Off Shore Drilling Essay

Should the Government Expand Off Shore Drilling in the U.S.? The crude oil industry has become prominent since mid 19th century. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the development of drilling methods has brought oil into a drastically larger extent of mass production. Petroleum is one of the important extracted compositions of crude oil in the U.S. Until today, it is globally used mainly as fuels in transportation. Other uses include heating homes, powering industry, and providing raw material for plastic manufacturing. The great importance of oil to the country has led to the exploitation of its resources in the past century. Not only exploiting land resources, the government is also beginning to exploit resources under the sea. Off shore drilling is the method of extracting crude oil from the seabed. It has been a controversial issue in the U.S. of whether or not off shore drilling should be expanded. In this essay, I am comparing and contrasting the reasons why some people are supportive of off shore drilling in the U.S., and why some people are in opposition to it. I will discuss three major aspects upon this issue; the three aspects are national security, economy and environment. The first reason why some people support off shore drilling is that they believe that off shore drilling will not harm the environment due to the vast improvement of technology. The biggest environmental issue that is often associated with off shore drilling is oil spills. People believe that as time is progressing, rapid advancement in technology will make it possible to conduct off shore drilling at the safest way in order not to harm the environment. Based on statistics by http://www.itopf.com, oil spill cases have declined over the past few decades, which prove that technology has become better. In line with the advancement of technology, a complete recovery of past oil spills have been proven to be attainable. An example of such cases is the success story of the recovery of Alaska’s Prince William Sound, which was  struck with oil spills at 1989. Moreover, people believe that the cause of oil spills is not due to off shore drilling, but mainly due to natural seeps and petroleum transportations. A study proves that urban runoff and treated sewage dump deposits 12 times more petroleum into the sea than petroleum from offshore drilling. A study at Lousiana State University has also been conducted to prove that off shore drilling is good for marine life. It is believed that oil production platforms cause improvements in marine life. The study suggests that there are 50 more times of marine life around an oil production platform than in the surrounding mud bottoms of the sea in Lousiana. It is believed that there is a correlation between the explosions of marine life with the building of oil platforms. However, in opposition to this, some people believe that off shore drilling in the U.S. do pose serious environmental risks. They believe that technology advancement reduces the risks of oil spills but do not a hundred percent guarantee its nonoccurrence in the future. Once an oil explosion occurs, the damage will be extremely destructive to the environment and it will reach a point of no turning back. According to â€Å"Environmental and Commercial Perspectives† by Ted Danson, â€Å"approximately 120 million gallons of oil end up in the world’s oceans every year from oil platforms, marine transportations, vessel discharges, and accidents.† Many cases of oil spills had happened in the U.S. One of the greatest was the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, which caused the death of thousands of local marine creatures. Over 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales, and billions of salmon and herring eggs were killed. Oil damages organs of marine organisms and the long-term effects may cause impairments of reproduction of these creatures, which then may lead to extinction of some of the species. Moreover, impacts of oil spills on the environment are long term and are extremely difficult to recover. This is because the thick layer of oil tends to spread very quickly under the influence of wind, waves and currents. The Exxon Valdez oil spills spread approximately up to 1300 miles of the  shoreline. Even with the latest technology, the rate of removing the oil from the sea is much slower compared to the rate of the spreading of oil. It is very rare to have more than 15% of the total spill being recovered. Oil spills occurring in regions of extreme climate, such as Alaska, are even exceedingly difficult to recover. It is almost impossible to soak up heavy crude oil trapped in waters covered with icebergs and sea ice. Thus, the impact will be much long lasting and at worst, irreversible. Despite the improvement in technology, off shore drilling is still highly risky because even the finest technology may fail. Once it fails, the cost to the environment is tremendous. The operation of the rig is also associated with the production of toxic wastes and many other long lasting forms of pollution. The drilling muds contain mercury, lead and cadmium that may accumulate inside the bodies of marine organisms. In addition, some traces of this pollution may be found in seafood that people consume, therefore, creates serious health consequences for them. Next, another reason why some people support off shore drilling is because they believe that it will ensure the national security of the country. The United States is very dependent on foreign oil to meet their immense oil demands. In 2010, based on the statistics provided by U.S. Department of Energy, 58.1 percent of total oil consumption in the U.S. is imported, and the rest is domestically supplied. Sixty six percent of global oil reserves are in the hands of Middle Eastern regimes such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. Oil reserves in the U.S. only account for two percent of the total reserves worldwide, yet the country is ranked the highest in the world in terms of oil demands. The U.S. reliance on antagonistic countries in the Middle East for oil, unfortunately, poses threats towards the national security of the U.S. The U.S. is sending $500 billion every year to oil producing countries for oil imports. The trade does not only involve in the transfer of extensive amount of money from importers to exporters, but also power. Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are the greatest oil exporters, are now with all the power and money. Reliance on some of the Middle East countries for oil indirectly forces the U.S. to be involved in the political conflicts happening in there, and reduces the U.S. ability to keep the peace between conflicting countries in that area. Also, the U.S. has always been entangled in political and religious issues with Islamic countries of the Middle East.  These expose the U.S. to threats of terrorism. One of the related events was the devastating 9/11 terrorist attack. Whether or not it is a matter of coincidence, most terrorists that have been threatening the U.S. originate from the Middle East. The U.S., paying billions of dollars for oil to these countries, indirectly is funding their investment in arms and therefore supporting terrorist organizations. Furthermore, the U.S. army is very dependent on oil to power and maintain its defense machines and transportations. This further threatens the national security of the U.S. because even the country’s defense is now in the hands of the countries that have the likelihood to attack it. Increasing off shore drilling in the U.S. means increasing domestic supply of energy. This is believed to be a way for the U.S. to be independent from foreign oil, hence, ensuring its national security. However, in contrary to this position, some people believe that off shore drilling will not lead to the country’s energy independence. Citing the U.S. government data, the country may have 49 billion barrels of oil in undeveloped reserves that are currently open for drilling. Another 19 billion is predicted to be available in sites where drilling is presently prohibited. Even if the U.S. succeeded to extract all of its possible resources, experts predicted that this would merely increase the U.S. oil production by 1-4 percent. This means that the U.S. will still rely on imported oil even if the country’s resources are completely exploited. In addition, reliance upon oil as a source of energy itself is not sustainable. Oil is believed to reach its peak production very soon. With all of the known reserves worldwide and at the present global rate of consumption, oil is predicted to run out in 40 years. Some people think that the solution for the U.S. to be energy independe nt is to stop relying on oil and start investing in alternative fuels. Finally, the last reason why some people support off shore drilling in the U.S. is that increasing domestic supply of oil will ensure the stability and improve the economy of the country. The U.S. dependence on foreign oil, not only threatens the country’s national security, but also threatens the country’s economic stability. Countries of the Middle East are very hostile  and unstable. We should take an example of the US-Iran clash. The U.S., which has the power to stop Iran from pursuing power plants for the sake of peace in the Middle East, is forced to abandon the plans of investing oil in Iran as a threat to Iran’s economy. This leads to the collision between the U.S. and Iran. As a reprisal, Iran threatens to attack oil shipping in the Persian Gulf and disrupt oil delivery from the gulf to the U.S. Disruption of oil delivery will cause a devastating effect to the U.S economy. Energy independence from troubled Middle East countries is a way to promote a stable economy in the U.S. and some people believe that offshore drilling is a way to reach this goal. In line with economy, offshore drilling is also very profitable for the U.S. and it is believed that it can affect the price of gasoline worldwide. Based on statistics provided by www.api.org, by the year 2035, off shore drilling is estimated to contribute up to $23.5 billion per year to the U.S. economy. Kevin A. Hasett, the director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, stated, â€Å"by increasing offshore exploration and drilling, the United States would be encouraging oil-producing nations to put more oil in the market now, thereby lowering prices on the world wide market.† Gasoline price is the key to economy. If gasoline price goes down, prices of goods throughout the country will also decrease. Consumer sentiment will increase, as people will tend to buy more goods. This will increase the government’s revenue, which in turn improves the country’s economy. Furthermore, off shore drilling also provides jobs for Americans and prevents the loss of jobs that are already available. High cost of energy in the U.S. causes many companies to relocate their plants outside of the country. This causes the loss of jobs of many Americans who are already working for these companies. On the other hand, as well as the off shore drilling plant itself provide jobs, the reduction of oil prices will also attract companies to invest in the U.S. and hence provides more jobs for Americans. However, in opposition to this position, some people believe that off shore drilling will not improve the economy in the U.S. As mentioned previously, even the complete exploitation of all the reserves in the U.S will only increase the U.S. oil production by 1-4 percent. Also, oil prices are largely driven by worldwide supply and demand. Price will only lower if  either one of them increases. Even if the supply is increasing, recent statistics show that world oil demand is also increasing very rapidly. Hence, some people believe that off shore drilling in the U.S. would not significantly affect worldwide oil price. In addition, how much oil can actually be extracted is not yet guaranteed. Exploration and rig construction costs a lot of money and time. Even if off shore drilling will be conducted anytime soon, it will not immediately lower oil price. According to EIA, any measurable changes of price will only be visible until 2030. Despite the increasing of jobs available due to off shore drilling, we should also consider the jobs that are lost and the economic impact to the U.S. when oil spills occur. Oil spills do not only severely damage the environment, but also cause negative impacts on tourism and fishing industries. Oil spills kill thousands of fish and destroy beautiful beaches that attract tourists. The Exxon Valdez oil spills cost more than $300 million of economic loss to more than 30000 people whose lives depend on commercial fishing. Also, the oil spills that hit the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 cost a loss of $60 billion in tourism industry. Furthermore, we should also consider the cost of recovery of oil spills. Despite the profits that the country makes on offshore drilling, the cost of recovery when an oil explosion occurs is much greater. The U.S. spent $20 billion fund in response to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The company British Protocol is responsible to fund $56 billion dollars in fines, cleanup costs and settlements. Overall, some people see that expanding offshore drilling is putting the country’s economy at risk instead of improving it. Expanding off shore drilling in the U.S. is a very controversial topic. The government should take into consideration of both opposing sides before making decisions whether or not to expand off shore drilling in the U.S. by weighing issues regarding national security, environment and economy. They should seek a sustainable long-term solution in order to meet the energy  needs of the country in the present and in the future.

