costs. I would expect a libertarian to be against such a mandate on the grounds that every one person should be able to decide if their children should use safety seats and not it be forced upon them from the government. A social democrat would most likely take the stand in favor of the mandate as it promotes the safety of children’s lives. The organic view would most likely be in favor of the mandate on the grounds that these safety procedures would reduce possible healthcare costs and ultimately lead to fewer fatalities on the road. Libertarians would probably be against the prohibiting o... ... the 10 percent. At 0 percent interest rate, this project would reach a surplus revenue of 1 billion and at 5 percent it would reach a surplus revenue of 316.5 million. This is a vast discrepancy in such a small difference in interest rates. Now, if the interest rate were to be as high as 10 percent then there would be a deficit of 156.6 million. So the politician is incorrect in his statement and the interest is a huge factor in whether the government should consider funding for this project. These types of spending are most likely to occur in the federal budgeting process than individually because they are easier to hide if done so. If we are to expose the â€Å"pork† then we are more likely to see its minimal national benefit and also more likely to shoot it down. Therefore, such exposure may upset special interest groups or lobbyist who may be in favor of the â€Å"pork†.

Model of cultures Essay

Organizational culture and national culture: The case of multinational companies: ZARA (outline) Defining concepts: What Is organizational culture? A system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. (Organizational Behavior, p. 546) Do organizations have uniform cultures? (Ibid, p. 548) Dominant culture and subculture How the culture ofa country influences the culture ofa business? Geert Hofstede identifies four cultural dimensions that can have a profound impact on the business nvironment: Individual level: individualism/collectivism Organizational level: power distance Occupational level: uncertainty avoidance Gender level: masculinity/femininity (Hofstede, Geert, Cultures and Organizations: Software ot the Mind, 3rd ed, New York, McGraw-Hill, 2010, p. 25). Organizational culture communication – media and social sharing Norms National culture Values social Behaviour The individual values of a country predict organizational culture and consumer behaviour (Hofstede) National culture cannot necessarily be used to predict rganizational culture and consumer behaviour The case of multinational company: ZARA Found by Inditex – ZARA present in 86 countries, a network of 1,770 stores (Inditex, http://www. nditex. com/en/who_we_are/concepts/zara) High standards – company culture is highly decentralized and flexible High standards – company culture is highly decentralized and flexible Workers organized in teams – positive results Competitions among teams continuous feedback ( ZARA: culture, http:mashlonworldwlde. wlklspaces. com/ Culture) Innovation and flexlblllty 200 persons In design team 82,8% of workers are women Satisfy customers’ needs from dfferent cultures and backgrounds – Store managers report the demands of customers and the sales trends to the headquarters on a daily basis Awareness of corporate responsibility: Social dimension. environmental dimension. product health and safety Marketing – Zara decided to move towards a geocentric orientation, allowing the company to adopt in some cases local solutions rather than merely replicate the OF2 nome mar et. K Lara sells a largely nomogeneous product Tor a glooal market (Havlan and Polo, 2000). Moreover, there are some adjustments in its marketing mix because of the customer’s size differences in Asian countries (Monllor, 2001), laws issued that require the availability of clothes for youth in all sizes in Buenos Aires (La Opinion de La Coruna, 2006), cultural differences in Arab countries where some clothes cannot be sold, and a different season in the other part of the world (Euromonitor, 2002a).

