Ethical Non-Objectivism Essay

According to A. J. Ayers, the moral judgements are not cognitive in nature and are based on specificity to a given situation. These judgements can not be evaluated in absolute terms as true or false but rather on the basis of validity or applicability to a given situation. A moral judgement, according to him, is reflective of emotions aroused by a particular situation and can hence be classified as valid or invalid rather than as true or false. These judgements are not objective propositions but they express emotions and are not verifiable. An argument about the truth or falsity of a moral judgement is actually the interpretation based on empirical observations to specific cases thereby constituting a non-objective reality. The validity or the truth and falsity of ethical judgements can not be found because they are dependent on sense-experiences and they do not categorically make statements but rather give one’s biased opinion towards the situation. The ethical and moral judgements are thus purely emotive. Persuasive arguments for moral objectivism do not constitute a proposition since they are based on normative emotional reactions and earlier moral conditioning. His key argument against moral objectivism is thus this emotive response because even if an adversary agrees to facts in a given situation, he might still differ on his moral judgement with the two parties accusing each other of having a distorted moral sense whereas in reality each may be justified in having their judgements from their emotive experiences. Hence, the claims of moral objectivists on the correctness of their moral evaluations can not be verified in absolute terms as a propositional claim. Any such claim carries with it a certain emotive content or a sense-experience and so these do not come under the purview of being right or wrong as the moral objectivists proclaim. A more sound treatment of these value judgements, Ayer believes is an approach that takes into view an individual’s or a group’s empirical viewpoints. References Jules Ayer, Alfred. (1952). Language, truth, and logic. Dover Publications.

People Moving

First, Jobs is the first reason according to the national statistic in Venezuela for moving because some people try earn more money or make a new business in order to get best economic benefits for their families. Moving for Jobs is a good situation for your family if you want to learn about different culture. Other people move to other place to leave poverty behind, while others seek better Jobs opportunities. Second, Safety Is a good reason for people to move to other place because some ties has a lot of problems on their neighborhood Like crime, kidnapping, and drugs.Crime rates across the cities could be the most important fact that people consider to move to other place. Many people relocate for safety reasons connected to their families or quality of life. People also move to a new area to start over or move to a different country that can provide you a safety place to live. Third, Education is an important reason to move because people like the best options to choose in educat ion for their families. Many student when they finished high school leave to other city, state or country in order to get better skills in the best universities.This could happened because not all the college or universities have a lot of diversity of careers. Other cities or countries are attired with a huge range of educational opportunities or no matter what, students can get themselves enrolled In any of them In accordance with their preference levels. People will be moving every time. Economic reasons have always been among the main reasons to move. Life in poverty ND despair often forces people to search for a better life.Some people give high emphasis on high standard of living. It is often seen that parents send their children abroad to attain a better lifestyle. By Vicky-Rica 11/06/2014 Second, Safety is a good reason for people to move to other place because some cities has a lot of problems on their neighborhood like crime, kidnapping, and drugs. Opportunities or no matte r what, students can get themselves enrolled in any of them in accordance with their preference levels. People will be moving every time.

Academic Degree and Financial Aid Essay Example for Free

Academic Degree and Financial Aid Essay ? Thank you in advance for taking the time to review my letter of appeal for financial aid reinstatement. First, let me say, I wholeheartedly appreciate your granting me this award in order to make my educational dreams a blissful reality. It would be a great honor for me to continue on the path which I started before I suffered this temporary setback. I take full responsibility for why my grades slipped and because unsatisfactory. There is no one else to blame but myself for not being able to control my emotional state during a time of terrible crisis to the point where I could maintain an acceptable G. For that I am sincerely sorry because I feel that I have let many people down, including myself. I put a lot of effort to pass most of my classes, yet I still failed my English course due to some negligence on my part as concerns my work which was to determine my grade in the course; I did everything possible to do great in the course despite my mistakes but I guess it was not good enough during the semester Fall 2013. I promise not to make such mistakes anymore, and be more responsible. I am asking this committee to give me a second chance to prove that I am worthy of this award so I can continue in my studies this Fall 2014 Semester. I do realize that I neglected my studies and I would like another chance to do better in them. I have compiled a list of steps I need to take in order to be successful in school and my studies. 1. I would obtain a tutor for my most difficult classes by becoming familiar with the tutoring center on campus 2. I would manage my time wisely so that I can balance my life and studies together. 3. Meet with each of my instructors and talk with them, about what they believe will make me be a better student in their class. 4. Go to the scheduled office hours of each of my instructors, when facing any difficulties. 5. Talk with my advisor who is assisting me with my Academic Degree plan. She advises me on the classes and hours that would be suitable for me. 6. Go to class on time as scheduled to take advantage of what they have to offer. My goal is to earn a degree in business so I can make a difference in the lives of people and young students. This is very important to me because I’ve always been interested on being a business lady in the future during my days as a kid. I can only be able to achieve my goal if my financial aid is being appealed, because as an individual my family face a lot of financial difficulties and I’m not able to pay my tuition or even get my books. I am a hard working student and very determined, and I would like the chance to prove to you that this 2014 Fall Semester would not be a disappointment. I would try hard to be a good role model to my family, friends and other students. My education is of paramount importance to me. Thank you for your time Yours Sincerely, Ruth Taku. Academic Degree and Financial Aid. (2016, Sep 24).

Discussion Board - Evaluating Suppliers and Vendors Assignment

Discussion Board - Evaluating Suppliers and Vendors - Assignment Example This evaluation should include an in-depth research on the activities that the vendors and suppliers engage in. The evaluation should also focus on the value added that the various suppliers, and the vendors are likely to bring to the company. Secondly, it is important to decide on the performance indicators. It is important to define the roles and the characteristics as well as the behavior that the vendors and suppliers should show or exhibit in the course of the business transactions. This will create a clear picture of the manager’s expectations to the vendors and suppliers. The performance criteria and the measurement of performance are subject to the performance indicators, and all vendors and suppliers need to be aware of it. It is after setting the performance indicators that the manager should come up with the duties of individuals in the company in relation to the suppliers and the vendors. When dealing with the suppliers, it is necessary that the teams or department s that deal with the suppliers directly are able to give their honest opinions about the suppliers and vendors. It is useful that they help with the ratings when it comes to the way the suppliers and the vendors are engaging in business. This will give the manager the first hand information about the suppliers and the vendors. Then it is necessary to create a good rapport with the vendors and the suppliers. It is at this point that one should treat the suppliers and the vendors as part of the larger management team. It is necessary that proper communication and communication channels are put in place by the manager to allow for free flow of information (Vendor Management, 2005). The manager needs to address the issues affecting the vendors and suppliers in an open and honest manner at all the times to maintain the good relationship. Finally, it is important to get rid of underproductive vendors and suppliers to avoid wastage for the

Apply Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Apply Critical Thinking - Essay Example In childhood education literature we also witness ‘non sequitors’, which is an attempt to create a cause and effect relationship where none exists. For example, the claim that, since enrolments to schools have increased over time the overall standards must have also gotten better is a non-sequitor. Empirical studies show no correlation between these two parameters. ‘Faulty Analogy’ is comparing apples with oranges. To say that public schooling will fail in the USA because it has failed to impress in China or India is a faulty analogy. One has to also take into account the economic, social, cultural and political conditions that bear upon educational outcomes. ‘Equivocation’ is the deliberate attempt to confuse the reader by obscuring one’s position on the subject. A policy maker or legislator who says that public schooling should be encouraged while also supporting government austerity measures is guilty of equivocating. Equivocation is c losely tied to logical contradiction. Finally, a commonly found fallacy in childhood education literature is that of ‘petitio principii’, also called ‘begging the question’. If proponents of the existing education system are correct in their praise of the system, it then begs the question why American children fare poorly in comparison to their counterparts in Western European

Managing conflicts on colleges Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Managing conflicts on colleges - Research Paper Example There emerged many cases of strikes in schools, may it be based on the administration part or the faculty part, the end game is not so entertaining. These conflicts have led to destruction of mass properties belonging to the public. There are also losses of lives among the participants and non-participants who may be the public. The causes of these conflicts have changing over the times. The main causes not being known in order to make better speculations and prevention matters. In trying to identify these problems their causes and the possible measures and their protection measures, I will go through the different divisions (Bowden, 2002). I will go through these divisions of the institutions and make a report that may assist in preventing and solving the conflicts. Residence halls conflicts These are the dwelling places of the students they may include, the dormitories, hostels, and the rental houses rented by the students, which are near the school. In the residence halls, there are minimal cases of conflicts, but the moment they arise, it is so severe. Conflicts in these areas arise mainly from the context of student placing and securing rooms for themselves. There are certain halls and rooms where the students find suitable and comfortable. Because of this the students scramble for this placements where they may even fight in order for one to secure a place there. In the case of securing rooms, every student in the colleges knows it is his/her right to have a room. Once the vice versa happens and a group of students do not secure themselves one they start demonstrations. The cases in the resident’s halls may be overlooked before it is too late in order to prevent the mass destructions from taking places. These measures may include specifying in writings and ev ery student made aware of their respective placements in the dormitories and the hostels (Patent Report, 1998).). The catering departments in the college may for example give the specifications on the rooms allocated to the first

What are the main areas of risk facing a medium-sized developing Essay

What are the main areas of risk facing a medium-sized developing housing association explain what might influence its response to those risks and what a risk strategy might include - Essay Example Risk is often seen as possibility of an undesirable event. Under scenario analysis, risk is differentiated from threat. A threat is considered an event with very low probability but possessing serious harms. Analysts are often unable to allocate a probability to threat and for that there is no effective preventive measure is available. The only precautionary measure that can be taken to cope up with a threat is to reduce the set of definite risks before proceeding to an experiment, project, action or innovation. If any of the above-mentioned variables reduces to zero, then the overall approaches to risk will be zero. For instance, humans are extremely vulnerable to the threat that aliens might control their minds, which would have a severe effect. But since we have never seen aliens therefore, we can say that they might not pose such amount of threat so the overall risk reduces to almost zero. Every type of business possesses some level of risk. Many risk-averse people prefer not to do business, since it includes a large amount of risk i.e. a business might work, and a business might not work. So there are 50/50 chances that one will be successful in respective business. Every business has certain risks, some of which are foreseeable while others cannot be predicted and are therefore uncontrollable risks. Risk is an important component of small and medium sized business as well. Some common types of losses in SMEs include fire, theft, flood, injury, legal liability, disability, etc. Undoubtedly, every business entity requires vigorous risk assessment and management system but Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) need to put even more attention to risk management since they may not have means and resources to control and manage risks due to several limitations and their varying size. However, this is not the case in large multinational corporations because organizations take special

