‘Of Mice and Men’ by John Steinbeck Essay

‘Of Mice and Men’ is written by John Steinbeck. The novel is set in the 1930s during the great depression in California. The two protagonist characters, George and Lennie are farm workers who have a dream of one-day owning their own ranch. They find work in a ranch near Soledad, after escaping from Weed because of George’s incident. They are met by different characters on the farm that all have a dream. To be lonely means to lack friends or companionship and to feel isolated. Most of the characters are lonely and the only thing that keeps them alive is their dreams. Some of the loneliest characters they meet are Candy, an old man with only one hand, Crooks, a black cripple and Curley’s Wife, a woman who has no identity, she is lonely even though she is married. Although they are all on the ranch together, they are lonely because of who they are and their history. ‘Of Mice and Men’ is an emotional story with many different themes and characters. Steinbeck presents Curley’s wife as the only women in the ranch and because she doesn’t have a name it shows that she is not important and she is someone’s belonging. The first time you hear about Curley’s wife is when candy describes her to George. Candy uses expression such as â€Å"she got the eye† and goes on to describe her as looking at other man because of this they call her a â€Å"tart†. Through Candy’s words, we could develop an initial perception of Curley’s wife as Flirty and even promiscuous. This manipulates us by leading us into having a negative view of her. Her first appearance in the Novel focuses on her appearance. The way she acts, the way she looks and the way she speaks with others. The first sentence about her was â€Å"the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway cut off† this shows how she stands there to get attention and get noticed by the ranchers. This make us think as a reader in other way she stood in that certain place because she knows that they will look at her. Her physical appearance of â€Å"full†, â€Å"rough lips† and â€Å"wide-spaced eyes†,† Heavily made up† and â€Å"her fingernails were red† this shows how see got the natural shape on an actor. The â€Å"heavily made up† this shows that she want to make herself look attractive so the ranchers will look at her and feel love in her. The colour â€Å"red† shows that it’s a symbol of danger and on the other side the thick bright colours stands out from other things so this can make herself get noticed by others that is all she wanted. George seems to believe Candy he says to Lennie â€Å"don’t you even take a look at that bitch† this shows the feelings that George got towards Curley’s wife. She is lonely â€Å"stands there looking in† which shows she nothing to do and because of her loneliness she wanted to be loved by others so she acts like she is flirting. They say she is a â€Å"flirty† but it is the only way she knows how to get attention.

SME Challenges to Access to Finance

1. SMEs usually have limited financial resources compared to a large company. Often it is hard to finance the standard model for software process improvement (SPI) activities. They try to avoid excessive overhead for the full custom standard process implementation. 2. The proven best practices for the large companies might be too expensive or time consuming to perform in SMEs because of their limited resources and business model. 3. The majority of small companies are independently financed. That causes a tight financial situation for many small businesses. So they can’t always afford to buy required expertise that possesses the skills required in a particular position. 4. A first step toward process improvement is identifying the strengths and weaknesses of organization software processes. For this, an assessment to examine the processes against a reference model which helps to determine the processes capability to meet the required quality, cost, and schedule goals is required, but small companies have difficulty running those. 5. The small size of a company not only causes for the challenges of networking, marketing and business issues for small software companies. It also creates problems for gaining and leveraging technological know-how. 6. Large companies can improve the work efficiency using all needed toolkits. Small company also need these tools in every step of software process but high licensing costs often put their project cost over expectable levels. 7. SMEs suffer from the lack of literature and publications describing efforts on an improvement initiative. But adoption of internationally accepted software process practices is essential for the success of all software companies to compete in the global software development market. 8. Many SMEs have multiple business operations like service, product, and consultancy. A given employee may have to change the projects more frequently. This leads to additional challenges to improve the required level of competence for different projects with different technologies. 9. A given employee of SMEs may simultaneously play multiple roles. For that, he may ignore tasks or consider many tasks as low priority. Thus many important tasks may be left undone. In some cases, these tasks may be contradictory or mutually exclusive (e. g. A person is responsible for product cost reduction and improvement of customer service simultaneously). 10. In SMEs the average project duration is shorter than in large companies. Manager faces challenges to reallocate employees more frequently to different projects.

Leadership and management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leadership and management - Essay Example In the 1940s and 1950s, many companies operated with very rigid, top-down hierarchies and business leaders at this time were rather annoyed at the concept of giving workers autonomy and decision-making power (Buchanan 2009). Today, however, decentralised business practices focus more on leadership as a primary trait to build followership, which include inspiring employees, building a communal vision and mission, and motivating others using a variety of psycho-social techniques. This is a major break from the traditional role of management, which is defined as planning roles and operations, organising employees and establishing appropriate evaluation methodologies and controls to ensure compliance and productivity (Nickels, McHugh and McHugh 2005). Thus, did Drucker get it right? It would seem so considering that his early conceptions of participative work environments have now become respected models within a variety of domestic and international businesses. However, Drucker’s assessment focuses on the management function, which differs significantly from theories of leadership that are more humanistic in nature, negating the importance of traditional managerial function to gain employee dedication and commitment to achieve organisational goals. This essay makes relevant comparisons to different models of leadership and management in order to understand whether Drucker’s viewpoint is accurate or whether this belief holds little relevance to the contemporary business organisation. The project identifies a real world industry example, along with a personal evaluation of the necessity to maintain strengths in leadership, in order to identify a definitive model of modern business practice that would be most pertinen t in dynamic and ever-changing business environments. Did Drucker actually get it right? In order to address this effectively, one must understand the differences between management and leadership and how they are applied in the contemporary organisation to improve productivity and engage employees to complete tasks according to strategic expectations. Leadership versus management One should consider the management practices in the technology industry, one that is dynamic and where change is constantly present in order to produce innovations that meet time-to-market expectations. Google, a leader in this industry, promotes a highly decentralised business model that provides workers with unique working conditions, including ping pong tables to facilitate collaboration, flexible working hours, and where team-working is a primary goal with minimal managerial supervision (Weber 2007). Google’s team philosophy and this decentralised business model continue to bring the company sig nificant competitive advantages by achieving faster launches of innovative products and services in an environment with very limited managerial presence. Respected models of psychology and sociology strongly iterate that establishment of social belonging in the organisation is a fundamental motivator leading to performance (Maslow 1998; Morris and Maisto 2005). This model defies traditional controlling management practices, instead taking a transformational approach which inspires shared decision-making,

Assignment of International Economics Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Of International Economics - Assignment Example As argued by Auernheimer, (47) the markets are equipped with financial regulators who protect the investors against fraud as well as performing other functions. In the modern world, the markets are managed by an electronic system. Entities such as stock exchanges, investment banks and government departments manage the system. The systems are available across the globe, but more concentrated in London, New York and Hong Kong. International capital flow is facilitated by a global financial system that was established in the late 19th century. The formation of central banks and multilateral treaties was intended at ensuring transparency and efficiency international markets. The early 19th century was marked with a substantial development in the sectors of transportation and communication. Innovations in transportation sparked high rates of human migration while an improvement in communication facilitated efficient transfer of information. These innovations steered fast growth in international trade and investment. During the First World War, foreign exchange markets in London were heightened as United Kingdom went into war. The market became paralyzed and this impelled and the sterling pound lost its power against the French, franc currency. United States endorsed trading tariffs on its agricultural and manufacturing imports. The global trade nearly halted worsening the aftermaths of the world wide great depression. In 1930 marked the establishment of Bank for International Settlements to manage reparations from Germany imposed by the Treaty of Versailles and act as a bank for central banks across the world. Auernheimer (115) observed that most states in Europe, America and Asia departed from the classic gold standard following the end of World War 1. The great depression came to be and Germany was the first country to officially abandon the postwar gold standard and implement foreign exchange controls. After these host countries

Recycling Plastic Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Recycling Plastic - Assignment Example may not have been recycled as much can be attributed to the lack of specialized containers for plastics being insisted upon like there are special containers for glass bottles or even metallic bottles. The presence of such bins would act as a reminder to people to separate the plastics from the rest of the trash hence making not only recycling possible but increasing the number of plastics being recycled in the country (Kreiger, et al 2011). The other reason based on research that plastics are not recycled as much is because there are different types of plastics making it hard for people to know which plastics are supposed to be recycled or are able to be recycled and which ones cannot (Esterl, 2011). An example is having destroyed electronic equipment like a mobile phone that needs to be discarded, and then there are empty juice containers and water bottles as well as empty containers previously holding hair or body lotion and oils and plastics cutlery. All these are different types of plastics and people get confused as to what to put aside as plastic. They therefore end up throwing away some other types of plastics such as the electronic gadgets and hence this continues to reduce the amount of plastics being recycled. Talks by Mike Biddle have revealed that it is possible to recycle all types of plastics and hence people should not fear about sorting out their plastic trash and separating it. Anything that is made from plastic should be completely separated from the trash and when it reaches the recycling plant, the experts can be able to sort them out and follow Biddle’s 30 processes to extract the plastic and eliminate the impurities (Biddle, 2011). This revelation should act to increase the amount of plastics being recycled and reduce the amount being wasted for lack of knowledge. Research by Viscusi, Huber & Bell, (2012) reveals that in order to also increase the amount of plastics to be recycled, each home should be encouraged to have separate trash

