Essay on Machiavelli’s “The Prince” Essay

Since the beginning of civilization man has continually been faced with the complexity of creating a peaceful and unified existence for all, without resistance or violence. People have been trying to develop a system of how to rule effectively while acting ethically and morally to avoid chaos and destruction. However, as history has shown us this has not been an easy endeavor and very few rulers have been able to accomplish this. â€Å"This leads us to a question that is in dispute: Is it better to be loved than feared, or vice versa?† (Machiavelli, 51) An effective ruler would be one that relies upon fear without hatred, rather than love, as described by Niccolo Machiavelli in his book The Prince. In a perfect world all people would be good-hearted, all would treat each other equally, and all would follow and respect the rules of society. Machiavelli points out that people tend to focus how the world should be rather than how it is. â€Å"Let us leave to one side, then, all discussion of imaginary rulers and talk about practical realities.† (Machiavelli, 48) It is easier to complain about problems and society than it is to become a leader and produce positive change. All individuals have different perceptions of what it takes to keep order in a world where not all is good and not everyone gets along. It is easy for one to discuss ideals of how things ought to be, and to use reality to form a dream of something different that we believe would be better than the current state of affairs. Dreams though can not be actualized without action, and all the discussion in the world will accomplish nothing if everyone sits idly by. We all want peace, and in order to have peace there must be structure and in order to have structure you must have an effective leader that you trust to design the framework of how things will work. Ideally all would want a leader that is trustworthy, just, intelligent, compassionate, giving, and loyal to the people while at the same time having the ability to protect society from harm. â€Å"Now I know everyone will agree that if a ruler could have all the good qualities I have listed and none of the bad ones, then this would be an excellent state of affairs. But one can not have all the good qualities, nor always act in a praiseworthy fashion, for we do not live in an ideal world.† (Machiavelli, 48) Unfortunately in reality we can not have a leader that stands on a platform of extreme love or extreme hatred, if we expect to  remain safe and unharmed from the rest of the world. You need someone that is tough, and has the ability to enforce and maintain order upon people who are not always good and reliable, people who are selfish and have their own interests above all else. In reality people do not act responsibly out of love and consideration for others, but of fear what will happen if they do not act accordingly. It is important to keep in mind that to be feared is different than being hated. â€Å"But fear restrains men because they are afraid of punishment, and this fear never leaves them. Still, a ruler should make himself feared in such a way that, if he does not inspire love, at least he does not provoke hatred. For it is perfectly possible to be feared and not hated.† (Machiavelli, 52) If there were no consequences for bad behavior, people would have no reason to act any differently. It is not that punishment in itself creates hatred, but it is how the people are punished that will determine the fear or the hatred they have for their ruler. For example if one is caught stealing and then punished by having to serve some time in jail, that would cause them to fear you and to abide by the law. On the other hand if the punishment were death it would cause the people to hate the ruler for being so un-just and immoral. When a ruler becomes hated they lose all respect and control over the people, for they will reach a point that they can no longer endure the cruelty and rise against you. â€Å"Indeed, one of the most effective defenses a ruler has against conspiracies is to make sure he is not generally hated. For conspirators always believe the assassination of the ruler will be approved by the people.† (Machiavelli, 57) When people feel as they have been oppressed and abused for to long they will revolt and not think twice about getting rid of the ruler they are discontented with. For once the people have become determined to over throw their ruler, they have already lost all faith and feel there is nothing else to lose whether they are successful or not. It is not enough for a Ruler to be strictly feared, but to also appear to have some compassion and respect for the people that he oversees. It is imperative that an effective ruler is one that can balance fear, goodness, authority, respect, and compassion if he wishes to maintain harmonious  control. â€Å"So it is necessary for a ruler, if he wants to hold on to power, to learn how not to be good, and to know when it is and when it is not necessary to use this knowledge.† (Machiavelli, 48) The point Machiavelli makes here is that it is not enough to be completely good or completely evil, but to know when to do bad things in order to create good. Power is ultimately based on violence, and sometimes in order to preserve sovereignty and authoritative command, a ruler must engage in what society deems as immoral acts such as lying, betrayal, and even murder. So the conclusion is: If you take control of a state, you should make a list of all the crimes you have to commit and do them all at once. That way you will not have to commit new atrocities every day, and you will be able, by not repeating your evil deeds, to reassure your subjects and to win their support by treating them well. He, who acts otherwise, either out of squeamishness or out of bad judgment, has to hold a bloody knife in his hand all the time. A hated, thus unsuccessful ruler would be one that would not know his limits, and continue to use violence to obtain desired results. A wise ruler would be one who could look ahead and see when it is necessary to do harm so that he can know exactly what needs to be done, how to do it, and when to do it. Most importantly the ruler must have the ability to stop once what he has set out to do is accomplished. Violence and evil doing must be used sparingly to prevent the populous from hating you. A powerful leader needs the ability to equally rely upon intelligence and brute force, he must be able to discern when to use the different characteristics and be able to step into the role of either the lion or the fox at any moment. â€Å"Since a ruler, then, needs to know how to make good use of beastly qualities, he should take as his models among the animals both the fox and the lion, for the lion does not know how to avoid traps, and the fox is easily overpowered by wolves. So you must be a fox when it comes to suspecting a trap and a lion when it comes to making the wolves turn tail.† (Machiavelli, 54) Machiavelli is referring to the symbolism of the lion over the monarch power in England. The lion represented courage, strength, and  leadership; it was seen as being the dominant animal that could wipe out smaller animals. A fox on the other hand is timid, reserved, and clever; it thinks before it acts. There are only two ways to obtain power, either lawfully or un-lawfully. To do it lawfully is to be considered human and to do it un-lawfully by inciting violence is to be considered animalistic, so when stepping outside the law a ruler must choose whether to be lion and exercise brute force or to be the fox and exercise the mind. Nevertheless, you should be careful how you assess the situation and should think twice before you act. Do not be afraid of your own shadow. Employ policies that are moderated by prudence and sympathy. Avoid excessive self-confidence, which leads to carelessness, and avoid excessive timidity, which will make you insupportable. Machiavelli is reinforcing the significance of a ruler to have the ability to know when to act like a man and when to act like an animal. A feared but not hated ruler is one that does not act upon impulse but carefully calculates his moves in order to do what is necessary for the people, even if it means acting outside of the law. This essay began with the notion that if one wishes to be a successful ruler he or she must induce fear among the people to gain their respect as opposed to loving and being loved. How a ruler treats the people and how the people treat the ruler is the determining factor of how successful society will be. We have to look at the relationship between the people and the ruler as we would the relationship between a child and a parent. To be an effective parent you can not inflict harm upon your child, but you can inflict fear by imposing consequences to their negative behavior. If a child does something wrong we do not physically abuse him or her, but make them sit in time out or perhaps take away a privilege like playing video games. The child may be upset with you for a short time, but will not hate you and will respect your authority enough to abide by the rules in the future. On the other hand though, if you play the role of the best friend and consequences for negative behavior are non-existent then the child will go about doing what they please without regard for anyone else. Once the child realizes that he  or she will not be punished they have the ability to over power the parent. Religion also uses fear in order to enhance positive behavior and love among the people. No matter which religion one chooses to believe, he or she does not always willingly act with morals and ethics because in their heart they believe its right, but do so because they fear what will happen to their soul if they don’t. People fear negative consequences whether it is timeout, prison, or even hell and will most always act how they are told in order to avoid such punishments. Ruling with fear to create stability and harmony can be used in many everyday situations whether running the country, the household, the office, or the church. Bibliography Wootton, David, ed. The Prince. Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 1995.

Death Penalty Essay

Capital punishment or also known as death penalty is the killing of an individual by a state which serves as punishment for committing unlawful actions and retribution on behalf of the victims. Several countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Japan and the United States have retained this process of executing criminal. Different views regarding this issue have arisen but most people especially those governed by religious sectors have went up against the idea of death penalty. Death penalty has already gained its popularity worldwide. In fact, it was often the theme in any debate or even the usual conversation, thus lead to the emergence of several arguments which are in favor and against death penalty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Implementation of death penalty has several advantages. Death penalty provides closure to the victim’s families. It was very hard for family members of the victim to forget the traumatic experience and recover form the loss of a loved one. In fact there are cases that the relatives of the victim do not recover at all. This sort of closure is a great help for the recovery of the relatives. Life in prison is not enough punishment compare to death sentence which gives finality to the horrifying experience felt by the members of the family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In death penalty, justice is better served. The primary principle of justice is that a crime deserves an equivalent punishment. Hence, when someone brutally murders another person, he deserves to be put into death. Just like what the code of Hammurabi have stated, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Implementation of death penalty prevents the crime from happening again. If criminals are not put into death, we are not assured that this kind of person would not do such crimes again. On the other hand, death penalty can execute all criminals but there are cases that implementation of death penalty may include execution of an innocent man. Do you mind an innocent individual will suffer from death? Implementation of death penalty is a good way of obtaining â€Å"justice† but can we call it justice—killing an innocent. Another argument against death penalty is that it is arbitrary and capricious. Implementation of death penalty often favours well-off individuals or people who have money. How about the poor ones? Only the rich are able to afford a highly competent lawyer, thus makes the process unfair. Those accused people who are struggling from poverty cannot pay good attorneys thus making their chances of being acquitted very little. See how unfair it was? Even appealing to court was not possible. There are even cases that convicted wealthy persons pay the judge with a very big amount of money in order to become free of death penalty. Death penalty is geographically contingent which that it depends on state to sate. Maybe for this place, death penalty is not implemented but on others it is strictly performed. Death penalty also is racist and classist in nature. Race really makes a big difference when it comes to the implementation of death execution. For an instance, a black murdered a white victim. The black will executed 4 times than any other races. Still racial discrimination is dominant. That becomes a big problem of implementation of death penalty. One cannot avoid looking at races. Everyone is created equally by a supreme being– God; hence one must receive equal rights and equal opportunities.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some will surely say that implementation of death penalty can reduce crimes because of the fear of death. That belief is not true. It is not true due to the fact that some people commit crimes when they are not on the good state of mind. How can they think of fear of death if they cannot think rationally?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We have presented both the pros and cons of death penalty. Death penalty is good in some ways but also awful in some other manner. Every human has different perspective regarding this social issue. Death penalty may be good for some but some would surely disagree with it. What is important is we respect everybody’s opinion. Work Cited Gregory, David L. â€Å"2000.Legal Arguments Against the Death Penalty. 2 April 2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   < http://www.vincenter.org/95/gregory.html>. Messerli, Joe. â€Å"November 11, 2007. Should the death penalty be banned as a form of punishment?†. 2 April 2008 < http://www.balancedpolitics.org/death_penalty.htm>.