Why is mental illness a stigmatizing experience Essay

Why is mental illness a stigmatizing experience - Essay Example It resulted in a fact that they started lacking in the different aspects of life i.e. in self esteem, confidence, attaining proper medical guidance etc. "The vast majority of Americans report receiving information about mental illness from the mass media (Wahl, 1992). In our society, these images are typically inaccurate and overwhelmingly negative, characterizing people with mental illnesses as violent, dangerous, unpredictable, incompetent, and unlikable" (Alexander and Link, 2003) Form the recent year's stigma have been associated with the metal-illness and more research should have to be done to clearly understand the situations and conditions that leads towards stigmatization behavior. The people experiencing stigma are in very worse condition they mostly face difficulty in surviving with the disease and as well with the labeling and stereotyping which other people use to mark them with. (Patrick et al, 2005) "As a result of both, people with mental illness are robbed of the opportunities that define a quality life: good jobs, safe housing, satisfactory health care, and affiliation with a diverse group of people." (Patrick and Watson, 2002) A narrow research took place to consider the conditions that contributes in the stigma of mental-illness. ... 1. Physical Appearance: Goffman uses the word of "abominations" of the body" that means that the person is loathing, disgust and can be a cause of nausea. The Appearance of the person is not normal and there is some kind of malformation in the body. 2. Racism: Stigma effects diversely on people of different sex, from different cultures, diverse religion and dissimilar traditions. 3. Flaw of Appearance: It includes that the person is mentally turmoil that makes him imperfect and defected. Goffman label them as "blemishes of individual character," Three-dimensional axis is portrayed to understand the stigma based on the study of interpersonal skills and relation within the surroundings. Perception, identity and reaction are included in three-dimensional axis. (Arboleda-Flrez, 2003) "A central aspect of stigma for people with mental illnesses is the perception that they are dangerous and unpredictable" (Alexander and Link, 2003) How Stigma Is Attested Stigma attested by the attitudes of the people in the surroundings. Some of the visible characteristics clearly states that those people are stigmatized like embarrassment, frightening, bias, angriness, and stereotyping. The people that experience stigmatization, their lives become so difficult to be survive. As well as their families faces difficulties and problems to cope with them. Scheffer quoted "Stigma leads others to avoid living, socializing or working with, renting to, or employing people with mental disorders, especially severe disorders such as schizophrenia" (Scheffer, 2003) Attesting Measures of Stigma The measure that takes to attest the stigma is: 1. People avoid seeking for the treatment when they are stigmatized. They find it shameful to

Jurisprudence (law) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Jurisprudence (law) - Essay Example being derived from a male perspective, therefore the basic question that arises is whether the assumption that law is neutral and can provide a fair hearing to all parties is justified. As a result, several feminist theories have been advanced – most notably, the equality theories, standpoint theories, ethics of care and postmodernism, all of which are examined below. These theories raise the question of whether existing universal standards and practices are indeed universal or whether in a social and legal context, long established norms conditioned from a male perspective need re-examination. While the goal of feminist jurisprudence remains the acquisition of equality for women on par with women, can this equality be achieved in the eyes of the law by gender neutral methods of analysis? As highlighted below, through an examination of the theories, it may be noted that it appears that sex is not an issue that can be so dismissed. This is the basic principle underlying the question of equal rights before the law for both men and women. Jurisprudence has remained a traditional male bastion with existing legal theories conditioned upon the premise of the â€Å"individual† as the philosophical basis for the legal system. Hence, earlier struggles for equal rights by women were centered upon proving to the higher authorities that women deserved equal treatment, but this was still on the basis that they were individuals. Feminist jurisprudence questions whether the â€Å"individual† as conceived in law is itself relevant? For example, MacLaughlin points out that the liberal perspectives of law as a fair and just system that protects is rights of all individuals is based upon treating all persons indiscriminately – but how can such a universal standard be defined in the context of differing constituencies and differing conceptions?3 While she upholds the feminist view that the rights of women as individuals must be upheld, she does not view this as being exclusive

Neoliberal Globalization Essay Example for Free

Neoliberal Globalization Essay In the article â€Å"Neoliberal Globalization† by Dan Clawson, the author contended that the advocates of neoliberalism tried to integrate this into globalization. He said that they are continuously attempting to make policies favorable to companies’ profits. Unfortunately, these do not make corresponding benefits and compensations to its workers that trigger labor crisis in the United States. Clawson further argued that neoliberalism should not be misunderstood as an inevitable phenomenon to accompanied globalization. Take for example the internet. Since the internet is a â€Å"powerful force† that connects people in one region to the world, it is also considered as the best contributor in globalization. In order to take that advantage, companies today tried to adapt a neoliberal perspective on the use of the internet to make more profit for themselves. Even so, the internet is for everyone in the world whether a person has wealth and power or not. In addition to this, the concept of globalization of the internet is very different from the perspective of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on globalization. Their belief is to generate most profits for business, much to their interest. The neoliberals believe that the their version of globalization has generated many profits and has made individuals wealthy. Yes, businesses nowadays are indeed making more profit than before because of neoliberal strategies. However, the wealth has been distributed unequally; in other words, wealth has been concentrated in certain business people. Clawson demonstrates this wrong argument of neoliberals by providing two different economy periods namely, the welfare state and the neoliberal state. Clawsons argument questioned why the average family income during the welfare state period was doubled compared to the slow increase during the neoliberalism period, given that the neoliberal oriented economy brought prosperity to the state. There was a noticable increase in income during the later period, but these increases were made by women workers and mostly distributed to the top people in the business. The Neoliberal version of globalization has then resulted in the continuous gap widening between the average workers and the top executives. With this, how does neoliberal globalization damage our economy? The damages are serious and concentrated in the working class population. The more international trade grows, the higher income inequality becomes. This causes more people to lose their jobs because of the companies’ decision to relocate to other countries to cut costs. Many of them relocate their manufacturing jobs to China and the service sector jobs to India. This is the main reason why most of the products we avail are from China, and the servicing jobs are in India. All of these are causes of the companies’ downsizing and the increased unemployment. Clawson proposed some solutions to the neoliberal form of globalization. He said that if the workers formed a union, the capital would be controlled, and there would be a decrease in the relocation. I agree with this thinking of Clawson. Abolishing the boundless rights corporations have in relocation is an effective way to maintain the workers’ rights. Unfortunately, the process was more complicated than what Clawson suggested. Another alternative was the regulation of labor conditions through organizations, such as the United Nations or the WTO. Clawson proposed that WTO should focus more on the workers rights and environment, and not only the company profits. WTO was established to protect organizational profits. If the right to regulate labor condition is granted to the WTO, there is a possibility that the WTO operate favorably to generate corporations’ profits. Clawson’s neoliberal version of globalization brought labor’s crisis in the United States. He demonstrated these by providing many case examples. However, his proposals did not address possible obstacles, which may follow as a result of those solutions or in the process of formulating those solutions.

Individual Learner Differences In Second Language Acquisition English Language Essay

