Pros and Cons about Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pros and Cons about Abortion - Essay Example Undergoing abortion is a very difficult step to take for any woman and it takes a lot of guts to take the decision. This paper will throw light upon why women choose to abort. Abortion according to many is a very big sin, killing the unborn is an unmerciful act. The irresponsible people in the society, without thinking about the circumstances put themselves in a situation which is extremely undesirable. Everyone must act and behave responsibly to avoid a situation which is undesirable and abortion is without a doubt an undesirable situation for any human being to be in. The biggest con of abortion is that it an unmerciful act, the unborn infant does not deserve to die; there is no mistake of the infant for which the infant should be punished. "Half the percentage of women obtaining abortions is below 25." (Pros and Cons of Abortion, 6 December 2008). This is the age when the people are sexually active and it is highly immoral to involve yourself in a relation without accepting the responsibility which the relation brings with it and opting for abortion is refusing to accept the responsibility. No society appreciates women opting for abortion because it is an immoral act and the same is its biggest con "Some women use abortion as a type of birth control. They sleep with men and do not use protection and think nothing of it to go to the clinic as many as five times in their life to have an abortion. A con against abortion is the nagging thought that a woman went to a clinic, had an abortion, and thus the world was prevented from seeing the birth of the only person capable of attaining a leadership role and initiating a peace accord between warring factions in the Middle East, thus preventing decades of strife and murder. A stable home life is not a guarantee of talent, and illegitimate children have shown themselves to be very bright on occasion, Lawrence of Arabia for one." (Pros and Cons of Abortion, 10 May 2009) Abortion is a very big risk to the health of the woman who opts to undergo abortion. Miscarriages are one of the biggest risks involved when a woman opts for abortion; the biggest risk is to the life of the woman who opts for abortion. There is a high possibility of a woman losing her life when she opts to undergo abortion. Considering the same it is highly insensible to put an individual in a situation where abortion is the only solution. "Every year nearly 42 million women decide to have an abortion and about 20 million of them are forced to resort to unsafe abortion, 98% of which are in developing countries. Unsafe abortion was the cause of 66,500 deaths in 2003, representing 13% of all maternal deaths worldwide. Incidence of unsafe abortion is highest in South America and Eastern Africa whereas mortality rates due to unsafe abortion are much higher in Africa than anywhere else in the world." (Unsafe Abortion, 10 May 2009). An Insight Abortion can have a positive as well as a negative impact on the health of a woman. Women suffering from serious health problems like heart disease, kidney disease etc, have a positive impact of abortion on their health. The body has to be well prepared for childbirth, diseases weakens the body and opting for an abortion many a time helps women in avoiding further health complications. In societies where women are considered child bearing machines, opting for abortion gives them their own identity and the right to choose the fate of their unborn baby. Many women use abortion as a contraceptive, this is both good as well as bad. Good because it keeps a check on the size of the family and limits the expansion of the family, bad because it has

Illiteracy in the US Essay Example for Free

Illiteracy in the US Essay Literacy has become a topic of concern in the entire United States of America. The media has often called for attention on the literature crisis with a large proportion of adults being illiterate. There are a large proportion of the Americans who are however, literate in their native language as well as English. However, the much concern about literacy is due to the fact that the expectations for formal education tend to increase with the changes of generations. Another concern is that many of the American adults lack literacy and more so English literacy to help them carry on well in the contemporary US society. Data from literacy surveys are considered by many policy makers as a barometer for the nation’s well being as well an indicator for the nation’s preparedness to compete in the global economy. It is also used as a measure to gauge how the schools have equipped the students with the skills that are necessary for the social, economic and political participation (Wiley, 1994, para 1). Many definitions have been given to the term illiteracy. The nature of the criterion that leads to the definition varies from one point to another. For instance, in 1930 the Bureau of the Census defined illiterate as any person over the age of 10 years who was unable to read and write in any language (http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1E1-illitera. html). However in the census of 1940, the issue of functional illiteracy was adopted. In this case, any person with less than five years of schooling was considered to be functionally illiterate, (http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1E1-illitera. html). Since then, the concept of functional illiterate has grown, but there have been many changes in the definition with the complexity in most social activities. By 1970, the office of the US Education considered the minimum years for literacy to be 6 years and sometimes 8 years for schooling to be a minimum criterion for functional literacy. According to the report of (http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1E1-illitera. html), in 1990, about 5% of the adult Americans did not meet the criterion. According to the United Nations, illiteracy is the inability to read and write a simple message in any language. Using the definition of the United Nations, the United States and Canada have an overall illiteracy rate of about 1%. However, in some disadvantaged areas of the rural south in the United States, the rate of illiteracy is much higher (http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1E1-illitera. html). Literacy has been laden with related issues such as quality of life. Members of the minority group who do not have any of their literature written in their own language or any other language are usually marginalized and usually on the downside of the digital divide. It has been found that income of an individual correlates with the education level of that individual Literacy rate Per capita income Below 40% Less than $600 Above 98% More than $12,000 Source: (http://www. sil. org/literacy/issues. htm) According to these figures, as the literacy rate doubles so does the per capita income. In economic terms this may mean that literacy has some payoffs and it is thus a worthwhile investment. Illiteracy on the other hand may be a loss of income to the individual as well as the society at large. â€Å"According to the National Adult Literacy survey, in the US alone, adults estimated price tag of more than $17 billion per year as a result of lost revenue, welfare, unemployment, crime and incarceration, and industry†, (http://www.sil. org/literacy/issues. htm Para 4). This implies that the price tag for illiteracy is much more than the cost of literacy. However, literacy cannot merely be equated to better jobs, on its own, but several factors have to be put in consideration. For instance, fluent literacy, well developed writing skills, mathematics and general knowledge that is far beyond what was acquired in a normal class of adult literacy. Furthermore, literacy cannot be necessarily equated to wealth. However, literacy would mean betterment of live of the people in general. Literacy would therefore be able to provide an option for the member of the society to become more self esteem, understand issues well, and be able to represent themselves. Adult functional illiteracy is a major problem hidden in the United States society that affects all the adults regardless of the race, gender, or economic status. â€Å"An estimated 27 million Americans are functionally illiterate; they are unable to read, comprehend, write or compute at a level which enables them function in a complex world,† (Bell 1984, pp 1). The pool of functional illiterates continues to increase each year especially with the increasing number of immigrants. The other cost of functional illiteracy is that no adult can be able to secure and keep a job while being illiterate. Functional illiteracy lowers productivity and contributes to unemployment in the society. For the functional illiterate adults who manage to get employment, they contribute to a lot of loss to the organization due to issues such as clerical errors, mistakes on production lines or even industrial accidents that can be caused by the functional illiterates. According to Bell, many studies have shown that there is a correlation between illiteracy and crime, as many of the inmates are illiterate (pp1). There is an urgent need to be able to communicate efficiently in the United States. The ability to read and write is one of the chief means of communication. Adult illiterates must be taught properly how to read and write so that they can function successfully in the society. There many methods that are used to teach adult literacy in the United States however, most do not work effectively. Most of the programs are affected by inconvenience scheduling of classes, physical distance that causes transportation problem, and change of address (Kim, 1997, para 2). Many people have devised means of tackling adult illiteracy, but there is no single agreed solution that has been reached at. The solutions in fact have ended up causing quarrels between the policy makers and the organizers of adult literacy programs. There are many countless ideas on how to solve adult education because there are many researchers that have published there ideas about adult education, while others just publish papers for the sake of publishing (Kim 1997 para 4). Some authors in fact just publish for the sake of contradicting and contrasting what they see as wrong and invalid ideas. Therefore it can be argued that some authors just publish their work without minding what it contributes to the community. It is not unusual for one author to come across ideas published that are different from his/hers. In such cases, some authors will take initiative to contradict the other authors purposely. Therefore, to avoid various confusions on the ideas of adult education, the government should take initiatives to take part greatly in adult education by providing more resources such as teachers and the locations of the education centers that are convenient to the students. Works Cited Bell T H. Toward a learning society; the Secretary of Education discusses the breadth of the Problem of adult functional illiteracy and his commitment to solve it, 1984. Retrieved on 18th Dec 2007 from http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_m1011/is_v20/ai_3199375