The Emergence of Anatomically Modern Humans Essay

The Emergence of Anatomically Modern Humans - Essay Example It remained a hypothesis until in 1980s when scientific proof of linkages between mitochondrial DNA and samples taken from fossilized specimens were seen to match. Darwin suggested this model after studying the behavior of African apes at the London zoo. He postulated that all Homo sapiens can trace their roots to east Africa from where they originated and moved to other parts of the world. This was termed as ‘monogenism’ or single origin. It was not until the 1980s that a scientist named Allan Wilson and his team was able to find substantial proof of this by comparing the mitochondrial DNA of humans to that of chimpanzees. He concluded that the uncanny resemblance and scarce diversity between the two samples of mitochondrial DNA strongly suggests an evolutionary link between the two. Keeping in mind the limited resources of that time, scientists were able to conclude in 1990s that this evolution probably took place about 150,000 years ago in East Africa. Another important step in proving this theory to be accurate was the use of Y- chromosome that showed its first signs of diversity after the first migration from Africa. It is important to understand that the reason why only mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome were chosen to conduct this genomic reconstruction was because the mitochondrial DNA is passed from the mother to the child without any mutations so that it is safe to say that the mitochondrial DNA that we possess is very much like the mitochondrial DNA of Eve (Jones & John, 2007). Similarly, the Y-chromosome in every adult male shows the least degree of mutation and is very similar to that of Adam himself. Therefore, the tracing of human evolution is most accurate when these two chromosomes are used for genetic reconstruction of ancient Homo sapiens. The second part of this theory discusses how the Homo sapiens travelled out of Africa and expanded to other parts of the world.

Week 5 Project #2 Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Week 5 Project #2 - Research Proposal Example Malicious damage could be prevented through the utilisation of different security checks aimed at authenticating identities of individuals utilising the system. Passwords remain a common method utilised in identification of authorised individuals accessing an information system The system shall consist of a self assessment strategy aimed at ensuring multi-level security of the entire system. The approach adopted for the system shall occur at different layers of the system stack. The various layers shall include the following These applications are implemented to monitor malicious activities within an information system platform (Whitman & Mattord, 2009). Network behaviour analysis shall be utilised in the prevention of intrusion. This kind of prevention analyses network behaviour and identifies threats through monitoring unusual activities. Statistical anomaly based detection shall be employed in detecting threats occurring within the network. Information system audit is aimed at analysing the development strategy for the information system. The auditing process shall be undertaken by a professional IT organisation to ensure all aspects of the system are effectively checked. The working processes and practices must also be analysed as a way of improving the functioning of the system. Information assurance could be defined as the application of numerous methods of providing protection for information systems, like computer networks. In providing protection of computer systems there are five fundamental qualities which as system must sufficiently satisfy to ensure successful protection. The five qualities are as listed below Non-repudiation – this ensures that the system maintains a record of all activities undertaken. This works in ensuring that individuals remain responsible as their actions can be retraced within the system. This refers to the process of encoding information to ensure only

Consumer Behaviour dissonance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Consumer Behaviour dissonance - Essay Example In modern theories of consumer behaviour, much stress is given on this particular sequence of events of first knowing one's self and then proceeding to make a purchase. Experts believe "that people purchase a product or brand only if these things are consistent with, enhance, or in some way fit well with the conception they have of themselves" (Ross, 1971, p. 38). Thus, self-image, or self-concept has found a central place in the works of many modern consumer behaviour theorists. "Any bit of knowledge that a person has about himself or the environment is a "cognition," or "cognitive element."" (Wicklund, and Brehm 1976, 2). Self-cognition is not objective, but the sum total of subjective thoughts one has about one's self. It is taken as "the totality of the individual's thoughts and feelings having reference to him/her self as an object" (Rosenberg, 1979). Modern consumer behaviour theories postulate that a consumer who is not aware of his/her self, and fails to achieve "self-congruity" is bound to suffer in the act of purchasing a product from pre-choice anxiety, and/or post-choice regret arising from cognitive dissonance. In theories that attribute a "brand" with personality (Sirgy, 1985), the same principles can well apply to the development of the brand image of a product, as they apply to the consumer's path to proper purchase. Similar theorists hold that consumers select brands by the same process they select companions; "just as people take care in choosing friends who have a similar personality to themselves, so brands, which are symbolic of particular images, are chosen with the same concern" (De Chernatony and McDonald, 1997, p. 145). In today's marketing theories, products are assumed to have a personality that is not only determined by the product's physical characteristics (actual self), but also by the marketing mix promoting a brand image (ideal self) beyond the functionality of the product. In fact, according to many, self-image/brand-image congruity plays a key factor in driving consumer behaviour, and a brand image or product image, like the human self, can possess " a set of attribut es such as friendly, modern, youthful and traditional" (Sirgy, 1985, p.195). The concept of the self that a person holds has many dimensions, and includes both physical and psychological attributes. Self-concept bases itself upon human self-prototypes and moderates the psychological functioning of an individual to exhibit consistent behavioural patterns in the various social roles that a person has to play. Such self-prototypes or self-schemata control, organize, and influence the information processing function of a person that includes the processing of both self-related and other information (Markus, 1977). The selection, interpretation, filtration, and assimilation of incoming information depend upon the self-schemas possessed by each individual (Kihilstrom, 1981). Absorption, rejection, or alteration of new information is based upon its consistency with the existing self-structure (Snygg and Combs, 1949). Earlier research on measuring and analysing self-images was confined to the domain of psychologists who studied the differences that could be seen between the individual's perceptions of his/her real

Case 2 scientific investigation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Case 2 scientific investigation - Essay Example w Lo and Dmitry Repin, the two scholars utilized psycho physiological equipment to evaluate heart rate, skin conductance and blood pressure on traders executing real-time trading. Results showed that the experienced traders had a lower physiological reactivity to disturbing and abrupt information. Additionally, Oblechner (2004) discovered "emotional stability is equally important for a successful trader." Traders whose emotional reactions to losses and gains on the extreme positive or negative side show poor trading performance meaning a negative relation between emotional reactivity and successful trading behavior. (Lo and Repin, 2005) Overconfident traders have a tendency of trading too frequently and appear to ignore danger signs concerning their positions. According to Biais et al., 2001, overconfidence is related to sub-par performance amongst traders in an experimental environment and that overconfident traders stay with underachieving stock for a long time and sell their winning stocks too early leading to underperformance in the market. Self-awareness is an increased consciousness of ones own emotional and physical state. Traders who have self-awareness have logical reasoning behind all their behaviors and choices. Traders with self-awareness have a high emotional intelligence associated with long term success rate. (Biais et al,

Economic Development and Wilderness Preservation in Australia Essay

Economic Development and Wilderness Preservation in Australia - Essay Example This essay outlines the importance of maintaining the balance between economic development and preservation of wild nature in Australia. Economic development and wilderness preservation are two concepts that go hand in hand. If the wilderness is not protected, economic development is hard to achieve and vice-versa. Efforts to protect the wilderness in the region seem to have been completely frustrated over the years. The Aboriginal Australians have adopted the paradigm in their attempt to embrace the benefits associated with western lifestyles. For instance, the infrastructure that has been installed to service both the mining operations and the remote communities is threatening the wilderness of Northern Australia. With no strategic measures towards wilderness protection within and outside the northern part of Australia, the relatively sparse population of the region will end up with a disproportionate impact on the wilderness. The remote and aboriginal communities of the northern part of Australia have a significantly growing ecological footprint that has had an enormous impact on the wilderness areas. For instance, every Aboriginal community must have a telephone communication network and associated infrastructure. The infrastructures are linked to the major towns of the area through the roads network and a growing fleet of motor vehicles. The establishment of the power lines has seen economic development realized in some areas of the wilderness that were previously remote and with no significant development

An overview of Under Armor and how they are challenging nike in sports Essay

An overview of Under Armor and how they are challenging nike in sports apparel - Essay Example The company’s wide range of products is being used by many reputed consumers and other people of the world as well. Apart from all these, there also exist numerous competitors of Under Armour in the world. Among them, Nike is one of the major competitors of the company as both of them operate their business in the world of sports brand (Thomas Reuters, 2014). To analyse the competition between these two huge brands, this study will consist of the overview about Under Armour and the ways they are competing with its competitors. A complete study of the background of the company along with its vision, business culture and expansion strategies will be taken into due consideration. This information will help to understand the competitive advantage of the company in the local as well as the global market. Since 1996, Under Armour has been running its business successfully in the field of sports shoes and other required accessories for sports. In the present scenario, the company is operating its business in major parts of the world such as North America, the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and Asia. The idea of business of sports brand came from a simple idea developed by the 23 year old former captain of the University of Maryland i.e. Kevin Plank’s special team. During playing days of Kevin Plank, he hated to wear the sweat soaked cotton T-shirt again and again, especially in the hot warmers days. In order to get rid of this problem, he set out an idea of manufacturing such T-shirt, which can be suitable for the players to wear even in the hotter days. Plank named the company of sports brand as Under Armour. For the first time in the world of sports, a new design of T-shirt named as #0037 came into existence. This t-shirt was designed in such a manner that it comprised of moisture soaking fibres, which help the players to keep them cool and dry even in the hotter conditions. At the initial stages of the development of such

