WEEK 1 DISCUSSION PART 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

WEEK 1 DISCUSSION PART 1 - Assignment Example Its forward supply chain involves transfer of products to consumers while reverse supply chain involves transfer of products from consumers to the organization for recycling or as return inwards. The forward supply chain involves ordering of products via mail or electronic methods. A first in first out inventory management follows in processing and delivery of the orders, though the organization observers some flexibility. In cases of lack of inventory, a supplier is sought through an online system. The supply chain involves â€Å"postponement,† and â€Å"modularity† (Kumar and Graig, 2007, p. 200, 201). The organization’s suppliers and consumers who determine the volumes of required inventory manage inventory, and products are transported through shipments. The supply chain also involves a series of partnerships with â€Å"suppliers, service providers, shipping companies, and customers† (Kumar and Graig, 2007, p. 203). I could redesign the company’s supply chain through application of the six-sigma approach. The new design would involve a monitoring and evaluation department that would identify ideal supply chain processes and actual deviations from the ideals. The department would also explore periodic changes in supply chain processes and identify significance of those changes with respect to consumers’ expectations in order to eliminate inefficiencies and facilitate cohesion among involved processes and stakeholders. The design will also evaluate suppliers’ efficiency levels to identify the most reliable suppliers for long-term partnerships, contrary to the current short-term partnership approach. This is because long-term partnerships increase commitments towards efficiencies. Inputs and outputs will however remain the same since they are determined by demand (Bandyopadhyay and Jenicke, 2007). The design will involve both domestic and global operations. The need for global operations will extend the analytical approach to the corporation’s

Project management performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project management performance - Essay Example These shortcomings increase the confounding effects of the productivity variables measured and analyzed. The figures calculated for each of the variables of productivity (factor productivity ratios) over a period of time can be systematically plotted to identify and predict a trend that shows change in productivity. The figures for each variable can be monitored individually or collectively with other variables. To monitor productivity over a period of one year productivity metrics for each month have to be calculated. The change in productivity (trend) between one month and another or across the 12 months can be identified by simply calculating the difference in the productivity metrics. The trend can be graphically represented by plotting the productivity metric over a period of year. Fig 1 shows a trend for multifactor (labor and capital) productivity ratio calculated for the months of January is 0.560, February 0.585, March 0.615, April 0.616, May 0.610, June 0.623, July 0.623, August 0.634, September 0.598, October 0.590, November 0.589 and December 0.590. Also for the trend ident ified to be more meaningful, the variable(s) plotted must be compared with productivity of other firms with factors similar to the one in question. This can be done by comparing the productivity metrics with external benchmarks. The last bar in Fig 1 represents the benchmark for similar (small catering/restaurants service). The operation manager of the food service unit can therefore comparatively monitor performance of the unit. The work of the operation manager can be made simpler if s/he uses Microsoft Project application to measure and monitor schedule performance of staff and inputs (monetized resources). This application will allow the manager to handle large variety of data and to (intra) extrapolate outcomes. The operation managers can use the information (factor

The contrasting characters of Hal and Hotspur in King Henry IV Essay Example for Free

The contrasting characters of Hal and Hotspur in King Henry IV Essay Examine closely the contrasting characters of Hal and Hotspur in King Henry IV, Part One, showing how the play is built around their actions and different destinies, and how this contrast is reflected in the language associated with them. This play is showing the point of history when Henry IV (Bolingbroke) disposesses Richard II from the throne in 1399. It shows the problems Henry faces after he has changed and tampered with the divine rights of kings and then dishoned all the people who helped him overthrow Richard II. This creates a great main point to the story which shows a contrast between two characters, one being Hal, the kings son, and the other being Hotspur a honourable warrior. A contrast between Hal and Hotspur is established very early on in the play. Hotspur is portrayed as a great warrior who is brave and honourable, loyal to the king and an accomplished leader. Hal on the other hand is shown as someone who should be helping the king as he is his son but is not. He insteed is being dishourable and is showing the negative qualitites of being foolish and cowardly. In the kings speech in Act 1, Scene 1, the king says that he wishes Hotspur was his son and that Hal was not. This is a very strong and very important part of the play as this shows just how much higher Hotspur is than Hal in the kings eyes that he would want to trade his son. He describes Hotspur as theme of honours tongue and as the straightest plant which shows how important and how much respect the king has for Hotspur in using this personification. The word theme shows that Hotspur is a main part of the word honour and without Hotspur and all his honour there is not much honour left as Hotspur holds a great deal of it. He is described as: the straightest plant; by the king as the word straighest shows that hotspur is in his prime and that he is the strongest, most full and most wanted. The word plant is also significant as plants and trees are needed for the survival of humanity as they take in the carbon dioxide that humans exhale which is useless to humans and exchange it for oxygen which is a much needed and essential ingredient to human life and with him being the straighest and most full he is the main source of the worlds oxygen along with his fellow friends. This shows that without him the rest of the world would not be