Individual Learner Differences In Second Language Acquisition English Language Essay Introduction Language is defined by scholarly linguists as a part of growing up (Cook 2001, p. 46). It is an element of culture regarded as providing motivation to individuals in its own right. It has also been identified as necessary for effective communication and integration into a particular environment. I noted that second languages are different from the primary languages. Second language learning involves some form off acquisition. This is a process by which an individual can effectively learn a second language also known as an additional language. Cook (2001, pp. 41 48) argued that learning second languages requires some form of motivation (2001, p.43). Motivation in this context involves encouraging the individual to overcome all challenges in pursuit of learning another language. Mostly, individuals undergo the hustles of learning a second language for them to conform to the immediate environment. In this paper, I explore Individual learner differences in Second Language acquisition (SLA). I apply Gardners socio-educational model in discussing second language acquisition. The paper also details the significance of motivation and its impact on learning second languages. It applies motivation as the learners orientation regarding learning a second language. The paper divides motivation into two basic types including integrative and instrumental. It relates integrative motivation as being dependent on the positive attitudes of the learner. On the other hand, it relates instrumental motivation as being influenced by a reward in learning second languages. Both forms of motivation in this paper are analyzed and researched to establish the impact of motivation on second language acquisition. The essay will be structured into subsections with a flow expounding on the relevance of motivation as one element that explains individual learner difference in second language acquisition. The first part explains a general overview of individual learner differences. The second part integrates the models of motivation including the works conducted by Gardner and clement in analysing motivations impact on SLA. The last subsection is an overview of the Chilean cultural setting and its impact of motivation for second language learners. This is followed by some suggestions and recommendations of how motivations can be cultivated within such a cultural setting. Individual learner differences in SLA There are diverse learner differences in learning a second language. For one, in learning a second language, there must be the involvement of a second or even a third party. The second party assists in disseminating the knowledge to the individual who wants to learn the language. However, The process of second language acquisition is dependent on what the learner does and very little on what teachers does (Schmitt 2002, p.50). The goals of the individual also bring out the individual learner differences. In learning a second language, some individuals go for communicative competence. This might include basic communication skills, which is the main goal of the individual. I am of the view that the goal of an individual learner is critical because it determines what level the individual has the will to go in learning a second language. My analysis of current debates on SLA reveals that they have embarked on individual differences. Doman (2006) contributed vast literature on this topic asserting that not a single individual is similar to the other physically, psychologically or mentally. Therefore, these differences reveal the reason why individuals learn second languages differently. He supports Piagets theory of cognitive development, which asserts that the human mind is different from the other even in the process of learning. Therefore, I argue that problems, frustrations and challenges as being part of SLA affect the individuals differently. The individuals differ in the way they handle such issues, which ultimately determines how they learn a second language. Generally, Individual learner differences are evident in SLA, explanations have been provided by major scholars in this context. However, the ideal way to explain these differences is through developing an understanding of some of the models espoused by scholars on motivation and SLA. Conversely, second languages are difficult to learn, which has been a huge challenge for many individuals. Motivation is therefore defined as critical in the entire process. Motivation is defined by major scholars including Hedge (2000, pp. 17 28), Ellis (2005, pp. 305-352), McDonough (2007, pp. 369-371) and Celce-Murcia (2002, pp. 119-134) as the psychological quality essential for fostering individual goal achievement. Therefore, I can argue that in second language acquisitions, language proficiency is the main goal. The individuals desire to master a language is the main goal, which motivates him or her to work towards its achievement. Scholars have supported this argument by asserting that coaches can motivate learners and vice versa in the process of learning. With such assertion, there is a clear view that motivation varies between individuals. An individual is therefore unique in his own way depending on his or her stipulated goal of learning the second language. Motivation is also a transitive concept. In this context, the coach motivates the learners and their reception also motivates the coach to teach the language. Gottlieb (2006, pp. 56) asserted that the long-drawn out process of learning a second language is the reason why individual differences exist in SLA. In his article on Teaching and Researching Motivation, Dornyei (2001, pp. 28 30) argued that people have diverse cognitive behaviours. In this case, individuals respond differently to diverse environments. Therefore, it is arguable that individuals always differ in their reception to language learning situations. The book by Lightbown Spada (1993, p.135) also supported this notion asserting that individuals have diverse preferences. The environment in itself is a great determinant of the diverse response by individuals, and this has a great impact in language learning. Conversely, I argue that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation determines the level of individual learning. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations subject the individual to a particular level of acceptance in second language acquisition. In the same light, individuals handle intrinsic and extrinsic pressures differently, which makes them different in the way they learn a second language. Ellis (2005, pp. 305-352) supported these arguments by writing an article on individual differences in second language learning. He was of the view that an individual is subjective to internal and external pressures even in the process of learning a language. Earlier, Skehan (1991, pp. 12 19) had written a book on Individual differences in second-language learning. He was of the same view. It is therefore notable that the way the individual handles these pressures is what determines the level of success in second language learning. Models of Second Language Acquisition For decades, studies of motivation as a factor of SLA have covered issues related to reasons for learning. Empirical evidence from major case studies reveals that most of the people strive to acquire a second language in order to integrate with the speech an identified community. Research over the last thirty years has ignored the role of motivation in SLA (Mitchell and Myles 2004, p.71 85). However, other scholars have concentrated on motivation as a determinant factor in SLA. I therefore note that motivation is viewed as being affected by various issues in the process of SLA. Some of these issues include demands of self-instruction, overwhelming requirements, and challenges of coping with the new materials and personal progress assessment, inadequacy of feedback, among other frustrations. In this context, the individual is either motivated or de-motivated into learning a second language. Mitchell and Myles (2004, pp. 71 85) identified Gardners model of SLA as covering major issues in the area of motivation. Gardners works were influenced by Mowrer (1950) who had earlier discussed more on first language acquisition. My argument draws that the success of learning a language is attributed to the desire to learn it. A child struggles to learn a language to gain identity within the family. The objective is similar to Gardners argument who asserted that acceptance into the wider language community fosters the need to learn a new language. Using this argument Gardners model aimed at investigating second language acquisition and how motivates influences the same. Before examining motivation as an element that has an impact on second language learning, Gardner acknowledged that it is a single variable that is subject to other factors. My point is that motivation alone does not affect the SLA process. The socio-educational model as espoused by Gardner identified several facto rs that also influence language learning. Gardners model identified a structured classroom setting as the main setting for learning a second language. He prefers the foreign language classroom as compared to a natural setting arguing that the earlier is dependent more on motivation. Second Language acquisition is therefore pertinent to many issues and factors. Like Gardner argues, his model interrelate second language acquisition with at least four features including individual learner differences, social and cultural milieu, the setting in which learning process is facilitated and the linguistic outcomes (Gardner 1982). The social or cultural milieu is the immediate environment where the learner is situated. Cook (2001, pp. 41 48) was of the view that, the learners environment subjects him or her to beliefs about a particular language or culture. I also analyze that beliefs impact the way and individual perceives the language and his or her willingness to learn a new language. Gardner gave an example of Britain as a monocultural setting. In this context, the British have a notion that they are the superior culture. Therefore, they do not acknowledge learning another language as critical. Rather, they have a notion that other minority cultures should learn thei r language and assimilate into the system. This culture instils these believes in the context of becoming the dominant language of the country. Larsen-Freeman (2001, pp. 12-24) noted that there are many cultures across the globe, which regards themselves as mighty cultures. In this context, they tend to influence other cultures other than assimilating into them. Therefore, individuals within the majority culture are lowly motivated to learn new languages. Patsy and Nina (2006, pp. 86 102) regarded these cultures as monocultural communities. However, Gardners social and cultural milieu applies differently in other countries. I have come to note that in some countries such as Canada and Australia, bilingualism and biculturalism is encouraged among the people. The society is therefore motivated into acquiring new languages. On the other hand, Gottlieb (2006, pp. 52 76) supported this notion noting that the social settings develop certain attitudes towards learning another language. I assume that these attitudes are the basis of an individuals motivation towards learning another language. The second phase of the model discusses individual differences including intelligence, motivation variable, language aptitude, and situational anxiety (Giles and Coupland 1991). These variables differ from one setting to the other and are closely interrelated. Mitchell and Myles (2004, pp. 71 85) argued that it is critical for second language teachers to set the learning places appropriately for effective learning to take place. Two contexts are identified in discussion the setting. They include formal instruction and unstructured language acquisition. The identified variables have diverse impacts depending on the context. For instance, intelligence and aptitude influence the formal setting within a classroom. On the other hand anxiety and motivation are variables which have an impact on both the formal and informal setting. Gardners model explains the final phase of SLA as linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes. The linguistic outcomes are regarded as the actual language including the skills and knowledge acquired. Hurd, Beaven, and 2001, pp. 341-355) supported the definition by giving examples of linguistic outcomes as including test indices such as proficiency tests. On the other hand Dornyei (2001, pp. 28 30) defines non-linguistic outcomes as the attitudes, which an individual develops towards the language. This is subject to the values and beliefs of the individual. Therefore I can argue that integrating both the linguistic and non-linguistic outcomes develops success in SLA. It develops a form of motivation and an individual can develop a higher degree of L2 proficiency. Gardners model asserted that motivation is composed of three elements. The identified elements include effort, affect and desire. He describes effort as an individuals devotion in terms of time and resources used. Desire on the o ther hand is the willingness to acquire L2 proficiency. Finally, effect includes the response of the individual pertinent to the emotional reactions with regard to SLA. An almost similar model of SLA is espoused by Clement. Clementss Model of motivation espouses that self-confidence is the most critical element in motivation of SLA. The model asserts that, it is critical for individuals to develop self-confidence when learning a second language. Therefore learning a second language is hugely challenging. Conversely, any level of success is dependent on how much an individual is willing to commit him into the process. In this context, it depends with the level of sacrifice that an individual can sustain in order to achieve a desired goal. In a book titled how languages are learned Lightbown Spada (1993, p.135) argued that self-confidence motivates an individual to achieve the ultimate goal of learning a new language. The individual is successful in learning a new language by developing own initiatives. These initiatives develop from the individuals confidence to learn a language and the persistence even with the challenges involves. The individual is therefore the determinant of how he or she learns a language. I have come to value the assertion that the level of persistence and confidence in learning the second language structures the trend of learning a new language. Having understood the models of motivation in SLA, it is critical to develop this context and apply it within a cultural setting. Applying the models brings out the real sense and understanding of the types of motivates and the existent challenges. It also gives an opportunity to understand how these challenges can be overcome to support second language learning. The Chilean cultural setting has been identified in this discussion as critical for assessing motivation as a critical element of language and acquisition. Chilean Cultural Setting and SLA The Chilean cultural setting is evident of low attendance in classes. In this context, the students are lowly motivated to learn English as a second language. Low attendance in classes means that the individual students do not ascribe to the goal of learning second languages. They are not motivated to attend classes, which challenges the process of learning a second language. In the same line of argument teachers are also lowly motivated by the students behaviour. They are therefore tired of devoting their time to teaching in these classes. A Chilean teacher works for over 44 hours a week in front of a class, which is quite tiring because they do not have enough time to rest. The teachers therefore are unmotivated in delivering class lessons. Therefore, they do not have the zeal to motivate students in learning. The huge classes in Chilean contexts are also a huge challenge for both teachers and students in the process of learning. The class population is between 38 and 45 students p er class, which is a huge number that a single teacher can handle. In this context, both teachers and students are unmotivated in the learning process. In considering learning English as a second language, the Chilean context is quite difficult. Within the system, English classes take only 90 minutes per week. This is less time compared to other lessons and the time assigned for the same. The time assigned for learning English as a second language is not enough to deliver effective learning. Time therefore, limits both the teachers and the students in the process of learning a second language. It is also a big challenge for students to learn English as a second language because they have low levels of interest. The learners also portray a negative attitude toward English learning, which is an indication that learners are hugely challenged. Students within this culture do not consider English as a useful tool for everyday life. They tend to value their local language more to English, which is an aspect that challenged the process of learning a second language. The remote geographical location of the country is also a huge challenge f or SLA because the Chileans cannot access other English-speaking countries easily. They are therefore entrenched into the same culture without external influences, which could provoke a need for SLA. Types of Motivation in SLA There are diverse forms of motivation which can be applied within the Chilean context in handling the issue of second language acquisition. The three mostly identified types of motivation include integrative, instrumental motivation and integrative vs. instrumental motivation. Integrative Motivation Mitchell and Myles (2004, pp. 71 85) identified motivation as the learners orientation regard his or her goal of learning a second language. In this line of argument, it was identified that students who develop interest in learning a second language become more successful. There is need to develop huge interest among Chilean students in learning a second language. Celce-Murcia (2002, pp. 119-134) argued that the idea is to enforce an integration of cultures in order to provoke need for learning a second language. The students need to be provoked to admire another culture for them to develop an interest of learning another language. The students would also be provoked to integrate into the wider society and this entails learning a second language. This is what Doughty (2001, pp. 206-257) regards as integrative motivation. Integrative motivation assists the learner to develop and increase language proficiency for him or her to integrate into the system. This kind of motivation forces the individual to operate socially and become a part of the vast community. In an EFL setting such as Chile it is critical to develop an understanding of the term integrative. As Hudson (2000, pp. 18 25) suggests, integrative motivation develops when an individual desires to become bilingual in nature. This is the same as becoming bicultural and living within the limits of the two cultures. Skehan (1991, pp. 12 19) argued that the ultimate result is to add another language to the identity of the learner. As Chile is more of a monocultural society, the biggest challenge is to engage integrative motivation in order to overcome the challenges involved in (L2) acquisition. Instrumental Motivation Doughty (2001, pp. 206-257) concentrated more on explaining instrumental motivation. He argued that this type of motivation is in contrast to integrative motivation. The major characteristics of this kind of motivation are individual desires to obtain something practical after learning a second language (Mitchell and Myles 2004, pp. 71 85). In the Chilean context, this type of motivation can be applied diversely. Within this culture, globalization has led to the introduction of new companies. Within these companies, most of the employees have to be outsourced locally. With English being mandatory as a requirement when applying for these jobs, the Chileans can be motivated to learn it as a second language. Hedge (2000, pp. 17 28) noted that instrumental motivation is provoked by issues such as job application, graduation in various institutions and other work related issues including pay rise. It might be the desire of individuals to learn a second language but circumstances force t hem to do it and even equip them to handle challenges. With students in the Chilean context not willing to learn a new language, the introduction of English as a requirement for graduation would be a motivating factor to learn it as a second language. It is my view that this type of motivation is ambitious in nature and compelling. The individual learner has a choice to avoid it but external pressures are too strong and compel him or her to learn the second language. Conversely, integrative and instrumental motivation has been identified as both applicable in different context. When applied appropriately, both types of motivation lead to certain levels of success. However, integrative motivation is regarded by Ehrman and DÃ ¶rnyei (1998, pp. 34 41) as ideal for long-term success in second language learning. Integrative motivation works best in both formal and informal situations. Within the natural setting and the classroom situation, integrative motivation is better compared to instrumental motivation. Dornyei (2001, pp. 28 30) identified instrumental motivation as weak because it sometimes does not reflect the individual will to learn. Individuals in this case rely more on circumstances than their will to learn. It is a short term type of motivation and thus not very effective. Conclusion Various scholars have identified that there are individual learner difference in second language acquisition. As part of culture, language is described as an element of growing up. Language is also regarded as an element of culture that provides motivation to individuals in its own right. Just like any other cultural element, language is acquired differently from one individual to another. A similar case has been identified for second languages. In learning second languages, motives, goals and motivation have been identified and developing differences among individuals. In learning second languages integrative and instrumental types of motivation influence the individual differently. On the other hand, individuals conceptualize these types of motivation differently. Gardners socio-educational model, Clementss Model of motivation and Piagets theory of cognitive development, explain into detail how motivation influences SLA. The broad argument is that there is a great correlation betwe en SLA and motivation. Motivation is a variable that determines the level and success of learning a second language.

