E-business strategy and design exercise Assignment

E-business strategy and design exercise - Assignment Example The value proposition of the company has also been explained in this section. In the second section, few of the areas where improvement need of Amazon have been identified were assessed and correspondingly, suggestive measures have been recommended on the basis of the evaluations made in section 1. In the third and final section of the paper, the e-business strategies of Amazon along with its management issues have been explained. Introduction E-business has emerged as one of the pivotal concerns for every contemporary business that strives to mark its presence in the global realm and obtain competitive success over its long-run performance. In the present market scenario, most of the global companies have realized that with the adoption of the e-business strategy, they can develop their business model in a manner that satisfies the varying needs and diversified concerns of international business partners as well as customers. If the meaning of e-business is to be termed in general s ense, it can be justifiably described as the use of internet or the virtual space in the operational activities of the business to gain a leading position within the targeted market (Turban et al., 2010). When focusing on this subject matter, Amazon.com Inc has often been regarded as an example of best practices in its industry whereby its e-business model has been quite beneficial and productive in adding value to its services among its customers (Damani & Damani, 2007). Amazon, an American multinational, is one of the renowned and largest global e-commerce retailing companies. Amazon has been a pioneer in the application of e-commerce business model that runs its functions through virtual space entirely. It is not only involved in the selling of books and other products, but also renders due significance on gathering the valuable suggestions from the buyers so as to define its customer satisfaction and industrial leadership competencies. It records various movements of its buyers such as the number of visitors who visit its site and how much time do they spend on it while purchasing from a particular category of its product line. All these movements of the buyers are utilised by the company in order to analyse the buying behaviour of consumers in various targeted markets to identify its developmental needs along with its growth potentials. Through the advanced technologies of the e-business, Amazon has been successful in introducing the one stop shopping trend successfully (McGraw-Hill Education, 2013). Section 1 Effective technological tools Amazon has been operating with a mission and a vision to serve its customers as per their conveniences and in a productive manner for the company. Undoubtedly, in doing so, the company has to witness pressures from various international business forces that can be comprehensively addressed through the application of a PESTEL analysis framework. Political. From a critical point of view, it can be observed that because th e e-retail industry is yet in its developing phase within the global context, governmental interventions and political limitations bestowed on the industry as well as faced by Amazon correspondingly, is less. Subsequently, the international sale procedure of Amazon involves various risks mainly in terms of the requirement for import and export licensing that

Statement of Intent Essay Example for Free

Statement of Intent Essay My interest in the Fashion Marketing program at Parsons, was innited in college during the time we were starting to study the different fields of marketing. Since I was little I’ve always had a very big interest in the fashion world, observing the different trends and how every country has different styles is fascinating for me. My biggest role model fashion wise is Oscar de la Renta, I identify myself with him because we come from from the same country where the fashion industry can still be considered in diapers. He has known how to overcome the many obstacles that have been presented to him throughout his career, obstacles like the lack of support at the beggining, or the credibility he had to win through his career. Marketing has become the biggest interest in my life, through out my career I have seen the difference that exists between some markets and others, this field is evolving and fashion is a inmense part of it. With the fashion marketing program I will learn the relation betweeen design, merchandising and marketing and how in the connection of these depends whether you succeed entering a market. After acquiring these knowledge my interest is merelly creating my own store, which has been my dream for a long time now. I consider I have an great eye for spotting new trends, and in my country people are very imposed to fashion because there are not a lot of options of where to shop, and with my store I could give them a new option. I believe Parsons is the best place to study, because of it’s amazing credentials aswell of the great curriculum it offers in Fashion Marketing and other areas. The profesors have been said to be the best in the world in there differente specialities, and I want to receive the best education and this way make me an Amazing Profesional. Aswell as it’s locations is a great factor, Parsons is located in what many would call the heart of fashion, is in those NYC streets that many trends come to life, and many new desginers become recognized. It’s fascinating mixture of cultures makes of it, the best place to learn how the fashion marketing world really works.

Motives for Female Adolescents Participation in Physical Activity Essa

It has been demonstrated that there is a strong correlation between age and physical activity. The amount of physical activity declines significantly as age increases. This correlation has been found to be true regardless of gender. However, research has shown that the participation in regular physical activity declines more in females than males (Butt Joanne, Robert Weinberg, Jeff Breckon & Randal Claytor, 2011). Studies have been conducted to investigate explanations for the decline in participation in physical activity. Exploring the motives and goals for participation gave a better understanding for the decrease in physical activity. Reasons for participation in physical activity among female adolescents were both intrinsic and extrinsic. Goals and motives for physical activity in the two contexts resonate with concepts and ideas of the Self-Determination Theory (O'Dougherty Maureen, Kurzer Mindy & Schmitz Kathryn, 2010). The Self-Determination Theory possesses the idea that participation in physical activity comes from both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is described as motivation associated with enjoyment to the activity whereas extrinsic motivation is externally imposed (O'Dougherty Maureen, Kurzer Mindy & Schmitz Kathryn, 2010). The continuum of self-regulation is central to this theory. Proposed by this theory is the idea a person’s level or intensity of self-regulation varies on a continuum. These variations have important implications for the individual’s physical and mental well being (Puente Rogelio & Anshel Mark, 2009). The four types of regulation are expressed in the Self-Determination Theory. The four types of regulation are external, introjected, identification, and integrated. Exter... ...ary, (2010). Coping with â€Å"bad body image days†: Strategies from first-year young adult college women. Body Image, 8(4), 335-342. Jankauskiene Rasa. , & Kardelis Kestutis, (2005). Body image and weight reduction attempts among adolescent girls involved in physical activity. Medicina (Kaunas), 41(9), 796-801. O'Dougherty Maureen. , Kurzer Mindy, S., & Schmitz Kathryn, H. (2010). Shifting motivations: Young women’s reflections on physical activity over time and across contexts. Health Educ Behaviors, 37(4), 1-19. Puente Rogelio. , & Anshel Mark, H. (2009). Exercisers’ perceptions of their fitness instructor. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 51, 38-45. Sanda Solfrid, B., & Borgen Jorunn, (2011). Symptoms of eating disorders, drive for muscularity and physical activity among norwegian adolescents. European Eating Disorder Review, doi: 10.1002/erv.1156