The Introduction Of Entry Market Strategy

The Introduction Of Entry Market Strategy Introduction of entry market strategy Strategy is planning through companies achieve their goals and move forward. A company makes a decision to enter an international market, this strategy works to expand its wings. Company could use many ways to get it. These ways can be a shade of companys strength, potential and the level of interest in marketing. Exporting is main entry strategy in international arena which can be used direct or indirect mode. A companys aim to international market can require minimal investment and be limited to infrequent exporting with title thought given to market development. Or a company can make large investments of capital and management effort to get strength of its shares in foreign markets. Both approaches can be profitable. Entry market strategy can be fulfilled through these mechanisms. A company can decide to enter foreign market by exporting from home country. This means of foreign market development is the easiest and most common approach employed by companies taking their first international steps because the risk of the financial loss can be minimised. Many companies engage in exporting as their major market entry method. Generally early motives are to skim the cream from the market or gain business to absorb overheads. Even though such motives might appear opportunistic, exporting is sound and permanent from of operating in international marketing. Piggybacking Piggybacking occurs when a company (supplier) sells its product abroad using another companys (carrier) distribution facilities. This is quite common in industrial product but all types of product are sold using this method. Normally piggybacking is used when the companies involved have complementary but non- competitive product. Some companies use this method to share transportation costs and some companies do it purely for the profits as they can make profit on other companies (suppliers) products. This method also can be used a first step towards a companys own international activities to test the market. This particularly advantageous for small firms as they often lack the necessary resources. Once they realise the market potential, they can start their own exporting. Ref: hik.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1138/FULLTEXT01 Ref: Ghauri, p,cateora(2006)international marketing (2nd edition)McGraw-Hill Licensing A mean of establishing a foothold in foreign markets without large capital outlays is licensing patent rights, trademark rights and the rights to use technological processes are granted in foreign licensing. It is favourite strategy for small and medium-sized companies although by no means limited to such companies. Not many companies confine their foreign operations to licensing alone. It is generally viewed as a supplement to exporting or manufacturing rather than the only means of entry into foreign market. The Advantages of licensing are most apparent when capital is scarce, when import restrictions forbid other means of entry, when a country is sensitive to foreign ownership or when it is necessary to protect patents and trademarks against cancellation for non use. Although this may be the least profitable way of entering a market but the risks and headaches are less than for direct investments. Franchising Franchising is a rapidly growing form of licensing in which the franchiser provides a standard package of products, systems and management services and the franchise provides market knowledge, capital and personal involvement in management. The combination of skills permits flexibility in dealing with local market condition and yet provides the parent firm with a reasonable degree of control. Potentially the franchise system provides an effective blending of skills centralisation and operational decentralisation and has become increasingly important form of international marketing. Joint venture Joint ventures one of the more important types of collaborative relationship, have accelerated sharply during the past 20 years. Besides serving as a means of lessening political and economic risks by the amount of the partners contribution to the venture, joint ventures provide a less risky way to enter markets that pose legal and cultural barriers than would be the case in the acquisition of the existing company. Joint ventures are established divided legal body. Joint ventures should also be differentiated from minority holdings by an MNC in a local firm. It enables a company to utilise the specialised skill of a local partner. A joint venture can be attractive to an international marketer when the firm lacks the capital or personal capabilities to expand its international activities. Manufacturing Another means of foreign market development and entry is manufacturing within a foreign country. A company may manufacture locally to capitalise on low cost labour to avoid high import taxes to reduce the high cost of transportation to market to gain access to raw materials and or as means of gaining market entry. Seeking lower labour costs offshore is no longer an unusual strategy. A hallmark of global companies today is the establishment of manufacturing operations throughout the world. This is a trend that will increase as barriers to free trade are eliminated and companies can locate manufacturing wherever it is most cost effective. Ref: Ghauri, p,cateora(2006)international marketing (2nd edition)McGraw-Hill Foreign direct investment Foreign direct investment is a higher risk strategy as compare to other modes but it has positive impact for the companies which want to get new markets for their product so that they can make profit. FDI strategy helps to strengthen economic relationship with another country where the investment is made. It requires participation of joint venture, management, transfer of technology and capital. India and China are big markets where this strategy is being used a lot. Illustration of entry strategies related some organisations We can classify the organization in four types. Manufacturing firms A hallmark of global companies today is the establishment of manufacturing strategy throughout the world. There are three types of manufacturing investment by firms in foreign countries. Market seeking: Investment in china where companies are attracted by the size of the market. Resource seeking: investment in India, especially by a number of fashion garment producer such as Mexx and Marc O Polo. Investment seeking: Investment in Malaysia and Singapore by electronics manufacturers such as Philips and Motorola. Example: Renault, the French auto-maker entered India with joint venture and became partner with Mahindra, the Indian tractor and SUV maker to launch its Logan. The four door saloon car which is already sold in Romania and is a low-cost car suitable for emerging market purchasing power. Logan entered Indias mid-market and competed head to head with TATA, Ford and Hyundai Service firms These types of organizations provide facilities to others on some fee basis. They might use joint venture, licenses and franchising entry strategy. Example: Starbucks entered in UK, was the first European country. The UK provided facilitation this company to expand its business in Europe. That has been a milestone of its achievements and to go into a foreign market. Strategy was taken by Starbucks to enter and fulfil new or all sort of market, encourage countrys culture and traditions. Recently three different strategies are used in starbucks. Joint venture, licenses and wholly-owned subsidiaries. Ref: Ghauri, p,cateora(2006)international marketing (2nd edition)McGraw-Hill General electronic or big retailer as wall-mart or Tesco to sell their products abroad, use exporting (carrier) strategy as a way of broadening the product lines that they can offer to their foreign customers. These companies believe that offering a broader range of products will help them in boosting the sales of their own products. Vodafone is a mobile telecom company working in Africa, Asia, USA, Europe and Middle East entered in India with joint venture. They didnt use their existing strategy which they use in UK and rest of the world. Telenor is a Swedish telecom company which used direct investment strategy in Pakistan. Now telenor has become a 2nd largest telecom company in Pakistan. McDonald KFC including soft drinks, motel, retailing, fast foods, car rental and automotive services using Franchising for fastest growing market entry strategy. Multinational and Global firms These types of organizations sell their product globally and have branches all over the world. They might use foreign direct investment strategy. Example: Coca-cola Pepsi using foreign direct investment strategy to grow their business in the world. They take all measures to fulfil companys strategy. Unilever PG use foreign direct Investment to expand their business in the world. This entry market strategy has been successful for these sorts of multinational companies. Barclays bank is a financial service provider entered in Pakistan with foreign direct investment strategy. Pfizer pharmaceutical company has merged with four other research companies to get good economical growth. Small firms These types of organizations have limited resources to expand their business globally. They might use joint venture and merger strategy to grow. Example: General Mills has been in Europe since 1920 and controls about half of the Kelloggs cereal market entered in Europe with joint venture Nestle. Although the cereal business uses cheap commodities as it raw materials but Kelloggs has earned significant profit in Europe. A sager industry has been in Pakistan for last 40 years making soaps and detergents has merged in unilever to gain sufficient profit. Igloo ice-cream is a very famous in Pakistan has been working well in Pakistan now has merged unilever to achieve successful companys goal. Ref: Ghauri, p,cateora(2006)international marketing (2nd edition)McGraw-Hill Analysis of Market conditions and Risk We can discuss market conditions through these financial and political-legal factors. Economic-Financial Risk Amount of foreign debt carried Income distribution within the market Amount of foreign investment already in the market Natural resource base Inflation rate Political-Legal Factors Role of government in business activities (free or not free markets) Stability of government Barriers to international trade (whether or not favourable trade policies) Laws and regulations affecting the marketing mix (marketing regulations) Laws and regulations affecting business activities (acceptance of foreign investment, etc.) Stability of the workforce Political relations with trading partner Analysis of cultural factors We can discuss cultural factors through cultural and geographic distance Cultural distance Style of business within the market Attitudes toward bribes and questionable payments Language, race and nationalities, geographic divisions Role of institutions, religious groups, educational system, mass media, family Socio cultural (social interaction, hierarchies, interdependence, etc.) Geographic distance Number of organizations within the market Size and quality of workforce Population size and growth rate Composition of house holds Geographic distribution and density of population

ottoman empire :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Form the late 18th century into the early 20th century, the ottoman Empire continued to retained much of its basic political and economic structures. Although these things were generally recognizable to earlier periods in it’s history, the empire was losing territory as frontiers shank. Despite their shrinking of territory, many forces within the empire became more and more complex. As well as fighting the familiar imperial wars, the leadership was having to deal with internal rebellion as well. At this time, the state was becoming more influential in the daily wars of it’s citizens. Among these influences the role, and religion, both Muslims and not-Muslims and the legal status of women where changing. However the most significant of challenge to the empire at this time, was growing inter-tribal and ethnic violence. As a result this factors political and economic change was certain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This lead to major reforms with the empire. This paper will focus on the three of this reforms. The first accruing in 1829, involved a radical change to the dress-code for the males with the society. For the first time in it’s history, dress would not be used to dressing with class; second, the famous rose garden decree of 1839, which attempted to create equality and fear justice for all the citizens; and finally the 1856, hatt-I humayan decree which restart the reforms of 1839 and added the vital concepts of equality of education and employment. Sultan Mahmut 2 became more active figure in the ottoman empire, he made big changes in the government office, desk and chairs instead couches and cushions, also changed the dress-code, soldiers start wearing western style uniform pants, tunics and boots instead of robes and slippers. Overnight the sultan Mahmut 2 gave in abolished the old social markers based on wearing apparel. Instead, a new set of regulations demanded that all official wear the Fez that is, exactly the same headgear. With this act, so all they males looked the same: the old tradition of the turbans and robes of honor won’t excited no more. The ottoman women, were simply ignored for their part. ottoman empire :: essays research papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Form the late 18th century into the early 20th century, the ottoman Empire continued to retained much of its basic political and economic structures. Although these things were generally recognizable to earlier periods in it’s history, the empire was losing territory as frontiers shank. Despite their shrinking of territory, many forces within the empire became more and more complex. As well as fighting the familiar imperial wars, the leadership was having to deal with internal rebellion as well. At this time, the state was becoming more influential in the daily wars of it’s citizens. Among these influences the role, and religion, both Muslims and not-Muslims and the legal status of women where changing. However the most significant of challenge to the empire at this time, was growing inter-tribal and ethnic violence. As a result this factors political and economic change was certain.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This lead to major reforms with the empire. This paper will focus on the three of this reforms. The first accruing in 1829, involved a radical change to the dress-code for the males with the society. For the first time in it’s history, dress would not be used to dressing with class; second, the famous rose garden decree of 1839, which attempted to create equality and fear justice for all the citizens; and finally the 1856, hatt-I humayan decree which restart the reforms of 1839 and added the vital concepts of equality of education and employment. Sultan Mahmut 2 became more active figure in the ottoman empire, he made big changes in the government office, desk and chairs instead couches and cushions, also changed the dress-code, soldiers start wearing western style uniform pants, tunics and boots instead of robes and slippers. Overnight the sultan Mahmut 2 gave in abolished the old social markers based on wearing apparel. Instead, a new set of regulations demanded that all official wear the Fez that is, exactly the same headgear. With this act, so all they males looked the same: the old tradition of the turbans and robes of honor won’t excited no more. The ottoman women, were simply ignored for their part.