How to Write an Essay :: essays papers

How to Write an Essay Writing Resource Getting Started The Writing Resource Service provides you with help in getting started on your essay. has compiled this guide based on essays that we have edited. Often essays on excellent topics simply lack focus or fail to answer the essay question. Following basic plan can make a tremendous difference in the quality of your writing. Step 1: Think about an essay topic... Before you write anything be sure to know what you are writing about. Choose a topic which provides you with ample resources and information and which you understand well. Be sure to specify exactly what you want to write on. Often students fail to answer the entire essay question because they get sidetracked at this stage. The essay question provides clues about what you are expected to write on. Make sure your topic is relevant and answers all the main questions. Here is a sample essay topic: Describe the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since its inception to the present. How has the IMF impacted the world economy? Step 2: Understand the essay topic... First understand the topic. Draw on notes and research to gain a good understanding of the topic you have been given or have chosen. Although the factual content of an essay topic may seem easy, read the material very carefully to be sure that you are not missing relevant points. It is crucial that you understand the topic material fully. Second, be sure you know what to do with the topic. The sample question presented above asks you to do two processes simultaneously. You must give a factual account of what the IMF has done and also provide an analysis of how those actions have effected the world economy. For the descriptive part you should first gather evidence and facts about what the IMF has accomplished. Only after you have presented the factual data can you effectively evaluate that information. Reserve your personal ideas about what impact the IMF has had until after you have presented the facts. You personal evaluation should come through in your analysis of those fac ts. It is often helpful to first generate a page of evidence and facts. This provides you with an overview of the topic and gives you a guide from which to draw inferences and information. How to Write an Essay :: essays papers How to Write an Essay Writing Resource Getting Started The Writing Resource Service provides you with help in getting started on your essay. has compiled this guide based on essays that we have edited. Often essays on excellent topics simply lack focus or fail to answer the essay question. Following basic plan can make a tremendous difference in the quality of your writing. Step 1: Think about an essay topic... Before you write anything be sure to know what you are writing about. Choose a topic which provides you with ample resources and information and which you understand well. Be sure to specify exactly what you want to write on. Often students fail to answer the entire essay question because they get sidetracked at this stage. The essay question provides clues about what you are expected to write on. Make sure your topic is relevant and answers all the main questions. Here is a sample essay topic: Describe the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since its inception to the present. How has the IMF impacted the world economy? Step 2: Understand the essay topic... First understand the topic. Draw on notes and research to gain a good understanding of the topic you have been given or have chosen. Although the factual content of an essay topic may seem easy, read the material very carefully to be sure that you are not missing relevant points. It is crucial that you understand the topic material fully. Second, be sure you know what to do with the topic. The sample question presented above asks you to do two processes simultaneously. You must give a factual account of what the IMF has done and also provide an analysis of how those actions have effected the world economy. For the descriptive part you should first gather evidence and facts about what the IMF has accomplished. Only after you have presented the factual data can you effectively evaluate that information. Reserve your personal ideas about what impact the IMF has had until after you have presented the facts. You personal evaluation should come through in your analysis of those fac ts. It is often helpful to first generate a page of evidence and facts. This provides you with an overview of the topic and gives you a guide from which to draw inferences and information.

Java Programming Language Essay -- Computers Technology Programming La

Java: It's not just for breakfast anymore! The World-Wide Web as it is today reminds me of a bad date I had once; boring, flat, and unexciting. It does absolutely nothing for me. The pages are limited by the specifications of HTML which calls for a two-dimensional layout and a static page. I for one am looking for some new element. A new angle if you will. Something to jolt some life into The Web. Sun Microsystem's Java will bring a new interactive element to the Web. It is designed to enhance the browsing experience and take us into the next generation of The Web. "Java is an object-oriented language that adds animation and real-time interaction through in-line applications (called applets)." (Network Computing) So you are asking yourself, What is Java? How does it work? "Java is a simple, object-oriented, multithreaded, garbage-collected, secure, robust, architectural-neutral, portable, high-performance, dynamic language. The language is similar to C and C++ but much simpler. I think Eric Schmidt, Sun's Chief Technical Officer, put it best when he said, "Java is C++ without the guns, knives, and mace. It was designed for a consumer devices market, to allow applications to move among the devices in a secure manner." (P.C. LETTER) Java programs are compiled into a binary format that can be executed on many platforms without recompilation." (Dr. Dobb) It works by converting the code into a format the Java interpreter can understand. The code or "applets" can be embedded in any standard HTML page. An applet can do most anything a regular C program can do. It is equally complex as C for any given task. For the technically impaired, Java is a highly flexible product for developing programs for The Web. It is capable of carryi... ...5, v20 n8 p56-62 "Java and Internet programming: similar to C and C++ but much simpler" van Hoff, Arthur INFOWORLD; May 1995, v17 n22 p16 "Netscape inks pact with Sun, Macromedia" Wingfield, Nick LAN TIMES; June 1995, v12 n12 p44 "Sun, Netscape to wake up Web users" Raynovich, R. Scott MacUser; Sept 1995, v11 n9 P31 "The Internet becomes multimedia-savvy:Macromedia, Sun nab Netscape Navigator" Snell, Jason Network Computing; August 1995, v6 n9 p48-49 "Next generation Web Browsing" Kohlhepp, Robert Newsbytes; July 1995, pnew07180011 "Sun Microsystems Intros First Java Application" Bowers, Richard P.C. Letter; June 1995, v11 n9-10 p5 "Sun's Schmidt explains Java strategy" Author not given PCWEEK; June 1995, v12 n22 p14 "Sun's Java technology perks up WWW; Java language and HotJava browser provide extensiblity to the World-Wide Web" Sullivan, Eamonn

From Victimization to Independence in The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker, won the American Book Award in fiction in 1983 (Slomski). Celie was raped and impregnated by the man she considered to be her father twice at the age of fourteen, and then later married off to a poor black farmer. The man who Celie is sold to treats her as if she is a servant, not as his wife. Mr.___ believes that women are supposed to serve men, while they enjoy life. Mr.__’s other beliefs about women are that they should obey their husbands, work, and not be seen or heard (Averbach). Women in this time period were seen as children. They did not deserve to be respected and needed to be controlled by a man. Celie endures over thirty years of physical and mental abuse by her husband. Celie develops a strong relationship with many female characters in the novel such as Nettie, Shug Avery, and Sophia. They show Celie how to believe that joy can come even to her, how to celebrate life’s pleasures that are given by God, to stand up for herself, how to appreciate her own beauty, and help her to discover herself (Slomski). Although Celie has been victimized for over thirty years, she finds the strength within herself to become an independent woman through the help of other females. Celie’s abuse first starts when her stepfather rapes and verbally abuses her â€Å"He never had a kine word to say to me. Just say You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t†¦. He started to choke me saying You better shut up and git used to it. But I don’t ever get used to it. And now I feels sick every time I be the one to cook† (1). After Celie is raped by her stepfather, she is told â€Å"you better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy† (1). Celie did exactly as she is told and becomes silent about her abuse, an... ... celebrate life’s pleasures that are given by God, to stand up for herself, and how to appreciate her own beauty (Slomski). By Celie overcoming her flaws she increases her self-confidence. Celie destroys Mr.___’s power over her, and turns it against him by getting him to like the pants she sews (Harris). When Celie finally releases all the power Mr. ___ had over her for so many years, she is finally able to call him by his real name which is Albert. Although Celie has been â€Å"owned, beaten, and degraded by her husband’s† (Sadoff 133), she finds forgiveness in him for mistreating her for so many years. Celie is able to forgive Albert after she realizes that she no longer hates him because of the love they both share for Shug. Celie comes from being beaten and used by others to establishing her own business and living life independently (Harris). From Victimization to Independence in The Color Purple by Alice Walker The novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker, won the American Book Award in fiction in 1983 (Slomski). Celie was raped and impregnated by the man she considered to be her father twice at the age of fourteen, and then later married off to a poor black farmer. The man who Celie is sold to treats her as if she is a servant, not as his wife. Mr.___ believes that women are supposed to serve men, while they enjoy life. Mr.__’s other beliefs about women are that they should obey their husbands, work, and not be seen or heard (Averbach). Women in this time period were seen as children. They did not deserve to be respected and needed to be controlled by a man. Celie endures over thirty years of physical and mental abuse by her husband. Celie develops a strong relationship with many female characters in the novel such as Nettie, Shug Avery, and Sophia. They show Celie how to believe that joy can come even to her, how to celebrate life’s pleasures that are given by God, to stand up for herself, how to appreciate her own beauty, and help her to discover herself (Slomski). Although Celie has been victimized for over thirty years, she finds the strength within herself to become an independent woman through the help of other females. Celie’s abuse first starts when her stepfather rapes and verbally abuses her â€Å"He never had a kine word to say to me. Just say You gonna do what your mammy wouldn’t†¦. He started to choke me saying You better shut up and git used to it. But I don’t ever get used to it. And now I feels sick every time I be the one to cook† (1). After Celie is raped by her stepfather, she is told â€Å"you better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy† (1). Celie did exactly as she is told and becomes silent about her abuse, an... ... celebrate life’s pleasures that are given by God, to stand up for herself, and how to appreciate her own beauty (Slomski). By Celie overcoming her flaws she increases her self-confidence. Celie destroys Mr.___’s power over her, and turns it against him by getting him to like the pants she sews (Harris). When Celie finally releases all the power Mr. ___ had over her for so many years, she is finally able to call him by his real name which is Albert. Although Celie has been â€Å"owned, beaten, and degraded by her husband’s† (Sadoff 133), she finds forgiveness in him for mistreating her for so many years. Celie is able to forgive Albert after she realizes that she no longer hates him because of the love they both share for Shug. Celie comes from being beaten and used by others to establishing her own business and living life independently (Harris).