Motivating Generation X Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Motivating Generation X - Essay Example However, how to motivate employees has recently become a hard task for the management of various companies (Allen & Helms, 2002). This is because most of the employees in organizations today are of the generation X. The generation X is made up of people born between 1960s and the 1980s. They have grown up under very different values from the ones of those in generation Y. For example, this generation has grown up seeing their parents go to work all day and all night only for then to be retrenched after thirty years of faithful service. For them now, job security does not matter anymore they only see each job opportunity to advance their careers so they will always be hopping from company to company in search of greener pastures (Dewhurst, Guthridge, & Mohr, 2010). This, therefore, means that in order to retain generation X. Managers will always have to offer very attractive incentives. By incentives here, I mean that all forms of financial returns and tangible benefits received by an employee as part of the employment relationship. It can be divided into two parts, monetary compensation and non-monetary compensation. ... Most of them are well conversant with the core jobs that help an organization achieve very high profits. They also usually have expertise in the core units in a company. The core units are those that bring most sales and are most crucial to the successful running of business in an organization. For example, a well motivated sales team will increase turnover for the company. Other departments responsible for smooth running of operations in a company include IT, Finance department among others (Dunham, 2003). Management could also motivate the generation X using other financial forms of motivation other than an attractive salary. This could be a bonus which is mainly an incentive given to reward good performance purchase of shares in a company at a fixed price, and when employees feel some sense of ownership in a company they will stay longer and work more as they understand the benefits involved should the company make high profits. Generation X, having grown up in an era where there parents were always busy, they did not somehow get sufficient parental love. They, therefore, do not want the same to happen to their families and, therefore, in most cases will always choose their families over work. Management should, therefore, ensure that on the remuneration package, it also offers sufficient non-monetary compensation. Bhatia (2010) defines non-monetary motivation as benefits employees receive other than the normal monetary compensation package to boost employee morale. Non-monetary compensation includes any benefit received by an employee from an employer that is non-financial but satisfying. They include but not limited to opportunity for growth, flexible hours, recognition and praise, friendships

The Impact of Death on a Child Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Impact of Death on a Child - Essay Example Apparently, the dramatic situation at home when they discovered my grandmother had died; during a nap, so they thought she was sleeping for quite some time before they found her and came to a consensus that she was, indeed, dead, warranted forgetting to pick me up. At the time, though, it felt like they forgot my existence. My mother finally arrived looking tormented, even to my young eyes. I started crying as soon as she got out of the car and I saw her swollen eyes and reddened face, the deep creases set around her mouth. She did try to comfort me as best she could, given the situation, but her own suffering just added to my fear. We both cried the entire drive home despite the fact that she never actually told me my grandmother had died, perhaps she thought my immature emotions could not handle this information or maybe she could simply not bear to say the words, either way I was puzzled nonetheless and my tears were just a knee jerk reaction to the intense emotions of my mother, it is always scary for a child to see their parent distressed. When we finally arrived home (the seven-minute drive seemed like hours to me at the time) our entire family was at our house, yet, the packed bungalow was silent. Perhaps the state my mother and I led them to believe I had already been told, but the truth was I wondered and waited for my "Nana" for days before I understood she was never coming back. Looking back at this time I remember a dark and menacing atmosphere where I just tried to stay out of people's way (our house was the headquarters for all grief, big and small) and try and figure out what everything that was going on meant and, mainly, where my 'Nana' was and when she would be coming home. I recall relating the idea of my grandmother's return to one of my older cousins whose parents had come by to 'let it all out' (a phrase I'd overheard my mother using when one of our guests would buckle, allowing their face to contort as their pain cascaded down their cheeks); I think I simply mentioned an activity I would partake in as soon as my grandmother returned and I was met with the cruel and mocking laughter and was told she wasn't coming back, she was dead and that meant asleep forever.

Chain reaction by tere Martinez Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chain reaction by tere Martinez - Essay Example The play itself focuses on Antionia Pantoja, a community leader from Puerto Rica and her life’s work. The relationship between Pantoja and her mentor Frank Horne is another key example of mentorship within the play. The two share the same passion and drive, wanting to fight for rights and freedoms. He encourages her plans and this gives her the strength to succeed. With his support, she builds the ASPIRA, a group and a community that supports one another. Through ASPIRA she taught students ways of solving problems, determining what the issues were in their life, the causes and how to go about solving them. In addition, it focused on the cultural background of Puerto Ricans, encouraging them to embrace rather than ignore their heritage. A second relationship of importance in the play is that of Yoiaira and Professor Ramos. Yojaira is a 19 year old student studying at Hostos Community College. She is sarcastic, feeling that she is unable to succeed. While she dreams of being a scientist, she rejects Ramos’ suggestions that this is possible, instead deciding to follow her mother’s desires to be a dentist. Yojaira talks to Ramos about her personal life, the problems that she is experiencing and her plans for the future. It is through this relationship of trust and friendship that Ramos is able to help Yojaria. Because of Ramos’ influence, Yojaira finds in herself the desire to be someone different and it is this desire that causes her to call Hector and agree to meet him. A final crucial relationship within the play is that between Hector and Pantoja. Hector was a member of the ASPIRA group that Pantoja had developed and encouraged. Because of Pantoja’s encouragement, Hector followed a career path that everyone else in his life told him was not possible. Through Pantoja’s work and encouragement he gained substantial strength in himself, and found that he did not have to be ashamed of his heritage, or become an

