Britainr between 1900-1945 Essays - English Poor Laws,

Britainr between 1900-1945 Britain between 1900-1945 Age of suffering, pain, indeed a period of wars: 2 world wars but also colonial wars, Bours war 1899-1902 (in South Africa, between Britain and the Netherlands, because of diamonds mines) Beginning of the Movements for Indian Independence , 1935 Indian Constitution. Period of crisis : 1929: The Wall Street Crash: unemployement, very big crisis. But, the emergence of a fairer society: new rights were recognized. Women's rights: the right to vote in 1928 The right for everyone (universal right) to get cured and looked after Welfare State was created, National Health Service Rights for workers to get organized and improve the working conditions : Trade Unions I/ Women's Rights: In 1928, women over 21 obtained the right to vote, equal political rights were granted for men and women. 1.The growth of patriarchy A patriarchy system: a latin origin for Father' : a system of society or governments ruled by the Fathers, men only, women are completed excluded for the decisions! A male domination. // The Bible: mainly in the Old Testament: the epitome(the perfect example) of femininity is Eve, she is created from Adam, not a very good behaviour, because of her that they were excluded from Eden (Paradise), she is the cause of the Fall (la Chute: fait que les hommes aient t chasss du paradis). The Greek and Roman worlds :Athenes: it was a democracy but women never took part of the assembly, of public life. Gyneceum: a particular place in a greek house where women remain together. Modern times (begins in 16th ) At this time, Britain was ruled by a woman : Elizabeth I, she was not really feminist, rather represented as very powerful, the artist insisted in her divinity, a goddess, insisted on her masculine temper. Speech to the Troops at Tillbury 1588 (The Spanish Armada) I know I have the weak body of a woman but I have the heart and the stomach of a king, the King of England. 17th: The term patriarchy really appears in a book by Sir Robert Filmer: Patriarcha: the Natural Power of Kings Defended against the Unatural Liberty of the People written in 1680s but published in 1690 Written to justify royal absolutism, according to him, modern kings derived their power from the first kings of the world. The king is the father of the people: authority, the right to punish but also the duty to protect and the father is the king of the family: his authority can not be questionned. Women were considered as the children, they are excluded from the political sphere. 18th: The New Age: The Age of Enlightenment Rousseau, Voltaire, Diderot, John Locke Those philosophers did not accept the theories of Filmer, they did not venerate the Bible, philosophy were based on human reason, everything is explain by the reason, they developed a completely different vision. The notion of contract between the sovereign and the people. Like Filmer they go back to the beginning of life, but for them is not with the Genesis but with the state of nature: a state of constant war Hobbs: man is a wolf for man A state of anarchy, civilisation can not be here. It is necessary to have law & order in this state. The king not derived his power from God but by people's choice, they choose him. Tyranny: James II was excluded during the Glorious Revolution in 1688 and replaced by William of Orange a new protestant monarch. James had not respected the people's life In France: the French Revolution: Louis XVI Women at that time, the philosophers were not in favour of more power for women, they are weak. They maintained the image of subordinate women. 2.The first feminist assaults against patriarchy in an age of Revolution Period of the French Revolution: Olympe de Gouges: The first French feminist. She wanted to involved women in political life. She wrote Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, woman is born free & remains equal to man in rights published in september 1791. A parody of The Declaration of the Rights of man & Citizen All man are born & remain free & equal free in rights... But she was executed by the guillotine in 1793, she was considered as a danger for the society. In England: Mary Wollstonecraft, in 1792 A Vandication (a defence) of

Revenue Recognition The WritePass Journal

Revenue Recognition Generally Accepted Accounting Principles: Revenue Recognition ). While the new revenue recognition model provides a detailed basis for accounting standards and has defined a wide scope for the proper classification of transactions, the feedback received has suggested that the model is too complex and confusing for immediate implementation as it is inconsistent with previous frameworks and would require practice and getting used to in implementation. Moreover, other users have also mentioned that the model requires additional information regarding the meaning of certain rules and terms in order to be accurately implemented and used within all firms such as the meaning of â€Å"collaborator†. It is suggested that the Board review the new accounting principles that it has introduced and provide detailed explanations and examples of how to appropriately apply the standards to financial statements. It is also highly suggested that in order to improve the applicability of the new revenue recognition model, the inconsistencies between the previous model and the new model must be removed, the terms used in the new model must be clarified, and the suggested additions may be made. References Cairns, D. (2006). â€Å"The use of fair value in IFRS.†Ã‚  Accounting in Europe. Vol.  3(1) pp. 5-22. Hodgdon, C., Tondkar, R. H., Adhikari, A., Harless, D. W. (2009). â€Å"Compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards and auditor choice: New evidence on the importance of the statutory audit.†Ã‚  The International Journal of Accounting. Vol.44(1) pp.33-55. Olsen, L., Weirich, T. R. (2010). â€Å"New revenue†recognition model.†Ã‚  Journal of Corporate Accounting Finance. Vol.22(1) pp. 55-61. Schipper, K. A., Schrand, C. M., Shevlin, T., Wilks, T. J. (2009). â€Å"Reconsidering revenue recognition.†Ã‚  Accounting Horizons. Vol. 23(1) pp. 55-68. Wagenhofer, A. (2013).  The Role of Revenue Recognition in Performance Reporting. Working Paper, University of Graz. Wà ¼stemann, J., Kierzek, S. (2005). â€Å"Revenue recognition under IFRS revisited: conceptual models, current proposals and practical consequences.† Accounting in Europe. Vol. 2(1) pp.69-106.

See below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

See below - Essay Example The capillaries play an important role in healing a wound. The four overlapping phases are used to explain the healing process. This is a systematic phenomenon. The four phases include homeostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation. Homeostasis is a process which involves the platelets to form clots. Furthermore, the inflammatory cells deride injured tissue during the inflammatory phase. Epithelialization, fibroplasia, and angiogenesis occur during the proliferative phase (Romo III, n.d). The hemorrhage caused by disruption in the blood vessels is controlled by clot formation which contains fibrin mesh with aggregated platelets embedded in it. Fibrin is the end product of coagulation pathway which causes homeostasis to take place. It provides a scaffold for the migration of inflammatory and mesenchymal cells (Wound Healing, n.d). Platelet aggregation leads to release of cytokines. These cytokines influence wound healing either directly or indirectly. The processes of clot f ormation and platelet aggregation halt when stimuli for clot formation fritter away. Lysis of clot starts along with clot formation and is mediated by plasminogen activator. This activator converts plasminogen to plasmin (Wound Healing, n.d). The second phase is called inflammation. It starts when the tissue trauma stimulates the inflammatory response. â€Å"Immediately after injury intense local vasoconstriction occurs, mediated by circulating catecholeamines and prostaglandins released by injured cells. This is followed by vasodilatation and increased capillary permeability resulting in local edema. This is mediated by histamine, kinins, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and endothelial cell products† (Wound Healing, n.d). The tissue does not observe presence of any leukocytes as yet. The wounded tissues contain neutrophils which hare the first leukocytes to appear in the wounded tissues. They phagocytose damaged tissue or bacteria. Neutrophils themselves are phagocytosed by ma crophages (Wound Healing, n.d). There are a few symptoms observed when the wound is healing because of the physiological changes. The pH change is observed because of the breakdown of tissues and bacteria which also causes pain. This also results in swelling and decreased tissue oxygenation due to disruption of blood vessels (Wound Healing n.d). Furthermore, the white blood cells namely monocytes and lymphocytes start performing their functions in the healing process. Monocytes turn into macrophages when these white blood cells migrate from capillaries into extra vascular space. Macrocytes phagocytose bacteria and tissue debris and secrete enzymes called collagenase and elastase, which are responsible for breaking down damaged matrix (Wound Healing, n.d). Lymphocytes produce various factors like HB-EGF (Heparin binding epidermal growth factor) and basic fibroblast growth factor. Adding on to this, they are also involved in cellular and humoral immunity. Neutrophilis dominate for the initial 24-48 but 48-72 hours later they are outnumbered by macrophages which persist for a few days. However, after 5-7 days fibroblasts are the principal cell type (Wound Healing, n.d). The third phase called proliferation constitutes epithelialization, fibroplasias and angiogenesis. Epithelialization is the â€Å"process of covering a denuded surface with epithelium† (Medical Dictionary, n.d). Fibroplasia is another part of the proliferative phase. It

How has the development of Political Islam since 1979 affected the Essay

How has the development of Political Islam since 1979 affected the Greater Middle East - Essay Example Iran is one example where the Iranian revolution took place. Islamist forces have seemingly taken control of their countries at the expense of other religions that make up a minority (Choueiri, 2008). As political Islam has developed, Islamic institutions have gained more power and the scrutiny on these institutions has reduced leading to a dictatorship like scenario. Religious institutions like those of Sunni Islam have been brought under the control of the state. Due to this power gain by Islamic institutions, along with the lack of opposition by secular forces, there has been a development of Islamic forces. These forces have created a threat to the power of the state all over the greater Middle East (Choueiri, 2008). Conflict has been at the heart of the development of political Islam. The conflict has disturbed the stability of the greater Middle East. Examples of these conflicts include Iraq’s invasion of Iran in 1980 and the Iraq-Kuwait war. There has also been an increased opposition to the existence of Israel as a state along with an increase in development of weapons by the greater Middle East nations (Freedman,