Review of Related Literature and Studies Essay

Being always present in class and getting to school on time are two of the crucial determining factors of a student’s success, not just as a student but as a person who will be managing his/her own life in the future. Given the importance of being punctual, this study aims to explore and find out the factors that affect the punctuality of UP students. In this chapter, we will be discussing about the background of our study. It includes facts about tardiness, the different factors that causes it and its effect to the students as students and as bearer of their own lives in the future. From reliable research materials like online journals and research papers, we will provide some facts and theories from authors, teachers and notable people in order to have a concrete justification of our study. First, we will give a definition of tardiness and present some theories and facts about it. Next, we will discuss he various factors that causes the students to come to school late, the psychological theories, the observation of the teachers and the personal reasons of the students. Lastly, the effects of tardiness to students, not just to himself/herself but also to his/her future and to other people, will be discussed. Tardiness As UP students, we are expected to perform well with excellence in everything that we do, most especially in the academic aspect. One factor that dictates the quality of performance of a student is his/her punctuality that is, getting to school on time or being tardy. As cited by Nakpodia and Dafiaghor (2011), â€Å"lateness† can be defined as the â€Å"situation where an individual arrives after the proper, scheduled or usual time (Oxford Advance Learners’ Dictionary, 5th ed., 1995), Lauby (2009) puts it as a term used to describe â€Å"people not showing up on time† and Breeze et al. (2010) contributed by saying that, lateness is synonymous with â€Å"tardiness†, which implies being slow to act or slow to respond, thus not meeting up with proper or usual timing. Lastly, Weade (2004) defined tardiness as â€Å"being late for any measurable length of time past the stated or scheduled start time for work or school.† In most schools, a student is con sidered tardy  when he/she is not present when the school bell rings or when the first teacher starts to give instructional materials for the first subject in the morning class. One of the most recurring and the most â€Å"frustrating problem† that the schools are having with their students nowadays is tardiness (Sprick and Daniels, 2007). It creates problems, not just to the students but also to the teachers (Cowan Avenue Elementary School Community, 2007, para 1). Cowan Crier, the official School Publication of CAESC, also states that while having â€Å"occasional tardy† isn’t a big deal, unfailing tardiness is and it gives students problems including being ill-prepared for the job market. According to the results of the study of the U.S. Department of Education on â€Å"truancy†, which is related to tardiness, being present and on time in going to school are big factors on the â€Å"success and behavior† of the students (Zeiger, 2010, para 1). Thus, it is a lot important to value time and practice being on time while being a student. According to CAESC (2007) and Zeiger (2010), the most essential learning time of the day for the students lies in the morning, specifically between 8:00 to 9:30 AM. It is because the students are most mindful and observant at this time of the day. It is also the reason why the most important lessons and subject matters are discussed during this time. So when students are late or are not present during this time of the day, they, in effect, miss out most of the important lessons to be noted and learned. Factors affecting Punctuality Reasons for being late in class and other factors affecting the punctuality if a student vary. There had been some theories that pointed out that tardiness is caused by the personality of a person. Santillano (2010) stated that psychological theorists considered some â€Å"personality traits, including low self-esteem and anxiety† as triggering factors of tardiness (para 2). She also mentioned that while some theorists considered tardiness as an â€Å"inborn quality† since our being early or late is â€Å"partially biologically determined†, which she also agreed, other experts also believed that some people are â€Å"chronically tardy† for the reason that they consciously and unconsciously get good things from it (para 3). In the book cited by Santillano, â€Å"Never be late again: 7 cures for the punctually challenged†, the author Diana DeLonzor suggested that some  personality traits could most likely lead to a person being often late. Some of the traits included were â€Å"struggling with self control†, â€Å"feeling nervous or uncomfortable with social situations† and â€Å"getting distracted easily† (para 4). Santillano also discussed about the study conducted by DeLonzor at San Francisco State University in 1997 in which she surveyed 225 respondents about their habits that makes them late from their appointments. It was also a test on the personalities of the respondents that affect their habits. According to the results of DeLonzor’s study, those respondents that were often tardy apt to be anxious and gets distracted easily. Nakpodia and Dafiaghor attribute lateness or tardiness to a lot of factors or causes. Going late to bed and waking up late next morning are the most common. The authors added film-watching late at night as a cause for tardiness. The student may forget that he/she needs to be in school the next day. The distance between the student’s home and school or solely the school’s location is also considered by Nakpodia and Dafiaghor as a possible cause for tardiness. Not just because it takes more time to get to school, but according to the authors, the student is susceptible to more distractions and hindrances along the way. Parent’s untimely tasks and commands are also reasons that students come late to school. Habitual tardiness can also be learned from other members of the family, especially from the older ones. Lack of a firm and consistent policy on punctuality also encourages students to come late at school since there are no consequences attached to lateness or tardiness. These causes of tardiness will lead to serious effects. Another study was the one conducted by Enamiroro Oghuvbu in Nigeria. The objective of the study was to determine the causes of the absenteeism and lateness among the secondary students in Nigeria and to seek for solutions to the growing problem. According to Oghuvbu (2008), female students are more likely to be late than male students because of â€Å"their involvement in domestic activities by their parents† (para 7). Also, as cited by Oghuvbu, â€Å"distance to school, school discipline, family background and school location† (Emore, 2005) are some of the common causes for the tardiness of the secondary students. Oghuvbu collected the data from a sample size of 17, 417 Nigerian respondents from 2005-2006. The sample was made up of 20 principals and 50 each from a set of teachers, parents and students. The means of collecting  data was through a thirty-item questionnaire answerable by either strongly agree (SA), agreed (A), disagree (D), and strongly disagreed (SD). The questionnaire had four questions, one of which was about the causes of lateness among the secondary students of Nigeria. The study revealed that the causes of lateness among the secondary students in Nigeria were â€Å"going late to bed because of watching films and home movies, resulting into wake up late in the morning, distance to school and keeping friends who are not students† (Oghuvbu, 2008). These results went consistent with the results of Oghuvbu’s reference studies which proves that tardiness among students have been a growing problem and that it is caused, not just because of the students but also because of the lack of imposing discipline from the parents. Another research partly studied about tardiness but tackled a specific reason or factor. A study by Pimentel and Quijada (2011) focused on the frequency of use by the UP Cebu freshmen students of Facebook and a part of the study tackled about the effect of the famous social networking site to UP Cebu students’ punctuality and academic performance. For their study, Pimentel and Quijada collected 60 respondents and provided them with questionnaires. The questionnaires contained questions that ask the respondents about their use of Facebook and its effects. A certain question asked the respondents if late-night use of Facebook has an effect on their punctuality. According to the results of the study, three out of 60 respondents are always late, eight said they are sometimes late, 12 said they are seldom late and 37 said that they never get late due to late-night use of Facebook. Generally, the results showed that the respondents are seldom late in class because of late-night use of the social networking site. Ledoux, as cited by Pimentel and Quijada, said that lack of sleep causes neural malfunctions and further affects a person’s behavior. In the study’s case, it is a student’s punctuality that is affected. Sometimes, it is not solely the students’ fault why they keep on being late in coming to class. Another factor that could affect the punctuality of a student is the response of the teachers to tardy students. Sprick and Daniels (2007) stated that the range of the teachers’ response was â€Å"from ignoring them to sending them to office† (p. 21). This variation could lead the students to confusion as to how important it is to be on time in going to class. Another reason is the lack of motivation. Students who  come to school on time are not given incentives or rewards. Also, responses to tardiness are lenient, that is nothing is done until the tenth strike or more. Another reason is â€Å"giving the student the impression that they won’t be missing anything if they are late† since in some classes, no important activities or instructions and no lessons are being done for first few minutes. Lastly, crowded hallways could create traffic, thus blocking the way of other students and making it hard for them to pass through. Effects of Tardiness Tardiness among students has its own negative repercussions. Nakpodia and Dafiaghor (2011) emphasized that lateness or tardiness is not just the problem of the late student but it affects the surrounding people. A student coming late in class distracts the rest of the students and disrupts the flow of the teacher’s discussion. It is even a burden to the student/s whom the late students ask for what to catch up with. The rest of the effects given by Nakpodia and Dafiaghor are about the welfare of the whole school, its productivity and revenue. Knowing the possible effects of lateness or tardiness, it is necessary for solutions to be executed. Studies have revealed that those students with â€Å"perfect or near-perfect attendance† have good grades compared to those students who misses classes often and late-comers (Cowan Avenue Elementary School Community, 2007, para 3). Moreover, as mentioned by Zeiger (2010), the results from the survey report conducted by teachers show that students with high tardiness rates have â€Å"higher rates of suspension and other disciplinary measures† (National Center for Education Statistics Indicators of School Crime and Safety [NCESISCS] (2007)). It also causes the students to have behavioral problems and to drop out. Lastly, Zeiger (2010) stated that â€Å"Students who are frequently tardy to school are also more apt to be fired from a job for showing up late† (para 5). A study conducted by Barbara Lee Weade on 2004 tried to â€Å"determine if school tardiness is a predictor of work tardiness† (Weade, 2004). It provided a lot of literature that observes correlations and factors affecting a student’s tardiness. As cited by Weade, the 3rd most common cause for the failure of a student is â€Å"excessive tardiness and unexcused absences† (Ligon and Jackson, 1988).  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Inconsistency of school rules† (Britt, 1988) and situations such as â€Å"crowded halls, limited opportunities for social interaction, irrelevant course content, and teacher indifference† (Damico et al., 1990) are also factors that affect a student’s attendance and punctuality. As mentioned by Weade, personal v alues, financial security and lack of parental guidance (Payne, 2001) as well as family background (Featherstone et al., 1992) influence tardiness and absences of students. Weade gathered data from the schools of participating students. First and foremost, she asked consent from the students and their parents in order to gain permission to collect their school records. She collected and studied the attendance and punctuality records of these students based on the number of unexcused absences and minutes of tardiness. Her study showed that among high school students, the grade point average is correlated with absences and tardiness. This means that students with better attendance and punctuality have higher grade point averages and vis-à  -vis. Her study was also able to show that attendance and punctuality of students are not consistent throughout the year. There were more absences and tardiness at the latter part of the year. Gender has also shown to be a non-factor in the attendance and punctuality of high school students. The study was very comprehensive in its subject matter. It tackles not just school tardiness but its implications on work tardiness. It shows that â€Å"students who are on-time for school classes are also likely to be on-time at work while students who are tardy frequently at school will probably also be tardy at work† (Weade, 2004). The study requires a lot of data but Weade was able to gather a sufficient amount. Though some possible correlations were not established, it is outside the scope of this research. Due to the fact that tardiness has been giving negative effects on the students nowadays, the most important thing to do is to develop a firm, consistent and functional policy that addresses late students. There must be defined sanctions and penalties for late students. Nakpodia and Dafiaghor (2011) stated that school administrators must lead by example. They should be punctual in their own meetings and classes to avoid students to think that being late is just alright since even the authoritative persons are doing it. They should as well teach it and integrate it in every lesson. The effort on the remedy on lateness or tardiness does not start and end with  the school. It must begin with the parents of the students and the government must take part as well. Transportation must be improved in order to avoid students getting stuck in traffic or encountering other obstacles down the streets. Some schools have already started finding solutions that would effectively minimize and/or eliminate tardiness among students. One of the solutions made by some schools is implementing tardiness policies, wherein they take steps in approaching the students and parents for them to solve the problem. CAESC has their policy worked this way. Other schools initiated interdisciplinary curriculum that integrates discipline and conduct in academics. Cordogan (as cited by Weade, 2004), said that a school in Chicago, Illinois adapted a similar curriculum and yielded positive results. Students under the interdisciplinary program exhibited more positive behaviors from students not from the curriculum. Interdisciplinary students showed less absences and tardiness, as well as higher grades. Other schools made smaller academic changes such as developing personality works and cooperative learning activities, such as creation of portfolios and tutorial to younger students. These taught the students better goal-setting, decision making skills and time management. In return, students under these behavior modification programs yielded less tardiness and higher grades. To summarize, many studies have shown the reasons and factors that may contribute to the tardiness of a student. One of the mentioned reasons of tardy students was waking up late in the morning, which can also be attributed to late-night activities, such as social networking, watching movies and television shows, as well as untimely academic and domestic errands. As proven by several studies, sometimes, it’s not also the act of the student that leads to his/her tardiness. The heavy traffic, the teachers, the school surroundings and policies may also serve as influences to the tardiness of students. Many studies have also shown the effects of tardiness on the students, the teachers, the school and the society. According to these studies, the tardiness of a student consumes his/her learning time as well as disturbs other students and teachers. The tardy student also poses as a threat to the school as an educational and professional institution and the student may be one of the less productive members of the society. A lot of studies as well gave testimonies to effective remedies  on tardiness. These studies promoted integration of personality development and interdisciplinary programs into school curriculum to aid students enhance positive behavior and personality leading to the decrease of tardiness. Our study intends to find out the tardiness of UP Cebu students and the reasons and factors that may influence this tardiness.