Person Centred Therapy Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Person Centred Therapy Evaluation Essay In order to evaluate the claim that Person-Centred Therapy offers the therapist all that he/she will need to treat clients, one must look at the theoretical concepts of person-centred therapy (PCT) and its underlying philosophical influences. The PCT approach was developed during the 1940’s and 1950’s by an American psychologist Carl Rogers, now known as Rogerian counselling; he proposed new humanistic ideas for counselling which moved away from the doctor/patient relationship. PCT emphasises person to person relationship between the therapist and client and focuses on the client’s point of view; through active listening the therapist tries to understand the client’s presenting issue and emotions. In PCT the client determines the direction, course, speed and length of the treatment and the therapist helps increase the client’s insight and self understanding. Rogers and Abraham Maslow, another psychologist, were the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology. â€Å"Humanistic theories of personality maintain that humans are motivated by the uniquely human need to expand their frontiers and to realise as much of their potential as possible† (Sanders 2002 p22). A humanistic approach is based on all human beings having an inbuilt ability to grow and achieve their full potential known as â€Å"actualisation†. If this quality can be harnessed then human beings can resolve their own issues naturally, given the right conditions. Rogers and Maslow believed in a person’s potential to reach self actualisation. Maslow however referred to the ‘psychology of being’ and that self actualisation was an end in itself at the top of the hierarchy of needs whereas Rogers considered the ‘psychology of becoming’- the process of being able to take charge of your life and become the person you want to be a c ontinuous process. Maslow felt that human beings are always striving for self improvement which goes beyond that of the basic needs for survival. He believed that a person’s behaviour stems from the way in which people strive to meet different needs. From 1943 to 1954 he developed the 5-level Hierarchy of Needs: * The first, lowest level, concerns a person’s physiological  needs: survival, food, water and shelter. * The second addresses safety: protection from danger and need for security, order and predictability. * The third covers love social behaviour: for love, friendship and acceptance by peers. * The fourth addresses self respect and esteem: the need for status, independence, recognition, self confidence and respect from others. * The fifth and highest level concerns self-actualisation: the need to fulfil one’s personal potential. His theory states that each need must be met in turn starting with the lowest concerning the need for survival and only when the lower needs are met is a person able to move on to the higher needs. However if something should happen and any lower needs are no longer satisfied then a person will concentrate on regaining them before attaining the higher ones. The lower four levels are known as ‘deficiency’ needs which a person will strive to fulfil thereby satisfying the deficiency. However behaviour relating to self actualisation is known as a ‘growth’ need, governed by the person’s inborn need to grow and realise his full potential. Maslow felt most people only ever achieved the first four needs, and he wanted to help clients to obtain ‘Self-Actualisation’ in order to really become themselves. â€Å"The higher up the hierarchy we go, the more the need becomes linked to life experience and the less ‘biological’ it becomes.† (Gross 1996 p.97) It is a fact that people achieve self actualisation in many different ways, related to experience in later life rather than biology. If a person has a deficiency in one of the lower levels of needs then self- actualisation cannot be achieved, resulting in anger, frustration, unhappiness and depression. Rogers trusted in people and viewed them in a positive and optimistic way, believing all human beings naturally strove to achieve their potential; mental health issues arose when barriers to personal growth were present. Accordingly a person’s behaviour is down to self perception or interpretation of a situation and as no one else could know how something was perceived, the perceiver would be the best person to help themselves. PCT looks at how the client is currently interpreting and perceiving their  situation, the moment to moment experience and what is being thought and felt. Rogers viewed psychological development as the process of a person following the path of actualisation and so becoming oneself. A fully functioning person was someone on his way to self actualisation and he identified certain qualities that enabled that person to realise his potential. A person needs to have:- Openness to experience: he can accurately perceive his own feelings and experiences in the world; Existential living: he lives in the present rather than the past; Organismic trusting: know what is good for one and trust thoughts and feelings as accurate, doing what comes naturally; Experiential freedom: the feeling of freedom when making choices and taking responsibility for personal actions; Creativity: a person will naturally socialise and participate in society through work, social relationships or through the arts or sciences. A principal element of Rogers’ theory is the concept of self, described as being a set of self perceptions and beliefs, including self awareness or image, self esteem and worth, and Ideal self. Human behaviour is driven by people attempting to maintain consistency between their self image and esteem; sometimes this consistency is not achieved and a person’s self image may differ from their actual behaviour and how it is perceived by others. A highly successful and respected person, may see themself as a complete failure: as their actual experience is not consistent with their ideal self, an incongruent condition. People experiencing incongruent feelings, because of conflict with their self image, feel threatened and may block or deny these feelings. It is these defence mechanisms which prevent the self from growing and changing; widening the gap between reality and the self-image until the latter becomes more unrealistic when the â€Å"incongruent person† will start to feel vulnerable, confused and suffer psychological disturbances. A congruent person’s self image is flexible and changes with new experiences, the self image matches the thoughts and actions allowing for the opportunity to self-actualise. A person’s self concept develops through childhood. Rogers believed that  humans developed conditions of worth: the conditions where positive regard would be given. In order to maintain this conditional positive regard a person will suppress or deny actions and feelings which are unacceptable to people who are important, instead of using those thoughts, feelings and perceptions as a guide to behaviour. It is this denial that causes the difference between the organism and the self, the organism being everything a person does, feels and thinks, and the self being the part that is accepted liked and respected by others positive regard. As people have an inherent need to be loved and accepted and therefore a need for positive self regard, they behave and act in ways that meet approval so in turn think of themselves as good, lovable and worthy. In order to experience positive self regard a person’s behaviour and condition of worth must match; sometimes conditions can force one to behave and act in ways that prevent self actualisation, thus living life by someone else’s standards. This can cause conflict between experience and self concept, leading to the development of psychological disorders. Congruence and self actualisation can only be reached if a person is functioning as a whole organism so conditions of worth need to be substituted with organismic values. Rogers maintains that the human organism has an underlying â€Å"actualising tendency† which drives a person to develop and become independent. When a person is acting under conditional positive regard which prevents realisation of full potential, these conditions need to be removed. The difference between the self and organism then becomes minimal and the person more closely aligned with his natural values: more relaxed and happy with life. PCT aims to provide the right environment to enable the client to grow and develop, and work through any problems by utilising the ability for personal growth. Rogers believed that the therapy should take place in a supportive environment created by a close personal relationship between the client and the therapist. It allows insight into the client’s feelings and behaviour whilst the therapist’s function is to offer warmth and empathy, congruence and unconditional positive regard toward the client, accepting what is said in a non judgmental way. Rogers felt that the most important factor in  successful therapy was the therapist’s attitude. A key element of the PCT is to reflect the client’s feelings without judgement and by doing this the client will relax and express inner feelings. It also lets the client know that the therapist is listening, trying to understand, as well as clarifying what the client is communicating. Clarification arises when the therapist picks out the key points, uses the clients own words to develop an atmosphere of trust, enabling rapport to develop leading the client to feel able to appreciate current feelings and past experiences. Rogers believed that in order to create this environment for growth and change three core conditions need to be provided for a therapeutic relationship to be formed. Empathy. The therapist must try to enter the client’s inner world and understand how the client is feeling through sensitively listening and reflecting back what the client is saying. â€Å"Carl Rogers described empathy as the ability to sense the client’s world as if it were your own without losing the â€Å"as if† quality† (Sanders 2002 p68). Congruence. This involves the therapist being â€Å"real† open to the expressed feelings and being genuine with the client. There should be no air of authority, enabling the client to feel the therapist is being honest and responding as a real person not analysing what is being said and trying to fit it to a therapeutic model. Unconditional positive regard (UPR). The therapist must provide non judgmental warmth and acceptance of the client, regardless of past behaviour, as a worthwhile person free to explore and discuss all thoughts, feelings and behaviour positive and negative without fear of rejection or judgement. The client must not feel the need to earn positive regard; many people seek help because of disturbances caused by unreasonable harsh judgements. It is very important to ensure that experience is not repeated during therapy. If the client feels an evaluation is being undertaken, a false front may be put up or the therapy stopped altogether. It is these three core conditions that form the foundation of the therapeutic relationship. However, Rogers also believed that fundamental to providing the right conditions for change the helper must make psychological contact with the client. â€Å"Client and therapist need to be simultaneously aware of  each other before anything therapeutic can happen† (Sanders, Franklin Wilkins 2009 p 39.) Psychological contact, the relationship between therapist and client; the client is vulnerable or anxious; and receives empathy, UPR and congruence. All of these conditions are necessary and the core conditions must be used sufficiently for helpful change. These core conditions are believed to enable to the client to grow and develop in his own way to become the desired person. PCT focuses on the client’s own thoughts and feelings, not those of the therapist and provides an environment where the client can explore personal experiences to strengthen self structure which in turn helps to reach actualisation. The two primary goals of PCT are to increase a client’s self esteem and openness to experience. The therapy also helps to bring the clients self image and ideal self closer together and allows the client to have a better self understanding. The client’s levels of defensiveness, guilt and insecurity are lowered resulting in more positive and comfortable relationships with others and an improving ability to experience feelings and emotions when they occur. The results of studies carried out using this approach show that clients maintain stable changes over long periods of time, and that the changes are comparable with changes achieved using other types of therapy. It is a very effective way to treat people suffering from depression or relationship issues but PCT does appear to be less effective than other humanistic therapies where the therapist offers more advice. Rogers originally developed his PCT in a children’s clinic as ‘play therapy’ and his theory has been used to help people suffering from depression, anxiety, alcohol disorders, cognitive dysfunction and personality disorders and has been proved successful when used on an individual basis as well as in group and family therapy. In the later part of his career he worked with people suffering from schizophrenia. Although PCT is popular and does achieve a level of success, a key criticism in this approach is that the core conditions should always be provided by a good therapist before moving onto different theories and strategies to help make the client better. This criticism shows there is a degree of misunderstanding of the real problems of constantly providing UPR, empathy and congruence in the therapeutic setting, as these can clash and cause  conflict. Purely being able to maintain these core conditions requires much work on the part of the therapist, given that everyone has values and beliefs which are hard to suppress and ignore, so it may be more real for the therapist to own their own values and beliefs whilst not judging others. PCT does not require the counsellor to undergo any specific training or self development in any particular way through personal experience, other than to provide the core conditions. Rogers believed it is the relationship between the therapist and the client that brings about the therapeutic change. Further criticism, of therapists demonstrating the core conditions, is that it can lead the client to believe that the therapist is supportive of the situation and viewpoint to such an extent that the client no longer feels the need to change. This is due to the therapist offering no alternatives as there is no position of authority in the PCT to guide the client to make constructive changes. PCT has also been criticised for its lack of structure and insufficient direction to help people in real crisis. Some therapists would argue that this type of approach is not suitable or effective for clients who are inarticulate or poorly educated, whereas other feel that this approach can be applied to anyone. Although this approach is positive is it enough to solely create a good relationship between client and therapist and provide the clients with a safe space to feel valued and supported in order for change to take place? If a client is experiencing real difficulty and is unable to see a way forward and has lost all hope then it is important for the help to come from the therapist. Clients who have experienced this type of therapy often feel that is does not provide the desired solutions they are looking for and have become bored, frustrated and annoyed with the Rogerian style. In summary, although the person-centred approach is clearly a highly effective method of helping and is widely accepted and used by clinical psychologists today, I do not feel that it offers the therapist all that he/she needs to treat clients. I believe that no one therapy can claim an absolute success rate in treating clients, as human beings are inherently different due to differing cultural backgrounds and life experience and  hence each therapist and client relationship will be unique, producing differing results. I feel that one theory that suits everyone is not the approach a good therapist should adopt. Some people may find it easy to talk about their feelings and be able to help themselves in a PCT environment whereas to another this type of approach would be completely bewildering and unproductive. I believe PCT is an effective therapy for treating self esteem and relationship issues however it does not go nearly far enough to help those with deep rooted psychological disorders. A client in crisis may not have the ability to self-help and the nondirective approach can be unhelpful and ineffective when a client is seeking clear guidance from a counsellor. Therefore I believe it is the job of the therapist to determine which theory would help the client best to resolve their issues and be prepared to be flexible in approach. The skill set of a good therapist would have a variety of different strategies and therapeutic approaches to offer the client and although a person-centred approach is a good place to start, the therapist should be prepared to progress to more structured approaches as appropriate.

The Glass Menagerie Essay Example for Free

The Glass Menagerie Essay Throughout â€Å"The Glass Menagerie† Tennessee Williams creates an intricate dynamic between the three main characters, as well as symbols and symbolic language in order to exemplify the fragility of livelihood. Without a single one of the members of the Wingfield family the other’s lives would be dramatically different. Much as the collection of glass menagerie would not be the same collection without one of its pieces. As many collectors know the presence or absence of one item can drastically change the value of the whole collection. So also is a family unit, as one member affects the others, they form an identity they become accustomed to and often cling to. Amanda exemplifies how vital it is that a family unit stay loyal. After Mr. Wingfield disappeared her life has become a constant struggle in order to survive, a far cry from the Blue Mountain setting she idolizes in her past. Amanda symbolizes a downfall, but she also symbolizes drive for her children, encouraging Laura to blossom into something that they can both be proud of and encouraging Tom to keep his job and support his family until they can fend for themselves at least. Laura symbolizes fear and instability through the first five acts. She failed out of her class, that was a hope for a better future, because of her fear and doesn’t let herself actually try to engage in social interactions for fear that she will be inadequate in another’s eyes. Without Laura to feel sorry for and take care of Tom most likely would have left Amanda on her own in Mr. Wingfield’s footsteps a long time ago. Tom represents unrest and boredom, but he also provides the money and stability for the family to keep living in its present state. Though Tom is uneasy he still gets up in the morning and performs his duties knowing that he is a key member of their family unit, or the most valuable piece in the collection. When Tom and Amanda’s fight breaks some of the pieces of the Glass menagerie it symbolizes the breaking of a family unit, making it less valuable. As the pieces are easy to break so is the bond that holds the  family together as Mr. Wingfield showed how easy it was to separate this bond. As Tom distances himself the strength of the bond becomes less and less strong and it is only a matter of time before it breaks if it is not mended.