Social structure

Introduction: Culture harmonizes people behavior and at the same time creates barriers between different groups. Donnan and Wilson (1999) have argued that borders of cultures and identities make up the least studied and understood phenomena of international borders and admit that borders are always descriptions since they are illogical constructions based on cultural convention. Similarly, most of the organizations meet the diverse consequences of culture in our modern globalizing world; the cooperation of individuals, groups, and organizations is a vital issue for any social entity and largely depends on their cultural background.Individualism is an attitude that emphasizes the importance of individual over the group identity and collectivism is the opposite tendency that emphasizes the importance of â€Å"we† identity over â€Å"I† identity (Hofstede, 1980). Individualism VS collectivism Just as Western businesses have intensified their efforts to learn from Asian org anizations, so too has there been a rise in research on cross-cultural differences between the two regions. Asian and Western cultures have been distinguished along a variety of characteristics (Cohen & Nisbett, 1994; Triandis, 1994).However, it is the dimension of individualism and collectivism that has received the most attention by psychologists specializing in cross-cultural research. Cultural values of individualism and collectivism differ in their relative emphasis on independence vs. interdependence with one’s group (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). In individualistic cultures, people are viewed as independent and possessing a unique pattern of traits that distinguish them from other people (Markus & Kitayama, 1994).In contrast to such independence and uniqueness, people in collectivistic cultures view the self as inherently interdependent with the group to which they belong. Therefore, whereas people in individualistic cultures often give global and abstract descriptions of themselves (e. g. , I am optimistic), people in collectivistic cultures might ask how they could possibly describe themselves in the absence of information about a particular situation (Bachnik, 1994).To someone from a collectivistic culture, a relatively abstract description of the person can appear artificial because it implies that he or she is the same regardless of context (Cousins, 1989). One of the most important consequences of these divergent views of the self is the degree of conformity that is observed in social settings. A meta-analysis of studies using Asch’s (1956) line judgment task suggested that Asians demonstrated a stronger tendency to conform than Americans (Bond & Smith, 1996). In fact, the very concept of conformity may have different connotations in different cultures.While conformity is often viewed negatively in an individualistic culture, uniqueness can be viewed as a form of deviance and conformity associated with harmony in a more collectivistic cu lture (Kim & Markus, 1999). Because the person’s identity is closely linked to his/her social group in collectivistic cultures, the primary goal of the person is not to maintain independence from others, but to promote the interests of the group (Davidson, Jaccard, Triandis, Morales, & Diaz-Guerrero, 1976). In contrast, most people in individualistic cultures assume that their identity is a direct consequence of their unique traits.Because the norms of individualistic cultures stress being â€Å"true† to one’s self and one’s unique set of needs and desires (Fiske, Kitayama, Markus, & Nisbett, 1998), the person may be encouraged to resist social pressure if it contradicts his/her own values and preferences. Thus, people in individualistic cultures can be expected to be consistent in their views and maintain them in the face of opposition, while people in collectivistic cultures might consider the failure to yield to others as rude and inconsiderate.In coll ectivistic cultures, self-esteem is not derived from characteristic behavior or from calling attention to one’s own unique abilities. There is greater emphasis on meeting a shared standard so as to maintain harmony in one’s relationship to the group (Wink, 1997). People in collectivistic cultures are therefore not motivated to stand out from their group by competitive acts of achievement or even making positive statements about themselves (Kitayama, Markus, & Lieberman, 1995). Instead, there is a tendency toward self improvement motivated by concern for the well being of the larger social group.Whereas members of individualistic cultures strive for special recognition by achieving beyond the norms of the group, collectivists are more motivated to understand the norms for achievement in the particular context so as to meet that standard (Azuma, 1994). Therefore, one might expect groups defined by collectivistic norms to be high in collaboration and achievement of collec tive goals, whereas groups with individualistic norms may have greater variability in performance among its individual members. High context to low context cultures: In today's business relations, it's a small world after all.As more companies turn towards global markets, professionals are finding themselves in foreign locales, wheeling and dealing like never before. However, the key to effective communication between countries is an understanding of each other's culture, especially a working knowledge of how each society conveys meaning. First used by author Edward Hall, the expressions â€Å"high context† and â€Å"low context† are labels denoting inherent cultural differences between societies. High-context and Low-context communication refers to how much speakers rely on things other than words to convey meaning.Hall states that in communication, individuals face many more sensory cues than they are able to fully process. In each culture, members have been supplied with specific â€Å"filters† that allow them to focus only on what society has deemed important. In general, cultures that favour low-context communication will pay more attention to the literal meanings of words than to the context surrounding them. It is important to remember that every individual uses both high-context and low-context communication; it is not simply a matter of choosing one over the other.Often, the types of relationships we have with others and our circumstances will state the extent to which we rely more on literal or implied meanings. Novelist Amy Tan describes the differences in cultural communication this way: â€Å"An American business executive may say, ‘Let's make a deal,' and the Chinese manager may reply, ‘Is your son interested in learning about your widget business? ‘ Each to his or her own purpose, each with his or her own linguistic path. † When individuals from high-context and low-context cultures collaborate, ther e are often difficulties that occur during the exchange of information.These problems can be separated into differences concerning â€Å"direction†, â€Å"quantity† and â€Å"quality. † For example, employees from high-context cultures like China and France share very specific and extensive information with their â€Å"in-group members† (good friends, families, close co-workers, etc). In comparison, low-context cultures like the United States and Germany prefer to limit communication to smaller, more select groups of people, sharing only that information which is necessary. High-Context CommunicationHall states â€Å"Most of the information is either in the physical context or initialized in the person. † ? Knowledge is situational, relational ? Less is verbally explicit or written or formally expressed ? More internalized understandings of what is communicated (ex: â€Å"in-jokes†) ? Often used in long term, well-established relationships   Decisions and activities focus around personal face-to-face communication, ? often around a central, authoritative figure ? Strong awareness of who is accepted/belongs vs. â€Å"outsiders† Association  Relationships depend on trust, build up slowly, and are stable. ? How things get done depends on relationships with people and attention to group process. ? One's identity is rooted in groups (family, culture, work). Interaction ? High use of nonverbal elements; voice tone, facial expression, gestures, and ? Eye movement carry significant parts of conversation. ? Verbal message is indirect; one talks around the point and embellishes it. ? Communication is seen as an art form-a way of engaging someone. ? Disagreement is personalized.One is sensitive to conflict expressed in another's nonverbal communication. Conflict either must be solved before work can progress or must be avoided. Learning ? Multiple sources of information are used. Thinking is deductive, proceeds from ge neral to specific. ? Learning occurs by first observing others as they model or demonstrate and then practicing. ? Groups are preferred for learning and problem solving. ? Accuracy is valued. How well something is learned is important. High context cultures are more common in the eastern nations than in western, and in countries with low racial diversity.Cultures where the group is valued over the individual promote group reliance. High context cultures have a strong sense of tradition and history, and change little over time, such as tribal and native societies. For instance, the French assume that the listener knows everything. Therefore, they may think that Americans think they are stupid because Americans will habitually explain everything to their counterparts. Former president Jimmy Carter understood the importance of high-context communication with his colleagues from Israel and Egypt during the peace talks at Camp David.When Prime Minister Begin was about to leave the unsati sfactory negotiations, Carter presented him with pictures of the three heads of state, with the names of each of Begins grandchildren written on the photographs. The prime minister repeated the names of his grandchildren out loud as he looked at the pictures, reflecting on the importance of the peace negotiations to his grandchildren's futures. Carter recognized that a high-context reference to future generations would induce the prime minister to return to the negotiations. Low Context CommunicationHall states â€Å"The mass of information is vested in the explicit code (message). † ? Rule oriented ? More knowledge is public, external, and accessible. ? Shorter duration of communications ? Knowledge is transferable ? Task-centred. Decisions and activities focus around what needs to be done and the division of responsibilities. Association ? Relationships begin and end quickly. Many people can be inside one's circle; circle's boundary is not clear. ? Things get done by follow ing procedures and paying attention to the goal. ? One's identity is rooted in oneself and one's accomplishments.Social structure is decentralized; responsibility goes further down (is not concentrated at the top). Interaction ? Message is carried more by words than by nonverbal means. ? Verbal message is direct; one spells things out exactly. ? Communication is seen as a way of exchanging information, ideas, and opinions. ? Disagreement is depersonalized. One withdraws from conflict with another and gets on with the task. Focus is on rational solutions, not personal ones. Learning ? One source of information is used to develop knowledge. ? Thinking is inductive, proceeds from specific to general.Focus is on detail. ? Learning occurs by following explicit directions and explanations of others. ? An individual orientation is preferred for learning and problem solving. ? Speed is valued. How efficiently something is learned is important. An individual from a high context culture has t o adapt, and/or be accommodated when shifting to a low context culture. High context cultures expect small close-knit groups, where professional and personal life is interrelated. Therefore, a high context individual is more likely to ask questions than attempt to work out a solution independently.References Brockner, J. (2003). Unpacking country effects: On the need to operationalize the psychological determinants of cross-national differences. Research in organizational behavior, (P 333–367). Flynn, F, & Chatman, J. (2001). Strong cultures and innovation: Oxymoron or opportunity? In S. Cartwright (Ed. ), International handbook of organizational culture and climate. Wink, P. (1997). Beyond ethnic differences: Contextualizing the influence of ethnicity on individualism and collectivism. Journal of Social Issues, (P 329–349).