Language Experience

1. Write about your past formal or informal language learning experiences. Would you consider them effective or ineffective? Learning foreign languages is a real challenge to everyone and a lot of people have their own successful and unsuccessful experiences. As for me, I’d like to tell about a negative one because, unfortunately, I had it more than positive. I’ve been learning English since I was 10 years old. At first, it was at school. Those lessons left much to be desired. We had a middle-aged teacher who used to have favourite students and showed her attitude, inhibitions cast aside. We didn’t have speaking tasks at all. She gave us different texts and we read, translated and learnt them by heart. Sometimes we even didn’t understand what we were speaking about which made it more difficult to answer. She didn’t use any communicative approaches. What is more, we weren’t interested and motivated. At the age of 15 I nearly decided to give up learning it. Needless to say, it was a real shock to everyone when I announced my decision to enter Pedagogical University, the department of foreign languages. I was sure that I would learn it there. I had a private teacher to prepare for entrance exams. At that time I thought she gave me a lot knowledge, but being a teacher now I can judge those lessons as a waste of time and money. Frankly speaking, it was self-studying. I was given 5 unites of grammar to do at home. Nobody explained any rules to me and we just checked exercises. Fortunately, at university I had a lot of different teachers. Some of them tried to use communicative tasks, such as role plays. But it was still academic studying. Teachers didn’t need to motivate us as we all wanted to pass exams and get a diploma. However ridiculous it may seem, I learnt English at work, being teacher is the best way to study. If I need to know something, I try to teach my students and after preparations for lessons and loads of explanations to them I get to know a lot. So joining TESOL course is another opportunity to learn the language and ways of teaching . 2. Why do you think the CLT has gained popularity in the language classroom? Our understanding of the processes of second language learning has changed considerably in the last 30 years and CLT is partly a response to these changes in understanding. Earlier views of language learning focused primary on the mastery of grammatical competence. Language learning was viewed as a process of mechanical formation. Good habits are formed by having students produce correct sentences. Errors were to be avoided through controlled opportunities for production. In recent years language learning has been viewed from a very different perspective. Communicative teaching emphasis on â€Å"task-oriented, student-centered† language teaching practice, asked to show the life of the actual needs of the English language to simulate a variety of life contexts, emotional, and to provide students with comprehensive use of English language, for communication of opportunities, its focus is not only a language in the form, grammatical accuracy, more emphasis on the appropriateness of language use, feasibility, communication skills, as well as training students in communicative activities in the strain and problem-solving ability. There are advantages and disadvantages of this approach. The pros are: – Language is acquired through communication – CLT allows learners to use the target language in meaningful context – CLT can be adapted to any level The cons are: -Student may not see the value in learning English through group work, games, and activities. – CLT does not focus on error correction. – Students don’t feel challenged Taking everything into consideration, I should say that the good thing about the communicative approach is that it makes students speak the language even at a beginner level and they are usually enthusiastic about this. . How would you approach a class with true and false beginners? I got used to having mixed-ability classes and the mixture of false beginners (they have had some English training at some point in the past) and true beginners ( these are learners who have had no contact with English at all) is a common situation. I consider such cl asses a real advantage as it helps to avoid boring lessons and I always have some students to rely on. I try to pair a true beginner with a false one while doing some activities and it helps to create an interaction between students which means a student-centred style of teaching. There are some drawbacks, of course. The false ones are faster to do exercises so I need to provide them with extra work which means more careful preparation for the lesson. Another problem is a demotivation of both kinds of students. There are some classroom management techniques which can help to avoid it. I should say it is a widely-spread situation but it can be successfully solved by using different methods of teaching.

Global cities show a particularly high degree of social polarization Essay

Social polarization is a relatively new urban phenomenon that identifies the existence of a widening gap between the rich and poor within a social group or entity. This gap has developed in country’s societies as a result of ‘income equalities, real estate fluctuations and economic displacement’ (Moulaert 2003). The effects can be damaging to society and can include ‘a loss of resources, investment and young people to the core’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). I aim to discuss and explain social polarization in terms of the causes and effects on society, as well as the main catalysts of polarization. Many geographers believe that globalization is a process that ‘has enabled nation-states, TNCs, as well as individuals, to extend their reach across the globe’ (Daniels et al 2008). Globalization has meant that ‘national economies have become integrated into the international economy’ (Croucher 2004) as a result of trade, capital flows, foreign direct investment, migration and the spread of technology; leading to the growth of many sectors, especially the financial sector, where information is easily accessible via a technologically strong communications network. Some are of the belief that ‘Globalization leads directly to social polarization’ (Sassen 1991) The rapid growth in the financial sector has led to the formation of very well paid positions within financial institutes dominated by managers, executives and stockbrokers. However, it has also created large numbers of low-paying jobs, often filled by women and the minorities in unskilled positions. As a result of this, income inequality is common in global cities with salaries ranging greatly. The United Nations quoted that ‘between 1960 and 1990 country differentials between the wealthiest and poorest 20% increased from 30 to more than 60 (UNDP 1993)(Thrift et al 2002). This can lead to a number of problems, with the lower paid workers easily replaced by an abundant supply of workers moving to the area from abroad, known as the ‘urban immigrant population’ (Chao-Lin 2002). The replacement of low-income workers has become a problem in many global cities, for example in Beijing, the open door immigration policy as led to an influx of urban immigrants. Many social problems are caused as a result of this, such as stress at home and at work etc. This, in turn, widens the gap between the richer and poorer people in society; thus increasing social polarization. The ‘transnationals’ have, of course, greatly changed the economic environment. At the global scale their location of production in developing countries has contributed to what has been called a global shift’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). In the first half of the twentieth century the majority of manufacturing and production plants was concentrated in the core: Western Europe and North America. However, a ‘global shift’ (Bradford and Kent 1995) did occur and by the 1980s a third of TNCs had moved to global production in Newly Industrializing Countries (NICs) at the periphery. As these TNCs made more money and became financially stronger, there was a shift of power from the governments to the transnationals’. The TNCs have great control over some sectors of the economy, as government revenue from taxes is recycled (through wages) back into the large corporations. TNCs can cause a variety of problems by locating in developing countries, ‘the concentration of many transnationals’ activities in one area, often the core, may exacerbate inter-regional differences’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). Again, this will cause social polarization as different areas in a country, or town will show differences in amenities etc. due to a greater investment in infrastructure. However, this investment in the core regions is needed to service the large corporations. Investment will attract people, jobs and activity into the core regions, thus emphasizing the strength of the pull factors created by TNCs: more well paid jobs are created, better living conditions, more amenities etc. However, ‘this is often at the expense of peripheral regions which lose resources, investment and young people to the core – the so called backwash or polarization effects’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). Friedmann’s Core Periphery Model is relevant here as over time people are drawn from the periphery areas into the core, (See Figure 1). Transnationals’ can also cause problems if similar corporations locate in the same countries, thus leading to ‘segmentation of markets’ (classifying markets into distinct subsets with the same needs).   (Todd 1977). (Classifying markets into distinct subsets with the same needs). This can lead to social differences being accentuated, again relating back to differences in income inequality and quality of life at the core and periphery. Furthermore, particular cultures in countries have changed as a result of ‘acquisition of material goods’ (Bradford and Kent 1995). This has lead to people’s position in society being determined by possession or consumption of particular goods, causing anger and stress, which causes societies to began more polarized. To conclude; in my opinion social polarization, can only have a negative effect on societies and countries as stress and anger is caused as a result of concentrations of investment in core areas, leaving peripheral areas without amenities and jobs. As TNCs continue to increase in size the effects of polarization can only increase with the gap between different social groups increasing, as a result of income inequality and economic displacement. With increased control and power, soon TNCs will have even more control than some governments, and this can already be seen in some areas of the world with governments in India etc. being unable to stop sweatshop labour e.g. Nike in Bangladesh. Polarization shows gaps in society have begun to develop as local markets develop in global markets as a result of globalization and the growth of large corporations. References Bradford, M. and Kent, A. 1993 Understanding Human Geography: People and their   Ã‚  Ã‚   Changing Environments, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Chao-Lin, G.U. 2001 Social Polarization and Segregation in Beijing, Beijing, Science  Ã‚  Ã‚   Press, http://www.springerlink.com/content/h3w8112rj24l8468/fulltext.pdf, 29th  Ã‚  Ã‚   November Johnston, R.J., Taylor, P.J and Watts, M.J. 1995 The Reconfiguration of Late   Ã‚  Ã‚   Twentieth-Century Capitalism. In Johnston, R.J., Taylor, P.J and Watts, M.J.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (eds) Geographies of Global Change: Remapping the World, Blackwell   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Publishers Ltd., United Kingdom, 19-29. Moulaert, F., Swyndedouw, E. and Rodriguez, A. 2003 The Globalized City:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Economic Restructuring and Social Polarization in European Cities, Oxford   Ã‚   University Press, Oxford. Sassen, S. 2001 The Global City, Princeton University Press, USA Todd, D. 1977 Polarization and the Regional Problem: Manufacturing in Nova Scotia,    The University of Manitoba Geography Department, Canada. Figure 1. Rodrigue, Dr. J. P. Department of Economics and Geography, 1998 Bradshaw, M., Daniels, P., Shaw, D. and Sidway, J. 2008 An Introduction to Human  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Geography, Pearson Education Limited, England.   