the same as it is now and the world of honour could well be lost if it wasnt for him. In this same speech of the king, Hal is described as riot and dishour stain the brow which shows the complete opposite of Hotspur and says that Hal is looked down upon and a disgrace to his family name. This contrast is shown clearly with the alternating scenes having every scene being set on either Hal in Eastcheap and then the next with Hotspur in a knightly place. This helps with the development and change of the two characters as you can see clearly the rise of Hal throughout the play and then the opposite decline of Hotspur in parallel. This helps to show the clear crossover of Hal and Hotspur in terms of honour in the midpoint of the play, Act 3. Straight away you can tell that Hotspur is going to be a great warrior and a well respected man through his name. The Hot part makes him seem as though he is fired up and ready for anything which could come along. It also shows he could be hot-headed and a slight brute in battle leaving no-one with any honour but himself. The spur part makes him seem as though he lives in the past like a cowboy. It also as was the point of cowboys makes him seem as though his main gol in life was to get as much honour and respect and the only way to do this would be as the cowboys would put it the quickest shooter in the west. Hotspur has many other positive traits which are shown towards the beginning of the play to signal how much of a strong and honourable character he is. He is portrayed as being a great warrior and a leader who would be great in battle; all praised knight. This shows how honourable he is and how everyone acnologise this fact. This is a good contrast between Hal as people dont see Hal as a warrior with honour but as a devious politician who cant seem to ever gain honour though his current lifestyle. Hotspur being honourable is one of his main strengths as this shows that he can always be counted on and being a good warrior aswell means hes the first choice for a man in battle: to pluck bright honour from the pale faced moon. The words used in this quote are very significant as it is short and to the point, compact into one strong and effect sentence which enables it to stick in your mind and be remembered. The words pale-faced moon make it seem as though the honour is very high and almost unreachable to any human being but not Hotspur as the words pale-faced and pluck make it seem as if getting the honour for Hotspur was very easy and even the moon was shocked and pale. Also the word bright makes it seem as if it is heaven like, holy and above any normal human being but again nothing is too hard for Hotspur. Hal however has a very dishonourable lifestyle and rejects his royal duties and instead drinks, whores and robs people of their money. The way Hals scenes are written in prose with alot of common tongue and swearing shows he is not acting like that of a prince, heir to the throne. The king has already right at the start of the play in the first scene told that Hal has Stain the brow of the royal family and the word stain makes it seems as though it is permenant and so can never been got out or redeemed. Hal while with Falstaff and the rest of the lads down Eastcheap is very lazy, careless and dishonourable and seems to not care at all for anything except from sleeping with prostitutes and drinking beer which he gets the money from through robbing others for their money which is shown in Act 2, Scene 2 where Hal and the rest of the gang at Eastcheap plan to rob tax men. This robbing scene though also shows more traits of Hals as Hal plans with Poins to not rob the tax men but to wait until Falstaff does it and then rob the stolen money off of Falstaff. This shows that he is a planner and has a political and cunning mind as he then says that robbing a robber isnt a crime and so he is only acting and playing a robber and is not actually a true lowlife. Robbing from Falstaff is also significant as it shows Hal cares little of Falstaff and is showing that Falstaff means nothing to him nd that this life may also be an act and not be true of Hal. Although Hotspur is expressed as an honourable warrior who is not at fault for anything and is on top of the world he also has his weak traits which on close analysis indicate a downfall of him at the time of the rebellion. Many of the sentences which are used when Hotspur is speaking are simple, short and exclamatary which shows he is hotheaded and has a bad temper: Hang him!; which would also lead to him being rude and unable to accept people different from his great warrior type which will end up to him losing allies unlike that of Hal who can get on with anyone: And you in hell, as oft as he hears Owen Glendower spoke of. But his main weaknesses are his lack of planning which will have great effect on the rebellon he is running: I forgot the map! and also the way he allienates his allies which will also lead to the same downfall and failure to the rebellion. A lack of planning shows a old trait of a warrior and not that of a politician which as shown by Hal is a new and effective way to shape life and succeed in life. The way he allienates his allies also shows how egolistic he is as he thinks he doesnt need anyone else as he on his own can do anything he wants and succeed in anything in life no matter what the chances of failure are: Well fight tonight; Act IV, Scene III, where the other members of the rebellion say to fight tomorrow when they have more men and a greater chance but Hotspur is not interested in numbers and planning but only himself and fighting. All the time Hotspur is on the downfall coming up to the rebellion Hal is on the rise thanks to his calculating and futuristic mind which he uses to plan the future to his advantage. This political and machievellian side shows his planning ability which will help him to defend his father, king Henry, in the rebellion and rescue him from a complete dishonourable life. The machievellian side indicates how good he is at acting and indicates tht he is actually acting to be part of the rough lowlife community when actually he is using it to his advantage as when he becomes honourable and a good king the contrast between the two different Hal and Prince Harry sides will be so drastic that everyone will see him as a much better king than he actually is: I will redeem all this on Percys head, which is said in Act 3, Scene 2 which shows his Machievellian side and how all of his life has been an act which is outlined in the soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2. Hals