Nature Of Scandals Perpetrators And Their Roles Accounting Essay

A figure of accounting dirts have occurred within the past old ages, the consequence of which will go on to be remembered by the general populace. These dirts were blamed on series of factors, runing from hapless corporate administration to the compensation-plan of top direction. Two of the most dramatic and popular dirts were Polly Peck in the UK in 1990 and Enron in the US in 2001. These two dirts where different in their ain ways, but they end-results were similar – distraught stockholders lost their full life nest eggs, employees lost their occupations, creditors did non acquire paid back, and tonss more.NATURE OF SCANDALS, PERPETRATORS AND THEIR ROLESIn 1980, a company known as Restro Investment which was controlled by Asil Nadir bought 58 % of the portions of Polly Peck, a little company in the fabric industry for ?270,000. With this, he had control over the company and within 10 old ages of purchase, Polly Peck grew into a large company ( Wearing, 2005 ) . Within the ol d ages 1982 – 1989, turnover, pre-tax net income, and net assets rose from ?21 million to ?1.16 billion, ?9 million to ?161 million, and ?12 million to ?845 million severally ( Jones, 2011 ) . However, despite its first-class consequences, Polly Peck was unable to pay its creditors. What was surprising was that although Nadir had merely 25 % of the portions as at 1989, he still controlled and dominated the board and the company as a whole. Nadir extracted hard currency from Polly Peck and transferred it into its subordinate companies like Uni-Pac before he finally transferred it out for his personal usage. These backdowns would look in Polly Peck ‘s histories as sum owed by subordinates and would later be cancelled out as inter-company balance ( Jones, 2011 ) . An probe by the Serious Fraud Office ( SFO ) besides revealed that Polly Peck cooked up its assets in some of its subordinates so as to call off out the sum owed by these subordinates to Polly Peck. What besides made the dirt worse were the accounting policies adopted by Polly Peck which were in conformity to the demand of accounting criterions at that clip. In 1983, Polly Peck adopted the SSAP 20 ( Foreign Currency Translation ) and take to utilize the mean rate to interpret its profitless points. Therefore, when it restated its 1982 fiscal statement in line with SSAP, there was an addition of ?2.7 million in turnover and ?1.5 million in net assets for that twelvemonth merely. Hence, Polly Peck continued with its mean method in interpreting net income and loss points, and from 1983-1989, Polly Peck made a net income before involvement and revenue enhancement of ?599 million and within the same period, debited ?415 million to the net income and loss history due to the motions on exchange. Of this ?415 million, ?56 million was as a consequence of the usage of the mean method in change overing its net income and loss points, while the balance was due to the interlingual rendition of its openi ng net investings. Hence, Polly Peck continued to turn each twelvemonth, as motion on the exchange was inauspicious. Andrew Fastow, the CFO at Enron, was behind the creative activity of Particular Purpose Entities ( entities set up to transport out certain activities ) into which Enron could dump debts and generate income, thereby lead oning investors on the existent nature of their capital construction. With this, he was able to conceal debt worth over $ 1 billion in the SPEs. Besides, due to the fact that the US GAAP stipulated that such SPEs need non be consolidated if at least 3 % of its entire funding came from independent equity holders, Enron had the perfect alibi non to consolidate their statements with those of their SPEs. However, it was subsequently discovered that the equity was non really owned by independent 3rd party, but by Enron itself. Therefore, Enron should hold consolidated the SPEs in the first case. Besides, Enron ‘s CEO, Jeffrey Skilling pleaded with regulators to enable the company utilize the mark- to-market accounting method, thereby enabling him to set down $ 65 mi llion of net income for his section. This was entirely done to enable him run into analysts ‘ outlook and besides obtain the promised compensation of 3 % of the value of his section ‘s concern. Enron ‘s board of managers fell abruptly of their duties by puting aside the codification of moralss and leting illegal partnership to take topographic point. Besides, the board did non follow through the probe carried out by the finance section sing the compensation of Fastow. Although the board argued that they had no cognition about what was traveling on, the Powers Report stated that the board had failed in its oversight responsibilities ( Gown & A ; Abelson, 2002 ) . The audit commission at Enron had every right to look into the traffics that Enron was traveling into in order to halt it from the oncoming. However, they did non inquire any inquiries nor did they size up the boards ( Peel & A ; Hill, 2002 ) . Analysts on the other manus compounded the fraud by endorsing Enron and promoting people to purchase their portions even when the stock monetary value was falling. Whenever analysts opted to state otherwise, they would run into jobs with their employers. This was the instance of Chung Wu who was sacked by his director Price Webber because Chung sent an electronic mail to Enron ‘s investors stating them to â€Å" take some money off the tabular array † as the fiscal state of affairs at Enron was non looking good.Detriments TO STAKEHOLDERS OF THE ENTITIESOne of the negative effects of accounting frauds is the disadvantage it normally has on stakeholders like creditors, employees, stockholders, and any other individual or group of people who have a good involvement in the house. As respects Polly Peck, it was revealed that they owed over 1.3 billion to creditors. And to do affairs worse, these creditors merely received 4 pence for every lb they were owed. Besides, most stoc kholders every bit good as 1000 s of pensionaries lost all of their investing. Ten 1000s of employees besides lost their occupations. As with employees at Enron, they were deceived into believing that the company was still making good and were farther prevented from selling their stock or diversifying their portfolio even while the top executives were selling theirs. They watched haplessly as their life nest eggs