What Can Affect the Availability of Food Research Paper - 57

What Can Affect the Availability of Food - Research Paper Example Availability of natural resources like water, land, and energy affects the current food system. Food producers are competing for scarce natural resources to produce food, which can satisfy the growing population. About 90% of the food supply is coming from the land which becoming scarcer as time goes. The land has been affected by factors like soil erosion and mining making it unproductive leading to little availability of food to the people. The increased infection of diseases and malnutrition has affected most people making them migrate to urban areas where they can get access to medical facilities. This people in urban areas will rely on food systems for the supply of food thereby exerting pressure to the current food system. Energy is another resource used for food production; energy is used to production of pesticides, irrigation, fertilizers and machines to replace human labour. Technical constraints are another factor affecting food systems. This is because the farmers cannot get accessed to skills and knowledge which are necessary to increase food production. This makes them incur more expenses when producing food, which will discourage them from participating in food production as the costs incurred, is more than the returns. Transport and market infrastructure are another factor that affects food systems. This is because when the infrastructure is poor, and it is hard to get market for the products, producers will have to incur an additional cost of storing the goods in the warehouse when looking for a market. In addition, poor road network will increase transport costs. This will discourage the production of enough food that satisfies the population, hence, affect the food systems.

Civil liberties during war-time Essay Example for Free

Civil liberties during war-time Essay Civil Liberties are for example freedom of speech and freedom of the press as defined by the first amendment. These freedoms have been challenged by the threat of war, but should they be taken away because of it? The first amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. These are our civil liberties that we are promised as citizens of the U.S. In the past these liberties have been interfered with. The main cause for this interference was war. The government wanted to abolish any chances of treason or leaking of information to the enemies and to do this they passed act such as the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Alien and Sedition Acts made it illegal to write, print, speak, or publish anything false or untrue about to United States. We can understand how certain precautions must be made to insure safety in times of war but to go so far as to take away our freedoms are out of bounds. There are numerous other ways to make us safe without interfering with our liberties. For example: tighter security. After 9/11 security became very tight at airports and other areas where terrorists might be able to enter the country. Although this extra security was tedious and time consuming to get through, it was well within the lines of the 1st amendment because it did not take away any of our freedoms. I do not believe that our civil liberties should be taken away during wartime. This is a democracy and should remain one whether engaged in war or not. The government can think of more ways to protect us other than limiting our freedoms of speech or of the press, and certainly without interfering with our privacy unless there is just cause to do so.

The Things that Make a House a Home :: Personal Narrative Writing

The Things that Make a House a Home There are many wonderful places in the world to explore and live. Some travelers and adventurers have even said that they can feel the soul of the place that they go to visit or explore. Although many people disagree with these ideas, I know that they are true. Every place has a soul, but sometimes it is just harder to find in certain areas than others. One such area is the place where I was born and raised. That very special place is the Phoenix metro area. Being more specific, the area in which I am talking about is the lovely house that I grew up in. This house has been my residence for the last eleven years and represents the heart of my childhood because of the events that I was a part of and the memories that I received while living there. Many things have happened while I have been living at the house. I’ve watched myself grow grade by grade in school until finally I graduated and moved on to college. There have also been many changes to the house itself over the course of time. But though the years my family and I have all gotten used to living at this house and the things that go with it. The country music artist John Denver said in one of his most famous songs, â€Å" There are many things that make a house a home†. That statement is true, a house isn’t a home without the people that live and exist inside if it. When I moved into the house on 58th street and Mountain View, I was in the second grade. My twin sister and I were moving schools and it was a big point in my life. Until then, I had only known one house, one neighborhood, and one set of friends at school. And although we were only moving about three miles, the move placed us in a different school district. So, scared and uncertain, we started out at a new school. Like it usually was, it was very hard for a kid like me to find friends. But I had my sister as a companion and it was alright. Many afternoons I spent playing in the backyard with my sister and dog, and I had a great time.

Napoleon :: essays research papers

Mastering Luck Explain Quote ?I had been nourished by reflecting on liberty, but I thrust it out of my way when it obstructed me path.? I believe this quote means that Napoleon was a believer in liberty and that he attempted to use it to rule his people justly. The rest of the quote means that liberty and justice can only be used to the point at which it doesn?t challenge his laws and governing power. Napoleon had the aspiration of total domination, and he had no intentions of letting peoples natural freedoms interrupt those dreams. I also believe that the people of those times were fed up with anarchy and lack of control and were willing to give up some of their personal freedoms for the sake of control and a better country. Question 2 Napoleon actually crossed the Alps on a mule. Why did David paint him riding on a horse? What adjectives best describe David?s portrayal of Napoleon? Why? The reason Napoleon was painted on a horse was probably to make him look very courageous. Napoleon was a very vain man and we cannot be sure if he had anything to do with the change from the actual event. A mule usually brings to mind pictures of slow advancement and a very weak attacker, but in reality, they were probably better for going over mountains, which I believe is the reason Napoleon didn?t just use a horse. To describe Napoleon crossing the St. Bernard pass, I think there are many adjectives that could be used. Napoleon looked very daring, because he was pointing onward toward the soon to be conquered lands that he had his mind set on taking for his empire. Napoleon also looked very fierce by the stern face the painter portrayed, and the position the horse was in, which looked like it was about to jump and crush an enemy. The Summit of Greatness Question 1 The above engraving was part of a propaganda campaign directed at both English and French audiences. What was the drawing intended to show the French? Why would they be prepared to believe some of the picture?s more fanciful aspects? The French people had come out of time of oppression by tyrannical monarchs and uncaring, corrupt government officials. They were ready for a new birth as a new nation, which was able to stand on its own and even be an overlord to its neighbors.

Greenwashing Case Essay

â…  .Introduction An appreciation for environmental protection has matured steadily in recent decades. With increasing concerns over the environment comes an increasing popularity of greenwashing. Consequently, companies whose actions do not match their environmentally-friendly promotions may mislead consumers in terms of the environmental benefits of a product or service. This essay explores possible reasons of the visible boom in greenwashing and claims that Nike, a sportswear and equipment supplier, deserves the accusation of greenwashing. â… ¡.Reasons for Greenwashing Clearly, the widespread popularity of greenwashing arises in the pursuance of reputation and sales. A recent survey conducted by Advertising Age indicates that 78% of customers prefer eco-friendly corporations to companies that are reckless with the environmental issue (Berkeley Media Studies Group 2008, p.2). The result of this survey serves as an incentive for companies to greenwash. Moreover, greenwashing definitely yields fruitful results for these companies. In a survey conducted by Landor Associates, BP, a corporation being accused of greenwashing, is considered to be more environmentally friendly than its counterparts, with its voters surpassing that of Shell by 6 per cent (Solman 2008, p.24). Most importantly, greenwashing helps BP promote sales from 2004($192 billion) to 2006($266 billion) (Solman 2008, p.24). With such a prime example of greenwashing, no wonder other companies follow in BP’s footsteps. â… ¢.Nike’s official claims Nike claims that it regards environmental protection and humane management as part of their corporate responsibility. Primarily, several claims are made regarding environmental content of its products. Nike claims that T-shirts it sells in the US contain 3 per cent organic cotton and 90 per cent of its shoes are free from toxic glues, cleaners and solvents (Beder 2002, p.25). On top of that, it asserts that it eliminates the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from its shoes (Beder 2002, p.27). Furthermore, it also advertises regarding good working conditions and happy workers in a Vietnamese factory (Beder 2002, p.25). â… £.Analysis of Claims It is doubtful whether Nike really produces clothes with 3 per cent organic cotton and 90 per cent of shoes are without toxic glues, cleaners and solvents. Rather than manufacturing its own products, Nike is only responsible for designing and marketing them and there is no supervision of the manufacturing process (Beder 2002, p.27). Furthermore, in order to promote credibility, Nike has the claim endorsed by United Nations. However, it turns out that United Nations do no monitoring of the claim made by Nike, either (Beder 2002, p.26). Consequently, Nike has no certification for this claim it makes. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the official claim regarding the environmental-friendly content in sportswear will be more than empty rhetoric. Due to the lack of valid evidence and certification, Nike’s claim considering the sportswear’s content commits the â€Å"sin of no proof† (TerraChoice 2007, p.8). Nike’s claim regarding PVC-free shoes may not be a true reflection of the fact. In a press conference, Soon after Nike’s repeated assurance regarding the PVC-free shoes, Greenpeace (a reliable organization against PVC) has claimed that Nike’s search for an alternative substitute for PVC have barely begun (Beder 2002, p.27). Given the fact that research has not lasted long, it is very unlikely that Nike is manufacturing shoes that are free from PVC, which makes this claim turn out to be a false claim. Nike commits the â€Å"sin of fibbing† (TerraChoice 2007, p.9) . Inconsistent with its advertisement, workers may not be so happy and contented in the Nike’s factory since Nike is definitely unkind to them. Nike is deceptive regarding comfortable working conditions. Specifically, in Vietnamese Nike plants, workers are exposed to carcinogens at 177 times safe levels and paid $10 for a 65-hour work per week (Beder 2002, p.27). Such differences between Nike’s claims and its behaviors are called bluewashing, which is categorized as one kind of greenwashing. Bluewashing refers to corporations that wrap themselves in the flag of human rights and labor rights, while their actions are quite otherwise (Corpwatch 2001, p.2). Furthermore, there is no uniform definition of happiness. Not only does the company misuse workers, it also makes a vague commitment because happiness is a feeling that varies from person to person. Such ambiguity proves that Nike commits the â€Å"sin of vagueness† (TerraChoice 2007, p.9). â… ¤.Counter-Arguments While Nike fails to realize certain official claims, it improves the environment and sustainability. Specifically, Nike claims that materials used in shoeboxes are 100% recycled and these shoeboxes weigh 10% less than those made up of non-recyclable paper (Stoner 2006, p.4). Nike helps alleviate deforestation by using recycled materials, thereby contributing to sustainable development and environmental protection. On the other hand, while Nike spends $1.13 billion on advertising and promoting the reputation of its products in 2003, it only donates $100,000 since 1998 to education programs for Nike workers. Compared with charity, it seems that much more funds are invested in advertising. The endeavor to greenwash far outweighs the effort to assume social responsibility. Hence, Nike is still greenwashing. â… ¥.Conclusion Overall, this paper reports that there are some reasons for companies to greenwash and even though Nike makes some effort to protect the environment, it has every reason to be accused of greenwashing. The reasons for most companies whose actions do not conform to their environmentally-friendly claims are simple: the pursuits of profits and goodwill. Despite Nike’s contribution towards environmental conservation and sustainability, several official claims regarding working conditions of employees and raw materials of products lack of evidence and clarity. Owing to the proliferation of greenwashing, customers should consider the environmental impact rather than advertising and packaging when shopping. â… ¦.References Beder S, 2002, ‘Putting the Boot In’, The Ecologist, April, pp. 24-28. Berkeley Media Studies Group, 2008, ‘Food Marketers Greenwash Junk Food’, Adweek, March, pp.1-3 CorpWatch, 2001, ‘Greenwash Fact Sheet’, CorpWatch, pp.1-2 Solman G, 2008, ‘Coloring Public Opinion?’, Adweek. January.14, pp22-24 Stoner C, 2006, ‘Corporate Greenings: Nike’, Peakinsight, pp. 1-13 TerraChoice Environmental Marketing Inc. 2007, ‘The Six Sins of Greenwashing’, November, pp.1-12