Information Security and Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Information Security and Privacy - Essay Example Although there are several methods to prevent unauthorised access; users occasionally are able to get through the security systems, and it is therefore essential for organizations to also be capable f detecting intruders. Before beginning to discuss how networks can be secured to improve the prevention f intruders, the reason why it is important to prevent intruders will be pointed out to help understand why network security is vital for many businesses. As organizations around the world rely heavily on computers for all their information storage and processing, unprotected computers and networks can be an easy means for anyone to obtain this information. Also as organizations become increasingly dependent on computers and networks to run the business any damage can cause numerous problems for a business with possible costs within the millions. (Fitzgerald 1-7) These costs are caused by the inability to use computers therefore affecting productivity and sometimes causing the complete inability to run the business. As computer systems assist heavily in running businesses and store many f the organizations private data it is easy to see why organizations need to secure their computer systems or it will cost them. Passwords is a relatively easy and cheap ... It might seem that if companies do not connect their networks to the internet there will be no security problems. Therefore meaning security is needed on networks even if it is not connected to the internet. Two main types f security can be used here; passwords and physical security. (Fitzgerald 1-7) Passwords is a relatively easy and cheap form f security that can be implemented on a network, it also provides a good level f security as long as passwords are well kept by employees. With the use f passwords network managers can monitor the use f the network by its users by being able to see who logs in and where their logged in to, as well as what they have done. With more advanced technology network managers can also detect when and where there is an intruder and what the intruder has done. Fundamentally passwords will keep those who are not authorised away from restricted sections f the network, ultimately sustaining an adequate level f security. Physical security is basically using physical means to prevent certain employees from using certain sections or computers on the network. This may include computers being kept in secure rooms with key card or identification security. As organizations connect their networks to the internet, the risk f intruders rises dramatically as there are millions f users online; it also allows users from any part f the world to access your private network. This security issue is heightened as users within the network begin to access areas f the internet that are less secure. The most commonly used method to help prevent intruders and improve the security f the network when connected to the internet is the use f internet firewalls. Basically a firewall is capable f preventing

The US Airline Industry in 2004 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The US Airline Industry in 2004 - Essay Example Intestate routes were being admitted and were dispersed to some twenty three airline companies. Also, a promulgated establishment of guidelines of priorities and inter-firm agreements was created. (Anon., n.d.) Pre-Deregulation Era In the succeeding years, an industrial ordeal took place as cost increases on the fares were implemented causing an ossification to the structure of the airline industry. As a result, manifold airlines were not approved to conduct operations between the year 1937 and 1978. Nevertheless, the so-called â€Å"new entrants† have set up themselves as carriers in the local geographical areas in the form of intra-state routes. Due to some oil shocks in the 1970s, an accelerated increase on the ticket prices brought hysterics towards the consumers. The Civil Aeronautics Board decided to impose large increments on fares and a four year frozen activities on some newly acquired routes and delimitation on the capacity of routes. In addition, developing argument s regarding economic liberalism has caused less neither government regulation nor intervention on market practices, and in this case, the US Airline Industry. ... Business Strategies The Hub-and-Spoke System As a matter of discussion and recollection, several changes have been made following the advent of the deregulation in 1978. The hub and spoke system was adapted which has both allowed more efficiency by traveller concentration and facility improvements and maintenance. The Hub and Spoke system is a specialized operation that would limit flights of large carriers to small ports; instead, larger airlines coordinate with smaller airlines to take the flight franchise on smaller airports and smaller towns and cities. Because of this, the erection of international airports has been limited overwhelmingly where in the case of the US, the only international airport that was added is the one in Denver since the deregulation era. The Direct Foreign Investment (FDI) According to (Izquierdo, Ribes and Rodriguez, 2010), in tradition, the theories relating to the internationalization of firms have been based on the behavior of manufacturing industries. However, there has been a marked shift towards the tertiarization of the economy on a global scale and direct foreign investment (FDI) in the service industries amounts to 50 – 60% of all FDI and the share is forecasted to rise further. Internationalisation, Mergers and Acquisitions Most of the world’s airlines, just like some of the US airlines, export their services to other countries. American, Southwest and Delta airways are involving its operation in the international market. Some of these internationalization movements are done in a direct manner but most of the time US Airlines are cooperating with foreign airline companies in a forged agreement. Several major US Airlines merged with international airlines or even acquires some of them with motives of