A Critical Regulatory Issue in Health Care Essay

Health care legal issues today are an uphill climb due to not having a full understanding of case laws and why we have them. One of the most controversial issues today is prescribed marijuana for the terminally ill. This has been a legal battle for years in the health care industry, especially for those who suffer from chronic illnesses such as cancer. Marijuana is an illegal drug that many physicians and patients believe it aids in relieving pain and side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments, which is very debilitating for many patients and cause many more issues for the patient. The states of California and Oregon have investigated the medicinal uses of marijuana closely. The differences in states approval or disapproval can be seen clearly with these two states. California for example views marijuana as a â€Å"Schedule I drug, meaning it can be possed and used to aid in survival and pain reduction for terminally ill patients. Yet, Oregon can legally permit physicians to prescribe the drug under Schedule II and patients can use the drug to end their lives.† (George J. Annas, J.D., M.P.H. 2006) The real question is whether or not the U. S. Congress had authority constitutionally and the autonomy to make a decision, since this would fall under the Commerce Clause. U. S. Supreme Court ruled that the clause gave them the power, the right, and the ability to regulate marijuana grown at home for personal medically related uses as it had â€Å"to regulate the amount of wheat a farmer grew on his farm for personal consumption.† (George J. Annas, J. D., M.P.H. 2006) The fact of the matter is this, it could have been prescribed legally by a physician was irrelevant. This is a very slippery area for the health care industry and all those who prescribe medical marijuana are under the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) of 1970. The CSA set standards and regulations for controlled substances in one of a five schedules that is based on the potential for  dependence and abuse. Also it puts our legal system at a crossroad when considering; what is possession of an illegal drug and tho se who distribute or deal illegal drugs. This places the system in an area for a litany of legal battles which have included the health care system on what is considered legal and what is not legal. Of course this opens the can of worms on assisted suicides. The ruling of that would have to come from the U. S. Attorney General to determine whether prescribing drugs for suicide was not a â€Å"legitimate medical practice†, â€Å"As required by the CSA and writing such a prescription could therefore result in revocation of one’s registration certificate with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and federal criminal prosecution.† (George J.Annas, J.D., M.P.H. 2006) Supreme Court rulings in cases of assisted suicide are an issue because they try and keep a general consensus at state level. The state court officials who are part of the executive branch are responsible for administering specific statues and are allowed to interrupt the meanings of cases involving the CSA. Therefore, it is very important to learn and know the statues and laws of the state in which the individual resides since the laws vary from state to state. The question of what constitutes a legitimate medical practice is open to interpretation and can be argued that the CSA prohibits doctor assisted suicide with the use of controlled substances. The use of Schedule II drugs is not a â€Å"legitimate practice†, thus causing the ruling in the state of California but, not in Oregon. This decision was reached because states have the right under federalism basic principle to regulate the practice of medicine and it is a state-regulated activity. The U. S. Congress does not have authority to make it federally regulated under the CSA. However, 20 states in the U. S. allow medical marijuana usage for terminally ill patients. This number is expected to grow, although, 20 states ruled it legal for medical purposes; it is still illegal under Federal Law. The issue of assisted suicide controlled substance abuse and medical marijuana have some interesting outcomes because the laws of the land take a strong stance to decriminalize marijuana as some state have already; it will reduce the number of prisoners in the prison population. From a medical stand point the benefit of prescribing the drug far outweighs not prescribing it because of the fear physicians have about being prosecuted and having their medical licenses revoked. However, the street  pharmacist would be able to have the same benefit of protection under the CSA, since we give longer sentences for drug dealing than we do murder. All things considered, the objective behind medical marijuana and the benefits it provides to the terminally ill or a person who suffers chronic pain shows a positive sign that it helps to relieve and aid in pain management. It’s time for public health officials, state regulators, and health scientist to bring (make) changes in health care when it concerns medical marijuana. Medical marijuana can be manufactured as a controlled substance and regulated to meet the standards in quality care and quality control. The standards can be met by establishing and monitoring results through follow ups and collection of clinical evidence. Medical marijuana has been a hot topic for years and will continue to be a hot topic in the years to come, yet it still benefits the people who need it. In many cases, people will continue to self-medicate to help with pain relief. Marijuana is an herb that is natural and in many cases safer than pain killers offered by large pharmaceutical companies. It has been proven that marijuana slows down response and gives the person the munchies. Yet the drugs from pharmaceutical companies can cause much worse damage from liver and kidney malfunctions as well as heart problems. So, which is better? George J. Annas, J. D., M. P. H. (2006) Congress Controlled Substances and Physician Assisted Suicide—Elephants in Mouse Holes, The New England Journal of Medicine