Establishing an ECL culture in China

Establishing an ECL culture in China Electronic Communications Ltd. (ECL) had decided to start business in China and to form a relationship of common prosperity with Chinese people. The company knew that there was major progress to be made, but there were also risks and challenges. One of these was the management of cultural differences. An issue the management was whether it should adapt ECLs management practice to the Chinese culture or to establish ECLs global management policies in China. Successful cultural alignment is an important element for multinational organizations. Electronic Communications Ltd (ECL), like many other companies entering foreign markets, is faced with how to adequately incorporate their corporate culture with the Chinese national culture. Situational analysis Cultural issues were a basic problem to overcome and the must important because it will create the daily operations environment and it is a critical success factor for multinational organizations. Electronic Communications Ltd (ECL), like many other companies entering foreign markets, is faced with this situation. ECL management must determine if it is more prudent to adapt to the Chinese culture or to apply their western-centric management practices to ECL China. ECLs management must explore if they should adapt or assimilate the culture, they needed to find that they need to develop a reliable management plan to attract, develop and retain leaders within the company. One of the key issues for ECL is learning how to effectively integrate managers from a different culture. According to Lewiki people from different cultures appear to negotiate differently. For this reason cultural relations are also important to be established. Lewiki mentions that in addition of people behaving differently, people form different cultures may also interpret the fundamental processes of negotiations differently. This particular issue came up when expatriate managers provided feedback to Chinese employees who saw the feedback as a critic to their culture. Perhaps ECL management should focus on creating tasks that will contribute to building relationships with ECL China associates. It is known that that managing personal relationships is essential for conflict resolution. Lewiki mentions that according to Phatak and Habib the relations developed among the principal negotiating parties before the actual negotiations will also have an important impact on the negotiation process and outcome. A personal relation was perceived by the Chinese as it could promote a more open flank and communication between managers and their subordinates and colleagues. The business style presented within ECL is demonstrated as expatriate managers expect associates to be more proactive. The high power orientation within ECL China seems to be contradicted by the Chinese staff style to find short-cuts to solve problems. ECL management has created systems to predict the proper steps to solving problems to a given situation. However, many Chinese staff thought the systems went wrong and delayed the decision making process. This contradiction shows that in some instances Chinese staff did in fact want an opportunity to be proactive. ECL should be create a more flexible solving structure that encourages Chinese staff to be more proactive without forgetting the issues which can rise during conflict resolution. Also ECL management claims that the Chinese staff lacked the expected teamwork capability. This problem was attributed by some expatriates to the education system in China, because e the system encourages a more individualist culture. The face issue in the Chinese society was a combination of dignity, self-respect, prestige and social standing, as perceived by others, an example of face is when a manager criticize his employee could cause the person to lose face especially in from of others. This so called losing, face is detrimental to a working relationship in certain cultures. However we can conclude that ECL has a very strong cultural adaptation with its employees. ECL had a successful combination of training and systems to form the technical skills in the Chinese workplace. There were doubt as to the replacement of the expatriates could be completed on time and the Chinese employees were given the opportunity to get promoted within the company the senior management positions were still dominated by the expatriates. This represented another challenge for ECL that the expatriates did not have the full respect from their staff. Chinese staff had difficulty accepting that many expatriate managers do not have the same level of technical expertise that is expected of the staff. Further, expatriates were often viewed as not fully committed to China and would relegate decision making responsibility to the home office. This would often cause a delay in productivity. However, China has a very productive and the coaching program that was developed to pair Chinese staff with experienced expatriates was implemented to create a formal mechanism to transfer knowledge and cultural information. This lowered the level of animosity growing towards ECL management; it was a better decision for ECL to promote expatriate managers to China with a high level of technical experience who are able of making decisions in a short amount of time. An additional challenge that ECL had was attracting and keeping local talent. ECL wanted to replace expatriates in a short period time but they are having a difficult time hiring competent Chinese managers. The demand for competent personnel was growing and more skilled personnel were needed. A critical issue encountered was the emigration impeding success is that many talented potential hires leave the country. Those that remain receive handsome compensation packages from Chinese owned firms. A lot of well prepared personnel were getting better offers; ECL also has to compete for the remaining individuals amongst other firms that are beginning to enter the Chinese market. ECL must remember when seeking out talent that respect for elders plays a significant role in high power orientation countries and young managers may not receive the respect or support that they need to be effective. An additional issue was the competition added by China entering the World Trade Organization. This caused a lot of investors to China and start investing creates an environment of intense competition. Perhaps, ECL could use current employees to recruit younger family members that can be groomed within the country. G ECL must assimilate their management practices into Chinese culture. Regardless of how hard ECL works to indoctrinate employees into the ECL culture, their future talent pool will be generated from the Chinese culture. For this reason is important for the management to determine how the cultural issues may be faced within ECL. The Chinese work force will be a key factor to ECL success. The company needs to get more involved in to how to handle a direct dialogue and completely adapt to the Chinese culture in order to earn their trust respect and be successful. Another solution for the companys recruiting effort is recruit family members and groom them into the ECL culture. And finally, the ECL can continue the training from ECL University which will demonstrate the ECL culture while familiarizing it to ECL China. Summary of Issues The Chinese culture shows a significant degree of collectivism- The Chinese cultures have group oriented vision. Expatriates failed to develop the relations that are prerequisites for creating a harmonious and respectful working environment that would allow the cultural integration. The action to be taken by ECL is that management should focus on creating tasks that will contribute to building relationships with ECL China. Expatriate managers expect associates to be more proactive- ECL should adopt a more flexible problem solving structure that encourages Chinese staff to be more proactive while considering the issues of the conflict resolution process. Expatriate managers want results and Chinese staff wants to build relationships to get to the results. Chinese staff wants to develop a trust based relationship prior to executing a contract while the US approach is to finalize details and clarify. ECL manager should acknowledge that the Chinese work ethics correlates directly to the Chinese national culture and thus must be embraced within ECL practices. Expatriate managers provided feedback to Chinese employees who perceived the feedback to be a direct criticism. Management need to negotiation and regular meetings and encourage the dialogue. Expatriates did not receive the full respect from their staff. For the Chinese staff was hard accepting that expatriates because they were viewed as not fully committed to China because they would relegate decision responsibility the company and that they did not have the same level of expertise. The coaching program was developed to pair Chinese staff with experienced expatriates was implemented to create a formal mechanism to transfer knowledge and culture. A solution could to promote expatriate managers to the China with a high level of technical experience who are comfortable making critical decisions in a short amount of time. ECL is having trouble attracting and securing local talent. The issues impeding success are that many talented potential acquisitions leave the country, the Chinese owned firms offer good compensation packages and more competing firms are beginning to enter the Chinese market. Continue the training from ECL University which will demonstrate the ECL culture while acculturating it to ECL China and is a system that if managed properly it will work and will provide the desired results. Conclusion To conclude, ECL must assimilate their management practices into Chinese culture. Regardless of how hard ECL works to involves employees into the ECL culture, their future leaders will be generated from the Chinese culture. Thus, it is important for management to determine how the cultural attributes may be faced, refined and indoctrinated into ECL to achieve success. References: Lewicki, R. J., Barry, B., Saunders, D. M. (2010). Essentials of negotiation. United States: McGraw-Hill Companies. Ho, M. (2001, November 9). Establishing an ECL culture in china: organisational difference or national difference? Centre for Asian Business Cases , 11.

Reintroduction of the Lynx Does More Harm Than Good :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Reintroduction of the Lynx Does More Harm Than Good   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There I was, standing face to face with the bobtailed lynx. It was looking right at me and licking its chops with delight. It seemed as if the beast was thinking "Lunch" on this cold, gray December day, but I wasn't worried about being attacked. The reason for this was the fact that this was a domestic lynx that just happened to be on the other side of a stout metal cage, so there was no chance of the lynx getting a hold of me.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At one time, the lynx lived all the way along the Continental Divide clear up into Canada. Now, after being gone from Colorado for 25 years, the animal has been reintroduced into the lower tip of the lynx's historic habitat, the San Juan Mountains (Rogers). So far, out of 33 lynx that are being tracked, all of them are roaming in 276 square kilometers of the southwestern portion of Colorado that runs from the New Mexico border up to the I-70 corridor and from Monarch Pass over to Taylor Mesa (Shenk). In an attempt to find out how the animals, which look like bobcats with black tufts on their ears and huge paws, act in nature, scientists are tracking them with radio collars and airplanes (Lloyd).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now, just a couple of years later, the Colorado Division of Wildlife is planning to release over 180 more lynx into the Colorado wilderness within the next five years. However, out of nearly 100 Canadian Lynx that have already been released so far, about half of them have died and none of them have reproduced. With the type of results that the process has received so far, the agencies involved in the reintroduction process should stop reintroducing the lynx into Colorado. Instead, they should try to find a way different way that will get results that save the species. The government agencies that are involved in reintroducing the lynx argue that it should be done in order to save an endangered species. In this argument they bring out three strong points for trying to save the lynx: every animal should have the opportunity to exist, many people feel happy when they see the animals they share the land with and all living things are part of a complex ecosystem ("Wild life Commission . . ."). However, they aren't sure how to reintroduce the lynx so that they don't all die.

The American Civil War Essay -- US History North South Civil War

The American Civil War was from 1861 to 1865 it was a civil war between the United States of America and the Southern slave states of the newly-formed Confederate States of America under Jefferson Davis. The Union included all of the free states and the five slaveholding border states and was led by Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party. Republicans opposed the expansion of slavery into territories owned by the United States, and their victory in the presidential election of 1860 resulted in seven Southern states declaring their secession from the Union even before Lincoln took office. The Union rejected secession, regarding it as rebellion. Hostilities began on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a U.S. military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. Lincoln responded by calling for a large volunteer army, then four more Southern states declared their secession. In the war's first year, the Union assumed control of the border states and established a naval bl ockade as both sides massed armies and resources. In 1862, battles such as Shiloh and Antietam caused massive casualties unprecedented in U.S. military history. In September 1862, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation made ending slavery in the South a war goal, which complicated the Confederacy's manpower shortages. In the East, Confederate commander Robert E. Lee won a series of victories over Union armies, but Lee's reverse at Gettysburg in early July, 1863 proved the turning point. The capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson by Ulysses S. Grant completed Union control of the Mississippi River. Grant fought bloody battles of attrition with Lee in 1864, forcing Lee to defend the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia. Union general William Sherman ... ...s Plaza in Cadman Plaza and the Korean War Veterans Parkway, which was known as the Richmond Parkway until it was renamed in April 1997 by the New York State Legislature. The Vietnam War Memorial The Vietnam Veterans Memorial recognizes and honors the men and women who served in one of America's most divisive wars. The memorial was conceived and designed to make no political statement whatsoever about the war. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a place where everyone, regardless of opinion, can come together and remember and honor those who served. By doing so, the memorial has paved the way towards reconciliation and healing, a process that continues today. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial accomplishes these goals through the three components that comprise the memorial: the Wall of names, the Three Servicemen Statue and Flagpole, and the Vietnam Women's Memorial.

