Negative Effect of Devolution

Negative effects: The implementation of the local government in 1992 provided the impetus for local government units to assume greater roles and responsibilities in bringing about socio-economic development for their respective constituents. This is in view of the devolution in the provision of basic services such as health, social welfare, socialized housing, agricultural extension, tourism development, among others, from the national to local governments. The devolution of health services of the Department of Health (DOH) to the local government units was consonance with the national goals. The national vision signals the initial step for local communities as well as an opportunity for local government units to manage their respective health services in the most effective and efficient manner. Considering these meritorious objectives to attain the national vision, the devolution process also posed problems for the DOH and the local government units, particularly on the inadequate financial resources to undertake vigorous health service delivery programs. In Cotabato City, the constraint of insufficient budgetary resources was only one of the problems faced by the local government in the provision of effective and efficient ranged from the geographic location of its barangays, economic status of its population, inadequate health manpower and facilities, and pre-LGC (Local Government Code) situation. The location of the barangays and economic status of the population. People of various ethnic origins (T’boili, B’laan, Tagabili, Ubo and Tasaday) coming from as far as Aparri to Tawi-tawi populate the city of Cotabato. Majority of its population is composed of the Maguindanaoan tribe and people from the Visayan regions. Cotabato, as a participant in the Integrated Community Health Services Project (ICHSP) was included in the Local Health Accounts pilot phase as one of six provinces where local financial data was collected. About 60 percent of the population is composed of marginal farmers and fisherfolks, seasonal job workers, unskilled labourer and jobless individuals. Those belonging to this group live within the poverty threshold level as they earn an average gross family income of php6,000 and below per month. The remaining 40 percent accounts for the middle and high-income groups. This implies that majority of the people living in Cotabato are poor and disadvantaged and, therefore, most wanting of health and other basic services from the government. Accessibility and Transportation Constraints. The city’s geographical feature makes delivery of health services a major challenge to the local government. Brooks. Rivulets and creeks of various sizes criss-cross and traverse the city in all directions. Eight barangays can only be reached by water transportation. Three other barangays are not easily accessible by public transportation. Before it’s special project on health and sanitation, the city has been providing health care at the Main Health Center and eleven satellite stations. However, people in remote areas cannot avail of these services because of transportation difficulties. Inadequate Financial and Budgetary Resources. The Office of Health Services (OHS) had very limited financial resources. Its regular budget was just ssufficient to cover personal services and maintenance and operating expenses. Inadequate Health Manpower and Facilities. Due to financial constraint the OHS could not put up additional health facilities and employ much needed additional health personnel. Prior to its special project on health and sanitation, the city has only 11 health stations regularly manned by midwives. In terms of manpower, the OHS had only 39 regular personnel. These consisted of 4 doctors, 6 nurses, 11 midwives, 1 dentist, 1 medical technologist, 8 sanitary inspectors and 8 non-technical and administrative personnel. Such health facilities and manpower have been inadequate to cover the entire household in the city Adverse Pre-implementation Health Station. Until 1993, major health statistics and conditions indicate the need to give more focus in the delivery of basic preventivehealth servies to the constituent of Cotabato City, particularly to the disadvantaged groups living in the remote barangays. Based on the National Statistics Coordination Boards (NSCB) data for 1990, the city’s infant mortality rate was 44. 0 per 1,000 live births while maternal mortality rate was 182. 8 per 100,000 livebirths.

Na’im Akbar is acclaimed as one of the leading writers today

He has produced some of the best works of his time. His readers have long appreciated him for his classical interpretation of human morality and several critical thematic concerns of race and society but yet in a most humorous, easy and light hearted representation.Some of his most praised and entertaining works involve the analytical issue of the disgrace of racism and the hideousness of being a slave. Akbar's book, Breaking the chains of psychological slavery, tells his desire to revolutionize social, political traditions.Akbar persuades the reader through a prejudiced vision of his existence, inducing in the reader compassion distress and negative depiction of the white. The writer in his storyline takes the reader on a ride to the past, into a darker and crueler world of his time that disliked, loathed and exploited the men and women with darker skins. He talks about the curse of slavery and its impact on the society, a society that was built around the disgraces of racism and th at only recognized the master and the slave, not the life within.The depiction of the brutalities and the inhumanity of the custom of slavery, in the very first chapter, â€Å"The Psychological Legacy of Slavery†, is remarkable in its own way, criticized as a work more important and brilliant in content compared to the several other works by slave writers.This is mainly because he incorporates several dimensions of the cult of slavery in his narrative, specially throwing light upon the impacts of slavery on the slaves and more importantly on the lifeless bodies who owned them.â€Å"The implication of this is that the mind’s possibilities are limited by its concept of its potential.† † (Akbar 1996) .The slaves were not allowed to own any property. Hence they were grieved and heart broken with their abandonment.Their birth was rather a calamity and they cursed themselves for having been born as slaves. They felt that the master’s house was one of the most hostile places. I agree with the author here as I feel that it was from them that they too learned to be vile and vindictive. Thus the slaves transformed themselves into jealous people with conflagration. However, their innocence and ignorance made them suffer from prejudice.The foremost procedure the author uses in the second chapter is sympathy. He writes about mental slavery and an unknown faith. â€Å"When young Black boys learn that there are no limits to our possibilities on the basketball courts, we create the athletic genius of Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson and in their genius, they recreate the game of basketball.When our young people know that there are no limits to their potential in the world of manufacturing, communication, physics, chemistry or the science of the human mind, then those same young Black minds who create dances on the dance floor or compose music on their bodies with the ‘hand jive’ will recreate these fields of human endeavor with t he same incomparability.† (Akbar 1996)I got an emotion of distress and wanted providential things to happen to the slaves. Unfairness is exposed all the way through the chapter. This new tactic, intoxicated with the velvety diplomacies of pity, care and tolerance, made things even worse for the slaves. In this chapter, Akbar also speaks of the disgraces of racism and the immoralities of slavery with a most light hearted and moderate appeal.This is a major part of the irony that clearly comes to light when observed carefully. â€Å"†You must first be a king of your own personal kingdom. If you can't lead that kingdom on your own two feet, you can't lead a bigger kingdom†(Akbar 1996) Very ironically and rightly, he criticizes the aspects of morality in terms of slavery, racism and other such critical social concerns. I read the author’s depiction of an unknown faith in a slave’s life, as an allegorical representation of the plight of blacks in the Unit ed States even in the post-slavery time.He tactfully   exposes the duplicity of freedom, enfranchisement and equality, demonstrating how racism distorted the oppressors as much as it did those who were oppressed, yet in a most humorous and easy flow. This brilliant use of irony again reveals itself when in a world of moral confusion, in which seemingly good and civilized   white people express no concern what so ever about the injustice and illegitimacies of cruelty towards a black.A marvelous creation of Akbar, the masterpiece best reveals his ironical blending of wit with reality. His personal and conversational style makes the reader involved in his tone and mood. He takes the reader into confidence through his easy and delightful pace.The analytical issue of the disgrace of racism and the hideousness of slavery is beautifully depicted. Akbar’s contention to transform the view of the society is substantiated when he desires to bring out his ideas about racial religious inquisition and emotional perplexity, in the third chapter of the book.I perceive that although Akbar wrote the book several years after the end of the emancipation proclamation and the civil war, America still struggled to emerge out cleanly out of the disgraces of racism and the aftermaths of slavery.When the book was written, although seemingly flowing in a positive direction, race relations were beginning to withstand new strains, trapped now in a cleverer and more civilized white society. These new forces were more social and personal than official. This new form of racism in the south was less institutionalized and monolithic but at the same time was more difficult to resolve or combat.The white society although outlawed slavery and racism, most certainly due to growing ethical, moral and international pressures, was beginning to learn to adopt a more hypocritical, self-defensive reason to hate the newly freed blacks, to keep them away. I feel the author employs a predisposed analysis to manipulate the mind and heart of the reader.The greater the power, the more dangerous is the abuse. The truth in the statement is well proved in the book. Akbar makes his political report in this twentieth-century book that could be relished as an exhilarating but heart grieving story about a black boy. He, very well comments upon the abuse of political power and how the poor and down trodden blacks fall prey to the diplomacy of the whites.The title is a symbol for the evil contained in human souls.   The author reigns high in the field of characterization. His works transact chiefly with the divergence of the intellect and impulse. All of his key works present humans as inherently belligerent and corrupt. It can best be described as a document that predicts the behavior of human mind under the influence of circumstances around him.Hence I do feel that the author takes the reader to a journey back to those years, when the world was a difficult place to life for those whose skins were black. And in doing so, he maintains a supreme calmness in his pace that is garnished with humor and adventure.In today’s highly materialistic society, there is just no place for modesty. Hence the writer in his storyline takes the reader on a ride to the past, into a darker and crueler world of his time that disliked, loathed and exploited the men and women with darker skins. I am mesmerized by the reality that the author brings to light. This not only gestures at the authority, status and power of dictatorship but also accuses the present society where crafty people exploit the innocence of the docile and submissive ones.Bibliography:Akbar Na'im, Breaking the chains of psychological slavery , June 1996, Mind Productions & Associates ,isbn 0935257055

