The Economy Of South Africa Essay - 1942 Words

Introduction South Africa is a developing country (IMF, 2016). It is a member of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) since 2011. The UN (United Nation) recognised the BRICS countries as the main players in the structural shift in economic power, which are re-defining the world’s economic geography (Shubin, 2013). The economy of South Africa is one of the largest economies in Africa. According to World Bank’s data in 2015 the GDP of South Africa was (US$ 312.798 Billion) the second largest in Africa, the first was Nigeria (US$ 481.066 Billion) (See figure 1) (The World Bank, 2016a). South Africa is ranked as an upper middle income economy by the World Bank (The World Bank, 2016b). However, economic development and growth is a complex issue several factors can contribute to a country’s development level. Thus, understanding the meanings of economic indicators of economic development is crucial when it comes to interpreting economics statistics of South Afr ica (Akinboade Kinfack, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance and performance of trade in the economy of South Africa and examine the impacts of trade on employment rate, labour productivity and income inequality. South Africa s economic growth The new South Africa was born in 1994 as a democratic country. Which enabled the country to re-integrate into world market as a global economy (Masarira Msweli, 2013). Shortly after the re-integration the South Africa’s economyShow MoreRelatedSouth Africa s Economy Is Largely Based On Mineral Extraction And Processing2454 Words   |  10 PagesSouth Africa’s economy is largely based on mineral extraction and processing. This by its very nature is energy intensive. Until January 2008, when for the first time load shedding was implemented as demand outweighed supply, consumers had seen energy as finite. Historically low fuel and electricity costs had dis-incentivized the need to conserve energy (Government Gazette, 2009). South Africa’s challenges as a developing country is how to reconcile its inherent socio-economic issues with an economyRead MoreAdvantages and Disadvantages of Globalization on South Africa767 Words   |  4 PagesGlobalization is the shrinking of the world and the increased consciousness of the world as a whole. It is a term used to describe the changes in societies and the world economy that is a result of dramatically increased cross-border trade, investment, and cultural exchange. Globalization has been dominated by the nation-state, national economies, and national cultural identities. The new form of globalization is an interconnected world and global mass culture, often referred to as a global village. â€Å"(BhagwatiRead MoreWhat Is The Importance Of Brics In South Africa1171 Words   |  5 Pages SOUTH AFRICA South Africa has a urgent part to play in the BRICS development to advance our outside approach all inclusive and to accomplish our household arrangement destinations. South Africa was made member of BRICSin the last on invitation by China due to the reasons that South Africa has fast growing trading trends. Foreign trade in south Africa has increased which has led to decline in various boycotts imposed on trading in the past years. South Africa’s membership to BRICS is anchored onRead MoreStudying Existing Solar Pv Market1121 Words   |  5 PagesSOLAR PARK IN SOUTH AFRICA:- South African sun based PV business is expanding with many REIPPP tasks developed in . There are over 4 million sun based boards who have been introduced .Sun oriented influence in South Africa will help develop 25MW in the year 2012 to 1050MY by the year 2015. Recently various industries and mining organizations have found that it can spare them money and help them reduce certain costs. . http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/How-Real-Is-The-South-African-PV-MarketRead MoreThe Current State Of South Africa1175 Words   |  5 PagesBACKGROUND ON SOUTH AFRICA 1. South Africa was called the hopeless continent 16 years ago. Much of the negative world view stemmed from wounds created by government supported racial segregation which continues to affect South Africa’s economy today; however, the abundant resources and potential economic growth of this country should not be overlooked. Despite wounds from its past South Africa has a wealth of resources which make it an important country to the world and to the United States. South Africa’sRead MoreThe Future of South Africa1708 Words   |  7 PagesThe future of South Africa Predicting the future development of South Africa has become increasingly difficult due to radical changes that have occurred in the last few decades. These changes have left South Africa in a state of social and economical unrest. The largest of these changes was the abolishment of Apartheid. This allowed for black vote, and thus in 1994 a black government. This lead to black empowerment, which was subjugated for hundreds of years. This however created a new series ofRead MoreSocio-Cultural Impacts990 Words   |  4 Pages2010 launched in South Africa, the main attraction was mostly on gold and diamonds. The number of crime rate is what people knew about South Africa, and since the high crime, so there are not so many people come to South Africa for travel or investment. Therefore, most of the cultural in South Africa are not familiar by the world. But FIFA World Cup has been the biggest and a very successful promotion for the cultural of South Africa and it also make a big impact to the South Africa society, it letsRead MoreSouth Afric A Country Of Diversity1269 Words   |  6 PagesSouth Africa is a country of diversity, with 11 languages that are officially recognized--Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu (Statistics South Africa, 2011). Although South Africa has diverse communities, much of its history has proven a lack of representation. Up until 1994, South Africa was ruled by a white minority government, which came into power in 1948 and enforced a racial segregation policy called apartheid—a policy that mandatesRead MoreEconomic Growth And Development Of South Africa1193 Words   |  5 Pages Viviers (cited by Vollgraaf 2016:p2) as a result of Brexit South Africa’s economic growth is expected to have a 0.1% cut-back due to its trading relations with the countries concerned. Bowler (2016:p1) stated that the UK’s pound depreciated after the Brexit occurrence, which could result in the UK’s imports being expensive. The country will be inclined to import less causing its trading import partners to suffer in the process. South Africa’s export demand in the UK market is going to decreaseRead MoreThe Effects of Globalization1678 Words   |  7 Pagessocieties and the economy of the world which results in a dramatic increase in investment, cross border trade s well as cultural exchange. Globalization is dominated by nation states, economies of national and the cultural identities of nations. Globalization creates an interconnected world with a global mass culture which is commonly referred to as a global village (Egnatz, 2011). South Africa is integrated highly into the world economy. South Africa is the strongest African economy and has attained