Arctic Exploration and the Future of the Arctic Ocean Essay

Arctic Exploration and the Future of the Arctic Ocean - Essay Example This would help him sail through with the boat he brought (Berton 2012). For years, many nations such as the U.S, Canada, Norway, Russia, and Denmark have interest in the riches and the potentials of the Arctic Ocean. Some of these nations have parts of the Arctic Ocean as their territory because the area has vast oil deposits and lucrative business activities like trade routes. These opportunities have made the nations to vie for arctic dominance thus causing disputes between these countries (Shah, 2010). Using compass for direction in the arctic can be useless because of magnetic inclination. This is the difference between the geographic north and magnetic north poles. The North Pole is all one side of a magnet so when you have a compass, it will be repelled and attracted at the same time. The compass will end up pointing towards a random position. This will be challenging for anyone trying to find his or her way through because the compass will identify north as a different

Pros and Cons of Today's College Education Research Paper

Pros and Cons of Today's College Education - Research Paper Example Universities and colleges that are in the middle class are torn between these extremes. Universities in the top strata have become a preserve for the minority few who are affluent. Attending universities like Harvard has been left to the few who can afford to pay the exorbitant fees. The divisions arising in institutions of higher learning have come to be viewed as a show of might and class, as well as a means by which the American plutarchy duplicates itself. Donoghue (nd) notes that top strata universities’ one year tuition fee is more than the average income of American citizens. Universities in the middle and bottom classes are continually grappling with budget cuts as the government strives to sustain the budget in times of economic downturns. Budget cuttings have severe implications for public colleges and universities as universities have to raise their tuition fees, reduce spending or both, in a bid to cover the gap. Cuts on higher education funding by the government h ave resulted in increased tuition across public institutions of higher learning. The acute increases in tuition fees have hastened the continuous trends of reducing college affordability and transferring the costs to students. Leachman et al (2013) note that enrolling for a four year course in a public institution of higher learning has momentarily grown at a quicker pace than the increase in average earnings for the past 20 years, even after tax subsidies and government aid. Reducing spending in a bid to match the budget cuts usually results in ways that lower the quality of higher education. Some of the ways in which public colleges and universities cut spending are such as closing some campuses, doing away with some course offerings, reducing services like computer laboratories and library. For illustration, following the budget cuts on public institutions of higher learning, Arizona university strategy to cut spending included closing its eight extension campuses facilitating di stance learning, as well as cutting more that 2000 positions (Donologhue, nd). Public institutions of higher learning offer education to more that seventy five percent of the country’s undergraduates. Raising tuition fees and cutting spending have had negative impacts on the quality of education. Students are leaving school with huge public debt, yet find it hard to obtain a job. In addition, the top strata in United States system of higher education is resulting in half baked graduates, thus making employers spend more money in retraining graduates to match the job skills. This paper presents the shortcomings in the United States universities, opportunities for improvement, as well as recommendations on how to eliminate the shortcomings. Shortcomings Price sensitivity The earnings and incomes of majority of citizens have remained unchanged over the years, yet tuition fee increment rises at the same rate as inflation. This makes university education expensive and unaffordable to numerous households whose incomes remains stagnant while the cost of education keeps on rising. Demographic and economic pressures, as well as, heightened government inspection of higher education cost are resulting in slow tuition growth in many universities. Ongoing national government concessions results in further pressures on universities since a large number of students are dependent of government grants and loans, both of which are curtailed to a certain

Compensation and Benefits Systems Research Paper

Compensation and Benefits Systems - Research Paper Example It is also a matter of fact that job satisfaction is key to the retention of an employee to his/her current job, particularly in the face of high salary provided in other companies. It is for this reason that the human resource function of many companies considers compensation and benefit systems as its integral part. The move is mainly driven by change in world economy, change in company due to market and legal forces, innovational needs and decisive thinking in order to be able to remain competitive. The type of compensation and benefit system that a company uses for compensating its staff can be valuable in the company’s efforts to gain competitive advantage and be able to achieve its missions and visions. A well organized incentive compensation plan has the effect of giving employees the feeling that the organization they are working for is fair. Employees also need to have a better understanding of their earning potential for them not to see those offered by other compani es as attractive. General Motors, an American company that deals in the manufacture of automobiles is one such company that recognizes the value of compensation and benefits system to its employees. ... According to General Motors’s pay-scale report of December 2010, auto mechanics are projected to earn a mean salary of $18 per hour, assembly-line workers earn $29.49, journeymen electricians earn $31.47, and those doing assembling get $28.97 while millwrights get $30. Locsin cites that General Motors’s employees on salary get compensation worth $79,665 annually for mechanical engineers; $75,505 for industrial engineers, project engineers get a compensation of $83,182; mechanical design engineers getting $79,992; product development engineers being compensated $80,785 while manufacturing engineers getting $78, 683. This form of compensations is meant to motivate the employees in different department for them to increase their effort and remain loyal to the company (Locsin 1). The company also considers the experience that an employee has in compensating its workers. In this regard, an employee who has a lot of experience is being rewarded more compared with those who ha ve not acquired a lot of experience. According to the General Motors Corporation’s pay scale of December 2010, new employees of the company earn $53,500 yearly, while those who have between one to four years of experience pocketing $64,160 (Locsin 1). He also reports that after an employee has worked for between five to nine years, these employees are considered with a reward. In this case, they get $75,043. Those who have served the company for between ten to nineteen years are awarded $82,480 yearly and those with more than twenty years of experience get $94,527. This kind of benefit was introduced as a way of increasing job satisfaction and retaining company’s employees with many years of experience. Locsin notes that compensation at General motors is also affected by an

The Kornilov Affair Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Kornilov Affair - Essay Example Kornilov was respected by his troops as an outstanding officer, but his politics did not go much further than loving his country. He was never Kerensky’s first choice as Commander in Chief but he had wide support and had to be taken into account. The only problem was that it was clear from the beginning that there were tensions between Kerensky and Kornilov about the direction the Russian army should take. And there were tensions about the direction of the Russia as it was under threat both externally and internally and had to make big decisions. Things came to a head, as Richard Pipes writes, when Kerensky procrastinated in implementing the military reforms that Kornilov had made a condition of assuming command . . . Kornilov requested permission to meet with the cabinet. The meeting took place on August 3. While he was giving an overview of the situation at the front, Kerensky leaned over [to Kornilov] and asked him in a whisper to exercise caution . . . This incident shattered Kornilov’s faith in the Provisional Government, for it convinced him that there were ministers in the cabinet capable of betraying military secrets to the enemy.1 Within a short amount of time, following some decisive military preparations, Kornilov began to be seen by some in Russia as a rival to power for Kerensky. Kerensky began to get more and more agitated, ignoring the Bolshevik problem in order to focus on securing his own hold on power. What followed was Kerensky’s effort to destroy Kornilov—and the result was the rise of the Bolsheviks. A ridiculous exchange of messages pitted the two men against each other, each completely misunderstanding what the other intended. Kerensky thought Kornilov was plotting to seize dictatorial control, Kornilov thought Kerensky was offering it to him. His unfounded suspicion confirmed, Kerensky fired the popular Kornilov, who had

Question is in the instruction part Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Question is in the instruction part - Essay Example In relation to architecture, it may be useful to define the concept of ‘Gothic’, which first belonged to the medieval period in Europe, from about 12th to 16th centuries. The characteristics included the pointed arch, large ribbed vaults and large, high windows, and later the flying buttress. The style was applied mainly to churches and cathedrals, therefore having religious and ecclesiastical connotations, though stately homes, convents and monasteries also adopted it. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, its revival coincided with the popularity of the Gothic genre in English fiction, often quoted as having originated with Horace Walpole’s ‘The Castle of Otranto’ (Walpole 1764). The underlying ethos seems to be one of highly charged emotional content, thrilling sensationalism and a rejection of the rational and classical clarity with determined the Enlightenment. Gothic fiction and architecture would seem to seek to extend beyond normal, ratio nal boundaries in society and to find instead, a more exciting form of expression and stimulation – almost taking reader and characters to the brink of insanity through the alteration of perceived reality. Certainly, the Gothic literary conventions call up childhood fears, myths, legends and superstitions, and in so doing, overturn common perceptions and distort reality. Just as it is impossible to fully understand the workings of the human mind, the environments created in the fiction are difficult to grasp, alien and mysterious and possibly reflecting, in the form of the deep, dark pits and dungeons, an allegorical picture of psychic depths beyond our conscious knowledge. Robert Barry (1995) states that: In ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, Poe creates an atmosphere of increasing tension and doom, launching into a description which engages the

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) and Violence Against Literature review

American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) and Violence Against Women in US - Literature review Example In this paper, therefore, the dynamics of violence against women will be judged with reference to socio-economic pattern of the USA. In Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the United Nations (1993) defined violence as â€Å"any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life† (Article 1). Decoding this definition reveals the fact that violence against women includes all types of physical, verbal and sexual assaults that can cause harm to the physical body, sense of trust, of liberty and that of private life of women (Runyan & Peterson, 2013; Alhabib, Nur & Jones, 2010). In the USA, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was established in 1994 in order to create a protective shield, restricting rise in violence against women in the country. The VAWA (1994) defined violence as the exertion of any physical force intended to cause an injury or abuse to women. Such definitions ar e applicable regardless of nationality, age, racial orientation and ethnicity of women. In the USA, more than 2 million women are either physically assaulted or raped by their intimate partners (Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000; Matthews, 2004; Grovert, 2008). Alhabib, Nur, and Jones (2010) found that â€Å"the lifetime prevalence of domestic violence† changes significantly with that of geographic locations across the USA. For example, â€Å"the lifetime prevalence of domestic violence† is just 1.9% in Washington, while it is more than 68% in case of countryside in the USA. In the context of the USA, physical violence is probably the most common type of violence that is committed against women (Turner, 2002). In case of physical violence, one person intentionally hurts physical parts of woman that can cause outcomes such as, murder, femicide