“The Death and the Maiden” D. 810 by Franz Schubert Essay Example for Free

â€Å"The Death and the Maiden† D. 810 by Franz Schubert Essay Franz Peter Schubert was born on the 31st of January 1797 in Lichtental, Austria which is near Vienna. He has fifteen brothers and sisters, but only five of them live to see their first birthday. The father, Franz Teodor is the Principal in a local school. The mother, Elizabeth Viets was a cook in a Viennese family. When Franz Schubert was just five-year-old he started playing the violin and his teacher was his own father. Three years later, Michael Holzer, who was the parish priest in the town, started to teach the eight-year-old composer how to play the organ. Franz Schubert composed his first piece at the age of just ten. In 1808, he started singing in the courtier choir. Not only he was a soloist in the choir but did he play in the section of second violins in the orchestra. This way, he came to know the music of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. At this time, Shubert was taught by Antonio Salieri. After graduating from a teaching seminary in 1814, Schubert worked as a teacher alongside his father until 1818. The three year period between 1818 and 1821 is probably the toughest test in the composer’s life. Shubert was trying to earn enough giving private lessons but the money was really insufficient. He was not able to find a full-time job either, so he had to live with some of his friends – other composers and poets. In 1818 and 1820 as a musical teacher of count Esterhazy’s daughters, the young composer had the chance to visit Hungary. Schubert learnt a lot about the Hungarian national music and the Gypsy music during these visits. Suddenly and unexpectedly, his songs become very popular in Hungary and Austria after 1821 when he managed to publish some of his works with his friends’ help. Franz Schubert is the composer of some of the greatest classical master pieces ever written such as â€Å"The Unfinished Symphony† No. 8 D 759, the piano quintet â€Å"The Trout† D. 667, the string quartet â€Å"The Death and the Maiden† D 810 and of course his more than 600 songs. Schubert is also the pioneer of the song cycle genre, composing pieces such as Die Winterreise D.911, and Die Schone Mullerin D. 795. The composer died on November the 19th 1928 in Vienna. This essay has been prepared to examine several different aspects of Franz Schubert’s chamber music by mainly giving examples from the string quartet â€Å"Death and the Maiden† D. 810 and the song â€Å"Der Tod und Das Madchen† D. 531. Analyses and connection between the poem â€Å"Der Tod und Das Madchen† by Matthias Claudius, the song and the string quartet â€Å"The Death and the Maiden† by Franz Schubert will also be included. Also, the extent to which Schubert has taken the vocal melody and made it idiomatic for the string instruments will be explored. Most of the Schubert’s songs are really connected with poetry. He used to work with poets such as Goethe and Schiller, who had a huge impact onto the composer’s works. Christoph Wolff suggests that the things which Shubert mostly liked in the Matthias Claudius’ poems were the purity and simplicity of the poetic language. (Bandura-Skoda, Branscombe, 1982, 144). The song â€Å"The Death and The Maiden† D. 531, which was composed by Franz Schubert in 1815 is based on the poem â€Å"Der Tod und Das Madchen† by Matthias Claudius which was written in 1775. The poem consists of two stanzas as example one shows. Das MadchenDer Tod: Voruber! Ach, voruber!Gib deine Hand, du schon und zart Gebild! Geh, wilder Knochenmann!Bin Freund, und komme nicht, zu strafen. Ich bin noch jung! Geh lieber,Sei gutes Muts! Ich bin nicht wild, Und ruhre mich nicht an.Sollst sanft in meinen Armen schalfen! The Maiden: Death: Pass me by! Oh, pass me by! Give me your hand, you beautiful and tender form! Go, fierce man of bones! I am a friend, and come no to punish. I am still young! Go, rather, Be of good cheer! I am not fierce, And do not touch me. Softly shall you sleep in my arms! Example 1 – The poem â€Å"Der Tod und Das Madchen†. It is clear to see that the poem is in a form of a dialog between â€Å"The Maiden† and â€Å"The Death†. A key feature in the first stanza is the short sentences, ending with an exclamation mark. This shows that the girl is frightened and afraid of â€Å"The Death†. On the other hand, â€Å"The Death† in the second stanza is meant to be scary and dangerous, but instead of that it sounds harmless and even makes a compliment in the opening words: â€Å"Give me your hand, you beautiful and tender form†. Anyhow, there is an interesting fact about the title of the poem â€Å"Der Tod und Das Madchen†, therefore the names of the song and the string quartet by Schubert â€Å"The Death and The Maiden†, which is the reverse order of the two stanzas compare with the title which shows the serious presence of Death even before the opening words. The song â€Å"The Death and The Maiden† D. 531 by Schubert is logically as contrasting as the poem which it is based on. The opening eight bars of the song are just an introduction to the following piece. From bar nine onwards, Schubert uses very smart resources to establish the scary and anxiety atmosphere such as chromatism and quicker metric rhythm, as it can be seen on example two. Example 2 – the song â€Å"The Death and The Maiden† D. 531 It can be said that the Maiden is giving up resisting the Death between bars sixteen and twenty-one and there are few evidence supporting this idea. Firstly, the vocal line is going downwards which is a sign of humility. Secondly, the metric rhythm in these six bars is calm and uninterested, exactly as it was in the very opening of the song. Lastly, the fermata in bar twenty-one could be the final clue that the Maiden is already given up fighting. After this really dramatic moment for the listener, Schubert introduces the second character in the piece – â€Å"The Death†. (Bandura-Skoda, Branscombe, 1982, 152) The composer sets the tempo of the introduction as a tempo for the second part of the song. There is a little dynamic detail, however really important. The dynamic in the first part of the song (the part of â€Å"The Maiden†) is p while in the second part (the part of â€Å"The Death†) is pp. By using this technique, Shubert makes the lyrics of â€Å"the Death† sound even more shocking. The opening words in the second stanza are so important that the composer keeps the vocal line on the tonic of D minor for nearly six whole bars. The words: â€Å"Gieb deine Hand, du schon und zart Gebuild!†, which translates as follows: â€Å"Give me your hand, you beautiful and tender form!† are accompanied by quite a simple harmony pattern. Schubert uses the tonic of the D minor in the first bar of the second part of the song and then the sub-dominant is used in the second bar which develops into its first inversion in the following bar. The composer goes back to the tonic in the fourth bar, but just to set a much more interesting harmonic pattern for the second verse of the stanza: â€Å"Bin Freud, und komme ni cht, zu strafen†, which means: â€Å"I am a friend, and come not to punish†. In the fifth bar of the second part of the song the chord being used is the first inversion of the supertonic seventh which changes to the second inversion of the same chord in the first part of the following bar. However, the chord used in the second part of the bar in question, which is bar six of the second part of the song, is the seventh of the sub-dominant. The composer uses bar seven for a transition to the new key of F major, which is established in the eighth bar. The harmony is being changed from sub-dominant to the tonic of F major and back to the first inversion of the sub-dominant in the frames of the next bar. During the next two bars – ten and eleven, the tonic – sub-dominant movement in F major continues. â€Å"The Death† ends with the words: â€Å"Sollst Sanft in Meinen Armen Schafen† which translates as: â€Å"Softly shall you sleep in my arms†. Schubert goes back to D minor in this last passage; also, the composer uses the â€Å"French† augmented 6th for the word â€Å"Schlafen†. This chord seems to be the perfect one to finish the idea of â€Å"the Death† with, as it sounds unsure, uncomfortable and probably harmless. Immediately after that, in the last seven bars, Schubert unexpectedly uses D major, as if to show the public that â€Å"the Death† has no bad intentions. These harmonic patterns and the lack of melody movement in the second stanza can only characterize â€Å"the Death† voice as supernatural and really contrasting to the active voice part in the first stanza. (Bandura-Skoda, Branscombe, 1982, 153) As already said above, the song is based on the poem, which is the reason for some absolutely striking similarities between the two of them. For example, Schubert clearly differentiates the two stanzas and the two dialogue partners by various terms such as the dynamics and declamatory gestures. The piano dynamic, crescendo and diminuendo in the first part of the song correspond to the short and disjunct phrases in â€Å"the Maiden† part of the poem. Likewise, the pianissimo dynamic in the second part of the song is in harmony with the long and conjunct phrases in â€Å"the Death† part of the poem (Bandura-Skoda, Branscombe, 1982, 150). However, an interesting fact is that Schubert does not use two different voices for the two stanzas. This perhaps was his way of making the dramatic dialogue between â€Å"the Maiden† and â€Å"the Death† even more effective. In fact, Schubert uses a material which was previously written by him quite often. For example, the famous piano quintet in A major D. 667 is based on the song â€Å"the Trout† D. 550. Similarly, â€Å"the Wanderer† D. 493 supplies with material the C major fantasy D. 760. As it was already mentioned above, the String Quartet D. 810 â€Å"The Death and the Maiden† is based on the song D. 531. More precisely, the second movement of the string quartet, which consists of one main theme and five variations, is completely based on that song. The main theme can be divided into three parts: A, B and C. Example 3 – Comparison of the first eight bars of the second movement of the string quartet (above) and the song (below) The A section, which is shown on example three above, is almost directly taken from the song. Afterwards, between bars nine and sixteen, which is section B, the music is getting livelier and vivid, just to correspond perfectly to â€Å"the Maiden’s† feelings. The C section of the main theme, between bars seventeen and twenty-four, is again calm exactly as â€Å"the Death† in the Claudius’s poem is. The first twenty-four bars are probably the most beautiful and angelic, yet incredibly simple, in the Romantic era. However, the simplicity of the whole passage is what makes it so genuine. For example, the note G is repeated thirteen times between bars seventeen and twenty-four in the part of the first violin, while the note B is repeated fourteen times in the viola part. Anyhow, the feature which makes these bars sound so perfect is t he harmony pattern which is shown on example four. Example 4 – Harmonic analysis of bars seventeen to twenty four of the second movement of the string quartet The first variation starts in bar twenty-five. Basically, the harmony pattern is the same to the one in the original theme. This time, however, the second violin and the viola provide the harmony which was previously played by the whole quartet. The inner-voices sustain the key feature in this variation in triplets throughout. The cello is providing the foundation of the whole passage by playing strong quaver pizzicato notes. The first violin part is really interesting in this variation, because it has very much a supporting role, something unusual, especially at the beginning of a piece. The notes played are part of the chord played by the rest of the group. This first of five variations is somehow more tensed and emotional compare to the original theme in the movement. This is probably to underline â€Å"the Maiden† fright when she tries to escape â€Å"the Death† at the beginning of the poem. In the second variation, there is a lead singing part – the cello. It is interesting to see how this melody corresponds to the original theme, which can be seen on example five. Example 5 – Comparison between the cello part in the 2nd variation (above) and the original theme (underneath) The second violin provides a second voice, which supports the main tune. It is a unique accompaniment because of its multitasking. The dotted quavers form the supporting voice which was mentioned above, while the semi-quavers complete the first violin and the viola accompaniment roles, as it can be seen on example six. Example 6 – The unique, multitasking second violin part in the second variation. The role of the viola throughout this variation is to provide a strong base part. Schubert achieved that with very simple but incredibly effective rhythm – quaver, quaver rest and two quavers. This pattern repeats for twenty-four bars. The first violin part has an ornamental function again, likewise in the first variation. It can be said, that the harmonic patterns remains similar to these at the beginning of the piece, however, there are simply more notes played in this variation which is the reason for the more tensed and excited feelings. The third variation is an absolute shock for the listener. It is a kind of culmination of the feelings which have been building up so far in the movement. This variation is unlike any of the rest in terms of role playing of the four instruments. The key feature in the third variation is the rhythm which is presented mainly by the second violin and the viola, while still reminiscing about the main theme with all the quavers, as example seven shows. Example 7 – Strong rhythmic second violin and viola parts, which still reminisce about the main theme. The first violin and the cello have a similar job of playing big three-part chords later on, which create additional tension in the music. There is an interesting fact that the original theme and the previous two variations finished in the key of G major. In the third one, however, all four instruments resolve to a single G note. The composer surprises the listener again with the fourth variation. Having listened to the previous really tensed and exciting variation, Schubert introduces very light and beautiful music in G major. A similarity to the main theme has been found in this variation, as shown on example eight. Example 8 – Similar material in the fourth variation and the main theme. The first violin is playing an accompanying role again in this variation, but this time, so lyrical and smooth, that it can be described as a counter-melody. The last part of this variation is in C major, which is the first significant change of tonality so far in the movement. By going back to the more relaxed music in this variation, the composer hides the return to the home key of G minor perfectly, as he prepares the listener for the end of the movement. In this final fifth variation, the second violin and the viola play a version of the main theme which has been played in the first variation, but this time much more lyrically. Schubert uses some voice exchange between the two of them as well. This time the cello part has the job of providing the base. It is a very simple ostinato movement, but again, incredibly effective for the listener as example nine shows below. Example 9 – The ostinato movement of the cello in the last variation The first violin has a very limited part. Starts off with a very long G note, just to continue with a passage, which strongly emphasizes the G minor chord as shown on example ten. Example 10 – The first violin line at the beginning of the fifth variation Of particular interest is the note of the cello in bar one-hundred and thirty which is shown on example eleven. There, the cello reaches the lowest note of the whole piece. This note is greatly emotional for the listener, because this is the point where all the tension and excitement, which has been building up throughout the movement, finally resolves. Example 11 – Bar 130, where the cello reaches the lowest note in the piece The coda of this movement starts in bar one-hundred and forty-four. Schubert uses the material from sections B and C of the original theme. This can be seen in the parts of the second violin, viola and cello while the first violin part is more variative and ornamental then any of the other instruments. It is an interesting fact, that Schubert finishes this movement the same way he finishes the song, with a restatement of the introduction but this time in a major key. Having written more than six-hundred songs, Franz Schubert has a huge contribution to the developing of this genre. His creativeness as a song composer, of course pervade some of his instrumental music as well. It is very difficult to reproduce in great detail what the composer had in mind about his vocal and instrumental works, in order to the fact that the singing techniques and the instruments some two-hundred years ago were so different to what they are nowadays. An interesting fact is the use of slurs in Schubert’s instrumental music. He is the composer who has rarely written a slur which is longer than a string player could manage. The slurs in a string player part correspond to the breaths a singer would take. This proves that even when composing pieces for a string quartet or even a symphony, Schubert uses his vocal techniques all the time. (Montgomery, 2003, 11) Unlike the classical string quartets, the Schubert’s works can be described as â€Å"genuine† according to the violinist Louis Spohr. This means that there is no one leading part, as it used to be during the Classical era, but all four parts are equally important. Therefore, the first violin should not aim to distinguish himself above the other three players by style of delivery or strength of tone. (Montgomery, 2003, pp.12-13) In conclusion, the String Quartet in D minor, D. 810 is one of the greatest chamber music pieces in the classical repertoire nowadays. After listening to such music, the genius of Franz Schubert cannot be questioned in any way. There is a striking fact that, this piece was not published while the composer was still alive. Anyhow, this essay analysed the poem â€Å"Der Tod und das Madchen† by Mathias Claudius, the song â€Å"The Death and The Maiden† D. 531 and the second movement of the string quartet D. 810 by Franz Schubert, by exploring mainly harmony patterns and instrumental voice leading. The strong link between the song and each of the variations from the second movement of the string quartet with the poem by Mathias Claudius has been explained. Schubert himself, in an often-cited letter, refers to the String Quartet in A minor, D. 804 and the D. 810 in D minor as well as the Octet D. 803, in a specific context: â€Å"†¦ I intend to pave my way towards grand symphony in that manner †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bandura-Skoda, 1982, 171). There can be no doubt that the D minor Quartet is really experimental and adventurous, which can easily be in the dimensions of the symphonic format in terms of cyclical form and expressive content. Bibliography: 1. Bandura-Skoda, E. Branscombe P. (eds.) (1982) ‘Schubert Studies: Problems of style and chronology’. Cambridge: University Press. pp. 1-25, 143-173, 327-347. 2. Brown, C. (2010) ‘Performing 19th- century chamber music: the yawning chasm between contemporary practice and historical evidence’. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 3. Montgomery, D. (2003) ‘Franz Schubert’s Music in Performance. Compositional Ideals, Notational Intent, Historical Realities, Pedagogical Foundations’. New York: Pedagogical Press. pp. 65-173. 4. Somervell, A. (1927) ‘Schubert: Quartet in D minor and Octet’. London: Humphrey Milford: Oxford University Press. pp. 5-30. 5. Rink, J. (ed.) (2002) ‘Musical Performance’, A Guide to Understanding. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Discography: 1. Schubert, F. String Quartets Nos. 13 and 14, â€Å"Death and the Maiden† (Alban Berg Quartet) EMI Classics, Compact disc, 0077774733359. 2. Schubert, F. String Quartet Nos. 10 and 14, â€Å"Death and the Maiden† (Britten Quartet) EMI Classics, Compact disc, 0724357327350. Music Scores: 1. Schubert, F., 1981, String Quartet in d minor: ‘Death and the Maiden’ D. 810, Eulenberg Edition, Leipzig. Music Score. 2. Schubert, F., 1989, String Quartet: ‘Death and the Maiden’ D. 810, Barrenreiter Edition, Kessel. Music Score. Web-sites: 1. Claudius, Matthias. Der Tod und das Mà ¤dchen / Death and the Maiden. Trans. Emily Ezust. The Lied and Art Song Texts Pages: Texts and Translations to Lieder (2007): http://www.recmusic.org/lieder.