Fleet Management System Essay

ABSTRACT The current situation in Kenya demands a good fleet management due to the  rising factors of economy that needs to be addressed in order to have a flourishing economy. Vehicles aid in transportation of goods and services in government offices. Effective use of transportation resources especially in the government we help a great deal in keeping the country’s economy at per with other developing states around the globe. It also helps improve service delivery and good governance. Currently, there are no effective ways of monitoring and managing the government vehicles. In order to have a good method of controlling the vehicles in different government departments, we need a good fleet management system. Fleet management system is focused on maintenance management, and helps people to ensure that fleet assets are maintained properly and on schedule. The system controls the entire operations of a vehicle to enable effective utilization of the vehicles and more so to increase accountability among the civil servants. It is aimed at keeping drivers records, vehicle details and records of bookings made. The system goes beyond maintenance management to offer optional features such as fuel logging, personnel records, route logging and inventory tracking. The system enables you to establish a pre-emptive approach to fleet maintenance management. It helps you prevent costly, unexpected break-fix scenarios and downtime due to neglected fleet vehicles and equipment. It serves as a ready resource for fleet maintenance history, fuel usage, and all expenses associated with operating a fleet of motor vehicles and other mechanical assets. It also help significantly ease your reliance on a pen and a paper. The research adopted a questionnaire driven methodology to gather information and follow-up processes. CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction. 1.1 Background information Fleet management is the management of a company’s transportation fleet. It includes commercial motor vehicles such as cars, ships, vans and trucks, as well as rail cars. Fleet (vehicle) management can include a range of functions, such as vehicle financing, vehicle maintenance, vehicle telematics (tracking and diagnostics), driver management, speed management, fuel management and health and safety management. It is a function which allows companies which to rely on transportation in business to remove or minimize the risks associated with vehicle investment, improving efficiency, productivity and reducing their overall transportation and staff costs, providing 100% compliance with government legislation (duty of care) and many more. These functions can be dealt with by either an in-house fleet-management department or an outsourced fleet-management provider. According to market research from the independent analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of fleet management units deployed in commercial fleets in Europe will grow from 1.5 million units in 2009 to 4 million in 2014. Even though the overall penetration level is just a few percent, some segments such as road transport will attain adoption rates above 30 percent (Maduro M, 2010). Fleet management system enables people to accomplish a series of specific tasks in the management of any or all aspects relating to a company’s fleet of vehicles. These specific tasks encompass all operations from vehicle acquisition to disposal. Software, depending on its capabilities, allows functions such as driver and vehicle profiling, trip profiling, dispatch, vehicle efficiency, etc. It can provide remote control features, such as Geo-fencing and active disabling. Current vehicle diagnostic information can also be related to a management site, depending on the type of hardware installed in the vehicles. New platform, based on Fleet management software, is fleet controlling with higher amount of information available for both drivers and dispatchers of a fleet. At this time (2012) online software platforms are very popular: users no longer have to install software and they can access the software through a web browser  (Lakhani, K. R., & Von Hippel, E, 2003). 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT: Kenyan Government departments face a common challenge of controlling their fleet assigned to them to carry out various functions in the ministries. Vehicles record management is done manually and there is a need to computerize the whole process of assigning a vehicle to a driver, its maintenance and its daily operation. The project will be an online system which will take care of all the vehicles operations and maintenance and also provide security so that only the authorized users will be able to access the data. The system is aimed at improving or rather eliminating all these problems that are encountered during the operations of fleet management. 1.3 THE OBJECTIVES OF FLEET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM The objectives of the system will include: To enable accurate and complete data that will be stored in the database about all the government vehicles. To help keeping records of every vehicle i.e. The designated driver of every vehicle. The mechanics Fuelling and mileage Insurance cover To enable in keeping the drivers details i.e. Valid license number. Valid National ID number. Painting of the vehicle Changing of break fluids. Changing tires. To determine whether the vehicle is taking the government at a profit or loss. 1.4 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT The focus of this proposal is to analyse the how a fleet of vehicles have been managed in various government departments and how the current situation is in vehicles management in terms of their job allocation and general maintenance. There has been great controversy about the use of an online  management system. This study therefore wishes to analyse the effectiveness of the Online Fleet Management System. 1.5 PROPOSED SOLUTION Due to the advancement in technology the researcher will develop a computerized system that will be implemented to overcome the old system which the government have been using. 1.6 PROBLEM JUSTIFICATION Fleet Management System will be very appropriate when it comes to management of a fleet of vehicles government. It will help reduce misuse of vehicles and it will more accountability to the drivers and officials assigned to those vehicles. A report about each vehicle will be generated to rate the performance of the drivers and the vehicle itself. Security is also paramount. The system ought to have a controlled access so that no unauthorised persons is allowed to manipulate the data that is in the system. 1.7 CONSTRAINTS OF THE PROJECT Time constraints- time is a limiting factor in the study due the fact that lecturers are on. Limited funds- Finances to carry out an in-depth study are not available to me since am depending on somebody. Shortage of material related to the study- the sample is limited to government departments only. Longitudinal effects: unlike most professors who can take several years researching on a single research problem, the time available to investigate a research problem and to measure change or stability within a sample is constrained by the due date of my assignment making it difficult to carry a proper feasibility study. Lack of prior research on the topic: the fleet management system topic has not been thoroughly researched on making it difficult to find existing work. 1.8 SOLUTION STRATEGY Development of an Online Fleet Management System will find a solution to the problems associated in vehicle fleet management. The system will be developed using PHP, HTML, CSS and java script at the front end and MySQL at the backend. 1.9 WHY THE CHOICE The Kenyan government institutions have been facing so many challenges when  it comes to management of its fleet of vehicles. I considered this system to be appropriate to solving the existing challenges in effectively monitoring the vehicles. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Vehicle Fleet Manager 3.0 Fleet management system works more the same as Vehicle Fleet Manager 3.0 which has been developed by vinisoft through enabling you to record, manage and consult all information concerning your vehicle fleet quickly and efficiently. It is designed not just for large transport firms, but service companies and businesses, too. Whether you have a fleet of 3 or 1000 vehicles to look after, we have the solution to meet your expectations. In terms of functionality, fleet manager 3.0 works more less the same as Fleet Management System. It does the following: It tracks and manages the drivers information Get notified when insurance has expired. Creates group of vehicles. Monitors the petrol consumption Keep a record of the vehicles’ details. However, Vehicle Fleet Management 3.0 does not have a module to cater for the bookings of the vehicles made in different organisation departments. (Kanuka, 2003; Schwegler, 2000; Taylor, 2006) 2.2 Intelligent Fleet Management System This is a system that was developed to control the vehicles in a city. The routing plan of a delivery fleet is usually developed a priori and provides an optimal way of serving customers by taking into account certain constraints, such as delivery time windows. However, such plans may not cope adequately with the dynamics of a city logistics environment, in which unexpected events (e.g. traffic congestions) often occur during delivery execution. We present the development and evaluation of a real-time fleet  management system that handles such unforeseen events. The system monitors the delivery vehicles in real time, detects deviations from the initial distribution plan, and adjusts the schedule accordingly by suggesting effective rerouting strategies. The system has been tested in simulation environment and in real-life cases and the results show that delivery performance is enhanced significantly and customer satisfaction is improved. Gaps in the system: Unlike Online Fleet Management System, the Intelligent Management system, the system does not capture the details of the driver and also the bookings made to deliver commodities and staff members within the city. Online Management System will capture all this data and it will a far much better system as compared to the Intelligent Fleet Management System. 2.3 Fleet Management in defence The United Kingdom Government developed a system managed its army fleet. However, in the long, the government realized that the system had its own shortcomings. Due to these fact these drivers, in the UK the concept of Whole Fleet Management (WFM) was devised as a way of meeting all operational and training commitments with a reduced fleet and reduced equipment. It was proposed that the practice of issuing units and formations with their full establishment of vehicles would cease and instead, units would hold a reduced fleet of vehicles sufficient only for low level collective training. The plan was that their holdings would be augmented from a central pool for higher level training and operations. This process has the potential to improve availability, reduce maintenance costs and allocate diminished resources at the right time, in the right place and in the correct configuration. The operational benefits and efficiency of the WFM concept are such that the UK MOD proposes to extend it to all ground based equipment and vehicles across Defence. As such, the benefits are that there will be a reduction in the number of vehicles procured, which will result in a smaller Total Fleet Requirement (TFR). Quite simply, without WFM the UK MOD will not be able to meet future operational and training requirements. The Management Information System Requirement FM within expeditionary warfare, invariably demands short planning times, so to plan for future operations Commanders need precise and timely information on units, formations and fleets, including: Equipment location. What the state of repair of each asset is. How each piece of equipment configured. When each piece of equipment will be ready for use. Research Gaps: Poor visibility of: Land equipment configuration, locations, ownership, usage, maintenance, reliability and availability; Inefficient maintenance techniques and procedures, which did not implement Reliability-centred Maintenance (RCM) well and involved little data analysis. Few effective logistic support partnerships with Industry. 2.4 Sierra Wireless Fleet Management System Sierra Wireless defines Fleet Management Solutions (FMS) as a system designed for commercial or private vehicles, trailers or similar vehicles that incorporates data logging, satellite positioning and data communication to a back-office application. Within this definition we note the following areas of Fleet Management Solutions: Fleet management (trucking, local delivery, service fleets, utility companies, taxis, rental vehicles, public transit, school buses, emergency service vehicles, heavy equipment, etc.) Container/Trailer tracking User based insurance (Pay as you drive) Stolen Vehicle Recovery / Tracking Track and Trace Driver Behaviour Metrics Fleet Management systems allow companies that rely on transportation in their business to remove or minimize the risks associated with vehicle investment, improving efficiency, productivity and reducing their overall transportation costs. Fleet management can include vehicle financing, vehicle maintenance, vehicle telematics (tracking and diagnostics), driver management, fuel management and health and safety management. Advanced fleet management systems can easily connect to the vehicle’s on-board computer, and gather data for the user. Data collected can vary and can include details such as mileage, fuel consumption, and much more, which are then gathered into a global statistics scheme. Research Gaps Sierra Wireless Fleet Management System only to keeps log of the track of the vehicles without holding both the vehicles and drivers’ details. CHAPTER 3 SYSTEM MODEL 3.0 Introduction This chapter outline the online fleet management system model .It covers the following areas: implementation of the system, system analysis, project design DFDs, ER diagrams case diagrams, case scenarios and UML diagrams. 3.1 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION The online fleet management system is to be developed using PHP scripts and MYSQL database. Java scripts will be used to validate the data captured from the interface as it is a client side scripting language. The system will be on windows platform but once hosted on a server, it can be accessed by anyone using any platform. 3.1 SYSTEM ANALSYSIS The task of system analysis is to establish in detail the proposed system requirements i.e. functional and Non-functional. It aims in understanding the input and output of a system and processing steps necessary to perform inputs into outputs. What interface will be provided for the users to interact with the system, based on the skills and computer proficiency of the intended users and what control measures will be undertaken in the system. 3.1.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENT Hardware Requirements The online fleet management system should be hosted on a server which has Intel duo core processor of speed 3GHz and above, Ram of 2 GB, Hard disk of 160 GB and above. Functional Requirement These are statements of services the system should provide, how the system should react to particular inputs and how the system should behave in particular situations. The following are modules which aid in implementing  the system functional requirement: i) Security module This module performs login, logout from the system and privileges allocation depending on the type of user who is accessing the system. ii) Vehicle Registration This module captures the details of all the vehicles that are owned by government departments and institutions. iii) Driver Registration This module captures the details of the drivers that are assigned vehicles at department level. iv) Booking Vehicles This module captures the details of the vehicle bookings made by the different people. v) Duties assignment of vehicles. This module holds the assignment for all the vehicles available at department level. Non-Functional Requirement These relates to the behaviour of the system in its operation environment. The system should be safe and secure where it should operate without catastrophic failure and protect itself against accidental and intrusion. It should be reliable and available thus delivering services as specified and when requested for. 3.2 SYSTEM DESIGN Based on the nature of the project I chose the waterfall development model for software engineering. This model will be used to build the Online Voters Registration System. Its paradigm is as shown below.