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study - Term Paper Example The study was based on the hypothesis that black and white people differed in their response to the disease. Before the study was initiated in 1928, the U.S Public Health Services (PHS) had already completed a study in Mississippi in which 25% of the participants who were all black had tested positive for the disease. The PHS intended to expand and continue the study in rural black population and set up a treatment program with aid from the Julius Rosenwald Fund. Though the study initially intended to improve the health of the African American population by providing doses of metals which was used to treat the disease during that period, the coming of the great depression drastically lowered the funds for the project. And it was then that the PHS decided to conduct a study based on the aforementioned hypothesis that racial variation plays a role in the effects of syphilis. The objective of the study was to compare the natural progression of syphilis in untreated poor African American s who were followed up for a period of 40 years with a healthy control population who were free of the disease. While the initial study was designed to last for a year and where participants with syphilis were given minimal treatment which would have definitely not cured them, the extended study examined men with untreated syphilis over the 40 year period and in case they died during that period their bodies autopsied to study the exact course of the infection (Angell, 1997; Sugarman, 2002).  

Examining The Automotive Industry In Malaysia Economics Essay

Examining The Automotive Industry In Malaysia Economics Essay The industry I have chosen is the automotive Industry in Asean in particular Malaysia and to go more indepth I took proton as a good case study what is happening to the Malaysian automotive industry. Why Malaysia? Malaysia has a strong driving culture and one of the highest penetration rates of cars per capita in the world (Bonami, 2005, p. S3), as well as the growing clout of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets, Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Berhad (PROTON) as an appropriate sample available at (http://www.proton.com) Brief introduction about proton The first national car project by Malaysia was undertaken with the establishment of Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional (PROTON) in 1983. The Proton Saga was produces 1985. Proton nowadays produces a number of car models and variants, including the Iswara, Perdana,Wira, Satria, Putra,Waja and most recently, the GEN-2 and Satria Neo. The latest 104 M. Rosli F. Kari models, as reported, use Malaysian developed engines through collaboration between Proton and its subsidiary, Lotus (United Kingdom) . . Political and economic structures, including cultural attitudes relevant to the business; According to ( Rasiah, 2005) Malaysia continues to protect its automobile industry against the conditions in the Trade related Investment Measures (TRIMs) agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the inclusion of automotives under the common effective preferential tariffs (CEPT) under the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Area (AFTA) process has brought increasing pressure for the removal of localization-based tariff protection of automotives and parts production in the country Stimulatory and Protective Measures set by the Malaysian government The development of the Malaysian automotive industry is heavily depending upon the undivided support of the government. Various stimulatory and protective measures, such as investment incentives, a local content policy, and tariff and nontariff barriers were implemented to stimulate the development of both local automotive and parts production. Proton in particular is a unique case because of its status as the first national project. To date, the largest shareholders in Proton are still government-controlled agencies, namely Khazanah Nasional Berhad (42.7 per cent), the Employees Provident Fund (12.6 per cent), and Petronas (9.8 per cent). Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd, a Singapore investment merged as a new shareholder with a 5 per cent Holding ( Rosli.M KariF 2008). The government has also provided many incentives under the 1986 Promotion of Investment Act. In particular the Pioneer Status and Investment Tax Allowance are the two most lucrative tax incentives granted to companies involved in promoted activities or products that are, from time to time, determined by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). In order to help to develop national capabilities in the automobile Industry in a sustainable but competitive way, the Malaysian government initially provided protection, allowing Proton( and other Malaysian car manufacturers) to withstand some early environmental downturns (Todd, 1986). For example, import duties were set at roughly 21% on domestic components, as compared to 40% on the equivalent foreign parts. This implies that there was a substantial difference in price between foreign imported cars and proton cars. Moreover, PROTON cars required excise duties of only 11%, while foreign branded automobiles were taxed up to 25%. Further, the authorities demanded car assemblers charge a profit margin of 16 to 17% to avoid price wars (Zafar A. Humpreys J. 2008). This all resulted into that Proton was totally protected in any kind of way of the way to potential success was predetermined in Malaysia. Economic structure Cultural attitudes In Malaysia there is general consensus that the automobile industry is one of the drivers of world economic growth and has the potential to shape how we make things . . . , how we work . . . , what we buy, how we think and the way we live(Womack, Jones, Roos, 1990, p. 11). Therefore the Malaysian economy has always been heavily depending upon the automobile industry or product which are complementary to that, such as petrol in which Malaysia has one of the biggest oil( Petronas) producing companies in Asia.As mentioned earlier a strong driving culture exists in Malaysia and owing a car is culturally considered as a status symbol of wealth and prosperity. Moreover, the plan has been since the 1970s to turn Malaysia into the League of Developed Nations under the visionary leadership of Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, and was introduced in a national development policy document entitled Vision 2020(Zafar A. Humpreys J. 2008) This is important, from a economical points of view as Malaysia has not gone through the usual industrial stages, which implies highly skilled, labor-intensive to mass production (semi skilled, limited products) to multi skilled, mass customization (Simpson, Sykes, Abdullah, 1998). . Nature of international trade in ASEAN, now and historically (say ten years ago); Currently, Asean is near to create an integrated economic community that will free movements of goods, services, investment, capital and skilled labor within the 10 Asean countries. An AEC characterized by a single market and production base allows for economies of scale, investment flows and building business linkages and network to promote further commerce. The future looks bright for Asean due to fully rebound of the economic crisis. It is expected that Asean private demand picks up, export will increase and social safety will be more enhanced. However, the Economic Community pillar has introduced at AEC scorecard, which list down the measures to be undertaken and the achievements to date. Thus, far Asean only has a 75.5% achievement rate for the 2008/2009 measures. Asean has to do a number of things if it is to achieve its goal of building an AEC by 2015. This current year exports of Asean are expecting to rise between 4.9% and 5.6 % after a 1.5% growth in 2009. In the area of services Asean members are close to completing the 7th AFAS package of service commitments covering varying levels of commitments in 65 services Hub sectors. The service sector of Asean received the highest amount of FDI, accounting for more than 50% of total Aseans FDI. The sign are good and Asean will see a further increasing growth this year and currently capital flows are increasing, inflation remains low and manageable and Asean currencies appreciate slightly versus the Euro and US$. History Since the adoption of the AEC blueprint in 2007, significant progress has been made towards achieving the AEC in 2015. In Janaury 2010, The Asean-6 achieved zero tariffs covering 99 and for the CLMV 98% and at 0.5 % tariff rates of the total tariff covering under the common effective preferential tariffs for asean free trade area(CEPT-AFTA). Also in the same month Asean saw the realization of Asean-China and Asean-Korea free trade agreements and the commencement of the implementation of the Asean- Australia-New Zealand free trade agreements and Asean India free trade agreement. Since 2000 Asean exports rose from US$68 billion to US$162.5 billion in 2009. Asean imports of services from the world market has also expanded markedly, of similar trend and magnitutude as exports, increasing two-fold from US$ 86.6 to US$ 180.4 billion in 2009 In investment, Asean has witnessed a steady increase in intra-Asean FDI flows accouting for 18.2% ( US$ 10.8 billion) of total Asean FDI ( US$ 59.7 billion) inflows in 2008, compared with a share of 13.82% in 2006. For the same period, total FDI inflows increased by 8.59%. Source: Asean Roundtable 2010. Achieving the asean economic growth 2015: Challenges for Member countries 29th April 2010. Aseans Readinesss in achieving the Asean economic community 2015. Pushpanathan Sundram Regional governments attitude towards international trade and investments, both outward and inward; The ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) is a regional free trade agreement among Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand,the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei, Vietnam, Cambodia,Laos, and Myanmar. The ten participating countries agreed to develop a free trade area that would become a single market with more than 550 million potential consumers (Bonami, 2005). An integrated ASEAN would be the eighth-largest automobile market, with 1 million new car sales each year. With projected growth trends, it has the potential to actually become the fourth largest auto market, with as many as 2.2 million new autosales annually (Seeking for Bigger Share, 2002). The creation of the free trade zone in Southeast Asia allowed PROTON greater access to its neighboring countries. While good news from the marketing front, AFTA would also set the stage for greater future competition for which PROTON was inadequately prepared. (Zafar A. Humpreys J. 2008) The protective tariff regime, which imposed rates of up to 300% on imported cars and helped PROTON to gain dominate market share has been phased out. In line with AFTA, all but a few import tariffs will be reduced to between 0 and 5% by 2008 (Shameen,2005). The increasing level of international competition puts the Malaysian firm in a very vulnerable position (Savage, 2005, p. 20). With plants, contract assembly, and/or joint ventures in Britain, Italy, Iran, Indonesia, Vietnam, and China (Bonami, 2005), . Although Malaysias overall automobile sales increased dramatically in 2005, the escalating competition saw PROTON continue its domestic decline (Edwin, 2005). Even with limited protective barriers still in place, the firms Malaysian market share had declined from roughly 70% to 45% in the previous five-year period (Burton, 2005). In response, PROTON is looking to expand its export efforts within the ASEAN region, the Mediterranean countries . . . , the Middle East, China, as well as India and Russia to a lesser extent (Bonami, 2005, p. S5). While this is clearly a reasonable course of action, as exports account for less than 5% for Malaysian automakers versus the roughly 60% in Japan (Bonami, 2005), production capacity is still comparatively very small. PROTON, notwithstanding its earlier intentions of a large-scale strategy, is simply not big enough to gain economies of scale to compete effectively in the export market against giant global competitors (Shameen, 2005). The company has also been slow to market itself effectively around the world. Recent years have seen the organization neglect its prior efforts at branding, which has led to a cheap car image, even in the domestic market (Savage, 2005, p. 20). According to Rajeev Lochan, general manager, Asia-Pacific, TNS Automotive, While the short-term challenge is to provide a promotional thrust to models in its current line-up, the long-term requires PROTON to invest in revamping its aging product portfolio and reposition its brand to reach a wider base of prospective car buyers (Savage, 2005, p. 20). The stakes are very high, as approximately 100,000 jobs are on the line when considering PROTON and its component supply chain (Burton, 2005). By signing the AFTA agreement by the Malaysian government PROTON has to find alternative ways how to compete successfully with all its foreign competitors. Specify potential areas of intra-regional conflicts (if any) and synergies; As mentioned before Proton is a classic case of a long-protected national champion that is struggling as the market opens up and a perfect example of intra-regional conflict with its neighboring countries such as Thailand and Indonesia where the car market is liberalised. In 2002 its domestic market share was more than 60%. That has now fallen to 44% after Malaysia reluctantly agreed with its partners in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to drop import barriers on ASEAN cars to around 20%, from up to 300% previously. And the process is just beginning: Malaysia actually fudged the market opening by simultaneously hiking excise taxes on the imported cars. But by 2008 the country has to do away with such sophistry and cut import duties to 5% The trouble is that Malaysias politicians and managers have failed to realise how vulnerable Proton is, says Graeme Maxton, director of automotive research group Autopolis. The Malaysians see it as a world-class carmaker with great export potential; the reality is that it is too small to survive in a global market dominated by just a dozen huge carmakers. Proton is off the scale in terms of economies of scale, says Mr Maxton, and it will slowly die once the market opens up. Hence, I argue that it is that it is undesirable to pursue such a strategy because on the long term this expensive project( proton and the automotive industry in Malaysia) will impose heavy costs on the government. The establishment of PROTON has to be attributed to the vision of the Malaysian government. The firm successfully positioned itself as the national car and pride of Malaysia, a symbol of its countrys accomplishment on the global stage. I agree that government initiation of a national champion (Donnelly et al., 2002) is certainly a powerful force for the vision and subsequent emergence of a developing country. The conflict which might arise is that Malaysia still is not willing to open up its car market completely to protect its own interest. This might result into intra-regional conflicts between Asean members. Especially between its neighboring countries because there is sufficient expertise available and this can be applied and used at the Malaysian carmarket (Zafar A. Humpreys J. 2008). This is the key problem that has prevented the government of Malaysia from signing ant bilateral Free Trade Agreements despite several attemps. For example the partnership with Japan in 2006, is called Economic Partnership Agreement is not compared to a fully eligible fta. Currently in Malaysia the call for liberalization and subsidies faced by industries (automotive) has remained an obstancle to greater integration in AEC. Synergies regarding the automotive in Malaysia are not available, futher it is difficult to determine the synergies between other automotive industries such as Thailand and Indonesia because the Malaysian automotive industry is a unique example compared to relative liberased automotive markets( Thailan Indonesia). Asean Roundtable 2010. Achieving the Asean Economic Community 2015:Challenges for Member countries. 29 April 2010, Singapore. Towards an Integrated Asian Economic Community. Where is Malaysia? Rajah Rasiah Application of suitable management model(s) to analyze findings According to the literature both models of porter can be applied to the Malaysian Automotive industry, however, Porters diamond also acknowledges the role the governmental forces and luck can play in national competitive advantage in which the 5 competitive forces is lacking. (Sledge, 2005) Demand conditions Demand conditions describe the level of domestic demand that Proton faces. Demand conditions depend both on the quantity of demand as well as the sophistication level of consumers in a home market. In Malaysia, the demand for cars has been risen steadily due to increasing living standards and consumer expenditure. However, the difference between supply in terms of Malaysian cars and foreign cars is substantial ( Due to tariff barriers and special incentives dedicated to Malaysian car manufactures which results in significant higher prices for foreign cars). In fact the Malaysian government can largely influence the demand since most of the Malaysian lack the purchasing power to buy foreign manufactured cars. Generally, demand conditions are associated with a countrys level of economic development. Malaysia is has been having a sustainable economic growth of an average of 5% per year since the 1980s. The company has also been slow to market itself effectively around the world. Recent years have seen the organization neglect its prior efforts at branding, which has led to a cheap car image, even in the domestic market (Savage, 2005, p. 20). Thus, the general consensus is Malaysia is that Proton/Malaysian cars are perceived as one of the cheapest car in their segment and this can result that very demanding consumers create an awareness in firms that causes them to focus on the needs and preferences of the consumer. Also, quantities of demand drive firms to higher levels of efficiency and productivity. Thus, high levels of demand in a nation would drive the firms in that industry to become globally competitive (Sledge, 2005), however this is not applicable yet because Malaysia is still a developing country. Factors conditions According to Porter, factor conditions include any factors of production that a firm uses in its businesses. These include the traditional factors of production, this includes manmade structures that facilitate commerce, Still other factors would be educational and legal systems. Porter classifies these factors into five major categories: Human resources, physical resources, knowledge resources, capital resources and infrastructure. The more advanced these factors are the more they will enhance the success of businesses located in the country. These factors provide needed inputs and systems that businesses use to gain competitive advantages over their rivals. Without them, firms would have to expend their own resources to provide such structures for commerce and transactions. (Sledge, 2005) Many of these important factors are still not completely utilized and developed to a certain level. Malaysia automotive industry is lacking most of the important factors such as human resources, knowledge resources many skilled Malaysian labors went abroad due to better labor conditions and highly skilled foreign labor has been brought into the Malaysian automotive industry. In order to expedite the transfer of technology to Malaysia, PROTON was proactive in initiating programs between local vendors and numerous established overseas technical collaborators. By 2002, some 222 collaborative arrangements were in place representing specialized assistance from various regional neighbors (primarily Japan, South Korea, and Chinese Taiwan), as well as Western Europe (Ahmed Humphreys, 2008) The Malaysian governments still plays a large role in their own industrial global competitiveness. It has been the initiative of the Malaysian government to set up its own automotive industry and therewith complementary industries will arise( such as car part suppliers). The aimed result was to create an advanced business infrastructure and an emphasis on innovation, however this is still not the case in the Malaysian automotive industry . Related and supporting industries This aspect of the model includes the importance of enterprises that indirectly or directly affect the automotive industry. Porter describes these ancillary businesses needed by firms as related and supporting industries. These most often encompass suppliers or distributors that serve the industry at hand. The model proposes that the stronger these industries are the stronger the local industry will be. The underlying assumption is that highly competitive supporting industries will drive the focal industry to be more competitive (Sledge, 2005). Hypothesis 3: Strong and dynamic related and supporting industries in a firm s home market will positively impact the firm s global competitiveness. PROTON, notwithstandingits earlier intentions of a large-scale strategy, is simply not big enough to gain economies of scale to compete effectively in the export market against giant global competitors (Ahmed Humphreys, 2008) And according to (ROSLI KARI, 2008)a research shows that foreign suppliers performed better than local suppliers. Interviews suggest that access to superior technology from abroad is the prime determinant of the inferior performance of local suppliers compared to foreign suppliers. Local firms lack firm-specific advantages that foreign multinational suppliers enjoy It points to the need for companies and governments to encourage and support ancillary industries to enhance global competitiveness. In both models, this parameter estimate was the second largest and the most statistically significant. This underscores the importance of related and supporting industries in the context of global competitiveness. Without a network, firms can not hope to be worldwide leaders. Firm strategy, structure and rivalry is the fourth clement in the model. This point on the diamond refers to several key strategic factors that characterize a firm. Strategy describes the types of actions firms utilize to achieve both long-range and short-range goals. These are often either low-cost, differentiation, focus strategies or some combination thereof Other common strategies include growth, maintenance or restructuring activities. Growth strategies would be associated with higher competitiveness because the ability to pursue growth intemally or extemally would be indicative of overall business health, Stmcture refers to the industry composition. This describes the degree to which an industry is concentrated or dispersed, competitive or monopolistic, or global or domestic. A more crowded structure would indicate multilevel competition and therefore greater competitiveness. Rivalry indicates both the number of players and the level of competition among firms in an industry. This could be heated, mid-range, non-rivalries or somewhere in between. Greater rivalry in an industry would lead a firm to higher levels of competitiveness vis a vis its rivals. Rivalry is thought to be the most comprehensive of the three factors, as it often indicates the underlying strategy and structure of the competitors Thus, a greater number of firm actions as well as a greater number of competitor responses in the focal industry lead to greater competitiveness of the firm. Hypothesis 4: Greater rivalry within a firm s home market will positively impact the firms global competitiveness Make and justify recommendations for possible business strategies to exploit the benefits in this region