Analysis Of A Balanced Scorecard In Dell

Analysis Of A Balanced Scorecard In Dell Dell is a computer vendor operating online but utilising a retail presence. Their strategy involves specialising in giving the users a choice in what software and specifications they want on their computer. Their target customers are mainly home and business users as they specialise in business laptops as well as home media laptops. Their market segment is the computer vendor market. This segment is occupied by companies such as HP, Lenovo and Acer. In terms of market position, Dell is ranked around third in the PC vendor market with a market share of 10.5%. Competitors Lenovo and HP currently lead Dell in the market with 15.7% and 15.5% respectively (Gartner, 2012). Customers Appendix A. is the customer section of the scorecard Dell wants to become the biggest vendor of computers in the market and the only way theyre going to achieve that is by increasing their market share. Offering discounts would increase their sales and pricing their products more competitively would a similar effect; however this would adversely affect their per unit profit. On-time deliveries relates directly to the customers experience when ordering with Dell. If their computer arrives a week later than expected, theyll leave Dell negative feedback which will affect their customer service reputation, so its vital that they improve their delivery system as much as possible. Although its motivational, offering cash incentives for staff increases the staff expenditure for the year. I chose the number of customer returns to measure the quality of their products because well made products wont result in excessive customer returns. Improved staff training will result in less errors and better product reliability. The only faults in the products would be coming from the specific components, which can be replaced. The number of customer complaints relates to the quality of their customer service. This measure can also be used in conjunction with product launches to find faults in these products. There are limitations on how much they can improve their customer service. Staff retraining (whether its in customer service or in sales) costs a lot of time and money which could affect their financial statements. Financial Appendix B. is the financial section of the scorecard I chose sales growth by segment because it links in with Dells overall plan to take advantage of potential sales in different segments by enabling us to find out where specific sales patterns are occurring. An improvement of 10% seems a bit high but that takes into consideration the anticipation for Windows 8 as well as Dells plans to introduce new touch screen devices. Residual income is the difference between the companys profits and the charge for the use of capital within the business. It represents a good measure of the profitability of the company because it takes the cost of capital into account, something which gross profit margin wouldnt do. Inventory turnover is the rate at which inventory is sold and replaced over time. The target for this figure should be high because Dell specialises in using Just in Time production techniques to minimise their inventory holding, selling it more quickly. A limitation is that production could yield a higher error rate. This could result in more customer returns which would reflect negatively on their customer service. I chose return on invested capital as the performance measure for capital utilisation because it calculates the level of profit their investments generate. It also takes long term debts into account which gives us a better idea of how the profits cover those long term debts. Learning and Growth Appendix C. is the learning and growth section of the scorecard If Dell spends more money on their staff training then the staff will feel more invested than if they were trained for a short period of time. This would link in with their objective of making sure the employees are well trained and professional in their jobs. The only problem with implementing this is that it could easily run up the cost which could adversely affect their financial performance. In order to measure job satisfaction, Dell can use employee turnover which would give them a target to work towards (reducing employee turnover). By offering incentives such as bonuses or perks of the job they can reduce employee turnover however that runs the risk of increasing the cost of their employee wage and salaries budget. Customer surveys would be useful for finding out what new features are desired, whats wrong with the old products or product pricing. Surveys are cheap and cost effective, however they need to offer an incentive otherwise people wont do the survey. Changes to the market mean that Dell need to introduce new available technologies. Reviews and ratings are a suitable measure for this because of their critical nature. However they have to increase the RD budget in order to find out what technologies are practical. Internal Business Processes Appendix D. is the internal business process section of the scorecard Creditor days is a useful measure of improving credit terms with their suppliers since it shows us how long they have to pay them. The target to increase this amount was chosen because Dell is experiencing a low point in sales (during the last month or two). So improved credit terms can help them while theyre experiencing this difficulty. The problem with increasing creditor days is that doing this over a long term will result in working capital problems for them. By measuring the CO2 emissions, Dell can find out how well theyre doing in their global emission reductions. Utilising renewable energy sources can help towards this and improve their reputation. The only limitation is that the transition to renewable energy is a slow process which is contrary to the usual short term-ism of objectives. Energy efficiency is a good measure for how energy efficient the businesses operations are and using a survey to find out how to improve the business operations isnt going to pose a problem. In order to measure the level of recycled products, the rate at which they recycle and reuse (Dell, 2012) products is a useful tool for this purpose. With a 100% rate they can improve their environmental impact and appeal to more green-conscious customers. Critical Analysis of the Balanced Scorecard Benefits The balanced scorecard doesnt solely focus on short term goals in the business; its used to measure the success of a business in achieving long term objectives. This is good because it gives them a long term goal to work towards, taking into account all the other aspects of the business. As stated by Kaplan and Norton (1992) the scorecard puts strategy and vision, not control, at the center. It establishes goals but assumes that people will adopt whatever behaviors and take whatever actions are necessary to arrive at those goals. The measures are designed to pull people toward the overall vision. It measures performance as a whole instead of measuring performance on a departmental level. This is better than traditional management tools because it highlights what parts of the business are linked with each other. If one side is performing badly then all sides (and their goals) will suffer. Difficulties NÃ ¸rreklit argues: During the planning stage the measure variables may be benchmarked against those of the competition, but the scorecard does not presuppose any continuous observation of competitors actions and results or the monitoring of technological developments, which means that the focus of the model is static rather than dynamic (NÃ ¸rreklit, H. 2000). This poses a problem to Dell as theyre in a highly technological sector where they have to stay on top of new developments, so having a strategic model which is too static is counterproductive. The model also focuses on external commitment with employees. NÃ ¸rreklit states that: the employees will try to reach good results in the areas measured, but this will be to the detriment of other elements which may be important, too. It should be noted, however, that this problem is even greater if, as has traditionally been the case, only financial measures are used. (NÃ ¸rreklit, H. 2000). If the employees are focused on meeting the targets set out by the measures, theyll become too goal orientated and wont see the bigger picture of an objective. Conclusion The Balanced scorecard is an effective tool for setting strategic goals and finding out how we can measure their achievement. The problem with the static nature of the table is fairly significant however I believe that this can be rectified by keeping track of technological changes and monitoring competitors strategies. This can be done by studying their product releases or by looking at their expansion into other territories. The scorecard has its advantages in the sense that it avoids the typical short term goals that most managers aspire to achieve. With a focus on long term goals it allows the business to predict future changes to the market, changes that theyll have to adapt to. Word count: 1,500 References Bowhill, B. (2008) Business Planning and Control: Integrating Accounting, Strategy and People. Chichester: John Wiley Sons Ltd. Dell. (2012). Dells Commitment to Zero Waste. .Available : http://content.dell.com/us/en/corp/d/corp-comm/cr-earth-reduce-reuse-recycle.aspx. Last accessed 09th Nov 2012. Forbes. (2012). DELL INC (NASDAQ:DELL) Ratios and Returns. Available: http://finapps.forbes.com/finapps/jsp/finance/compinfo/Ratios.jsp?tkr=DELL. Last accessed 09th Nov 2012. Gartner. (2012). Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Declined 8 Percent in Third Quarter of 2012 as the Market Prepares for the Launch of Windows 8 . Available: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=2194017. Last accessed 09th Nov 2012. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1992). The balanced scorecard-measures that drive performance. Harvard business review, 70 (1), 71-79. Norreklit, H. (2000). The balance on the balanced scorecard a critical analysis of some of its assumptions. Management accounting research. 11 (1), 65-88.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Debate