Rap Music

Daniel Cha English T/TR 7am 27 Febuarany 2013 Essay 1 Rap's Opposing views When it comes to defining rap music, some define it as poetry in the form of music. Even though rap music is thought of as a form of art, it is highly debated as a controversial social issue. Author   Sid Kirchheimer from † Does rap put teens at risk† makes a claim that rap music is a detriment to our youth. He believes that negative behaviors is the outcome of people watching and listening to rap music. Author Curtis Aron from â€Å"Rap Music: Is It As Bad As Some People Think? Thinks otherwise and claims that rap music is looked at as a whole and is greatly misunderstood. Aron explains that the genre of rap music is blanketed by its popular view of being a negative influence and is being greatly misunderstood. Using the Toulmin model of argument, both arguments offer very good reasons why their arguments provide persuasive evidence about the different perspectives of rap music. Kirchheimer's w arrant is, that initially rap music automatically leaves a bad tastes in peoples mouth. Kirchheimer's view on rap is that because teens watch so much television they are exposed to what he calls â€Å"reel life of a gangsta. By watching these rap videos, they are more likely to practice the behaviors they see off their favorite rap artists or rap music video. He claims that because of long hours of exposure to rap music teenagers are starting to behave like what they see on television. His grounds offer truths because his claim of watching rap videos is backed with statistically data. He says, â€Å"Researchers found that compared to those who never or rarely watched these videos, the girls who viewed these gangsta videos for at least 14 hours per week were far more likely to practice numerous destructive behaviors.Over the course of the one-year study, they were three times more likely to hit a teacher, over 2. 5 times more likely to get arrested, twice as likely to have multiple sexual partners and 1. 5 times more likely to get a sexually transmitted disease, use  drugs, or drink alcohol. â€Å"Rap initially does leave a bad taste in people mouths, the quote provides statistical evidence that supports why people should and would despise it. Aron, with his own warrant states, that genre of rap music is blanketed by its popular view of being a negative influence.Aron says that â€Å"Rap music has long had a reputation of being a form of music that represents violence, sexual exploitation and excess. The genre has been criticized in the media, associated with some of the nation's social ill and seen by a good number of people as bad on citizens in general. † He first goes against his own viewpoints to prove that he understands the issue. He provides a counterargument to prove he is a reliable source about how rap can be seen as a social ill. Aron's use of the Toulmin argument continues as he offers his rebuttal and backing by saying, not all rap mus ic is bad music.Aron states, â€Å"There is some rap music that is created with the intention of sending a positive message to its audience. There are songs that denounce violence and call for more peace and togetherness in the inner city in an attempt to improve the quality of life. † Some truth that the author stresses is how there is positive rap and it can serve as a purpose of improving social consciousness. An example rap group he uses to provide evidence to his backing is a group named â€Å"The East Coast AllStars. † He supports this group because it adds qualification that not all rap music is bad music.But most importantly because the group understands that music is highly influential, so they really push and write songs that gives positive influence to these communities that are being run by violence, sex, and drug exploitations. Kirchheimer also reveals that he understands both sides of the subject by stating a counterargument of his own. He says that, â₠¬Å"Parents need to know what their children are being exposed to. Certainly, rap is not the only music that portrays negative stereotypes or can negatively impact behaviors, and not all rap music should be implicated.But there have been nearly 1,000 studies that have looked at the effects. † Kirchheimer shows a weak side by admitting that not all rap music should be implicated. He is rationale and does admit that all rap music is not the case. How he collects himself is by telling readers to be aware that the studies about the effects are true. He also uses emotional evidence by explaining that parents especially should be aware of what their children are watching and listening too. Aron's reaction to Kirchheimer response is that he recognizes that people are so influenced by rap music.People especially children see these rappers and replicate their behaviors. Curtis Aron spills one huge secret that most of the things rappers and artist say they do are bias. Aron writes, †Å"Many times, the rap artist is creating a fictionalized account of certain events for the purpose of intriguing and entertaining people and sometimes uses characters to facilitate those accounts†¦ This is no different from other forms of entertainment, in particular, the movie industry. When our favorite actor portrays a gun toting, drug using, highly sexual character in a movie, it is not seen as degenerate. He gives a broader and new perspective on how people should view these fictional characters. Rappers are much like fictional characters from movies. He explains that the things they do such as gun toting, drug using, and sexual innuendos are all for the purpose of intriguing and entertaining people. In the highly debated argument of rap music being a controversial issue, both Kirchheimer and Aron are identifying themselves as a scholarly source about the subject of rap music. Both understand and access reliable information to be used as a notable source.Through the Toulmi n model argument, both Sid Kirchheimer and Curtis Aron provide great strengths and explore the topic of rap to educate readers about their views. Kirchheimer states, that initially rap music automatically leaves a bad tastes in peoples mouth and provides good warrants and evidence to back his view. However, Aron proves that his argument is stronger as he educates that the readers that his warrant, the genre of rap music is blanketed by its popular view of being a negative influence. He gives evidence of both for and against the issue and expands over Kirchheimer's argument.

Cultural Analysis of Saudi Arabia and New Zealand Essay

In terms of cultural dimensions, basically, culture elements are everywhere in our life no matter where are you from. Also, the uniqueness and differentiation of culture in diversified countries are influencing and fulfilling our large communication community—world, people involved in this harmonious place communicate, share ideas, cooperated and integrated every cultural diversity so as to make it better. â€Å"A culture is a society’s personality and our membership in a culture plays a big role in shaping our identities as individuals† (Solomon, Russell-Bennett. 010). The accumulation of shared meanings, languages, rituals, norms and customs, also a range of traditions among the world enriches the cultural diversity. The increasing communication of global events and businesses provides an opportunity for the people who from different regions to learn, understand, embrace and respect every distinct culture element, so that to enhance cultural adaptability in business communication, therefore ensuring cooperation succeed. The following parts would be demonstrating Saudi Arabia and New Zealand two different cultures in terms of four dimensions: Individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity. All this four dimensions could be explicitly displayed upon customs, language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and even aesthetics. * Individualism Individualism focuses on the degree the society reinforces individual or collective, achievement and interpersonal relationships. A High Individualism ranking indicates that individuality and individual rights are paramount within the society. –New Zealand. A Low Individualism ranking typifies societies of a more collectivist nature with close ties between individuals. These cultures reinforce extended families and collectives where everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group—-Saudi Arabia (Hofstede, 2012). When it comes to Saudi Arabia culture, the apparent opinion is a really diversified culture that formed by a range of rules, regulations and principles. However, â€Å"As is seen in their naming conventions, Saudis are cognizant of their heritage, their clan, and their extended family, as well as their nuclear family. Also, they take their responsibilities to their family quite seriously. Families tend to be large and the extended family is quite close† (kwintessential, 2004). The emphases on the family and member group make it to be a high Collectivist culture, according to the Geert Hofstede Analysis for Saudi Arabia on individualism, which ranked at 38, compared to a world average ranking of 64 (see appendix2), it means that Saudi Arabia contribute to highly commitment on family and groups community. New Zealand, with a score of 79 ((see appendix1) on this dimension, is an individualistic culture. This translates into a loosely-knit society in which the expectation is that people look after themselves and their immediate families. In the business world, employees are expected to be self-reliant and display initiative. Also, within the exchange-based world of work, hiring and promotion decisions are based on merit or evidence of what one has done or can do. (Hofstede, 2012). Individualism is highly manifested in New Zealand culture, individually, as the wealth and social status are not crucial for them, personal achievement is more important for them, as they believe everyone has the same opportunity to compete. For a range of young people, even the direct family is also important to them, but independent character makes them to persuade individual opportunity to enhance capacity, not only dependent on family. * Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance Power Distance focuses on the degree of equality, or inequality, between people in the country’s society. A High Power Distance ranking indicates that inequalities of power and wealth have been allowed to grow within the society. These societies are more likely to follow a caste system that does not allow significant upward mobility of its citizens. —-Saudi Arabia. A Low Power Distance ranking indicates the society de-emphasizes the differences between citizen’s power and wealth. In these societies equality and opportunity for everyone is stressed—-New Zealand (Hofstede, 2012). Uncertainty Avoidance focuses on the level of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity within the society, such as unstructured situations. A High Uncertainty Avoidance ranking indicates the country has a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. This creates a rule-oriented society that institutes laws, rules, regulations, and controls in order to reduce the amount of uncertainty—-Saudi Arabia. A Low Uncertainty Avoidance ranking indicates the country has less concern about ambiguity and uncertainty and has more tolerance for a variety of opinions. This is reflected in a society that is less rule-oriented, more readily accepts change, and takes more and greater risks—-New Zealand. According to the Geert Hofstede analysis for Saudi Arabia, which showed Large Power Distance (PDI) (95) and Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI) (80) (see appendix2), demonstrated that their Muslim faith plays a large role in the people’s lives. Large power distance and uncertainty avoidance are the predominant characteristics for this region. Such high result of power distance and uncertainty avoidance can be explained a range of aspects. First of all, in terms of the religion, plays a vital role in the everyday life, ranging from setting moral guidelines, arranging social hierarchies, and a way for salvation after death. Religion also plays a major role in the executive area of government, deeply integrated in the laws of the country. Even the five stated daily pray times could display the strict of religion rules. There are a large number of principles or rules, regulations for Saudis in their daily behaviours, in order to stick to the religion principles. For instance, during the holy month of Ramadan all Muslims must fast from dawn to dusk and are only permitted to work six hours per day. Fasting includes no eating, drinking, cigarette smoking, or gum chewing. So many restrictions like forbidding alcohol, not pork eaten and even women are not allowed to drive indicate that Saudi Arabia is a so strongly based in Muslim religion, also such strict rules, laws, policies, and regulations are adopted and implemented is aiming at controlling everything in order to eliminate or avoid the unexpected. In terms of this two analysis, New Zealand scored 22 and 49 (see appendix1) respectively on Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance. The low power distance shows that New Zealand even has hierarchy operating system, which the Queen is in the pinnacle of power distance, however, the shared ideas and opinions in different parties make it more democratic. In small power distance organizations, â€Å"Subordinates and superiors consider each other as or less equal even there is a difference in education level. The hierarchical system can always change depending on the circumstances. The hierarchies are flat with a decentralized organization and a small number of supervisors who are expected to be accessible for their subordinates† (International Business Cultures, 2010). Even in a family structure, or a small group activity, New Zealanders present a high integrated, direct and participative communication without any formal class structure. Although, there is another different Maori culture in New Zealand, which has own language, rituals, customs, etiquette, the power distance in terms of kiwi and Maori is till low. Maori and English are used throughout the country in various television and radio programs. As with other regions in the world where two cultures have been mixed, English has influenced Maori and Maori has influenced English. Not only the language is greatly impacted mutually, but also the politics and economic, culture. The Uncertainty Avoidance score is 49 (see appendix1), which is practical in different aspects. It shows New Zealanders believe both generalists and experts are needed. Emotions are not shown much in New Zealand; people are fairly relaxed and not adverse to taking risks. Consequently, there is a larger degree of acceptance for new ideas, innovative products and a willingness to try something new or different, whether it pertains to technology, business practices, or foodstuffs. (Hofstede, 2012). * Masculinity Masculinity focuses on the degree the society reinforces, or does not reinforce, the traditional masculine work role model of male achievement, control, and power. A High Masculinity ranking indicates the country experiences a high degree of gender differentiation. In these cultures, males dominate a significant portion of the society and power structure, with females being controlled by male domination—Saudi Arabia. A Low Masculinity ranking indicates the country has a low level of differentiation and discrimination between genders. In these cultures, females are treated equally to males in all aspects of the society—-New Zealand (Hofstede, 2012). In Saudi Arabia, there is a range of restrictions and regulations for women, such as Women are expected to be very feminine, and obey male authority. They are expected to grow up, and become wives/mothers. Besides, It is unacceptable in most social circles for women to voice their opinions about many things or question their male guardian’s authority. Furthermore, the labor is assigned by gender; strict gender segregation is sanctioned by the state and society, for instance, â€Å"Women are employed in girls’ schools and the women’s sections of universities, social work and development programs for women, banks that cater to female clients, medicine and nursing for women, television and radio programming, and computer and library work†( Countries and Their Cultures, 2010). New Zealand has a low masculinity ranking, they understood their obligation to the people who worked to establish and maintain the society. In 1893, this British Commonwealth gave women the right to vote, which means Femininity has equal status in diversified organisations. In terms of a company structure, basically the Femininity authority means the organization cares more about employees and even corporate social responsibility rather than profits. Summary The cultural dimensions comparison between Saudi Arabia and New Zealand attempts to develop a tool to measure the different countries’ society structure and development model in terms of individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity. The comparison shows that Saudi Arabia religion element exert an enormous impact on not only social aspects, but also human rights in gender. Moreover, it present a short cut for international marketers to realize understanding a country cultural uniqueness is good for mutual cooperation, and is able to decrease the unpredictable mistake or conflicts possibility. Furthermore, the cultural dimensions analysis presents a snapshot of country structure and social ecology in terms of diversified customs, etiquette and values. The cultural elements is not only exerting impacts on dwelling’s behavior, but also influence countries’ development. Advertising recommendations Doing advertising for exporting lamb from Australia to Saudi Arabia is an inevitable but at risk assignment. Saudi Arabia as a crucial lamb exporting market for Australia, the burgeoning economy and long history of lamb consumption motivate Australia to adjust market strategy to looking for niche markets for lamb products. In terms of the Saudi Arabia population, which growing at the rate of 3. 8% per annum, the demand of importing lamb would increasing. It is an great opportunity for Australia to make huge progress on exporting lamb to Saudi Arabia if the advertisement could be thoroughly demonstrated in terms of the Saudi Arabia culture dimensions. The biggest problem facing Australia exporters of lamb is that religious beliefs require a revamp of the production process to accord with cultural preferences. First of all, the advertising content should comply with the local religious belief and display the qualification of product. Since Islam has a major impact on the preference for lamb in the market, they regarded a range of western countries such as Australia not qualified in normal slaughterhouse techniques. Therefore, it is such crucial to make sure the techniques in slaughterhouse could meet the stipulations. The equipment for slaughtering and also technique certification should be presented in the advertising to get the trust from Saudi Arabia. Secondly, a thorough understanding of Saudi Arabia religious beliefs and culture customs is particularly essential for developing an outstanding advertising in the market. For instance, the reason why Japanese company able to made such successful achievement in Saudi Arabia market is based on their qualified advertising. They did a range of researching on Islam custom and rituals, knowing that the comparison advertising is not welcomed by the local consumers, therefore, they never come up with the similar advertisements. In the contrary, a major tea company alienated Saudi customers after it aired a commercial that showed a Saudi host serving tea with his left hand to one of his guests. Moreover, the guest was shown wearing shoes while seated, which is considered disrespectful by traditional Saudis. Thirdly, advertising content should be simplified but concentrated. In order to establish a long term brand and image-building, advertising content should be able to get the trust from Saudi Arabia customers, as the religious word-of-mouth effects, the high quality lamb product would be accepted by consumers in a long term. In addition, cooperating with local large media agency to come up with effective advertising based on religious customs could be more easily access to target audience.