Cis 101 Quiz Free Essays

Exam Name_ ______ Chapter 6 MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1) The main advantages of a notebook computer are all of the following EXCEPT: 1) __D____ A) Wireless Internet access is easy to install. We will write a custom essay sample on Cis 101 Quiz or any similar topic only for you Order Now B) They take up little space. C) They are portable. D) You get more speed for a lower price. 2) The main disadvantages of a desktop computer as compared to notebooks are the following EXCEPT: 2) __D____ A) A desktop computer is harder to move around. B) A desktop computer requires more space. C) A desktop computer is difficult to transport for repair. D) A desktop computer is more expensive. 3) CPU speed is measured in: 3) __D____ A) nanoseconds. B) megabytes. C) bits per second (bps). D) Hertz. 4) The amount of RAM recommended for most systems today is measured in: 4) __D____ A) Megahertz. B) Gigahertz. C) KB. D) GB. 5) ________ are fast becoming the most preferred means of portable storage. 5) __D____ A) DVDs B) CDs C) Floppy disks D) Flash drives Read also Quiz Week 4 6) All of the following can be connected to your computer through a port EXCEPT: 6) ___C___ A) scanner. B) an external hard drive. C) RAM. D) a printer. 7) Each of the following is a type of port EXCEPT: 7) ___C___ A) FireWire. B) Ethernet. C) FSB. D) USB. 8) An expansion card that translates binary data into images is a(n): 8) ___D___ A) game card. B) sound card. C) audio card. D) video card. 9) A MIDI port allows you to connect: 9) ___C___ A) scanners. B) notebooks. C) electronic musical instruments. D) digital cameras. 10) The technology that transmits data between two devices using infrared light waves is called: 10) _B____ A) Wi-Fi. B) IrDA. C)FireWire. D) Bluetooth. TRUE/FALSE. Write ‘T’ if the statement is true and ‘F’ if the statement is false. 11) The CPU is located on the motherboard. 11) __T___ 12) The CPU is the temporary storage location for all the data and instructions the computer needs when it is running. 12) __F___ 13) Accessing data from the hard drive to send to the CPU is faster than accessing data from RAM. 13) __F___ 14) Hard drives have the largest storage capacity of any storage device. 14) __T___ 15) The main distinction between a desktop and a notebook is Internet connectivity. 15) __T___ 16) CPU stands for computer processing unit. 16) __F___ 17) When there is not enough RAM installed in your system, the system becomes memory bound. 17) __T___ 18) A sound card is attached to the inside of your computer’s speaker. 18) __F___ 19) RAM is your computer’s permanent storage space for data that is entered from the keyboard. 19) __F___ 20) The amount of memory your video card needs depends on what you want to display on your monitor. 20) __T___ SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question. 21) The time it takes a storage device to locate stored data and make it available for processing is called ________ time. 21) _Access Time__ 22) RAM is an example of ________ storage because when the power is off, RAM is cleared out. 22) _Temporary___ 23) The technology that uses radio waves to send data wirelessly over short distances is ________. 23) __Bluetooth Technology__ 24) USB stands for ________. 24) _Universal Serial Bus_ 25) The primary circuit board of the computer system is the ________. 25) _Motherboard_ How to cite Cis 101 Quiz, Essay examples