Effects of Music Essay

Music and Its Effects on Our Emotions: Can Music Really Change Your Mood? Music can control a much larger part of your life than most people would like to believe. Music can affect us in ways in which we’re not even aware of, and for this reason, music is simply amazing. There is a large number of studies behind music. Not even just the typical music you hear on the radio or that you download from the Internet, but any sounds and the way they can affect your mood and reflect your personallity. It has been proven that certain types of music can evoke sadness, while others can give you an excitement. Music is used in millions of places for this reason. Advertisements. Advertisements and movies are based around the audio! Certain types of music are more likely to evoke emotions in people which will in turn make them feel a certain way. Sometimes this is great for producers in the economy because they can use music in their advertisements to help produce more profits, because people will become much more interested in the products that they’re of fering. This works the same in the film industry. The film industry is interested in inflicting some sort of mood on its audience. If a movie is able to inflict an emotion into people, then the movie is looked upon as a much better movie, and therefore is more likely to make more money. Music can really affect more parts of the economy than you would ever even take into consideration. One amazing thing, that I’m sure you’ve never even stopped to think about, is the music in a casino. They tend to play very uplifting music, music that will make you want to stay longer. Theoretically, the longer you stay in a casino, the more money the casino will make from you. The casino wants to keep you in their business for as long as they can. Music is one way the owners can go about this. Another irrelevant yet interesting method they have is to release scents that cause people to become more satisfied with what they’re doing, and will make them in turn be more comfortable in the environment and want to stay longer, making the casino more money in the long run. Pop, lighter rock, and most dance music tends to be a very uplifting type of music. If you’re ever looking for a booster, listen to some of this music! I actually enjoy listening to this music every day before going to take classes, because it lifts my spirit and helps me make it through the day. Downbeat music such as death metal and rap music tends to affect people’s emotions in a much darker form. However, this is all personal preference and you cannot  base all of this on my opinion. Overall, music has a much greater affect on you than you would believe. Experiment. Listen to new music all the time. See what music gives you chills down your spine. See what music you can’t understand and hate. There’s something out there for everyone. The Effects of Music In some way, music affects everyone. Whether it is, a young girl’s favorite song on the radio, a college student’s escape from reality or a form of entertainment to a married couple, music brings everyone together. Music definitely affects the lifestyles of people in many different ways. The diverse styles of music makes people look and act differently. Music has many different levels. To me, levels meaning; the more independent and progressive the music is, the more the fans take it to the extreme. Music creates style. It causes people to talk, act, and dress the way they do. I hope to discover how much music influences people, especially college students. Also, the more fascinated they are the more influences it has to them. I would like to prove, that to some, music is nothing more than the pop song playing on the radio in the car, and to others, it is a major part of their life. It is very interesting to me, to learn the effects music has toward people. Music impacts everyone in some way (positive or negative), but I think it impacts college students the most. I would like to know the reasons people are listening to music they buy and support. Also, the reasons certain groups are more popular than others. I used a couple various methods of research to conduct my research. I wrote up ten surveys with some questions about gender, age, what they buy, do they attend concerts, and do they support local music. I passed these surveys out to completely random students so there was no imbalance of the results. I hope to find out certain things like: are males affected more than females from music; who buys more clothing/ accessories; is local music important to college students. Another form of research was done by making some observations. I observed places that college students live. I observed a few of my friends apartments very closely and also observed a couple other houses that I was  invited to over the past month. By doing this, I hope to generalize what they like and how it influences them. For example, posters of music groups hanging everywhere will indicate a more of an influence than paintings, by say Picasso. Clothing, jewelry, and actual speech from people may also provide some interesting details. While making these observations, I had also done a couple interviews. A couple were formal, sit-down interviews and the others were just conversations that I thought would be helpful to making my research complete. After giving some thought to my results, I decided to add a section about my personal history. Throughout my life music has affected me in many different ways. It has helped me through some very important decisions, such as, how I feel, who I am with, where I am going to go. When I was ten years old, I got my first guitar. It was an acoustic guitar. I loved to play it, but dreaded going to the lessons. My parents forced me because I couldn’t play a single note. After a year or two things started to come together and I could play some songs. Then I decided to purchase an electric guitar. For me, this was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I played everyday at any time that I could. My favorite group was the Beastie Boys. My friends and I would pretend we were them and put on shows pretending to be them. As I got older, I would purchase any music that I could; cassette tapes, records, videos, posters, anything that dealt with music. Around seventh or eighth grade, I purchased a used drum set. My other friends all played, so we decided to form a band. We would practice in the garage as much as often until my parents said enough, until it became an obsession. We played a couple of parties (nothing big, because this was the eighth grade), but still a major part of my life at the time. One day during practice, I remember my good friend, the lead singer, telling me booked a real gig, in downtown Pittsburgh. We got a set ready and about a month to practice our songs. The place was called the Electric Banana, it was real dive bar. Most people there were friends and family, but still a nice turnout. Since then I haven’t been playing in a band, but still love making music. Most of my friends are really into music too. We swap music  with each other and talk about it all the time. When I switched schools in high school, music really helped me make some friends. Without music my life would be totally different and a lot more boring, so I’m glad it turned out this way. I am very happy with the results that I got from the surveys. There were ten surveys filled out. Of the ten, six were females and four were males. Eight of the ten all liked rap/hip hop music or said rap along with some other forms. The other two liked rock, punk, or emo. No one put classic rock as their choice (which I found to be very interesting, because I like classic rock). There were two other questions I found to be very much related. Everyone that collects music, any form, (CD, cassette tape, or vinyl) has clothing and/or accessories that support music, for instance, posters, T-shirts, and hats. Four out of ten said they regularly attend concerts. I was very pleased to hear that eight of ten support local musicians/bands. I am a music lover, (as you know) so the local scene is very important to me. Here is a graph I constructed from the surveys. Females Males 60% 40% The interviews came out to be very useful also. I talked to a music lover/musician/collector. His name was Neil and he was very cooperative. We talked about the unusual styles of music he liked. He has a very wide range of music in his collection. We talked about some of his favorite artists, some being Pittsburgh based groups. He loves live music and goes to as many shows as possible. He said â€Å"it’s hard to get to places without a car and with classes† He also said â€Å"I just saw The Roots play for my sixth time last week, at a little place in Oakland.† We were talking about how they are definitely one of his favorites, if he had to pick. I asked him why he was so into music. He replied â€Å"It’s a stress reliever. It takes my mind off school, work, and people’s pettiness.† Another interview that I performed was not as formal. This one was with my dad at the dinner table. It was pretty short and to the point. I asked him if he likes music. He said â€Å"No.† I then asked him if he ever listens to it and he said â€Å"No, when I am in the car I listen to the news or talk radio and when I’m home I’m either working or watching TV.† After doing this research, I realized that by doing interviews you can really feel the emotion from the answers compared to reading a survey. I think that interviews did help me make certain things easier to understand on the survey. The Effects of Music on People’s Emotions By Rachel Mattison, eHow Contributor , last updated July 02, 2012 Movie producers and recording artists use music to manipulate the emotions of audiences to feel everything from excitement to sadness during movies and performances. No one can deny that music has either positive or negative effects on the emotions of listeners. However, music therapy or the study of music’s impact on emotions examines how music cause positive changes in listeners and patients for areas including early childhood development, healing and recovery, and overcoming negative emotions. 1. Early Childhood Development * Music plays an important role in early childhood emotional and intellectual development, according to information compiled by Brad Kennedy and Jennifer Durst. Their research confirms that even while in the womb, babies can tell the differences between certain types of music. Also called prenatal stimulation this technique has many positive effects including higher levels of intelligence and creativity, along with the ability to calm down when listening to music. Suggested usages for music in early childhood development include teaching children to analyze songs so they can learn how to express and identify their emotions, though processes, behaviors and situations as a way of developing cognitive and motor skills. Healing and Recovery * The American Music Therapy Organization states music therapy can  allow â€Å"emotional intimacy with families and caregivers, relaxation for the entire family, and meaningful time spent together in a positive, creative way.† Additional studies show that music therapy can cause changes in physiology by releasing brain chemicals including melatonin, norephinephrine, epinephrine, serotonin and prolactin, which help to reduce depression, regulate mood and make patients feel calm and more able to sleep. Doctors have used music therapy to help stroke, cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s patients improve. Dr. Suzanne Hasner says head trauma and dementia patients retain music ability because â€Å"deep in our long-term memory is this rehearsed music. It is processed in the emotional part of the brain, the amygdala. Here’s where you remember the music played at your wedding, the music of your first love, that first dance. Such things can still be remembered even in people with progressive diseases. It can be a window, a way to reach them.