Dream Come True

My heart skipped a beat. Every minute when am sitting on the bleachers kept me on thinking about what would happen for the next minutes. I prepared myself. I set my camera, I fed my hungry tummy, and practice myself shouting and yelling. Then, my course began. When I am preparing myself, I hear the crowd's noise. They were shouting. Teens, and even adults scream for the lights turned off and the music was played. It was the very melodic music I've ever heard in my entire life. I took a deep breath and started to scream and stopped.I grab my camera in y pocket and steal some pictures. I capture banners, artworks, and the many fan girls sitting around the performance stage. Following a couple of minutes, the formal program started. The crowd was silent. The program was officially blessed by a prayer played and the Philippine National Anthem was conducted. The opening remarks filled with colorful thoughts was then followed by well-known former seminarian in Dave. And this is what we're waiting for. The program officials and staffs positioned and calibrated the countdown and snap!The crowd began to be wild again. The emcee took his first step up on the stage and welcome us with a great Hello! And make acquainted with the crowd. He then introduce the first performer. He was the son of an executive in GAMMA Dave but I don't actually know who he was. He sang This Love by Maroon 5 and the popular song of the hit singer Jason Mrs., I'm yours. Several performers after the guy performed and act upon on stage. It was already 7 in the evening. The multitude become hot and bothered on who will perform next. The girl beside me asked, â€Å"Is it him?Will he be going to perform now? I answered â€Å"Not yet. † And can you guess who the next performers were? They were the singing priests in Dave City, Rev. FRR. AH Better and Rev. FRR. Civil Bunya. The crowd was alive again. They didn't care about the people instead they join with the music and sing all along with the cr owd. They sang 2 songs and then bid goodbye and said â€Å"Enjoy! † After the performance, the assembly was silent again. After a couple of minutes, the emcee shouted â€Å"Are you ready? † and just as you know, here we go again. I scream, they scream and everybody scream.The countdown set into 10, 9, 8, and the throng became more agitated. 6, 5, 4, 3, I feel the moment. 2, 1, and the long wait was over. The LCD projector showed a mini-slideshows of the pictures of him. Now became wild. I never forget to capture a video and stare to the pictures in the slideshows. I jumped up and down all over again. I didn't know what to do. Then a man stood in front of the people watching up on the stage. He was tall, pinkish-white and a good-looking guy. Did you already know who he was? And what am screaming for? He has the initials of DEJA. And you got it right, he was Daniel John FordPaddled. He wears checkered long sleeved turtle-neck polo, skinny jeans and a black Vans shoes wit h white laces. Shouted. I jumped up and down and took stolen pictures of him and it seems I would faint. I can't actually remember what I did. Shout and shout. I yell here and there, jump here, and roll there. He is so beautiful. He shouted â€Å"Hey! Hello! † and the crowd grumble. His voice is so seductive. I say to myself, â€Å"l could rather be dead. † He sang four songs including his revivals and his original composition that made him known better, the Nasty An Nag LATA.He waved his hand here and there. Banners were raised and cameras took their own flashes and the people were down the stage. It was like a huge stampede. After he sang his four songs with liberation he greeted us a â€Å"Good evening! † Indeed it was a very good evening even when the rain is pouring hard and we don't even care. Even when he talk, everybody is shouting and me? Could never imagined what I will going to do. As the emcee meet him and talk awhile for a short interview, I stared at him. He is so special. Want to touch his hand but I couldn't. This will be a gift.