Management Study Guide Essay

Commanding Heights: Episode 3 (Chapters 11-14); available at online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/story/index.html – With communism discredited, more and more nations harness their fortunes to the global free-market. China, Southeast Asia, India, Eastern Europe and Latin America all compete to attract the developed world’s investment capital, and tariff barriers fall. In the United States Republican and Democratic administrations both embrace unfettered globalization over the objections of organized labor. But as new technology and ideas drive profound economic change, unforeseen events unfold. A Mexican economic meltdown sends the Clinton administration scrambling. Internet-linked financial markets, unrestricted capital flows, and floating currencies drive levels of speculative investment that dwarf trade in actual goods and services. Fueled by electronic capital and a global workforce ready to adapt, entrepreneurs create multinational corporations wi th valuations greater than entire national economies. When huge pension funds go hunting higher returns in emerging markets, enterprise flourishes where poverty once ruled, but risk grows, too. In Thailand the huge reservoir of available capital proves first a blessing, then a curse. Soon all Asia is engulfed in an economic crisis, and financial contagion spreads throughout the world, until Wall Street itself is threatened. A single global market is now the central economic reality. As the force of its effects is felt, popular unease grows. Is the system just too complex to be controlled, or is it an insiders’ game played at outsiders’ expense? New centers of opposition to globalization form and the debate turns violent over who will rewrite the rules. Yet prosperity continues to spread with the expansion of trade, even as the gulf widens further between rich and poor. Imbalances too dangerous for the system to ignore now drive its stakeholders to devise new means to include the dispossessed lest, once again, terrorism and war destroy the stability of a deeply interconnected world. The Bush Bailout Plan (Rounds 1 and 2) Round 1: Allow the Treasury to borrow up to $700 billion to buy mortgage-related assets from US financial institutions over the next 2 years. –May stabilize the capital markets ( could protect investment and retirement funds) – MAY stabilize housing prices. Consequences of doing nothing: -Small businesses will fail. -Companies may not be able to make payroll -People, even those with good credit records, may not be able to get credit for mortgages, car loans, student loans, or credit cards. -People will lose jobs. Round 2: Same deal: with same possible benefits. House version of the bill: $350 billion upfront; $350 billion later unless congress holds it back. -NO new golden parachutes if the institution sells more than $300 million in assets -Must try to â€Å"claw back† past bonuses if based on misleading financial statements -No golden parachutes when the treasury has ownership stake in the firm (.ie., it is failing). Defined Contribution Retirement Plans – A defined contribution plan provides an individual account for each participant. The benefits are based on the amount contributed into the plan and are also affected by income, expenses, gains and loses. There are no promises of a set monthly benefit at retirement. Some examples of defined contribution plans include 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, employee stock ownership plans and profit sharing plans. Contagion – The tendency to spread, as of a doctrine, influence, or emotional state. When one nation’s economy is negatively affected because of changes in the asset PRICES of another country’s financial market Foreign Direct Investment – Is when a firm invests resources in facilities to produce and/or market a product in a foreign country. Horizontal FDI versus Vertical FDI – Horizontal FDI: investment in the same industry in which a firm operates at home. Vertical FDI: investment in an industry that provides inputs for a firm’s domestic operations or that sells the outputs of the firm’s domestic operations. Backward Vertical FDI versus Forward Vertical FDI- Backward vertical FDI: an investment in an industry abroad that provides inputs for a firm’s domestic production processes. Forward Vertical FDI: an investment in an industry abroad that sells the outputs of a firm’s domestic production processes. BACKWARD vertical means that there are more places to help build the product. Stock versus Flow of FDI – Stock flow is the total accumulated value. Flow of FDI is the value over time. Gross Fixed Capital Formation – GFCF is a flow value. It is usually defined as the total value of additions to fixed assets by resident producer enterprises, less disposals of fixed assets during the quarter or year, plus additions to the value of non-produced assets (such as discoveries of mineral deposits, or land improvements). Greenfield Investment – Establishing a new operation Acquisition – When one firm buys an interest in another firm Merger – When two firms agree to integrate their operations on a relatively co-equal basis. Exporting – The sale of products produced in one country to residents of another country Licensing – when one firm (the licensor) grants the right to produce its product, use its production processes, or use its brand name or trademark to another firm (the licensee) Tacit versus Codified Knowledge – Tacit knowledge: information that is intuitive and difficult to articulate or codify in writing. (Can be gained through personal experience or interaction. Shared knowledge might be dispersed throughout the company.) Theoretical Explanations for FDI: Transportation Costs, Market Imperfections, Strategic Behavior, Product Life Cycle, and Location-Specific Advantages – Impediments to the Sale of Know-How – Impediments to the sale of know-how explain why firms prefer horizontal FDI to licensing. These impediments arise when: (a) a firm has valuable know-how that cannot be adequately protected by a licensing contract, (b) a firm needs tight control over a foreign entity to maximize its market share and earnings in that country, and (c) a firm’s skills and know-how are not amenable to licensing. Multi-Point Competition – Arises when two or more enterprises encounter each other in different regional markets, national markets, or industries. The Radical, Free Market and Pragmatic Nationalism Views of FDI Benefits and Costs of FDI for a Host Country – Resource transfer effects, employment effects, balance of payments effects, effect on competition and economic growth. Host country benefits from initial capital inflow when MNC establishes business—FINANCIAL CREDIT Host country benefits if FDI substitutes for imports of goods and services—CURRENT ACCOUNTCREDIT Host country benefits when MNC uses its foreign subsidiary to export to other countries—Credit on CURRENT ACCOUNT Resource-Transfer Effects: Capital, Technology and Management Employment Effects: Direct, Indirect, Substitution, and Acquisition Restructuring – -Mergers and acquisitions are quicker to execute. -Foreign firms have valuable strategic assets that would be risky and time consuming to develop. -Acquiring firm believes it can use its core competencies to increase the efficiency of the acquired firm. Balance-of-Payments Effects of FDI for the Home and Host Countries – Home country – The balance of payments account is improved by the inward flow of repatriated earnings. The balance of payments account is improved if the foreign subsidiary needs home country equipment, component parts, etc. National Sovereignty – Sovereignty is the exclusive right to control a government, a country, a people, or oneself. A sovereign is the supreme lawmaking authority. Benefits and Costs of FDI for a Home Country – Balance of payments effects, employment effects. Home Country Policies to Encourage and Restrict Outward FDI – Restrict: Limits on capital outflows, tax incentives to invest at home, Nation-specific prohibitions Encourage: Foreign Risk Insurance, Capital Assistance, Tax Incentives to Invest Abroad, Political Pressure. Host Country Policies to Encourage and Restrict Inward FDI – Restrict: Ownership Restraints Encourage: To gain from the resource-transfer and employment effects of FDI, to capture FDI away from other potential host locations. Performance Requirements – An expectation placed on a foreign direct thingy requiring them to do certain things like having some local employees. Basically, this puts restrictions on them like local production requirements. Regional Economic Integration –refers to agreements among countries in a geographic region to reduce and ultimately remove, tariff and non-tariff barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and factors of production between each other. Levels of Economic Integration: Free Trade Area: Remove internal Barriers Customs Union: Common External Barriers Common Market: Free Movement of Factors Economic Union: Common Economic Policy Political Union: Political Integration The Case for and the Case against Regional Integration â €“ For: Increases world production, stimulates growth, regional economic integration can provide additional gains from free trade beyond the international agreements such as GATT and TWO. Against: a regional trade agreement is beneficial only if it creates more trade than it diverts. Impediments to Regional Integration – Nation as a whole may benefit but certain groups within countries may be hurt. Concerns about loss of national sovereignty and control over the nation’s sovereignty and control over the nations monetary, fiscal and trade policies. Trade Creation versus Trade Diversion – When an inefficient non member nation replaces an efficient member nation (NAFTA). Like Mexico replacing China in the textile business. Creation: occurs when free trade leads to the substitution of inefficient domestic production for efficient production in another member country. Diversion: Occurs when efficient non-member production is replaced by inefficient production by a member nation as a result of high trade barriers for non-members. The European Union (EU) – is composed of 27 member countries, covers an area of 4 million square kilometers and has approximately 460 million inhabitants. The EU’s member states combined represent the world’s largest economy by GDP, the seventh largest territory in the world by area and the third largest by population. Political Structure of the European Union: European Commission, Council of the European Union, European Parliament and Court of Justice Optimal Currency Area – In economics, an optimum currency area (OCA), also known as an optimal currency region (OCR), is a geographical region in which it would maximize economic efficiency to have the entire region share a single currency. It describes the optimal characteristics for the merger of currencies or the creation of a new currency. Cop enhagen Criteria – are the rules that define whether a nation is eligible to join the European Union. The criteria require that a nation have the institutions to preserve democratic governance and human rights, a functioning market economy, and that the nation accept the obligations and intent of the EU. The Lisbon Treaty – The Treaty of Lisbon (also known as the Reform Treaty) is a treaty designed to streamline the workings of the European Union (EU) with amendments to the Treaty on European Union (TEU, Maastricht) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC, Rome), the latter being renamed Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in the process. The stated aim of the treaty is â€Å"to complete the process started by the Treaty of Amsterdam and by the Treaty of Nice with a view to enhancing the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of the Union and to improving the coherence of its action.† The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Pros and Cons of NAFTA – Pros: Labor intensive industries move to Mexico, resulting in better resource allocation, Mexico gets investment and employment, increased Mexican income to buy US/Canadian goods, demand for goods increases jobs, consumers get lower prices. Cons: Loss of jobs to Mexico for people who don’t have other employment options, Mexican firms have to compete against efficient US/Canadian firms, environmental degradation, loss of national sovereignty. The Andean Community – The Andean Community is mainly a trade block formerly called the Andean Group (Grupo Andino, in Spanish) which saw light after the Andean Pact (Pacto Andino) or more formally the Cartagena Agreement (Acuerdo de Cartagena) was signed in 1969, in Cartagena (Colombia). Mercado Comà ºn del Sur (MERCOSUR) – Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuala. Was originally envisioned as a common market but has yet to reach that goal. Critics contend the agreement results in more trade diversion than trade creation as a result of the high external tariffs. Free Trade Area of the Americas –was a proposal to expand NAFTA to include all countries in the Western Hemisphere, except Cuba. This region has 850 million people and a $13.5 trillion economy. Talks are stalled and stronger support would be needed by the USA and Brazil for this agreement to become a reality. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) / ASEAN Free Trade Area – Ind onesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia. Total population of 500 million, GDP of US $740 billion, and a total trade of US $720 billion A free trade area among some of the nations exists, but several nations are refusing to lower all tariffs. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) – Founded in 1990 to promote open trade and economic cooperation. Currently has 21 members including the United States, Japan and China. Members account for 57% of the world’s GNP and 46% of global trade. Despite little progress, it could potentially become the world’s largest free trade area. Fiscal versus Monetary Policy – Market economies have regular fluctuations in the level of economic activity which we call the business cycle. It is convenient to think of the business cycle as having three phases. The first phase is expansion when the economy is growing along its long term trends in employment, output, and income. But at some point the economy will overheat, and suffer rising prices and interest rates, until it reaches a turning point — a peak — and turn downward into a recession (the second phase). Recessions are usually brief (six to nine months) and are marked by falling employment, output, income, prices, and interest rates. Most significantly, recessions are marked by rising unemployment. The economy will hit a bottom point — a trough — and rebound into a strong recovery (the third phase). The recovery will enjoy rising employment, output, and income while unemployment will fall. The recovery will gradually slow down as the economy once again assumes its long term growth trends, and the recovery will transform into an expansion. Foreign Exchange Market –a market for converting the currency of one country into the currency of another. Exchange Rate – the rate at which one currency is converted into another. Foreign Exchange Risk – the risk of an investment’s value changing due to changes in the currency exchange rates. Arbitrage – the purchase of a product in one market for immediate resale in a second market in order to profi t from a price discrepancy. Currency Speculation – short-term movement of funds from one currency to another in hopes of profiting from shifts in exchange rates. Spot Exchanges –the exchange rate at which a foreign exchange dealer would convert one currency to into another currency on that day. Forward Exchanges – the exchange rate at which a foreign exchange dealer will agree to convert one currency into another currency on a specific date in the future. Hedging: Forward Contracts versus Options Selling on a Discount versus Selling at a Premium Currency Swaps – A currency swap (or cross currency swap) is a foreign exchange agreement between two parties to exchange a given amount of one currency for another and, after a specified period of time, to give back the original amounts swapped. Economic Theories of Exchange Rate Determination – Law of One Price – The law of one price is an economic law stated as: â€Å"In an efficient market all identical goods must have only one price.† The intuition for this law is that all sellers will flock to the highest prevailing price, and all buyers to the lowest current market price. In an efficient market the convergence on one price is instant. Purchasing Power Parity – The purchasing power parity (PPP) theory uses the long-term equilibrium exchange rate of two currencies to equalize their purchasing power. Developed by Gustav Cassel in 1920, it is based on the law of one price: the theory states that, in an ideally efficient market, identical goods should have only one price. Big Mac Index – The Big Mac Index is an informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity (PPP) between two currencies and provides a test of the extent to which market exchange rates result in goods costing the same in different countries. As stated in The Economist, it â€Å"seeks to make exchange-rate theory a bit more digestible† In 120 nations the big mac is the same. How Increasing the Money Supply Impacts Exchange Rates Price Discrimination – Price discrimination or yield management occurs when a firm charges a different price to different groups of consumers for an identical good or service, for reasons not associated with costs. Fisher Effect / International Fischer Effect Real versus Nominal Interest Rates 8% interest + 2%inflation = 10% nominal interest. $100 on $1000 loan. Investor Psychology and Bandwagon Effects The Efficient Market School versus the Inefficient Market School – Efficient: Those who believe the foreign exchange market actually predicts things accurately. Fundamental versus Technical Analysis Currency Convertibility: Freely, Externally, and Nonconvertible Currencies Capital Flight – Capital flight, in economics, occurs when assets and/or money rapidly flow out of a country, due to an economic event that disturbs investors and causes them to lower their valuation of the assets in that country, or otherwi se to lose confidence in its economic strength. This leads to a disappearance of wealth and is usually accompanied by a sharp drop in the exchange rate of the affected country (depreciation in a variable exchange rate regime, or a forced devaluation in a fixed exchange rate regime). Transaction versus Translation versus Economic Exposure – Economic exposure: the extent to which a firm’s future international earning power is affected by changes in exchange rates. Lead versus Lag Strategies – Lead: an attempt to collect foreign currency receivables when a foreign currency is expected to depreciate. Lag: An attempt to delay the collection of foreign currency receivables if that currency is expected to appreciate. Delay paying foreign currency payables if the foreign currency is expected to depreciate. International Monetary System – are institutional arrangements countries adopt to govern exchange rates. Exchange Rate Regimes: Formal Dollarization, Fixed, Currency Boards, Pegged, Dirty/Managed Floats and Independently Floating – The Gold Standard – Pegging currencies to gold and guaranteeing convertibility is known as the gold standard. Gold Par Value – The amount of a currency in an ounce, one ounce of gold was referred to as the gold par value. The Bretton Woods Exchange Rate System – Created a fixed exchange rate system where the countries agreed to peg their currencies to the US dollar which was convertible to gold at $35 an ounce. Countries agreed to defend the value of their currencies to within 1% of par value. Currency, Banking and Foreign Debt Crises – Currency speculators believed that the devaluation of the dollar was inevitable. President Nixon dropped the gold standard conversion and the dollar was devalued. Following a second round of speculative attacks, the US dollar was allowed to float against other world currencies. Concerns about the IMF’s Policy Prescriptions – The system of adjustable parities allowed for the devaluation of a country’s currency by more than 10 percent if the IMF agreed that a country’s balance of payments was in â€Å"fundamental disequilibrium.† Moral Hazard – arises when people behave recklessly because they know they will be sav ed if things go wrong. Capital Market – The capital market is the market for securities, where companies and governments can raise longterm funds. The capital market includes the stock market and the bond market. Financial regulators, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, oversee the capital markets in their designated countries to ensure that investors are protected against fraud. The capital markets consist of the primary market, where new issues are distributed to investors, and the secondary market, where existing securities are traded. Cost of Capital – The cost of capital is an expected return that the provider of capital plans to earn on their investment. Initial Public Offering – Initial public offering (IPO), also referred to simply as a â€Å"public offering†, is when a company issues common stock or shares to the public for the first time. They are often issued by smaller, younger companies seeking capital to expand, but can also be done by large privately-owned companies looking to become publicly traded. Commercial Banks versus Investment Banks Equity Loan: An equity loan is a mo rtgage placed on real estate in exchange for cash to the borrower. For example, if a person owns a home worth $100,000, but does not currently have a lien on it, they may take an equity loan at 80% loan to value (LTV) or $80,000 in cash in exchange for a lien on title placed by the lender of the equity loan. Debt Loans: A loan is a type of debt. This article focuses exclusively on monetary loans, although, in practice, any material object might be lent. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower. Corporate Bonds – A Corporate Bond is a bond issued by a corporation. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, generally with a maturity date falling at least a year after their issue date. Systematic Risk – In finance, Systemic Risk is that risk which is common to an entire market and not to any individual entity or component thereof. It can be defined as â€Å"financial system instability, potentially catastrophic, caused or exacerbated by idiosyncratic events or conditions in financial intermediaries†[1]. It refers to the movements of the whole economy and has wide ranging effects. It is also sometimes erroneously referred to as â€Å"systematic risk†. Portfolio Diversification – By using the global capital market, investors have a much wider range of investment opportunities than in a purely domestic capital market. The most significant consequence of this choice is that investors can diversify their portfolios internationally, thereby reducing their risk to below what could be achieved in a purely domestic capital market. Drivers of the Global Capital Market: Information Technology: Financial services is an information-intensive industry. It draws on large volumes of information about markets, risks, exchange rates, interest rates, creditworthiness, and so on. It uses this information to make decisions about what to invest where, how much to change borrowers, how much interest to pay to depositors, and the value and riskiness of a range of financial assets including corporate bonds, stocks, government securities, and currencies. Deregulation: Many restrictions have been crumbling in the US since the early 80s. In this part, this has been a response to the development of the Eurocurrency market, which from the beginning was outside of national control. Hot Money: In economics, hot money refers to funds which flow into a country to take advantage of a favorable interest rate, and therefore obtain higher returns. They influence the balance of payments and strengthen the exchange rate of the recipient country while weakening the currency of the country losing the money. These funds are held in currency markets by speculators as opposed to national banks or domestic investors. As such, they are highly volatile in Mexico and East Asian financial crisis. Patient Money: Selling land in large blocks under frontier conditions is to sell at a time before it begins yielding much if any rent. It is bid in by those few who have large discretionary funds of patient money. Eurocurrency – Eurocurrency is the term used to describe deposits residing in banks that are located outside the borders of the country that issues the currency the deposit is denominated in. For example a deposit denominated in US dollars residing in a Japanese bank is a Eurocurrency deposit, or more specifically a Eurodollar deposit. Attractions and Drawbacks of the Eurocurrency Market Attractions: Lack of government regulation. Drawbacks: When depositors use a regulated banking system they know that the probability of a bank failure that would cause them to lose their deposits is very low. Secondly, borrowing funds internationally can expose a company to foreign exchange risk. Reserve Requirements – The reserve requirement (or required reserve ratio) is a bank regulation that sets the minimum reserves each bank must hold to customer deposits and notes. These reserves are designed to satisfy withdrawal demands, and would normally be in the form of fiat currency stored in a bank vault (vault cash), or with a central bank. Foreign Bonds vs. Eurobonds: A Eurobond is an international bond that is denominated in a currency not native to the country where it is issued. It can be categorised according to the currency in which it is issued. London is one of the centers of the Eurobond market, but Eurobonds may be traded throughout the world – for example in Singapore or Tokyo. Attractions of the Eurobond Market – Absence of regulatory interference. Less stringent disclosure requirements than in most domestic bond markets. A favorable tax status. The Impact of Exchange Rate Risk on the Cost of Capital Benefits and Costs of Financial Globalization Inter-Temporal Trade – Consumption smoothing usually between advanced economies and developing economies. Developing economies need money NOW. Capital Mobility – The ability of money to cross national borders. The free flow of money in and out of a country. Impossible Trinity – The Impossible Trinity (also known as the Inconsistent Trinity, Triangle of Impossibility or Unholy Trinity) is the hypothesis in international economics that it is impossible to have all three of the following at the same time: Exchange Rate Stability, Independent Monetary Policy, and Capital Mobility. You can only have 2 of these 3 things at the same time ever. The Exchange Rate is simply the relative price of currencies. For example: It tells you how many Euros you can get for a dollar. A government has to main monetary policies it can use: The Fiscal Policy, or the Monetary Policy The Fiscal Policy concerns government expenditures and tax collection The Monetary Policy concerns the interest rate in the economy. The interest rates are established to help stabilize the economy.