Challenges of Electronic Records Management Program

Therefore, we design the system need to consider many issues when using the system, now we are going to discuss some cases and solutions about this topic. Email with attachments is the lower cost way to keep records. For example: order confirmation, quotation, invoice†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦etc. Many small organizations may not have a faultless email filing plan, they just provide email account which is using POP3 to receive email from SMTP server, even they won’t keep any copy on server if make sure the mail already transmitted to user’s PC. User can print out the hard copy if they think it is a record or they can press delete button on any mail they think it is not useful. But this method have some issues need to beware, if user just pressed the wrong button on some mail, then this mail will not be found anymore. Because we have not any extra copy of this mail, so must be keep the copy on mail server for back up use, we can create destruction period of these extra mail copy, maybe three or six months, it is depends on different company practice. Also, we can provide staff training to teach end user how to operate and fully use email tools to storage email records. Back up schedule for email system also necessary. Some organizations will create shared drive at their work place’s PC network to store or share some centralized files to let multi users read, modify†¦.. etc. This is best way to let users to get the updated information. We need to concern the security and how to protect records consistency, before to create home group network, we need concern how to set up permission of individual user, permission means the user can read, modify, delete files or folder on the network. In general, server’s administrator is allowed to full control the files and folders on shared drive, we won’t allow â€Å"everyone† to full control shared drive’s folder and files. This can avoid someone to destroy any data on shared drive. Also, all data on shared drive need to do the route back up; this avoids the hardware shut down suddenly. Back up can do by manual, copy and paste to external drive, or upload to cloud storage space, or other storage media which can be archival easier. Some organizations need invested many sources and IT support to manage their electronic records management systems (ERMS). For example, hospital and bank, they need storage and process many confidential and private records by daily work. Also, these electronic records system also need link up database to make sure records keep consistency. ERMS can let user to track and store records easier and centralize all the records. User can use sort function to search the records what they need. ERMS can allow multi users to login database. Therefore, should need set up some retractions when design the program. For example, if a record was modifying, system will alert other user this is not updated record. Also, ERMS need keep maximum protection of system to protect any attack from hacker or viruses oppositely. Therefore, these ERMS should need IT support team to monitor the systems daily operation to maintenance systems are operated smoothly and provide urgent support when the system was shut down and solve the trouble issues immediately. Some organizations start to change their paper-based records to digital images. Scanner is the common and user friendly. Their output files can be PDF, TIF†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦etc. We need use software (Adobe reader or window defaulted software) to open related files. Normally all scan copy should need contain at lease 200 dpi to ensure the soft copy quality. Digital images record is most convenience way and lower cost way to let user search for records and keep long storage life, avoid data will affected by storage environment. But also need select storage media carefully. We need select storage media consider on records’ retention period and activity level. We suggest keeping same retention period record on same storage media, please don’t mix up different retention period records together. Also, if save the records on external storage media, CD-Rom or DVD, it’s need consider the records privacy level, don’t put the storage media to public place, it is easy to disclose the private data if the record is confidential. For confidential records, we suggest to store or archival records use password to meet the protect purpose. Up to now, store electronic records is seldom, many organizations were developing their own electronic record management system. In fact, build up the new system is so easy, but going to maintenance system is hard task. Organizations should be concern and set up some policy is suit for own company to follow. Moreover, disposition procedure of electronic records also very important. If organization decide to use electronic record management system, design workflow of handle electronic records is necessary. Also, staff training is good way to teach end user to use systems to match their daily work for seeking records. This is direct affect records are storage or use well. If electronic records were stored properly, it is totally save organization cost to keep paper-based records and increase staff efficiency. Therefore, build up the faultless system can bring organization many advantages for business, of course need follow above solutions to improve system. If organization can managed electronic records very well, it is bring some confidence to customer; it can earn some goodwill value for business. For the future, we believe paper-less business will be more popularize, that’s why well prepare electronic record management system is very valuable. This can bring organization much future contribution.

Article Analysis V Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Article Analysis V - Essay Example Thus it is a matter of effective communication. This is easier done in the language and culture of the consumer. In other words, the company must acquaint itself with the language and culture of consumers in order to communicate with them. In this regards, the packaging of the item being marketed also plays an important role. Standard packaging helps to create a brand identity. In the movie industry for example, dubbing is often done in local languages and this practice has improved in international studios. Differences in language and culture â€Å"have a significant impact on the way a product may be used in a market, its brand name and the advertising campaign† (Bhushan) as McDonald’s learnt for example, when they failed to appreciate the social cultural dimensions of the market in India. This makes the market hard to break into. To illustrate the problem of language in another region, the sound of Coca-Cola for example, translates into Chinese as ‘A thirsty mouthful of candle wax’. To get round this, the product is known as ‘Kee Kou Keele’ in China, which means ‘Joyful tastes and happiness’. Espoir Cosmetics is an international cosmetics company that wanted to create a new global branding initiative. Natasha Singh who is the executive vice president and global marketing officer of Espoir observes, â€Å"A global strategy will resonate in India in some cases, but I doubt if we will be able to do away with local marketing initiatives. It’s tough to overcome cultural differences.† Thus, she makes it clear that a brand identity must be created in the local region. And, this requires communicating in the language and culture of the region. In this way, the ‘packaging’ is properly targeted. But this is not without some difficulties. The problem with a standard global strategy is that there is a tendency towards ‘overstandardization’ or ‘oversimplification’, which also

Politics of Globalization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Politics of Globalization - Essay Example Iran not only recognizes the validity of globalization, but has time and again stressed the need for incorporating it within the ambit of globalization at various international forums (Xinhua News Agency 1). At the same time, Iran insists on continuing with its staunch anti-West policies and vociferously defends its poor human rights record. Though philanthropy and altruism are an integral part of the Iranian culture, in the last two decades these noble gestures have emerged in a more formal orientation, in the form of NGOs. These NGOs tend to differ from the NGOs of the past in the sense that they have turned out to be immensely successful in soliciting the support and cooperation of the Iranian youth (Sayyah 2003). Such NGOs are involved in a variety of pressing issues such as human rights, environmental issues, women empowerment, child well being, social development, trafficking etc (Sayyah 2003). The problem that most of these NGOs face is a pathetic lack of expertise and professional management (Sayyah 2003). The situation urgently calls for an ameliorating intervention of the Northern and Southern NGOs that is severely constrained by the restrictive nature of the Iranian laws that govern the registration and functioning of NGOs (Katirai 2005). However, the new regulations promulgated by the Iranian authorities hav e made it slightly easier for the foreign NGOs to operate in this country. Still it is the tacit policy of the Iranian regime to allow for a closely monitored working of the charitable and humanitarian NGOs while strictly forbidding the NGOs associated with controversial issues such as human rights and women rights. There exist many Iranian NGOs like Society of Patriotic Women, Women's Center and Iranian Women's League who profess a deep concern for securing the rights of women within the family and the society. Though these NGOs were secular in their moorings, yet over the years they have become "overtly Islamist in nature" and tactfully abstain from directly attacking Islam (Brill Online 2008). Instead they resort to explaining the suppression of Iranian women as a distortion and misinterpretation of Islam (Brill Online 2008). The proliferation of NGOs associated with human rights, be it of Northern or Southern origins is strictly banned in Iran. However, the Northern human rights affiliated NGOs like Human Rights Watch, though operating from outside, serve the vital purpose of exposing the infringement of basic freedoms and rights by the conservative elements within Iran and are an important source of motivation and inspiration for the civil society activists in Iran (Human Rights Watch 2004).Drug abuse and AIDS has become a big problem in Iran. Many of the Iranian NGOs are working in close coordination and cooperation with the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime to deal with the menace of drugs and HIV/AIDS (United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime 2008). Iran's Green Society and Green Front of Iran are the two leading NGOs active in the field of environmental conservation. Mother and Child's House has done immense work in extending reproductive healthcare facilities to the women in the region. According to some authentic estimates, at present there exist some 1500 NGOs in Iran.

Transaction Cost Economics and Evolutionary Theories. Compare and Essay

Transaction Cost Economics and Evolutionary Theories. Compare and Contrast. (See Assignment Criteria) - Essay Example Management accounting is concerned in identification and provision of financial and economic information to managers within the organisation to enable them make proper decisions, maintain control over business operations, monitor budgets and profit performance and direct the organisation to success in the future.1 Management accounting is crucial for planning and the process of problem solving such as determining the most cost effective method of production, it is also important in that it involves the development of budgets that help in the forecasting on future production cost and levels of production and profits. Management accounting involves the preparation of budgets that aid in planning, coordination of the activities of various departments, budgets provide a means of communicating the organisations goals and plans, they act as motivation tools and they act as a tool of control where actual and activities are compared with the budget and any deviations are investigated and corrective actions undertaken. Transaction cost economics studies organisations in a way that different institutional arrangements are considered alternative ways of organising economic activities.3Transaction cost economics explains why certain transactions are associated with a certain form of organisation whereas other transactions are associated with other forms of organisation; specific institutional arrangements are chosen to govern specific transactions because they offer distinct sets of control devices which other forms do not offer, therefore institutional forms differ in their ability to solve problems and the form of control they offer.4 Evolutionary theory also referred to as the old institutional economics as Foss (1994) defined it, this theory tends to investigate the possibility of transforming the already existing structures of organisations, therefore the evolutionary theory observes organisation forms as having emerged from the already existing

Hoovers Speech on Rugged Individualism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hoovers Speech on Rugged Individualism - Essay Example   Herbert Hoover was born into a Quaker family in Iowa and became an orphan at the age of nine1. He was adopted by an uncle where he learnt strong work ethics that saw him determined to gain admission into Stanford despite mediocre grades. Hoover graduated with a degree in geology and went on to become a great mining engineer. Hoover’s background shaped his ideals to a great extent because most of his life, he worked hard to get what he got. By 1914, Hoover had amassed great wealth from holding high positions, owning profitable silver mines in Burma and royalties from writing the top textbook on mining engineering.2 In essence, he was a self-made millionaire. Additionally, Hoover was a great humanitarian, building his name organizing various relief efforts in Europe during the Great War and seemed a great presidential candidate during that period in America’s history; one of progressive promise.3 Historical Context Hoover’s speech on rugged individualism was hi s final speech on the presidential campaign trail against Democratic candidate Alfred Smith. Given in October 22nd, the ideals and philosophies he articulated reflected the progressive period that the country was in. The effects of World War I saw America become a determining factor in international finance, becoming a source of financial aid to the Allies such as Britain.4 The US economy was growing at a rate of 7 per cent annually and unemployment rates were dropping e.g. in 1926 it dropped by 2%.5 The country was experiencing an economic boom, strikingly evident in the New York Stock Exchange where share values increased exponentially within this decade. The business sector also, was revitalized and consumerism was very high-fridges, radios and automobiles for all households was the goal of this decade and credit purchases were the norm6. Federal banks provided easy loans to finance the prevalent consumerism culture and speculation was at an all-time high.7 This profitable busine ss climate propelled citizens to consider business as a source of national direction. Summary Description This speech outlines Hoover’s position on government involvement in private business. He argues that the government’s role in the affairs of the business sector does both entities more harm than good. In his opinion, businesses required stricter controls to ensure efficiency and focus but governments were not primarily concerned with efficiency but with other more important issues. If government involved itself in business, Hoover declared that it would have to become more centralized, like a dictatorship, and businesses would lose their efficiency. Businesses should succeed or fail without government interference, he reasoned. Hoover’s ideals reflected those of his party, and thus â€Å"rugged individualism† is a term that can also describe the Republican philosophy of self reliance to succeed or fail, without any government handouts. Hoover pointed out the progress that the country had witnessed since the end of World War I. He argued that â€Å"... I know of no better test of the improved conditions of the average family than the combined increase of life and industrial insurance, building and loan assets, and savings deposits... these alone have in seven years increased by nearly 100 per cent to the gigantic sum of over 50 billions of dollars...† The high consumerism practiced was also reinforced â€Å"