Bussiness

Part one Excuative Summary Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1,000 properties in 100 countries and approximately 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels and resorts with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, W, Le Meridien, Aloft, and Element. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc. one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. Starwood hotels and resorts offer an array of innovative services to meet the needs of guest, and business traveler. Including high speed internet throughout all of their hotels, two-line telephones in the guest rooms, and fax and print services at stations threw out their hotels. In 2011 the company posted revenues of $5,624,000,000. In 2 006, it had sales of nearly $6 billion and profits of $1 billion. Starwood Hotels and Resorts has six core value that they follow; Trust, Respect, Callaboration, Innovation, Accountability, and Execution.With these values Starwood Hotels and Resorts uses these core values and its mission statement to serve as a blueprint for what they will accomplish. Starwood Hotels and Resorts mission statement is as follows; â€Å"Create the most successful branded, global, lifestyle Hospitality Company by ensuring that trust and respect, for our associates and guests, are at the forefront of everything we do. We are committed to re-imagining our business with creativity and innovation, resulting in exciting, fun workplace. †(http://www. starwoodhotels. com/corporate/careers/believe/values. tml) Starwood Hotels and Resorts mission statement focuses on creating a great hospitality company for their employees and their guest. CEO Fritz Van Passchen and CFO Vasant M. Prabhu of Starwood Hotels and Resort makes it there goal to do so. Fritz Van Paasschen, has been Chief Executive Officer and President of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. since September 2007. Previously he served as and CEO of Molson Coors Brewing Company’s largest division from March 2005 until September 2007. Vasant M. Prabhu Reports to Frits Van Paasschen as vice chairman and financial officer or Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Vasant is responsible for the accounting, tax, strategic planning, corporate development and risk management function of the corporation. Vasant has 20 years of experience and previously served as an executive vice president and chief financial officer for Safeway Inc. It is not nothing new for companies in the hospitality industry to give back to the community. Starwood hotel and Resorts is the world’s leading hospitality company with over 1128 properties in 100 countries represented by nine innovative brands and over 145,000 associates.With such breadt h and verity it makes the Starwood hotels and resorts willing and ready to promote change around the world and they are committed to doing so. When it comes to social responsibility Starwood Hotels and Resorts   has other hotels beat in 2012 one of the Starwood store brands   the Sheraton Metechi palace Hotel received an award for the â€Å"World’s Leading CSR Programme†Ã‚     and that’s not the only time they were nominated for such rewards according to  http://www. worldtravelawards. om/profile-2434-starwood-hotels-resorts. Some CSR programs Starwood Hotels and Resorts are associated with; Starwood hotels and resorts has been charitable partner with UNICEF since 1995 and the program now operates in more than 210 of its hotels throughout world and has raised $13 million for UNICEF. Some 2012 CSR projects include Starwood’s employees fundraising campaign, the road to awareness, $320,000 was raised from the schools for Africa project and list goes on and on.Part Two Technological Opportunities Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. is the most global High-end hotel company in the world. Their strength lies in nine distinct lifestyle brands, an award-winning loyalty program and there more than 171,000 associates at their owned and manages properties. Starwood hotel and resort tries focusing on blending and mining there associates. They makes it a priority to maintain an associate and customer base as diverse as the world population. Our culture of diversity and inclusion has also been recognized by DiversityInc as one of the â€Å"Top 50 Companies for Diversity† and by the Human Rights Campaign as one of the â€Å"Best Places to Work for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality†. Starwood hotels and resorts offer an array of innovative services to meet the needs of guest, and business traveler. Including high speed internet throughout all of their hotels, two-line telephones in the guest rooms, and fax a nd print services at stations threw out their hotels. Part Three Marketing OpportunitiesStarwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Plans to strengthening its position as the leading hotel operator across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region with an existing portfolio of 82 hotels, representing nearly 22,000 guest rooms, the majority of which are operated under Starwood’s world-renowned Sheraton and Le Meridien brands. The company plans to increase its MEA portfolio by more than 60% with nearly 50 new hotels set to open over the next five years, adding more than 14,000 guest rooms to the region while creating thousands of local employment opportunities.With over 20 hotels expected to open by the end of 2015, Starwood is on track to reach a milestone 100 hotels across MEA. Further underscoring the importance of the region as one of Starwood’s fastest growing hotel and travel markets, earlier this month the company relocated its global headquarters from Stamford, Connec ticut to Dubai for a month-long immersion. â€Å"Starwood continues to see demand for growth of all of our brands across the Middle East and Africa despite economic and political uncertainty in some parts of this incredibly diverse region,† said Frits van Paasschen, President and CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Rapid economic growth, rising personal incomes, a growing middle class and ever greater global connectivity are driving new travel patterns and demand for travel, and this region is at the center of these trends and a key focus of our growth strategy. † According to http://www. starwoodhotels. com/corporate/about/index. html Part Four Recruitment Presentation At Starwood Hotels and Resorts Inc. they make it a mission to create opportunities for undergraduates and graduates across every area of their business.Through internships, externships, and management training programs they will teach you leadership and team’s skill. So position yourself for a rewardi ng career in hospility industry take it from me I only work at one of their location and actually started as an intern and now I am a supervisor. Making there recruitment overview to be right on target when they say â€Å"We advance. No matter where we go, we always move forward. We open new hotels and resorts and create more personal, global experiences for our guests.You can be a part of it all with our programs at our properties and corporate locations throughout the world in places such as China, the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East and South Asia. We inspire. We immerse you with people, places and practices that make up our thriving portfolio. You will experience firsthand the thrills of working with some of the most sought-after hospitality brands and leaders in the world. † Part Five Future Opportunities From the company's luxury General Managers Summit in Dubai, Starwood Hotels ; Resorts Worldwide, Inc. NYSE: HOT) today announced its luxury fo otprint has nearly doubled worldwide in five years to meet growing global demand. Starwood is lengthening its lead in luxury hospitality with more than 160 hotels in 39 countries as part of The Luxury Collection, St. Regis and W brands, offering guests and residents personalized service and exceptional experiences around the world. Looking ahead, Starwood will add 50 luxury hotels in 12 new countries over the next five years. The General Managers Summit coincides with Starwood's month-long relocation of its global headquarters to Dubai. Modern luxury has not replaced tradition; they sit at the same table, but in slightly different clothes† â€Å"We are on the cusp of a new golden age of luxury travel as technology and globalization drive new trade routes, capital flows and wealth creation,† said Frits van Paasschen, Starwood's President and CEO. â€Å"Dubai is at the epicenter of this change and we are delighted to welcome our general managers from around the world to cultivate a deeper understanding of a new and growing luxury landscape. † According to www. starwoodhotels. com Starwood's inaugural luxury General Managers Summit