My child’s IQ is bigger than yours Essay

In May 2002 an article titled ‘My child’s IQ is bigger than yours’, written by Carol Sarler, was published in the newspaper ‘The Observer’. The article expresses a harsh critique of the IQ measurement in general, especially the problems concerning measuring children’s IQ, and the newly snobbery behind this tendency. ‘The Observer’ is a major British newspaper, published on Sundays. As its sister newspaper ‘The Guardian’ it is known for its left-of-centre political stance. The newspaper’s readership is generally on the mainstream left of British political opinion, which is represented by the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats. The article is a reaction to the BBC television programme called ‘Test the Nation’, which appeared on television the night before the article was published. The author of the article, Carol Sarler’s, opinion on the idea of testing our IQ is unequivocally presented in the subtitle of the article: â€Å"The parents who see their bright offspring as status symbols really do need their heads examined.† She thinks that it is absolutely wrong to measure intelligence – especially children’s intelligence. Because of the article’s subjective point of view, it is a feature article. In this article Carol Sarler shares her opinion on the topic by using a sarcastic, and slightly sophisticated, language. The purpose is to make the reader laugh and at the same time get disgusted by the image she gives of parents being pathetic. Throughout the article Carol Sarler balances between the laughable and the serious aspect of the topic, she addresses in the article. While the title and subtitle of the article is rather humoristic, the article’s opening story about a highly intelligent young man, who committed suicide, is deeply tragic. In this connexion it is important to note that this article is written in extension of the author’s earlier article about this specifically intelligent young man, who committed suicide only two days after she published her interview with him. Carol Sarler obviously felt sorry for the young man and somewhat guilty about the suicide and therefore wishes to make her opinion on IQ-measuring clear. This story makes the reader interested in reading the full article, to find out how an IQ rating scale can cause so much damage. By using this kind of story, Carol Sarler uses the mode of  persuasion called pathos, as she appeals to the reader’s emotions. The article is, as mentioned, a response to the nationally broadcasted BCC programme ‘Test the Nation’. Carol Sarler compares the purpose of the national published programme with grotesque experiments in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the actual purpose between the two is not same, she nevertheless compares them, because she basically think it is wrong to measure intelligence in any way. The article shortly implicates one of the specialists involved in ‘Test the Nation’, Dr Colin Cooper, in the discussion. But Carol Sarler’s sarcastic language tears his defence of the ‘Test the Nation’ to pieces. At the same occasion she claims that IQ is becoming the new snobbery, a tendency she has lately observed in the United States. She hereby directs the reader’s attention towards her main focus in the debate about testing intelligence – parents testing their children’s intelligence. Her argument is that middle-class parents are en couraged to measure the intelligence of their children because it is becoming a social status symbol similar to a classy zip code. The article’s title clearly makes fun of the type of parents, she describes. The illustration, which is also a part of the article, really gives the reader a picture of what Carol Sarler thinks of the parents, who exposes their clever children as if they were something material. Her concern is that this new tendency harms the children, who are tested and labelled abnormally bright at a very young age. The children with high IQ’s are pressured with high expectations and pushed into private schools, which according to Carol Sarler is harmful for their social and personal abilities. As backing for her argumentation, Carol Sarler refers to the story about another young boy aged 14 with an incredibly high IQ, who according to her has very little success with his personal relationships because he is, frankly, odd. She ties this story together with the story about the young man, who committed suicide by using the same phrases, and suggesting that he too could end up with a lou sy job in a bingo hall. By using these two stories Carol Sarler also uses the mode of persuasion called ethos. She establishes an image of herself as being experienced and reliable by using experiences from her own personal and professional life   an author. Furthermore she implicates historic events and names, such as old experiments and Archimedes, to demonstrate her general knowledge and her knowledge in proportion to the topic. Her language is also sophisticated, and the vocabulary is slightly difficult, which also gains ethos as an author, since it makes her appear more intelligent and reliable. This is especially evident in the passage where she comments on the methods used in the BBC television programme ‘Test the Nation’: â€Å"The objections were two-fold, the lesser of them being a disbelief that intelligence actually can be measured: in spite of the programme makers’ hefty reference in advance publicity to the scientific validation of their methodology, their claim that the questions were nothing to do with general knowledge was simply untrue.† The language in the article contains many British idioms, e.g. â€Å"premier cheese† and â€Å"wheeled out†. The main function of this rhetorical feature is to gain both pathos and ethos as an author, and give this a humoristic twist by mixing it with typical British sarcastic humour. Carol Sarler uses the humoristic content in the article as a part of her rhetorical appeal. The purpose is to entertain the reader, make the article more readable, and demean her opponent’s opinions, as she does when she implicates Dr Colin Cooper in the debate. To sum up Carol Sarler uses a number of rhetorical features in order to support her argumentation, and thereby convince the reader that measuring and testing children’s IQ is not right, and that parents’ motive for measuring children’s IQ is pathetic and damaging to the children’s personal life and social abilities. In order to do this, Carol Sarler’s article is both effective and successful. In spite of this, the readers must be likely to ask the question: isn’t there anything positive about IQ-measuring? What about children, whose highly intelligent brain is not stimulated in school? Is it wrong to prescribe extra lessons for these children, who are bored in school? It is wrong to use your child’s IQ as a social status symbol, but it must be possible to make certain reservations when you raise a child with an exceptional high IQ, without harming the child’s personal life and social abilities.

5 Tips to Understand Hyphenated Words

5 Tips to Understand Hyphenated Words 5 Tips to Understand Hyphenated Words 5 Tips to Understand Hyphenated Words By Mark Nichol The complexity of rules about those little dashes that separate many words for various reasons causes so much misunderstanding that many writers just leave them out of the recipe or spill them randomly into the mixing bowl. But your compositional cuisine need not be so undisciplined. The rules may seem complicated at first, but soon you’ll be able to put hyphens in their place. 1. Adjectives Hyphenate two adjectives united to modify a noun: â€Å"a well-trained writer.† But do so only before the noun: â€Å"a writer who is well trained.† Keep in mind, though, a convention that has arisen in which permanent open compounds, words that have been bonded together to form perpetual concepts, like â€Å"income tax† or â€Å"ice cream,† don’t take a hyphen even in phrases like â€Å"income tax records† and â€Å"ice cream cone.† How do you know which compounds have bonded and which remain free agents? If an open compound is listed in the dictionary, it’s permanent. 2. Adverbs But notice that these rules apply to adjectives but not to a similar-looking class of words; adverbs ending in â€Å"-ly† aren’t hyphenated to the verbs they modify: â€Å"a brightly colored shirt,† â€Å"a quickly memorized poem.† But most other adverbs are (â€Å"little-known fact,† â€Å"best-kept secret†); compounds with â€Å"least,† â€Å"less,† â€Å"most,† and â€Å"more† are exceptions. 3. Nouns Nouns are usually compounded, too, of course (â€Å"footstep,† â€Å"mountaintop†) but some, like â€Å"life-form† and â€Å"mind-set,† resist the closure that most of their like have accepted. Compounds that can be used as verbs and nouns alike differ in that the former are often hyphenated (â€Å"I had to jump-start his car†) and the latter aren’t (â€Å"He asked me for a jump start†). Another example is â€Å"fast track†: â€Å"We fast-tracked the project,† but â€Å"It’s on the fast track.†) 4. Multiword Coumpounds Multiword compounds like â€Å"right-of-way,† â€Å"back-to-back,† and â€Å"up-to-date† always include hyphens. Beware, though: â€Å"Head to toe,† although a common expression, does not appear in the dictionary with or without hyphens, so omit them (unless the phrase modifies a noun: â€Å"a head-to-toe inspection†). Familiar word strings that modify nouns are usually hyphenated before and after: â€Å"next-to-last person in line,† â€Å"the reply was matter-of-fact.† 5. Confusing Words Some words in which you wouldn’t expect a hyphen to persist remain to avoid confusion with a similar word with a different meaning (â€Å"re-cover,† as opposed to â€Å"recover†; â€Å"re-creation† instead of â€Å"recreation†). Had enough? We haven’t even covered every hyphen rule yet, but I’ll save some for later. The bottom line about this floating line, though, is: â€Å"When in doubt, look it up.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Greek Words You Should Know75 Synonyms for â€Å"Talk†10 Tips About How to Write a Caption