calculating side is shown clearly as the further the play goes on the more financial and mathematical language is used; the debt I never promised; from the soliloquy in Act 1, Scene 2. This describes Hal as a prince which he sees as a debt as it wasnt up to him to be a prince he was just born into it. Also Hal pays Falstaffs tavern debt which gives the indication that he pays all debts and so will most probably pay the debt of being a good prince and finally king. In Act 3, Scene 2 Hal has a speech with the king which opens up the change of Hal. This is noticeable from the very start of the act as it is written in verse as that of the royals and not in prose like he used to talk in Eastcheap. In the speech the king starts by saying that God is punishing him for the way he overthrowed Richard II by giving him a lazy and ignorant son. Hal responds to this by accepting his faults but by aso saying that much of the news heard by the king was exagerated as Hal is prince. Bolingbroke then lies to his son and says that he himself kept out of the limelight unlike Richard and Hal and this is why he is king at the moment. But in Richard II, Bolingbroke is shown to be very much in the limelight unlike he has said and this this maybe suggests that Hal has got his skill of a politician from his father Bolingbroke. Then the king goes on to say what great qualities Hotspur has and how he is a warrior and a leader unlike Hal. He then goes on to say that he th inks his son is so dishonourable that if the rebels paid him he would fight for them against his father: to fight against me under Percys pay. This comment gets to Hal and so he reveals to his father, Bolingbroke, his plan of using Percy to gain all the glory and honour for him, which shows he is political and that of a Machievellian mind: Percy is but my factor. He then goes on to say that once Percy has gained the honour he will kill Hotspur and take all the Honour of Hotspur which will rid him of his bad life and allow him to make a good, princely new start: Stain my favours in a bloody mask/which, washd away, shall scour my shame. Hals change to a full new prince is shown clearly with evidence of this change being, the way he acts courteusly and kindly and doesnt tell a single lie. He also says that he is friends with his father which shows he has left behind the friends from Eastcheap and is now friends with the royals which he should be. He also pays back debt literally to the landlady in Eastcheap and also pays his royal metaphoric debt by giving commands and taking charge and acting like a prince in public for the first time. Hals rise is so great that it is even noticed by Vernon, one of Hotspurs rebels when he tells Hotspur of Hals rise by decsribing him as: gorgeous as sun at midsummer. The word sun is used to symbolise new hope and power from within Prince Harry and midsummer is used to tell Hotspur that th Prince is rising and peaking and so stronger than ever. The reference to sun also links to the soliloquy in which the Prince outlines his rise. Vernon also uses the quote: rise from the ground like feathered mercury to decsribe Prince Harry. The word rise shows that Harry is moving up in the world and Mercury to make he seem God-like. In Act 4, Scene 2, Falstaff sells his footsoldiers so he gets money and then just replaces them with the lowlifes of society and so he ends up with money and footsoldiers. Falstaff has an attitude that it doesnt matter hat footsoldiers you have they are all going to die and so who he has picked means nothing as he sees war as a blood bath which is a dramatic contrast to the idea of war to Hal and Hotspur as they both see it as honourable. Later on in the play in Act 5, Scene 1, Hal makes an offer to the king of single-handed combat with a Percy as he wants to re-inact what Bolingbroke did after he went from the drain to fame. To this proposal the king denies which shows he is know in the modern, political world and that the old medieval honour age is in the past. Falstaff later on in this scene dismisses honour and war again by saying it is useless and has no purpose as it cant keep you alive or save you from suffering and so he will have nothing to do with it. This speech by Falstaff signals the downfall of Hotspur as it shows that his whole life chasing honour is worthless as all it is is just a simple word which has no significance to our destinies. Hotspurs downfall is shown again in the next scene when he replies: Cousin, I think thou art enamoured on his follies; to Vernon when he praises the Prince and tels of his change. In saying this Hotspur is showing that he can not acept Hals change and so when it comes to battle Hotspur will be to arrogant and unestimate Hal which could and does lead to his death. Hal shows two last and most important traits of a true prince before killing Hotspur by refusing to leave the battlefield despite being wounded and told to by his father and then by saving his father, the King, from Douglas. The King tells of his forgiveness to Hal after he saves his life by saying that Hal has: redeemd thy lost opinion. The king uses the financial word of redeemd to show of the change to the new world and to show that Prince Harry is a political hero in the eyes of the king. Also, in saying this the king is forgiving him and allowing him to have a new start at being a Prince. Hal finally replies to the king by closing the soliloquy of that of princely debt by accepting that it was his debt and even if he never pomised it he still had to pay it to be a good Prince: never promiseth but he means to pay Hal then finishes his transformation into a Prince by defeating Hotspur in single-compact. But during the time in which Hotspur is finally dying and has lost his honour he relises it means nothing to you once your dead but still can only accept the lose of his life to Prince Harry over the lose of his honour. Once Hotspur is dead the Prince regains the traits of a true prince and pays respect to Hotspur after he dies and then covers his face as a final show of respect: But let my favours, hids thy mangles face. Hal then refers to himself as the Prince for the first time and this symbolised a complete change: I am the Prince of Wales. A truely transformed Prince Harry then backs up a total transformation by releasing and showing remorse on Douglas who fought against him and the king as part of the rebels in the rebellion and then finally rides of to fight Glendower with the king to show him and his father as true political royals side by side as they should be.