Trait Theory Of Leadership Strength And Limitations

Question: Discuss about the strengths and limitations of trait theory of leadership. Answer: Introduction The trait theory of leadership is modeled on both unsuccessful and successful leaders. The list of traits that is obtained by this method is compared to the traits of all individuals identified as potential leaders. This process is used to predict the chances of failure or success of the person being considered to exhibit traits of leadership. The primary conditions and characteristics used for the Trait Theory can be classified into intellectual, demographical, physiological, personality, goal or task driven and social behavior. Factors like age, socio economic background and education are considered under demographical characteristics while physical appearance including weight and height are part of the physiological characteristics that are considered. Similarly, personality traits include aggressiveness, self-confidence and so on; social characteristics include , co-operation, sociability and so on; while goal driven is related to persistence, initiative and achievement drive of individuals identified as potential leaders (McCormick, 2001), (Colbert, Judge, Daejeong, Wang, 2012). Does The Intricacy of The Topic Intimidate You? Tame Your Fear with Unmatched Assignment Help Services from Professional Writers. Strengths Of Louis Paster As Identified Using The Trait Theory Honesty and Integrity High achievement drive Emotional Maturity limitations of louis paster as identified using of trait theory Lack of business knowledge and acumen Conclusion It is often seen that persons may be born with certain traits that are inherited as it is believed that leaders are not made but born (Bowerman Van Wart, 2014). Individuals are known to emerge as leaders when faced with various tasks, situations and circumstances which bring leadership qualities like self-efficiency, adaptability, intelligence, innovation, and so on to the fore. References Bowerman, K. D., Van Wart, M. (2014). The Business of Leadership: An Introduction. New York: Routledge. Colbert, A. E., Judge, T. A., Daejeong, C., Wang, G. (2012). Assessing the trait theory of leadership using self and observer ratings of personality: The mediating role of contributions to group success. The Leadership Quarterly, 670-685. McCormick, M. J. (2001). Self-Efficacy and Leadership Effectiveness: Applying Social Cognitive Theory to Leadership. Journal of Leadership Organizational Studies, 22-33.