Monique and the Mango Rains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Monique and the Mango Rains - Essay Example She did this by saving lives and giving hopes to people in a place where giving birth was risky (Holloway 78, 2007). Kris majors on exemplifying the passion of changing the lives of women facing poverty and unhappy marriages. In this essay, the obstacles faced by Malian Minianka women in achieving higher status, and relating gendered inequality to anthropological concepts such as marriage, economy, and reproductive health issues are aptly discussed. Part 2; Gender Norms and Stratification in Mali In gender norms in Mali, the local culture in which Monique was brought up had strict guidelines that guided women on how to handle themselves. For example, the society was against the idea of using birth control pills; thus, she had to this secretly. The issue of health inequality was the core factor that caused the obstacles experienced by women in this region. In gender stratification, it is established that it is responsible for the maternity-related deaths of 500 000 women annually. The mortality rate for women losing their lives during birth was about 1 in every 12 women. Kris writes on how the region has the highest maternal mortality rates and highest fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. It is estimated that less than 6% of women in their fertility season used contraception, and women that suffered genital ablation was above 96% in their childhood. 1 in 5 children born die immaturely before they reach their 5th birthday. Part 3; Marriage Marriage in this region was not gender sensitive since women were limited in doing certain jobs and denied credit for their hard work in the society. For example, Monique failed to get support from her husband and was trapped in an arranged marriage. They were forced to stay in a marriage despite the problems they encountered since annulment was not encouraged in marriages. Women that divorced their partners were snatched their children. The marriage system was gender insensitive since men were perceived in the society as low and had no value in the society. They were strained into marriages at an exceptionally tender age; hence, facing the challenges of giving birth. Part 4; Economy According to the Kris, the socio-political issues and instable economy was another factor that increased the obstacles women had to face in the society. Women’s economy was low to extent that they could not access proper medical services. For example, Monique suffered from severe mouth pains and was unable to access apt treatment on her dental pains. Women received exceptionally low salary despite the amount of work they did in division of labor. For example, Monique worked incessantly by edifying the community on health issues, but was paid a low salary unfortunately (Holloway 11, 2007). Women in this region also lacked recognition despite the efforts they enacted to the society, and were also not given time rest. There was the lack of running water, skilled and trained doctors, and lack of adequate medical equipments especially for emergencies. Part 5; Reproductive Health Issues The obstacle faced by Malian Minianka women is receiving quality and apt health care services to secure their health. The book recounts the story of a local health worker located at Nampossela in Mali. Women at this region faced the intricacy of accessing apt medication from the government and nongovernmental organizations. Kris shows how Monique offered health care services like prenatal consultations, health demonstrations freely (Holloway 78, 2007). Others included; assisting pregnant ladies in giving birth, administering vaccinations, and solving minor health predicament she had the ability to treat (Holloway 2007, 8). Monique and the Mango Rains highlights a

Iran and United States relations from 1945- to present day Essay

Iran and United States relations from 1945- to present day - Essay Example Due to alleged revenue domination by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the Iranian Parliament had generally settled to nationalize its holding of the British Empire’s leading company. The U.S. and Britain, through a now-admitted clandestine operation of the CIA called Ajax Operation, assisted organize objections to defeat Moussadeq and return the Shah to Iran. Later than his return from brief banish, Irans hatchling efforts at democracy rapidly descended into autocracy as the Shah took apart the constitutional curbs on his office and started to rule as an absolute ruler. In 1979 Iranians rebelled and the Shah was expelled for a second time. Then, Ayatollah Khomeni became new person in charge, and shortly began issuing nasty oratory against the United States, telling the country as the "Great Satan" and a "nation of unbelievers." The American supervision under President Jimmy Carter decline to bestow the Shah any further assistance and put across no curiosity to return him to command. A significant humiliation for Carter came about when the Shah, as of that time enduring from cancer, appealed for an entry into the U.S. for remedial. Carter unwillingly agreed, but the move only underpinned Iranian concepts that the previous ruler was an American dummy. Business relations between Iran and the U.S. are constrained by U.S. endorses and comprise chiefly of Iranian demand of food and medical stuffs and U.S. demands of food and carpets. The U.S. Government bans most ‘buy and sell’ with Iran. After the 1979 convulsion of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, the U.S. coagulated about $12 billion in Iranian assets, encompassing bank deposits, bullion and other possessions. According to United States spokespersons, most of those possessions were unfrozen in 1981in connection with the deal for the return of U.S. cap tives taken in the embassy convulsion. In September 2005, the State Department of U.S. declined to issue visas for parliamentary speaker of Iran and a team of senior

Han china and imperial rome Essay Example for Free

Han china and imperial rome Essay Rome was very successful because of its superior military authority. That is the main influential factor that cemented Roman power for nearly a thousand years. They had several advantages rapid development of the latest technology and vast numbers of infantry along with a stable senate system and much wealth to fuel their ambitions. It had sewers to control waste, aqueducts for plumbing and paved roads for transport which many other nations simply did not have. Rome had a large assortment of choices when it came to battle. Their army usually consisted of Hastati, Principes or Legionary Cohort in the later years marvelous soldiers and very useful ones to say the least. Having said this, they had access to exceptional horses as well and it was this mixture of troops that was a deciding factor in conflicts. Rome used its sheer force of numbers to overwhelm most enemies and surround them or cave in on their flanks causing a route very quickly. Mind you, tactics were used, but not effectively. The Romans took advantage of technological progressions and were only to happy to inflict deadly harm upon their foes with ballistae, catapults, onagers and numerous other siege equipment. The land they conquered poured much profit into the treasury which was distributed to the armed forces. This was able to give them the latest weapons, brand new armour, plenty of supplies and good morale. You can also look at the sheer amount of land they claimed through war the empire covered Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, parts of the Middle-East, Egypt, and the Africa coastline. Finally, the Romans brought the ideology of Christianity to the people in Europe influencing the events that were to proceed in the future greatly, something that has changed the world today. They will be looked upon in 1000 years (during the Middle Ages) with their beliefs, attitudes, values, lifestyle and ingenuity being emulated.