Funny Ads

â€Å"Humour certainly succeeds in getting people’s attention and is the most effective advertising strategy of our time. † Advertisement is one of the important things for a company’s marketing. It can say that in today’s modern life advertisement plays a key role in order for any company or product to succeed the advertisement must deliver a powerful message which attracts the consumer’s attention (Creativenerds 2010). That is because â€Å"advertising can achieve communications object such as informing people about brands, it can create awareness and it can move people closer to choosing one brand rather than another. (Blithe 2009) Humour has become a mainstay of advertising campaigns and has proven to be one of the most effective methods ever devised for selling products and creating a positive brand image (Clayton n. d. ). That is because Funny advertisements are a way to make sure they provide something different to the eyes of customers to s tand out in the crowd of products of services (SloDive n. d. ). Advertising is defined as a paid insertion of a message in a medium, and it is probably the most prominent of all marketing activities.Non-marketers often think that advertising is all that marketers do, which is of course not case the definition specifically excludes anything that is not paid for, or anything that does not pass through a medium, or anything that does not convey a message (Blithe 2009). However, it is true that using humour in advertisement can get people’s attention but it is not the most effective advertising strategy of our time. This essay will firstly show the disadvantages of using humour in advertising with some examples, and secondly, it also mentions some benefits of funny advertisement together with an example.The last thing is the recommendation about an advertising strategy. It is clear that the most obvious advantage of funny advertisement is that it does get more attention from cons umers and is better like. That is because humour is not only one of the best ways to captivate your audience’s attention but it also makes a product or service easier to recall or remember. People will probably love to  remember things  that make them smile or laugh and making people recognize a product is the most important thing for company’s marketing. The quote from presidiacreative is the good example. Humor is the best medicine, and this holds true in advertising as well, humor is one of the best ways to captivate your audience’s attention. Whether the humor is blatantly obvious, or a subtle joke, funny advertisements are always appreciated by the public, which is why so much effort goes into Superbowl ads. † (presidiacreative 2011) Furthermore, funny advertisement can get more attention because most people like funny things and it put them in a good mood. People love to be entertained that is why laughter has an enormous power when it comes to  advertisements.If asking some people about any advertisement that they seem to remember up to this day, more than 80 percents of them will think about  advertisements  that made them smile or laugh. They will relax and pay more attention when they know that advertisement has a sense of humor. Also, it create a more comfortable atmosphere and positive image for the company as Mr. Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, said â€Å"If you're equal on relevance and information, almost always funny will win over unfunny ads because it drives the other scores like likability and attention. (Neff 2012) Another advantage of using humour in advertising is that it can persuade people to buy products. Many people decide to buy the product because they like the advertisement. That is why the advertisement has a lot influence on circulation. According to Bhatti’s survey (2012), more than 50% of the current Vodafone customer is the result of effective funny advertisement created. Moreover, for a dvertisement, creativity is most important, and funniness is an extra added bonus for success. The Huggies advertisement is the very good example. It was successful funny advertisement because it conveys the message that a kid with a serious bladder problem can be contained. † (Hollis 2011). From two reason mentioned above it can understand that the advantages of using humour in advertisement are that people tend to enjoy it more, remember it, talk about it and then ultimately purchase a product. If a brand manager or a marketer always remembers that as long as people smile, they will surely buy. On the other hand, trying to use some serious approach in advertisement can make people find it boring and they will skip your advertisement (Sterling 2012).Although funny advertising has some advantages, it also has a lot disadvantages. The first one is that it can make consumers laugh but do not make them buy and the worst thing that could happen, and does happen, is for people to n otice the advertisement and remember the joke, but not the business (Theselfemployed n. d. ). It is true that funny advertisements are useful for entertaining viewers, but are not the most effective way for advertisers to convince those viewers to buy the product. There was a report about this point from Ace Metrix.It presented that â€Å"Funniness had little correlation with effectiveness in a scoring system that incorporates watchability, likability and persuasion among other factors. In fact, funny ads were slightly less likely to increase desire or purchase intent than unfunny ones. † (Neff 2012) These means that perfect ad is one that is appealing and memorable and effective all in the same breath (Pride et al. 2007). As Mr. Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, said â€Å"Just being funny doesn't make an ad better, but being funny, relevant and informative are the things that really make an ad work† (Neff 2012).Secondly, some viewers cannot understand what those ads w ant to advertise. That is because there are a lot of jokes, slangs and spoken language in funny ads, so some people can understand but some people cannot. Nigel Hollis (2011), chief global analyst at Millward Brown, a global market research company, said that â€Å"Humor is culturally specific. Subtle references and puns tend to travel badly. † This is the example of one of the viewers’ opinion on the incomprehensible funny advertisement. I'm confused by the latest TV commercial for Adidas running shoes. The one that has the guy running through the city, and everything gets disrupted when he runs by it. Waterbeds explode, tractor trailer tires blow out, balloon floats deflate, a kid gets knocked off a pogo stick. At first I thought it was because the guy's feet smelled so bad he was causing all of this to happen, but the commercial is for a running shoe, so they wouldn't do that. † (Sassone 2005) This will make the company lose the group of people who cannot unde rstand he advertisement. A lot of people simply do not have a sense of humours, so if they think that the advertisement is not fun or they do not understand it, the company will lose these people immediately, and the potential size of the market will shrinks (Professional Advertising n. d. ). Thirdly, not all ads can be funny. It is believed that advertisement is a representative of company so if companies use funny things in ads that should not be funny, it will provide bad effect to companies’ images. In addition, advertising humor can backfire.If companies make a joke at the expense of any one group, they will surely alienate them. For example, many years ago, in Thailand, there was disrespectful act toward Buddha in one restaurant’s poster to make people fun. As a result, a lot of Thai people blamed on that restaurant and were banned it. This is because Buddhists who see a Buddha image placed in an improper place will feel very unhappy and may become subject to con flict arising from such situations. (Knowingbuddha n. d. ). Finally, some people cannot get any information from funny advertisement while some get bored with the same jokes.As the Professional Advertising said â€Å"The first time we see it we may laugh out loud. But after a while, although we still may smile at the joke, it’s not so funny anymore. Funny ads need to be replaced periodically. † (Professional Advertising n. d. ) Generally, when someone got the jokes, those jokes are not funny anymore. In the same ways as a funny advertisement, the first time people see the advertisement they will feel fun and interested, but they will find it not funny anymore when they see it again and again.Additionally, some advertisements have a lot of funny things but less information. In fact, giving information about a product is the most important of advertising and using humor is a supplement. Although funny advertisements drive the great advertising attributes such as attentio n and likeability, low information and relevance on many funny ads results in creating lower desire for the advertised products than non-funny advertisements (Tuttle 2012).This is the same concept as Michael Curran, Resource Manager at Capgemini, that â€Å"If an ad is merely funny and does nothing to bolster the featured product’s attributes, however, it’s probably a failure, no matter how funny the ad is. † (Tuttle 2012) In conclusion, Funny advertisement can get attention from viewers but it not always makes them buy a product. Besides, some people cannot understand what the ad wants to advertise and they sometimes cannot get anything about the product but fun. Also, not all ads can be funny.As a result, using humour in advertisement is one advertising strategy but it cannot be used with all advertisements and it is not the best way. It is recommended that companies should take care in considering what’s best for their brand. Don’t just jump on the funny band wagon because everyone is doing it. Every product must have its own proper way to advertise, so if a company can find that proper way, it will succeed in advertising. Some products are suited for funny advertisement but some are not, so companies should think carefully before advertising their product. Word count: 1670

Education Essay

Education Essay There are many rules that are used for education essay writing which should be followed in order to write a good education essay. The word essay literally means an attempt; and hence essay is the name given to the form of composition which is a short attempt on a given topic. Usually it gives writer’s own opinions on some topic, but also gives details of a narrative, a description of some subject. The Education essay is the most interesting exercise in English composition writing. It is supposed to provide the students the best means of expressing their thoughts on an educational topic and thus of acquiring a command over language. No one can deny the importance of education essay. A good educational essay must be coherent and unified whole. The ideas in it should be stated briefly and clearly. It should display the charm of style and the language. The personal element should illuminate the whole. Suitable subject, good arrangement and effective language make a good education essay. Subject matter: The student should have enough knowledge about the subject he/she is writing about. This can be gained by various ways such as by reading books, periodicals and newspapers, by observation of life and by conversing with well-informed friends at different places of meeting. A good writer of education essays should have read a lot of general books on all sorts of subjects related to education and others as well. A good writer of education essays should keep his/her eyes open and if possible, keep a note-book in which he/she note all sorts of things that excite interest in everyday life. A good writer of education essays must be a good talker and a good listener wherever he finds people engaged in conversation on topics of various interests. After having read all that a student can possibly read about a subject, he/she should take the following steps: Clear his/her ideas about the subject: This means that the student should take a definite point of view and decide which line of thought he has to keep. Collect material: The student should make sure of what his/her point of view should include and then collect all possible material that lies within its context. Select important points: The student should see that all materials collected by him/her, is not to be included. The student should select all that can give his/her point of view without repetition or inclusion of irrelevant details. Divergent selection leading to obscurity must be avoided.

The Night Before Christmas Essays - Christmas, Christmas Traditions

The Night Before Christmas Essays - Christmas, Christmas Traditions The Night Before Christmas It was the prior night Christmas and I was exceptionally pitiful in light of the fact that my family life had been extremely upset and I was certain that Christmas could never come. There was none of the standard delight and suspicion that I generally felt amid the Christmas season. I was eight years of age, yet in the previous couple of months, I had matured enormously. Christmas had dependably been for me one of the blissful religious celebrations. The congregation began get ready path back in November. We truly felt that we were get ready for the introduction of the child Jesus. The youngsters and all the youngsters wanted to make vivid crepe paper adornments and beautify their homes and schools with them. Excellent Christmas music could be heard wherever in the city, on the radio and even on TV. It was the time when relatives and companions went to each other, so there were dependably individuals voyaging and chatting with incredible bliss from all the distinctive tribes. Goodness, how I wished I had a portion of the conventional sustenance of rice, chicken, goat, sheep, and products of different sorts devoured at Christmas now! Every one of us anticipated the Christmas Eve Service at our congregation. After the administration there would be a cheerful parade through the lanes. All through the festival, everybody was welcomed with the extraordinary welcome word, " Afishapa " which means Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Everybody would be in an occasion mind-set. At that point on Christmas Day we did a reversal to chapel to peruse the sacred texts and sing songs to help us to remember the significance of the favored birth of the child Jesus. After the Christmas benefit youngsters got presents of extraordinary chocolate, unique treats, and exceptional wafers. Youngsters were informed that the presents originate from Father Christmas. They additionally got new garments and maybe new combines of shoes. We generally believed that these were the things that implied Christmas. I truly wish that those recollections were genuine today! In any case, this Christmas Eve things were distinctive and I knew Christmas would not come. Everybody was pitiful and frantic due to what had happened before in the year, in April, when the supposed Army of Liberation assaulted our town and took all the young men and young ladies away. Families were isolated and some were killed. We were compelled to work and walk for some miles without sustenance. We were regularly eager. The officers smoldered everything in our town and amid our constrained walk we lost all feeling of time and place. Amid one blustery night we were inexplicably ready to make tracks in an opposite direction from the troopers . Following a few weeks in the tropical woodland we advanced back to our wore out town. The majority of us were wiped out, depleted, and discouraged. The greater part of the individuals from our families were mysteriously gone. We had no clue what day or time it was. This was the circumstance until my debilitated grandma saw the rosy and yellow blossom we call, "Fire on the Mountain." It was sprouting amidst the commercial center where it had stood and sprouted for eras at Christmas time. For reasons unknown it had survived the fire that had immersed the commercial center. (I recalled how the nectar from this wonderful bloom had dependably pulled in bugs making them sufficiently tired to tumble to the ground to wind up nourishment for crows and reptiles.) We were astounded that the fire the fighters had begun that blazed the commercial center and the town did not oblite rate the "Shoot on the Mountain" tree. What a supernatural occurrence it was. My grandmother informed us that it was almost Christmas on the grounds that the flowers were sprouting. To the extent she could recollect this lone happened at Christmas time. My spirits were lifted for a couple of minutes as I saw the bloom. Before long I got to be tragic once more. How could Christmas come without my folks? How would we be able to celebrate after all we had endured? How might we be able to praise the introduction