Holmes in the room Essay Example for Free

Holmes in the room Essay His ability to withdraw within himself and to detach himself is reinforced with his preference for German music; it is introspective and I want to introspect. This behaviour is shown yet again in Silver Blaze in his movement from day-dreaming and absorbed in his own thoughts to suppressed excitement. This essence of his character is also a strong reference to Victorian morality in the duality of human nature. Conan Doyles stories convey the sense of a double life led by many middle class men, in particular. Conan Doyle conveys Holmes as possessing a character that changes from the languid, dreamy, gentle sense of his inertia to his predatory qualities; Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the relentless, keen-witted, ready criminal agent. The words swing of his nature and alternately further contribute to our impression of his dual nature. There is also a symbolic representation of a duality of human nature in the contrast between the shabby, faded, weedy side of the square and the fine stately side that backs the pawnbroker and represents commerce. The gap between rich and poor widened with the growth in industry during the Victorian era. The growth in wealth is shown in the metaphor of a tide and immense stream of increasing wealth. Dual nature is also clearly identified in Silver Blaze when Silas Brown is shown to have two personalities; never have I seen such a change as had been brought about in Silas Brown in that short time. In The Man with the Twisted Lip you will find the strongest representation of dual nature. At the beginning of the story Holmes disguises himself as a tall, thin old man so that not even Watson, his closest friend can recongise him. Conan Doyle describes the change in Holmes his form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull eyes had regained their fire. Doyles language in the paragraph conveys the duality of man and as the paragraph progresses, language marks Holmes transformation from very thin; very wrinkled, bent with age to his real self. Finally he regains his ingenious disguise to doddering, loose-lipped senility. But the strongest personification of the dual nature of man lies in Neville St. Clair who is the embodiment of Victorian double personality; one life by day and another by night. The first evidence of this lies in his two distinct writing styles of which he has a different style for when he wrote hurriedly. But the main reference to duality of nature appears near the end of the story when Holmes starts scrubbing off the beggar mans, Boones, face to reveal his true persona Neville St. Clair. The description of the face peeled off and exposing the refined man beneath shows the true extent of Victorian double nature. There is also a strong metaphor for the merging of the two sides of his character; the horrid scar which had seamed it across. In The Red-Headed League Holmess appearance is compared to that of a strange bird with a hawk like nose. This draws an image of an almost predatory figure in the readers mind. This image is further reinforced in The Red-Headed League with his quick firing of questions to Jabez Wilson. These questions reflect his razor sharp ability to extract information and also his quick-thinking mind. He is also described as a bird in The Man with the Twisted Lip when Conan Doyle draws attention to his strong set aquiline features. This description could also be in reference to the publication of Darwins On the Origin of the Species and the idea that human kind were descendants of animals, beasts. There is also a reminder of Darwins theory in The Speckled Band; I have heard, Mr Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold wickedness of the human heart. There was a huge fear in Victorian times that men possessed a bestial quality. This also conveys the Victorian double standard because Holmes works for the good of society, but possesses something that draws him towards evil. This is reinforced again in Silver Blaze when he is described as having menace in his eyes. In the Victorian age, a certain type of novel emerged from the largely romantic literary background, the Gothic novel, which was invented almost single-handedly by Horace Walpole who wrote The Castle of Otranto in 1764. It has been suggested, by the critic Ann B. Tracy, that the Gothic novel could be seen as a description of a fallen world. While Sherlock Holmes is certainly a hero in many senses, in that he solves crimes, repeatedly saves people from the forces of evil and restores moral values while he is at it, he could also certainly be seen as a Gothic hero. It is his strong power of perception that solves crimes, and it is his hunger for sensation that drives his crime-solving and his cocaine use. To succeed as a detective Holmes frequently must himself descend into Londons underworld, which further reinforces the theory of a fallen world. It could be said that in all of the Sherlock Holmes stories there is a Gothic element in the form of a mysterious, inexplicable situation. This could be definitely be seen in The Red-Headed League, but to really discover the more detailed elements that constitute the genre of a Gothic novel we can look no further than The Speckled Band, which is littered with references to a true Gothic novel. First of all there is the woman in distress, in this case taking the presence of Helen Stoner, who arrived in a considerable state of excitement. She is described as being in a pitiable state of agitation, her face all dawn and grey, with restless, frightened eyes, which certainly conforms to the Gothic element of women with highly wrought emotions. There is also a woman in high state of emotion present in Silver Blaze when Mrs. Strakers face was haggard, and stamped with the print of a recent horror. Also present in The Speckled Band which is an element of a Gothic story is the occurrence of a cruel, tyrannical male who threatens and harms a woman, which appears in the form of Dr Grimsby Roylott, whom Helen Stoner appears to be considerably afraid of when she tries to hide the marks on her arm; you have been cruelly used. Then there is the setting in a ruined building, Stoke Moran, which seems to be in a considerable state of disrepair; the building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone. windows were broken. a picture of ruin. There is also a sense of mystery and suspense as the question is posed whether or not Dr Roylott killed Helens sister. Also the fact that Helen Stoner has been effectively forced into living in her sisters room could be seen as a Gothic element, as could the eerie whistle which both the sisters heard in the dead of night. Conan Doyles literary masterpieces are been enjoyed by thousands for almost a century now and continue to capture the hearts of both young and old. So brilliant and absorbing are these stories that when Sherlock Holmes was killed in The Final Problem fans complained so forcefully that Conan Doyle was compelled to resurrect him again. Holmes fans even refer to the time in between his death and revivification as the Great Hiatus. The Guinness World Records has consistently listed him as the most portrayed movie character with over 70 actors playing the part in over 200 films. A rare manuscript of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles final Sherlock Holmes stories has recently been expected to fetch a whopping i 250,000 at auction. Overall there have been 56 short stories and 4 novels, written over a decade. These accounts are littered with references to Victorian England and can help people today to understand what life was like in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kate Manson 10S Page 1 of 5 Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Conan Doyle section.