Electrical Resistance of Different Liquids | Experiment

Electrical Resistance of Different Liquids | Experiment After the invention of electricity by Michael faraday many scientists studied the ways of conducting electricity. It was in the middle of 18th century scientists thought about using liquid as a medium of conducting electricity. In 1808 Sir Humphrey Davy conducted electricity using potassium solutions in ammonia. The experiments were to show the electrical conductivity of liquids, but the reason for this was not explained in his experiments. In 1879 F.Kahlrausch proposed that ions are responsible for the conductivity of liquids. Ions are the building blocks of each molecule defined by its electron number. Ions which formed by the decomposition of minerals and other impurities carry current across the liquid and this is directly proportional to the ionic velocities. These findings were scientifically proven by M.M.Wrobleewisky and Olszweski in 1883 by liquefaction of nitrogen and other minerals from a solution under a pressure of 50 atmospheres showing the presence of ions in solute. The experiments conducted by WG Scaife in 1973 on the natural conductivity of liquids showed that at higher pressures of 2500 bars and above the electrical conductivity of polar solutions decreases rapidly. Even though there is a decrease at low pressures which are not practically measurable. Polar compounds like castor oil, sebacate etc. were used for these experiments and were discovered that the double layer formed at the tip of electrodes was the reason behind the reducing nature of electrical conductivity. While experiments on ionic solutions like Diethyl ether, carbon disulphide, benzene etc showed an increasing trend of electrical conductivity with pressure. This was due to the triple ions formed during the experiment. [1] In the experiments conducted by Alexander, Stoppa, Johannes Hunger, and Richard Buchner in 2009, it was found that the electrical conductivity of ionic solutions is higher than a mixture of ionic and polar mixture solutions. The experiment used potassium chloride (ionic) and non soluble oil base (polar) and the experiments were conducted under constant temperature and pressure conditions. The experiment showed a decrease in resistivity of nearly 1 ohm with an addition 5 wt % ionic compound. This experiment proved that the electrical conductivity depends on the charge density (number of ions) and the resistance to the movement of ions known as viscosity of a liquid [Stokes-Einstein, 1906]. The experiment compared the conductivities by increasing the percentage of ionic molecules in the solution. [2] Experiments were conducted by Aresatz Usobiaga, Alberto De Diego, and Juan Manuel Madariaga 1n 1999 to relate temperature with the electrical conductivity in solutions. HCL Solution (ionic solution) was used for the experiments. Under different temperatures close to the room temperature (292-315K) the solution exhibited an inverse proportionality relation to the conductivity. This correlated to the findings of A I Zhakin in 1995 were KCL which is less ionic compared to HCL was used. The experiment with HCL pointed out that at near to room temperatures resistivity was increased by 5-10% with every increase of 5K. The reason for this behaviour was the increase of viscous properties of the solution and viscosity decreases electrical conductivity. [3] In 2006 J. Vilaa, P. Ginà ©sa, E. Riloa, O. Cabezaa and L.M. Varelab conducted experiments on the electrical conductivities of solutions of aluminium chloride, aluminium bromide, aluminium sulphate and aluminium chromide. These compounds are ionic in nature. The experiments were carried out under constant temperature and pressure conditions. Experiments conducted by increasing the density of solutions showed an increasing trend of electrical conductivity by 10 % on each increase of density. Density was increased by adding 5 wt % aluminium salt into the solution. These increasing trends went until the solution is 50% saturated. The reason for the rise in conductivity was explained to be the increase in ion concentration. The more the ionic compounds present the more the conductivity would be. The results also showed that aluminium chloride which is more ionic than other samples will conduct more electricity at any concentration. But for polar compounds the increase in density resulte d in a decrease of conductivity. [4] J. Vilaa, P. Ginà ©sa, J.M. Picoa, C. Franjoa, E. Jimà ©neza, L.M. Varelab and O. Cabeza in 2005 conducted experiments on aluminium chloride and aluminium bromide for the binary relation on electrical conductivity with varying temperature and density. The experiment used 30% and 60 % concentrated solutions over a temperature range of 250-430K. The electrical conductivity increases with temperature, up to 400 times for aluminium chloride and 52 times in aluminium bromide solutions. But the conductivity decreases inconsistently with the increase in concentration. The probable reason for this controversial result could be the change in the properties of compounds with temperature. This showed that temperature had a greater influence on conductivity than density. [5] METHODS AND MATERIALS Overview of the experiment In order to contrast the electrical resistance of different liquids to expose their ionic or covalent characteristics, the following measures were carried out. Description of the procedural steps Firstly the electrical resistance measurement was set up. Then hundred and fifty milliliters of desired liquid was measured and poured in to a clean beaker. After the power supply was switched on, using the multimeter, circuits current was measured. Then at five minutes interval reading was traced again for three times. After this the average of three recordings was determined. Once the current was computed resistance of liquid was found out using Ohms law. Next the steps were repeated for all selected liquids. Subsequently all the selected liquids were cooled to 18 °C. Finally the above steps were followed for the refrigerated liquids. Materials Overview of mechanism The materials used for the experiment are listed below. Digital Multimeter DC Power supply, 250 ml glass beaker Sample solution of 150 ml Orange juice, 0.01% salt solution, 1% salt solution, 2% milk, and mineral water. Table salt Description of principal parts Digital multimeter Multimeter is an electronic tool which can be used for the measurement of voltage, current and resistance. There are two types of multimeters available. Multimeter which comes with digital display is commonly known as DMM (Digital Multimeter).Main parts of a digital multimeter are measuring probes, adjusting knob and digital display. Firstly the probes are used to get connection between points where we need to measure electrical property. One multimeter got two probes for achieving the connection between two selected points. Secondly the adjusting knob is used to select which property need to measure. It is also used to select the range of values of the results. The digital display helps the user to get accurate readings. It also provides information about different settings used for measurement. The multimeter can be switched on by turning the adjusting knob to desired property to measure. The display will provide us the relevant information. To test the DMM, turn the knob to resistance measuring mode and then touch each end of a copper wire to probe tips. Then the display will show resistance which should be almost zero. Results and Discussion The resistances of different liquid solutions prepared for the research were calculated using the Ohms law equation at room temperature. Observations show the average resistance of different liquid ranged from 26.1 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ to 1728 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦. Among the liquids, orange juice was best conductor (26.1 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦) and distilled water (1728 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦) was the worst. The two salt solutions showed almost the same resistances even though higher concentrated gave us a slightly lower resistance. Orange juice The figure 8 chart shows that orange juice is the best conductor of electricity. The resistance for orange juice was found out to be the least during the experiment. We had an assumption that acids are the best conductors because they are ionic in nature. Acids separate into ions when mixed with water and ions are charge carriers. The electrical resistance computed was 26.1 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ at room temperature. We had also made another assumption that when refrigerated; the conductivity will increase as the ions move slower related to normal room temperature liquid. After refrigeration, the resistance increased slightly to a value of 26.4 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦. Even though there was only a small decrease in the resistance value from that of the room temperature, our assumption regarding the refrigerated liquids came true. As studies and experiment done by Aresatz Usobiaga, Alberto De Diego, and Juan Manuel Madariaga in 1999 to relate temperature with the electrical conductivity in solutions [3] supports our results in this section. Salt solution The second best conductor is the salt solution. For the salt solution, the experiments were carried out with a concentration of 0.01% and 0.1% salt. The salt crystals in solid state wont conduct electricity because anions (chloride ions) and cations (sodium ions) are held together. But in a salt solution they are free to move around and thus conduct electricity. The main reason behind conducting this research experiment on different concentration of salt is to study whether it is the density or temperature of the solution that affects the electrical conductivity more. We hypothesized that the density of solution would decrease the electrical conductivity. The 0.01% and 0.1% concentrated salt solution exhibited almost the same resistance value of 35.6 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦. But the higher concentrated solution gave slightly less resistance value of 35.3 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ as compared to the other solution. The resistance value of refrigerated salt solution of 0.01% and 0.1% are 115.2 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ and 114.1 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ respectively. As per the assumptions the higher concentrated solution gave slightly less resistance and the refrigerated solution showed great resistance as compared to the room temperature values. This showed that temperature had a greater influence on conductivity than density. [5] Milk The third liquid tested was 2% milk solution. Milk also conducts electricity but only in a small amount as compared to orange juice and the salt solutions. Electrical resistance of the milk solution was worked out to be 210.3 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦ during the experiment at room temperature. Viscosity and density are the other factors that contribute to the poor conductivity of electricity as compared to the above mentioned liquids. The refrigerated resistance value of the milk solution calculated is 211.1 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦. While cooling, the viscosity increases due to the higher voluminosity of fatty acids, proteins, etc. [Website reference: http://www.dairy-science.org/cgi/reprint/80/4/628.pdf]. Thus we came to the conclusion that milk conducts electricity due to their typical covalent bond structure and the presence of fatty acids. Distilled Water Figure 8 shows that distilled water is a worst conductor of electricity. During the research experiment, distilled water showed a resistance value of 1728 kilo à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¦. The reason why liquid conducts electricity is due to the free movement of cations and anions in between the electrodes. For example, in our salt solution test electricity was conducted as the salt readily ionizes to sodium cations and chloride anions which can move freely around in the solution thereby transporting electric charges. In the distillation process water is boiled to steam and the steam is again condensed to water. Nearly all the salts present in the water is thus left out during the distillation process. Thus distilled water is pure H2O. Although pure H2O (distilled water) can dissociate into H+ and OH- ions like salt, it ionizes very rarely therefore exhibiting the property of an insulator. [Citation may or may not be given for the above statements made] Thus from the research experiment carried out we concluded that among the liquid solutions chosen, orange juice is the best electrical conductor and distilled water is the worst. From this we understood that orange juice has more ions present than distilled water (pure H2O). Therefore our assumption regarding acidic solution has high electrical conductivity is correct. Adding to the above results, the density and temperature also affects the electrical conductivity. The more salt added to the solution i.e. more ions added, the lesser the electrical resistance. The assumption regarding temperature as a factor affecting electrical conductivity was correct in some measure as some liquid solutions show higher resistance whereas some show almost the same resistance value with the room temperature values. Discount Retailers: Porters Five Analysis Discount Retailers: Porters Five Analysis In a context of post World War II, there was an economic boom in the USA, driven by the baby boom. The families needs increased, and discount retailing stores started to appear. Their main aim was to operate within low prices, to be able to offer everyday products at a very affordable price. In order to analyse the attractiveness of the discount retailing industry in the USA in the 1950s, we can use Porters Five Forces. Porter (1980:3) stated that competition in an industry depends on five basic competitive forces. As seen below in figure 1. Force 1: The Degree of Rivalry According to Ghemawat (2008), the degree of rivalry is the most obvious of the five forces in an industry [â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦]. It influences the extents to which the value created by an industry will be dissipated through direct competition. With the economic boom, many discount retailers have emerged, especially in big cities (with a minimum population of 100  000). For the already existing supermarkets industry, their customers were used to having a lot of competitors to choose from. That is why the newly emerging discount stores attracted a lot of new entrants. That industry was characterized by an intense competition. The growth of the industry was significant and this factor of high profitability attracted many entrepreneurs willing to open new stores. As a result, in the US cities in the 50s and 60s, the concentration for the discount retail industry was low and the rivalry was intense (factor of industry unattractiveness). The theory says that the rivalry between competitors decreases when the buyers switching costs are high. But in the case of the discount retail industry, the switching costs are almost nonexistent: urban customers have a lot of competitors to choose from and the recent use of the car and the quite low price of the petrol in the 50s allow them to easily change and shop in another store. Also, unlike the supermarkets, discounters sold more or less the same kind of products. The available retailers focused on non-food products, and a competition for price began among the stores, offering a wide variety of household products such as toiletries, appliances, groceries and household goods. Thus, there is a significant rivalry here, characterized by high fixed cost and a lack of product differentiation. However in the 50s, in small towns and rural areas, the competition was not as fierce, as not many discount retailers were willing to open a shop in the countryside. This made that business landscape less competitive. Sam Walton saw an opportunity there, and decided to locate his first Wal-Mart stores there: Our strategy was to put good-sized stores into little one-horse towns that everyone else was ignoring. Force 2: The Threat of Entry Average industry profitability is influenced by both potential and existing competition (Ghemawat, 2008). The Five Forces framework gives 3 basic types of entry barriers: economies of scale, brand identity and capital requirement: Economies of scale: large economies of scale allow providing cheap products to their customers. It is an essential part for a discount retailer, and without it, could represent a real barrier to entrance. Brand identity: the products were standard in nature, and there were little or no differences between discount stores. That means that in the 50s, it was not really a barrier for new entrants. Capital requirements: the threat of entrants is also possible because of the high capital required. Entrepreneurs need high capital (building, equipment) and financial resources to start up a new discount store and this represents a barrier to entry the industry. Moreover, the barrier is much higher when the plan is to set up a stores chain. There are also some other barriers to take into account: Access to distribution: the discount retailer has to find new reliable suppliers, to have a competitive distribution channel. Advertising: it can also be seen as an entry barrier. In order to be known and to attract customers, new entrants need to spend a lot more money on advertisements. In the 50s, the US discount industry was characterized by high price and advertising competitiveness, with little buyer loyalty. To summarize, there were many obstacles for new entrants in the discount retail industry. Force 3: The Threat of Substitutes The threat that substitutes pose to an industrys profitability depends on the relative price-to-performance ratios of the different types of products or services to which customers can turn to satisfy the same basic need (Ghemawat, 2008). Due to the lack of product differentiation and the absence of switching costs, the goods sold in the discount stores can be found in other types of stores. There is a high buyer propensity to substitute. The discount retailer just like any other has to develop strategies to sell at a low costs but this is not the solution. It constantly has to ensure that its products are exactly what the consumer needs. This means that high quality products at an affordable price should also be part of Walt Mat strategy of being competitive, as well as product differentiation. Supermarkets represented a big threat of substitution for the discount stores selling groceries because they were cheaper than the conventional stores chains and they dominated the retail industry in the 50s (Markin, 1968). Force 4: Buyer Power The buyer information availability was almost non-existent. Indeed, nothing in the way of information technology was accessible at that time, either for EPOS (Electronic Point of Sale) use or for more sophisticated applications. The bargaining power of buyers is weak when reduced to a single individual, but the demand as a whole is extremely powerful. However, the fact that there were many discount retail industries made each of them weaker against the buyers bargaining power. That power was high in the USA in the 50s: customers could easily walk away and go to another shop (low switching costs). In the post World War II years, US consumers became educated in the merits of self-service, low price shopping via the spread of supermarkets. The customers price sensitivity was then high, because of the high product standardization, they could find their products in every discount retail. The buyer loyalty was low. Force 5: Supplier Power In the US discount retail industry in the 50s, the suppliers power was much stronger than today, because of the RPM (Resale Price Maintenance). The RPM was legal at this time and gave the right for the suppliers to set the final price of their products (price sometimes printed on the product). It was virtually impossible for retailers to pass on the benefits of more efficient operations to customers via lower prices. Thus, in the 50s the strong suppliers power was a criterion of unattractive industry. After the analyze of the US discount retailing industry in the 50 through Porters Five Forces, it can be inferred that this industry was not attractive, due to the high new entrants barriers, the level of competition in the