† * Negative Emotions and Fear Management * Dr. Zbigniew Kucharski, from the Medical Academy of Warsaw, has studied the effects of music when used for fear management in dental patients. He discovered that children who listened to 30 minutes of music preceding and following dental procedures were less likely to experience negative feelings. Another study, â€Å"Quantification of the effects of listening to music as a noninvasive method of pain control,† conducted in 1992 found that relaxing music helped to reduce anxiety and pain in patients undergoing certain medical procedures including painful gynecological procedures and pediatric surgical burn units. How Music Affects Us and Promotes Health Music is one of the few activities that involves using the whole brain. It is intrinsic to all cultures and can have surprising benefits not only for learning language, improving memory and focusing attention, but also for physical coordination and development. Of course, music can be distracting if it’s too loud or too jarring, or if it competes for our attention with what we’re trying to do. But for the most part, exposure to many kinds of music has beneficial effects: 1Music heals Effective therapy for pain Overall, music does have positive effects on pain management. Music can help reduce both the sensation and distress of both chronic pain and postoperative pain. Listening to music can reduce chronic pain from a range of painful conditions, including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis, by up to 21% and depression by up to 25%, according to a paper in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing29. Music therapy is increasingly used in hospitals to reduce the need for medication during childbirth, to decrease postoperative pain and complement the use of anesthesia during surgery30. There are several theories about how music positively affects perceived pain: * 1. Music serves as a distractor * 2. Music may give the patient a sense of control * 3. Music causes the body to release endorphins to counteract pain * 4. Slow music relaxes person by slowing their breathing and heartbeat Reducing blood pressure By playing recordings of relaxing music every morning and evening, people with high blood pressure can train themselves to lower their blood pressure – and keep it low31. According to research reported at the American Society of Hypertension meeting in New Orleans, listening to just 30 minutes of classical, Celtic or raga music every day may significantly reduce high blood pressure. Medicine for the heart music is good for your heart. Research shows that it is musical tempo, rather than style. Italian and British researchers32 recruited young men and women, half of whom were trained musicians. The participants slipped on head phones and listened to six styles of music, including rap and classical pieces, with random two-minute pauses. As the participants kicked back and listened, the researchers monitored their breathing, heart rates and blood pressure. The participants had faster heart and breathing rates when they listened to lively music. When the musical slowed, so did their heart and breathing rates. Some results were surprising. During the musical pauses, heart and breathing rates normalized or reached more optimal levels. Whether or not a person liked the style of music did not matter. The tempo, or pace, of the music had the greatest effect on relaxation. Speeds Post-Stroke Recovery A daily portion` of one’s favorite pop melodies, classical music or jazz can speed recovery from debilitating strokes, according to the latest research. When stroke patients in Finland listened to music for a couple of hours each day, verbal memory and attention span improved significantly compared to patients who received no musical stimulation, or who listened only to stories read out loud, the study reports33. Chronic headaches & migraine remedy Music can help migraine34 and chronic headache35 sufferers reduce the intensity, frequency, and duration of the headaches. Music boosts immunity Music can boost the immune function. Scientists explain that a particular type of music can create a positive and profound emotional experience, which leads to secretion of immune-boosting hormones22. This helps contribute to a reduction in the factors responsible for illness. Listening to music or singing can also decrease levels of stress-related hormone cortisol. Higher levels of cortisol can lead to a decreased immune response23-24. 2Effects of music on the brain Music enhances intelligence, learning and IQ The idea that music makes you smarter received considerable attention from scientists and the media. Listening to music or playing an instrument can actually make you learn better. And research confirms this. Music has the power to enhance some kinds of higher brain function: * Reading and literacy skills11-13 * Spatial-temporal reasoning14-15 * Mathematical abilities16-17 – Even children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder benefit in mathematics tests from listening to music beforehand. *Emotional intelligence The Mozart effect Earlier it has been thought that listening to classical music, particularly Mozart, enhances performance on cognitive tests. However, recent findings18 show that listening to any music that is personally enjoyable has positive effects on cognition. Music improves memory performance The power of music to affect memory is quite intriguing. Mozart’s music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activates the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, cause the brain to be more capable of processing information. Listening to music facilitates the recall of information19. Researchers have shown that certain types of music are a great â€Å"keys† for recalling memories. Information learned while listening to a particular song can often be recalled simply by â€Å"playing† the songs mentally. Musical training has even better effect than just listening to classical music. There is clear evidence20, that children who take music lessons develop a better memory compared with children who have no musical training. Note: For learning or memory performance, it’s important that music doesn’t have a vocal component; otherwise you’re more likely to remember the words of the background song than what you’re supposed to be recalling. Music improves concentration and attention Easy listening music or relaxing classics improves the duration and intensity of concentration in all age groups and ability levels. It’s not clear what type of music is better, or what kind of musical structure is necessary to help, but many studies have shown significant effects21. 3Music improves physical performance Music improves athletic performance Choosing music that motivates you will make it easier to start moving, walking, dancing, or any other type of exercise that you enjoy. Music can make exercise feel more like recreation and less like work. Furthermore, music enhances athletic performance6-8! Anyone who has ever gone on a long run with their iPod or taken a particularly energetic spinning class knows that music can make the time pass more quickly. The four central hypotheses explaining music’s facilitation of exercise performance include: * Reduction in the feeling of fatigue * Increase in levels of psychological arousal * Physiological relaxation response * Improvement in motor coordination Music improves body movement and coordination Music reduces muscle tension and improves body movement and coordination25-26. Music may play an important role in developing, maintaining and restoring physical functioning in the rehabilitation of persons with movement disorders. 4Music helps to work more productively Fatigue fighter Listening to upbeat music can be a great way to find some extra energy. Music can effectively eliminate exercise-induced fatigue9 and fatigue symptoms caused by monotonous work10. Keep in mind that listening to too much pop and hard rock music can make you more jittery than energized. Vary what you listen to and find out what type of music is most beneficial for you. You could try classical music one day, pop the next day and jazz the third. Music improves productivity Many people like to listen to music while they work and I am certainly one of them. How about you? Did you know you can perform better at your work with music? Whilst there may be many reasons for wishing to listen to music in the workplace, it really improves your productivity27! According to a report in the journal Neuroscience of Behavior and Physiology28, a person’s ability to recognize visual images, including letters and numbers, is faster when either rock or classical music is playing in the background. 5Music calms, relaxes and helps to sleep Relaxing music induces sleep Relaxing classical music is safe, cheap and easy way to beat insomnia1. Many people who suffer from insomnia find that Bach music helps them. Researchers have shown that just 45 minutes of relaxing music before bedtime can make for a restful night2. Relaxing music reduces sympathetic nervous system activity, decreases anxiety, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate and may have positive effects on sleep via muscle relaxation and distraction  from thoughts. Music reduces stress and aids relaxation Listening to slow, quiet classical music, is proven to reduce stress3. Countless studies have shown that music’s relaxing effects can be seen on anyone, including newborns. One of the great benefits of music as a stress reliever is that it can be used while you do your usual deeds so that it really doesn’t take time. How does music reduces stress? * Physical relaxation. Music can promote relaxation of tense muscles, enabling you to easily release some of the tension you carry from a stressful day. * Aids in stress relief activities. Music can help you get â€Å"into the zone† when practicing yoga, self hypnosis or guided imagery, can help you feel energized when exercising and recover after exercising, help dissolve the stress when you’re soaking in the tub. * Reduces negative emotions. Music, especially upbeat tunes, can take your mind off what stresses you, and help you feel more optimistic and positive. This helps release stress and can even help you keep from getting as stressed over life’s little frustrations in the future. Researchers discovered4 that music can decrease the amount of the cortisol, a stress-related hormone produced by the body in response to stress. 6Music improves mood and decreases depression Prescription for the blues Music’s ability to â€Å"heal the soul† is the stuff of legend in every culture. Many people find that music lifts their spirits. Modern research tends to confirm music’s psychotherapeutic benefits5. Bright, cheerful music (e.g. Mozart, Vivaldi, bluegrass, Klezmer, Salsa, reggae) is the most obvious prescription for the blues. The 5 Weirdest Ways Music Can Mess With the Human Brain By: C. Coville, Kathy Benjamin February 11, 2011 1,619,046 views The entire reason music exists is because of its almost magical ability to push your buttons. An upbeat song gets you going, a sad song makes you cry and drink. But the more science studies music’s effect on the human brain, the more bizarre things we discover. For instance †¦ #5. It Changes Your Ability to Perceive Time  old music — the stuff you hear on the line when you call everyone from the bank to your local bail bond agency — didn’t fall into America’s phone lines by accident. It’s designed specifically to reduce the amount of time you think you’re waiting, so that you’re less likely to hang up in anger. Other places that involve waiting, such as doctors’ offices, use a similar trick. Time shrinkage is also the aim of most retail stores, which is why you’ll rarely enter a mall, supermarket or clothing store without hearing some sort of music in the background. How the hell does music do that? To understand why exactly music makes it seem like less time has passed, think of the human brain as a mountain lion that is eating a bag of money. It doesn’t matter what the zookeepers distract it with — food, shiny objects or just shouting and yelling. All that matters is that they give another zookeeper the chance to sneak up and retrieve the money while the lion is busy deciding which one of them to eat. Similarly, when your brain is steadily distracted, you’ll be less likely to notice things around you in detail, and this includes the passage of time. Our brains have limited input capacity, and when something else is using up that capacity, we’re less likely to think things like, â€Å"I’ve been standing in line to get Richard Moll’s autograph for three goddamn hours† or â€Å"Do I really need this Garfield alarm clock?