vanished from their eyes. As a consequence of the dirt, the repute of top direction was destroyed and it led to some of them like Jeffery Skilling, Andrew Fastow, and Kenneth Ley being persecuted and later imprisoned. Sing the investors at Enron, both institutional and single investors lost a immense sum of their investing because they were deceived into believing that the house was still executing well.Regarding executives and senior direction, unethical patterns were paramount in Enron whereby those who played along were showered in compensations and wagess, while those who challenged the traffics were persecuted.GOVERNANCE ROLES THE BOARDS HAVE OVER THE ENTITIESThe board of managers are those who are re sponsible for guaranting that the company is being managed by the directors in the involvement of the stockholders, and they are responsible for keeping the ethical codification of the organisation. Board of managers are besides meant to supervise accounting patterns in order to guarantee conformity with accounting criterions, reappraisal wage strategies of top executives in order to forestall struggle of involvement arising, and guarantee independency of company ‘s hearers by revolving the audit house after every few old ages and forestalling the audit house from supplying both internal and external audit services.This was non the instance at Enron as the improper administration of its board of managers was one of the major jobs which led to its autumn. It can besides be said that there was weak administration at Polly Peck as Nadir was able to travel big amounts of money without any employees or managers oppugning him. This was likely due to the fact that Nadir was moving as both president and CEO, thereby giving him absolute power and control and besides due to the deficiency of effectual control system within Polly Peck ‘s caput office in London. The control systems were so weak to the extent that even the demand for double signatures on bank backdowns was absent.ROLE OF EXTERNAL AUDITORS AND AN ASSESSMENT AS TO WHETHER THEIR AUDIT DUTIES WERE FULFILLEDThe hearers of Polly Peck were Erdal & A ; co. ( Turkish subordinates hearers ) and Stoy Hayward ( UK- based group hearers ) . Erdal & A ; co. collaborated with Polly Peck in the uses of their histories and this led to the exclusion of Erdal spouses from the Institute of Charted Accountants of England and Wales, while Stoy Hayward was criticized on the footing of inefficiency in the appraisal of Erdal in transporting out the audit of the Turkish subordinates of Polly Peck ; inefficiency in reexamining Erdal ‘s working documents ; and failure to look into the causes of the unnatural growing in its subordinates. SAS 82 requires external hearers to look for fiscal and non-financial inducements as indexs of fraud while transporting out their audit responsibilities. Harmonizing to Apostolo et Al ( 2001 ) , there were two of these non-financial inducements present at Enron which were ignored by Andersen. They were: compensation being linked to aggressive accounting patterns, and direction ‘s casual attitude over the internal controls. Besides, Andersen did non describe the revenue enhancement turning away strategy used by Enron. From another point of position, the drastic alterations in the fiscal statements of Enron were supposed to hold made the external hearers leery. Such as: Why the operating income, Earnings per portion ( EPS ) , and gross borders fluctuated greatly between the old ages 1997- 2000 Why the stock monetary value increased enormously in 2000, when the EPS merely increased by a small per centum, and in fact gross border per centum dropped from 13.3 % to 6 % . With all this, it can be said that both Stoy Hayward and Andersen did non take a close expression at the ruddy flags which suggested that there could be fraud at Polly Peck and Enron severally.AUDITORS CONFLICT OF INTERESTSHearers ‘ struggle of involvement refers to a state of affairs whereby the personal involvement of hearers struggles with their fiducial responsibilities, therefore holding undue influence on their duties and forestalling them from moving in the best involvement of stockholders. This struggle of involvement can be existent or perceived. Arthur Andersen was Enron ‘s external hearer, supplying it with external audit services, internal audit services and consultancy services. Coupled with the fact that a big sum of the house ‘s fee was from its non-audit work instead than its audit work, it can be stipulated that there was a menace to the independency of Arthur Andersen, thereby taking to a struggle of involvement. In add-on, the relationship between Enron and Andersen ‘s employees was so close that at Enron ‘s office in Houston, it was hard to distinguish Enron ‘s employees from Andersen ‘s. To decline the state of affairs, Enron ‘s internal audit staff became Andersen ‘s staff when Enron ‘s internal audit division was taken over by Andersen. This depicts a true scenario of struggle of involvement as the independency place of the hearers has been compromised. Though Andersen argued that this relationship did non in any manner affect their independency place, it still was against the AICPA ‘s ( American Institute of Certified Public Accountants ) codification of professional behavior demand that external hearers should at all times give the â€Å" visual aspect of independency † in order to give credibleness to their work. In the instance of Polly Peck, the struggle of involvement that arose was on the portion of Coopers & A ; Lybrand, who were responsible for the disposal and receivership of Polly Peck. There was a struggle of involvement as they had portions in Polly Peck, audited its subordinates, served as advisers to the managers and reported on the company ‘s prospectus ( Sikka, 2004 ) . Besides as Polly Peck was one of Stoy Hayward ‘s most established clients, there was the possibility of struggle of involvement as Stoy Hayward would non desire to lose a major beginning of their income.LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE SCANDALSBefore the prostration of Polly Peck, stakeholders and the general populace found it difficult to understand how the company was doing its money even though it had no hard currency, but no 1 was making or stating anything about it, and there were no inquiries asked. Therefore, an of import lesson learnt is that inquiries should be raised and probes should be