cities, the threat of substitutes, and the high buyer and supplier powers. However, it is possible to slightly alter this statement: although the competition was tough in big cities, it was easier to set up a shop in the rural areas, where the degree of rivalry was lower. As a consequence, the different threats and barriers that looked like an insurmountable challenge in the cities were no longer impossible to overcome in the countryside. QUESTION 2 Every business has to adopt a business strategy, seen by many authors as the Paradox of Markets and Resources. The strategic management process means defining the organizations strategy. Managers have to make choices and set up strategies for the company that will enable it to achieve better performance. It is also sometimes referred to as a Business Model. Porters theory The Outside-In Perspectives key features are the positioning activities and the Value Chain, which will define a strategy through different business choices. This model is supported by the key protagonist Michael Porter (1996). Porters Generic Strategies  Model According to the chart above, we can identify Wal-Marts positioning strategy. Wal-Marts main strategy is characterized by its low cost policy, accessible to anyone. It can then be put in the cost leadership strategy strategy. However, with particular attentions for its customers (more than its direct competitors), Wal-Mart also plays a differentiation strategy, and delivers an excellent customer service. With the analysis of Wal-Marts value chain given above, a description of its key value drivers can be done. Every companys activities mapped in the value chain can be a possible source of competitive advantage but its the way they are cheaply performed and combined that will create competitive advantage and value for customer. In 1985, Porter suggested the value chain, which regroups functions into support and primary activities. The value chain is divided into 5 primary activities and 4 support activities. These activities can be linked and connected to the value chain to determine some factors of a competitive position and show how these activities add value to the consumer. Wal-Mart: the Value Chain According to the Wal-Mart value chain, two main support activities show that Wal-Mart uses a differentiation strategy through its human resource management and its technology development. The use of the technology is coupled with the inbounds logistics activity and the operations. Indeed, Wal-art was a pioneer in applying information and communications technology to support decision making and promote efficiency and customer responsiveness. (Zarbo, 1998) In the early 1980s, Wal-Mart invested over half a billion dollars to boost its computer and satellite network systems. They added barcode systems, scanners and other near-real-time technology to link cash registers in every store into one unified link. From the instant a sales transaction takes place, data simultaneously flows back and forth from stores world-wide to Wal-Marts distribution centres, its headquarters in Bentonville, and to Wal-Marts suppliers in a continuous, informative loop. In addition to offering Wal-Mart an environment that monitors and shares its current inventory trends with external vendors, this technology, through a sophisticated network which bridges individual stores, identifies the most efficient way to manage the distribution of its products internally. Moreover, a good example of Sam Waltons early understanding of the importance of technology is its current development and use of an automated distribution system known as the Retail Link. This system shares sales information with Wal-Mart suppliers to ensure that customers always find the shelves well stocked at their local Wal-Mart store. Retail Link allows Wal-Mart suppliers to dial-up and retrieve the history of important sales data from the last 56-weeks worth of sales. Over 4,000 of Wal-Marts suppliers access this service averaging approximately 10,000 queries a day (Zarbo, 1998). The large database of purchasing information enables Wal-Mart to set the right item at the correct price and in the right store. Concerning the human resources management at Wal-Mart, it is considered as very efficient. Sam Walton calls his employees his associates. They are an important part of the Wal-Mart family. The relationships between Wal-Mart and his associates are based on respect, high expectations, autonomy, close communication and clear profit incentives. Through its superior management and communication, Wal-Mart created an advantage. The Marketing and Sales activity is also a crucial point for the company. Wal-Mart has been founded on Sam Waltons belief that: There is only one boss: the customer. Indeed, the basic principle of Wal-Mart was to cut prices, and was thus well below its competitors, enhanced by its slogan Everyday Low Prices. This confirms the companys low cost strategy. In summary, the key value drivers of Wal-Mart match each other to lower the costs. Every activity is involved in cost reduction and that is why we can say that Wal-Marts value chain is very coherent with its cost leader positioning strategy and customer focused value for money approach. Barneys theory Firms obtain sustained competitive advantage by implementing strategies that exploit their internal strengths, through responding to environmental opportunities, while neutralizing external threats and avoiding internal weaknesses. Barney, 1991 The Resource-Based View (RBV) focus on strategic resources as the determinants of a competitive advantage. Those strategic resources are valuable because they allow to achieve superior performance (e.g. accumulated knowledge, or resources impossible to replicate). Grant, the key protagonist of the RBV theory focuses on resources, organisational features and capabilities. In the model, resources must be rare, valuable, inimitable and unsubstituable. Although, intangible resources can create the most competitive advantage, as they are harder to copy by competitors. The chart above reviews Wal-Marts tangible and intangible resources. The firm possess many intangible resources, which made its model hard to copy for competitors. So according to the RBV, Wal-Mart has some real competitive advantages here. QUESTION 3 Tetra-threat framework The Tetra Threat Model was first proposed by Ghemawat (2008). This model helps to determine the level of each threat category, in order to try to reduce their impact. This model can be used to identify what are the threats against Wal-Mart competitive advantage, and how it can sustain itself among the other discount retailers. Threat of Imitation Wal-Mart set up large barriers to overcome it: Scale economies: efficient hub-and-spoke distribution system; high volume purchases, strong dealing power with suppliers; national and regional economies of scale. Learning/private information: a significant effort has been made in understanding the operation of the discount retail industry. Wal-Mart has the right know-how to improve its logistics, reduce storage space, and incentive its people to work efficiently. Switching cost/relationship: due to its pricing policy and experience, Wal-Mart is able to offer inexpensive products to its customer (low switching costs). They also possess strong relationships and sustainable contracts with their suppliers (bargain power due to Wal-Marts size and partnership through data sharing and communication networks). Threat of retaliation: Wal-Mart has a strong reputation of fierceness. The local managers ability to adapt their prices to the local competition is a strong advantage to always have the lowest prices on the market. Time lags, upgrading and strategic complexity: the Wal-Mart business has been built upon the years, and accumulated years of knowledge and experience. Thus, they now own a very complex logistics and technologic system, and upgrade it constantly. To summarize, the imitation threat is not a real danger to Wal-Mart. It has raised many insurmountable barriers for its competitors to overcome. They do not have the sufficient knowledge to do it, or it will take them so much time, that by the time they catch up with their goal, Wal-Mart will already be way ahead of them in terms of innovation and technology. Wal-Mart has here a real sustainable advantage. Threat of substitution Substitution reduces the demand for what a firm uniquely provides by shifting the demand elsewhere. It is the most difficult threat to predict. However, Wal-Mart has developed many strategies to overcome that threat. The chain best answer to the substitution threat has been to own numerous substitutes on the discount retailing industry, such as warehouse clubs, supercenters and neighbourhood markets. Its mobility across format is a successful alternative against substitution threat. However, Wal-Mart has demonstrated being very good at scanning the landscape broadly and understanding underlying customer needs. It has continually been studying the competition in order to be responsive in fighting the upcoming threat. Finally, thanks to its low cost competitive advantage, Wal-Marts cheap prices restrain many competitors to enter a fight with the discount retailer giant. Threat of Holdup Holdup refers to customers, suppliers, complementary organizations, or other industry participants capturing value created by the focal company through the exercise of bargaining power. Concerning this threat related to Wal-Mart, two aspects can be distinguished: suppliers and employees. First, Wal-Mart has a total control over its suppliers, even the largest ones (e.g. Procter Gamble), in order to restrain their hold it up value. However, the holdup can be found the other way around: Wal-Mart ask its suppliers to closely integrate into their system and requirements. The requirements that Wal-Mart imposes on its suppliers extends well beyond low prices. Increasingly, the chain has involved itself in its suppliers employment policy (workplace safety, working hoursâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦), making Wal-Mart possibly pose a threat of holdup to them. Nonetheless, labor holdup can be considered as a real issue. With a weak percentage of union penetration, employees abuse (low wages, unpaid overtime, discrimination) are widespread. As a result, it depicts a negative image of the company, as well as employee demotivation and turnover. Wal-Mart should take into consideration this aspect to avoid a labor holdup. Threat of Slack Slack tend to dissipate value within the firm, and is not easy to identify. It regroups all form of inefficiency. However, this is not a big threat to Wal-Mart. In fact, there is a high organizational effectiveness within the human resource management. The relationships with the associates is based on respect, high expectations, close communication and clear incentives. Everything is done to motivate the staff and increase their loyalty to the firm. Finally, according to Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart (2007), protection against slack comes from the right mix of incentives and monitoring. As it is drawn in this analyse, Wal-Mart has develop strong responses to threats from imitation, substitution, holdup and slack, setting mechanism which allowed Wal-Mart to sustain its competitive advantage. QUESTION 4 The Dunnings Eclectic Paradigm (1981) of Foreign Direct Investment (also known as the OLI-Model) sets up 3 conditions that a company has to meet in order to engage in foreign operations: Ownership advantages, Location/Country-specific advantages and Internalization advantages. This theory will be used to contrast Wal-Marts entry into the German market in 1997 and into the UK market in 1999, in the following table. Wal-Marts entry into German market UK market Acquisitions (1997 and 1998): 21 stores Wertkauf ($1.04 billion) 74 hypermarkets Interspar (‚ ¬560 million) Both were renamed Wal-Mart stores. Acquisitions (1999): 219 outlets Asda ( £6.7 billion) Kept its name. Ownership Advantages Wal-Mart owns several intangible assets, which will allow it to overcome the costs of expanding abroad. These intangible core competencies are: Dominant clothing/textile and food retailer on the US market Every week, around 100 million shoppers frequent its stores Its 2003 turnover is 3 times bigger than Carrefours, the worlds no. 2 retailer (Knorr and Arndt, 2003) Internationalization experience: more than 1100 outfits abroad, which leads to considerable experience and management learning from a portfolio of stores in diverse markets Wal-Marts Retail Link-system (backbone of its sophisticated inventory management and logistics infrastructure) Operating the worlds biggest private satellite communications system (to track sales, to replenish inventories, to process payments in real-time) Wal-Marts retail proposition of everyday low prices, good customer service, wide assortment and community values High customer service levels, strong organizational culture, efficient logistics operations Location Advantages Location advantages are the factors in a foreign country that lead the company to make profits on its FSAs. Germany accounts for around 15% of Europes $2 trillion-a-year retail market German GNP: ‚ ¬2 trillion 80 million customers: biggest national retail market in Europe Germany is meant to be its bridgehead into Europe After its acquisition, Wal-Mart became the countrys fourth biggest operator of hypermarkets (Knorr and Arndt, 200) Politically stable country Economically powerful with big family incomes Very similar culture and social laws between UK and the US Internalization Advantages A firm possessing an advantage can either use the advantage itself (internalize it) or lease the advantage to other firms. The FDI decision depends on which option presents the best net return. Internalization also allows avoiding transactional costs. Internalization is the option chosen by Wal-Mart in many countries: Closer control by the Wal-Mart management (full control strategy) Economies of scale Sharing of the organizations knowledge and management capabilities to the new business According to the OLI-Model, implementing Wal-Mart stores in those two countries could really help the US firm to set a foot in Europe. Wal-Marts goal is to be the number one in every market in which it operates. Its international retail model equates to the aggressively industrial model. However, despite a bright success in the UK, the German venture has been unprofitable, and led it to exit the country in July 2006. What are the reasons for Wal-Marts failure and success? The reasons for Wal-Marts: Failure in Germany Success in the UK Acquisition of the wrong German companies Acquisition of the adequate UK company First, the German acquisitions have been very costly for Wal-Mart. The German market in renowned for its minimal profit margins and price-led strong domestic competition. Wal-Mart entered Germany at a time when the grocery market was saturated. At the time, Aldi was its major competitor, already holding a strong share of the discount retail segment. Wal-Mart now possessed 2 small disparate retail chains with different organizational structures and a heterogeneous portfolio of stores (the Wertkauf was a highly centralized family store) (Fernie et al., 2006). As a consequence, Wal-Mart did not have enough impact on the German market. For example, nearly 80% of the population did not have access to a Wal-Mart store (bad geographic penetration). Moreover, the patchy geographical coverage of Wal-Marts meant that its nationwide competitors have been able to adopt a zone pricing policy to compete on price in specific local markets. The weakness of the German economy in those years, coupled with the increased prominence of discounters, has reinforced this trend and discounters now account for 30% of the German grocery market and have been growing at 5% per year in a static market. Wal-Marts market share of 1.5% is dwarfed by its major competition (Fernie et al., 2006). There is a strong price competition where price leadership is already occupied by discounters. Asda was already a major discount retailer player before the entry of Wal-Mart. In fact, it was the third major grocer in UK in 1999. Wal-Mart acquired a well-established retail chain and Asdas management had already applied Wal-Mart practices to its corporate culture (Fernie et al., 2006). Asdas marketing, operations and organisational culture mirrored that of the US giant (Burt and Sparks, 2000) and was regarded as good strategic fit. Wal-Mart strategy for UK was to build on these similarities. There has been a high degree of stability throughout the chain during the merger, especially at store level, which facilitated the transition. Wal-Marts takeover also increased Asdas supply chain efficiency and improved its stock availability. Government regulations The German market had a strict legal and institutional framework, often ignored by Wal-Mart. German labor regulations are very different from these in the U.S. : obstacle to embrace the Wal-Mart culture. For example: The zoning regulations impose severe restrictions on the construction of large-scale store Restrictive shopping hours regulations: legal maximum of 80 hours/week store opening hours. Sunday and holidays openings are not permitted Fair trading and antitrust laws contain some important restrictions for retailers pricing policies: it forbids merchants to sell goods below cost on a permanent basis (Knorr and Arndt, 2003) In the UK, the Government was concerned about high food prices and that British consumers were being ripped off by retailers. That is why they were in favour of the creation of a more price competitive environment (Fernie et al., 2006). Moreover, the legal and institutional UK surroundings were not as complex and heavy as in Germany. For example, the legal maximum of a store opening hours was 168 hours/week, and was also allowed to open on Sunday and holidays (Knorr and Arndt, 2003). In the UK, Wal-Mart was able to recreate its 24/7 opening format. Inability to understand the German consumer and business culture The closeness of the UK and the US culture Wal-Mart culturally failed in delivering its Everyday low prices or excellent customer service. Indeed, the expectations are very different from a country to another. The German acquisitions were very different in their organizational structure from the Wal-Mart US model. That is why, when Wal-Mart try to impose its new culture (Anglo-Saxon management level), it led to resistance. Operational errors has been made when remodelling stores to look like US stores, which was not customer wanted (Fernie et al., 2006). Thus, Wal-Marts strategy was contradictory and disoriented to German customers. They didnt see Wal-Mart as a low-price store, due to confusing advertisements. Moreover, German notion of customer service is different from that in the U.S. (e.g. German consumers prefer to pack their own bags and pay by cash), because they hold price and value in much higher esteem than service and quality (Knorr and Arndt, 2003). The British culture was very similar to the American one, and that is why the takeover ran more smoothly in the UK. Also, Asda was already working on a Wal-Marts model, so the consumers did not feel any major difference after the Wal-Mart acquisition. For the British customers, price was a key attribute along with convenience; price is the most important factor in the retail offer. And finally, the UK workforce responded positively to the Wal-Mart way, and the integration was very successful, with good employee relationships (Fernie et al., 2006). Conclusion: When Wal-Mart entered the UK, the economic situation was favourable for a low pricing strategy. Wal-Marts entry created a high competitive environment on prices, and the customers responded well to this new form of discount retail. However, Wal-Mart has failed on every point in Germany. It resulted mostly from a cross cultural inconsideration. Wal-Mart has not been able to adapt its business model to a different culture and ignored the basic key principles of internationalization strategies and intercultural management. The firm should have tried to understand the German surroundings, the market rules and the consumer habits. Thus, they could have shape their business model, the human resources practices and a proper marketing message to fit that local market. Wal-Marts failure in Germany highlighted its inability to select and implement an adequate entry and business strategy. That is why its inability to understand the German retail market and business culture and the consumer needs led it to a bitter failure.