Italian Prepositions Tra and Fra

Italian Prepositions Tra and Fra The book is BETWEEN the couch and the wall. There’s a big difference BETWEEN say something and doing something. BETWEEN all of the girls, Giulia is the nicest. In English, the best definition for the prepositions â€Å"tra† and â€Å"fra† is â€Å"between,† but it can also be understood as â€Å"among.† Luckily, these two prepositions are simple to use in comparison to their counterparts, like â€Å"di,† â€Å"da,† or â€Å"in.† Here are some usages along with examples. How to Use â€Å"Tra† and â€Å"Fra† Between two objects Il libro à ¨ tra il divano e il muro. - The book is between the couch and the wall.un ponte tra una riva e laltra del fiume -a bridge between one bank and the other of the rivertra due monti si stende una vallata - between two mountains lies a valleyuna casa tra gli alberi - a house amidst the trees FUN FACT: The popular proverb â€Å"Actions speak louder than words,† can be loosely translated as, â€Å"Tra il dire e il fare c’à ¨ di mezzo il mare,† which literally means, â€Å"Between saying and doing there’s an ocean.† Movement to a place or particular location Torna tra noi. - Come back between us.Un raggio di luce passava tra le imposte socchiuse. - a beam of light passed through the half-closed shutters. Distance Tra due chilometri cà ¨ un benzinaio. - Within two kilometers, there’s a gas station. Time Arriver tra due ore. - She’ll arrive in two hours.Sono libero tra le otto e le nove. - I’m free between eight and nine oclock.Tra una cosa e un’altra abbiamo fatto tardi! - This and that and we’re late! Connection or relationship una discussione tra amici - a discussion between friendsSi consultarono tra loro. - They conferred amongst themselves. Companionship or alliance Ama stare fra gli altri. - He loves to be among others. To highlight one part or person Sei il migliore tra i miei amici. - You’re the best among my friends.Alcuni tra i presenti protestarono. - Some of those present protested.Fra tutte le ragazze, Giulia à ¨ la pià ¹ simpatica. - Between all of the girls, Giulia is the nicest. Tips In some sentences, the phrase tra tutti means throughout, overall: tra tutti saranno un centinaio - overall there will be a hundred.In certain expressions, the preposition tra (fra) has a causal value. For example, Fra la casa e i bambini non ho mai il tempo di uscire - Between the house and the children, I never have time to get out. The Difference Between â€Å"Tra† and â€Å"Fra† There’s no difference in meaning between the two forms. Which one you choose to use is governed by sound; It’s much preferred to say fra travi and tra frati to avoid groups of identical sounds (other examples include tra fratelli and fra tre anni). Even so, tra is the more common form. Tip: If â€Å"tra† precedes personal pronouns, its often followed by the preposition: tra di noi.

Ethical Issues in Information Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethical Issues in Information Systems - Essay Example The Importance of Ethics in Information Systems Authority, source and control are the major resources of the information. In fact, the key to success is the right access towards the information. As a result, the social and political relationships are also involved in the development and growth of information systems. It is more important and ethical that how this information is been utilized by the people. For instance, government levels, headquarters and homes include the electronic systems. This involvement is increased so much that the people without access to these systems are exaggerated in a particular way. For this reason, new and modern techniques, innovative ethical and lawful decisions are needed in order to balance the requirements and privileges of every person. Ethics Fill the Gap as Legal Decisions Lag Behind Technology The legal decision lags lies as in modern technological field behind technical development and growth. These gaps are filled through confronting on the issue and by discussing the facts on how to use the electronic information should be proceed. Furthermore, the above observation delineates the ethical issues in a broad way. On the contrary, the deciding laws include some characteristics related to the issues. These legal issues should be resolved in Electronic Information Systems. Ethical Issues Specific to Electronic Information Systems In relation to the entire community, the ethics consists of moral options choose by the individuals. These include standards of acceptable behavior and rules governing members of an occupation. Moreover, these extend to the Electronic Networks, Electronic Databases and significantly to a Geographic Information Systems. The problems that are present particularly in the three areas require a little different type of ethical decisions. In general, the Electronic Systems, Geographic Information Systems and Networks are being described individually below Network as Social Places In modern days, network has become a place to share ideas, thoughts and personal information. It is a social place where individuals can discover friendships, discuss on several issues, share some unusual interests, fight, form groups, show sympathy, proselytize and fall in love. With other traditional activities, these activities have also become a part of life. Ray Oldenburg an author delineates network as a new kind of â€Å"third Place† where people can communicate, share ideas and gather for hospitality a part from home and work which is the first and second place. The hypothesis stated that, the networks can replace chances of social interaction that is been vanished in the modern world of fringes, express highways and shopping arenas. Moreover, other authors are more conscious regarding the social networking and communicating therefore they termed this as: virtual communities or virtual villages. There are some terms that remind the differences present in the types of interactions that took place over the computer networks of workstations. For example, this has a significant effect due to the lack of face to face interaction. In social networking the race, class, gender and physical appearance is hidden thus allowing the individuals to create a communication that is free from all the delicate issues that usually comes between human relations directly. On the contrary, the virtual interaction allows an

Media & the Dispora Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Media & the Dispora - Essay Example Georgiou in the article, â€Å"Identity, space and the media† argues that people through information can decide if to connect or to disconnect with certain individuals or communities in neighbourhoods or in faraway places (Georgiou 31). For example through media, a person living in California can learn of an opportunity in France, which is part of what they have always wished to do in their lifetime. The same media will help the person analyse other aspects that will make them comfortable in pursuing the opportunity. Such may be political environment of the place, Inflation, people friendliness, cost of living and the education system. Secondly, media avails information about politics and cultures of origin, place of settlement, diaspora individuals and groups. Beck argues that this can create critical proximity where they become aware that they are not just a product of their origin. In addition, they do not just belong to a single group, or located in a certain territory and this enables diaspora identity to be lived as multi positioned by symbolic and geographical spaces. Becky also argues that the high mobility as a result causes intermarriages in different countries and cultures, which becomes a gateway to globalisation in once life (Georgiou 31). Diaspora on the other hand has affected media through innovation. Daily interactions with people of different backgrounds, races and cultures have caused innovations in the media industry to cater for various needs of different societies. Reality unveiled through diaspora have helped understand it is not important what is inside a certain group, neither is continuity important but reinvention of limits where human beings find themselves in. therefore, a clear and deep understanding of spaces and diaspora are important in ensuring that people utilise these two constructs for economic, social, and other benefits. We conclude therefore that media and diaspora are inseparable and very

Attend and Analyze a Speech - Delivery Aspects Essay

Attend and Analyze a Speech - Delivery Aspects - Essay Example His speech was quick, probably because he had a lot to cover in a short time. However, he took momentary pauses in between, especially after conveying something important to give us time to ponder over what he just said. He spoke animatedly with many facial expressions. His pronunciation was perfect although his speech lacked lucidity. The speaker appeared very confident in his speech. His appearance was very pleasing to the eye. He had a certain dignity in the way he spoke and moved about during the speech. He would hammer the fist of his right hand onto his left hand whenever he had to stress on the obligations that we should follow in daily life. I found this particular act of his to be very articulate and effective. He maintained eye contact with all the listeners, but most of the time, he would focus on the central part of the audience. He sometimes glanced in the book he carried, but that was less frequent. Most of his facial expressions conveyed more than words could. Whenever he spoke of kindness and compassion, piety and righteousness, his eyes shone with warmth and tears would appear in his eyes. His nonverbal communication was very effective and demanded both attention and admiration. Most of the time, he would point his index finger at the audience as if he was condemning them for something.

Response to Inquiry Regarding Legal Action Against Daley Motor Company Essay

Response to Inquiry Regarding Legal Action Against Daley Motor Company - Essay Example Firstly, with respect to business contracts there is the issue of offer and acceptance. What this means is that each and every binding legal contract must have these two phases. First an offer must be made and then an agreement/acceptance can be reached. Additionally, only those things which are specifically offered can be accepted. Accordingly, in the written contract if something is not specified it is not offered and in no way is it to be considered part of the written contract. It is during this phase of a business/legal contract that offers and counter offers are discussed and resolved. As a result, special attention should be noted as to the terms and conditions of the agreement as these terms and conditions are the actual mechanisms by which the agreement is to be carried out. Not until this phase is complete, read, agreed upon, and signed can the contract be considered legally binding (and then only if the other terms and conditions affecting the legality of a contract are me t). Final acceptance of the contract can be given orally, in writing or discerned through verifiable actions (the oral contract you believe you had with Daley Motor Company will be discussed at further length in this letter). Intention of legal consequences refers to the fact that both parties entering into the legally binding contract are aware that their acceptance means that they will be held legally responsible for executing the terms and conditions of the contract. It is this juncture that proved vitally important to the case in question as you did not take your legal obligation to the terms and conditions of sale seriously by carefully reading before signing the document provided to you. Although it is not always able to be determined whether a person has agreed on a particular item, English law upholds that when a person manifests their consent to a bargain, they are considered beholden to it (Tiersma and Solan 2012). For purposes of your particular instance, any disagreement with the language implied in the written document prepared by Daley Motor Company should necessarily have been discussed, amended, or redacted with the seller prior to any further agreement and prior to signature that denotes agreement and consent with the terms and conditions therein. Consideration is the final stage of legally binding contracts. With respect to the terms and conditions of the contract, consideration refers to the fact that one party will fulfil his/her responsibility by doing something in return for the promise stipulated in the contract. In essence, consideration is what one party gives to another party as an agreed sum for the other’s cooperation. Most of the time this â€Å"consideration† is in the form of money; however, it can be anything of value. (Pollock 1921). It should also be noted that for issues relating to fairness are not considered in a court of law. For instance if you severely overplayed for a given good or service after entering a binding legal contract to do so; this burden solely rests on the signatories and is not deemed fraud unless coercion or some other illegal instrument was in use to complete the deal. From the details of the issue you have provided us, it is clear that Arthur Daley Motor Company has at the very least treated you unfairly and at the very worst deliberately swindled you. Firstly, there is the issue of the oral