Consultancy Business Performance Management

Consultancy Business Performance Management Profile of Alpha Consultants Alpha Consultants is a Management and IT consultancy firm. It is a multi-disciplinary consultancy house, which offers services to both private and public sector organizations in a wide range of matters. Alpha Consultants offers knowledge innovation, brings in entrepreneurial drive, helps create bonds between clients and customers and helps organizations to achieve their goals with optimal efficiency. Alpha consultants have a resource pool of over 100 of experts available at their disposal. Depending on the requirement of the job and the expertise that are required for any particular project, services are acquired from the consultants from their resource pool. What makes Alpha consultants stand out from their competitors is the diverse skillset and background of their consultants. It allows the organization to step in a wider and a bigger market and do what others cannot. The professionals seated in the highest level at Alpha consultants bring multicultural experience, mainly in the field of development and health. This allows Alpha Consultants to pitch solid proposals for both public and private sector projects in the development and health sectors. However, over the years, Alpha Consultants has managed to hire consultants from all the various fields and sectors to make sure that they are able to cope with any challenges that a project has to offer. It adds more value and reliability to their profile, while also allowing them to aim at more diverse and new business opportunities. Moreover, Alpha Consultant is an IT firm which has been providing solutions to both private and public sector institutions. By IT, it is clear that there is a significant relation of computer oriented workforce. So, it is not difficult to categorize it as a service concern business organization. It is currently not having a larger span of services so it falls into the class of small and medium enterprises. The illustrative report will provide solutions and information related to management related functions along with other core operations of the consultancy house. Performance measurement is a set of tools to evaluate the performance of a firm. The services offered by Alpha Consultants include1: Research, Evaluation and Assessment Project Management, Design and Planning Strategy Analysis and Policy Reviews Institutional Development, Training and Organizational Management Advocacy IT Media Consultancy Vision Alpha consultants aims to become partner in knowledge based innovation with institutes that are looking to bring change to the world. Their vision is to make a name in service excellence with the help of their skilled and experienced consultants. Alpha consultants looks forward to become a name that is known to provide sustainable and innovative solutions and help their clients in capacity building, partnership building and organizational development. They want to become the bridge to fill in the gap between the clients and customers with a vision for both entrepreneurial and human development. 2[i] Every business has some certified Aims and objectives based on the strategy devised by the governing structure. Alpha Consultant as one a SME aims to extend the IT departments of their clients and provide multi-disciplinary services in the ICT spectrum. The technical facilities can be managed by IT Media Division with a mix of management services or it can deliver a full fledge built IT system to clients. The mixture of both will also be offered by the firm. Mission The fundamental purpose of the organization is to use their expertise and experience to help their clients achieve new milestones. Alpha consultants have highly professional, experienced and skilled experts in the field of Management, Development and IT. It is currently engaged with various NGOs and Public sector organization who are working in development sector in various less privileged and under developed areas. It has worked in various war and disaster struck areas for different national and international organizations. In the future, it aims to expand the target projects and aim to provide consultancy not just in development and health sector, but also in IT, Media, Education and other domains. It plans to move into more professional areas such as organization development and structural environment of organizations and work in more developed areas. Factors Affecting Business Performance Internal Innovation in the technology and the response of employees is considered of the most important factor affecting the business environment. In the case of this firm, which is in a way part of the growing IT industry it is necessary to give response to every change in the technology. The employees or the software engineers are not that much trained as the new technology comes and their expertise becomes outdated. External The political environment and the legislation of the authorities for IT activities have a great impact on management consultancy businesses. The licensing services and the tax structure changes rapidly whenever new technology is introduced that the business policies and strategy has to be changed. In the case of IT one of the most important factors is the availability of low cost substitutes being offered in the international market. Assessing the Situation – SWOT Analysis: Strengths: Extensive experience of the key personals in the assignment and their relations with officials in their major clients is the key strength of Alpha consultants. They have a broad range of clients and get various types of projects on regular basis. Alpha consultants has a wide set of expertise, the diverse resource pool allowing them to select experts from all various fields for any desired job. They have been known around the world and get large scale projects from international clients and get payments in international currency hence generating revenues and enhance profitability. The old presence of the company helps to gain the advantage of trust through which a good base of loyal customers can be maintained. About 64% of the customers of this SME are using it for supplies. This is a very strong feature of a firm. Company has got a strong financial position as there is no Debt to Equity ratios due to absence of Debt. The companys share is with 150 employees but they are serving their own company and they are connected with it (100, 2014). Weaknesses: Most consultants/experts are not employees, rather Alpha consultants has to hire freelance experts who work on contractual basis. Freelancer experts charge handsome amounts of fee and every time services are acquired, company has to search, track and negotiate with experts for each separate job. There are certain weaknesses as compared to other competing companies i.e. the concentration of the firm is divided into multiple segments under the name of Alpha Consultants. There are no separate services entities. Along with this the company is only targeting the local and the concentration towards internationalization is very less while other firms are going international or global. Considering the outreach the companies have got internationally now with the social media and search engine tools the competition has gotten very tough. Moreover, the handheld devices and smartphones influx have changed the dimension of IT industry on a massive level. Adapting to the changing needs of the market and new technologies has become very important for SME like Alpha Co and not being able to expand its outreach to international market has been a very major weakness. Opportunities: Due to their wide and diverse resource pool, they can handle all different sorts of projects and explore new work areas. Yet, Alpha consultants is associated with various NGOs and public sector organizations. Alpha consultants can use their IT and Media professionals to explore new IT grounds, provide services to Telecom giants and Entertainment industry. Also they can form collaboration with defense institutes to provide various services. As they get projects on usual basis, they need young talent as well as experienced staff. They provide employment opportunities to fresh graduates and experienced jobseekers to get benefit from their energetic minds and use them in project developments by providing economic salaries. Many of the IT firms from EU are now outsourcing the basic tasks to south Asian countries like India. This can be a good opportunity for Alpha Co to save costs along with efficiency in work. Another opportunity is to establish umbrella brands and other co-brands for different segment of IT services. Threats: The consultants who are not Alpha consultants’ employees but working only on contractual basis, get to interact with their clients and form bonds. These consultants not only gain experience under the banner of Alpha consultants, but if they decide to work alone, they can ruin these connections and the inside knowledge they have to offer competition. Freelancers will be working on organization projects; they may have access to the organizational internal details and may leak out this confidential information to others. If at some stage project accomplished by freelancer comes to the organization for feature addition or updations, the freelancer may not be available to complete that project or charge fee more than the budget. In that case, Alpha consultants has to hire a new freelance expert who will first have to understand all the previous work and this leads to wastage of time as well as money. There are multiple threats associated with IT business and SME sector. To make SME is not at all a difficult task. Most of the IT business and core operations are being performed in underdeveloped countries or the third world countries. The reason is that the cost is lessoned as compared to EU. So Alpha Consultants has threat of new entrants in the same field along with the cost determination in the current scenario of changing business environment. Overcoming Weaknesses There are different strategies to overcoming the weaknesses of SME like Alpha Co. The first solution is to outsource majorly activities for the development of infrastructure and software. Secondly, branding can prove to be a key of success. Human Resource system will be needed if the company is internationalized. According to the research the internationalization of the SME brings in 7% employment chances and gives growth to the firms. So for these methods and alternatives the evaluation is given in this report: Outsourcing: Most of the processes like development of the script of different software can be outsourced to other countries like India, where the IT infrastructure is cheap. In this way the company will be able to earn more profit by covering most of the cost incurred. The outsourcing technique will provide a contribution towards social welfare as the company will provide employment sources. Outsourcing for other activities will also help the company to attain the status of global organization. Branding: The services being offered separately can be considered as different brands like: Alpha Management Consultants Alpha Media Advocacy Consultants Alpha IT Consultants In this way different service segments will be considered as different service entities. These services will be provided under the umbrella of parent brand Alpha Consultancy. It will show the expansion of business in real as well as in imaginary terms. The co-branding technique will provide boost to the company. Compensation System: After going international, the company may develop some compensation systems to provide healthy incomes to the new employees from different companies. So that the motivation level of the employees may get higher and they may contribute towards innovation and development. Constraint and Restrictions There are many types of restriction mounted by the local authorities on small businesses. In the case of consultancy business, there are following restrictions: Registration The business or the SME should be registered under authorities with correct particulars. It should mention everything related to business and prove that is ethical business and there is no harm for environment. Authorization The SME should be authorized by the governing bodies of the country. The trademark should be registered and there should be acquisition of copyrights to run a Small Medium enterprise. This is very important that the name should be unique and in the case of IT, the processes should not be imitated from any other firm. Evaluation: The evaluation of small Medium Enterprise is necessary as the government of EU countries takes the working infrastructure of employees in account. The working of employees and the utilization of human resources are checked and evaluated by different authorities. Responsibilities and Liabilities of Owner Managers Owner In small and medium enterprises there are multiple roles associated with owner of the business. Owner is not only an investor, but is also responsible to make business strategy of the business. Conduct Financial analysis and arrange the finances if needed. Check the legal requirement of the firm along with some attention to the marketing and sales activities of the business. Managing human resource and customer feedback evaluation is also one of the liabilities of owners. In SMEs with more than one owner it is important to contribute in terms of time and finance equally in the business. Manager There are four basic management functions which should be performed by every type of manager. These four basic functions include: Planning Leading Controlling Organizing By planning it is meant to plan the routine and day to day activities in the business. In the case of Alpha Consultants it is necessary to plan activities which are the part of multiple projects on going. Some are the management consultancy projects while other is the IT services being offered different firms. The manager should ensure the good planning. Then the manager should lead the working team of employees in accordance with the policy and objectives of the business. As to provide the solutions for IT and management both, it is necessary for a manager to provide a controlled environment in which the activities are organized to deliver best quality in time. Such services can only be delivered when there is a proper control and innovation is appreciated through the leading role of a manager in business (Fincham, 2000). Finance There financial status of Alpha Consultant is one of the best in its kind. It is a debt free company. There is no incorporation and the proprietorship is sole. The companys profit is increasing gradually with time due to appropriate cost base with respect to other companies. Marketing and Sales The customer base of Alpha Co must be very strong as it has started from providing services only to customers and now it reselling the services to end users as well as public and private sector. Most of the customers were of public sector organizations. The company has increased its business portfolio by providing multiple solutions. These multiple solutions include Infrastructure, Microsoft, networking, optimized desktop, Asset Management and security. The other SMEs in this category are only limited to one type of services like only security or networking. Very less firms are giving asset management software oriented services (Eikebrokk, 2007). According to the secondary research given in the assignment, IT firm from UK or EU can easily internationalize on the basis of services provided online. In this way the firm can increase the profit and employment capacity. Human resources There are about 600 people in the SME. They are very energetic and like tradition strong innovation is demanded from the skilled workers of the firm. The detailed analysis provides the competitive advantage of Alpha Co on other similar firms. This advantage is that apart from passionate employees the preference is given to disciplined, flexible and diversified employees. In this way the firm stands at its best among other firms of same category. Use of Technology As this is an IT related firm and knows better to use the technology. The company is using the technology related to multiple fields at once. It has got many advantages along with the disadvantages. It is very difficult for a SME to provide core operations of different or multiple solutions. Especially in IT one business SME can only provide expert solution for one factor of the technology. There are other firms in the category which are having customer base and expertise only in one sector of the technology. Whether it’s the web, security or networking Alpha Consultants is giving multiple solutions which is the good point but customer can perceive a Jack of all trades and Master of None type stereotype. Developing Strategies, Goals and Objectives: Considering the weaknesses and threats faced by Alpha consultants, a number of recommendations can be suggested: Alpha consultants has a huge resource pool. It has professionals and experts in tens of sectors and fields. However, the key professionals inside the organization are development experts, so they key focus is on development projects. It strongly needs a separate department that will be dedicated to hunting new opportunities and finding new projects. That way Alpha consultants will be able to target various new projects and explore untouched domains. As discussed in the SWOT analysis, when Alpha consultants has to acquire freelance experts for various projects, it not only allows the consultants and experts to get access to company’s information, but also allows them to interact with their clients. These freelance professionals can exploit this information. However, if Alpha consultants hires more experts as their employees rather than outsourcing to freelance expert, it can gain a lot of advantage. We have been discussed that Alpha consultants has both the valuable experience and a valued name in development and health sector. It can use this name and use their profile to land in new opportunities. By entering new domains, it is expanding and at the same time giving the business a bigger name. The goal of Alpha consultants at the moment should be to gain multi-sector and multi-regional experience using its already established name in development sector. Areas such as Telecom giants, Defense organizations, Financial Institutions and Entrepreneurial start-ups are key areas of focused. Alpha consultants with their experience can provide assistance to all these clients, while also helping their inner growth. References 100, T., 2014. The Top 100 European Software Vendors: European Software Vendors Ranking 2013. [Online] Available at: http://www.truffle100.com/2013/ranking.php [Accessed February 2014]. Eikebrokk, T.R., 2007. Information and Management: An empirical investigation of competency factors affecting e-business success in European SMEs. Elsevier. Europa, 2012. SoftCat: A Case Study. Europa. Fincham, J.E., 2000. Basic Management Principles. University of Kansas, School pf Pharmacy. ISO, 2012. Quality Management Report. ISO Central Secretariat. Softcat, 2014. SoftCat: Our People. [Online] Available at: http://www.softcat.com/who-we-are/our-people [Accessed February 2014]. www.softcat.com, 2014. Softcat Limited. Terms and Conditions for Customers. [Online] SoftCat Available at: www.softcat.com/explorer/files/SoftcatTerms_Conditions.pdf‎ [Accessed 2014]. [i] Alpha Consultants (2013). Alpha Consultants, Expertise in Detail. Retrieved From: http://www.Alphaconsultants.com/Alpha/closerlook.html