How London is Portrayed in Composed upon Westminster Bridge and London

How London is Portrayed in Composed upon Westminster Bridge and London William Wordsworth's poem, "Composed upon Westminster Bridge" written in 1904 looks at the positive side of London city and it natural Beauty. Whereas William Blake wrote the poem, "London" in 1794, the poem is negative towards authority and politics. The theme of the two poems is the city of London and how different people preserve it. "All bright and glittering in the smokeless air" (line 8) is a romantic view of the city of London. William Blake's perception is different. "Marks of weakness, marks of woe" (line 4) shows that London is corrupt and unhappy. The two poets, hence, have contrasting views of the city London. Wordsworth view is positive, focusing on the natural and man made beauty of the city. But on the other hand, Blake's poem dives deeper into a darker side of politics, prostitution and corrupted crocked people. The imagery used to express the themes is vivid and draws a picture in your head. Wordsworth poem draws flawless images of peace and harmony whereas Blake's p...

The Dark Side of Sylvia Plaths Poetry :: Biography Biographies Essays

The Dark Side of Sylvia Plath's Poetry      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   bell jar- (bà ªl jà ¤r) n. a cylindrical glass vessel with a rounded top and an   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   open base, used to protect and display fragile objects or to establish a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   vacuum or a controlled atmosphere in scientific experiments (mish 105).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   instead of starting with plath's poetry I decided to start off with her only novel, the bel jar. "the bell jar is a novel about the events of sylvia plath's twentieth year; about how she tried to die, and how they stuck her together with glue. it is a fine novel, as bitter and remorseless as her last poems--the kind of book salinger's franny might have written about herself ten years later, if she had spent those ten years in hell" (scholes). i want to explain the imagery in the title of plath's autobiography. i stated the definition earlier. a bell jar is basically like a regular jar that has been turned upside down. it is glass and transparent. unlike a jar, a bell jar is often used to display something fragile. in her novel, plath was fragile and her bell jar was her environment. in her novel she spent five weeks in a mental institution. there, she was on display to many counselors, nurses, physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists. they watched Pplath regain s tability from the day of her arrival to the day of her dismissal. also, "controlled atmosphere" can be seen as the environment of the institute.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   now on to the poetry of sylvia plath. just a little note... before i read her work i thought poetry sucked. anyway, in the poem "lady lazarus" plath speaks of her own suicide and she even takes some pride in her knowledge of death. in a reading prepared for bbc radio, plath introduced this poem: "the speaker is a woman who has the great and terrible gift of being reborn. the only trouble is, she has to die first. she is the phoenix, the libertarian spirit, what you will. she is also just a good, plain, very resourceful woman" (Plath 294).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   i have done it again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   one year in every ten   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   i manage it--      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a sort of walking miracle, my skin   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   bright as a Nazi lampshade,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   my right foot      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a paperweight, The Dark Side of Sylvia Plath's Poetry :: Biography Biographies Essays The Dark Side of Sylvia Plath's Poetry      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   bell jar- (bà ªl jà ¤r) n. a cylindrical glass vessel with a rounded top and an   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   open base, used to protect and display fragile objects or to establish a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   vacuum or a controlled atmosphere in scientific experiments (mish 105).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   instead of starting with plath's poetry I decided to start off with her only novel, the bel jar. "the bell jar is a novel about the events of sylvia plath's twentieth year; about how she tried to die, and how they stuck her together with glue. it is a fine novel, as bitter and remorseless as her last poems--the kind of book salinger's franny might have written about herself ten years later, if she had spent those ten years in hell" (scholes). i want to explain the imagery in the title of plath's autobiography. i stated the definition earlier. a bell jar is basically like a regular jar that has been turned upside down. it is glass and transparent. unlike a jar, a bell jar is often used to display something fragile. in her novel, plath was fragile and her bell jar was her environment. in her novel she spent five weeks in a mental institution. there, she was on display to many counselors, nurses, physicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists. they watched Pplath regain s tability from the day of her arrival to the day of her dismissal. also, "controlled atmosphere" can be seen as the environment of the institute.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   now on to the poetry of sylvia plath. just a little note... before i read her work i thought poetry sucked. anyway, in the poem "lady lazarus" plath speaks of her own suicide and she even takes some pride in her knowledge of death. in a reading prepared for bbc radio, plath introduced this poem: "the speaker is a woman who has the great and terrible gift of being reborn. the only trouble is, she has to die first. she is the phoenix, the libertarian spirit, what you will. she is also just a good, plain, very resourceful woman" (Plath 294).      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   i have done it again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   one year in every ten   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   i manage it--      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a sort of walking miracle, my skin   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   bright as a Nazi lampshade,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   my right foot      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a paperweight,