Business Etiquettes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Etiquettes - Research Paper Example In a situation where the name is too long or complicated, the person concerned should make the name shorter or change it to a format that is easily understood. A better way of dealing with such a situation is encrypting a person’s name on a business card in a way that is readable (Giang, 2013). During business meetings, the participants should avoid pointing each other using their index fingers. Pointing with an index finger is an indicator of aggression and is inappropriate in a business environment. When pointing, the palm should be open and the fingers should not be separated to avoid making the other party uncomfortable. Some business manners or codes of conduct should be taken into consideration. When dealing with people, consideration should be made on the person’s sex because addressing a gentleman is not the same as addressing a lady. Sometimes a person can be irritated by others in a business gathering but it is important for such people to maintain their composure and stay polite (Robinson, 2000). To make a good impression as a business person, care should be taken when walking inside business premises. Business people should walk with a sense of purpose and with some level of elegancy. Weird walking styles should be avoided. Walking with purpose means that a person should not walk aimlessly and carelessly around business premises (Chaney & Martin, 2007). Grooming is an important aspect of making an impression in the business world. The hair should be neat and well kept. When it is necessary to incorporate jewelry into the dressing code, the jewelry should match the prevalent occasion. Individuals should also dress according to the occasion keeping in mind that business meetings are distinct from social gatherings (Sabath, 1993). Business people should address each other using the relevant titles. The titles vary according to the region where business activities are being carried out. For example in the Middle East you will find

Gay Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Gay Marriage - Essay Example This issue aside from many others makes gay marriages a typical subject of debate. In order to determine whether it is best to legalize gay marriages within the United States or not, it is necessary to define the real meaning of matrimonial marriage in the United States aside from examining and analyzing the issue on human rights, the different point-of-views coming from different significant sectors such as religion, politics, and the social welfare as well as the actual experiences of other countries that has already legalized the same sex marriage in the past. By weighing the pros and cons of legalizing gay marriages all over the United States, the researcher will easily make a conclusion as to whether it is necessary to permit gay marriages in the country. Based on the U.S. Code, the true meaning of a traditional marriage is â€Å"a legal binding of a man and a woman as husband and wife wherein ‘spouse’ refers to the person of the opposite sex as either the husband or the wife.† (U.S. Code Collection -  § 7. Definition of â€Å"marriage† and â€Å"spouse†, 2008) Similar to the definition provided in the U.S. code, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1603) states that â€Å"the vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator.† (Wiker, 2008) ‘Human rights’ are all about the basic rights and freedom of all humans wherein ‘human rights’ is not limited to the freedom of expression and speech but also includes the issue on social rights and justice particularly on gender equality. Most people just believe that equal rights should be for everyone and not a gender-biased. According to Lorri L. Jean (2007) – the chief executive of the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, gays and lesbians are also humans who deserve an equal right and treatment from other people. Aside from the basic human needs, gays and lesbians also has the right to decide on whether they want to raise their

Business Etiquettes Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Etiquettes - Research Paper Example In a situation where the name is too long or complicated, the person concerned should make the name shorter or change it to a format that is easily understood. A better way of dealing with such a situation is encrypting a person’s name on a business card in a way that is readable (Giang, 2013). During business meetings, the participants should avoid pointing each other using their index fingers. Pointing with an index finger is an indicator of aggression and is inappropriate in a business environment. When pointing, the palm should be open and the fingers should not be separated to avoid making the other party uncomfortable. Some business manners or codes of conduct should be taken into consideration. When dealing with people, consideration should be made on the person’s sex because addressing a gentleman is not the same as addressing a lady. Sometimes a person can be irritated by others in a business gathering but it is important for such people to maintain their composure and stay polite (Robinson, 2000). To make a good impression as a business person, care should be taken when walking inside business premises. Business people should walk with a sense of purpose and with some level of elegancy. Weird walking styles should be avoided. Walking with purpose means that a person should not walk aimlessly and carelessly around business premises (Chaney & Martin, 2007). Grooming is an important aspect of making an impression in the business world. The hair should be neat and well kept. When it is necessary to incorporate jewelry into the dressing code, the jewelry should match the prevalent occasion. Individuals should also dress according to the occasion keeping in mind that business meetings are distinct from social gatherings (Sabath, 1993). Business people should address each other using the relevant titles. The titles vary according to the region where business activities are being carried out. For example in the Middle East you will find

Bond pricing and fund managemet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bond pricing and fund managemet - Essay Example the amount of returns that an investor can earn from an investment, as well as the future changes as a result of economic risk associated with that particular investment can be established. For this reason, the above curve facilitates a significant comparison in bonds values. The term structure of interest rates is also the yield curve and is a central element in modern financial and monetary economics. It is the variation of the bonds’ yield with identical risk profiles with these bonds’ terms2. The yield curve shows the relationship between bonds yield to maturity and the effective maturity. Bonds with longer maturities are considered to have higher yields. However, there are also opinions that the yield curve may be flat showing that the yield curve remains the same irrespective of the bonds’ maturity. Also, in some cases, bonds with short-term maturities have their yield curves inverted implying that they are higher than those of long-term bonds3. Notes that the bonds’ yield curve is influenced by several factors among them the fiscal policies, inflation, economic conditions, tax policies, foreign exchange rates, expected forward rates, bonds’ credit rating and foreign capital inflows as well as outflows. The term structure of interest rates bears three identifiable features. They include higher volatility of yields on short-term bonds than long-term bonds; change in yields of various bonds move in the same directions; and the long-term bonds have higher yields. Several theories have been advanced to explain these characteristics. They are broadly classified as the market segmentation theory and expectations theories, which are the preferred habitat theory, the liquidity premium, and the pure expectation theory. Given that bonds have some set durations, sellers and buyers frequently have preferred maturities. The bond buyers prefer maturities that coincide with when they need money or with their liabilities while the bond sellers want maturities

A great earthquake Essay Example for Free

A great earthquake Essay The magnitude 8. 8 earthquake that occurred a month ago in Chile, as well as the impending tsunami along the Pacific Rim is the product of a fortuitous event. These are events which cannot be foreseen or which though foreseen are inevitable. The quake struck at 3:34 a. m. in central Chile. The capital Santiago is about 200 miles from the epicenter and Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest metropolitan area, is roughly 70 miles from the quake’s center. A magnitude of 8. 0 or greater is classified as a great earthquake which results to communities being destroyed. The 8. 8 magnitude earthquake in Chile has killed lesser people compared to the 7. 0 magnitude that struck Haiti on January 12 that killed more than 200,000 people. It was 32 times the energy higher and 64 times greater than what took place in Haiti. The difference in the death toll lies in the buildings’ structures and their construction. Unless a building is designed and engineered specifically to withstand an 8. 0 or greater earthquake it’s going to sustain considerable damage. Even buildings that are well built sustain significant damage. Buildings that are poorly built are completely destroyed. Chile, being a more industrialized nation came up with more stringent building codes. By designing a more flexible structure, we can lessen the effect of the disaster. It makes the buildings slide or sway but not crumble to the ground. Engineers who work on earthquake resistant buildings said that current technologies prevent well-designed buildings from cracking when the ground shakes beneath them Natural disasters such as floods, tsunami and earthquakes do occur. There is nothing we can do to prevent it. However, there is something we can do to lessen its impact. Earthquakes alone don’t actually kill people; it is the collapsed structures that do the damage. Disaster preparedness as well as earthquake-proof buildings are the keys to lessen the impact of such disaster.

TOURISTS :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many definitions for the word â€Å"tourist.†Ã‚  Ã‚   The known definition of a tourist is a person that travels for pleasure and isn’t born in the place they travel to.   To some people, the tourists that come to Nantucket may be very annoying, rude, dirty, and smelly and they are not native to the island. While others may think they are nice, friendly, and very generous people that just weren’t born here, I tend to disgree. Just think of the many day-trippers who flock, like seagulls, to the Tavern and don’t leave a tip after treating the hardworking waitress in a rude manner, with their screaming kids whining and belching, and the horny husband who pinches her derriere as she walks away.    To back up the definition of the word that I agree with, I have provided some other examples based on occurences I have been involved with or seen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A tourist, in my opinion, is a person who is very rude, hostile, pushy, urgent, always rushing, and ignorant when it comes to directions and locations. Since tourists aren’t born and live in the place they are visiting, they can’t see all the landmarks and interesting sites there is to see.   They are always rushing to fit as much as they can into one day’s events before they go back to where they live.   They stop you every few minutes while standing in front of The Hub to ask where Main Street is. This also ties into â€Å"being rude† because they don’t ask in a polite way usually, and they rarely say â€Å"Thank You.† They can’t be bothered with slow people.   I worked at D&B Car Wash last summer and I got a lot of rude customers everyday.   I would ask them what wash they would like, since we have three kinds, and they would throw the money at me telling me to just give them a wash.   They were ob viously in a hurry to do something.   Most of the time they didn’t even know how to drive their car in properly, and they would get it stuck, then get upset and start screaming and saying they were going to sue the Car Wash if any damage happened to their car. Then the manager would come out and a whole fiasco would begin.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many distinctive features a tourist has or uses that allows others to be able to identify them.

Tales Of Simple :: essays research papers

Langston Hughes is represented in Black Voices by the Tales of Simple. Hughes first presents his character Jessie B. Simple in the Forward: Who is Simple? In this tale the reader is given its first look at the character Jessie B. Simple who is a black man that represents almost the "anybody or everybody" of black society. Simple is a man who needs to drink, to numb the pain of living life. "Usually over a glass of beer, he tells me his tales... with a pain in his soul... sometimes as the old blues says... Simple might be laughing to keep from crying" (98, 99). Jessie B. Simple, also known as Simple, has just the right combination of qualities to be Black America's new spokesman and unsung hero. Simple seems to possess just enough urban humor and cynicism, down-home simplicity, naivete, and "boy-next-door innocence" that Simple easily becomes a character that hard-working, average, everyday people can relate to. He quickly becomes this sort of Black Every man whose bunions hurt all the time and whose thoughts are relatively quite simple, yet he is a man who rises above these facts and has a perception that shows the man to have great wisdom and incredible insight. And although he maintains seriousness for all his wisdom to come through; his presentation of the facts is given in a humorous manner. In Bop, "That's why so many white folks do not get their heads beat just for being white. But me --- a cop is liable to grab me almost anytime and beat my head- just for being colored " (105). This side to Simple is an example of Hughes attempt to give simple facts or actual truth but instead of telling these things harshly and angrily he tries to sweeten them with a little sarcastic humor. At times, Simple is full of pain. "I have had so many hardships in this life," said Simple, "that it is a wonder I'll live until I die" (105). This comment by Simple is one of Ramsey 2 many that help portray him as a simple man who has been both mentally and physically broken-down by society but who in Census also says that, in spite of all the hardships he has experienced, he is still here. Hughes, by using Simple, shows his discontent of the black man's world, yet in showing these feelings Hughes never portrays himself to be angry, overcome by fear, or overwhelmed by racial paranoia.