DH essays

DH essays The Debate Between Bilingual Education and English Immersion Programs Bilingual Education is defined as any school program that uses two languages. In a more theoretical sense it is any educational program whose ultimate goal is for the participants to be fully versed in all facets of both languages (i.e., able to listen, speak , read, and write in both languages). The definition of a coordinated, developmental bilingual approach has emphasized the goal of being equally fluid in both languages. Realistically, this has not been the goal for most K-12 bilingual schools in the United States. More commonly in the United States we are using the words bilingual program to describe a program that will provide literacy and content in the primary language, while building English fluency, to the point where all instruction will occur in English. These programs are label transitional bilingual programs as their ultimate goal is to transition all students into an English only learning arena. One of the down sides of these programs is that they are not maintenance (development)bilingual programs which are designed to preserve and develop students primary language while they acquire English as a second language. Bilingual Program Models All bilingual program models use the students' home language, in addition to English, for instruction. These programs are most easily implemented in districts with a large number of students from the same language background. Students in bilingual programs are grouped according to their first language, and teachers must be proficient in both English and the students' home language. Early-exit bilingual programs are designed to help children acquire the English skills required to succeed in an English-only mainstream classroom. These programs provide some initial instruction in the students' first language, primarily for the introduction of reading, but also for clarification. Instruction in the f...

Cloning Essays (437 words) - Cloning, Molecular Biology, Genetics

Cloning Essays (437 words) - Cloning, Molecular Biology, Genetics Cloning Cloning Today During my interview with my grandmother I asked her what she thought of cloning. she responded by saying that it was not right and should be stopped. on the other hand i have a different opinion. I think that cloning should be continued and furhter researched for we might be able to have different organs and substances produced in these clones. Below is the step that were taken to clone the adult sheep named Dolly. Part 1: An Improbable Goal Scientists hoped that cloning healthy, mature sheep, rather than just creating lambs from embryonic cells, could produce a highly specialized sheep with large quantities of proteins in its milk. The proteins are believed to help treat diseases such as emphysema, hemophylia and cystic fibrosis. Part 2: The Perfect Timing For years, scientists could not synchronize the growth of the egg and the cell. If one was off- synch, abnormal chromosomes would soon transform in the nucleus and thereby kill off the embryo. Dr. Wilmut achieved near perfection in the timing by putting the cells into hybernation; of the 277 eggs they began with, 247 lived through the process. Timing the growth in other species, however, has proved to scientists that cloning mature animals is extremely difficult; in the case of mice, they've concluded it can't be accomplished. Part 3: Jump-start from a Jolt Though it has become a standard procedure in cloning, scientists are not sure why an electric pulse sent to the two cells causes them to meld together and activates development in the egg. They are learning, however, the shock doesn't fully mimic the activation process of a sperm, which could explain why just 29 of the remaining 247 cells live longer than six days. Part 4: Surrogate Motherhood Despite the fact that the newly formed embryo is transplanted into the uterus of another ewe, scientists believe Dolly is a nearly exact carbon-copy of her genetic originating mother. In theory, that means an almost exact look-alike of John F. Kennedy Jr. could be produced by taking cells from his skin, melding their nuclei with any woman's egg that has had its nucleus removed and then planting the embryo in a surrogate mother. Part 5: A 6-Year-Old in 7 Months? Scientists are eagerly watching Dolly to see if she exhibits the characteristics of her mother, a 6-year-old sheep, or those of her own age, just 7 months. As animals and humans age, changes occur in their DNA - such as decreasing fertility and increasing susceptibility to cancer and other diseases. If she prematurely ages, clones of mature animals would be useless to the agriculture industry.

Young Goodman Brown essays

Young Goodman Brown essays Young Goodman Brown is a story that spotlights on a man that has to choose between right and wrong, and good and evil. Towards the end, Goodmans journey from the village through the forest and back again is turned into a self assessment about his own faith, trust, innocence, and experience. The story is about a good young man struggling on his own spiritual path, which can be paralleled to any of our lives in which we are tempted and have personal struggles of our own. He leaves his familiar place promising his wife, Faith, that he will return after one night. Brown is faced with many obstacles leading him to the choice between good and evil. His vision, though not defined as reality or a dream, he sees people he knows, friends and family, heading towards evil, but in the end he is able to avoid being drawn into the dark evil side. This story basically portrays the simple and not so simple choices that people have to make daily and as they progress through their lives. The story disp lays choices and consequences that come as a result of making certain decisions. In the start of the story we meet Goodman Brown and his wife Faith who are saying their goodbyes to each other as Brown embarks on a journey through the forest. Faith begs Brown not to go because of the bad feelings she has been getting about this whole expedition, but Brown reassures her that everything will be alright, and he then leaves. This first choice of Browns is one of evil, because he still decides to go even though he knows of the wickedness that the forest withholds, instead of staying with his faith. Another aspect of evil in this decision is that we see the village as a light place, whereas the forest is known for being a dark and unpredictable place This is the case because in the village, people are normal, happy, everyday people going about their business, which is the light of his life. The forest on the other hand is a very dark ...

Formal Buisiness report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Formal Buisiness report - Essay Example BMW’s advertisement strategies have been effectively executed in the past and especially short films with Clive Owen, a Hollywood star, has further leveraged the brand equity of BMW. However, one of recent BMW’s advertisements which appeared in Canada features somewhat inappropriate concept against a greater good. This advertisement features an intimate couple with a picture of BMW’s picture concealing the face of the woman. This may be offensive to some cultures living across Canada and might serve the purpose contrary to the company’s objectives. For this advertisement, a focus group of about 20 to 30 people were given a survey questionnaire to gauge the receptiveness and effectiveness of the ad. A detailed analysis of the advertisement is done in this report along with the results of the research. This would help BMW to get a picture of the effect which this ad might have had on the target. I hope you will consider this report to be the base of any furt her decision which you would take for the betterment of BMW. Sincerely, (Insert Your Name) (Insert Your University) Table of Contents 1LIST OF FIGURES 4 2EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 3INTRODUCTION 6 4RESEARCH 7 4.1Research Method 7 4.2Question-wise responses and their findings: 8 4.2.1Questions 1 – 2: 8 4.2.2Question 3 and 4 9 4.2.3Question 5 9 4.2.4Question 6 10 4.2.5Question 7 12 4.2.6Question 8 13 4.2.7Question 9 and 10 13 4.2.8Question 11 14 4.2.9Question 12 15 4.2.10Question 13 16 5CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 17 6APPENDIX 18 7BIBLIOGRAPHY 21 Particular Content Page No Exhibit 1 Advertisement of BMW – The ultimate attraction 6 Figure 1 Response of Question 1 of the Survey Questionnaire 8 Figure 2 Response of Question 2 of the Survey Questionnaire 8 Figure 3 Response of Question 3 of the Survey Questionnaire 9 Figure 5 Response of Question 5 of the Survey Questionnaire 9 Figure 6 Response of Question 6 of the Survey Questionnaire 11 Figure 7 Response of Question 7 of the Survey Questionnaire 12 Figure 8 Response of Question 8 of the Survey Questionnaire 13 Figure 9 Response of Question 9 of the Survey Questionnaire 13 Figure 10 Response of Question 10 of the Survey Questionnaire 14 Figure 11 Response of Question 11 of the Survey Questionnaire 14 Figure 12 Response of Question 12 of the Survey Questionnaire 15 Figure 13 Response of Question 13 of the Survey Questionnaire 16 1 LIST OF FIGURES 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The objective of this report is to present a detailed analysis of an advertisement of BMW featured in the market of Canada. The advertisement contains strong and creative execution of an idea of a car – BMW specifically, being â€Å"The Ultimate Attraction†. The execution of the advertisement however, may be inappropriate for some audiences. Some may take offence whereas other s may feel discomfort and some might react positively towards the brand. These mixed feelings are scaled down through research in the form of a survey whic h was conducted online to gauge people’s perception and reaction to the advertisement. The report contains the analysis of the data which was extracted from the research and then, this data is interpreted into results of the ad campaign. 3 INTRODUCTION The brand of BMW revolves around the concept of intimacy which is centered in the ad. This goes against its corporate identity of a brand build on high performance and technology, as explained by Rosengarten, Philipp G, and Christoph B. Stu?rmer.