Cross cultural change

Cross cultural change Within today's society, organisation is known to change rapidly and constantly. This may be a small change such as introducing new technology within the workplace or a big change such as company takeover (Kirke, 2014). The success of failure of change within a workplace depends on the implementation process as well as the communication process. In order to have a successful change there must be good change management training involved in order to support the leaders to effectively implement the change throughout the organisation (Kirke, 2014). Although change may be challenging and intense, within an organisation it is critical to adapt to change, this is mainly due to keeping up with the competitive economy by being productive and introducing new ideas (Wiley, 2011). However in order to adapt to change, effective strategies will need to be considered in order to introduce the new change. This will be discussed based on the case study of A NEW BEGINNING FOR CLEMENGER BBDO who lacked change due to not wanting to take any risks, however became successful through changing certain areas within the company.Figure 1: Process-data model for the change manage...The key drivers of change will be examined as well as the main perspectives relating to the case.Avoiding change is a critical factor within the business world as many organisations may fall into debt and lose many clients, stakeholders and other social relations within the business. The Clemenger BBDO went downhill in 2005 as the company was going through financial issues. Rob Morgan was originally working in the Clemenger Company in Melbourne and was the founder of the company. The main issue was Morgan refusing to keep up with change as he thought it was too risky to take. The main key drivers of change within the case include the need to gain profit, clients and stakeholders. As...

Japanese Greetings and Parting Phrases

Japanese Greetings and Parting Phrases Learning greetings is a great way to start communicating with people in their language. Particularly in Japanese- a culture that prizes proper social etiquette- knowing how to use greetings and parting phrases correctly will open doors for you as you study the language. The greetings and parting words below include audio files that will allow you to listen to the phrases and learn how they are pronounced. Using Ha and Wa in Hiragana Before studying Japanese greetings, its important to learn how two important words are used in hiragana. Hiragana is a part of the Japanese writing system. It is a phonetic syllabary, which is a set of written characters that represent syllables. In most cases, each character corresponds to one syllable though there are few exceptions to this rule. Hiragana is used in many cases, such as writing articles or miscellaneous words that have no kanji form or an obscure kanji form In Japanese, there is a rule for writing the hiragana for waã‚ ) and ha㠁 ¯). When wa  is used as a  particle, it is written in hiragana as ha. (A particle,  joshi,  is a word that shows the relationship of a word, phrase, or clause to the rest of the sentence.) In current Japanese dialogue, Konnichiwa or Konbanwa are fixed greetings. However, historically, they were used in sentences such as  Konnichi  wa (Today is) or Konban  wa  (Tonight is), and wa  functioned as a particle. Thats why it is still written in hiragana as ha. Common Japanese Greetings  and  Parting Phrases Listen to the audio files carefully by clicking on the links, and mimic what you hear. Repeat this a few times until you are able to pronounce the greetings and parting phrases. Good MorningOhayou㠁Šã  ¯Ã£â€šË†Ã£ â€ Ã£â‚¬â€š Good AfternoonKonnichiwa㠁“ん㠁 «Ã£  ¡Ã£  ¯Ã£â‚¬â€š Good eveningKonbanwa㠁“ん㠁 °Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¯Ã£â‚¬â€š Good nightOyasuminasai㠁Šã‚„㠁™ã  ¿Ã£  ªÃ£ â€¢Ã£ â€žÃ£â‚¬â€š GoodbyeSayonara㠁•ã‚ˆã  ªÃ£â€šâ€°Ã£â‚¬â€š See you laterDewa mata㠁 §Ã£  ¯Ã£  ¾Ã£ Å¸Ã£â‚¬â€š See you tomorrow.Mata ashita㠁 ¾Ã£ Å¸Ã¦ËœÅ½Ã¦â€" ¥Ã£â‚¬â€š How are you?Genki desu kaå…Æ'æ °â€"㠁 §Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹Ã£â‚¬â€š Tips on Greetings and Parting Phrases Enhance your knowledge of Japanese greetings and parting words by reviewing some basic tips about the various phrases. Ohayou Gozaimasu Good Morning:  If you are speaking to a friend or find yourself in a casual setting, you would use the word  ohayou  (㠁Šã  ¯Ã£â€šË†Ã£ â€ ) to say good morning. However, if you were on your way into the office and ran into your boss or another supervisor, you would want to use  ohayou  gozaimasu  (㠁Šã  ¯Ã£â€šË†Ã£ â€ Ã£ â€Ã£ â€"㠁„㠁 ¾Ã£ â„¢), which is a more formal greeting. Konnichiwa Good Afternoon:  Although Westerners sometimes  think the word  konnichiwa  (㠁“ん㠁 °Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¯) is a general greeting to be used at any time of day, it actually means good afternoon. Today, its a colloquial greeting used by anyone, but it can be part of the more formal greeting:  Konnichi  wa  gokiken  ikaga  desu ka?  (ä »Å Ã¦â€" ¥Ã£  ¯Ã£ â€Ã¦ ©Å¸Ã¥ «Å'㠁„㠁‹ã Å'㠁 §Ã£ â„¢Ã£ â€¹?). This phrase loosely translates into English as â€Å"How are you feeling today?† Konbanwa Good Evening:  Just as you would use one phrase to greet someone during the afternoon, the Japanese language has a different word for wishing people a  good evening.  Konbanwa  (㠁“ん㠁 °Ã£â€šâ€œÃ£  ¯) is an informal word you can use to address anyone in a friendly manner, though it can also be  used as part of a larger and more formal greeting. Mastering these greetings and parting words is a great early step in learning Japanese. Knowing the correct way to greet others, and to say goodbye, in Japanese demonstrates respect and an interest in the language and culture.

Presentation essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Presentation - Essay Example It is unarguable that war is a horrible thing. It causes death on a large scale, and can wound, make homeless, or otherwise harm many more people than it kills. War disrupts peoples lives, and some philosophies like Egoism might argue that getting involved in foreign wars especially is unethical. By taking a Utilitarian view, though, we can argue that even though war is horrible, it can still be an ethical action, because it may eventually benefit people in a way that not going to war and staying with the current state of affairs in a foreign country would not. One obvious example that is often questioned in ethical terms is the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. This is a sticky question, ethically speaking, because whether or not the war has benefited people depends on who you ask. Before the invasion, the country was ruled by Saddam Hussein, who was executed for crimes against humanity due to his 1982 attack on a village after a failed assassination attempt. It could be argued that, from a utilitarian point of view, the lives of the people of Iraq have been improved by Husseins removal from power. Now that the fighting is mostly over, and peoples lives have improved to almost where they were before, it could be argued that there has been a net gain in happiness and benefit, as the people of Iraq now live in a free, democratic nation where they do not have to deal with a tyrannical ruler. However, there are some arguments for the opposite view as well. Although the people of Iraq now no longer have to be ruled by Saddam Hussein, and have held several free and fair elections, they now have to worry about suicide bombers and extremists. Many of these attacks are over now, but the nation is still not a safe place to live, and was arguably safer under Husseins regime as long as you were not on his bad side. These problems, coupled with the undeniable suffering that

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 10

Strategic Management - Essay Example By positioning themselves in this segment Yes Bank quickly rose to become number 3 in services within a very short time. They also relied on the fact that knowledge is power and appropriately used this as a ploy to gain market share. They offered specialized service in six specific knowledge sectors to satisfy the needs of their target market. It has been stated by Hamel and Prahalad that companies that desist from competing for future market opportunities are doomed and forgo corporate value creation that they had achieved in the past. (Hamel and Prahalad 1990). Yes Bank was founded on the basis of the personal achievements of its founders who realized that personalized banking was a niche area that would create high value. Corporate strategies have been divided into Five Ps by Mintzberg and they are Plan, Ploy, Position, Pattern and Perspective. While each is a separate type of strategy with its attendant qualifications, yet they are usually present in all strategies to some degree. The real difference lies in the fact that one of them will be dominant and others will play a supportive role. (Mintzberg 1987). The Plan is the basis of any strategy and has to be worked out well before commencement and its implementation is by execution of the various steps of the Planned Strategy. A Ploy is radically different in as much that it is a tactic to force the competition to re-think its own strategy. It is a plan that is usually divertive or subversive and may be used or not used as a direct strategy but as an indirect threat to the rival’s plan. At best these are short term strategies aimed at specific situations. The Positioning is a long term objective of corporate operations and requires more attention to detail and a firm commitment to accept the consequences and to overcome roadblocks. It is an assertive policy that will require total cooperation of all