Genting Plantation Berhad

Genting Plantations Berhad (â€Å"Genting Plantations†), formerly known as Asiatic Development Berhad, is one of the fastest growing plantation companies listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia (formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange). Incorporated in Malaysia as a private limited company on 29 September 1977, under the name of Asiatic Development Sdn Bhd, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Genting Berhad (â€Å"Genting†) on 22 February 1980 to spearhead Genting's plantation business. Listed on Bursa Malaysia on 30 August 1982, Genting Plantations currently ranks amongst the top 10 listed companies in terms of market capitalisation in the plantation sector. As at 30 April 2009, Genting Plantations is a 54. 7% owned subsidiary of Genting Berhad. In April 1980, Genting Plantations commenced business through the successful acquisition of the Rubber Trust Group comprising 3 Hong Kong domiciled rubber companies which owned some 13,700 hectares of plantation land in Peninsular Malaysia. In June 1981, the Ko Rubber Companies, which owned about 10,000 hectares of plantation land in Peninsular Malaysia, were acquired by Genting Group and through a restructuring exercise in 1983, some 9,268 hectares of these plantation land and businesses were transferred to Genting Plantations. In the same year, Genting Plantations acquired a further 676 hectares of oil palm plantation and a 30 tonne per hour oil mill. These acquisitions would have now proven to be most astute decisions judging by the development potential of some of the land and the capital appreciation that has since taken place, particularly the 3,200 hectare – Genting Kulai Besar Estate which is now being developed as the mega Genting Indahpura project in Kulai, Johor. Recognising the scarcity of land in Peninsular Malaysia, Genting Group started making inroads into Sabah. In 1985, Genting Group acquired Asiatic SDC Sdn Bhd, whose plantation business comprised some 4,000 hectares of oil palm plantation and a 20 tonnes per hour oil mill. In a subsequent rationalisation of Genting Group's plantation activities, ownership of ASDC was transferred to Genting Plantations in 1991. A quick succession of land acquisitions in Sabah ensued for Genting Plantations, starting with the takeover of Tanjung Bahagia Sdn Bhd in 1988 which owns 8,094 hectares of jungle land, followed by a joint venture arrangement with Landworthy Sdn Bhd (now known as Asiatic Tanjung Bahagia Sdn Bhd) in 1989 which added another 4,039 hectares. Between 1991 and 1996, another 5,730 hectares were acquired. With all these jungle lands fully cultivated, Genting Plantations, with its long term vision to further its plantation interest, continues to expand its land bank. Notable acquisitions include the 8,830-hectare agricultural land near the Sungai Tongod and the 5,611-hectare oil palm estate near Bukit Garam in 2001 and 2002 respectively. And in May 2004, Genting Plantations has completed yet another acquisition of some 6,753 hectares of oil palm estates together with a 60 tonnes per hour oil mill in Kinabatangan, Sabah. In June 2005, Genting Plantations embarked on its maiden foray into the plantation business overseas. This expansion of plantation activities in the Republic of Indonesia is on a joint venture basis with a respectable palm oil producer in the country, the Sepanjang Group. The Genting Plantations-Sepanjang 70:30 joint venture will develop some 76,000 hectares of agricultural land into oil palm plantation. Genting Plantations entered into another joint venture in 2008 to develop 45,000 hectares in Ketapang. Following these recent acquisitions, Genting Plantations's current land bank is slated to increase to over 186,000 hectares in Indonesia and Malaysia; an impressive 14-fold increase since 1980. The Group continues to be actively working towards adding more. At present, Genting Plantations owns 6 oil mills, one in Peninsular Malaysia, which attained the ISO 9002(1994) Quality Management Systems status in 2001 (which was subsequently updated to the ISO 9001(2000) in 2002) and the others in Sabah. Total milling capacity to date is 265 tonnes per hour. In 1994, Genting Plantations entered into a joint venture with a Sarawak state agency to establish a 30/60 tonnes per hour palm oil mill in Serian, Sarawak. This mill scored a hattrick when it was awarded the Anugerah Industri Sawit Malaysia, in recognition of its high oil extraction rate, by PORLA since its commissioning in August 1997. Whilst plantation business remains the core activity, Genting Plantations has since ventured into property development with the objectives to unlock the potential of its strategically located land bank and to reduce its dependence on single source income. The first project by Genting Plantations's property arm, Genting Property Sdn Bhd (â€Å"Genting Property†) is the 55-hectare Genting Cheng Perdana in Central Melaka. Officially launched in October 1993, the project has turned out to be quite a success with its first phase of single- and double-storey houses completed and handed over to purchasers about 9 months ahead of schedule. Since then, 3 other phases have been completed and handed over in good time. What followed next was the launching of the 284-hectare Genting Permaipura project in late 1994. Located about 10 km from the fast-growing town of Sungai Petani, Kedah, a town poised to become the commercial/industrial hub of the northern region in Malaysia, Genting Permaipura comprises commercial and entertainment centres, bungalow lots, residential houses and shop-offices. Also included in this project is an 18-hole golf course with a 2-tier driving range which sprawls over 160 acres of prime land against the majestic backdrop of Gunung Jerai and a clubhouse, The Genting Permaipura Golf & Country Club. Further, in its push to the forefront of property development, Genting Property had embarked on another project – the massive Genting Indahpura or â€Å"Beautiful City† project at Kulai, Johor. Spanning over 30 years, this project located just 30 km north from the bustling and fast growing city of Johor Bahru involves the development of about 3,200 hectares of plantation land in Kulai, Johor, into a self-contained township. Genting Indahpura is conceptualised as a fully-integrated development complementing the State's plan to upgrade the existing Kulai town into a sub-regional centre complete with all modern amenities and convenience, and generously landscaped town parks and green lungs for healthy and recreational pursuits. The project's attraction lies in its excellent location which enjoys easy access from virtually every transportation route – road linkages through the North-South Expressway and the Second Link from Singapore; air linkages through the Sultan Ismail International airport in Senai 10 minutes away; and rail links through the Federal Railway lines. Genting Plantations also has other large tracts of land with development potential. These will continuously be monitored as to the timing and the type of development most suited in relation to their locations. With low land holding cost and huge reserves of own land bank, Genting Plantations can aspire to play a bigger role in the property sector in Malaysia in the near future. Moving forward, the Group, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Asiatic Centre for Genome Technology Sdn Bhd (â€Å"ACGT†), has ventured into the biotechnology industry in 2006. ACGT has set up an equally owned joint venture with Synthetic Genomics Inc â€Å"Synthetic Genomics†), a privately held company dedicated to commercializing synthetic genomic processes and naturally occurring processes for alternative energy resources. The joint venture is tasked to carry out research and development activities on the use of genomics-based techniques and tools to increase the yield and profit stream from crop plants. It will initially focus on whole genome sequencing of oil palm. Synthetic Genomics, which was founded by genome pioneer J Craig Venter, Ph. D. will use its expertise in DNA sequencing to enable SGSI-Asiatic Limited to develop a comprehensive genomic study of oil palm whilst ACGT will be the exclusive agent and sole licensee, on a worldwide basis, for commercialising the technologies developed. In May 2008, the joint venture announced that it had successfully completed the first draft assembly of the oil palm genome. For more information, please visit www. acgt. asia. Genting Plantations is actively involved in environmental conservation and committed to sustainable development of oil palm cultivation. Since 1999, Genting Plantations has collaborated with World Wide Fund for Nature (â€Å"WWF†) in support of its â€Å"Partners for Wetlands†) programme to conserve the Kinabatangan floorplains aimed at rehabilitating and restoring riverine and wetland habitats as wildlife sanctuary and preservation of biodiversity. The Kinabatangan floorplains will serve as a corridor for wildlife movement of Borneo flagship species, such as pygmy elephant, orang utan and proboscis monkey. The Group, noted as the first plantation company to participate in the programme, has extended its partnership with WWF for another 15 years from 2006. On the international front, the Group is one of the first 14 members of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (â€Å"RSPO†), a multi-stakeholder association, whose primary objective is to promote the production and use of sustainable palm oil through co-operation within the supply chain and open dialogue with its stakeholders. Genting Plantations will continue to pursue and adopt good plantation management practices to uphold the well being of the environment it operates in.