Symbolism in Metamorphosis Essay Example

Symbolism in Metamorphosis Essay Written in 1912 by Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis looks like an autobiographical piece of writing because the major parts of the story resemble Kafka’s own life. However, it is not a straight autobiography and Kafka has skillfully written the story, putting together the facts of his life, but using mysterious symbols. These symbols carry different themes, but the major theme is the status of a man in society when he becomes isolated.This is how Kafka begins his story – â€Å"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.†[1] This is one of the most famous first sentences in modern literature. There is no build-up, no tension, but just a direct boom – our hero is now an insect. From the second sentence, the insect becomes our hero and it remains until the end of the story. Thus, from the very first sentence Kafka uses symbolism, which at first sight sounds very strange and ridiculous. How ever, as the story moves on, we not only accept the transformation of our hero into an insect, but we also feel sympathy for his state. Kafka has written the story in such a realistic style that we can visualize everything, and can imagine it happening in real life.This transformation of Gregor into an insect is a symbol, which signifies that sometimes a person’s life becomes so frustrating that he starts feeling like a helpless and isolated insect. Gregor’s metamorphosis indicates his multiple alienations from his job, from the society, from his family, from humanity, and even from his body.Gregor does not panic on his transformation. His only concern is how to get back to work. He wants to catch the 5 a.m. train as usual, but since he sleeps until 6:30, he decides to catch the 7 a.m. train, but before that, the chief clerk arrives there. Gregor feels very angry that only because he has wasted an hour, the company is casting suspicion upon him. This emphasis on time s ymbolizes the capitalist world, where time is as valuable as money. Wasting time by sleeping until late, a person misses business, and thus wastes money. Later we find Gregor’s mother saying to the clerk that whole day Gregor thinks of work only and does not go out even in the evening. This indicates the way a modern capitalist society thinks that any activity, no matter how good it is, is pointless if it does not earn money, and the time thus consumed is useless time.When Gregor’s mother tells the clerk that Gregor is ill, the chief clerk replies, â€Å"we men of business fortunately or unfortunately very often simply have to ignore any slight indisposition, since business must be attended to.[2] His statement is a symbol for the rule of the modern capitalist society, where illness is a crime, and the ill employee is the culprit of wasting company’s money. That is why Gregor is not that much worried on his sudden change. His greater concern is how to get bac k to work. However, since he could not get back to work, as a punishment, he is not only alienated from his job, but also from the society that is based on money and time. Money gets the primary importance in this society, and anybody who does not work is unimportant and useless. Stanlay Cargold has rightly said, â€Å"The Metamorphosis can also be seen as a reaction against bourgeois society and its demands. Gregors manifest physical separation may represent his alienation and inarticulate yearnings. He had been a vermin, crushed and circumscribed by authority and routine. He had been imprisoned by social and economic demands.†[3]There is a photograph of Gregor, in a military uniform, in the living room. This is a very little detail, and in first look seems irrelevant, but this symbolizes a deep meaning. Military is a process that turns a man into a productive member of the society. Gregor’s former job in military symbolizes his new job in the capitalist society, wher e he is a normal and productive member. Because of this ideal image of him, his family keeps his photograph on the wall. As long as he remains within the established order of labor and commerce and is able to support his family, his family feels proud of him and care about him. Kafka conveys this message when he describes the picture. â€Å"Right opposite Gregor on the wall hung a photograph of himself on military service, as a lieutenant, hand on sword, a carefree smile on his face, inviting one to respect his uniform and military bearing.†[4] This statement indicates that now when Gregor is a helpless insect, he is neither useful for society, nor for his family.In chapter three, Gregor’s father is back to work force, and becomes a slave to his job, even when he is at home. â€Å"He slept fully dressed where he sat, as if he were ready for service at any moment and even here only at the beck and call of his superior. As a result, his uniform, which was not brand-new to start with, began to look dirty, despite all the loving care of the mother and sister to keep it clean. Gregor often spent whole evenings gazing at the many greasy spots on the garment, gleaming with gold buttons always in a high state of polish, in which the old man sat sleeping in extreme discomfort and yet quite peacefully.†[5] Here, the always-gleaming brass button is a symbol that represents the absorption of Gregor’s father into the dehumanizing capitalist system. At the same time, his dirty uniform symbolizes his degradation behind his socially useful and servile faà §ade. The uniform is a symbol for the economic order. This indicates how a man loses his individuality and identity, and completely sacrifices himself to the economic order. Thus, in this capitalist society, you can feel peace, but only at the cost of losing your humanity.At one point of time when Gregor hears his sister, playing violin, the music touches his heart. He realizes that when he was a human being, he never noticed that his sister plays such a great music. This gives Gregor a sense of satisfaction, and he thinks his metamorphosis is a kind of blessing for him. This symbolically means that if one wants to feel like a true human being, he must rebel against socially acceptable behavior.â€Å"On page 11 Gregor answers his fathers request to open the door with a clear No. The response produces a stunned silence and a sob from his sister. It was the last intelligible word Gregor would ever utter. It would soon become apparent to the rest of the world that Gregor was indeed what he himself knew he was: a social deviant.†[6] In the end when Gregor’s family finds that he is now a useless creature and a burden for them, they literally leave Gregor to climb the walls and die. This way, Kafka is in fact warning the people, living in this materialistic capitalist society, that they are very likely to be caught in Gregor-like situation. It is very difficult to e scape from such a situation. The only way seems to be death.006).