Willam Blake (1757-1827) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Willam Blake (1757-1827) - Essay Example Industrial revolution that swept across Britain can be attributed to the emergence of romantic writing. Among the advocates of Romanticism, Blake’s poems and paintings demonstrated deep emotions including romance, passion, and aspiration to freedom as a genuine response to the chaotic social conventions of the time. William Blake, the prominent poet and painter was born in London as the son of a hosiery shop owner on 28 November 1757. He started his initial formation as a painter at the age of ten, at the art school run by Henry Pars in Strand. After his four years of learning at Pars, he was apprenticed to James Basire and seven years later by 1778 he joined the Royal Academy where he mastered drawing using living models (William Blake1757-1827, BBC). Blake’s first volume of poetry was published in 1783 encouraged by the great artist of the time, Flaxman. Blake explored the scope of integrating painting with book writing and in 1788 he initiated illuminated book Ã¢â‚¬Ë œThere is no Natural Religion’ followed by Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, Book of Thel and many more throughout the subsequent years. He was indeed a versatile writer and poet who performed all efforts himself for printing his illuminated books. Blake’s other famous works include the Book of Job (1825), and Pastorals of Virgil (1821).

Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 36

Accounting - Essay Example Failing to provide the cash flow statement, the company will lack the proper information on telling the sources of cash and its use. Additionally, the company will not have adequate planning tool for its business success in the long term (â€Å"Cash flow statements†, 2000). To improve operations, I would compare the expenses that accumulate for a given operation to its budget and provide management warning if the expenses appear to be ahead of projections (Lawrence, 2004). This will give the company time to control cost over the remaining part of the project. I would also approach the client about the increase in billing to cover the cost overrun. Assuming the costs are reimbursed to the clients, I would carry out cost precision where the customer will pay all the expenses incurred plus the revenue. Some of the accounting activities that I would take into consideration will be the cost of materials, cost of labor, and overhead. I would use cost information history to arrive at standard rates and then assign this standard costs to jobs based on the activity units (Drury, 2002). I will allocate the manufacturing overhead cost via Departmental machine hours (Innes & Mitchell, 2003). This is because the manufacturing companies studies and controls the time for direct labour and motion. They have started using machines to replace the direct labor. Using machines increases the factory overhead due to machinery depreciation, machinery maintenance, and set up of machines. Reducing the direct labor and increasing the manufacturing overhead, the correlation between the manufacturing overhead and direct labour tends to wane. Therefore, the logical response is to allocate manufacturing overhead based on the machine hours rather than direct labor hours (Carroll, 2004). I would use break-even analysis to determine the optimum output level below which will

Finance for development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Finance for development - Essay Example Laws and economic policies differ in different countries; hence the financial sector development and economic growth also differ in different countries. Reforms of financial sector in BRIC or emerging countries started after the 2008/2009 global financial crisis. Ranking of financial development can be measured using Financial Development Index. This index is determined by various factors affecting the financial sector such as policies, financial intermediation, and financial access. The figure below shows how such factors interrelate to determine financial development index of a given economy or country. Due to the economic potential of BRIC economies, financial institutions have increased significantly in such countries. The figure below shows the number of banks that entered advanced economies and emerging economies between 1995 and 2009. The figure above shows that there were more banks entering emerging markets between 1995 and 2009 than banks entering advanced economies. Increased financial market participants and factors affecting financial sector development in emerging countries have caused general increase in financial index performance of BRIC economies as shown below. From the graph, it is clear that china’s financial sector development is greater than other BRIC economies, followed by Brazil, India and Russia consecutively. However, China’s financial development index dropped in 2012. This may be attributed to the decrease in banking financial services scores. The country also performed poorly in terms of financial sector liberalization, bond market development and insurance development in 2012. On the other hand, Russia’s financial development index improved in 2012 due to improvements in financial markets pillar and equity development sub-pillar. In terms of economic growth, China remains the best performing due to its increase in economic growth rate from 2009 to 2012 followed by India,

Advertising Individual CW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Advertising Individual CW - Essay Example All the products are priced at very low competitive prices due to the cost saving techniques the company uses to pass the benefits to its customers. We want the people of Marylebone to try out the new trader Joe grocery store and experience a fresh and unique hassle free shopping experience that is unforgettable. The store uses a cultural approach that caters for all traditions while at the same time giving its customers the chance to sample varied and new cultural experiences. Trade Joes stores are different, bigger, with walls decked with cedar planks and their employees wear cool Hawaiian shirts (Trade Joe, Our Story 2012). This gives its customers a fantastic and relaxing shopping experience. Starting as a small chain of convenience stores in the 1950s called Pronto market convenience stores (Gardetta, 2011), Trader Joe has grown tremendously in size, increasing the number of its stores to over three hundred and fifty across American states and has successfully created a large an d loyal customer base in all the states; through its innovative and creative business practices and the company’s desire to fully satisfy its customers’ needs and requirements through excellent customer care and customer feedback (Fast Company, 2011). Trader Joe’s listens and fully responds to the needs of all its customers and it wants to bank on its previous success in America by offering the same unique services and products to the London market. The new Trader Joe advertisement will primarily target single male and female consumers who live alone. The target market is health conscious and college educated, with a household income of above $54000 (The Associated Press, 2003) and who are most likely to have no children at home. The company targets this segment of the London society that is cost-conscious and keen on what they eat hence the use of clear labels on Trader Joe’s products for easy label reading and who would appreciate the different size of packages to cater for single consumers for convenience of use. These customers are very mobile and most likely to have a wide knowledge of exotic foods and beverages. They are adventurous and would not hesitate to try out the diverse and unique varieties offered by Trader Joe grocery shop. Major Selling Idea or Key Benefit to Communicate Trader Joe stores boast of over 2000 unique and high quality products (Trade Joe, 2006) which provide better alternatives to health conscious and environmentally friendly individuals. Over 80% of the high quality products stocked in our grocery stores are branded with trader Joe’s trademark (Kowitt, 2010) as a sign of high quality. These foods are organically produced and have no pesticides suitable for the health conscious individuals. Many of the limited Trader Joe’s products addresses the different consumer needs in their research and development departments with primary focus on quality, packaging and cultural preferences of the cu stomers (Llopis, 2011). The store gives everybody something to love and something to use. Trader Joe is an equal employment company with above average salaries and other employment benefits. It has both permanent and temporally positions. This will benefit the community in a large way by contributing to the economy which will create a good public perception necessary for a successful entry into the market. The Single Most Important Thought You Want A Member Of The Target Audience To Take Away From The

Finance for development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Finance for development - Essay Example Laws and economic policies differ in different countries; hence the financial sector development and economic growth also differ in different countries. Reforms of financial sector in BRIC or emerging countries started after the 2008/2009 global financial crisis. Ranking of financial development can be measured using Financial Development Index. This index is determined by various factors affecting the financial sector such as policies, financial intermediation, and financial access. The figure below shows how such factors interrelate to determine financial development index of a given economy or country. Due to the economic potential of BRIC economies, financial institutions have increased significantly in such countries. The figure below shows the number of banks that entered advanced economies and emerging economies between 1995 and 2009. The figure above shows that there were more banks entering emerging markets between 1995 and 2009 than banks entering advanced economies. Increased financial market participants and factors affecting financial sector development in emerging countries have caused general increase in financial index performance of BRIC economies as shown below. From the graph, it is clear that china’s financial sector development is greater than other BRIC economies, followed by Brazil, India and Russia consecutively. However, China’s financial development index dropped in 2012. This may be attributed to the decrease in banking financial services scores. The country also performed poorly in terms of financial sector liberalization, bond market development and insurance development in 2012. On the other hand, Russia’s financial development index improved in 2012 due to improvements in financial markets pillar and equity development sub-pillar. In terms of economic growth, China remains the best performing due to its increase in economic growth rate from 2009 to 2012 followed by India,

Hw4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hw4 - Essay Example If you are not satisfied with the job selection at any job site, choose another job board. Excellent communication skill in both oral and written English – I have a decent communication skill in English but I still need to improve on it because the job requires excellent communication skills. 11.6 Surviving a Social Business Function The idea of attending a social business function provokes anxiety in many businesspeople. What should you talk about? What should you wear? How can you make sure you maintain your professionalism? Your Task. In groups of two to four, discuss appropriate behavior in four social situations. Decide appropriate attire, suitable topics of conversation, and other etiquette guidelines that you should follow. Present your decisions regarding the following social functions to your instructor in a memo or e- mail: Different occasion has different set of propriety in terms of attire, topic of conversation and other ethical consideration that one must observe to remain appropriate. In a company picnic, it would be proper to wear comfortable casual clothes such as t-shirt, jeans and rubber shoes. It would be nice to talk about pleasantries during this event. During holiday party however, it would be more appropriate to wear smart casual clothes such as polo and a nice slack. It would be appropriate to talk about family and friends during this kind of event. During formal dinner however, one is expected to dress up either in a nice elegant suit or long sleeve polo with equally elegant slacks and leather shoes. It would be appropriate to be witty during conversation because each party is expected to impress the other party. During business luncheon however, one is expected to dress in coat and tie and conversation is expected to revolve around business