carried out when there is uncertainty, in order to place the possibility of a fraud before it ‘s excessively late. Besides, Asil Nadir was moving as both the president and CEO of Polly Peck, thereby holding so much authorization and power which means there was barely any segregation of responsibilities, doing it hard to acknowledge the fraud from the beginning. Hence, another lesson learnt is to hold two different persons moving as CEO and president, as stated in the Cadbury study. One of the lessons learnt from the Enron dirt is that hearers should be rotated after a certain figure of old ages so as to keep their independency. In the instance of Enron, Andersen was its hearer since its origin in 1983, hence, the stopping point relationship between Andersen and Enron. This likely led to Andersen overlooking the abnormalities of Enron. Besides, it was learnt that there should be a cheque on bonus-based compensation for employees, as this could hold made them beg any agencies to accomplish the declared fillip, even though it could be to the hurt of the company in the long tally.How were these lessons incorporated into subsequent codifications on corporate administration? Explain what these codifications aimed to accomplishAs a disincentive for the dirt in Enron happening in future, the Sarbanes Oxley act 2002 ( SOX ) was introduced. This SOX does non undertake the issue of corporate administration by implementing codification of best pattern or rule, but by puting more duties on managers and senior direction. For illustration, the CEO and CFO must attest that to the best of their cognition that the one-year study and quarterly studies do non incorporate an untrue statement or skip of immaterial fact and that the fiscal statements and fiscal information reasonably represent, in all stuff facets, the true fiscal statu s and consequences of operations of the company. Therefore, one of the purposes of the SOX is to do the CEO and CFO guarantee that fraud does non happen, otherwise they will be held responsible and penalized. The act requires all listed companies to hold audit commissions which will be responsible for finding their audit fees and naming hearers, thereby guaranting they carry out their work decently. These audit commissions must dwell of independent managers who must non, in whatsoever circumstance, obtain confer withing and non-board fees from the company, thereby beef uping their independency from the company. Audited account houses are prohibited from functioning as hearers of a peculiar house for a twelvemonth, if it so occurred that the CEO, CFO, or main accounting officer of the audited house has in any manner participated in the company ‘s audit while employed by the audit house, thereby avoiding any struggle of involvement on the portion of hearers. Another measure taken was the constitution of PCAOB ( Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ) for the debut of stiff processs that will safeguard the hearers ‘ independency from direction and the ordinance of the profession. Besides, the PCAOB was put to supervise the audit of public companies in order to protect the involvement of investors. The Cadbury study was published in 1992 after the prostration of some outstanding UK companies, including Polly Peck. The prostration was chiefly as a consequence of board inadvertence and weak administration systems. The Cadbury study is a study of a commission chaired by Adrian Cadbury which focuses on the agreement of company boards and accounting systems to cut down corporate administration hazards and failures. It recommends the constitution of a non-statutory codification of best pattern and administration issues in listed companies. This was known as the combined codification which was to go the anchor of corporate administration. The codification recommends that board of UK corporations or publically traded companies should include at least three outside non-executive managers effectual internal control systems should be put in topographic point, there should be transparence in its fiscal coverage, and that places of Chairman of the Board ( COB ) and Chief Executive Officer ( CEO ) be held by two different persons.PRINCIPLE BASED CODES VERSUS RULES BASED CODESIt can be said that the codifications under the US Code of Corporate Governance ( for illustration, Sarbanes Oxley Act ) are regulations based while those under the UK Code of Corporate Governance ( for illustration, Cadbury study ) are principle based. The US Code of Corporate Governance focuses on quantitative steps such as audit commission and outside managers while the UK Code of Corporate Governance focuses on qualitative steps such as transparence and due diligence. This can be seen in the instance of Enron – although it met the quantitative steps of corporate administration, it failed to run into the qualitative steps. The regulations based codifications can be said to be regulator-led as the SEC are apt for implementing, implementing and supervising codifications of corporate administration, hence, have a one-size-fits all attack and gives small or no room for creativeness, while the rule based codifications on the other manus can be said to be shareholders-led as the stockholders have the right to make up one's mind on what codifications are indispensable and suited to guard their involvement. Harmonizing to Rezaee ( 2008 ) , the rules based attack is seen to be more effectual than the regulations based attack due to the fact that it is more flexible and enables the participants of corporate administration, for illustration hearers, audit commission and managers exercise their professional opinion, thereby, keeping the dependability and quality of the corporate administration system.Your positions as to whether the corporate administration codifications have addressed all the issues raised or whether other countries need to be addressed either through codifications or through companies ain corporate administration processsIt can be concluded that though most of the issues sing the Polly Peck and Enron dirts have been addressed in the codifications of corporate administration, the issue of the audit commission has non been to the full addressed. Although the SEC requires listed companies to hold audit commissions, we believe they should be held more responsible and penalize d if there is a corporate administration failure in the company which they are supervising.