Business Research Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business Research Report - Essay Example Introduction to sector There is high specialization in services delivered in air travel, a feature that distinct the industry from other forms of service delivery. The achievement of sustainable economic advantage by a firm in the industry defines the ‘for profit’ strategic management. It involves proper evaluation and planning of a firm’s context of industry (the environment) as well as the creation of a viable sustainable competitive differentiation for the survival and profitability of the business. Qantas Company has enjoyed dominance due to the strategic niche it occupies having already well established itself in the aviation industry over years (Morton, 22). The Qantas operates within the transport service industry with her main areas of operations being in offering freights services both locally within Australia and internationally. Qantas company survival and dominance within the air transport industry lean on the strategic factors acting as barriers to en try, which restricts other firms from entering in the industry. These include the high capital base requirement in order to venture into the industry, relatively low fares which do not warrant survival for a new entrant to the industry and the overall effect of her operation as a dominant player in this industry. Research question The management of the firm must have and apply the most appropriate business strategies that would help the business in the competitive industry. In this study therefore, the management requires an appropriate mechanism, through which the strategy of customer loyalty and CSR can be applied within the industry for the purpose of effectiveness and efficiency in performance. Therefore, this research study intends to answer the following question: what favorable CSR and loyalty strategy should the organization in aviation industry (Qantas) employ for profitability and improved performance? Evaluation Current Organizational Performance In this analysis, we anal yze Qantas, which is an Australian air travel company, which specializes not only on local flights but also in international carriage (Anon para 1-3). In her own vision, Qantas intends to become the Australia’s best business in the future and compete favorably in the international scene. Political influences in the operations of the company in the industry oversaw her privatization since 1995, and ever since have seen the company run profitably until the recent challenge posed at the international environment, which saw a decline in her profitability. The international scene has seen the emergence of new cheaper airlines within the Asian region, which poses a great threat to the company. Moreover, the fall of profitability in international operations of the company has been another cause of alarm to the macro-economic environment of the Qantas airline. The global economic crisis of the period around 2008 oversaw the shaking of the Qantas profitability through the inflation of the Australian currency, which affected the tourism and the business travel within the country. Qantas VRIO model analysis: The VRIO model as a tool of business analysis is adopted to show what firm resources, and capabilities drive sustainable competitive advantage of the particular firm in the context of competition with the rival groups (â€Å"

OCD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder) Research Paper - 1

OCD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder) - Research Paper Example However, clinically, that is not true. Toates and Toates (2002) say that OCD i â€Å"†¦classified in psychiatric thinking as an anxiety disorder†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pp. vii). What is currently known about obsessive-compulsive disorder is that it is basically consisting of two functions: there is an obsession (or obsessions), and a compulsion (or compulsions). The two interact with each other, playing off each other and feeding the fear that is inherent in this disease. For example, some people check the locks on doors over and over in order to ensure that everything is secure. Some people retrace their steps until things â€Å"feel right.† Some people have a compulsion with hand-washing, and must rub their skin clean until it is red and smarting. Some people must check that the lights are turned off in their room before leaving. Some people avoid stepping on cracks in the sidewalk for fear that they will not have good luck. As one can see, these â€Å"compulsions† go far beyond just worrying about simple bad luck. These compulsions become the centerpiece of the person’s day, and, clinically speaking, more than an hour focusing on compulsions is part of what is considered part of the patient’s diagnosis. Basically, what is another part of the diagnosis is the necessity of the patient to have to focus on an obsession. Now, an obsession can be almost anything. The obsession itself could be the light. The obsession itself could be the sidewalk’s cracks. Whatever that thing is upon which the patient is focusing so intently, that is the obsession which is problematic for the patient. The patient becomes so intently focused upon this object or thought that it consistently invades his or her mind and makes him or her almost crazy with checking, washing, or some other repetitive behavior or ritual that becomes a focus of one’s daily life. Indeed, Collie (2005) describes the OC D diagnosis as a function of â€Å"†¦mental or behavioral rituals†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pp. x). One

Case study 3 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

3 - Case Study Example However, the private firm failed to deliver what the state expected in a number of ways. For example, the handling of client’s applications was inefficient both in answering the client’s calls and maintaining of clients documents. The contracted firms hired incompetent workers who failed to perform according to state’s expectations. ACS focused on making money hence their service was poor and uncoordinated. American civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the performance of FSSA for misplacing the documents of the patients hence leading to denial of essential services to the applicants. Critics blamed the inefficiency of the private firms as caused by waiver of caseworkers that was present in the state (Alb?k, Eliason & Herman 17). Before privatization, each household had a caseworker who confirmed the qualification of individuals before making an application and also ensured that the applications were submitted in the right procedure. Question 1 Privatization wa s implemented as a cost saving strategy. For example, Governor Mitch Daniels stated that by privatizing the welfare and food programs would enable the state to save up to one billion dollars in a decade (Ricky 619). The state signed a 1.3 billion dollar contract with the private firm. However, one and a half years later the both IBM and Affiliated Computer Services (subcontracted) by to deal with calls of the clients failed to achieve the mission. To improve performance of welfare and food programs delivery. The intention of the state was to delegate functions of welfare and food delivery to private firms because this would reduce the processes of handling applications and attending to the needs of the people (Chu et al.19) This would ensure smooth operations because private firms have appropriate facilities and specialized staff to handle the needs of the people effectively. Question 2 The new system was intended to improve communication between the clients and the service provider s. ACS was hired to manage telephone calls from the clients (Bursi & David 164). This was meant to increase speed of gathering, processing, and storing clients’ data with greater efficiency. Therefore, the new system was meant to

Energy Drinks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Energy Drinks - Essay Example Energy drinks contains caffeine which provides stamina and increases the physical performance to the consumers. In natural form, caffeine is a bitter tasting drug but most of the energy drinks are processed to cover the bitter taste. Caffeine is contained in drinks like chocolate, coffee, tea and many other soft drinks, it also found in many over the counter medications especially the painkillers. Caffeine is usually eliminated from the body very rapidly though its effects may last for about six hours. Caffeine and other ingredients of energy drinks stimulate the central nervous system thereby improving the metabolic reactions of the body, hence they are used recreationally and medically to restore mental awareness. When the central nervous system is stimulated, the brain tends to function faster due to improved flow of thought, increased alertness and better coordination of the body and in excess the effects flow to the spinal cord (Han et al 2007, 499). The energy drinks has several other ingredients that include taurine and glucuronolactone apart from caffeine. Taurine is a type of an amino acid that is found naturally in the human body and is a very important building block for proteins. Many people rely on energy drinks to replace the lost taurine, as in taurine is lost in times of stress in small amounts leading to some sort of deficiency (Craig & Stitzel 2008, 219). The taurine amino acids are believed to be antitoxic substances that cleanse the body of harmful substances. Glucuronolactone is carbohydrate metabolite that also occurs naturally in the body though it can be synthesized artificially, it provides instant energy boost since it's a carbohydrate formed from glucose catabolism and its also believed to cleanse the body of harmful substances. The body's homeostasis system is designed to maintain constancy in the body, upon consumption of caffeine; the body reacts to it to try and neutralize the effects of the caffeine through the process termed metabolism or catabolism to be precise. Caffeine is totally absorbed in the stomach and the small intestines within the first thirty minutes after ingestion. Following absorption, caffeine is metabolized into three compounds; theobromine, paraxanthine and theophyline with the latter constituting the smaller percentage while paraxanthine comprising the largest percentage about 84% (Craig & Stitzel 2008, 223). Metabolism takes place in the liver with the use of enzyme system called cytochrome P450 oxidase; paraxathine breaks down lipids into fatty acids and glycerol in a process called lipolysis, theobromine is alkaloid that is also a vasodilator and therefore dilates blood vessels and hence increases urine formation, and thoephylline is a smooth muscle relaxant and a diuretic (Craig & Stitzel 2008, 226). The three compounds are further metabolized before excretion. For the body to get rid of the foreign particles in the body, caffeine and its by-products have to be eliminated and are usually excreted following the

OCD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder) Research Paper - 1

OCD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder) - Research Paper Example However, clinically, that is not true. Toates and Toates (2002) say that OCD i â€Å"†¦classified in psychiatric thinking as an anxiety disorder†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pp. vii). What is currently known about obsessive-compulsive disorder is that it is basically consisting of two functions: there is an obsession (or obsessions), and a compulsion (or compulsions). The two interact with each other, playing off each other and feeding the fear that is inherent in this disease. For example, some people check the locks on doors over and over in order to ensure that everything is secure. Some people retrace their steps until things â€Å"feel right.† Some people have a compulsion with hand-washing, and must rub their skin clean until it is red and smarting. Some people must check that the lights are turned off in their room before leaving. Some people avoid stepping on cracks in the sidewalk for fear that they will not have good luck. As one can see, these â€Å"compulsions† go far beyond just worrying about simple bad luck. These compulsions become the centerpiece of the person’s day, and, clinically speaking, more than an hour focusing on compulsions is part of what is considered part of the patient’s diagnosis. Basically, what is another part of the diagnosis is the necessity of the patient to have to focus on an obsession. Now, an obsession can be almost anything. The obsession itself could be the light. The obsession itself could be the sidewalk’s cracks. Whatever that thing is upon which the patient is focusing so intently, that is the obsession which is problematic for the patient. The patient becomes so intently focused upon this object or thought that it consistently invades his or her mind and makes him or her almost crazy with checking, washing, or some other repetitive behavior or ritual that becomes a focus of one’s daily life. Indeed, Collie (2005) describes the OC D diagnosis as a function of â€Å"†¦mental or behavioral rituals†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (pp. x). One