† But it works the opposite way, too. In some situations, listening to music can actually expand perceived time. For example, listening to music while performing tasks that require concentration will usually cause us to overestimate the amount of time that has passed. The theory is that as your mind switches back and forth between perception of the music and concentration on the challenging tasks, it forms separate â€Å"events,† or distinct memories. When your brain thinks about what you’ve been doing for the past hour, you’ll remember more of these events and recall that the hour was quite long. Experiments have found that time also expands when we’re listening to familiar music that we dislike. When we hear the opening chords of a song, our brain remembers the whole thing and immediately skips ahead and plays it mentally. This fake mind-music is  extremely vivid, working on exactly the same parts of the brain as actual music does. So the effect is that you take a few moments to vividly imagine that you’re sitting through five minutes of that damn New Radicals song before you come back to reality only to realize that you still actually have to sit through it. #4. It Taps Into Primal Fear OK, imagine how you would sound for a second if you saw your friend Jason across the street and wanted to get his attention by yelling his name. Now imagine you see your friend Jason across the street, suddenly realize a car is careening down the road about to hit him, and shout his name to warn him.Despite the fact that you are yelling the same thing both times, even in your head you can hear how the two sound different. Human beings have a very good, very nuanced sense of what kind of noise indicates a greeting and what kind of noise indicates you are about to be mauled by a honey badger. And that sense is being used against you in every scary movie you have ever seen. There is a reason that horror films scare the crap out of us, and it’s not just the creepy settings, dramatic buildup and sudden reveal of the bad guy RIGHT BEHIND YOU. It’s the music. How the hell does music do that? There are certain sounds that humans will automatically associate with sudden and painful death because they tap into our evolutionary fear of the screams of other animals (and other human beings). Screams of fear in almost any animal are made up of what scientists have dubbed â€Å"discordant noises.† Any noise that makes you feel very unpleasant falls into this category. We know if we hear other living things making those discordant noises that we have to get the fuck out, because something bad is going to happen. Movie directors know this and make good use of it when deciding on the score for a film. That dramatic buildup and subsequent scary reveal is almost always accompanied by really freaky music or somebody screaming his ass off (or both). But this technique is hardly limited to horror movies. For instance, in his original draft of The Social Network, Andy Sorkin wanted a song called â€Å"Love of the Common People† to play over the opening credits scene. Here’s what that would have looked like: That poppy calypso music makes you feel that everything is dandy. Sure, Mark Zuckerberg has just been dumped,  but it’s all OK! He’s running through the Harvard campus and is about to invent Facebook and become a billionaire. Yay!Listen to that lower-level background music throughout. It sounds like random, angry notes played behind a simple piano tune, and those notes are creating discordant sound. Suddenly you’re apprehensive, feeling like something really bad is about to happen (we’re talking getting sued for $64 million bad). So next time you’re getting a little too freaked out by a movie, remember that muting the television is a far better decision than looking away. #3. It Makes You Stronger It’s no secret that many people prefer to listen to music when they work out. But music doesn’t just make physical activity more pleasant — it actually makes our physical performance measurably better. When listening to music, people are able to hold heavy weights for longer than when they’re standing in silence. They can also complete sprints in smaller amounts of time and are even able to reduce their oxygen intake. How the hell does music do that? Similar to the time-perception effect we referenced above, one element is just plain old distraction. Obviously, if your mind is listening to music, it’s not thinking about how much your legs hurt or how much longer you’ve got to run before the treadmill makes that final beeping noise. But there’s much more to it than that. First, there’s synchronicity. When you match your movements to a steady musical tempo, you spend less time and effort on the inefficient slowing down and speeding up that happens when you’re going by your own rhythm. Music also increases the incidence of â€Å"flow† states — states of meditation-like calm in which everything works right for an athlete and that is strongly linked to enhanced performance. Music can even make you feel less pain. Patients listening to music after surgery need less sedatives, report less pain and have lower blood pressure. As if that’s not impressive enough, doctors have found that specially selected melodic music dramatically reduces stress in patients during unsedated brain surgery. In some cases, music caused patients to relax so much that many of them fell into a deep sleep, while people sliced into their exposed brains with fucking scalpels. And even if you’re lucky enough to be asleep during  surgery, there’s a good chance the doctors working on you are listening to music, since most surgeons believe it improves their performance, too. So the next time you’re about to go under a general anesthetic, consider the fact that the guy with the scalpel might soon be timing his incisions to Whitesnake. #2. It Changes Your Drinking Habits Did you ever wake up in the back of a taxi after a long night of tossing down cognac and prune juice and wonder how your pants got replaced by a thick but clumsily applied coat of colorful body paint? Well, now there’s something to blame it on besides your bad childhood: music. What they play in the bar doesn’t just affect how much you drink, but what you drink. How the hell does music do that? Did you know you can make a person buy more expensive wine just by playing classical music? Experiments prove it. It makes people feel like they’re in a wine commercial or in a movie depicting refined, snooty rich people. OK, that one sort of makes sense — we doubt anyone ever drank Wild Irish Rose while listening to Vivaldi. But in another blind study, different types of music playing in the background caused drinkers to change how they’d described the drinks they already had. Laid-back music led people to rate drinks as â€Å"mellow,† and upbeat music resulted in more people calling their drinks â€Å"refreshing.† Even stranger, in another study researchers placed German and French wines in supermarkets, with small flags next to each display so customers could tell which countries they came from. They then played some unobtrusive international music in the background. When German music was played, the percentage of German sales rose, and vice versa. This wasn’t because customers thought to themselves, Ah! Germany! I will celebrate the Fatherland with some nice wine! Questionnaires showed that customers couldn’t recall what type of music was playing and thought they’d chosen a particular wine simply because they’d felt like it. The people selling you the drinks know all of this stuff — or at least, the successful ones do. We’ve pointed out before that bars and nightclubs often play fast music to increase alcohol-based profit. But other establishments, particularly upscale restaurants, prefer slow, relaxing music, which,  believe it or not, can also make you drink more. The tempo of music is linked to your body’s arousal level, or the â€Å"speed† at which your nervous system operates. Fast music heightens arousal (heh), so patrons will do everything more quickly, including eating and drinking and leaving their infant by the salad bar. Which is good for a restaurant owner if he’s just concerned with getting you out the door so he can serve more (and presumably better) people. On the other hand, slower music means that you eat at a more leisurely pace. Maybe you’ll even stay to chat with your companions after you’re done with your meal. All this time passing means you’re likely to buy more drinks every time the waiter comes around to ask, and at a restaurant that’s charging $70 a bottle, that makes up for any lost table space. Some restaurants go as far as to purchase a personalized selection of songs specially designed by â€Å"sound branding† companies, which select songs based on whatever tempo or atmosphere the restaurant is aiming to achieve. #1. It Makes You a Better Communicator How does a narcissistic ass like John Mayer, who isn’t even that attractive, still have hot women of all ages throwing themselves at him? It’s the guitar, isn’t it?Actually, a trained musician like Mayer would probably be able to talk a woman into his bed without ever even playing a note. It turns out that studying music gives you an advantage when it comes to perceiving the emotions of others, so all those years of being chained to a piano as a child are finally going to work in your favor. People who can play instruments at near-professional level can detect subtle emotional changes and intonations in the vocal tones of others. In other words, they know whether you are actually sad when you say you’re fine, even when most non-musicians would have no idea. Not only that, but the fact that they studied music makes them better able to tune out background noise, so they are even better at paying attention to what you are saying in that crowded restaurant or bar. How the hell does music do that? Research shows that people who have studied music actually have brains wired differently than non-musicians. This rewiring makes them better able to express emotions they are feeling, but it also makes them more able to understand the emotions others express. Music is very emotional, and people  wired to understand those subtle emotional changes can also detect them in the vocal tones of someone talking. The emotion of the music translates to knowing when your boss is secretly mad or your mother is secretly disappointed. The sooner you start learning music, the more pronounced this re-wiring is. Scientists think that teaching children music might help kids with autism better understand vocal cues and encode speech. The fact that this brain re-wiring helps them tune out background noise could also help kids stay focused in noisy classrooms. It is also something that gets better the more you play, so sticking to your piano lessons now could lead to a powerful advantage in your future dating world. Read more: http://www.cracked.com/article_19006_the-5-weirdest-ways-music-can-mess-with-human-brain_p2.html#ixzz0MMCXjaIv Music is one of many important parts of our lives because it can be an approach not only to reduce each of our mental tension but also to inspire our feelings in artistic sense. Then, there are only two subtopics to develop into two paragraphs in the body: 1) music is an approach to reduce people’s mental tension 2) music inspires people’s feelings in artistic sense