Ernest Hemingways Big Two-Hearted River Essay -- Big Two Hearted Rive

The world of Ernest Hemingway’s â€Å"Big Two-Hearted River† exists through the mostly unemotional eyes of the character Nick. Stemming from his reactions and the suppression of some of his feelings, the reader gets a sense of how Nick is living in a temporary escape from society and his troubles in life. Despite the disaster that befell the town of Seney, this tale remains one of an optimistic ideal because of the various themes of survival and the continuation of life. Although Seney itself is a wasteland, the pine plain and the campsite could easily be seen as an Eden, lush with life and ripe with the survival of nature. The world in the story exists as two separate but connected places. The first that Nick encounters is the charred remains of the town of Seney, where there is â€Å"nothing but the rails and the burned-over country.† The second place is the â€Å"alive† pine plain. The river, interestingly, runs through both parts, showing how they are interconnected. The river is a means of natural connection, while the man-made railroad is another form of connecting one town to the next. By combining these two forms of connection, it could be said that every place is interconnected. Using only the river as the natural form, it connects all forms of life within the world to one another. Seney exists as the wasteland, having been ravaged and destroyed by fire to the point of complete desolation. The town is described by what it is lacking as a contrast to what Nick had remembered to have been there, yet Nick does not display any sensation of loss. He had merely â€Å"expected to find† the town as it was before the fire, but when he does not, he simply goes to the river to watch the trout. It the trout that s... ...Nick is not yet ready for. In this way it could represent his return to civilization, which he is not yet ready for, and he therefore will continue his Edenic hiatus. While Nick himself does not react to his world as either specifically wasteland or Eden, the reader must realize that the story is a commentary on survival. Survival is a quality of an anti-wasteland, and although the town of Seney has been destroyed it will someday re-emerge. Even if it does not happen immediately, survival will go on in other places, and this is certainly an optimistic view of life. Whether it is Nick and the black grasshoppers’ temporary means, or the eternal survival of all of nature, the entire world cannot ever become an all enveloping wasteland. Work Cited Hemingway, Ernest. â€Å"Big Two Hearted River.† In Our Time. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970.

Outline and Evaluate the Psychodynamic Model of Abnormality

Outline and evaluate the psychodynamic model of abnormality. (12 Marks) The psychodynamic model (which is based on Freud’s theories) states that abnormalities are results of a conflict which has gone wrong in the â€Å"psyche† (in the mind). Freud’s idea states that the psyche – which is made up of the (id, ego and superego), should all work in perfect harmony with each other to avoid being an abnormal person.It is the idea that conscious thoughts and feelings are determined by the unconscious mind, and essentially being mentally healthy requires a good balance between: the id (which controls the desires for which we live for in order to satisfy ourselves), the superego (which takes into consideration morals and the difference between right and wrong) and the ego (which balances the superego and id to keep our behaviour in check).From these 3 components in the psyche, you can quickly see that the id and superego are constantly in conflict. This ultimately means that for a person to not develop a psychological disorder – a strong ego is necessary as it will â€Å"get the best of both worlds† and create a balance, while allowing the superego and id to express themselves (when suitable), without dominating the personality and hence, causing a psychological disorder.An example of an abnormality which could occur from the id being too strong in kids (is developing conduct disorders). In adults (they become psychopaths), all because of the personality being taken over by the id. If the superego is too strong socially acceptable pleasures will be hard to come by as neurotic behaviours such as phobias and obsessions will be apparent, as they will be constantly fixated with things that they want to do but â€Å"cant† because their too scared.Freud thought that the childhood of an individual was essential in the development of personality and that all abnormal behaviours are linked to childhood. There are different ages as sociated with different stages. An example of this is the oral stage which usually happens between (0-18 months) – the focus of pleasure is the mouth (feeding or dummy) and if this is fixated upon, this could lead to overeating or smoking in order to comfort themselves and their mouth. Another example is the anal stage (2-4 years).A conflict may arise when potty training as if the child receives either excessive punishment or the parents are too lenient during this stage it can lead to a fixation which will be taken to adult life. The end result could either be a person who has an anal retentive personality (stubborn perfectionist obsessed with tidiness) or an anal repulsive personality (messy person with no self-control), according to Freud. The evaluation of Freud’s model is that many detailed pieces of data were obtained as it was a case study.The findings did support Freud’s hypotheses and theories. However Freud’s ideas were very subjective as not mu ch – if any scientific data was produced to back his work up. This therefore raises question marks over the reliability of his findings and theories. Also the evidence from the case study came from his own patients who could compel us to think that his results are unreliable, as his patients may have been biased and essentially gave the answers Freud wanted, because they were his patients.

With Reference to Alternative Research, Critically Assess Bennett-Levy and Marteau’s Research

There is much research to support the idea of preparedness in the acquisition of phobias, just like Bennett-levy and Marteau have done, however many studies use non-human animals, and use experimental research methods. Cook & Mineka (1989) found that rhesus monkeys could acquire fear through social learning to fear relevant stimuli (toy snakes and crocodiles) but not of fear-irrelevant stimuli (flowers and a toy rabbit). Subsequently, Cook & Mineka (1990), again using rhesus monkeys, showed them edited videotapes of models reacting fearfully to toy snakes and non-fearfully to artificial flowers or vice versa.The observers only acquired a fear in the former condition, i. e. when they watched a monkey responding with fear to a snake. However, there is experimental research that shows that humans can show preparedness. Ohman and Soares (1998) showed that participants could be conditioned more quickly when associated with fear-relevant material, e. g. pictures of snakes or spiders, than when paired with fear-irrelevant material, e. g. picture of flowers or mushrooms. Again showing that fear is more readily associated with some things but not others.Bennett-Levy and Marteau deliberately removed the idea that the animals were harmful; however is this not a reason to fear an animal? One biological imperative for fear is risk of disease. Matchett & Davey (1991) and Ware et al (1994) looked at the relationship between animal fears relating to contamination and to likelihood of attack. They investigated fear of predatory animals and other fear-relevant animals. Both groups of animals elicited fear but only the animals carrying a risk of disease also elicited disgust.Those participants with the greatest fear of the ‘disgusting’ animals also scored highly on scales such as fear of illness and obsessive washing. Further support for this idea comes from Davey et al (1998) who conducted a cross-cultural study into animal fears. They found that, although cultures share fear for animals which are fierce, the greatest similarity was in those eliciting disgust; again indicating a link between phobias and animal-borne disease. The distinction between fear of fierce and infection-risk animals is demonstrated by experimental evidence from Davey et al (2003).They found that people will tend to become classically conditioned to pain responses associated with predatory animals (i. e. fierce ones). Disgustrelated unconditioned stimuli, however, were more readily associated with lowpredation animals (i. e. ones with a disease risk) than with safe ones. There does seem to be reasons for fearing animals, but in the modern comfortable existence that many enjoy, there are few natural things that will damage us and we have little reason to fear, but phobias are one of the commonest disorders in our society.