Homeland Security Essay Example for Free

Homeland Security Essay Homeland Security is a cabinet level agency in the federal government. Its birth came after the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. Its main goals were to deter terrorism on U. S. soil and the safety of the American infrastructure. It has been reported many times the trouble this department is having getting off the ground. â€Å"Hardly a day goes by without some fresh report on a contract gone bad, a new technology that does not work, a new Coast Guard cutter that is not seaworthy, or more cargo that slips through port without inspection† (Light, 2007). Every year new assessments of the department including Congress, the 9/11 Commission and the departments own inspector general gives it low grades for job satisfaction, management, and leadership. Just some of the problems it is having are high turnover, internal bureaucratic struggles and structural problems. So with all that said it is having problems reaching many of its outlined goals. It still needs funding, authority, better strategy for protecting American soil, personnel, better screening at airports for passengers and employees, and better technology to find weapons such as explosives. Improved intelligence capabilities are probably the most important. Border security issues were the founding fathers main focus when he was with the agency and I am in agreement. Securing our countries boarders on a daily basis is the Homeland security’s main concern. The military that has done that job up until now but with the world being global we need to separate the two and give each their own set of ground rules to operate at an optimum level. The merging of immigration and customs enforcement can only help in making this department function at a level the American public can be proud of with the goals of this office being completed (Magleby, O’Brien, Light, Peltason, Cronin, 2006). Even with all its imperfections I still believe that it is a needed department in our government. A somewhat more rigid department to handle military type action on homeland soil was needed and was realized on 9/11. We had been living in a glass house and it was just a matter of time. The partnership it is creating with state and local governments especially with intelligence from federal sources will build a safer America. After the disaster of Katrina in 2005 it was more obvious that this newly formed department would need some redesign in its structure. But I think with having Homeland Security it will help to build a better military. This would allow more forces to be deployed outside our borders when needed. I think now if Homeland Security had been up to par, would we still be in Iraq or would the troops the Republicans so desperately want to send be there and back by now? Reference: Light, P. (2007, Spring). The homeland security hash. Wilson Quarterly, 31(2). Magleby, D. B. , O’Brien, D. , Light, P. , Peltason, J. W. , Cronin, T. E. (2006). Government by the People: National, State, and Local 21st. Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Effects of globalization on hospitality and tourism industry

Effects of globalization on hospitality and tourism industry In recent years, organizations in the hospitality and tourism industry have experienced a great deal of turmoil as the competitive forces within their industry have shifted under the weight of globalization. To survive, many companies must now build competitive advantage by relying on their employees to implement improved service delivery processes. Shifting travel markets, world-class competition, and escalating operating costs are forcing hospitality and tourism organizations to pay more attention than ever before to the needs and desires of their customers. This means that companies are having to find ways to become more responsive and create greater value for their customers. The quality of an organizations service delivery hinges in part upon its people. How frontline personnel act has a determining influence on customers perceptions of service quality and, in turn, on the overall level of customer satisfaction. However, even employees who are not directly involved in serving the customer have an indirect impact on customer satisfaction by means of the backup support they provide to frontline staff. The important role employees play in the success of service organizations, human resource management has traditional been a weak link in the hospitality and tourism industry. QESTION 1 Explain the communication process and same common forms of communication use in hospitality and tourism industry. INTRODUCTION QUESTION 1 Communication is perhaps the most important and most used of all skills in the hospitality and tourism industry. Managers spend the largest portion of their time in verbal or written communication with their employees, other managers, or outside parties. Frontline employees have frequent interaction with customers and other employees. Other staff members communicate among themselves, as well as with their managers, frontline employees, suppliers, and so on, to give and receive the information they need to perform their jobs. Communication has been recognized as the means by which both people and the organization survive. When human beings lack the ability to cope with life, the source of the problem is often a lack of appropriate information. Incomplete and unorganized information places a heavy strain on the ability of people make sense out of their existence. Their performance of a job depends on having the necessary information, having the skills to do a job depends on the quality of communication during the skills acquisition period. 1.1: Verbal communication Verbal communication is further divided into written and oral communication. The oral communication refers to the spoken words in the communication process. Oral communication can either be face-to-face communication or a conversation over the phone or on the voice chat over the internet. Spoken conversation or dialogs are influenced by voice modulation, pitch, volume and even the speed and clarity of speaking. The other type of verbal communication is written communication. Written communication can be either via snail mail, or email. The effectiveness of written communication depends on the style of writing, vocabulary used, grammar, clarity and precision of language. 1.2: Nonverbal communication Nonverbal communication is such as facial expression, gestures, posture, and tone of voice is an important component of personal business interactions. Nonverbal communication can help a small business owner to get a message across, or to successful interpret a message received from another person. On the other hand, nonverbal communication can also send signals that interfere with the effective presentation or reception of message. Nonverbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture body language or posture, facial expression and eye contact, object communication such as clothing, hairstyle or even architecture, symbols and info graphics. Speech may also contain nonverbal elements knows as paralanguage, including voice quality, emotion and speaking style, as well as prosodic features such as rhythm, intonation and stress. Likewise, written texts have nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the use of motion. However much of nonverbal communication process has focused on face-to-face interaction, where it can be classified into three principal areas and they are environmental conditions where communication takes place, the physical characteristics of the communicators, and behavior of communicators during interaction 1.3: Verbal VS Oral communication Scholars in this field usually use a strict sense of the team verbal, meaning of or concerned with words, and do not use verbal communication as a synonym for oral or spoken communication. Thus, vocal sounds which are not considered to be words, such as a grunt, or singing a wordless note, are nonverbal. Sign languages and writing are generally understood as forms of verbal communication, as both make use of words although like speech, both may contain paralinguistic elements and often occur alongside nonverbal messages. Nonverbal communication can occur through any sensory channel sight, sounds, smell, touch or taste. Nonverbal communication is important as when we speak or listen, our attention is focused on words rather than body language. But our judgment includes both. An audience is simultaneously processing both verbal and nonverbal cues. Body movements are not usually positive or negative in and of themselves; rather, the situation and the message will determine the appraisal . Interaction of verbal and nonverbal communication. When communicating, nonverbal messages can interact with verbal messages in six ways and they are repeating, conflicting, complementing, substituting, regulating and accenting or moderating. 1.4: Formal communication Formal communication includes all the instances where communication has to occur in a set formal format. Typically this can include all sorts of business communication or corporate communication. The style of communication in this form is very formal and official. Official conferences, meetings and written memos and corporate letters are used for communication. Formal communication can also occur between two strangers when they meet for the first time. Hence formal communication is stringent and rigid tone to it. 1.5: Informal communication Informal communication includes instances of free unrestraint communication between people who share a casual rapport with each other. Informal communication requires two people to have a similar wavelength and hence occurs between friends and family. Informal communication does not have any rigid rules and guidelines. 1.6: Appearance In oral forms of communication, the appearance of both the speaker and the surroundings are vital to the successful conveyance of a message. Whether we speaking to one person face to face or to a group in a meeting, personal appearance and the appearance of the surroundings covey nonverbal stimuli that affect attitudes even emotions toward the spoken words. For example, a speakers clothing, hairstyle, use of cosmetics, neatness, and stature may cause a listener to form impressions about her occupation, socioeconomic level, competence. Similarly, such details of the surroundings as room size, furnishings, decorations, lighting, and windows can affect a listeners attitudes toward the speaker and the message being presented. The importance of nonverbal clues in surroundings can be seen in the desire of business managers to have a corner office with a view rather than a cubicle in a crowded work area. 1.7: Body language Body language, and particularly facial expressions, can provide important information that may not be contained in the verbal portion of the communication. Facial expressions are especially helpful as they may show hidden emotions that contradict verbal statements. For example, an employee may deny having knowledge of a problem, but also have a fearful expression and glance around guiltily. Other forms of body language that may provide communication clues include posture and gestures. For example, a manager who puts his feet up on the desk may convey an impression of status and confidence, while an employee who leans forward to listen may convey interest. Gestures can add emphasis and improve understanding when used sparingly, but the continual use of gestures can distract listeners and convey nervousness. 