Hamlet is a self-obsessed Essay

Throughout the course of the play, the character of Hamlet undergoes major upheaval, so a transition in his psyche is to be expected. One interpretation behind the reason for this transition is the one stated in the title (i. e. that he is a â€Å"self-obsessed, miserable typical teenager†); another may be that he is simply the victim of exceptional circumstances (namely his father’s death and his mother’s marriage to his uncle) – either way, it is clear that Hamlet is acting under severe emotional stress during the play. That Hamlet is a very obsessive young man is easy enough to tell – the list of things he obsesses about is extensive: the afterlife, his father’s murder, his new misogynistic feelings, suicide and general worldly dissatisfaction, to list the main bulk of his obsessions. Some of his soliloquies (which are the passages where Shakespeare allows Hamlet to reveal his complete emotions to the audience) are testament to this obsession, especially concerning suicide (â€Å"O that this too too solid flesh would melt†, â€Å"To be or not to be†). This self-obsession may be thought of as somewhat surprising when it is noted that Hamlet is meant to be heir to the Dane throne, as it portrays Hamlet as someone in a role of great social responsibility who only has the scope to think about his personal problems. Hamlet is by now old enough to attend university (although his age is unspecified), showing that he has reached an age where he can think independently and fully comprehend his duty to society, adding to the sense that he is being selfish in that he does not think of the well-being of his country, despite the numerous references to problems in Denmark (â€Å"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark†). It is this personal fixation and irresponsibility on Hamlet’s part that ends up bringing the ultimately Danish monarchy into ruin, with Fortinbras of Norway ascending to the throne. The claim that Hamlet is also miserable is also a valid one: the audience usually finds Hamlet in a highly melancholic state of mind (whether it is mere sullen impetuousness or full-blown suicidal depression). Hamlet seems dissatisfied with everything: his family, his nation, the world, his very existence. Part of the reason for this depressed nature is Hamlet’s tendency to philosophise and contemplate complex aspects of existence, such as the afterlife, which contrasts with the straight-forward â€Å"action† men that surround him, and is more typical of the modern moody teenager. For all of these reasons, it can be argued that Hamlet is indeed a â€Å"self-obsessed, miserable typical teenager†. However, a different interpretation of Hamlet is that he is the victim of exceptionally harrowing circumstances. His age is indeterminate, although the reader is sure that he is a young man. Already with the weight of an entire nation on his shoulders, his father dies, only for his mother to wed with â€Å"wicked speed† to his father’s brother: such a combination in such a short space of time for one as young as Hamlet is bound to have a detrimental effect on his outlook. Add to this the plainly insensitive handling of this shocking series of events by Claudius which serves only to exacerbate Hamlet’s sorrow and confusion (â€Å"but to persever/ In obstinate condolement is a course/ Of impious stubbornness, ’tis unmanly grief,†) and it becomes evident that Hamlet cannot be compared to a moody teenager, because the events that usually make teenagers stroppy cannot be compared in any way to the mental anguish that Hamlet is probably suffering. Such a comparison would be callous and thoughtless. Hamlet’s apparent descent into a self-crafted madness is indicative of the huge pressure placed upon him by the ghost of his father, who seems only interested in revenge rather than helping his son (â€Å"Remember me. â€Å"). This emphasises the feeling that Hamlet is alone, with no-one truly understanding his situation (with the possible exception of Horatio). Teenagers nowadays have a vast array of methods in which they can seek help (i. e. relatives, hotlines, the police), again stressing the vast chasm between the situation of a moody teenager and the agonising plight which Hamlet finds himself in. The sheer exceptional scale of tragedy that occurs during the play and the profound effect they have on Hamlet are enough to ensure that he should not be compared to a moody teenager: to do so would be highly inconsiderate. Hence the interpretation that Hamlet is â€Å"self-obsessed† is a highly unfair one, as the world he knew previously has been shattered, and the one he finds himself in now is so intolerable to him that he ponders suicide, meaning that the affairs of Denmark do not find such a high priority in his mind because his personal life is in disarray. Even through the catastrophes in the play, as Hamlet lies on the ground dying, he names Fortinbras as the next ruler of Denmark – this shows that, after he has resolved all of his issues, he starts to once again think of his nation, even as he is dying; the claim that he is miserable is a fair one, but he is justifiably miserable. He is not miserable because his parents will not let him attend a party: he is miserable because his father is dead and his mother has begun an incestuous relationship with his uncle. This is a legitimate reason for misery, and so Hamlet should be treated with a fitting level of compassion – at least certainly not compared to typical teenagers. It is for the reasons above that the statement â€Å"Hamlet is a self-obsessed, miserable typical teenager† does not resonate well with the reader: the very fact that he is able to be sullen and even jocular initially (â€Å"A little more than kin, and less than kind. † â€Å"Not so much, my lord, I am too much in the son. â€Å") is a testament to his strong personality – his true feelings are revealed in the following soliloquy. The character of Hamlet is far more complex than a comparatively simple teenager; the circumstances far more tragic; the pressure upon him far greater.