Charlie’s Wedding, A Play in One Act Essay

Gertie, a black woman, dressed in elegant black satin, stands at the window, her back to the audience. She may be polishing the glass or she may be eves-dropping on the two fashionably dressed white ladies, Mona and Sheila, who sit on a divan directly behind her, facing the audience. Mona: What on earth did he say then, Sheila? Sheila, (smiling coyly): He said he wants to marry me, of course, silly. Mona: But he can’t do that†¦can he? I mean†¦(a pause) Well†¦ you know what I mean. Men like him†¦ Sheila: That’s just the point†¦ men like him†¦they can do whatever they want. Mona: Well, I’m just saying†¦they don’t buy a cow when the milk is so cheap. Sheila: Well, he might buy the cow that gives milk as good as this one does. Mona feigns embarrassment, her hands going to her face as she buries her head in her hands for a moment. Gertie moves to the right and looks at pictures in frames on the mantle of the fireplace, now obviously listening, cocking her head to hear better. Mona: Girl, you have no shame. (Giggles) But you are about to graduate from here anyway. You don’t have to marry, you don’t have to do anything but pack your bags and run, girl. Sheila: But I might just want to get married. Isn’t it what every young lady is reared to do? Aren’t we born and bred to be the wives and ornaments of powerful men? Isn’t it my duty as a woman? Isn’t it my calling? My raison d’etre? (Misprounounces the words) Mona: If it’s what you want, then by all means you should do it. Be my guest. I will dance at your wedding with a cow-bell on. But it’s not going to be to that two-timing Charlie O’Brian, I surely do hope, child. Gertie moves until she is standing at the side of Sheila, picks up a small bowl from the end table and is wiping it slowly. Sheila: Well how can you be so presumptuous? I mean, what do you know about it anyway? And why do you say he is a two-timer? If you know some gossip that I don’t then you are bound by your duty as a woman to tell me. Gertie puts down the bowl and speaks: Yes, Miss Mona, do tell all you know about this two-timing Charlie O’Brian. Do you have some reason to suspect he may not be as morally upright and Christianified as he purports to be? Is he, perhaps†¦a†¦man of low degree? The three women laugh and Gertie takes a seat in the chair, in profile to the audience, putting her feet up on a ottoman and fanning herself from her labor. Gertie: Let me tell you about men†¦ all men. They are idiots†¦all idiots, and Charlie O’Brian is their Lizard King. They are all just big boys. They never grow up and they never think with the head they have on their shoulders. I know you can guess which head it is that they do think with, without me having to say. But they control the money and politics and they control the laws and we have to work around them to get what we want. Now, as for this Charlie O’Brian, he has proposed to half the women in this sorority and that is a natural fact. He got big drunk last Christmas and asked me to run off with him. I told him that for twenty dollars I would run into the pantry with him for a spell, but that is all of the running I meant to do. Child, no man is ever faithful to no woman and I will tell you how you can be sure of what a man is up to. If you think he is faithful to you then he is most likely cheating on you. But if you think he is cheating on you, then he is positively cheating on you. And you can take that to the bank, honey. Sheila: We all know how men are. But Charlie is different. He loves me. He really does Gertie: Sugar, last year he loved Abbie, and the year before that he loved Sara Lynn. He loves a lot of ladies. And lots of ladies love him. But ain’t none of them ever got a brand on his li’l narrow behind. Mona laughs: Gertie, you are such a romantic soul. But you are wrong about Charlie boy. He loves a lot of women but he don’t love any of them. We all know about commercial affection. That’s why there are sporting houses and sporting ladies who can be found in them, and men know all them and they go sow their wild oats and then pray for a crop failure. Charlie O’Brian haunts sporting houses. He is a sporting man. He is going to leave you crying. Sheila looks at Mona, irritated: Well Miss Know It All, that just proves my point, because men don’t marry sporting ladies do they? They marry good girls, from good families. They marry ladies of wit, breeding and sagacity. They go sow those wild oats but then when nesting time comes around they look for a woman who is better than any sporting lady. They look for someone who can entertain for them, can give them sons and can keep their home for them. I don’t care where my man gets his kicks so long as he kicks his boots off at home with me. I am a pragmatic person. I understand the ways of the world. I did not just fall of no turnip truck, and believe it or not, I did not come to this town riding two to the mule. Mona looks at Gertie who shrugs her shoulders, then speaks: Honey, you are missing one very important point. You are too good for Charlie O’Brian. He is beneath you and that’s a fact. You will never be happy with someone like him. He is common as dirt. He is in the trades. He will keep you filled up with a belly-full of children and leave you barefoot and pregnant. He is not good enough for you. Get him out of your pretty little empty head. Now, lets discuss this party, we have to finish these plans. We are really getting short of time now. Christmas will be here before you know it and we can’t wait til the very last minute. Gertie stands and picks up her dust cloth and moves behind the divan, facing the audience, looking down at the other two girls: This party is going to be such a bore. Boy girl, boy girl, boy girl†¦so boring. We should invite some transvestites and some of them folk what you call hermaphrodites of both sexes and let everyone try to guess who is who and who has what and just see how that messes up the seating arrangements. (Laughs) Mona: That would make it a party to remember. Do you know any real transvestites? Oh, I’m sure you do. You are so worldly, Gertie. (Mona and Sheila laugh) Sheila: Well, I’m more interested in making wedding plans than Christmas party plans. I want the wedding to be here. Right in this room. We’ve all have had so much fun here, and there are so many good memories associated with this room. Yes, I’ve made my mind up. I want to come down those stairs (points off stage, left) and I want all my friends to be here and see me on the happiest day of my life. Gertie: Girl, you are serious? You said yes to Charlie O’Brian? Sheila nods and speaks: I told him last night. He said he wants to marry me on New Year’s Eve. I told him I was going to go away for the holidays but he asked me to stay in town. It’s official. I told him I will marry him on New Year’s Eve, just like he wants me to. Mona: Sheila, please, listen to me. Charlie O’Brian is no good. I would never say a word to harm you but I can’t sit here and watch you just dash headlong off of no cliff. He is not the man you think he is. He is not a good person. He is a liar and a fake and he will end up dead or in prison and he will drag you down with him. You are too fine a person to make such a terrible match. You just can’t let yourself sink to his level. Sheila: Mona, please. Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you that you would disrespect me so much? Charlie is the only man who has ever treated me with any of the common courtesies. He doesn’t paw me, or try to kiss me when we are alone. He behaves like the perfect gentleman. Gertie puts down her dust cloth and moves back to her chair, She pulls it closer to the divan and sits down, leaning forward conspiratorially: Sheila, child, I may be out of place to say this, but Mona is right. That Charlie O’Brian is bad news. Don’t you know he got into a fight with a man over a card game? In a public place? He is one step from disaster all the time. He is a common ruffian when he is drunk and he is drunk most all of the times. He can’t be trusted any further than you could toss a bull by the tail. He is a daddy’s boy and won’t ever be nothing that his daddy don’t let him be. Hasn’t your schooling here taught you anything? It seems at least you would have learned to read men. Child, I’m saying this for your own good, Mona is right, you can’t marry that Charlie fellow. He is not good enough for you. I beg of you to reconsider your answer and tell that Mister O’Brian that you have reconsidered and you find that you cannot become his wife. Sheila buries her face in her hands sobbing Mona leans forward to comfort her, but Gertie gestures for her to stop Gertie: Child, I am sorry that I have made you feel bad but the simple fact is that you have to recognize that what Mona and I are telling you is for your own good and it is the gospel truth. Sheila stands: I don’t want to hear anymore of this. I don’t know how you figure that Charlie is not good enough for me. He has a good position in his father’s business and he can take care of me. I know that it’s not considered proper but he and I have discussed finances. I have agreed to put my trust money into a business proposal which he has become interested in. He is sure it will put us on easy street and I believe in him and I believe in his ideas. His father will finance half of it and I am going to put in the balance. But most importantly, ladies, he loves me passionately. We have spoken of our future together and we have decided to marry quickly without any long engagements. You ladies know I was orphaned and this sorority is what I reckon as my family. It’s the only family I have ever really had. You are all as close to me as blood sisters could be and I do appreciate you trying to look out for my best interest. But you just don’t know Charlie O’Brian like I know him. He wants me for the rest of his life and I want him the same. Sheila walks slowly out of the room, stage left: Gertie, to Mona, in a soft voice: What are we to do? Mona: What can we do? Gertie: Has she lost her mind or is she just yanking our chain? I swear I can’t get a fix on what she is thinking. But I’m prone to think she is believes this. That he is going to marry her. My god, this will destroy her if that is the case. Can we get Miss Edith to ban him? Keep him out of here? Mona: Miss Edith? Ban a paying customer? Are you a crack ho? Gimme a taste of what you is using. I don’t want no whole one†¦ just gimme a li’l taste, girl. Gertie laughs, then speaks: If he came in here and beat her up†¦if he broke her ribs, Miss Edith would ban him. Why let him break her heart? Mona: How long has she been here? Seriously? How can she believe anything a john tells her? She has served her indentures and is going to leave inside of six months with a nice piece of change. Hasn’t she learned anything? This has to be some kind of elaborate joke, don’t you think? You know how she has always been. How she calls us her sisters†¦how she call the house a sorority. She isn’t serious, and she isn’t putting on airs. It is just her way of coping with being a prostitute. But, lordy, what if she is smitten? What if she has fallen for the no good scalawag? Gertie: You want to know what Charlie O’Brian has in mind for a business deal? He wants to buy this house. Do you think he plans to get some funds out of her by saying he will marry her? Maybe we should tell Miss Edith all about this plan. Mona: No, I just had an inspiration. Why don’t we go the other way? Why not talk it up. Go overboard, all out in favor of it? Make it a matter of public record? Announce the engagement. Announce a big wedding right here on Christmas Eve? Let young Mister O’Brian put up or shut up? We just pretend we accept it as a done deal. We just go on with the wedding plans. Gertie giggles at the thought, then speaks: No! Wait†¦We are goin’ to be all decorated up for Christmas. We get Miss Edith to announce the imminent wedding when Charlie gets a few under his belt this coming Saturday night? We tell Miss Edith its just all a big joke on Charlie. We get the piano player to play Here Comes the Bride and let Sheila come down them stairs right there in a white gown. Charlie is all hat and no cattle but we can fix that. I know how. It looks like a win-win situation for us. He either backs out, and looks like a liar and a fool, or he goes ahead and marries a lady of the evening, which will cause his daddy to cut his manhood off so he can’t reproduce. (laughs) It would be so appropriate to have him look like a four-flusher or a fool in front of all his peers. We can get Parson Maybury to hang around just in case we need a few appropriate words†¦in case Charlie is drunk enough to do it. Oh my god, what I wouldn’t give to see him wake up the next morning married to Sheila. Mona: Miss Edith would never let us jack with a customer like that. Gertie: Not if she thinks we’re serious. But so long as we put it to her as an elaborate joke done in good honest fun†¦ It will be perfect for the holidays. We can convince her its entertainment and will bring in some new customers just to watch Charlie O’Brian marry a working girl. Arnie Harris works at City Hall. He will get me a blank marriage license if I ask him sweetly. We have good ol’ Harry on the piano. Todd Baker can take the wedding photos. Most of the men in this town dislike the O’Brians and would enjoy a good laugh at Charlie’s expense. You know, probably fifty per cent of the men in this town have gone up those stairs right there at some time in their life. (points) Then there is forty per cent of the men in this town who wish they could. Which leaves us with about ten percent who would like to take care of the 40 per cent who can’t make it, but that’s another story, but about ninety-five per cent of them do not like the O’Brians. Mona: Oh my god, girl, that would be the funniest thing I ever saw, to have spoilt, rich, pampered goodie two-shoes Charlie O’Brian married in the parlour of the finest House in all of New Orleans. And see the pictures spread all over the Sunday Times- Picayune†¦in the society section. We can make up a guest list. Include the governor’s name. Oh my god†¦girl, you’re a genius. (laughs). We don’t have to say they came, just say they was invited. Every man in town who is not an actual customer is fair game. Miss Edith would have our heads for revealing the names of actual customers but there ain’t no social taboo against revealing names of customers of the competition is there? Gertie: No, I would reckon they are fair game. Mona: We got to let Cloonie in on this. He can get some of the guys to go along with this. Bring in some tuxedos for the wedding party, for the pictures. Get a pen and paper, Gertie, we got to make a list of everything we need. I want it to be just perfect for Mister Charlie O’Brian’s wedding. What do you call them little fancy flowers men wear in their button hole? Well, we even want to get some of them. Oh yes, we have to do this up right. Charlie’s momma may want to send these pictures out to all the relatives who couldn’t actually make it to her son’s social event of the season, a whore-house wedding. Gertis: I’ll check to make sure, but Beaulah usually keeps some of that laudanum on hand for her croupe. If she is out she can get Doc Baines to send over a fresh bottle. Charlie will go to ordering his fancy little stemware glasses full of brandy and benedictine†¦he thinks that’s so posh†¦then he slips into that god-awful fake English accent and goes to calling himself Mister B and B. That sweet mess has such an odor about it that I could pour in a cup of creosote and he wouldn’t ever come close to tasting the difference. He sure won’t notice no dab of laudanum poured in. After a couple of shots of that stuff he will be cocked and primed. He will do what ever he is told to do, and smile while he is doing it. Mona: You know, there aren’t many of our customers who are disliked enough for us to pull this off on them. But Charlie O’Brian is pretty much universally thought to be a piece of human detritus. Everyone thinks he is a smarmy low life. This is perfect. Gertie: well, not totally perfect. We still aren’t sure where Sheila fits into all of this. What she is really thinking. Does she believe Charlie or is she just blowing smoke up our dresses to pass a cold winter day? Mona: Well†¦what difference is it? If she wants to marry him, she is going to end up married, with a ring and a license and she legally owns half his property as well. If she doesn’t, then we tell her it’s just all one big practical joke and we laugh about it. Gertie and Mona stand, Gertie speaks: That’s the thing I miss most about being in the sporting life. I miss the weddings. This is going to be some good fun. (Both women exit the stage, loudly humming The Wedding March)