1.8: Sounds Finally, the tone, rate, and volume of a speakers voice can convey different meanings, as can sounds like laughing, throat clearing, or humming. It is also important to note that perfume or other odors contribute to listeners impressions, as does physical contact between the speaker and the listener. Silence, or the lack of sound, is a form of nonverbal communication as well. Silence can communicate a lack of understanding or even hard feelings in a face-to-face discussion. CONCLUSION Communication can take any of a wide variety of forms. However, verbal communication is the form that is relied upon most often by managers. To be an effective verbal communicator requires that one adhere to the two basic laws of communication and be skilled in supportive communication. Much communication at the group level is conducted in meetings. Hence, effective meeting skills go hand-in-hand with effective communication within workgroup and teams. Communication at the organizational level can occur either via formal or informal channels. Each of these channels has associated benefits and a drawback, thus which channel is best depends on a given situation. Of utmost importance at the organizational level is to ensure that both internal and external communication systems are working in a way that facilitates the free flow of vital information throughout all levels and functional areas of the company. QUESTION 2 Motivation is the key to keeping performing continuously at the highest standards. How organization motivate their employees to excel at their jobs. INTRODUCTION QUESTION 2 A vital managerial function in any organization is to motivate employees. This is because motivation is inextricably linked to employee satisfaction and ensures employees consistently excel at their jobs. Motivation is especially important in the hospitality and tourism industry, where employee satisfaction and competence are key determinants of service quality. The definition of motivation is to give reason, incentive, enthusiasm, or interest that causes a specific action or certain behavior. Motivation is present in every life function. Education is motivated by desire for knowledge. Motivators can be anything from reward to coercion. Motivation plays a major role in achieving high performance in the workplace, which is an important goal of management. However, just because an employee is motivated does not guarantee she or he will perform satisfactorily. Effective performance requires ability, direction, motivation, and support from the work environment. Therefore, changing the performance of workers is rather more complicated than just motivating. In motivation they have two main kinds of motivation and they are intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is internal. It occurs when people are compelled to do something out of pleasure, importance, or desire. Extrinsic motivation occurs when external factors compel the person to do something. However, there are many theories and labels that serve as sub tittles to the definition of motivation. A common place that can see is the need to apply motivation, is in the work place. In the work place, we can see motivation play a key role in leadership success. A person unable to grasp motivation and apply it will not become or stay a leader. To motivate the employees to excel at their job is the management have to identify what motivates the employees as each employees is likely to be motivated in different ways. For example is they might find that some employees are motivated when given praise for a job well done while others excel when given a bonus or a raise. Second is the management have hold contests that pit employees in one department against employees in another department or even between employees of the same department. Offer a fun reward for those who win the contest and the management also have to listen to the employees and let them know that management are there to support and to listen to them if they have a problem or concern. By listening to the employees, the management also will be able to assess their morale and whether they need motivation. Fourth is the management must allow their employees to use new skills they have acquired. If an employee has learned a new skill or completed a training course, try our best to implement his new skill into his everyday responsibilities and keep the employees from becoming bored. The management should continually strive to ensure that their employees are being used to their full potential rather than under-using them, which can stress them out. The management should be flexible with their employees specific roles within the company. While it is important that their employees fulfill the responsibilities defined in their job description, it is equally important to ensure that the employees are allowed to be creative and to contribute in ways that go beyond their job description and the management must offer positive feedback to employees who are doing a good job. Praise can often be a powerful motivator. The last motivate employees to excel at their jobs is stay focused on motivating their employees, so the management can ensure a high level of productivity from them. If the management notice that employees are starting to lag and lose their motivation, the managements must take action as soon as possible to re-motivate them. In motivation they have seven type of motivation and they are achievement motivation, affiliation motivation, competence motivation, power motivation, attitude motivation, incentive motivation and fear motivation. Achievement motivation is the drive to pursue and attain goals. An individual with achievement motivation wishes to achieve objectives and advance up on the ladder of success. Here, accomplishment is vital for its own shake and not for the rewards that accompany it. Second is affiliation motivation. Affiliation motivation is a drive to relate to people on a social basis. Personnel with affiliation motivation perform work better when they are complimented for their propitious and co surgical procedure. Third is competence motivation. Competence motivation is the drive to be good at something, allowing the individual to perform high quality work. Competence motivated people seek job mastery, take pride in developing and using their problem-solving skills and strive to be crea tive when confronted with obstacles. Fourth types of motivation are power motivation. Power motivation it is drive to influence people and change situations. Power motivated people wish to create an impact on their organization and are willing to take risk to do so. Fifth types of motivation are attitude motivation. Attitude motivation is how people reckon and feel. It is their self confidence, their belief in them selves, their attitude to life. It is how they feel about the possibility and how they react to the past. Sixth motivation is incentive motivation. Incentive motivation it is where a person or a team reaps a reward from an activity. Example of incentive motivation is you do this and you get that, attitude. It is the types of awards and prizes that drive people to work a little harder and the last motivation is fear motivation. Fear motivation is for coercions a person to act against will. It is instantaneous and gets the job done quickly. It is helpful in the short run. The importance of motivation is obvious. The employees need motivation in order to reach their goals. In fact it is one of the most important and driving factor for the employees to reaching their goals. Motivation does not have to be positive emotions. Fear can be very effective motivating factor. Stress is an example of negative motivating ineffective feelings. Most people have a tendency to become narrow sighted when they are stressed, some even get paralyzed or apathy. It is the rewards for reaching the goals that motivates or the feeling of fulfillment when they reach their goals or the satisfaction of being important. In motivation they have behavior styles. If the employees ever come across any of the behaviour matrixs that is available on the market, they will notice some interesting things when it comes to motivation. It is easy to realize that most companies bonus and appraisal system are not very well thought. Usually a behaviour matrix divides people into four different types of behaviour group. The four IDI styles are motivator, producer, processor, and realtor. They all have different needs and are therefore motivated by different emotions. Motivators are people that are good at motivating others, they are often perceived as exciting, fast, outspoken, engaging, enthusiastic, and creating. There is always something new going on. They are often very good at getting others to want to take on new challenges. Their need is to be unique and that is driving their motivation. Producers are people that often are perceived as goal oriented, strong, self confident, practically, down to earth and determent. Producers are good at driving towards goals. Their need is to be in control and that is driving their motivation. Processors are often perceived as well thought, objective, consistent, serious and logical. They are good at structuring and analyzing and their need to understand and that is driving their motivation. Relators are often perceived as supporting, loyal, trustworthy, considerate, calm, friendly and caring. Relators are good at creating and maintaining good relations with others. CONCLUSION Motivation refers to employees willingness to exert high levels of effort toward organizational goals in the expectation that doing so will enable them to satisfy some individual need. Motivation is a necessary, but by itself not a sufficient, condition of effective performance. The recipe for effective performance also calls for employee ability, managerial direction, and a satisfactory work environment. There are various motivational theories and strategies that can be applied at the individual, group, and organizational levels. At the individual level are Maslows hierarchy of needs, Herzbergs two-factor theory, and McClellands manifest needs theory, and equity theory. Motivational theories and techniques that can best be applied at the group level include the Hawthorne effect and equity theory. At the organizational level, the following motivational theories and strategies are most applicable reinforcement theory, job enrichment, job redesign, and the Scanlon plan. CONCLUSION OVERALL People management can be defined as the process of controlling and monitoring individuals. The concept of people management is widely used in organizations where the managers most important task is to manage people. In order to increase the efficiency of the people the manager has to lead, motivate and inspire people. Sometimes rules are defined to manage people like time lines, duties and more. In order to manage the people Human Resource Departments are established in the organization. These departments are specifically responsible to deal with people of organization.