Energy Drinks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Energy Drinks - Essay Example Energy drinks contains caffeine which provides stamina and increases the physical performance to the consumers. In natural form, caffeine is a bitter tasting drug but most of the energy drinks are processed to cover the bitter taste. Caffeine is contained in drinks like chocolate, coffee, tea and many other soft drinks, it also found in many over the counter medications especially the painkillers. Caffeine is usually eliminated from the body very rapidly though its effects may last for about six hours. Caffeine and other ingredients of energy drinks stimulate the central nervous system thereby improving the metabolic reactions of the body, hence they are used recreationally and medically to restore mental awareness. When the central nervous system is stimulated, the brain tends to function faster due to improved flow of thought, increased alertness and better coordination of the body and in excess the effects flow to the spinal cord (Han et al 2007, 499). The energy drinks has several other ingredients that include taurine and glucuronolactone apart from caffeine. Taurine is a type of an amino acid that is found naturally in the human body and is a very important building block for proteins. Many people rely on energy drinks to replace the lost taurine, as in taurine is lost in times of stress in small amounts leading to some sort of deficiency (Craig & Stitzel 2008, 219). The taurine amino acids are believed to be antitoxic substances that cleanse the body of harmful substances. Glucuronolactone is carbohydrate metabolite that also occurs naturally in the body though it can be synthesized artificially, it provides instant energy boost since it's a carbohydrate formed from glucose catabolism and its also believed to cleanse the body of harmful substances. The body's homeostasis system is designed to maintain constancy in the body, upon consumption of caffeine; the body reacts to it to try and neutralize the effects of the caffeine through the process termed metabolism or catabolism to be precise. Caffeine is totally absorbed in the stomach and the small intestines within the first thirty minutes after ingestion. Following absorption, caffeine is metabolized into three compounds; theobromine, paraxanthine and theophyline with the latter constituting the smaller percentage while paraxanthine comprising the largest percentage about 84% (Craig & Stitzel 2008, 223). Metabolism takes place in the liver with the use of enzyme system called cytochrome P450 oxidase; paraxathine breaks down lipids into fatty acids and glycerol in a process called lipolysis, theobromine is alkaloid that is also a vasodilator and therefore dilates blood vessels and hence increases urine formation, and thoephylline is a smooth muscle relaxant and a diuretic (Craig & Stitzel 2008, 226). The three compounds are further metabolized before excretion. For the body to get rid of the foreign particles in the body, caffeine and its by-products have to be eliminated and are usually excreted following the

Oppisition Arguments Essay Example for Free

Oppisition Arguments Essay Animals deserve the same rights as people because they can feel pain; therefore, everyone in the world should become vegetarians. Animals do not deserve the same rights as humans. If so then we should give plants and vegetables rights as well. We kill a lot more plants then we do animals, so I believe that everyone should eat strictly meat only. America should not act as a â€Å"World Policeman† because it has enough domestic issues of its own to deal with. Even though America has a lot bases throughout the world, this does not mean that we are the world Policeman. We are just helping our allies so we could keep trading with these countries for natural Resources. Immigration should be allowed without any caps because it brings in skilled workers and increases the cultural variety of American Society. If we decided to take the cap off on immigration then we can see a lot more businesses hiring cheaper labor which means the unemployment percentage will go up and cause us to have another great depression. Parents should never be held responsible for the crimes of their juvenile children because children should be held responsible for their own actions, even if it means trying them as an adult. Parents should be held responsible for their kids because it is their job to raise them and look after them. If they were watching their kids then their kids probably wouldn’t be committing crimes. Beauty pageants are a fantastic way for young girls to increase their self-esteem, practice public speaking and cultivate their talents. Beauty pageants are one of the worst places for young girls to increase self-esteem. You’re in a competition were all the contestants are trying to be the most beautiful of them all and will try to put you down to win.