Martin Luther King Jr Quotes

Martin Luther King Jr Quotes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was a principal leader of the non-violent Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. He not only began the Civil Rights Movement with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he became an icon for the entire movement. Since King was, in part, famous for his oratory abilities, one can both be inspired and learn much by reading through these quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. "Letter From Birmingham Jail," 16 April 1963 Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is, in reality, expressing the very highest respect for the law. We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. We were here before the mighty words of the Declaration of Independence were etched across the pages of history. Our forebears labored without wages. They made cotton king. And yet out of a bottomless vitality, they continued to thrive and develop. If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail... Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho we may be, our destiny is tied up with Americas destiny. "I Have a Dream" Speech, August 28, 1963 I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of Gods children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last. "Strength to Love" (1963) The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others. Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan. "I've Been to the Mountaintop" Speech, April 3, 1968 (the day before his assassination) Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But Im not concerned about that now. I just want to do Gods will. And hes allowed me to go up to the mountain. And Ive looked over, and Ive seen the promised land . . . So Im happy tonight. Im not worried about anything. Im not fearing any man. Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, December 10, 1964 I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. "Where Do We Go From Here?" Speech, August 16, 1967 Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them. Other Speeches and Quotations We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. - Speech in St. Louis, Missouri, March 22, 1964. If a man hasnt discovered something he will die for, he isnt fit to live. - Speech in Detroit, Michigan on June 23, 1963. It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think thats pretty important. - Quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 13, 1962.