The Implications Involving Dinosaur DNA Essay -- Exploratory Essays Re

The Implications Involving Dinosaur DNA Of course it was the movie Jurassic Park who seemed to coin the phrase â€Å"Dino DNA.† This movie gave the public the thought that, a) it is possible to find dinosaur DNA and b) we can clone dinosaurs from this DNA. This essay is not going to pick apart Jurassic Park’s scientific value, however it will share the current knowledge and information on dinosaur DNA. The discovery of DNA is important because it may uncover different bits of information. The idea of cloning dinosaurs, especially at this point is out of the question. It is really hard to clone living animals today, with full DNA and genome strands, we can’t even think about recreating animals millions of years ago. DNA is a protein molecule that is proven to contain the genetic sequence of any particular species. Every species has a different type of DNA. This is how we differentiate between different species today. Humans have different DNA than rats. Rats have different DNA than mice, etc, etc. However, we know that DNA hold-up needs a living body to keep â€Å"alive.† Therefore, DNA decomposes with soft tissue, as the animal decays over time. For the most part of dinosaur studies, finding DNA from these dinosaurs was unheard of because dinosaurs lived over 65 million years ago. Until recently, it was previously thought that DNA, under optimal circumstances, could perhaps be preserved for only about 10,000 years. This is long after dinosaurs roamed the Earth (Pittman, 2004). Some research has reported finding insects fossilized in amber, containing species such as a termite (30 million years ago), and a weevil from approximately 130 million years ago. These are extraordinary findings, but of course disputed. ... ... but there can still be the possibility of contamination. Although we can only do so much with DNA and protein fragments, they are still discoveries, which are going against previous intuitions. Again, no cloning of dinosaurs are going to take place any time soon, but DNA may help to link dinosaurs with other species around today. These two articles, the research article and the review article show strong evidence that preserved proteins, including DNA can survive under the perfect circumstances. Of course more research will need to be done, and hopefully more findings will conclude the same results. References Pittman, S.D. 2004. Fossilized DNA. http://www.naturalselection.0catch.com/Files/fossilizeddna.html. Received April 3rd, 2004 Woodward, S.R., Weyand, N.J., Burnell, M. 1994. DNA sequence from cretaceous Period. Science, v266. pp 1229. The Implications Involving Dinosaur DNA Essay -- Exploratory Essays Re The Implications Involving Dinosaur DNA Of course it was the movie Jurassic Park who seemed to coin the phrase â€Å"Dino DNA.† This movie gave the public the thought that, a) it is possible to find dinosaur DNA and b) we can clone dinosaurs from this DNA. This essay is not going to pick apart Jurassic Park’s scientific value, however it will share the current knowledge and information on dinosaur DNA. The discovery of DNA is important because it may uncover different bits of information. The idea of cloning dinosaurs, especially at this point is out of the question. It is really hard to clone living animals today, with full DNA and genome strands, we can’t even think about recreating animals millions of years ago. DNA is a protein molecule that is proven to contain the genetic sequence of any particular species. Every species has a different type of DNA. This is how we differentiate between different species today. Humans have different DNA than rats. Rats have different DNA than mice, etc, etc. However, we know that DNA hold-up needs a living body to keep â€Å"alive.† Therefore, DNA decomposes with soft tissue, as the animal decays over time. For the most part of dinosaur studies, finding DNA from these dinosaurs was unheard of because dinosaurs lived over 65 million years ago. Until recently, it was previously thought that DNA, under optimal circumstances, could perhaps be preserved for only about 10,000 years. This is long after dinosaurs roamed the Earth (Pittman, 2004). Some research has reported finding insects fossilized in amber, containing species such as a termite (30 million years ago), and a weevil from approximately 130 million years ago. These are extraordinary findings, but of course disputed. ... ... but there can still be the possibility of contamination. Although we can only do so much with DNA and protein fragments, they are still discoveries, which are going against previous intuitions. Again, no cloning of dinosaurs are going to take place any time soon, but DNA may help to link dinosaurs with other species around today. These two articles, the research article and the review article show strong evidence that preserved proteins, including DNA can survive under the perfect circumstances. Of course more research will need to be done, and hopefully more findings will conclude the same results. References Pittman, S.D. 2004. Fossilized DNA. http://www.naturalselection.0catch.com/Files/fossilizeddna.html. Received April 3rd, 2004 Woodward, S.R., Weyand, N.J., Burnell, M. 1994. DNA sequence from cretaceous Period. Science, v266. pp 1229.