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Debate Eunae Jeong Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act should continue When people heard the news that the first patient with the Ebola virus arrived in Dallas, they were frightened by not only panic about the Ebola virus itself but also by fear that someone in the early stage of infection might not see the doctor because of the enormous cost of health care. In March 2010, President Barack Obama signed into the law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or obamacare. It is the United States’ first health care reform since legalization of Medicare in 1965. Provisions of PPACA include that, in brief, all Americans should buy health insurance from the Health Insurance Marketplace in their state. Another provision states that the federal government should support insurance exchange’s financing (â€Å"Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)†). PPACA needs to continue because through the implementation of this Act, people with pre-existing conditions as well as a lot of uninsured people can be aided, and the bud get for Medicare can be reduced at any time. Although there are many opposing views on PPACA, the implementation of PPACA has to be supported because of its clear advantages. For example, imagine that there are a man with type I diabetes, which developed when he was young. To manage type I diabetes, periodical injections of insulin are needed. This means that he needs to visit the doctor to get insulin throughout his life. The cost of insulin depends on insurance coverage. If he tries to apply for insurance in this situation, the insurance company will decline his application due to he has a pre-existing condition. The reason why he is worried about this problem is that he is an American. Fareed Zakaria reports that other countries, such as Switzerland or Taiwan, support their people’s universal insurance independently of pre-existing conditions (22). This is possible because the government, not private insurers, provides the coverage (22). Before PPACA came to the front, Americans had to be anxious about the United Stat es’ terrible health care support system. To address this issue, PPACA prohibits that insurance companies deny an application on account of applicants’ pre-existing conditions (â€Å"Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)†). Also, another benefit of the program is that the uninsured Americans can be aided by expansion of PPACA. With the implementation of PPACA, they can have opportunities to get medical service when they require it. According to the article written by Leonard Zwelling, for example, 28 percentages of adults, about 6 million people, in Texas are currently uninsured and about 3 million uninsured Texans can get coverage by the implementation of PPACA (13). In addition, because the budget cuts for Medicare are possible if the states’ finances are endangered PPACS should continue. One of key facts that the Obama administration provide PPACA includes current Medicare and has a plan to expand it with states’ cooperation. Uninsur ed adults do not have as much political leverage as wealthier insured citizen who can contribute to political campaign. Therefore, the securing of the budget for Medicare can be threatened easily when there is pressure to cut the budget. â€Å"Already, there are calls for curbing the law’s subsidies that will help the uninsured buy coverage as part of a bipartisan budget deal-an extraordinarily bad idea, given the limited scope of those subsidies.† Clearly, PPACA is required to protect and expand Medicare. / reference: Oberlander, Jonathan, The New England Journal of Medicine. The debating on the implementation of PPACA continues even though PPACA has already begun implementation. Young Americans oppose the implementation of PPACA because they already have health insurance, and they might spend more money if the federal government and states try to expand health insurance. The Institute of Politics of Harvard University questioned â€Å"2089 citizens aged 18 to 29: 56% of those 18 to 24 disapproved of the President’s job performance; 53% of those 25 to 29 disapproved; and 47% maintain they would recall President Barack Obama if that were possible† (Emord, Jonathan W. â€Å"YOUNG AMERICANS TO OBAMACARE: NOT INTERESTED† USA Today, February 2014. 16). They argue that PPACA is primarily attractive to those who have been uninsured in the past and who suffer from chronic or acute and costly diseases. It is likely that only those individuals will sign up for the program. Most of interviewees have already health insurance. They think that PPAC A’s benefits will not affect them because they are already insured by some other way. Instead, those polled might think that they will have to pay the money that allows expanding health insurance through PPACA. Also, because PPACA does not target a specific population, money might be wasted in the allocation of funds in the federal governmental budget for PPACA’s implementation. In his article â€Å"The Future or Obamacare†, Jonathan Oberlander argues that there is no â€Å"clear programmatic identity: unlike Medicare and Social Security, PPACA does not have a well-defined population of beneficiaries, and its benefits are diffuse.† (Oberlander, Jonathan. â€Å"The Future of Obamacare†, The NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL of MEDICINE (2012). Furthermore, Texas and 15 other states assert that PPACA, with expansion of Medicare, should be reconsidered because it will raise state expenses. (Zwelling, Leonard. â€Å"Obamacare: Why Should We Care?† Journal of Oncology Practice Vol .10, Issue 1 (2014). This is the most difficult, prolonged assault, which the federal government and states should overcome for continuous implementation of PPACA. In spite of these opposing opinions, PPACA should continue to go to the fore. First of all, nobody can assure that they will have enough insurance when they will need health care. In 1963, Kenneth J. Arrow wrote, â€Å"UNCERTAINTY AND THE WELFARE ECONOMICS OR MEDICAL CARE†. In his article, Kenneth J. Arrow contended that health care industry could be explained with â€Å"uncertainty in the incidence of disease†. Namely, the reason why young Americans oppose PPACA implies that young Americans are literally young. Current situation can change suddenly; the insurance is for risk and uncertainty. Reference : Kenneth J. Arrow, â€Å"UNCERTAINTY AND THE WELFARE ECONOMICS OF MEDICAL CARE†, The American Economic Review, Vol LIII December 1963 Number 5 941-973. Moreover, PPACA’s ta rgeting to the universal population of the US is not a weak point, but a strong one. There are other countries with universal access and universal insurance such as Switzerland and Taiwan. Their types of insurance are similar to Medicare supplied by their government instead of being supply by private insurance companies. Surprisingly, while the United States spends 17% of its GDP on health care, Switzerland and Taiwan spends 11% and 7% respectively, of their GDP on it. Because PPACA is not completely enacted Act yet, addressing concerns over budget waste and discussing solutions are necessary to make PPACA move forward Reference: Zakaria, Fareed, Time magazine, 3/26/2012. Last but not least, the Federal government, not each state, will support the expansion of PPACA at a 100% level until 2017, a bit less later, then at 90% indefinitely after 2022(Zwelling, Leonard 12). For example, in Texas, for every $1 the state spends on health care for the poor, the US government matches $9 doll ars. This effectively means that, during the first 10 years of the program in Texas (current Medicare program plus expansion) the federal government would increase payments to the Texas health care system by nearly $90 billion, whereas the state of Texas’s share would be $15.6 billion. However, there are no specific plans after 10 years. More patchworks should be added in many holes of PPACA for its sustainable implementation. PPACA is not perfect yet, but its direction is right. Because PPACA can aid people with pre-existing conditions or uninsured people and can support Medicare, which may be endangered. The opponents argue that they have already health insurance, money might be wasted, or state expenses will be increased. PPACA, supported by the federal government, however, can guarantee people’s future health insurance. In the process of the implementation, although waste of the budget can occur, and PPACA does not have enough time to be revised, it can be getting better with continuous debating with many opposing views. Therefore, PPACA needs to go on in spite of several opposing opinions. Works cited Arrow, Kenneth J. â€Å"UNCERTAINTY AND THE WELFARE ECONOMICS OF MEDICAL CARE† The American Economic Review LIII (1963): 941-973. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Oct 2014. Emord, Jonathan W. â€Å"YOUNG AMERICANS TO OBAMACARE: NOT INTERESTED.† USA TODAY Feb. 2014: 16. Print â€Å"Health Care that Works for Americans.† the White House PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA. The government of the United States of America, 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2014 Levy, Michael. â€Å"Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).† ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014 Oberlander, Jonathan. â€Å"The Future of Obamacare.† New England Journal of Medicine 367.23 (2012): 2165-2167. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Oct 2014. Zakaria, Fareed. â€Å"Health Insurance Is for Everyone.† Time 26 Mar. 2012: 22-23. Print. Zwelling, Leonard, and Hagop M. Kantarjian. â€Å"Obamacare: Why Should We Care?† JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY PRACTICE 10.1 (2013): 12-14. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Oct 2014.

Cause and Effect Essay - Factory Farms Cause Sickness and Pollution

Cause and Effect Essay - Factory Farms Cause Sickness and Pollution There is little doubt that animals raised on small-scale diverse farms are apt to be healthier. When allowed to range freely, particularly in organically maintained yards and pastures, they receive more exercise, their diet is more varied and they are exposed to commensal bacteria that help exclude, and build resistance to, harmful pathogens. Some organic practitioners also argue that free-ranging animals actively seek out plants with medicinal properties that can build their resistance to illness, When Livestock production is carried out on a scale that suits the global market, however, huge numbers of animals are kept in tightly confined conditions, and the potential for disease outbreaks is much higher.. The important considerations of animal welfare aside, these methods lead to the rampant use of antibiotics, which poses a significant health risk, not only for the livestock, but for consumers as well, since antibiotic residues can remain in meat and milk. Roughly half the 25,000 tonnes of antibiotics produced in the United States are used in the raising of animals for human consumption. There are other reasons for concern about the overuse of antibiotics in giant livestock operations. Some 40 to 80 percent of the antibiotics used in farming are thought to be unnecessary even under factory conditions, as 80 percent of their use is as a preventative measure and for growth promotion. Overuse has already rendered some drugs ineffective and may even make some strains of bacteria untreatable. According to the Public Health Laboratory Service in Britain, a new strain of salmonella that first appeared in the United Kingdom in 1990 is re... ...rom practices all too common among industrial pig operations: transporting animals in contaminated vehicles and feeding them waste food containing infected meat. Problems like these are an inherent part of a food system that is so large that companies can increase their profits by millions of dollars simply by saving a few cents on each animal ¹s feed, or by using chemicals or processing methods that reduce costs by a fraction of a percent. We all want safe, healthy food, but we cannot rely on the global food system to provide it. The corporate food chain has grown so long and the distance between producers and consumers so vast that no one can really know how their food was grown, how it was processed, and how it was treated during its long travels. Only by localising and reducing the scale of our food systems can we once again trust the food we eat.

Jazz paper -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born in New York City, Artie Shaw would become one of the top bandleaders in the swing era. He began his musical career as a highly sought-after alto saxophone player in the New York area, and was able to benefit from the growth of radio and studio recordings. As he perfected his technical ability with various dance bands, he was still relatively unknown in the early 30’s when he began to focus exclusively on the Clarinet while Swing music began to grow in popularity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While we may carefully analyze the two pieces to satisfy our curiosity regarding musical evolution in Jazz, we should also not lose sight of the fact that these are two very enjoyable styles of music. From the lively swing orchestras inspiring large audiences to dance, to the softer Bossa Nova sound which is pleasing to hear in a relaxed setting, both have contributed to the growth of musical creativity in Jazz from the 1930’s through today. Shaw first broke through with an unusual string quartet in New York’s Imperial Theater. By early 1937, Shaw had formed a conventional swing band which would eventually record â€Å"Begin the Beguine†. Tormented by the pressures that came with unwanted fame, Artie Shaw disbanded his band at the height of his fame, but was able to mount a comeback with a new band the following year to record many more hit songs. Artie Shaw would go on to serve honorably in the US Navy during World War 2, but after returning in the mid-40’s it became clear that the times had changed, and it was no longer economically viable to support a big swing band. He continued to play sporadically and attempt to lead new bands until discouragement led him to announce his retirement in the mid-1950’s, after which he would never even play the clarinet again. Antonio Carlos Jobim, also known by his lifelong nickname of â€Å"Tom†, grew up in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. During his late teens he began to pursue an education as an Architect, but by the time he turned 20, he could not resist a powerful attraction to music so he started to play the piano in nightclubs and worked in music studios. He recorded his first record in 1954 and found fame 2 years later when he provided the score for the play â€Å"Orfeo do Carnaval†. In 1958, along with the work of Brazilian Singer Joao Gilberto, Antonio Jobim launched the phenomenon known as Bossa Nova. In... ...finado on the other hand seems to be less restrictive, allowing the guitar to fade out right as the saxophone begins his contribution to the piece. Underneath it all, the rhythm section’s contribution as they keep time seems to reinforce this changing style of increasing creativity with the steady flat traditional sound of swing to the very creative rhythms in Bossa Nova.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout the history of musical evolution, there are few styles which show more variation than Jazz. As such, it is sometimes enlightening to illustrate this variation by examining and contrasting some of the very unique styles of jazz, as well as the people behind the music. Within these pages, we will examine the Swing era represented by the performance of â€Å"Begin the Beguine† from Artie Shaw’s Orchestra with the Bossa Nova sound of â€Å"Desafinado† composed by Antonio Carlos Jobim. During this investigation we will see how two very different people from very different eras and styles both enjoyed commercial success under the big tent of Jazz music, as the highly organized sound of the big band era slowly gave way to newer styles that encouraged freedom in creativity by the soloists.