Introduction Of Ghana Culture And Social Situation Politics Essay

Introduction Of Ghana Culture And Social Situation Politics Essay This section wills analysis the changes of culture and social aspects in Ghana under globalization process. First of all, as mentioned above, introduce the background of Ghana in both sides. And then focus on the cultural globalization. After introduce the definition, the importance and the relationship between culture and cultural globalization, begin discuss a crucial question Is Ghana has more to gain than to fear from cultural globalization. In social area, it will make a concrete analysis of each specific question, using employment situation, education and mortality rate as examples. General discussion about culture and cultural globalization Globalization offers an opportunity to the spread of language and culture from foreign country. The Cola-Cola, McDonalds and Subway can be founded in majority cities throughout the world. It is essential to discuss the definition of culture in order to understanding the cultural globalization. According to a Ghanaian, their cultural policy documents already offer a unambiguous response to any doubts about the definition: culture is a invisible thing which distinguish Ghanaian from other people (Audrey Gadzekpo 2005) Beside this, as German nonpositivist sociologist Georg Simmel ()points out the culture referred to the cultivation of individuals through the agency of external forms which have been objectified in the course of history. In addition, culture is an essential part of a nation, no matter it rich or poor. For the Ajay Bhatt, there are three points to support his views (Bhatt 2010). (1) The group solidarity depends on the foundation of culture, it remain the integrity of socia l relationship; (2) Culture has offer the new ideas to the people especially the younger generation; (3) Culture produces new ideas. By summarizing above, the significance of culture could hardly be overlooked, it is crucial to the whole country. Along with the world culture development fusion, a new phenomenon appeared-cultural globalization. It usually defined as the rapid movement of ideas, attitudes, and values across national borders (Sofree 2003-2012). Cultural globalization has the same characteristics with culture and can easily be found anywhere in the daily life. Introduction of Ghana culture and social situation Ghana was the first African country on the continent to achieve independence from the British colonial rule .And it used to be called Gold Coast until 1957. It is an ethnically diverse country that is deeply influenced by ancient Kingdoms of the Akan. The Ghanaian culture is a mixture of six ethnic groups. Among these groups, the Akan occupies the leading position (Miss West Africa Ghana). However, there have been many changes in social and culture aspects in Ghana in the preceding decades. For instance, the building of European architectural styles can be found everywhere in the country. In social area, the media of Ghana is one of the most free in Africa and has been described as one of the most unfettered ¼Ã‹â€ BBC News 2012 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °. The large numbers of films and music from western society flow into Ghana could benefit from this. The background culture situation in Ghana A case study is Ghana, for instance, one of the most popular movie in Ghana is called American Boy, this film directed by Ghanaians (Nairaland Forum 2012). Even more remarkably, the latest film in the blockbuster movie series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows remained the No.1 movie and rakes in over $50.3 million over Thanksgiving weekend in 2010, according to Ghana Business News (2010). Beside this, the famous singer Lady Gaga always generated a lively discussion in every major forum and portal in Ghana, such as Omgghana and Hitbanger. Interestingly, other aspects expect for entertainment area in Ghana have the same condition. According to the Africa guide, Ghanaians composed of six ethnic groups, including the Akan (Ashanti and Fanti), the Gurma , the Ga-Adangbe, the Guan ,the Mole-Dagbani ,and the Ewe. In the past year of Ghana, a stranger always identified by his ethic origin or home town, for example that Ashanti man or the Ewe carpentry-master (Foster 1965). However, as the International Organization for Migration points out Ghana already become the principal destination to the refugee population in the West Africa sub-region. And in the context of globalization, Ghanaian migration has becoming increasing popular. It means people from various countries are pouring into Ghana and ethnic lines are no longer distinct. The globalization changes peoples way of thinking. In fact, compared to other black African nations, Ghana was more promising and prosperous and it more suitable for globalization (Manuh,T 2005). Is Ghana has more to gain than to fear from cultural globalization? Through the introduction of background in Ghana, the changes really exist in cultural aspects. However, increasing scholarly attention is now devoted to a question: Is Ghana has more to gain than to fear from cultural globalization? In fact, some scholars like David Rothkopf, the managing director of Kissinger Associates and an adjunct professor of international affairs at Columbia University, concerned about the question for a long time (The Statesman 2007). As Rothkopf argues, the America is trying to control the world with language, the common telecommunication and the food safety standards. The developed countries will use their own ideas, products and brands to replace the traditional way in poorer countries. Others like