Requisitos seguro mdico CHIP de bajo costo para nios

Requisitos seguro mdico CHIP de bajo costo para nios El Programa de Seguro de Salud para Nià ±os (CHIP, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) es un seguro mà ©dico gratis o a bajo coste para nià ±os y adolescentes  cuyos ingresos familiares les impiden calificar para Medicaid por ser demasiado altos, pero carecen de medios econà ³micos para comprar un seguro mà ©dico adecuado. Recordar que por la ley ACA, que se conoce popularmente como Obamacare  se puede estar obligado a tener seguro mà ©dico y, si no se tiene, puede haber multas. Chip es una opcià ³n para cumplir con ese requisito cuando la compra de un seguro mà ©dico privado para cubrir a los nià ±os resulta muy caro para las familias.   Adems, en algunos estados tambià ©n permite el acceso a embarazadas. Cul es el requisito de edad para obtener CHIP Hay variaciones importantes entre estados, ya que cada uno establece sus reglas. Sin embargo, la regla general ms comà ºn es que la cobertura se extiende a los menores de 19 aà ±os de edad. Adems, algunos estados incluyen la  cobertura de embarazadas sin importar su edad. Quià ©nes califican para CHIP segà ºn estatus migratorio Obviamente, califican los ciudadanos americanos. Pero para todos los que no lo son hay una divisià ³n entre los que califican y los que no. Califican Los  nià ±os y adolescentes  residentes permanentes legales que han cumplido cinco aà ±os con ese estatus, a menos que residan un estado que paga con su propio dinero el acceso a CHIP para estos inmigrantes y/o han aceptado dinero federal para expandir programas ya existentes.   En la actualidad los siguientes estados brindan CHIP a nià ±os sin tener que satisfacer el requisito de los 5 aà ±os de residencia permanente legal: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida,Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa,  Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana,Nebraska,  New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,  Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia y Wisconsin. Y tambià ©n Washington D.F. Asimismo, se exceptà ºan de esta regla de los cinco aà ±os los residentes que obtuvieron su green card por motivos humanitarios y los que sirven o han servido con honor en el Ejà ©rcito de Estados Unidos. En Tambià ©n califican los refugiados, asilados y otros migrantes humanitarios y, en  algunos estados, tambià ©n califican los migrantes en estatus PRUCOL.   No califican Los residentes permanentes cuya green card tiene menos de 5 aà ±os, excepto en los estados que sà ­ estn amparados.Los turistasLos estudiantesLas personas con otras visas no inmigrantes, como de inversià ³n, intercambio o trabajoLos migrantes indocumentados Otros requisitos para CHIP En cada estado se pedir cumplir con ciertos niveles de ingresos. Tambià ©n se mira la composicià ³n de la familia y, en algunos estados, se piden requerimientos de historial laboral o incluso un periodo de tiempo sin cobertura mà ©dica. Uno de los requisitos es el de ingresos econà ³micos. En este punto hay grandes diferencias entre estados pero por regla general puede decirse que: Para el caso de nià ±os y adolescentes la mayorà ­a de los estados piden ingresos inferiores al 200 por cien de lo seà ±alado cada aà ±o por el gobierno como là ­nea de la pobreza. Hay estados que cubren con ingresos inferiores al 300 por ciento e incluso los que brindan beneficios con ingresos ms altos.Para el caso de las embarazadas, por regla general se pide tener ingresos no superiores al 185 por ciento de la là ­nea de la pobreza.   En la mayorà ­a de lo casos la persona a cargo del caso verificar electrà ³nicamente que se cumplen los requisitos, por ejemplo, el nivel de ingresos. Sin embargo hay una excepcià ³n a esta regla y es que se deber presentar prueba documental de que se cumplen los requisitos migratorios. Quà © beneficios pueden disfrutarse con CHIP Los nià ±os y adolescentes que cuenten con una tarjeta CHIP podrn gozar de atenciones mà ©dicas que varà ­an de estado a estado. Pero en general suelen estar incluidas las visitas regulares al mà ©dico, gastos de hospital, vacunas, anlisis de laboratorio, limpieza y empastes dentales y revisià ³n de la vista y espejuelos. Tambià ©n se incluyen los medicamentos dados con prescripcià ³n del doctor. Adems de las variaciones en cobertura mà ©dica que se producen entre los estados puede ocurrir que, dentro de un mismo estado, los nià ±os tengan diferentes seguros mà ©dicos. La tarjeta de los menores contiene el nombre de la compaà ±Ãƒ ­a proveedora de seguro y su nà ºmero de telà ©fono, para poder asà ­ saber con exactitud quà © cobertura tiene cada nià ±o. Con esos datos tambià ©n es posible averiguar quà © mà ©dicos aceptan ese seguro mà ©dico en la zona de residencia del chico. Quià ©nes pueden solicitar CHIP para los nià ±os y adolescentes Sus padres, tutores legales, abuelos o incluso hermanos mayores de edad, siempre y cuanto vivan con el menor al menos seis meses dentro del plazo de un aà ±o. En determinados casos los menores pueden aplicar directamente, como por ejemplo, cuando vivan solos. Aportacià ³n econà ³micade la familia para CHIP Las aportaciones familiares para colaborar con los gastos de este programa varà ­an segà ºn el estado de residencia,  de los recursos  econà ³micos y nà ºmero de miembros de la familia. Es muy comà ºn que haya que pagar una cantidad reducida en concepto de inscripcià ³n inicial.  