Global Logistics Opportunities and Challenges

Global Logistics Opportunities and Challenges Western Europe consists of United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Malta and microstates of Vatican City, San Marino, Monaco, Andorra and Liechtenstein. Western Europe is considered as major contributor of the European economy. Its determining characteristics are common currency, tax equalization, political homogenization and standards homogenization. Logistically speaking Western European markets offer a great opportunity for exploiting economies of the scale and size in moving goods throughout the Europe opting from a number of transportation modes. European transport networks have grown because of deregulation of transportation; shipments, optimal route and plan scheduling, and the development of national services. The number of long-distance transports has grown significantly with the largest share of freight transports as road transports. The preferred mode s of transportation in the area are roads and rails, closely followed by sea freight. In addition, the Chunnel links the UK with the rest of Europe reducing the transportation cost to a great extent. Source: (DHL Discover Logistics, n.d.-a) The logistics systems in Western Europe are characterized more by political change associated with EU enlargement than by geographic features. In Western Europe transport, storage, packaging and administrative jobs are becoming noticeably more efficient due to uniform regulations. The transport networks are very well developed but average shipping distances have grown principally in the wake of the European Unions enlargement. Outsourcing activities are increasingly affecting logistics in Western Europe because companies no longer consider logistics to be a core business. Instead, larger distribution networks are developing at a rapid pace. Global firms prefer vertical integration and go for direct marketing and distribution in order to reduce inventory and total logistics costs. The changes in the logistics sector have generated challenges of increased efficiency in shipping, packaging and labelling. Here, the reduction of customs processing plays a critical role. In addition, techn ological improvements throughout Europe are almost uniform and not just clustered in individual countries. As a result, order processing, inventory management, warehousing and IT technology are being further centralized. In nutshell, the competitive situation in Western Europe is intense as compared to the rest of Europe. Japan has evolved into an economic powerhouse of Asia and created a highly developed logistics system in spite of challenging geographic conditions. On one hand, such a system is necessary to offset the Japanese islands lack of raw materials. On the other hand, it is the foundation for expanding the positive growth of the export nation. The countrys main manufacturing and therefore, logistics hub lies in a triangle around the cities of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka on the island of Honshu. Air transport, in particular, plays an important role here. The most important means of freight transport in Japan are road transports and coastal shipping. Almost ninety percent of the transport is carried by trucks. The role of rail transports is almost non-existent. But this could change in the years ahead. A portion of sea freight has been shifted to air transport in recent years. As a result of this shift, international air transports on trans-Pacific routes have climbed tremendously. Compared with other industrial countries, Japans distribution system is very complex and inefficient leading to high distribution costs. Most aspects of goods distribution Source: (DHL Discover Logistics, n.d.-b) in Japan is tightly regulated by the government. Joint distribution is typical; competitors who make deliveries to the same businesses tend to use joint delivery capacities and trucks. The logistics market in Japan is opening up to international service providers which are already successfully competing against Japanese companies in areas such as storage, distribution and complex contract logistics. The major logistics challenge is traffic congestion in metropolitan areas around the industrial hub. Just-in-time systems require small and frequent shipments to meet customer requirements. The distribution system in Japanese market is characterised by non-store channels, carrying least inventory. It is helpful in introducing new products through mail order, catalogue sales, and tele-shopping. Shared distribution system is common among competitors. Uniform palletization is used to avoid complicacy in operations. China Chinas logistics market is opening up gradually to the outside world. Logistics enterprises are reorganizing and integrating in the competitive environment. It is more and more obvious that state owned, private owned and foreign funded enterprises are surviving and thriving in the competitive markets. With the increasing demand of logistics, the logistics service for enterprises is changing from low value fundamental services to the high value added services. Logistics infrastructure, integrated logistics, traffic and transportation, and delivery services provide huge investment opportunities. However, the related risks must be put into account, and firms should be cautious when choosing investment projects. Source: (DHL Discover Logistics, n.d.-c) In some parts of China, due to advancement in technology, the road network now approaches Western standards. Modern freeways have been built in the Pearl River delta as well as in Shanghai and Beijing. Parts of this network extend far into the countrys interior but the standards and quality of the road drops as we move away from the cities particularly in the areas located away from the metropolitan areas. As a result of the underdeveloped infrastructure outside the metropolitan areas, logistics costs are high in an international context. In comparison to other means of transport, the rail network is almost inappropriate for logistics operations due to poorly built rail lines. For example, a container takes five days to journey by train from Hong Kong to Shanghai (DHL Discover Logistics, n.d.-c). A transport by ship takes about the same amount of time, but is much cheaper. Rail transports play a major role only in the shipment of bulk cargo like coal or iron ore. As a result, rail tr ansports are not particularly attractive to international companies for general logistics operations. The key challenges for the Chinese logistics industry are: Poor infrastructure: insufficient integration of transport networks, information technology (IT), warehousing and distribution facilities. Regulation: exist at different tiers, imposed by national, regional and local authorities and often differ from city to city, hindering the creation of national networks. Bureaucracy and Culture: companies need to build links with political agents at various levels. Moreover, it is difficult to repatriate profits back to home country. Poor training: in logistics sector and the manufacturing and retailing sectors, both at a practical level, i.e., IT, transportation and warehouse as well as at a higher strategic level. Information and communications technology: lack of IT standards and poor systems integration and equipment. At a very basic level, there is no consistent supply of energy. Undeveloped domestic industry: logistics sector is fragmented and dominated by commoditized and low quality transport and warehousing, unable to meet the growing supply chain demands for industrial and commercial enterprises. High transport costs: almost 50% more than Japan, Europe and North America, mainly due to high tolls on roads. Logistics costs (including warehousing, distribution, inventory holding, order processing, etc.) are estimated to be two to three times the normal. Poor warehousing and storage: high losses, damage and deterioration of stock, especially in the perishables sector. Regional imbalance: of goods flows from the developed east of the country to the more undeveloped west leading to higher costs for haulage companies which are then passed on to their clients. Domestic trade barriers: besides lowered trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas for international shipments, there are still problems such as unofficial border tolls from an inland manufacturing location to a port city or vice versa. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Eastern Europe Four out of fifteen former Soviet Republics belong to CIS are in Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. Eastern Europe is made up of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania, and the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The countries of Eastern Europe occupy a strategically central position on the continent and are located at Western Europes interface with Russia. As a result of the European Unions enlargement to the east, they are increasingly serving as a bridge. As a result, many manufacturing companies have moved their production facilities to Eastern Europe for cost reasons. Logistics service providers entered either following these companies or to exploit the new markets by carrying out mergers or acquisitions. The opportunities for the companies interested in entering these markets vary significantly from country to country. Although, these countries have relatively well developed transport ne tworks but they do not meet western European standards. Despite the rapid growth of road transports, railroads remain the dominant means of transport. The Eastern European logistics market is characterized by wide regional differences. While the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Poland have made major strides, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia are trailing far behind. The infrastructure is in even worse shape farther to the east. The road-based freight transports have limited ability to meet the demands of European industry in a cost effective manner. The causes of these limitations include traffic jams, the limited potential for expanding network capacity, rising energy costs and growing intermodal competition from railways. Eastern European harbours, particularly the major sea ports in Poland, perform a significant amount of trans-shipping and are being increasingly expanded. The European Unions enlargement and the increasing transport volumes have resulted in intensified storage and distribution activities in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. One of the major challenges is to overcome the barriers that exist between Eastern and Western Europe, including the transport infrastructure. Foreign Market Entry Strategies Foreign market entry strategies are mainly categorized into: Indirect exporting Direct exporting Manufacturing strategies Cooperative strategies Indirect Exporting Piggybacking An established international distribution network of one manufacturer may be used to carry the products of a second company without such a network. The second manufacturer is said to be piggybacking on the first in these cases. The first company has an established reputation and contacts in an international environment. It handles the logistics and administration costs of exporting for the second manufacturer. Piggybacking can offer many advantages to firms; such as cheaper and quick access to new markets, an established knowledge base of the foreign markets and economies of scale with regards to administration, shipping, marketing and distribution. Piggybacking may lead to unsatisfactory marketing arrangements such as lack of strategic fit, providing technical support, and after sales services for buyers potentially leading to disagreement. This method of exporting too is not ideal for building a long-term foreign market presence. Trading Companies A trading company trades on its own account. It performs many functions as; buying and selling as a merchant, handling goods on consignment, or it may act as a commission house for some buyers. Trading companies match sellers with buyers and manage all the supportive functions such as export arrangements, paperwork, transportation, and legislative requirements. Firms initially choose this mode, because of TCs extensive contacts, experience, operations and long-term commercial relationships in many different trading regions in the world. After some experience in the international market, exporting firms want more control over decision making, so TCs are not their long-term partners. Export Management Companies Export Management Companies are specialist companies that act as export department for a number of companies. They provide companies with access to foreign buyers, take orders from those foreign buyers, purchase finished products, and handle the transporting and distribution of the goods in the foreign market. Their core competency is in export logistics and deals with the necessary documentation and extensive knowledge of purchasing practices and government regulations in the foreign markets. This is a less risky and fast penetration strategy suitable for new entrants in the international market in the short-term. Disadvantages of EMCs include; export strategy conflict among both parties, lack of manufacturers control over foreign market decisions and market knowledge. Due to expertise in exporting, the EMC has complete control over all foreign market decisions. In addition, EMC may even export products that are in direct competition with each other. Therefore, manufacturers need to devote resources to monitoring the performance of an EMC and invest in managing the business relationship. As the manufacturers revenue from exporting increases, moving away from the EMC or eliminating EMCs from the business may prove harmful due to lack of foreign buyer contacts or market knowledge or because of contractual agreements. Domestic Purchasing Domestic purchasing is a method of market entry which involves the least company involvement. This export method often involves an unsolicited purchase request from a foreign commercial buyer. The company may not even have considered the export potential of their products until approached from the foreign buyer. In general, companies can use this method to sell off excess stock with the least inconvenience. It generates a relatively low level of revenue and the company is completely dependent on the foreign buyer. The company gains limited knowledge of the international markets, as it has no direct contact with them. The foreign buyer often picks up the goods at the factory gates and proceeds to transport the goods, market them, and distribute them in one or more overseas market. Direct Exporting Distributors Export distributors differ from agents in that they take ownership and responsibility for the goods. Distributors usually take limited rights for the sales and servicing of a particular territory where they represent the manufacturer in all respects. The capital investment can be particularly high for a firm exporting goods requiring specialist handling. Due to this large investment both parties undertake to maintain a long-term relationship. Agents Export agents are usually individuals or firms operating in a foreign market, contracted by the firm, and paid a commission to obtain orders for the product. After entering into a contractual agreement, sales targets are usually agreed with agents by the firms. Agents are usually contracted to carry non-direct competing products therefore providing a lower exposure to risk. Although agents are the cheapest and quickest form of market entry, the long-term profitability is moderate to low with a short payback period. Agents can be beneficial to the company in that they have local market knowledge, established relationships and provide adequate feedback regarding further product or market development strategies. Agents do not owner goods which limits their motivation to improve performance. They can take the form of brokers, manufacturers representatives, managing agents and compradors performing specific functions (Cateora Graham, 2002). Direct Marketing Using database marketing tools such as mail order, telemarketing, media marketing, direct mail and the internet can be a useful technique to expand a firms customer base abroad. Usually, this market entry method is very useful when there are high barriers to entry exist in a foreign market or where markets have insufficient or underdeveloped distribution systems. Success using direct marketing can only be obtained if the standard product/service is customized to meet the personal needs of the target market in different markets. Issues of product promotion and privacy needed to be addressed when engaging in telemarketing, direct mail or Internet commerce. Franchising In franchising, the firm grants the legal right to use branding, trademarks and products, and transfers the method of operation to a third party (the franchisee) in return for a franchise fee. Franchising is less risky and less costly due to the nature of the agreement. The franchisee provides the local market knowledge, capital, time and resources needed to develop the franchise. The two types of franchise agreement used by franchising firms are that of a master franchise and licensing. A master franchise often operates a multi-unit franchising agreement or it may take the form of a trading company whereas in licensing the franchiser uses the property, trademark and intellectual rights for a royalty or fee. Management Contracts Management contracts usually involve selling the skills, expertise and knowledge of firms in an international context. The contracts undertaken are usually those for installing management operating and control systems and the training of local staff to take over when the contractors are finished (Doole Lowe, 2001). Manufacturing Strategies Own Subsidiary This form of market entry requires the maximum commitment in terms of management and resources and offers the fullest means of participating in a market. Before investing huge capital, the firm must evaluate the pros and cons of the business as the cost of withdrawing from the market would be significant. Although sole ownership provides high level of control, the firm may not only incur the costs if withdrawal is eminent but also the companys reputation can be damaged both in the foreign and domestic market. The advantage is of avoiding communication and conflict of interest problems which may occur through other methods like acquisitions and joint ventures. Acquisition Acquisition occurs where an organization develops its resources and competences by taking over another organization. It is a faster entry strategy in new product or market areas. A firm may acquire cost efficiencies, immediate access to a trained labour force, recognized brands, existing customer and supplier contacts, an immediate source of revenue and an established distribution network or otherwise as a result of acquisition. In return, the acquiring company may have to make certain sacrifices. Assembly Assembly involves establishing plants in foreign markets simply to assemble components manufactured in the domestic market by the firm. This method of market entry is attractive for certain companies when they see that the importation of components is subject to lower tariff barriers than assembled goods which eventually decrease their costs. Moreover, it can be more advantageous if the finished product is large and transportation costs are high. The domestic plant in addition, can focus on development and production skills and investment, hence, profiting from economies of scale. Assembly firms also take advantage of lower wage costs and government incentives. Cooperative Strategies Joint Ventures Joint venture (JV) is a market entry option in which the exporter and a domestic company in the target country join together to form a new incorporated company. Both parties provide equity and resources to the JV and share in the management, profits and losses. The JV should be limited to the life of a particular project. This option is popular in countries where there are restrictions on foreign ownership, e.g. China. Its advantages include; acquisition of competencies or skills not available in-house, risk sharing of a large project with other firms, faster market entry/penetration and payback, and avoiding technical trade barriers. Its disadvantages are; divided management control, difficult to recover capital invested, disagreement on new export markets, and different views of partners on expected benefits. Strategic Alliances Strategic alliances are a wide range of cooperative partnerships and joint ventures which unite to follow a set of important, agreed goals while in some way remaining independent subsequent to the formation of an alliance. The partners share both the benefits of the alliance and control over the performance of assigned tasks during the life of the alliance. The partners contribute on a regular basis in one or more key strategic areas, for example, technology or products. Strategic alliances are usually formed in three areas technology, manufacturing and marketing. The main reason behind strategic alliances is competition. Other reasons include; the reduction of risk, the attainment of economies of scale and complementary assets such as a brand name and government procurement. Firms, which employ strategic alliances, have the advantage of simultaneously penetrating several of their key markets. Specific Recommendations The decision of, which foreign market to enter, depends on firms external as well as internal factors and foreign countrys market conditions. The strategy to be adopted should be based on firms short and long-term corporate objectives. Initially, the firm should choose among direct or indirect exporting leading to cooperative and then manufacturing strategies. If exporting is a long-term goal of the firm, then indirect exporting methods may not prove to be the wisest strategic choice. In long-run, the firm has to trade off among costs and control over the decision making. Customer Service When a firm becomes extensively involved in international business, logistics is seen as a critical part of the strategic planning process and a deterministic factor of customer service level. The complexity of the international business environment, including different business customs, inadequate/inappropriate transportation infrastructure, restrictive regulatory frameworks, and different levels of logistics services, presents barriers that make operations in foreign countries far more complicated and less controllable than in domestic markets. Generally, existing or emerging barriers result in longer order cycle times, higher logistics costs, and greater customer dissatisfaction. The customer service level chosen for use internationally is based on expectations encountered in each market. These expectations are dependent on past performance, product desirability; customer sophistication, and the competitive status of the firm and industry. Therefore, additional logistics costs are required to support operations which may be so important that, if not handled properly, they may offset any potential cost savings from using inexpensive labor and other resources in foreign countries. The need for cost-service trade-off analysis becomes inevitable for the managers in such an indifferent situation. Under these circumstances, logistics barriers obviously make it difficult for firms to gain a competitive advantage from their international operations. Table 1 summarizes the firms major external factors affecting its logistic performance (and therefore, customer service) at domestic and global level. It also depicts how difficult it becomes for the firms to provide same level of customer service at international level. Another major external (and therefore, uncontrollable) factor which has made international logistics more vulnerable and complex is security risks after 9/11 terrorist attacks. As a result security clearance procedures have lengthened and transit times of shipments have extended. Insurance rates for cross-border shipments have also climbed. Some factors internal (and therefore, controllable) to the firm, for example, centralized logistics activities, do not make the customer service work best, as it can be under local control in foreign market. Financial aspects such as working capital, inventory, capital investments in buildings and equipments, and accommodation of merchandise are also difficult to manage in the cas e of international operations. The managerial capability of logistics management in deciding optimal cost-service mix plays a major role in determining the customer level. In order to establish an efficient logistics system to support international operations, especially customer service, a firm should be able to evaluate when and where logistics barriers may disrupt materials flows in the distribution channel. The identification of barriers is important in designing an effective international operations network. A better understanding of those barriers enables a firm to take actions to reduce or avoid them so that it can improve its competitive position in international markets. The firms entering in the international market should obtain as much as possible information about the business conditions and operating expenses of potential markets. As the customer service levels and hence the cost incurred, vary between countries, the firm must examine the service requirements of customers in each foreign market. A flexible and responsive global customer service strategy is based on inventory policy and control procedures, packaging and containerization, sourcing raw materials, managing export shipments and terms of trade. International logistics is characterized by inventory points at more levels between suppliers and customers making it much complicated than at domestic level, leading to longer transportation times. Depending on the length of transit time and more inventory volume needed to cover the resultant delays, the firm can develop inventory policies and control procedures most appropriate for each market area. Another component of customer service is the products physical condition (must be in right condition). Packaging and containerization are important for product handling, climate effects, potential pilferage, communication and language differences, freight rates, and customs duties when a product moves across the borders. The quality of a product is determined by the quality of its raw materials. International sourcing may enable a firm to optimize products quality at lowest possible cost. The services of many facilitator organizations involved in international logistics activities are continuously utilized by almost all of the firms operating internationally. These organizations include export distributors, customs-house brokers, international freight forwarders, trading companies, and non-vessel-operating common carriers (NVOCC). These organizations are highly professionalized in performing their functions and operate at economies of the scale. A firm involved in exporting for the first time would likely utilize the services of a facilitator organization. There are a number of shipment modes/terms, each one of them having its own pros and cons. These terms of trade/shipment used in international logistics are Ex-Works, FCA, FAS, FOB, CFR, CIF, CPT, CIP, DAF, DES, DEQ, DDU and DDP. Terms of shipment have a major impact on a firms logistics performance as each of them yields a different cost of shipment and value to the customer. Finally, integrated logistics management (ILM) is the ultimate strategy to deal with the international customers efficiently. ILM integrates all the logistics activities; facility location and network design, information management, transportation management, inventory management, warehousing management, material handling, and packaging into a single activity or process of logistics directed towards servicing the customer effectively and at the lowest total cost of all the functional activities taken together. The methodology of integrated logistics conforms to the logistics objectives; getting the right item to the right customer, in the right quantity, in the right condition, at the right place, at the right time and at the right cost. Customer service level of a firm is the representation of managerial capability of its management team. A firms executive management is likely to use any or a combination of some or all of the above mentioned customer service strategies to deliver value to its customers. The combination may differ for different countries/markets at different times. Answer the below given questions : Explain the role each of the following exporting organizations has in global logistics: (a) export distributor, (b) customs house broker, (c) international freight forwarder, (d) trading company, and (e) NVOCC. Export Distributor: An export distributor deals with the manufacturer on a continuous basis and is authorized and granted an exclusive right to represent the manufacturer and to sell in some or all foreign markets. It pays for goods in its domestic transaction with the manufacturer and handles all financial risks in the foreign sale. An export distributors functions include; managing distribution channel and related marketing activities, handling customer clearance, managing inventories and warehousing facilities, collecting market information, breaking bulk, managing credit policies and providing after-sale services. Customs House Broker: A customs house broker (CHB) is an agent who performs the clearing of goods through customs barriers for importers and exporters (usually businesses). Agent performs different functions/duties, for example, preparation of documents, the calculation (and usually the payment) of taxes, duties and excises on behalf of the client, and facilitating communication between the importer/exporter and governmental authorities etc. CBH also prepares and submits documentation to government agencies such as drug department, food safety department and many others to obtain the clearance. CBH is usually expected to be well familiar with the tariff schedules, duty rates for imported items, and the state regulations i.e. products country of origin. International Freight Forwarder: An international freight forwarder is a person or company that organizes cross-border shipments for individuals or other companies and may also act as a carrier. A freight forwarder is usually acts as an agent instead of a carrier, in other words, as a third-party (non-asset-based) logistics provider that dispatches shipments via asset-based carriers. They have the expertise that allows them to prepare and process the documentation and perform related activities including commercial invoice, shippers export declaration, bill of lading and other documents required by the carrier or country of export, import, or transshipment pertaining to international shipments. Trading Company: A trading company trades on its own account. It performs many functions. It may buy and sell as a merchant. It may handle goods on consignment, or it may act as a commission house for some buyers. Trading companies match sellers with buyers and manage all the supportive functions such as export arrangements, paperwork, transportation, and legislative requirements. NVOCC: Non-vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC) is a sh