Normative Ethical Theories

NORMATIVE ETHICAL THEORIES Objective †¢ Discuss the normative ethical theories L2: Normative Ethical Theories Beliefs about how people should behave can be classified into at least 2 major categories: Teleological theories (Consequentialism) Right actions are those that produce the most or optimize the consequences of one’s choices. Behaviour is ‘ethical’ if it results in desirable behaviour 1. 2. 3. 4. Ethical egoism Ethical elitism Ethical parochialism Ethical universalism Deontological theories (Duty and Rights) Duties are set down as rules which must be followed. Rights are behaviours that a person expects of others.Actions are intrinsically right or wrong regardless of the consequences which they produce. 1. Theological ethics 2. Rationalism 3. Social contract theory Ethical Egoism †¢ Based on the belief that people should act in a way that maximises the ‘good’ of the person making the decision. – For e. g. ethical egoists would not stop to help the victim of a road accident if that would make them late for a dinner reservation. They are not concerned with rules or accepted behaviour but behave in a way which is in their own interest. †¢ Hedonism: Ethical behaviour for hedonist would be that which gratifies a desire for pleasure and minimises pain.Ethical Egoism †¢ Adam Smith: – Advocated the pursuit of maximum self-interest. – Believed that such a policy pursued by individuals would lead to the maximisation of society’s interest. – An invisible hand restrained the individual from behaviour that would damage the interests of society. †¢ Milton’s Friedman’s Restricted Egoism: – â€Å"There is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open nd free competition without decept ion or fraud†. – Suggests that the behaviour of individuals seeking to maximise their selfinterest should be constrained by the law and the conventions of competition and fair play. – Would not allow breaking the law or the violation of accepted codes of behaviour in pursuing self-interest. Ethical elitism †¢ Suggests that society is stratified and that ethical behaviour should maximise the interests of only the top stratum or the elite. Examples: – (a) Sending thousands of soldiers to their deaths in a battle would be ethical behaviour if it improved the general’s reputation, – (b) The dismissal of a ‘mere’ accounts clerk to protect the reputation of the accountant would be regarded as ethical behaviour by a society that subscribed ethical elitism. Ethical parochialism †¢ Assumes that ethical behaviour should protect the interest of the individual’s ‘in-group’. – The ‘in-group’ c ould be the individual’s family, friends, professional associates, religion, gender, etc. Ethical parochialism would regard lying to protect a family member as ethical behaviour. Similarly preferring as employees former students from the employer’s old school. Ethical universalism (John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism) †¢ Suggests that ethical behaviour should be concerned with the good of all people and that individuals are all of equal value. †¢ Any behaviour which pursues the interests of an individual at the expense of others would be unethical. †¢ Mill modified Bentham’s theory. Bentham argued that when individuals seek to maximise their utility, the community’s utility is also maximised.Mill’s greatest happiness principle meant that an individual should not act to maximise personal utility but the utility of the community as a whole. Ethical universalism (John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism) †¢ Moral principle of utilitarianism: Persons ought to act in a way that promotes the maximum net expectable utility, that is, the greatest net benefits or the lowest net costs, for the broadest community affection by their actions. †¢ An extreme example: This theory would accept an individual being killed to save the lives of many others.Although the individual who was killed suffered a considerable loss of utility, the increase in the utility of those who survived more than compensated for that loss. †¢ Mill’s utilitarianism is regarded as the most acceptable of the teleological theories – replaces blatant self-interest. Theological ethics †¢ Relies on religion, where rules must be followed as set down, as established by God. – It is God’s command that we should behave in certain ways. Conforming to God’s rules is ethical. – It provides a powerful set of duties for people. Strictest interpretation: requires compliance with God’s rules rega rdless of the circumstances or consequences. – However, faith or beliefs are not universal, with many different religions and varying degrees of faith with each religion and interpretation. Rationalism Immanuel Kant †¢ Sought a simple maxim based on a reason or rationality that would provide a rule for a general duty which would override all others. He suggested the categorical imperative as a universally valid ethical law, i. e. †¢ Act as if the principle from which you act were to become through your will a universal law of natureImmanuel Kant †¢ First Maxim Note: Categorical imperative – it is absolute and does not allow for any exceptions Maxim – is an implied general principle underlying a particular action. †¢ The categorical imperative is a philosophical formulation of the Christian Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. ’ Thus to decide whether a contemplated action is ethical, the categorical im perative must be applied to that action. For e. g. a person who is about to break a promise must ask, ‘Would I desire a law which says that everybody may break promises if they so choose? If the answer is ‘No’, then the proposed action is unethical. †¢ Act so that you treat humanity whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only Immanuel Kant Second Maxim †¢ People should not be ‘used’ to achieve an end no matter how worthy that end may appear to be. The end does not justify the means. †¢ Kant proposed that applying these maxims to every proposed behaviour would lead to ethical behaviour. †¢ Kant strongly implies that perfect duties are always obliged to be followed such as telling the truth or keeping a promise,William Ross’ Prima Facie Obligation †¢ Ross, in contrast to Kant, refused to accept these duties as absolute or prevailing without exception. †¢ Argues that th ey are prima facie duties which means that they are moral imperatives that should apply most of the time under normal circumstances. †¢ A prima facie obligation is a conditional one that can be superceded by a more important, higher obligation, usually under very exceptional circumstances. William Ross’ Prima Facie Obligation Ross’ Seven Basic Moral Duties on Moral Agents †¢ One ought to keep promises and tell the truth (fidelity). One ought to right the wrongs that one has inflicted on others (reparation). †¢ One ought to distribute goods justly (justice). †¢ One ought to improve the lot of others with respect to virtue, intelligence, and happiness (beneficence). †¢ One ought to improve the lot of others with respect to virtue and intelligence (self-improvement). †¢ One ought to exhibit gratitude when appropriate (gratitude). †¢ One ought to avoid injury to others (non-injury). Social contract theory †¢ Assumes that there is a s ocial contract between the individual and the state which requires both to perform certain duties and gives to both certain rights. A ‘social’ contract is an unwritten agreement based on custom and accepted without dissent. †¢ A failure to perform the duties implied by the social contract would be unethical behaviour. It suggests fairness and equality, and relies on cooperation. – For e. g. by observing the road rules, one surrenders certain personal liberties in the hope of receiving safe road-driving conditions in return. – Another e. g. : If society wishes to receive well organised and skilful professional services, it must be prepared to relinquish a certain degree of autonomy and grant professionals special privileges of autonomy and power in return.