Por ejemplo, en la actualidad en el estado de Texas el importe mximo que se abona es de 50 dà ³lares. Adems es posible que haya que abonar un co-pago cada vez que se utiliza el servicio. La cantidad varà ­a enormemente y puede ir desde los $2 a los $30. Tambià ©n es posible que resulte totalmente gratis. En todo caso nunca pasar del 5 por ciento de los ingresos familiares por aà ±o. Asimismo, ciertos servicios son siempre gratuitos, como por ejemplo, las vacunas. Cà ³mo verificar si se cualifica y aplicar De 4  maneras es posible verificar y, en su caso aplicar, para CHIP. En primer lugar eligiendo estado en el que se vive en la pgina federal oficial de Medicaid. Se puede hacer haciendo bajar la flechita hasta encontrar el estado o haciendo click en el mapa. Se abrir una pgina nueva con informacià ³n adicional, incluidos requisitos y cà ³mo aplicar. En segundo lugar, ingresando por internet a la pgina de Medicaid de cada estado En tercer lugar, en la pgina del Marketplace para seguros. En este caso, elegir estado introduciendo l zip code y hacer click en continuar. Despuà ©s elegir si se quiere una verificacià ³n de que se cumplen los requisitos o, si se sabe que sà ­, se puede proceder a aplicar. Y, en cuarto lugar, tambià ©n es posible realizar esta gestià ³n marcando gratuitamente al 1-800-318-2596. Quà © estados brindan mayor asistencia con CHIP En realidad 40 estados ms Washington D.C. de alguna forma han extendido el programa CHIP a ms inmigrantes que los que prevà © la ley federal, aunque hay muchas variaciones entre estados. Por ejemplo, en Massachusetts todos los nià ±os que cumplen los otros requisitos pueden tener acceso a CHIP, incluidos los indocumentados. Lo  mismo sucede en Illinois donde ms de 1.5 millones de nià ±os reciben beneficios a travà ©s del programa All Kids, que es como se le conoce en ese estado. Por otro lado, MinnesotaCare brinda cobertura a los residentes permanentes menores de 21 aà ±os y no pide entre sus requisitos que se haya cumplido 5 aà ±os como residente. Adems, en California los muchachos con DACA aprobado menores de 21 aà ±os pueden tener acceso a Medi-Cal, si cumplen los otros requisitos. En el caso de ciegos o incapacitados no hay là ­mite de edad.   Esto significa que 10 estados sà ³lo cubren los casos bsicos. Estos son: Alabama, Carolina del Sur, Dakota del Norte, Dakota del Sur, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi y Missouri. Cà ³mo se le llama a CHIP en cada estado En cada estado este programa, que tiene fondos federales y estatales, recibe su propio nombre. Este es el listado Alabama: Alabama ALL kidsAlaska: Denali KidsCareArizona:  AHCCCS-KidsCareArkansas:  Arkansas Department of Human ServicesCalifornia: Healthy FamiliesColorado:  Child Health Plan Plus (CHP)Connecticut:  HUSKY ProgramDelaware:  Delaware Healthy Children ProgramFlorida:  Florida KidCareGeorgia:  Georgia PeachCare for KidsHawaii:  Med-QUEST DivisionIdaho:  Idaho CHIPIllinois:  Illinois All KidsIndiana:  Hoosier HealthwiseIowa:  Hawk-IKansas:  KanCare programKentucky:  Kentucky Childrens Health Insurance Program (KCHIP)Louisiana:  LaCHIPMaine:  CubCareMaryland:  Maryland Children’s Health Program (MCHIP)Massachusetts:  MassHealthMichigan:  MIChildMinnesota:  MinnesotaCareMississippi:  Health BenefitsMissouri:  MO HealthNetMontana:  Healthy Montana Kids PlusNebraska:  CHIPNevada:  Check UpNew Hampshire: CHIPNew Jersey:  FamilyCareNew Mexico:  New Mexi-KidsNew York:  Child Health PlusNorth Carolina:  Health ChoiceNorth Dakota: CHIPOhio:  Healthy FamiliesOklahoma:  SoonerCarePennsylvania: CHIPRhode Island:  Rite CareSouth Carolina:  Healthy Connections South Dakota: CHIPTennessee:  CoverKidsTexas: CHIPUtah: CHIPVermont:  Dr DynasaurVirginia:  FAMISWashington: CHIPWashington D.C.: CHIPWest Virginia: CHIPWisconsin:  BadgerCare PlusWyoming:  Kid Care CHIP Beneficiados por CHIP En la actualidad ms de ocho millones de nià ±os y adolescentes  gozan de cobertura mà ©dica a travà ©s de CHIP, lo que representa un costo de ms de $13 billones. Aunque tanto los estados como el gobierno federal contribuyen con fondos, es mayor la proporcià ³n del gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Por estados, California es, con 1,731,605 menores en este programa, el estado con ms beneficiados, seguido por Texas y Nueva York. Recursos prcticos Algunos estados brindan este tipo de proteccià ³n a travà ©s de una versià ³n extendida de Medicaid. Es el caso de Alaska, Hawaii, Carolina del Sur, Maryland, Vermont, Ohio, Nuevo Hampshire y Nuevo Mà ©xico, adems de Washington D.C. y el territorio de Puerto Rico.  Es importante informarse y que los asistentes sociales indiquen cul es la asistencia disponible segà ºn el caso. Se puede solicitar el ingreso en el programa CHIP en cualquier momento del aà ±o, si bien algunos estados piden que se lleve un tiempo determinado sin cobertura mà ©dica. Y, finalmente, estos son otros recursos a los que se podrà ­a tener derecho: cupones de alimentos tambià ©n conocido como SNAP, Medicaid, Wic para embarazadas e infantes, School Lunch o TANF, que es un programa de asistencia temporal a familias en situacià ³n de necesidad. Cuando se aplica por Medicaid o por CHIP se informa si se puede aplicar por otro programa de asistencia social. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Two short answer comments to a posting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Two short answer comments to a posting - Essay Example There is almost this tendency to actually want Korea to remain reclusive. A reservation that their silence, coupled with high hopes that they will not cause harm, is a better situation for the whole of the world. These inconsistencies may be perceived as nothing less than provocation and quite considerable, in parallel to the comment which delves in overanalyzing a hypothetical that leads to rhetoric. Nothing is really accomplished. It is nothing more than redundant exercise of foreseeable prospective. The recent development of a probable change in leadership serves as a trigger to renewed talks on what could happen. As Andrei Lankov was quoted saying â€Å"He will be a dictator, but merely a rubber-stamping dictator. This is what the people in the positions of power want† (McDonald 2010). If this were to happen, then nothing really changes and U.S., China and all other countries may just again fall to its habit of waiting, as it had done up to this point. 2. The second commen t is, in a manner of speaking, the other side of the coin. It recognizes what North Korea has been irked about for a long time, that the United States does not take it seriously. A recognition even Iran had been given.