The Midlife Crises in Death of a Salesman, Alfred J. Prufrock, and Amer

The Midlife Crises in Death of a Salesman, Alfred J. Prufrock, and American Beauty      Ã‚  Ã‚   Disillusioned and disenchanted, both Arthur Miller's Willy Loman and American Beauty's Lester Burnham share sexual frustrations and a dissatisfied longing for their respective pasts, but Willy, like T.S. Eliot's equivocating Prufrock, is unable to move beyond the failures inherent in his mediocrity and instead retreats into his delusions.    On the surface, Willy and Lester have all the elements of settled, prosaic lives shaped from the pattern of the "American Dream": large homes in middle- or upper-class neighborhoods, successful children, loving wives. But under this facade, both share a need that has devastated men and engendered distrust in their families for generations: the extra-marital affair.    Willy's affair with The Woman is a crucial turning point in his relationship with Biff, his oldest son. When Biff catches Willy and his mistress, Willy first attempts to distract his son and then be rid of him. However, his attempted cover-up fails and forever shatters the idolatrous relationship between father and son. Willy: She's nothing to me Biff. I was lonely, I was terribly lonely. Biff: You... you gave her Mama's stockings! Willy: I gave you an order!... Biff: You fake! You phony little fake! You fake! (Miller 1850)    Biff's discovery of his father's indiscretions shatter the Loman family's fragile facade of middle-class happiness. Although Willy is genuinely remorseful for his conduct, neither his repeated refrains of "stop crying, I gave you an order!" (1850) nor his apologies can mend the rift between him and Biff. Yet even as Biff loses his football scholarship and wanders, not unlike hi... ...the passive salesman and the aggressive quitter. Where Willy Loman quickly makes society's ideals his own and then falls victim to his own dissatisfaction, Lester achieves happiness because he rejects the standards that society sets for a middle-aged man.    Works Cited American Beauty. Dir. Sam Mendes. Writ. Alan Ball. With Kevin Spacey and Annette Bening. Dreamworks SKG, 1999. Eliot, T.S.. "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: Norton, 1996. 2459-2463. Miller, Arthur.   Death of a Salesman.   New York: Viking, 1965. Millar, Jeff. "The Rise and Fall of Everyman: `American Beauty' Proves Potent Family Portrayal." Houston Chronicle 24 Sept. 1999, Star ed.: 1. Academic Universe. LEXISNEXIS. Madden Lib., Fresno, CA. 13 Apr. 2000   <http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/>.