Death of An Economy

My topic deals with Pakistan, its relationship with the IMF and World Bank, and its internal problems that are causing unemployment, poverty, economic crisis and hunger. I shall be analyzing the situation using the neo-classical theory, as it is what the economists of the Pakistan government and the IMF are using to alleviate the economic instability of the country. Situated in the sub-continent, Pakistan is a low-income country, with great promise for growth. Unfortunately, it is held back from reaching middle-income status by chronic problems like a rapidly growing population, sizable government deficits, a heavy dependence on foreign aid, recurrent governmental instability and large military expenditures. It is to address these fundamental faults in Pakistan†s economy that the IMF has initiated the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) in the country. This is discussed in further detail later in the paper. Like all developing countries, Pakistan†s population is largely employed in the agricultural sector, which accounts for about 48 percent of the labor force. In today†s world the Industrial and Service sectors are the largest growing areas of a developed county†s economy. Yet Pakistan only employs 39 percent of its population in Service, and a minute 13 percent in Industry. This is a paltry figure, compared to the employment statistics of a developed country. Pakistan is also heavily dependent on a single export crop, cotton. Hence the country†s fortunes rise and fall with the cotton market. It is no wonder that there are so many poverty stricken people in Pakistan. When almost half the population is involved in a very volatile market, a lot of the time, a lot of people will be burnt by price fluctuations. The country is also subject to the mercy of the weather. Focussing on a major cash crop means very little diversification. This translates to mass hunger and hard times for the agricultural sector whenever the agrarian lands are ravaged by floods, or conversely, by droughts. Even more importantly, Pakistan†s agricultural sector is marked by large landowners, controlling most of the production. Hence, only a minimal amount of the profit from exports goes to the poor people working for the large farmers. It is these people who constitute a large portion of Pakistan†s population. It is also these people who are living in abject poverty in the rural regions of the country, devoid of the right to feed their families. This is a great illustration of a theme discussed in â€Å"World Hunger, Twelve Myths.† Lappe, Collins, Rosset and Esparza discuss the commonly believed myths about why hunger and poverty exist. In it they clarify this very important point: hunger does not exist due to a shortage of available food, but because of ‘fear† and ‘powerlessness,† resulting in the ‘anguish, grief and humiliation† felt by the hungry and poverty stricken. Pakistan is a classic example of this theory. Based on a feudal system, especially in agriculture, Pakistani society is primarily controlled by feudal overlords, (a.k.a. the politicians or relatives of politicians), who own or oversee most of the agrarian land and industrial base. Being above the law, due to their political influence, these corrupt people can literally get away with murder. Thus, keeping their laborers subdued and underpaid is no hard task. Anyone who dares to complain is used as an ‘example† for potential future unrest. As a result, the people in their ‘elakhas†, (controlled lands), remain destitute in the throes of poverty, unable to help themselves due to their lack of power and the fear of the ‘thekedars†, (large landowners). By a lack of power, I refer not to a dearth of physical prowess but to a scarcity of basic human rights. These are the same rights that people in developed countries take for granted. The right to vote for whomever one feels like is missing. Instead a lot of villagers are forced to vote for the local land owner due to a combination of fear and ignorance; a fear of the repercussions of a potential loss by the feudal lord and the ignorance of any means to escape this same overlord†s wrath. Very often there is also no choice of candidates. There are very few people willing to risk their own and their families† safety by running against their subjugators. All this goes against the very nature of the free market economy that Pakistan is supposed to be running. While the IMF and World Bank are using Neo Classical theory to address the nation†s problems in the capital, half the country is still being run under the feudal system. Till this system is broken, and the immense lower classes are empowered there is not a dent that can be made in the country†s poverty and hunger issues. Rather the problem will continue to grow right under the economists† noses. Pakistan is also set back by ethnic problems, having numerous groups including Punjabis, Pakhtoons, Sindhis, Balochis and Mujahirs. Speaking different languages, the different ethnic groups do not get along very well as is witnessed by the numerous clashes between Sindhis and Mujahirs in the violence torn city of Karachi. The language barrier also translates to a lack of mobility of labor, which is a key to economic success under neo-classical theory. Hence the large sparsely populated province of Balochistan is presently under utilized. Due to a lack of available labor, industries are tough to set up. If the language/ethnic barrier could be overcome, the rich lands of Balochistan could potentially become the saviors of Pakistan†s economy. Pakistan also has a very week industrial base. Being an ex British colony it suffers from a similar problem to the one ailing a number of the African and South American countries. This issue is that the colonists never bothered building up the necessary base for industrialization. While the rest of the world was busy building this base, greedy colonists who did not care about the country and thus paid no attention to its development were exploiting countries like Pakistan. Hence Pakistan is permanently playing catch up to the rest of the developed world leaving very little money for social services to help the situation of the poor. The literacy rate in Pakistan is also very low. In 1992, the official literacy rate for the adult population was said to be a low 36 percent. Even more dismal was the statistic that listed 45 women being educated for every man. With this dearth of qualified personnel, there is no room for economic growth as there are no new minds to head the growth. Women are also the primary food producers in Pakistan. If they are not being educated, it means that they are not up to date on the latest production techniques, which in turn translates to inefficiency and the aforementioned ignorance. Once again it all ties into the powerlessness that marks the hunger and poverty-stricken. Women represent 54 percent of Pakistan†s population. If they are not allowed to exercise their rights to an education and to vote, how can the country be expected to progress? It is like asking a man with one leg to run. Like other third world countries, in Pakistan, substandard housing, inadequate sanitation and water supply, and widespread malnutrition contribute to spread of disease and to high infant, childhood, and maternal mortality. The leading causes of death are gastroenteritis, respiratory infections, congenital abnormalities, tuberculosis, malaria, and typhoid fever, all preventable diseases. Unfortunately the poor, uneducated lower classes are not given enough attention by the corrupt officials running the country, which is resulting in their situation deteriorating year by year. These, along with other economic and social issues are causing immense hunger and poverty in Pakistan. Presently Pakistan is passing through an unprecedented economic crisis, made worse by the global recession. The turmoil in domestic markets and the imbalance between resources and liabilities threatens to roll back the modest levels of economic development and industrialization that Pakistan has achieved so far. Had it not been for a reasonably strong agricultural base, the situation would be much worse. This ‘situation† has been caused by a mixture of issues, including the near sightedness of politicians and their persistence in following politically popular, but economically disastrous policies. An example of this is the detonation of a nuclear bomb a year ago. Simply to show off to India and the rest of the world, as well as to raise their local popularity, the Pakistani government decided to go ahead with an unnecessary test that brought economic sanctions against them and also cost them a lot of their aid from western countries. However, much more important have been the structural reasons underlying this deterioration, all of which have been contributing to the growing feeling of desperation the hungry and poverty stricken have been experiencing. Before this paper begins finding solutions to the problems at hand, we need to remind ourselves of the key issues. 1) One major problem that Pakistan needs to deal with is the fact that its expenses are far more than its revenues. Partly due to decades of lax fiscal management, but more because of myopic policies in its external relations, the militaristic structure of the state and the narrow vision of its rapist elite, Pakistan is Rs 100 billion short of the money to simply keep its existing machinery operational. How is a third world country supposed to develop an infrastructure when it is spending more than its net revenues on only two items, debt servicing and defense? In fact, Rs 18 billion of its defense has to be financed to borrowing. The Pakistani government has not been governing; it has simply been acting as a debt-securing agency. 2) Lately the government has been touting the fact that it has achieved the IMF imposed budget defect target. What it neglects to mention that it achieved the target through questionable means. Firstly, it drastically reduced its developmental expenditure from 7.5 per cent of GDP in the early '90s to a paltry 3 per cent, which translates to a cutback of 140 billion in present prices. A cutback of expenditure of such extent in the governments purchases of private sector goods like cement, pipes and cables and services like engineering explains why a number of private sub-sectors are at the point of closing down, operating at a vastly reduced capacity. This is adding to the issues of hunger, poverty and unemployment being faced in Pakistan. The government has also reduced the amount it givers to the provinces by Rs 30 billion, transferring some of its debt to the provincial governments. In other words the government has done nothing to resolve the issue of structural defect. 3) What†s worse is that not only has developmental expenditure been sharply curtailed, but that the scarce resources set aside for infrastructure works have been diverted to less productive investments_like the new motorway and the new Lahore airport. This massive reduction of the public sector†s developmental activities is causing a contraction in employment opportunities for Pakistan†s growing number of middle class educated youth. This is particularly serious in the areas where the private sector is unlikely to locate due to the lack of infrastructure. Thus the really poor areas continue to live in poverty due to the government†s inability to provide adequate physical and social infrastructure or create an environment for private sector investment. It has also not been able to maintain law and order and is guilty of not living up to its contractual obligations which is further discouraging foreign and domestic investment in the country. The treatment of its foreign currency account holders and IPPs last year illustrates this point. 4) Pakistan suffers from the typical problems that all third world countries suffer. One of these is massive corruption at all levels, estimated at Rs 100 billion a year. This means that a large portion of national wealth has been stolen from the poor. No wonder, the country is unable to lift itself out of the quagmire of poverty and hunger. 5) Tax evasion is another issue that the government needs to address. Successive governments have failed to establish a tax culture due to an inequitable structure, which taxes different sources differently. An example of this is provided by the large farmers who, despite now getting higher international prices for their crop, are unwilling to pay the modest levels of provincial taxes. The political leadership itself does not pay its taxes diligently. Thus, unless companies owned by sitting ministers install invoice based systems for tax accounting, it will continue to be difficult to enforce retail taxes. Also, the repeated bowing down of the government to shutter-down threats of traders and the repeated refusal of large land-owners to meet their tax obligations is increasing the burden of taxes on the helpless poor, the organized sectors, and the honest people foolish enough to pay their taxes. If the rich are not willing to meet their responsibilities, how are the poor supposed to survive? 6) There is the additional problem of a gap of between 5 an 6 per cent of GDP per year between domestic national savings and investments which translates to approximately Rs 150 billion being financed from external borrowing. This further adds to the crippling debt that is allowing the IMF and World Bank to interfere in the formulation of domestic economic policies. 7) The external debt of around US$ 34 billion is more than 50 per cent of GDP, and four times the annual foreign exchange earnings. Pakistan can neither repay nor service this debt. So far I has only postponed the inevitable, default by piling up further debts at abominably high rates. 8) Pakistan†s exports compromise 0.2 per cent of world exports and diversification from a single crop economy has remained an elusive dream. Therefore to hope for exports to be the driving force of economic recovery, as the government is doing, would require an astronomical rise in exports, and the price of cotton. In other words it is impossible. 9) The country†s ability to export is also affected by sluggish world trade, which coupled with an over valued currency, is rendering Pakistan†s exports uncompetitive. With the rise in the price of oil, the gap between import bills and export receipts is widening. 10) Until now this gap has been met with remittances and short-term borrowing. But due to a decline in remittances for a number of reasons and Pakistan†s declining credit, this is no longer an option. It therefore seems that it is impossible to maintain the present levels of growth rates and imports as well as meet debt servicing. 11) Public sector industries are also deeply in the red due to over-manning, corruption, and the protection given to large defaulters of utilities. The combined debts of just WAPDA and KESC, (which deal with electricity and gas respectively,) are Rs 91 billion while the loans of 18 public sector enterprises is close to Rs 250 billion. 12) The government is offering 15 to 18 per cent interest rates on its saving schemes which is far to high for it to be able to generate high enough returns to service the debt and still have enough left over to finance developmental activities. 13) Most of Pakistan†s industry faces the issue of negative or nominal growth, while value-added industry is operating at 30% below capacity. The limited growth is due to a lack of comparative advantage, the lack of credit availability and a high interest rate. Despite inflation being well below double digits, interest rates are as high as 15 to 18 per cent on loans! This is too high to keep the present economy afloat, let alone raise it to a maintainable level of growth. 14) There is also a lack of confidence in the government by the private sector. How can a government that cannot even handle domestic peace issues be expected to turn around an economy that is in the throes of a downward spiral? Therefore the private sector has been occupied in short-term trading and currency speculations which do nothing for growth or the welfare of the state. 15) An obvious result of this situation is that the disparity between the rich and the poor has grown. The share of the poorest 20 per cent of households has fallen to 7 per cent while the richest 20 per cent are receiving over 45 per cent. The low rate of economic growth and the high rate of inflation over the last few years have left the poor with no buying power resulting in almost a third of the population living below the poverty line. There is also anger amongst the poor about the fact that the incidence of increased taxation has been heaviest for them; expenditures on services for them have declined. Social tensions are rising with the growth of the absolute number of poor, illiterate and jobless, as employment opportunities and wages decline due to the stagnating economy. Such conditions are hardly conducive to political and social stability, without which growth will remain a distant dream. On top of all of this, Pakistan is plagued by the curse of the IMF and World Bank. Constant defects in the current account of the balance of payments and depleting foreign exchange reserves is causing the extension of credit to become an exercise in haggling and bargaining. Each time there are negotiations along with a string of conditions attached to the loan. The release of credit is then delayed until each and every condition of the IMF has been met. The only way that Pakistan can now secure loans and vital extensions on its debt is to institute the Structural Adjustment Programs that have been drawn up by IMF economists. The problem is that the benefit of these programs is questionable. Most countries have suffered immensely from them. Instead of improving the economy, these programs have been destroying them. Unfortunately, like other countries that have yielded to the them, Pakistan is virtually being taken over by the IMF, along with the World Bank.