S.K. Boafo, suggested that the external culture such as films, music and language from America may have a significant threat to the traditional culture in Ghana (The Statesman 2007). As the minister of Chieftaincy and Culture, he point out that there are some negative impacts of foreign influences on Ghanaian culture in the last fifty years. For example, people in Ghana especially the younger generation more easily accept the western pop than the traditional folk song. Indeed the UNESCO als o supports their views, a meeting called protection and promotion hold by UNESCO in October 2005 (The Statesman 2007). The meeting was concern the cultural diversity and drafter worried the gap between developing and developed countries. Another supporter is Audrey Gadzekpo, she argues the culture as a useful linkages between the past and present, but under the globalization background, this type of link become more and more tenuous for the past five decades. The media violence in Ghana is a specific example. The researchers draw conclusions from more than 1000 studies that there is a positive association between violence entertainment and aggressive behavior. In other worlds, the violence and pornographic in the media contributes to the development of instability of the society and affects children and young people in Ghana. In fact, the media violence is a reality for the whole world However, it is the truth of the cultural globalization in Ghana? As we all know, the cultural invasion is very common in modern time. But as Kwame Anthony Appiah says the so-called cultural invasion can sometimes lead to innovation, various cultures and new ideas. Cultural Globalization focuses on the influence and infiltration between different regions, countries and nations, which reflects the generality of the development. A powerful example of this point is Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana. Kwame Anthony Appiah always realized it, he says what can you tell about peoples souls from the fact that they drink Coca-Cola? (Divestiture Implementation Committee 2004) Indeed, these companies like Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana (TCCBCG) contribute a lot of culture changes. TCCBCG has donated much money to built hospital, it not only offers more job opportunities to poor people but also promote the development of medical health. In Ghana as the Cultural Minister suggests people must correctly deal with cultural globalization and the most effective way to Western culture is keep the good thing in it. To sum up, as he says But as aspects of our old cultures change, adapt, maybe disappear, we have the opportunity to create something new drawing on the heterogeneous, cosmopolitan nature of modern Ghana and the modern world to create something that is a unique mixture of both (The Statesman 2007). To conclude, the answer about the question mentioned above is depending on Ghana as a active recipient or only a passive recipient. General discussion about Social globalization We cannot ignore the fact that world is so deeply interconnected and influence each other. For Akhila Kolisetty, majority of people have not realized what the social change is and how it affects both individuals and whole country. As a current student of London School of Economics, she suggested the first thing is defined the social globalization. Globalization can be classified according to the different functions into three categories: economic, political, social and culture.(Ali Datko).All of them are interdependent, but always influence each other. As Datko define the social globalization, it talk about the human interaction within cultural communities, and consist of topics like family, religion, work and education. But besides that, there is another definition about social and cultural globalization A process in which the constrains of geography on social and cultural arrangements recede and in which people become increasingly aware that they are receding(Robertson, 1992:7). In Ghana, the effect of globalization is all-pervasive. For instance, Ghana has experienced a continuous growth at their high-technology sector including the telecommunication and information technology at the early of 21st century (Edward Opoku-Dapaah, 2002). However, Opoku-Dapaah was pessimistic about social globalization. According to him, these advanced technology which comes from western countries maintain and extended the gap between rich and poor. To the contrary, other member such as international community and Ghanaian elite were optimistic about it. As Opoku-Dapaah points out, the key word is weather they mastered the technology. The labor market The globalization can offer a number of benefits for social situation in Ghana. The strongest evidence is labor market. As we all know, the situation of employment is urgent nowadays not only for graduates but also for normal people. Employment becomes one of the major social issues in every country. More and more people pay great attention to it. However, in this situation, Ghana experienced a dramatically decrease in their unemployment rate (Graph 1 from: indexmundi ).The graph gives information about historical data for Ghana unemployment rate from 1997 to 2000. It is clearly see that the percentage dropped from approximately 20% in 1997 to about 11% in 2000.Though it only for a portion of time, but it still very representative of the total situation. In 2005 the unemployment rate in Ghana is 12.9%. Additionally, the percentage averaged 12.05% from 2001 to 2005, then reaches the peak at 12.90% in December of 2005 and touches the bottom at 11.20% in December of 2001. In addition, the changes like this can have a positive