Nebuchadnezzar and the Creation of Dissedence :: Essays Papers

Nebuchadnezzar and the Creation of Dissedence The artist of the piece to be examined, "Nebuchadnezzar", painted in 1795, is the Romantic poet, author, artist and theorist William Blake. I viewed the piece on Monday 27 September 1999 at the Tate Gallery in Westminster. The piece is a colour print finished in ink pen and watercolour on paper. (See Figure 1) The subject of the piece is King Nebauchadnezzar, ruler of the Babylonian empire from 605 to 562 B.C. The narrative behind the image is that of partly historical and partly mythological backround. The king is a factual person, but the image which Blake depicts is from a story of Nebauchadnezzar's dream and the allegorical interpretations of historical events in the Old Testament's Book of Daniel to illustrate the power of God. The story of King Nebauchadnezzar which the print depicts is that of one of the King's dreams. The powerful Machiavellian king dreamed one night of a great tree growing from the earth. The tree produced abundant amounts of fruit and it grew until its top reached heaven. A celestial being appeared in the King's dream and ordered him to cut the tree down, leaving only its roots bound in iron and bronze in the grass. The same being then decreed that the King's mind be changed from a man's to a beast's. Because the King did not understand his dream, he called on the prophet Daniel to explain it. Daniel told him that Nebuchadnezzar was the strong tree in his dream. He interpreted the dream as being a decree from God that the mighty King who ruled without care for anyone but himself would be condemened to dwell with the beasts so that he would recognize God's superior power.

Can Lord of the Flies be Classified as a Fable? Essay

A fable, by strict definition, is a short tale conveying a clear moral lesson in which the characters are animals acting like human beings. A fable is intended to provide moral instruction and its characters and scenes are drawn to suit this purpose. William Golding has referred to his novel, Lord of the Flies, as a fable. This essay will demonstrate that in the moral lessons it offers us and in the symbolic nature of its setting, characters and literary devices, the novel functions as a fable for the inherent tendency in man to revert to primal savagery once he is removed from civilization. We are left with the caution that evil must be acknowledged and consciously opposed. The novel’s status as a fable is demonstrated strongly through the moral lesson it presents to his responders. Golding’s message is dark one, emphasizing the bleaker aspects of human nature. Rejecting the conventional, romantic notions that man ‘is basically noble’, Golding insists that evil is inherent in man. Indeed, Golding would say that the central idea behind the Lord of the Flies is that man is fallen from grace. He would go on to state that once the faà §ade of civilization is stripped away, man is fundamentally motivated in his behaviour by primal and brutal instincts. Evil is a force which is instinctive in man, which must be recognized and controlled. Golding’s message for the inherent tendency in man to revert to primal savagery once he is removed from civilization is presented through the boy’s gradual loss of order and descent into savagery. When the boys conduct their first meeting on the island they establish rules and methods of proper conduct. Ralph is elected by the boys as Chief and a democratic ‘political’ system is established. The boys are excited at the prospect of rules and meetings, even Jack ironically states, â€Å"We’ve got to have rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We’re English; and the English are best at everything. So we’ve got to do things right†. However, later on in the book, when Jack deserts Ralph to form his own tribe he declares, â€Å"Bollocks to the rules!† and assures the boys that their tribe will not be based on rules-instead they shall have ‘fun’, hunting and feasting. The call of the conch is disregarded and autocratic system of governing commences. This new warrior cult establishes fortifications, political feuds, wars and methods  of torture. The loss of order and descent into savagery is further presented through the boy’s progression from vegetarianism to carnivorous hunting. When the boys first arrive on the island they are content to eat the ripe fruit available to them, however as the book progresses their lust for blood and meat becomes more and more evident. Jack’s first attempt to kill a pig ends unsuccessfully, but he claims that next time there will be no mercy. Ralph however realizes the truth of his hesitation, that he is still faintly attached to the civilized life he once lived and because â€Å"of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood.† Jack’s first kill is significant in the stories plot, as it a revelation of his own darker side and shows the extent to which his primal instincts and bloodthirstiness have taken over him. As the boys establish the technology of hunting, their kills become more violent and eventually they begin to turn their bloodthirstiness on each other. Barbaric chants such as, â€Å"Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!† develop, as do savage dances that often end in the hurt of one of their peers. It is these rituals that eventually end in the death of Simon. The boy’s loss of order and descent into savagery is further shown through their worship of the Beast. Jack proposes that â€Å"when we kill we’ll leave some of the kill for it† , in order to keep the threat of the Beast at bay This conduct is similar to ancient, primal rituals where offerings and sacrifices would be left in order to please the gods. The boys have invented their own primitive religion which is a crude form of totemism and their worship is of blood and ultimately, the devil. Overall, like a fable, Lord of the Flies enforces a very strong message. Humans as a race have a tendency to revert to their primal, savage instincts and in doing so reveal their true sadistic and evil nature that lies within. This moral message is expressed in several ways by the author, however especially through the boys gradual loss of order, their blood lust and their worship of the devil. The novel’s symbolic nature further enhances the books status as a fable. The  disintegration of civilization is charted through the use of symbols, one of the major tools of the fabulist. Almost every detail in the novel has a meaning of its own and a representational meaning in terms of the theme and the development of evil on the island. The setting of the novel is particularly symbolic. The island functions as a microcosm of the wider world and parallels our society in competitiveness, destructiveness and violence. The island is a perfect place in which Golding can test his theories, as being isolated it lacks society and societal laws and rules, allowing the boys to run wild and show their true inner selves. However, the presence of the wider world is never forgotten, as there are constant mentions to the war occurring outside the island. References such as the boy’s evacuation, the crashing of the plane and the pod, the dogfight over the island at night and the arrival of the naval officer on the beach and his warship, show the corruption of what is happening in the real world. The island starts off as a paradise with â€Å"food and drink and-rocks-blue flowers† and in many ways is similar to the Garden of Eden in biblical stories. The book corresponds to this biblical story further, in that man is given a chance of Paradise but destroys it, which shows mans potential for evil. Indeed, at the end of the book the entire island is set alight. The â€Å"roughly boat shaped† layout of the island is symbolic in itself, the boat being an ancient symbol of civilization. The water current flowing backwards around the island is also meaningful, as it leaves the impression that civilization may be going backwards for the island and its inhabitants. The disintegration of civilization in the novel is demonstrated particularly in the symbolic nature of the characters. Described as a â€Å"skinny, vivid little boy, with a glance coming up from under a hut of straight hair that hung down, black and coarse,† Simon represents the highest aspirations of the human spirit towards beauty and holiness and can be interpreted as a Christ figure. His name, which comes from the Hebrew word ‘listener’, further enhances his spiritual role, as it is also the name of one of Jesus’ apostles Simon Peter. Simon participates in an important symbolic dialogue with ‘Beelzebub’, who represents the lowest part of man, the source of violence, hatred, fear and murder. The meeting represents the recognition of  these forces in all men, even the saintly. Like Christ, Simon brought a radical new message to those around him; however instead of heeding this message, his peers took him and killed him. Jack is another symbolic character in the story, however in contrast to Simon, he represents savagery and anarchy. Originally a prefect, Jack rediscovers in himself the instinct and compulsions of the hunter that lie buried in every man. From the beginning he is surrounded by symbolism. For example the fact that â€Å"his hair was red† connects him immediately to connotations often associated with the devil and his name means ‘one who supplants’. Throughout the novel, Jack is a significant figure for evil and destruction and hungers for leadership positions. Jack disregards order and it is through him that the responder sees the innate evil of man, since he was the one cast off from society the earliest. Ralph is another central character to the novel and is the embodiment of democracy. Ralph is a likeable character from the start; strong, handsome and comes from high British society. It is Ralph who establishes the use of the conch at assemblies, using it to carry out fundamental principles of democracy; â€Å"I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak†¦And he won’t be interrupted† . Ralph, whose name in the Anglo-Saxon Language means ‘counsel’, is fair, rational and understanding, as is democracy. It is through Ralph that the responder sees the degradation of society on the island, and thereby shows them the innate evil within man. This is particularly evident when â€Å"Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart.† The symbolic literary devices Golding uses also enforce this novel’s genre as a fable. The evolution of the conch as a symbol reflects the boy’s gradual loss of civilization and all its fragility, beauty and innocence. In the beginning of the novel, the conch is regarded as a toy, beautifully coloured and â€Å"ever so valuable† . However, when the boys discover the true power of its voice it is used to summon meetings. As the book progresses, it becomes to be the centre of order and organization and is instrumental in creating order. It develops into a symbol of civilization, common sense and  discipline. The fact that it is beautiful, powerful and fragile gives us an idea of how we should view civilization itself, especially later when the primal forces of evil and disorder are breaking down its influence over the boys. As the story progresses the shell summons the boys and pulls them into order from even the wilds of the island. However, as the boys descend into brutality they grow impatient with the order the conch represents, disregarding the power it bestows on the holder to speak at meetings. This is evident at Jack’s feast when Ralph threatens, â€Å"I’ll blow the conch†¦and call an assembly† and Jack refutes, â€Å"We shan’t hear it.† The conch’s destruction towards the end of the novel destroys once and for all the boys own sense of beauty, fragile innocence, order and civilization. The title Lord of the Flies is symbolic in itself; a reference to who the boys are submitting to as they give in to savagery. It is a translation of the Hebrew name Beelzebub, the devil beneath Satan himself. This title suggests the boys are becoming more evil as they establish the Lord of the Flies on a stick and begin to worship the mysterious forces of the jungle. The Beast is another important literary device used by Golding. The Beast is symbolic of the evil residing within everyone-the dark side of human nature. The Beast is first introduced by a littun who has nightmare. Initially dismissed by the older boys as imaginary, the fear of the Beast in the boy’s minds continues to linger and haunt them. Indeed, its presence grows stronger and more frightening with each day on the island. With the discovery of the parachutist on the mountain top, the boys are convinced it is a living thing. Jack and his tribe make sacrifices to it, whilst Piggy and Ralph opt to avoid it completely. It is only Simon who has the insight to discover the truth-that the beast resided in the boys themselves, â€Å"Fancy thinking the Beast was something you could hunt and kill †¦ I’m part of you. Close, close, close†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In addition, Piggy’s glasses are a symbol of political insight and clear-sightedness. As an inadequate leader, Ralph depends on Piggy’s judgment. Ralph must see through eyes that themselves need corrective lenses. Although Piggy’s vision is imperfect, even with glasses, it is all  Ralph has. The glasses are first damaged by Jack, who blurs them whilst attempting to light the fire. While the lenses remain intact, Ralph can at least go through the motions of statesmanship, however the smashing of one of the lenses diminishes Piggy’s effectiveness and the theft of the other by the hunters renders Piggy and Ralph helpless. Overall, the symbolic nature of Golding’s setting, characters and literary devices, enforce its status as a fable. The symbol is an important tool used in writing fables, as can be seen in Lord of the Flies. Whilst the figurative temperament of the setting helps to show that what is happening on the island is just a mirror of what’s happening in the wider world, the representational characteristics of the characters and literary devices help to give the novel a more complex and powerful meaning. In conclusion, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a fable, in that it conforms to the structure and features of one. It offers us a moral lesson about the darkness of human nature, showing us that once the faà §ade of civilization is stripped away, man is fundamentally motivated in his behaviour by primal and brutal instincts. Golding delivers this message through the symbolic characteristics of his setting, characters and literary devices-important features of a fable. Lord of the Flies offers an important lesson to all of mankind, perhaps the one of the many reasons why this all time classic shall never die. â€Å"And in the middle of them, with filthy, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend called Piggy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 