Patricia Hill Collins Views On Feminism

Patricia Hill Collins Views On Feminism As a standpoint feminist, Patricia Hill Collins continuously argues that feminist studies should be practiced from the standpoint of women or particular groups of women who are not as egocentric to think they understand certain aspects of the world. Because of the differences that women have, many standpoint feminist now recognize this division of women and how it is impossible to claim one universal experience for women. Sexism occurs so miraculously that it is important to view it in relation to other systems of domination and analyze how it interacts with other classes in Collins matrix of domination. Collins does this through the thought of black feminist point of view. Collins is embedded in this idea that despite long standing claims by aristocrats; women, African Americans, Latinos, and other downgraded groups in America remain incapable of producing the type of analytical thought that is labeled as a feminist theory. People with powerful knowledge of resistance trampled former social structures of social and cultural inequality abandon this view. Members of these downgraded groups do in fact theorize and our critical social theory has been central to political empowerment and the search for justice. This led to Collins publishing Black Feminist Thought. Collins is above all concerned with the relationship among empowerment, knowledge, and self-definition with a primary focus on black women. It is the oppression with which she is most personally familiar. But Collins is also one of the few Standpoint and Social thinkers who are able to rise above their own experience. She challenges us with a significant view of oppression and other views that no t only has the possibility of changing the world but also of opening up the likelihood of continuous change. To her, for change to be continuous, it cant be exclusively focused on one social group. In other words, to be continuous, a social movement that is only concerned with racial inequality will end its influence once equality for that group is achieved. Collins gives us a way of transcending specific politics that is based upon Black Feminist Epistemology. Her intent is to place black womens experiences in the center of analysis without privileging those experiences. Basically we can learn from black womens knowledge. There are so many major trends that influence her to do so much of her work. She has sociological significance in a few different areas of which the content of her ideas has been influenced by on-going dialogue in many sociological societies. This has showed that in some way women are gaining more of a voice. For instance in her popular book From Black Power to Hip-Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism, this examines the debated spaces of racism, feminism, nationalism, and popular culture in an attempt to expand the struggle for a truly democratic society for the whole universe. She highlights specific themes to truly hint the struggle of place in society. The book is divided into 3 parts: Race, Family, and the US; Ethnicity, Culture, and Black Nationalist politics; and Feminism, Nationalism, and African American women. She is careful with words, she reclaims the term Black women for its globalizing potential to include more than America women of African descent. She redefines the g roup, she states, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a unifying language that women of African descent and women who are rendered socially Black [in and outside the US] can use to describe their needs as racial and ethnic women (Collins 23). With this said early on in the book, one anticipates a broader view to reframe black feminist thought in the global eye. Not necessarily to analyze everything but to at least rethink the effects of transnational migration on urban environments in America. Collins highlights these shifts in black identity, in ways of how we discuss black experience, race relations, and how contemporary feminist redefine themselves as women of color. In spite of that, Collins sticks closely to the familiar ground of African American urban communities and their related feminist theories and practices. She is concerned with the development of contemporary black feminist thought into social movement and its expansion into multiracial collective identity politics. Hip Hop is the dominant cultural expression in many black womens lives, but it is just one part in the complex of her matrix of domination. Because of our influence of Hip-Hop and other trends of society she tries to influence us to put into practice the collective identity of politics. She tries to influence into creating a group base identity while avoiding group based essentialism. She wants us to detach ourselves from this intricate and worldwide place of domination without falling into more temptation. It doesnt seem like she has many forerunners that truly influence her to do all of what she has done. She is more influenced by herself. She gives her opinion of what she thinks females (mostly black females) need to achieve and prove, and how others should understand and learn. As mention before she operates on the Matrix of Domination. This is a sociological theory that explains issues of oppression that deal with race, gender, and class. Even though these issues are classified differently they all are connected in a way. Other forms such as age, sex, gender, and religion apply to this too. Collins introduces this in her book Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and Politics of Empowerment. Many feminist have contributed a great deal of research to help her in an advantage. Although, it seems Collins has had a little bit of help from Alice Walker and her view of black women and feminism, in which she changes to Womanism. Walkers construction of Womanism was an attempt to establish the true black woman in history and culture and to change the negative and inaccurate stereotypes that are given to black women. Walker lists the black woman as a thinking subject who is always seeking knowledge. She interrogates the epistemological exclusions she endures in intellectual life and general and feminist intelligence. Walker also highlights the black womans strength, capability, and independence. Opposed to feminism, Womanism presents an alternative for black women by framing their survival through men and women. In Black Feminist Thought, Collins states, Many black women view feminism as a movement that at best is exclusively for women, and, at worst, dedicated to attacking or eliminating menà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Womanism seemingly supplies a way for black women to address gender-oppression without attacking black men (Collins 11). Collins seems agreeable in this case of Womanism and seems to be that Alice Walker is a versatile influence upon her. Collins goes into a lot of depth about Womanism in her book, a great impact on the Matrix of Domination. Patricia Hill Collins outlined America Black Feminism through the expression in music, fiction, poetry, and oral history. She continuously saw and pointed out three themes. The oppressions are interconnected greatly through the different points. Black women create alternative world views for self-definition and self determination. Black women also have often incorporated imposed and restraining definitions of who they are. They especially do this by revitalizing concepts of beauty, skin color, and physical body notions. Collins also points to areas that have been overlooked many times. Gender roles within family and work, politics, violence, and homophobia all need to be revitalized also. Collins draws on black womens experiences and voices to explain concepts that have been obscured institutionally and ideologically. Her interdisciplinary methodology engages an analytical approach to domination and subordination. She rejects defensive thought because either/or thinking categorizes people, things, and ideas in terms of their differences from each other. She stresses the both/and analysis because it could transform the way in which we think about the claims in knowledge. Her work has made Afro-centric and feminist thought more liable, broader in view, and more essential. She forces her readers to think differently and to reexamine the way in which truth and knowledge are thought to be, produced, and approved. This helps us to realize the importance of our gender society. This is some knowledge of why she seems to be an important figure in the evolution of gender studies. She gives her opinion with valuable information to back it up. Collins largely devotes a significant amount of work to present intellectual ideas mixed with everyday life ideas in an accessible way. This gives more of an encouragement for black females and other races to say what they feel, to give their opinion straightforward as can be. Her book Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment seems to be one of the most contributing books that she has published for the general public, but with a focus for black women. She reanalyzes race, gender, and class as an interlocking system of oppression. She talks about the lack of womens experiences as blood-mothers and other-mothers. The community reveals that there is a norm of a heterosexual, married couple, with a husband earning the money. This is far from being natural, universal, and preferred but instead is deeply embedded in specific race and class formations. Placing African American women in the center of analysis not only reveals much needed information ab out black womens experiences but also questions what perspective we give them. Black womens actions in group survival suggest a vision of community that stands in opposition to that extent in the dominant culture. This community is seen as arbitrary and fragile, structured accordingly by competition and domination. Afro-centric models of community stress connections, caring, and personal accountability. As cultural workers African American women have rejected the generalized ideology of domination in order to safeguard the conceptualizations of the community. According to Collins, black women have been unable to spend time theorizing about alternative conceptualizations of community. Instead, through daily actions black women have strongly created alternative communities that truly empower themselves. Experiences as mothers, other-mothers, educators, labor women, and community leaders seem to suggest that power as energy can be encouraged by resistance. In Fighting Words: Black Wome n and the Search for Justice, Collins states, The spheres of influence created and sustained by African American women are not mean to solely to provide a respite from oppressive situations or a retreat from their effects. Rather, these black female spheres of influence constitute potential sanctuaries where individual black women and men are nurtured in order to confront oppressive social institutions (Collins 56). Collins explores an astonishing range of ideas and images through history, sociology, and popular culture. Rather than debate the dominance of race versus sex in the history of social injustice to black women and other races; Collins offers a theory of Intersectionality, viewing race, gender, and sexuality together. She explores the social and personal implications of historical images and more current concerns about the influence of urban culture and how its glorified. Demonstrating how the politics of race has traditionally neglected concerns about gender and sexual orientation, Collins explores a range of issues, advocating certain aspects of cultural situations.