impact not only to individuals but also to society. Like Joblistghana, one of the website which is using for job-hunting, they provide beyond 500 job opportunities to candidates. For example, if a father find a place to do the work, he can offer the better learning environment to children and development the familys living standard. In addition, the structure of labor market has been changed in a globalised world. Industry in Ghana occupies approximately 25.3% of total GDP. Without doubt, it offers more job opportunities to Ghanaians. The last point about labor market change is the spirit of innovation, as we all know the creative ability is the soul of an enterprise. Education The adult literacy rate in Ghana was 75% in 2007, with males at 87.2% and females at 67.1% (Education: about Ghana). However, during the colonial rule the figure was only 11%. Emefa Amoako explores the relevance with education in developing countries such as Ghana. As a result, he found the globalization have significant influence to the national education policy processes. In fact, the globalization not only a unique challenges but also an opportunity to the whole society. The fast development of globalization means some professionals who engage in education area flow into Ghana, and they always have professionally trained (Richard Joseph 2005).For the large number of outflow from other countries in Africa, it easier to find a satisfying job if they pass local certification examination such as university educators and doctors. All of them make significant contribution to the development of Ghanas education undertaking. It is one of the reason why adult literacy rate in Ghana growing and changing so quickly. Medical and Mortality rate As mentioned above, the social globalization means doctors, nurses and other health care professionals flow into Ghana. Like all the other nations in Africa, Child-mortality is a very serious social problem during these years. At the same time, it is the most comprehensive and complex indicators of social development. The definition of child mortality is the probability of dying between the exact ages of one and five. As the graph below shows the mortality rate deceases from 79.40% in 1988 to 28% in 2008, and the same situation occur in male child. As the research from Bloom Projects International, there are no evidences to show the relationship between infant mortality rate decrease and country size, economic growth and location except medical conditions (Bloom Projects International From 2012). In fact, better treatments in Ghana rely on the high-technology and medical expert to a great degree. At this point, Ghana as a beneficiary rather than a victim in social globalization proce sses. Graph 1 Unemployment rate in Ghana(%) (http://www.indexmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=ghv=74) Graph2 Ghana mortality rate(per 1,000 female children age one) (http://www.indexmundi.com/facts/ghana/mortality-rate)

Santiago as Code Hero in Hemingways The Old Man and The Sea Essay

Santiago as Code Hero in Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea "The Old Man and the Sea" is a heroic tale of man's strength pitted against forces he cannot control. It is a story about an old Cuban fisherman and his three-day battle with a giant Marlin. Through the use of three prominent themes; friendship, bravery, and Christianity; the "Old Man and the Sea" strives to teach important life lessons to the reader while also epitomizing Santiago, the old fisherman, as a Hemingway code hero. The relationship between Santiago and the boy is introduced early in the story. They are unlikely companions; one is old and the other young, yet they share an insuperable amount of respect and loyalty for each other. Santiago does not treat Manolin as a young boy but rather as an equal. Age is not a factor in their relationship. Manolin does not even act as a young boy; he is mature and sensitive to Santiago's feelings. He even offers to disobey his parents and accompany Santiago on his fishing trips. Santiago is viewed as an outcast in his village because he has not caught any fish for more than eighty-four days and is therefore "unlucky". Nonetheless Manolin is loyal to Santiago and even when his parents forbid him he wants to help his friend. Their conversations are comfortable, like that of two friends who have known each other for a long time. When they speak it is usually about baseball or fishing, the two things they have most in common. Their favorite team is the Yankees and Santiago never loses faith in them even when the star player, Joe DiMaggio is injured with a heel spur. In this way Santiago not only teaches Manolin about fishing but also about important characteristics such as faith. In the story Santiago's bravery is uns... ...e does allow Christianity to be a more dominant theme than the other but instead makes it more symbolic than intentional. He does not smother the relationship between the old man and the young boy but instead separates them for a large part of the story. Finally, he does not make Santiago's bravery a central them by highlighting his weaknesses. In the end the old mans perseverance and faith pay off. He finally gains the respect of the village and succeeds in teaching Manolin the lessons of faith and bravery. In Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea", one will find many examples in which the main character, Santiago, surpasses many hardships while being courageous, brave, and being a friend. Each of these: courage, bravery, and friendship, are qualities in a Hemingway code hero. Hemingway, Ernest. "The Old Man and the Sea. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.