Dow Chemical Business Analysis Essay

Historically, the chemical industry has operated in a competitive environment, which is not anticipated to change. Dow experiences significant competitions in each of its operating segments as well as in each of the geographic areas in which it operates. Dow competes globally on the foundation of quality, technology, price, and customer service and operates in an integrated manufacturing environment. Basic raw materials are processed through many stages to produce many products that are sold as finished goods at different points in the process. Dow has two major raw material streams that feed the production of the finished goods which are chlorine-based and hydrocarbon based raw materials. (Dow Chemical Company, n.d.) Business Environment The business environment of Dow is one that has strategically positioned itself to withstand the ever-changing forces of economic, social, political and technological factors it faces daily. Dow consistently identifies opportunities and new technologies before its competition which stimulates their industry-leader position. (1) Financial Health Dow has great financial strength. Their sensible financial discipline has proven beneficial in recent global economic challenges and has actually helped position it for future growth. The recent global economic challenges forced Dow to take steps towards strengthening and diversifying its portfolio. The company has come out on the other side of the challenges with a portfolio that is better equipped for economic uncertainties. (Dow Chemical Company, n.d.) During 2011, Dow: * had double-digit gains in revenue and earnings per share * posted  record revenues at a Company level, as well as in emerging geographies * introduced â€Å"game-changing† investments and partnerships that will allow the Company to capture more demand in the world’s fastest growing regions * recognized a stronger than ever before R&D innovation pipeline Analyzing the data attained from Dow’s 2011 financial statements confirm the Company’s financial heath and sustainability. Dow’s Liquidity ratio is a follows: Current Assets = 23,442 million Current Liabilities = 13,634 million Liquidity ratio = 23,422/13,634 = 1.72 Dow has $1.72 of current assets for every $1.00 of current liability. The current ratio should be at a 2 or greater to be considered a safe risk; however, Dow is a reputable global organization accepting the investment to be a safe risk. Dow’s Acid-test ratio is a follows: Cash = 5,444 million Accounts Receivable = 4,900 million Measurable Securities = 7,057 million Current Liabilities = 13,634 million Acid-test ratio = 4,444+4,900+7,057/13,634 = 1.28 Dow has 1.28 acid-test ratio. The ratio needs to be between a 0.05 and 1.0 to be satisfactory. The acid-test ratio determines whether an organization has enough short-term assets to cover immediate liabilities without selling inventory. (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2010, p. 20-21) Dow’s ratio is just slightly above 1.0, allowing it to be considered satisfactory. Dow’s Debt to owners’ ratio is as follows: Total Liabilities = 27,476 million Owners’ Equity = 22,281 million Debt to owners’ ratio = 27,476/22,281 = 1.23 or 123% The debt to owners’ ratio should be anything 100% or less. (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2010, p. 20-21) Dow is just over; however, other competitors in the industry have similar ratios signifying debt financing in the chemical industry is more acceptable and commonplace. Dow’s Return on sales is as follows: Net Income = 3,200 million Net Sales = 52,985 million Return on sales = 3,200/52,985 = 0.06 or 6% Return on sales for Dow is slightly lower than its researched competitors in producing income from sales. Competitors As previously stated, the chemical industry is a highly competitive environment. Two of Dow’s leading competitors include BASF and DuPont. BASF is the world’s leading chemical company with about 111,000 employees and just under 370 production sites worldwide. BASF serve customers and partners in almost every country in the world. In 2011, BASF posted sales of $73.5 billion. (BASF web site) BASF’s Liquidity ratio is a follows: Current Assets = 27,088 million Current Liabilities = 16,447 million Liquidity ratio = 27,088/16,477 = 1.64 BASF has $1.64 of current assets for every $1.00 of current liability. The current ratio should be at a 2 or greater to be considered a safe risk; however, BASF is a reputable global organization considering the investment to be a safe risk. (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2010, p. 20-21) BASF’s Acid-test ratio is a follows: Cash = 2,048 million Accounts Receivable = 10,886 million Current Liabilities = 16,477 million Acid-test ratio = 2,048+10,886/16,477 =. 78 BASF has a .78 acid-test ratio. The ratio needs to be between a 0.05 and 1.0 to be satisfactory. The acid-test ratio determines whether an organization has enough short-term assets to cover immediate liabilities without selling inventory. (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2010, p. 20-21) BASF’s ratio is in line and right where it should be; furthermore, considered satisfactory in regards to this measure. BASF’s Debt to owners’ ratio is as follows: Total Liabilities = 35,790 million Owner’s Equity = 25,385 million Debt to owners’ ratio = 35,790/25,385 = 1.41 or 141% The Debt to owners’ ratio should be anything 100% or less. (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2010, p. 20-21) BASF is just over; however, other competitors in the industry have similar ratios signifying debt financing in the chemical industry is more acceptable. BASF’s Return on sales is as follows: Net Income = 6,188 million Net Sales = 73,497 million Return on sales = 6,188/73,497 = 0.08 or 8% Return on sales is higher than Dow’s and lower than DuPont. Another strong competitor is DuPont. DuPont is a world leader in market-driven innovation and science. DuPont brings science and engineering to the global marketplace through innovative products, materials and services which enable their customers in almost all industries to meet the current and future needs of society. (DuPont.com) DuPont’s Liquidity ratio is a follows: Current Assets = 18,058 million Current Liabilities = 11,185 million Liquidity ratio = 18,058/11,185 = 1.61 DuPont has $1.61 of current assets for every $1.00 of current liability. The current ratio should be at a 2 or greater to be considered a safe risk; however, DuPont is a reputable global organization permitting the investment as a safe risk. (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2010, p. 20-21) DuPont’s Acid-test ratio is a follows: Cash = 3,586 million Accounts Receivable = 4,598 million Measurable Securities = 433 million Current Liabilities = 11,185 million Acid-test ratio = 3,586+4,598+433/11,185 = .77 DuPont has a 0.77 acid-test ratio. The ratio needs to be between a 0.05 and 1.0 to be satisfactory. The acid-test ratio determines whether an organization has enough short-term assets to cover immediate liabilities without selling inventory. (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2010, p. 20-21) DuPont’s ratio is satisfactory. DuPont’s Debt to owners’ ratio is as follows: Total Liabilities = 39,899 million Owner’s Equity = 8,593 million Debt to owners’ ratio = 39,899/8,593 = 4.64 or 464% The Debt to owners’ ratio should be anything 100% or less. (Nickels, McHugh, & McHugh, 2010, p. 20-21) DuPont is significantly over this desired range at 464%, indicating that the significantly financed based on borrowed funds that must be paid back. In comparing this ratio to industry competitors, DuPont is still considerably over. DuPont’s Return on sales is as follows: Net Income = 3,474 million Net Sales = 37,961 million Return on sales = 3,474/37.961 = 0.09 or 9% DuPont’s return on sales is strong when comparing DuPont to Dow and BASF. Technological Advantages Dow’s innovation sets them apart from the competition on numerous levels. Dow is the world’s: * largest and most experienced ethylene and chlorine producer * largest producer of chlorine and caustic * leader in the production of purified ethylene oxide As of December 31, 2011, Dow owned a total of 18,120 patents world-wide. These patents protect the results of its research. The company had revenue related to patents and technology royalties of $437 million in 2011. Today, Dow’s innovation efforts further supports a new level world-wide growth, generates strong cash flows and enables them to commercialize or bring the technologies to the market. (Dow Chemical Company, n.d.) Dow’s innovations from 2011 include: * DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingle – a solar panel which aesthetically looks like a shingle for the housing industry. * PASCAL Technology – a new polyurethane insulating solution to boost energy efficiency in appliances. * EVOQUE Pre-Composite Polymer Technology – allows paint manufactures to maximize hiding efficiencies. Globalization In an effort to satisfy the demands of a growing world, Dow is putting their innovations to work on every continent. In 2011, 32% of sales were gained from emerging geographies. Dow’s increasing investment into developed and emerging regions of the globe is empowering them to take advantage and capitalize on growth where it is happening. (Dow Chemical Company, n.d.) Benchmarking Dow’s vast and well-balanced portfolio enables the company to face the complex realities of today and the future head-on. The company has united its businesses with geographies and end-markets for significant growth. Dow is commercializing game-changing technologies today that are delivering real value to the bottom line. In 2011 nearly one-third of its sales were from products launched in the last five years reinforcing their strategic goals. DuPont is an industry leader in safety. DuPont quickly realized that in order for the organization’s safety mindset to be successful, safety had to be embraced from the top down. The safety culture of the company has proven successful in many areas. In 2000, over 90% of DuPont’s sites world-wide, operated with zero injuries, an unheard of accomplishment. In addition, DuPont has leveraged its acclaimed safety program and had provided safety training to other companies including General Motors, GE and Alcoa, Inc. (Vinas, 2002) Conclusion Dow is the third largest chemical company in the world. The healthy business environment fosters sustainability for decades to come. Dow offers financial and technological strengths with a promising future in the world-wide market. References Nickels, W. G., McHugh, J. M., & McHugh, S. M. (2010). Understanding Business (9th ed.). : McGraw-Hill. Dow Chemical Company. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dow.com BASF Chemical Company. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.basf.com DuPont. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.dupont.com Vinas, T. (2002, Summer). Best Practices DuPont safety starts at the top. Industry Week, (), Retrieved from http://hhtp:www.industryweek.com/articles/best_practices_—_dupont_safety_starts_at_the_top