Spanking :: essays research papers

Does Spanking Lead Child Abuse?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Were you spanked as a child? Do you think spanking effected you? Every parent has been in a situation where a good spanking seems like the only way to put an end to little Junior’s temper tantrum. Parents use a number to reasons, some you may have heard, to use spanking as a form of discipline. They may say â€Å"Spare the rod and spoil the child.† Or â€Å"I was spanked and I turned out okey.† Even â€Å"Kids need spanking to show them who’s boss.† The issue I wish to present is whether or not spanking leads to a rise in child abuse and later violence. Do children who are spanked or physically punished see spanking as a violent act? Do they learn to see violence as an acceptable way to solve a problem? When parents spank their children are they guiding them or controlling them? Nancy Samalin, author of Love and Anger, believes that spanking is nothing more than a big person hitting a smaller person and it can do damage to your child’s conscious. â€Å"A child who obeys because of the fear of being spanked,† she explains â€Å"is most likely not to develop a sense of right or wrong without being policed by a more powerful authority figure.† (Samalin, p. 154). She believes that spanking the child you have not set an example that you want your child to follow in the future. New studies have shown that children who are abused by their parents physically, emotionally, or sexually grow up and become abusive parents themselves. Further studies have shown that children who are physically punished lack empathy and concern that helps them care for others. A public opinion poll conducted by the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse in 1994 asked parents how they disciplined their children in the previous year. Denying privileges was used by 79 percent of the parents; confinement to a room was used by 59 percent; 49 percent spanked or hit their children; and 45 percent insulted or swore at their children. What was amazing about these statistics was that 51 percent did not spank their children. Now consider the rise in child abuse cases that has caused public-health officials scrambling for an explanation blaming spanking made sense. Trouble is, while spanking is down, child abuse is still up. Joan McCord, author of â€Å"Questioning the Value of Punishment,† believes that punishment in general is the reason for the increase in child abuse and violence.

Psychological perspectives Essay

The brain is a super computer with a complicated network of neurones subserving many of the activities of our daily life. Many of us are unaware of the various interconnected processes that work in unison to let us lead a simple uncomplicated life. Only when someone is ill or not normal do we feel the messing up of a great system. Cognitive function is the intellectual process by which a person becomes aware of, perceives or comprehends ideas. Recognition, conception, sensing, thinking, reasoning, remembering and imagining all come under cognitive functions ( Parayannis, 2000) Behaviour, being emotional or angry are other features of cognitive functions of the brain. They are all related to specific centers or regions of the brain. Injury in the form of trauma or illnesses leads to various cognitive impairments. Summarizing I would deign to declare that each of us is what our brains would want us to be. The combinations and permutations of the neurones decide our personality, skills, talents, feelings, behavior and responses. However we are aware of the fact only in the case of damage to one or more areas of the brain. The theme I shall discuss in my paper is â€Å" Psychological perspectives†. I have selected four chapters from this course which I believe should carry the message of the enigma that is the brain and the emotions that are attached for a social set up. They are Memory System (Chapter 8), Cerebral Cortex and the Lobes of the brain( Chapter 2), Aggression and Prosocial Behaviour (Chapter 16 ) and Social Development (Chapter 3). Memory Memory is of three kinds: sensory, short-term and long-term. Sensory memory depends on auditory, visual and visuo spatial functions . Both cerebral hemispheres are involved in analyzing sensory data, performing memory functions, learning new information, forming thoughts and making decisions (Parayannis, 2000). The left takes care of the sequential analysis. New information is systematically and logically interpreted. Symbolic information like language, mathematics, abstraction and memory is also dealt with. Memory is stored in a language format. The right hemisphere deals with the interpretation of multiple sensory inputs and here memory is stored as auditory, visual and spatial functions. One’s environment is understood. The interpretation of dancing and gymnastics are possible through the right hemisphere functions. Short term memory holds small amounts of information. Selective attention is involved. Everything that we see or hear is not stored. Short term memory is sensitive to interruption or interference. combined with other mental processes, short term memory forms an area of working memory which we use to do our thinking with. This behaves like a scratchpad. When we tackle arithmetic, do a puzzle, prepare a meal or read something, we are using our working memory. Information that has to be stored for long is possible due to long term memory which is also a function of the brain. The area which holds infinite amounts of information can never run out of ‘space’. A person’s educational caliber is supported by this long term memory which is encoded in terms of meaning and importance. Our daily activities are enabled by dual memory comprising of short term and long term memory. When we have an information which we used (short-term) but is not required for the time being, we store it in our long term memory and retrieve it when necessary. Memory loss, a feature of cognitive impairment, is the delay or failure to recall recent or distant events. Amnesia is an extreme form of memory loss when caused by a more severe injury to the brain, probably in a road accident, bomb explosion or shooting incident. Involvement due to injury or aging can produce loss of memory of varying levels. Loss can be a mild dysfunction (MCI ) or severe and named as dementia. Old people of 55-80 years of age could have cognitive impairment without having any illness. Memory loss is seen in degenerative disorders or dementias like Alzheimer’s, traumatic brain injuries, following ECT or in Korsakoff’s psychosis. Damage to the limbic system causes a loss of recent memory. This is seen in Korsakoff’s Disease. Recent events are forgotten due to a direct effect of alcohol or due to the associated nutritional deficiencies. . The ability to store and retrieve from short term memory is affected in natural aging too. The foremost problem is the loss of recent memory in Alzheimer’s Disease. The care-taker needs to be extremely patient as all her time would be spent for looking after the patient ( Ballenger, 2006). Traumatic Amnesia usually occurs as a transient phenomenon following a head injury. ECT induced amnesia follows episodes of ECT in a psychiatric illness. The amnesia is transient and may last a year. Patients with implicit memory (not dependent on the part of the brain) remember to do some things (Dorf et al, 1994). Extensive damage to the left cerebral cortex can affect long term memory. Damage to the right cerebral cortex produces a disturbance in the visual and auditory perceptions and visuo-spatial deficit. Memories of seen articles or heard songs or even regularly visited places would not be remembered. The Cerebral Cortex and the Lobes of the Brain The brain is composed of the cerebrum, cerebellum and the brain stem. The cerebrum forms the greatest part and is divided into lobes named by the overlying bone (April, 1990). The left and right cerebral hemispheres consist of the cerebral cortex, white matter and basal ganglia. The cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of the brain composed of grey matter. It has 1015 individual neurons connected in specific patterns. The white matter holds the tracts which connect the neurons. The surface is folded into gyri separated by sulci or grooves. Each half of the cerebral hemispheres has the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, the limbic lobe and the central lobe. Motor and sensory cortex are found. Sensory cortex is again sub-divided into primary, secondary and association cortices. Primary is where the stimulus reaches first. Secondary is the area which is connected to the primary and helps in the processing. Association cortices have a 2 stimuli input. There are 3 identified associative cortices. They are the basis of thought and perception with practically no influence on behavior. They are the parieto-temporal-occipital cortex, pre-frontal area and the limbic association area. The first receives somatosensory, auditory and visual projections. These associative areas integrate the information from the sensory modalities for language. Injury affecting this area causes a faulty language. The prefrontal area if affected produces problems in several cognitive behaviours. Difficulty arises in control of motor planning. The ability to concentrate and attend, elaboration of thought, personality and emotional traits are determined here. The frontal lobe subserves cognition and memory. Broadman’s area in the left frontal lobe is involved with voluntary motor activities( April,1990). Damage to this area causes contralateral hemiplegia associated with a motor aphasia (involvement of the prefrontal cortex or Broca’s area). The parietal lobe processes sensory inputs and discrimination, body orientation and ability to write. Damage would produce an inability to recognize parts of the body, space and an inability to write. The occipital lobe is involved with primary visual function and visual interpretation. Damage would cause cortical blindness even when the eyes are perfectly normal. The temporal lobe which has the Wernicke’s area subserves the auditory function, expressed behaviour, receptive language and memory. Damage would result in hearing deficits, childish behaviour and receptive aphasia. Lateralisation is evident in the right and left handedness of people. However this is no indication of the dominance of any hemisphere. 95% of people have left hemisphere language function, 18. 8% have right hemisphere language function. 19. 8 % have bilateral language functions. Linear reasoning, speech and vocabulary are lateralised to the left hemisphere. Dyscalculia is caused by damage to the left temporo-parietal region. This leads to difficulty in doing mathematics. Some language functions like intonation and accentuation are with the right hemisphere. Musical and visual stimuli, spatial manipulation, facial perception and artistic ability are functions of the right too. Logical reasoning is with the left but intuitive reasoning is with the right. Cerebral asymmetry is the feature of the normal human brain. The left is the dominant hemisphere with language functions while the right is involved more with visuo-spatial functions. An acquired language deficit accompanying right-sided stroke (left hemisphere involvement) is the best indication that the left hemisphere is dominant for language. The right hemisphere stroke does not involve speech problems. The corpus callosum connects the 2 hemispheres and coordinates the functions of both. Any injury to this area causes ‘Split brain’ where the coordination between the 2 hemispheres is lost. A ‘split brain’ patient does not speak of emotions or feelings. The right hemisphere and the left behave independently. The patient appears to have 2 minds. It was revealed in studies by Robert Sperry, a psychobiologist, who conducted studies in patients in whom commissurectomy (severing the corpus callosum from each hemisphere ) was done as a treatment for intractable epilepsy. He found that the two halves of the brain had specific functions and each side acted independently, whereas in the normal brain, the two halves act in coordination. This is the theory of hemispheric independence (Zaire et al, 1990) After the operation, the right half showed predominance when it came to spatial tasks like arrangement of blocks. The limbic area is the area of the brain that affects the emotions, rage, fear and sex. Integration of recent memory and biological rhythms are decided here. If this area is affected, an angry but frightened personality without emotional control would be the result. Recent memory would be lost. Aggression and Prosocial Behavior Prosocial Behaviour is helpful behavior intended to help another. It is different from altruism in that it is not voluntary helping behaviour that is costly to the giver (Psychology:An International Perspective, 2004). Another definition states that this refers to the â€Å"voluntary actions intended to help another† ( Eisenberg and Mussen, 1989). Prosocial behaviour refers to the consequences of a doer’s actions rather than the motivations behind them. They include sharing, comforting, rescuing and helping, understanding the needs of the recipient (Knickerbocker, Learning to give). Traditional theories of helping include sociobiology, social learning , empathy and arousal. Physical aggression is a major health problem. Childhood aggression is a precursor to physical and mental health problems that occur in later life. Aggressive children are also liable to higher risk of substance abuse , alcoholism, accidents, violent crimes, depression, suicide attempts, spouse abuse, neglectful and abusive parenting (Tremblay et al, 2004) It is unusual for the aggressive students to really harm their targets. However in studies of physical aggression in infancy, it was shown that by 17 months, a large majority of children are already aggressive towards their siblings, parents and peers (Tremblay et al, 2004). A study by Tremblay et al attempted to identify the trajectories of physical aggressions during early childhood and also o identify antecedents of high levels of physical aggression early in life. 572 families with a 5- month old baby were selected and followed up till 42 months. 3 trajectories were identified. The first group of 28% had children who displayed little or no aggression. 58% showed a rising trajectory of modest aggression. 14 % showed a high level of physical aggression (Tremblay et al, 2004). Best predictors before the birth of the child were, having other siblings, confidence interveal, mothers with early( before end of high school ) and high antisocial behaviour , young mothers, families with low income and mothers who smoked. The conclusion indicated was that physical aggression started in early infancy. All the predictors before birth were reasons for the child not learning how to preventive interventions. In order to change or reduce the long term impacts preventive intervention programmes must be chalked out effectively (Tremblay et al, 2004) In a model identifying 5 factors that prompt voluntarism (Clary and Snyder, 1990), they found that a combination of factors ultimately motivates volunteers. One factor is altruism but all the other four are self serving: motivation by socially adjustable conditions, ego defensive considerations, the desire to acquire knowledge or skills for personal or professional education and helping understanding the needs. Aggression is caused in 3 ways in a child: instinct, rewards and observation. Obviously these 3 factors rule the manner in which the aggression is to be overcome or prevented. Catharsis may be tried to vent the child’s anger in other ways. Rewarding non aggressive behaviour works. Cognitive training is also effective. Promoting prosocial behaviour should be tried. Rewarding good behaviour may not be so effective. A better way is to try modelling. The parent should ‘model’ good behaviour as the child always has a tendency to imitate its parents. The parent appeals to the childs pride and desire to be agrown-up (Aggressive and Prosocial Behaviour, Psychology campus. com). Social development Like all humans , babies are also social creatures. It was found from studies that babies recognise themselves at the age of 15 months. Prior to that, they would treat their mirror image as another like them and would even coax them to come out to play. At about 15 months of age, the baby starts showing interest in others and developing a social awareness. It starts showing the emotions of shame, guilt, embarassment and pride. These babies glance at the facial expressions of others to decide how to react just like adults. In one study babies placed at the side of a high cliff kept watching their mothers’ faces. If they were encouraging, the babies would cross. When the mothers exhibited fear, the babies did not move. This is identified as social referencing. It. demonstrated the emotional bond or attachment of the babies with their mothers or caregivers. For most infants emotional bonding appears around 8 to 12 months of age. Psychologist Mary Ainsworth (1913 -1999) spoke about 3 kinds of attachments. The securely attached infants would be upset by the mother’s absence. An insecure avoidant child is anxious about the mother’s absence but turns away when she returns. An insecure ambivalent child also has an emotional bond but has mixed feelings . It wants to be with the mother but is angry at her and does not want contact. Attachments do play a role in the life of the child and its future behaviour. The securely attached ones would be the most confident. Attachment failures could be damaging. The mother has a strong role in promoting attachment in an infant, hoping to improve its mental status and bringing up a resilient child. Attachments to fathers provides one more reason to have a closely knit family with well behaved children. When a seond child arrives, attachment security drops. Commercial child care centers if of good quality does provide additional security. Children tend to have better relationships with their mothers and lesser problems.