Burma’s Peaceful Transition to a Democratic Future Essay Example for Free

Burma’s Peaceful Transition to a Democratic Future Essay Burma is an Asian country that attained its independence on 4th January 1948 and is bordered by China on the North and Thailand on the East. it was referred to as the union of Burma in 1948. On January 4th 1974 it changed its name to the union of Burma and then on 23rd September, 1888 it reverted to the union of Burma. In 1989, then it changed the name again to the union of Myanmar and this was through the efforts by the state law and order restoration council (SLORC). It is a country whose population has had a lot of significance in Burma’s politics. The Burmese government is known as Myanmar and assumed an authoritarian feature that is dominated by a military leader. There have been substantial efforts to switch to a more democratic moves but these efforts have be hampered by the military which is against this move for example in 1990, a parliamentary government was elected but the Burma’s military could not let it to convene. Burma has a population of about 50 million people and has 500,000 troops who have been helping the government to create a regime of fear by denying the citizens most of their basic rights. Some democratic leaders have come up and visualized a viable idea of freeing the people from the torture they get from the government. In 1992 with his party the National League for Democracy, managed to scoop 82 % of all country’s parliamentary seats but the military regime which used dictatorship principles declined to transfer power to the leaders that were democratically elected. For more than ten years later, Aung San Suu kyi was put on house arrest and was released only in 2002. Her release was viewed by many as the only hope to the establishment of Burmese democratic government that would be sensitive to the people’s needs unfortunately in 2003 herself and many of her supporters were killed by a rowdy mob that was sponsored by the government. This conflict between the majority and the minority became evident after Burma achieved independence in 1948. It was at this time that Aung San Suu was given the mandate to control all those areas that traditionally were not controlled by only single community. After 1948 when the Burmese constitution was signed, constitution right have not been exercised on the minorities, they also do not have pieces of land and especially those that formerly belonged to their people. Since the war period, the Burman minorities have been sidelined by the majority who are the Burmese Burma was a British colony from the 1920s and this continued up to 1948. Though the Burma’s heartland was ruled directly by the colonial powers, the surrounding regions were allowed to rule themselves and this led the loyalty to split along the ethnic lines. The dominant ethnic group is the Burmese that comprise of 68 percent of the whole population and minority accounts for the remaining 32 percent. Religion in Burma has played a key role in causing further divisions. There are many religious in Burma for example there are Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. These religious divisions have been aggravating the situations for example in 1991; more than a quarter million Muslims were evicted from their homes. This was exacerbated by the fact that there were many alliances formed. They were forced to cross the border to Bangladesh where they were accepted as refugees by the Bangladesh government but were helped by the international community with the basic needs. Today, the Burmese government is led a prime minister whose regime is greatly accused of displacing thousands of Burmese communities both internally and externally, some community such as Karen, Mon and Kareni were forced to seek refuge in Thailand. Those that are internationally displaced receive a better treatment than those that are internally displaced as the later are mistreated by the military. It is estimated that about 600,000 citizens have been internally displaced and are constantly looking for ways they could avoid slavery. They are used as slaves by this government as many of them are conscripted in the army by force or are left with no other choice except from joining the drug network that is sponsored by the state. There are various movements that have been trying to free the population of Burma from military. Some of these are; the Junta, the Karen National Union and the Moi Tai army though their efforts did not materialize because most of the current military officials are from the community with the majority that oppresses the minorities. So, it is really hard to make any advance but there is one very vibrant group that has mobilized the minorities to participate in a non-violent peaceful demonstration. Led by Buddhist monks, these people protested against the abuse of human rights and matched in groups of more than hundred thousand protestors in the streets. The Head of the State, General Shwe who is also the chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is greatly criticized by the United States and the European governments which have imposed various sanctions that are enforced thorough consumer boycotts. The United States of America and the European governments using their influence led other Western nations to stop cooperating with Burma. Though these governments have been relentless in enforcing bans against Burma, some western companies are still cooperating due to some loopholes in sanction application. Most of these are the oil companies. Such as the American oil company and the French oil company. Also Cherron and the Yadana natural gas pipeline that runs from Burma all the way to Thailand is so much in use. There are still Asian businesses that operate in Burma for example the Daewoo Company that invests in extracting resources. The United States government in collaboration with the European governments also imposed sanctions on Burma’s clothing as well western nations to stop sourcing from Burma and more particularly those shops that were either partially or wholly supported by the government. After those peaceful protests, a good number of people stopped getting their products from Burma and these were led by an individual like Levi Strauss who was very vibrant in keeping up with the fight against the government products for example from 1992,many American cloth and shoes companies stopped acquiring their properties from Burma. In 2003, the united government banned Burma’s imports as in accordance with the Burmese freedom and democracy Act that was amended in the year 2003 however, some people have attacked this United States strategy of forcing this government to step down as has led many people to suffer greatly. Despite these critics, the move was supported by the Burmese democratic movement and has supposed by the Burmese democratic movement and has vowed to keep encouraging the western world to impose harder and stricter sanctions against the military government (Smith M. 1991) Burma insurgency and the politics of ethnicity London and New Jersey. Zed books. The human watches in Burma have highlighted all the crimes against humanity but there is no judiciary to address the problem any such move faces strong opposition from the military government. There is no free communication that is allowed by the Burmese military government in fact no one is allowed to access the internet and the search engines such as Google, G mail, hotmail and yahoo so the Burmese citizens are less informed. What the government has done is that it does not allow these companies to operate in its territory and as such they are blocked. If people have to access materials from the internet, they must first of all be filtered and censored by the military government. They use US filtering soft wares such as the Fortinet to censor emails, web pages and pro-democratic pages. In Burma, child soldiers are forcefully conscripted. They are also forced to punish their fellow military friends by being giving death threats incase they do not as they bare told. Children are conscripted in army by force. These children are promised to be jailed if they do not accept to join the army. Since the military regime usurped power in 1962, after overthrowing sthe democratically elected government, this regime has been one of the worst violators of human rights in the whole universe. The climax reached after the (SLORC) State Law and Order Restoration Council was changed To State Peace And Development Council sometimes back in 1997, November. This party in 1988 seized the states powers established itself and forcefully removed the little pretence that was there that they were upholding the dignity of the citizens and took part in massacring the demonstrates who were demonstrating against the creation of this undemocratic regime. They were marching in the streets of Rangoon and Burmese towns and cities when the military forces descended on them killing thousands. According to the comment that was made by the amnesty international human rights violation and torture were like a Burmese institution and they even listed various forms of abuses that were perpetrated by this corrupt regime. This report was further affirmed by the United Nations and other human rights watchdog. These abuses that they listed were for example torture, murder, litany abuses, forced displacements of citizens, holding or arresting individuals and keeping them in detention houses without trials and various litany abuses. These were the activities that were characteristic of this military regime and citizens have suffered enormously under it. Children were also abused by the military that forcefully conscript them in the army and also the villagers were forced to work for the military. Children are reportedly said to have been raped and defiled by the troops. The military operations that are from time to time conducted in various villages and these led to deterioration of living standards for example this was witnessed in Karen state and Shan state in 2001. This has forced many to be to run away to the neighboring states such as Thailand while those who are unable to move out of the country were internally displaced. The internally displaced and lived in the camps for internally displaced received very harsh treatment by the ruling military regime than those who manage to seek refuge in the neighboring states. The military regime do not in any way follow the internationally agreed freedoms for example the civil and political rights though Burma is a signatory to various international peace accords. Everything that happens in this country must be censored including the exhibitions. There is completely no freedom of expression. Even publications are not spared as they are censored by the government infact it is only sports and romance magazines are not censored. The broadcasting media houses are state owned and the government has the monopoly over them. They only air information that is favorable to them for example you it is common to see junta’s generals making speeches and from these stations and instead they go for less biased information. The SLOPCS has been very determined in curtailing the freedom of speech. Though they try to censor the information given by the public media, there are international ones that give more accurate information and these are what people rely on. These are stations such as the British broadcasting corporation (BBC), the democratic voice of Burma, radio Free Asia and the Voice of America (VOA). Apart from these international radio stations, any other person who goes against this decree risked twenty years imprisonment as per the 1996 decree. These are some of the laws that are enforced by this government without any regard to the international law standards. Burma is a resource-rich country that suffers from government controls and abject rural poverty. The military regime took steps in the early 1990s to liberalize the economy after decades of failure under the â€Å"Burmese Socialism†, but those efforts have since stalled. Burma has been unable to achieve monetary or fiscal stability, resulting in an economy that suffers from serious macroeconomic imbalances including a steep inflation rate and an official exchange rate that overvalues the Burmese kyat by more than 100 times the market rate. Burma is a nation that is rich in various natural resources for example the country has precious such as pearls and rubies. The country is also rich in natural gases. In 1962 its economy was performing well when compared to other economies of the developing nations but the socialist party which assumed power later changed the economic status of Burma for example it replaced the capitalism mode of economy with socialism that advocated for central planning as opposed to central planning. Due to this economic change it became one of the poorest developed nations of world. In addition, most overseas development assistance was cut after the junta suppressed the democracy movement in 1988 and subsequently ignored the results of the 1990 election. A crisis in the private banking sector in early 2003 followed by economic moves against Burma by the United States, the European Union, and Japan – including a US ban on imports from Burma and a Japanese freeze on new bilateral economic aid further weakened the Burmese economy. Burma is data poor, and official statistics are often dated and inaccurate. Published estimates of Burma’s foreign trade are greatly understated because of the size of the black market and border trade – often estimated to be one to two times the official economy. Better relations with foreign countries and relaxed controls at home are needed to promote foreign investment, exports, and tourism. In February 2003, a major banking crisis hit the country’s 20 private banks, shutting them down and disrupting the economy. In July and August 2003, the United States imposed a ban on all Burmese imports and a ban on provision of financial services, hampering Burma’s ability to obtain foreign exchange. As of January 2004, the largest private banks remained moribund, leaving the private sector with little formal access to credit outside of government contracts. In Burma the rate of unemployment is very high and the prices of commodities are very high and life standards are very high. According to one businessman said that the situation in Burma was moving from bad to worse and that there was looming danger of social unrest, lectures, professors and pipeline construction workers are poorly paid. Due the constant mass uprising by the democratic movement against this regime, it was rendered bankrupt in 1988 in the onset of the 21st century, it was on the lowest income generating countries in the world but it has greatly reversed this situation because it dropped its economic isolationism. It has also welcomed the foreign investors in its economy so that it would strengthen its military bases. In response to its call, UNOCAL and TOTAL oil companies came to its rescue. In Burma, there are military controlled economic sectors such as Myanmar economic holdings limited and the Myanmar economic corporation that is, UMEH and MEC respectively. These two industries which are controlled by the Burmese military are the ones that dominate the economic sector of Burma. UMEH is geared towards military strengthening while MEC is geared towards shifting the defense cost from the public sector to the private ones but both corporations have a part to play in strengthening the military base of Burma. Though European Union has been imposing economic sanctions to Burma its sanctions are not as stricter as those of the United States. It has invested a lot in Burma and it doesn’t want to lose the much that it has invested. United States has been very keen in reinforcing the bans or sanctions that have been imposed on Burma. The US government particularly has imposed a ban on its investments in this country and has also placed a ban against Burmese exports. Since the bans were proposed, US is the only nation that has implemented them. In the past, the European Union has not been imposing strict sanctions but starting from last year it has increased economic sanctions on precious metals and on imports such as gemstone and timber but they still demand for fresh elections to be held and human rights to be respected. It is only thorough these ways that the country can witness a transition from military rule to a democratic one. It had eased its sanctions basing its reasoning on its above conditions. Japan has been very friendly to Burma. It has never failed to support this military regime though on a small scale. Infact it is one of the major donor in Burma but it is reconsidering its foreign policy on Burma especially after a Japanese journalist was killed. It said that it would cut the aid that Burma gets from it. The other reason for it to withhold its financial aid was in 2003 when San Suu Kyi was kept in detention by the Junta. They believed that was the only best move that would pressurize the military regime to address the democratic principles that have never been allowed to take root in this regime. In 2002,Japan supported Burma’s government with 17 million US dollars on top of that it gave Burma the technical support it needed Japan which was all this time shying away from enforcing sanctions on Burma as the US and UK were doing, it changed its policy after this saga. The British government pressurized the European Union to increase sanctions until san Suu Kyi was realized but it was assured that these sanctions would be eased if Suu Kyi was released. That nation that seems to support Burma or appears or appears or appears to be annually to Burma face violation by the US and UK government and this has occurred to china and North Korea. This is based on misconception that these close friends would be providing economic support to this government that has little regards for its citizens. The United States for example was very bitter because Burmese government suppressed democracy and imposed its will on people and that is why it has imposed sanctions. The heroic stature of Aung San Suu Kyi has greatly helped in making Myanmar to be recognized world wide. China has been blamed for helping this region for its support. The western world cannot sway the Juntas government for this to be effective, then the regional ASEAN countries such as India, Thailand and especially china must first be willing to transform this government. China has been asking Myanmar to quell violence and control protesters but it seems this is falling on deaf ears. China has been helping Burma in international affairs management for example it has been very vibrant in keeping the issue of Burma out of the United Nation’s agenda but the United States and the British governments have been on the other side. Due to many economic sanctions that have been imposed on this regime, it finds it even hard to provide aid to its people who living in poverty. The aid that Burmese gets is below par and is the lowest in the region especially when it compared with that of the local countries for example, an individual’s aid is counted as 2. 5 dollars per head while that of Laos’s stands at 63 US dollars. China has been accused of providing Junta with military aid thus limiting the chances of democracy being realized. It has continued to conduct business relations with. Burma but it is because of some factors that are understandable and some of these are that Burma is rich in useful natural gases that china is interested in again Burma provides China with an overland route to the Indian ocean so Chinese government would not do anything to destroy its relations with Burma. Though there have been calls for better treatment of protestors, they fall on deaf ears. The amnesty international has been pressurizing the United Nations to impose embargos and sanctions on China so that peace in Burma would be realized. This is based on understanding that the Burmese military government relies on china for most of its assistance so, if china was to cut its military aid then, the Burmese government would be unable to control the nation there by creating a platform of peace transition. If the new government would come in place, it would not find it hard to sustain itself even without getting any financial aid from other countries. There are a lot of minerals that aid from other countries. There are a lot of minerals that would help the government to finance its entire government projects. The new government should create confidence among its citizens so that they would participate in the economy thereby making the economy of this nation even stronger. This government should also extend its business relations with other nations as many of them do not have those minerals and definitely they would be so much interested in them. Work cited. Altsean-Burma: Alternative Asean Network on Burma campaigns, advocacy and capacity-building for human rights. 2008. Accessed on Wednesday, March, 2008 at http://www. altsean. org/ Andrew S. Burma’s Armed Forces: Power without Glory. Norwalk: East Bridge. 2002; 45-56 Burma net News. Accessed on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at www. burmanet. org BBC News. Analysis: Burma’s economic Crisis. 15th March, 2002, 13:47 GMT Accessed at http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/business/1871326. stm Brookings. Quality, independence and impact. Retrieved on April 30, 2008 at www. brookings. edu Donald M. S. Burma-China Relations: Playing with Fire. Asian Survey, Vol. 37, No. 6, 1997; 533 International Crisis Group. Working To Reduce Crisis World Wide. Retrieved on April 30, 2008 at http://www. crisisgroup. org/home/index. cfm Myanmar. com. New Light of Myanmar. April 30, 2008 Accessed on April 30, 2008. At http://www. myanmar. com Philip S. Robertson: Sanctions Are Working in Burma. 2003. Online commentary at www. irrawaddy. org/com/2003/com31. html Accessed on August 2003. Smith M. Burma insurgency and the politics of ethnicity. London and New Jersey. 1991; 78 Burma’s Peaceful Transition to a Democratic Future. (2016, Jul 31).