Affects on Children of Divorced Parents Essays

Affects on Children of Divorced Parents Essays Affects on Children of Divorced Parents Essay Affects on Children of Divorced Parents Essay Affects on Children of Divorced Parents The topic of the term paper is children of divorced parents. We will look at how divorce affects children from a variety of age groups and genders as well as how they are affected during and after the divorce. There is not a lot of history of research and study surrounding this particular topic. Most has been within the past two decades. Which make sense, since the divorce rate has skyrocketed in very recent history. We will start by examining the affects that the actual divorce process has on children. During this traumatic time, children will tend to pick up on all of the negative behaviors that the parents are exuding. Parental discord can actually be more disturbing to a child than parental nonexistence through the divorce. Parental conflict plays a key role in the child’s well being. The effects of marital disturbance on children vary according to the amount of marital conflict that existed prior to the divorce. Part of the reason that for the above is that parents occupied in conflicts are less reliable in the discipline they provide, and they have distorted bonds of a connection with their children, therefore they serve as models for harmful behavior for their children, which then puts the children under emotional and cognitive strain. For some children this can cause immediate negative effects, which can include inferior emotional adjustment, and becoming more anxious. Also children experiencing their parents discord can become more likely to exhibit signs of disinterest in school than those who are in a lower conflict family. Marital disturbance appears to be linked with behavioral and affective changes, rather than with changes in more cognitive phenomena like aspirations and grades. Children of divorced parents have reported that the parents tend to have a lower educational expectation of them. Whereas when they were in a united state, it would not be ok for a child to just do average or below average. Along with this there is a noted decrease in monitoring of school and social activities. This typically happens more so of the father than the mother. As the divorce progresses and the family separates, the trouble with school can also extend from the financial difficulties the single parent inherits when divorced. For example, income differences account for between 30 and 50 percent of the overall difference in high school graduation rates. Also, with the decrease in income, this can cause residential mobility which then disrupts the children’s social ties, and academic activities. In earlier years when the divorce rate sky-rocketed to an all-new high it was usually the mother that always received primary guardianship over the child or children and the fathers typically only had minimal visitation, usually 4 times a month. Back then father’s were believed to have more of a â€Å"minor† role in the lives of the children. They went by a Psychoanalytic theory that basically stated the exclusive importance of the mother was detrimental in early child development and focused exclusively on the mother and children and what harm was caused if there was early separation between them. There was also a belief that the children would be harmed psychologically if they had more than one home. Though over the past 30 years the outcome of custody arrangements hasn’t changed much and the mother typically receives primary care giver status, it has been shown that it is much more helpful in the short and long term for the child if both the mother and the father can share custody as well as functions with everyday life, rules, school functions and so on. Sometimes fathers will automatically fail to maintain a good relationship with their children and sometimes it is for other reasons. They either re- marry and have more children and or there is too much conflict and tension between the father and the mother. Another culprit is the fact that â€Å"mothers have reported interfering with or sabotaging visits between 25% and 35% of the time. † Maternal antagonism has been linked to less paternal attachment subsequent to a divorce. Children that are in conflict-free (or low conflict) situations with divorced parents appear to flourish as long as they have sufficient parenting in both homes and there is joint parental decision making. Studies showed that half of children and youngsters have a desire for more contact with their fathers. Relocation of the child can also be harmful to their relationships and growth. The risk of adjustment, social and scholastic problems is twice as great for children of divorce compared to those who parents are still married. This all seems to have the worst affect on adolescents. Effects of a high conflict in marriage and in the divorce can and will visibly affect children 12-22 years after the divorce. There will be poor relationships with their parents, overall bad attitudes and behavior, and more often than not they will receive some sort of psychological help. There is a greater risk of long-term affects the younger the child is when the parents are divorced. The children’s social and emotional development is most at risk at later ages when the parental divorce occurs before the age of six. Furthermore, daughters will have more poor relationships with their mothers than sons will later on in life. 29% of women with divorced parents had poor relationships with their mothers while only 19% of men did. There are some interesting differences in the effects on boys and girls following their parents divorce. Typically a girl’s self esteem declines less that a boy’s self-esteem. This is something I never would have guessed. Marital disruption will lower a boy’s math and reading performances, which is not the case for girls. Also, boys’ have a higher drop out rate and behavior problems than girls. In addition, children of divorce, predominantly boys, evidenced higher frequencies of dependency, discourteous talk, withdrawal, blaming, as well as carelessness, decreased work ethic, inappropriate behavior, unhappiness and maladaptive symptoms. Usually girls’ difficulties occur preceding the divorce and don’t change substantially after the divorce, while boy’s difficulties increased after the divorce, mainly for substance abuse. For girls, they will manifest distress in ways that are more complicated to observe, like by becoming extra anxious, depressed, or exhibiting over controlled â€Å"good† behavior. After the divorce when parents tend to move, this can be a very critical time for the child. Depending on the age at the time they can either see effects from this immediately or later in the child’s development. When parents move more than an hour away from one another is when it tends to affect the children the most. Students from families where one parent has moved typically received less financial support and they worried more about this support and felt more aggression in their interpersonal relations. They also suffered more distress related to the parent’s divorce and perceived their parents less positively as sources of emotional support and role models. The students also thought that the quality of their parents’ relationships with one another to be worse. All of this made them rate themselves to have a less physically healthy life, less general life satisfaction, and less ability to adjust personally and emotionally. I can certainly relate to all of the above as I have been there myself. The following is a little taste of the reasons I chose the affects of divorce on children for my research paper topic. I come from divorced parents, who have been divorced yet again from their second marriages. As well, I have stepchildren of my own. Since I was old enough to think logically I have analyzed the whys and how’s of my parents divorce and the affects that I felt from it from when I was little all the way until now. My parents had a very long, drawn out divorce where there was a custody battle. I was quite small then, only 3 when they started the process, however I can remember quite clearly some of the awful arguments and hurtful words that were said, unfortunately mostly by my mother. I was one of the many that my mother got custody of me and I had visitation with my father. I was to see him every Wednesday evening and every other weekend. This continued for a short time, but then our time together became less and less until eventually the only time I saw him was maybe twice a year. The separation from my father did have effects but not until later on in life. I became jealous of his relationship with my half-sisters and I had resentment that he never made sure that he was a permanent fixture in my life. However, once I was on my own and started becoming more independent, I started having a much better relationship with my father, and now that we both work at the airport I get to see him much more often. However, one of the reasons, I believe, that I married someone 16 years my senior was because I didn’t have my father around growing up. That would be my simple psychoanalytic theory. However, going through all of this with my parents and seeing the effects that it has on so many different people, but especially the children involved, I vowed a long time ago, when I was still in single digits, that I would never put my child through this. That I would cherish the bond of marriage and what that meant and hopefully bring back some of the good ole days where people stayed married. 1. Kelly, Joan B. Children’s Living Arrangements Following Separation and Divorce: Insights From Emperical and Clinical Research†. Family Process. 2006: Volume 46 No. 1 2. Rodriguez, Hilda, and Chandler Arnold. â€Å"Children of Divorce: A Snapshot†. July 21, 2008. clasp. org/publications/children_and_divorce. htm. 3. â€Å"Relocation of Children After Divorce and Children’ s Best Interests: New Evidence and Legal Considerations, Sanford L. Braver, Ira M. Ellman, Berkeley and William V. Fabricius; Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 17, No. 2. 4. Bryant, Michelle. â€Å"The Divorce Dilemma†. July 21, 2008. http://utexas. edu/features/2006/divorce/index. com.

Many and Much

Many and Much Many and Much Many and Much By Maeve Maddox This post is in response to a reader’s email: Please I want to know the usage of many and much. Both words have more than one function in English, but a common challenge for ESL learners is how to use many and much with countable and uncountable nouns. Countable nouns have singular and plural forms. Countable nouns are so called because they can be counted as individual items. Many, in the sense of â€Å"a large and indefinite number,† is used with countable nouns: many cats many apples many books many countries many people Uncountable nouns are construed as singular. They are not used with a number. Much, in the sense of â€Å"a great amount of,† is used to qualify uncountable nouns: much coffee much rice much disagreement much wrangling much love The word much can also function as an adverb and as a pronoun: adverb Thank you very much. I am much indebted to you. Julie scored much higher on the exam than I did. pronoun Much of our success derives from teamwork. Though much is taken, much abides. He’s not much to look at. In the plural, many can be used as a pronoun in the sense of â€Å"many individuals†: He is only one candidate among many. Among their captives are many of our nation. Many are called, but few are chosen. Governed by the article the, many can be used as a noun to designate â€Å"the masses,† â€Å"the multitude,† â€Å"the general public,† or â€Å"the hoi polloi†: Until that happens, the  few  practice lawful plunder upon  the many. The needs of  the many  outweigh the needs of the few. Making the Economy Work for the Many, Not the Few Note: â€Å"The few,† in the sense of â€Å"a small, privileged elite† is often used as the opposite of â€Å"the many.† Related post: Hoi Polloi Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Definitely use "the" or "a"Broadcast vs Broadcasted as Past FormRunning Errands and Doing Chores

Critically appraise the changing role(s) of management accountants Essay

Critically appraise the changing role(s) of management accountants - Essay Example It is obvious that as over the years business and corporate world has evolved and gone through many changes thus management accountants being part of this system would also face transformation in their roles. It is the versatility that is being demanded today therefore a professional cannot limit or restrict itself to its particular job. It is a fact that today management accountants face many challenges especially competition from other managers as they are performing multiple jobs. Therefore the aim of this report is to highlight how the corporate world has evolved over the years; how it demands changes in the role of management accountant and what are the factors that have contributed to these changed roles. As the business world changes so have the roles of professionals that are involved in it however some are the factors that have necessitated the changes in the roles of management accountant they are discussed as follows: A very rapid technological development is witnessed, use of computers and accounting and analytical software allows the management to keep record, provide information, issue reports and even perform analysis. These advanced software and ease in access to the internet management accountant to perform more sophisticated analysis and decision support activities. These software are often automated they just require data entry and have made accounting departments more of an information providers rather participators in the decision making. Therefore this advancement in technology requires the management accountant to modify their roles and gain some extra skills. Business world has seen exceptional rise in competition different strategies and steps are taken to respond and sustain in the market. The major focus of the organizations has been on increasing the production and quality of the products and services that they provide. This shift in priorities

Banton Manor Hotel Proposal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Banton Manor Hotel Proposal - Case Study Example This report is designed in response to his request after the collection of qualitative and quantitative data from within and without the Organisation. It will also examine various theoretical evidences pertaining to the problems the hotel is found to be facing and suggest how conditions can be improved to promote the hotels growth making it more sustainable and competitive in the industry. It will try to show the organisational problems that underlie the restaurant by examining the internal and external factors and trying to come up with the right marketing mix to resolve those. After taking, all these factors to account the report will then propose a system where it can be successfully implemented to meet the objectives of the owners and overall provide more effective and competitive service. In many ways, the Banton Manor hotel run in a traditional and highly conservative way, its marketing like many such hotels is primarily passive with the main marketing tool being word of mouth and recommendation from customers. Largely the marketing manager Jill Bance who is the marketing managers focuses on printing brochures and manages the website where most of the firms marketing is done., she also uses Twitter and other social media but this is only when she is not too busy. However, she does not seem to have a tangible idea which of the tools used is the most effective. In an effective business, the promotional aspect of the marketing mix tends to factor in advertising, personal selling publicity and sales promotion. This should however be carefully tracked to ensure that they are directed to the target customers in the most effective way possible.