Measuring the Macroeconomic Impact of Monetary Policy Essay -- Economi

Monetary policy is the method by which the government, central bank, or monetary authority controls the supply of money, or trading foreign exchange markets. This policy is usually called either an expansionary policy, or a contractionary policy. An expansionary policy multiplies the total supply of money in the economy, and a contractionary policy diminishes the total supply. Expansionary policy is used to tackle unemployment in an economic decline by lowering interest rates, while contractionary policy has the goal of elevating interest rates to fight inflation. Monetary policy reposes on the relationship between the rates of interest in an economy and the total dispense of money. Monetary policy uses a diversity of tools to dominate exchange rates with other currencies and unemployment. This is done in order to influence outcomes like economic growth and inflation. A policy is called contractionary if it diminishes the size of the money supply or increases the interest rate. An expansionary policy raises the size of the money supply, or lowers the interest rate. Monetary policies are accommodative if the interest rate is intended to stimulate economic growth, neutral if it is intended to neither encourage growth nor fight inflation, or tight if its aim is to reduce inflation. There are several monetary policy tools available to achieve these results. The Fed has three of these tools. Open market operations, reserve requirements and discount window lending. Open market operations are the most important tool of monetary policy used by the Fed. These operations involve the Fed buying and selling prior issued U.S. government securities. Reserve requirements are the percentages of precise kinds of deposits that banks mus... ...sitive as well as a negative effect on everyday people. This can be manifested primarily through a shift in employment status. The government, however, has many tools in order to help the situation. These tools at time can improve or even deteriorate the dilemma. They are made to bring the economy out of crisis. But there is no doubt that monetary policy has a tremendous effect on macroeconomic factors as GDF, unemployment, inflation, and interest rates. References Anonymous (2013). Money what it is how it works. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from http://wfhummel.cnchost.com/monetarypolicy.html McConnell, C.R. & Bruce, S.L. (2012). Economics: Principles, problems and policies. (18th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. North, Gary (2012). Interest Rates and Monetary Policy. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north492.html Measuring the Macroeconomic Impact of Monetary Policy Essay -- Economi Monetary policy is the method by which the government, central bank, or monetary authority controls the supply of money, or trading foreign exchange markets. This policy is usually called either an expansionary policy, or a contractionary policy. An expansionary policy multiplies the total supply of money in the economy, and a contractionary policy diminishes the total supply. Expansionary policy is used to tackle unemployment in an economic decline by lowering interest rates, while contractionary policy has the goal of elevating interest rates to fight inflation. Monetary policy reposes on the relationship between the rates of interest in an economy and the total dispense of money. Monetary policy uses a diversity of tools to dominate exchange rates with other currencies and unemployment. This is done in order to influence outcomes like economic growth and inflation. A policy is called contractionary if it diminishes the size of the money supply or increases the interest rate. An expansionary policy raises the size of the money supply, or lowers the interest rate. Monetary policies are accommodative if the interest rate is intended to stimulate economic growth, neutral if it is intended to neither encourage growth nor fight inflation, or tight if its aim is to reduce inflation. There are several monetary policy tools available to achieve these results. The Fed has three of these tools. Open market operations, reserve requirements and discount window lending. Open market operations are the most important tool of monetary policy used by the Fed. These operations involve the Fed buying and selling prior issued U.S. government securities. Reserve requirements are the percentages of precise kinds of deposits that banks mus... ...sitive as well as a negative effect on everyday people. This can be manifested primarily through a shift in employment status. The government, however, has many tools in order to help the situation. These tools at time can improve or even deteriorate the dilemma. They are made to bring the economy out of crisis. But there is no doubt that monetary policy has a tremendous effect on macroeconomic factors as GDF, unemployment, inflation, and interest rates. References Anonymous (2013). Money what it is how it works. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from http://wfhummel.cnchost.com/monetarypolicy.html McConnell, C.R. & Bruce, S.L. (2012). Economics: Principles, problems and policies. (18th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. North, Gary (2012). Interest Rates and Monetary Policy. Retrieved February 18, 2014, from http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north492.html

The Rosenberg Trial :: essays research papers

The Rosenberg trial, which ended in a double execution in 1953, was one of the century's most controversial trials. It was sometimes referred to as, "the best publicized spy hunt of all times" as it came to the public eye in the time of atom-spy hysteria. Husband and wife, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were charged with conspiracy to commit espionage. Most of the controversy surrounding this case came from mass speculation that there were influences being reinforced by behind-the-scenes pressure, mainly from the government, which was detected through much inconsistencies in testimonies and other misconduct in the court. Many shared the belief that Ethel Rosenberg expressed best as she wrote in one of her last letters before being executed, "-knowing my husband and I must be vindicated by history...We are the first victims of American Fascism." Some people believed that the Rosenbergs had a vulnerable background which made these innocent people fall victim to the government. In September 1940 Julius Rosenberg was hired by US army Signal Corps as a junior engineer, but fired March 1945 because he was found to be a member of the communist party. He was employed in 1945 with Emerson Radio. Finally, in 1946 Bernard Greenglass, his brother-in-law, asked him to a join war surplus business called Pitt Machine Products Company. Ethel Rosenberg supported herself as a teenager through pageant prize money she won as a singer and dancer. Later on she was employed as a clerk for National Shipping but lost her job for union activities. They lived a happily married life with two sons until June 15, 1950 when brother-in-law, David Greenglass named Julius and Ethel as people who recruited him to spy for the Soviet Union. The case judged by Irving R. Kaufman began on March 6,1957. The Rosenbergs, as well as Morton Sobell, were accused of delivering information, documents, sketches and other material vital to the national defense of our country, to a foreign power, namely, to Soviet Russia. Greenglass testified that it was he who turned over most of these materials to the Rosenbergs because of pressure. On March 29, after a much publicized court case, the couple were found guilty and sentenced to be executed in the week of May 21, and their accused co-conspirator, Sobell, got 30 years in jail because he was not explicitly connected to the atom bomb. Many people were against this decision and the president tried to justify such rash actions: "The execution of two human beings is a grave matter. But even graver is the thought of the millions of dead whose death may be directly attributable to what these spies have done." After many failed appeals, Julius and Ethel were electrocuted minutes apart on June 19,

Greater Access to the Internet Has Enabled Buyers

Greater access to the internet has enabled buyers to search more easily for information about potential suppliers of goods and services. This has significantly affected many industries, such as insurance, banking, retailing and travel. To what extent do you think that increased internet usage inevitably reduces producers’ profits? Justify your answer with reference to organizations and/or industries that you know. Over the past decade, Shopping on the internet has skyrocketed with internet sales reaching almost ? 0 billion in 2012, which accounts to almost 10% of total sales in the UK. This is due to the increased possession of Internet devices such as: smartphones, laptops and computers. It has become much easier and simpler for consumers to buy products online using these devices. Increased internet security has also increased demand for online shopping due to customers being confident in undergoing an online transaction. Another advantage of selling items on the internet is that it gives you the opportunity to advertise your or another companies products.Over 80% of the British population uses the internet regularly which opens up a massive market for advertising and for companies to show their products to users of the internet. However, results in increased internet usage have resulted in the decreased need for physical advertising such as: books, magazines and newspapers which have begun to prove more ineffective in advertising products. For example, a double paged spread in a popular newspaper can exceed costs of ? 10,000 while costs of advertising on a high traffic website may only cost ? 200 a month.Jessops has recently entered administration and is a perfect example as to how increased internet usage can reduce profits for some firms. Its target market was camera lovers, which prints out photos, sells cameras and a large number of accessories. Despite being an online retailer, Jessops failed to compete with the low prices of Amazon, Curryâ€℠¢s and other online competitors. The internet has an endless supply of products such as cameras at a very competitive price. Some products would not be sold in Jessops but would be sold online resulting in losses of potential revenue for Jessops.Another market which has slowly died is the demand for printing of photos, due to social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook people don’t need to share their photos in a physical format and are capable of simply sending the picture via these social websites. In this case of selling products it was a massive drawback for Jessops but turned out to be an advantage for competitors such as Amazon. The increased number of internet users leads to benefits for Amazon who thrive off increased internet usage due to consumers finding it a cheaper alternative to Jessops.The internet can also be a good source of primary market research which enables firms such as Amazon to analyze prices of different websites. This would give the opportuni ty for Amazon to perhaps reduce prices or introduce offers which would help them sell more products. I believe it is entirely up to the company, this kind of competition would perhaps not effect Amazon due to their size in the market and their reliability where customers instantly visit Amazon knowing they will be given a fair price and receive their purchased item quickly.However, it did affect Jessops who failed to respond to demand and lower prices resulting in there imminent administration. I don’t believe that the increased usage of the internet reduces profits as some firms can be incredibly profitable off of this. With the current state of the economy, people who are in need of high quality clothing have tended to move further away from worldwide brands such as: Gucci, D&G and Louis Vuitton and have moved closer to the retail shop Zara. Zara has blossomed over the past few years, both online and in the high street due to increased internet usage and there quick respons e to demand.It is primarily down to the type of business and the level of competitiveness they possess. A large number of fashion companies are not focused on their usage of the internet and rely on customers purchasing these products physically from their shop which can be a major drawback in their market as they can’t expand their popularity to the larger target market found online. From the examples supplied I do not believe the increased usage of the internet will reduce producers’ profits as it will be down to the nature of the product and other related reasons.Reaction to change online will affect the companies chances of success in the current economic climate however. The internet can provide an endless number of benefits for companies such as: easy shopping, safe transactions and more straightforward searches. The internet has proven to be more successful for companies such as Zara having a massive profit increase of 43% simply after the re-designing of their websiote making it simpler for the inline internet shopper. Although a company like Zara could earn an incredible amount from online sales this leads to high street stores failing due to the loss in numbers of customers.