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APPLE’S PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES The keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2013 offers yet another opportunity to learn fresh and effective techniques that you can and should apply to your presentations. Stick to one theme per slide. It means that it is better not to put the two topics or statistics in one slide. Apple brings this recommendation to the top and becomes as laconic as can be. Apple had to deliver the following idea: â€Å"The developer program is incredibly vibrant. We have over six million registered developers. Demand for this show has never been greater. We sold out in just over a minute [71 seconds].† Let’s think how many slides you would create. Most people would put the two statistics, 6 million and 71 seconds, on one slide. Apple CEO, Tim Cook, had two slides. The first one simply read: 6 million. The second slide read: 71 seconds. The second slide also had the words â€Å"Sold Out† in red. We know that facts and statistic have benefits and drawbacks. If used effectively they offer quick, credible support for your message. Make data visual. In the presentation of Apple Tim Cook announced that Apple customers have downloaded 50 billion apps from the App Store. Instead of simply putting the number on the screen, as most presenters would do, Apple designers created a visual display of the data with zeroes that are actually images of apps. Creative visual cues can impress the audience and become more memorable. Always avoid bullet points. There are images and text (sometimes on the same slide) on Apple slides, but no bullet points. The theory says, â€Å"Include no more than four to six lines of text on one slide- this can be one quote, three bullets that are two lines each, or one example.† The designer... ... part of your company story. Apple’s team presentation is a better role model for creating, designing and delivering presentations. It appears as mix of informative and persuasive presentations. It is perfect example of how speakers’ body language and words match one other. Supporting materials in this presentation add interest, visual impact, and credibility. Techniques that Apple used in this presentation are extremely impressive and effective. Work Cited: DiResta, Diane. Knockout Presentations. Worcester ( Mass.): Chandler House, 1998. Print. Goodall, H. Lloyd., Sandra Goodall, and Jill Schiefelbein. Business and Professional Communication in the Global Workplace. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Pub., 2010. Print. Gallo, Carmine. "10 Presentation Techniques You Can (And Should) Copy From Apple's WWDC Keynote." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 11 June 2013. Web. 07 Dec. 2013.

Czech Cultural Analysis

Cultural Analysis – Czech Republic Missouri University of Science and Technology ` table of contents table of contentsii 1. 0Czech vs u. s. Culture – hofstede’s model3 2. 0Czech business culture – trompenaaris classificaion7 3. 0U. S. Business culture change needed7 4. 0bibliography9 1. 0Czech vs u. s. Culture – hofstede’s model The Czech Republic has its roots as a former communist state known as Czechoslovakia. The fall of communism and the transformation to a democratic government has seasoned this country’s history. From the â€Å"Velvet Revolution† in 1989 to the charismatic leadership of the poet Vaclav Havel, the Czech Republic has developed well in the European cultures (Katz 2008). The Czech Republic had an estimated GDP of $288. 6 billion in 2011, which is ranked 45th against other world countries. Auto exports are the main economic driver with Germany being a large consumer of their export goods (The cia world, 2012). Context The classification of high-context or low-context gives us very useful cultural distinctions. A high-context culture relies heavily on unspoken cues in conversation. They tend to want to establish trust first in business negotiations, value a personal relations and goodwill, agree by general trust, and negotiate in a slow ritualistic manner. A low-context culture generally gets straight to the point and does not bother with ritualistic negotiations or getting to know one another personally before business deals. A low-context culture usually values expertise and performance, likes to make agreements with legalistic types of contracts, and negotiates as effective as possible (Kreitner, 2012). People in the Czech Republic tend to use body language sparingly with little physical contact. However, when communicating with them, silence could mean a problem, especially if they lower their eyes. The Czech people value punctuality and are a schedule oriented people. They like to schedule meetings in advance and require notification if one is going to be late. The Czech do like to get down to business, but the pace of business could be slow at first until you build relationship. The Czechs also prefer written terms and conditions when making business transactions (Katz 2008). All of these characteristics describe a low-context culture. The U. S. s a low-context culture as well (Kreitner, 2012), so doing business with Czech people will not seem too foreign to our U. S. company. Hofstede’s Model The Hofstede’s Model can be used to help classify the national culture of the Czech Republic and can give us insight into how the U. S. compares. With this information, we can determine if our company culture is a good fit for doing business in the Czech Republic. The 5 cultural dimensions of Hofstede’s model will be used: power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation and will be compared to our U. S. results. Power distance is defined as a dimension that deals with the fact that not all individuals in society are equal. This dimension captures the attitude of a culture toward this reality. A low score would mean that the culture has an attitude that people should be equal in society, and a high score would represent an attitude of acceptance of these large inequalities in society. The U. S. scores low on this dimension (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). We subscribe to the mentality of â€Å"liberty and justice for all,† which can explain the low score. The Czech Republic has a slightly higher score than the U. S. hich means that they have an attitude more acceptable of societal inequalities (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). This can probably be traced back to their roots as a communist country, where societal members had to get used to the one party government that was highly hierarchal. The individualism dimension captures the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members (Kreitner, 2012). The U. S. scores very high on the individualism dimension. We are accustomed to the idea that we need to take care of ourselves and our families. â€Å"Rugged individualism† is a characteristic of many Americans and politicians. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, score much lower score on individualism, and tend to value the mentality that â€Å"we are in this together. † This can be seen in their different types of advertising in their country. Their advertising constantly appeals to family happiness, togetherness, and friendship focusing on groups of people enjoying life together (Taylor, 2002). Masculinity is a dimension that characterizes a culture’s tendency toward valuing competition and success defined by winning at whatever the challenge, or the culture’s value of caring of others and quality of life. A high masculinity score would be the former and a lower masculinity score would be the latter. The Czech Republic and the U. S. have a very similar score here (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). They are both right in the middle of the scale and can be categorized as having a good balance between competition and striving to be on top as the winner, and caring for others along the way. Uncertainty avoidance is a dimension that captures a society’s way that they deal with ambiguity. The anxiety of an unknown future can lead to a societal out pour that creates beliefs or institutions to try to avoid this anxiety (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). In the Czech Republic, the older generations tend to want to avoid uncertainty and are reluctant to take risks. This can most likely be traced back to when the country was communist. The younger generations are, however, more open due to more international exposure, but the Czech Republic scores relatively high in this dimension (Katz 2008). The U. S. has a significantly lower score when it comes to uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). The U. S. is willing to take risks and accepts risk as part of life and business. The U. S. culture is more open to new ideas and is willing to try something new or different. The U. S. subscribes to the value of â€Å"freedom of expression. † Long-term orientation is the measure of where a society is focused. It can be defined as â€Å"the extent to which a society shows a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historical short-term point of view† (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). Both the Czech Republic and the U. S. score low on this dimension. This means that business measure their performance on a short-term basis. They are focused on what they can earn right now, and can be seen in the fact that profits are calculated on a quarterly reporting basis. This drives people to struggle for quick results in the work place. The Czech Republic can be said to be competitive, but know the value of a long-term relationship (Katz 2008). Even with this said, the Czech Republic scores a lower score than the U. S. These five cultural dimensions described above can be seen graphically in the figures below (Hofstede & Hofstede, 2005). Figure 1: Hofstede dimensions of Czech Republic and U. S. 2. 0Czech business culture – trompenaaris classificaion The Czech Republic could be classified as having a Guided Missile corporate culture. Czechs highly value formal education and expertise. They recognize and value the power of knowledge (Katz 2008). The Czech people like the win-win negotiations and strive for this in business transactions. They place this mentality on business with a focus on task oriented business success (Katz 2008). Negotiations are competitive, but business men in the Czech Republic tend to hold their cards close to their chest and do not lie often (Katz 2008). Czech management is seen as a team leader with the organization predominantly a continuous process of solving problems successfully. This is in somewhat contrast as to the U. S. company. The U. S. Company is described as an Incubator. This company is person-oriented and values giving power to the individual (Trompenaars, 2003). This is in contrast to the more structured corporate structure of the Guided Missile. The Incubator has the main characteristics that value commitment of oneself and professional recognition, where the Guided Missile’s characteristics are more of paying for performance and management by objectives (Trompenaars, 2003). 3. 0U. S. Business culture change needed A culture change may or may not be needed for the U. S. Company to thrive in the Czech Republic. There will be some corporate cultural tension, however, which can be the catalyst or driving force for change according to Fons Trompenaars (Trompenaars, 2003). One way to manage corporate culture change when going from U. S. to the Czech Republics would be to restructure authority to managers who have show innovation and learning as their main objectives in their goals. Another way to foster change would be to make learning and improvement a part of day to day task descriptions. Finally it would be beneficial to the U. S. Company to describe rewards in terms of clearly stated innovation outputs. These techniques described above will help foster culture change in the U. S. Company to move toward a more ideal corporate culture from an Incubator to a Guided Missile (Trompenaars, 2003). 4. 0bibliography Katz, L. (2008). Negotiating international business – the negotiator’s reference guide. (2nd ed. , pp. 1-5). Retrieved from http://www. globalnegotiationresources. com/cou/CzechRepublic. pdf (2012). The cia world factbook. Washington D. C. : The U. S. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved from https://www. ia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ez. html Kreitner, R. (2012). Organizational behavior. (10 ed. ). Arizona: McGraw- Hill. Hofstede, G. , & Hofstede, G. J. (2005). Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind, by hofstede, 2nd revised and expanded edition. New York: McGraw Hill. Taylor, Charles (2002). Advertising in the Czech Republic: Czech perceptions of effective advertising and advertising clutter. Vol. Iss: 12, pp. 137 – 149. Trompenaars, F. (2003). A new framework for managing change across cultures. Journal of change management, 3(4), 361-375.