A Separate Peace-John Knowles Essay

The novel A Separate Peace is a story about two best friends, Gene and Phineas (Finny), who both attend the Devon school in New Hampshire in 1942. Gene Forrester is an intellectual, confined, straight-laced seventeen year old, while Finny is an athletic free-spirit who isn’t afraid to say what he thinks and is admired by everyone. The story is a flashback in which Gene recalls his fears and insecurities during the midst of the Second World War at the Devon school. Out of jealousy and the fear that Finny is trying to sabotage his studies, Gene shakes a tree branch that they were both standing on, and Finny falls out of the tree and shatters his leg. It is at that point where their relationship changes into more of a codependency which leads to them developing their own individual identities by living within their own illusion that World War II is a mere conspiracy. Finny dies suddenly during the operation on his broken leg , but Gene doesn’t cry. He deals with the tragic news with a sort of tranquility because he believes that he is a part of Finny. Gene reflects on the constant enmity which takes over the present youth, and he believes only Finny was immune to this plague. A Separate Peace is a novel that criticizes society, based on a romantic point of view of human nature. Firstly, Gene’s aggressive nature is being nurtured by societies preoccupation with competition, inner-enemies, and power. Contrasting to Gene, Finny has a natural goodness about him that has not been corrupted by society. Lastly, the Devon school is a symbol of rivalry and competitiveness of the world, which has produced a devastating war on a much larger scale. Gene Forrester is the narrator of the novel, telling the story as a flashback on his youthful days at Devon. He is the source of all the reader’s information, but is somewhat an unreliable source, regarding his insights into his actions and motivations. We see that he has an aggressive nature about him which has been nurtured by societies preoccupation with competition, inner-enemies, and power. We first meet him as an adult, therefore we immediately assume a sort of maturity and wisdom about him and his memories at Devon. The adult Gene is, in reality, still the same as the adolescent Gene in terms of fears and security. He sees the Devon buildings as â€Å"defensive† then â€Å"exhausted†(3) which is a representation of himself as an adult. We see that nothing has changed over the years, not the school, and most importantly, not himself. After the accident, him and Finny lived in codependency. Finny lived through Gene. As the reader, we see that by Gene’s actions by equalizing them and becoming at the same level may have been deliberate, even though it seemed like an accident to everyone else. The fact that Gene shook the tree had stemmed from a deep personal desire to lose his identity, and himself in another. This is represented when he puts on Finny’s clothes and sees that he looks just like him. He feels strangely peaceful. This symbolizes Gene’s own desire to leave himself and become Finny, for he is his own â€Å"war† yet also his love. The accident causes his feeling of resentment and fear to be overcome by devotion to Finny. We see this inner-war develop as he continuously tries to make peace and apologize to Finny, an only then can he forgive himself. The shaking of the tree stirred up an unconscious impulse that sets the chain of events leading to Finny’s death, making Gene the killer and destroyer of the one thing he loved. He is his own enemy, and the destroyer of himself, because he felt that he and Finny were the same person. That is why he didn’t cry at the funeral, because â€Å"[he] could not escape a feeling that it was [his] own funeral, and you do not cry in that case†(186). We see here that he has a tendency to mix love and hate, which is practiced as a habit by society. His action in the tree is also an instinct, which is based on a primitive aggression, defensiveness and rivalry which is the side of human nature that is being nurtured by society. Gene symbolizes the narrow, confined, sort of paranoid world that surrounds humanity. He always leans towards the rules that are set. When Finny wants to go to the beach, Gene creates a scenario in his head that Finny is trying to sabotage his studies, and from there, descends into darkness. This fear of his is, in actuality, a defensive anxiety which finds a potential threat in everyone. This is shown when he says â€Å"I was used to finding something deadly in things†¦ and if it wasn’t there then I put it there myself. â€Å"(92) He us unable to let up his defenses because he sees the enemy everywhere, but the enemy is himself. Society teaches the boys to develop a particular frame of mind that creates an enemy wherever they see a potential threat. This defense mechanism only creates inner-enemies, and it is what corrupts the youth. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Finny has a natural goodness about him that has not been corrupted by society. Finny’s character is seen through the eyes of Gene, therefore his perception of Finny is significant. He is able to talk his way out of any situation which, according to Gene, is rare among humans. He has a â€Å"calm ignorance of the rules with a winning urge to be good†(16). His hypnotic charisma shows just how different he is from the other characters by his element of goodness and innocence. He is so different because he operates outside the world of rules and authority, which he considers to be â€Å"a necessary evil†(11), which in terms means that the rules are made to be broken. He is the essence of careless peace in humanity which is so rare. Yet, while he constantly tests the limits of authority, he neither seeks to be victorious, nor be defeated. This is represented in the game of Blitzball, where everyone furiously competes but no one wins, and this perfectly demonstrates Finny’s attitude towards life. Another example of this is when he broke the swimming record. He simply wanted to â€Å"see if [he] could do it†(35), and Gene calls him â€Å"too good to be true†(36), which shows how Gene and the other boys may view innocence and freedom. They are uncomfortable with people showing sincere emotions(40), and they see the enemy everywhere. Finny has â€Å"a simple unregulated friendliness†(15) which has to do with a more profound wisdom and goodness regarding other human beings. Just like he doesn’t see life as winners and losers, he also thinks the best of people, and no one is an enemy in his eyes. His assumptions that the world is friendly make him unique. For example, Gene believes that society creates enemies where they do not exist, but Finny’s inability to see others as evil or hostile is his strength and weakness. His blindness of Gene’s dark motives create dangerous situations in their codependent relationship, and he never imagines that Gene’s feelings for him are not as true as his feelings for Gene. He inspires Gene in loyalty but also jealousy by his charismatic personality. He assumes that everyone thinks like he does, therefore he acts with himself and Gene in mind, doing whatever he pleases. His care-free attitude is what triggers Gene’s resentment and Finny, aware of only himself, never picks up on Gene’s darkness. He â€Å"was the essence of this careless peace†(16), being the one who facilitates most of the boy’s fun throughout the school year. While they are all caught up with the war and striving for themselves to one-up each other, Finny creates a protective bubble around them to shield them from growing up. His tendency to have fun and be care-free is an indication that there is a streak of decency in human nature, but this basic innocence also makes him vulnerable to those unlike himself. The Devon school is a symbol of rivalry and competitiveness of the real world, which has produced a devastating war. In the beginning of the novel when Gene is an adult, he revisits the school. He sees the â€Å"contentious harmony†(4) of the buildings, which is an oxymoron because it reflects the idea of rivalry. It tells us that the school buildings are â€Å"perpendicular† and â€Å"straight-laced†, and represent the world of order and rules. This harmony of the buildings is a trick of architecture. In reality, Devon represents a world of rivalry, competition and one-upmanship practiced by the students as a habit. The school is simply a symbol of the world on a much larger scale, where competition has produced a war. Seeing others as enemies is common in both the school and society. Everyone but Finny is â€Å"pitted violently against something in the world around them†(196). This something around them is Devon, being their main influence to see everyone as a potential threat. The Devon school is a â€Å"jungle† of a boys’ school(45), where hostility and aggression on a smaller scale lead to war on a much larger scale. Their practiced rivalry is mentioned when Gene states that â€Å"there were few relationships among [them] at Devon not based on rivalry†(37). The seasons at the school also represent a change and transformation in the boys. The summer session at Devon is a time of freedom, where the teachers allow Finny’s hypnotic personality to get away with whatever he pleases. The session symbolizes youth and innocence, which in turn comes to an end when Finny falls from the tree. This event marks the beginning of the winter session, where the atmosphere is sombre and dark, filled with discipline and work. It represents adulthood and war approaching them, and becomes a more predominant feature throughout the course of the novel. The transition from the summer to the winter session embodies societies shift from a care-free nature, to a darker, more mature one. We don’t see Finny transition because he is unable to face adulthood and dies, thus never entering into the school’s new mode of existence. As he reflects on his time at Devon, Gene explains that he â€Å"was on active duty all [the] time at school; [he] killed [his] enemy there†(196). This suggests that everyone is battling an ongoing war with themselves, seeking an enemy fight. The school is merely a battleground on a smaller scale, but still has the same effect. Finny’s innocence caused him to oversee these notions of war and enmity, which lead to his death. In the other case, Gene had an ongoing war with himself, and/or Finny. In either case, it demonstrates Finny’s inability to cope with betrayal. He is the lone character in the novel that doesn’t undergo the school’s strong influence on the boys, that prepare them for the war they have to fight after graduation. The role society plays on the school and the boys is their main influence for their actions. The novel criticizes society based on a romantic view of human nature, and this nature has been explored in many ways. Gene’s inner savage and aggressiveness had been nurtured by societies preoccupation with competition, territory and power. Finny’s natural goodness has not been corrupted by society, but his innocence caused him to blur admiration with jealousy lead to his death. Finally, the Devon school is the main symbol or rivalry in the novel, which represents the war on a much smaller scale than the war in reality. The natural paranoia of the human race leads one to seek an enemy wherever they may see a potential threat, and this leads to destruction and inner-enemies in the end.

The President of America John Fitzgerald Kennedy Research Paper

The President of America John Fitzgerald Kennedy - Research Paper Example Urged on by his pushy father, JFK joined politics in 1946 and went ahead to win election into the US House of Representatives as a Democrat and later into Senate in 1952. He won the 1960 party’s presidential nomination and later the presidency, becoming America’s youngest president at 43 and the first ever Catholic head of state. His presidency represented a generational change to the seat, giving it a youthful touch. On November 22, 1963, hardly 1,000 days into his presidency, JFK was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. He became the youngest president to die (White House, 2014). John F. Kennedy remains a hero even to the standards of modern times because of his political prowess, personality and family values and his stand on social justice. It is the political career of JFK that brings his heroism outright, him being a statesman and a courageous politician. In his book, Profiles in Courage, JFK noted that pressures from the public, the worry of future elections and the pressures from interest groups discourage politicians from working towards the attainment of their goals (Margaret, 2004). Indeed, he was a victim of negative publicity early in his political career. According to Brinkley (2013), these early years in politics had JFK’s political colleagues refer to him as a playboy who had his campaigns bankrolled by his wealthy father. Critics described him as being impatient, reckless and impetus. In fact, in the book, JFK: Reckless Youth, the author, Nigel Hamilton referred to him as a man with brains, good looks, money, and idealism but lacked a serious sense of purpose (LupaÄ ovà ¡, 2008). Despite these criticisms, JFK went ahead and convinced voters to elect him into the US House of Representatives. His political star shone further with his election into the Senate. In fact, his was said to be a distinctly innovative senatorial campaign. Furthermore, his campaigns targeted all the categories of the society, thus an all-inclusive campaign strategy that saw him elected twice into senate between 1953 and 1960. He went further to win, not just the Democrat presidential nomination, but also beat Richard Nixon to become America’s 35th president. This follows his charm that he used to convince voters that the Republicans had stagnated the county for eight years and therefore the need for positive change.

Investment Bubble Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Investment Bubble - Personal Statement Example Virtually, a spiral sets in with more investment coming through causing more escalation in price of the said asset. Within few months price soars beyond imagination of all and the level of rationality. Even at this level, buying keeps supporting the price. Those who were not the part of this boom feel like having missed the bus and decide to plunge into it with all available resources. Soon, price reaches to a level, which cannot be justified by any of the known established investment theories even after discounting all future cash flow streams in a most optimistic scenario. Such a level of price cannot be sustained for a long period of time and discerning speculators start unloading at the peak of the heat. Price starts falling quickly and gullible retail investors who are in thousands cannot fathom that ‘bubble has burst indeed’ and hold on to their investment causing them insurmountable loss in the asset wiping their most of the capital. It will be worth exploring and to live some of the investment bubbles in a different class of assets across the world before identifying the key issues involved with an investment bubble versus a long term investment. Japanese Stock Market Bubble It will be interesting to track the movement of Nikkei 225 between the period of 1983 and 1991to understand how did the stock market burst eventually. The index which was hovering Source:http://www.chartsrus.com/chart.php?image=http://www.sharelynx.com/chartstemp/free/chartind1CRU.php?ticker=^N225 around 8,300 in 1983 peaked to more than 38,000 in December 1989. The boom period continued for almost 6 years giving a stupendous rise to the stock price. For many, it was a great period of investment giving them return of 500% or more. However, the bubble burst after that and index came down crashing to nearly half at 19,000 within a year. It plunged further down to 14,000 by third quarter of 1993. The most tragic part is that the exactly after 20 years Nikkei touched the sa me level of 8,300 that is where it started off in 1983. It was a complete reversal and complete washout of investment. (Japan Nikkei 225 2011) Investment Bubble versus Long Term Investment Above incident raises several issues worth contemplating. A common understanding among investors is that the investment always rises with time and with the expansion of economy, but here a totally different phenomenon has surfaced. Anyone who invested in Japanese stock market in 1983 and stayed with the investment until 2003 virtually had no return on his or her investment though it may be termed as a long term investment without resorting to any speculative activity. Investor is back to square one. This certainly defies the theory that a long term investment always pays. Japan has certainly progressed between 1983 and 2003 that is evident from the GDP figures. In 1983, Japan’s GDP was $10,987.22 (Japan GDP - per Capita 2011) in terms of purchasing power parity point of view which grew to $ 33,884.84 in the same terms. It is true that the bubble has burst but how to justify the same valuation even after 20 years. This indicates that the rise and fall of the investment is not always linked to the time and economic expansion in general. It is a quantum of the money chasing targeted asset plays a pivotal role in the appreciation of an asset. Bubble in Precious Metal In another class of asset namely Gold, the situation is again not much different. During economic or