From Research to Practice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

From Research to Practice - Assignment Example One of these researches to practice demonstration is the use of heparinized saline for the flushing peripheral intravenous catheters was compared to saline (Keele, 2011). In this practical, saline was found to be more clinically effective in maintaining the peripheral catheters. As a result to this research, majority of acute care facilities made a recommendation use on patients only as a plush for the peripheral catheters. Research on cancer fatigue has been in progress for the last decade, and a research was conducted on the effects of active and moderate exercise on patients undergoing active cancer therapy, and treatment. The results showed that active exercise had positive results on fatigue, functional capacity, activity level and sleep. Since then, this method is practiced in the treatment of cancer related fatigue which has been adopted by many cancer treatment centers, and thus showing that research can be put into practice and show success. In the near future, it is good to use evidence based research in the field of nursing as it gives a wide choice of solution, and gives the correct treatment to a client. Evidence based practice is important for nursing, but its full implementation is hindered by the evidences

Final Report Essay Example for Free

Final Report Essay Information need not be passed down through physical means like mail or newspapers. It can be done through SMS (short messaging service), a phone call or even an email. Underlying such great inventions is the use of electronic devices to transmit and receive signals. Due to the demand for faster and larger data flow, complex systems such as Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) have been developed. This project is confined to the fundamental concepts used in digital communication. These key concepts include sampling, quantization and frame synchronization. The circuit designed is meant for one-way dataflow. It supports transmission by one user from any analog input. Hence, it is not necessary to select between multiple analog inputs using the frequency-division multiplexing technique. In transmitting wirelessly, a laser and photodiode are used instead of antennas. This choice is made because it is complex to build a Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) circuit. Without FSK, an antenna would need to be 75km long in order to transmit a wave of 4 kHz. 1. 2 Problem Identification In this project, a laser pointer is used to transmit analog signal wirelessly. In order to realize digital transmission, the analog signal must be converted into digital form using a Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) encoder. Before the signal can be decoded at the receiver end, frame synchronization must be achieved. Hence, a training sequence must be sent to synchronize the receiver and transmitter. Next, a Digital Phase Locked Loop (DPLL) is needed to lock on to the transmitted signal and generate clocks at the receiver end. In the final stage, the digital signal is converted back to an analog signal. This signal is then played through a speaker. 1. 3 Constraints Availability of Manpower Our main constraint lies in the shortage of manpower. Due to the complexity of the DPLL Circuit and Training Sequence Identification Circuit, more members should be allocated to these two subgroups. However, this is not possible as our group consists of only eight members. This constraint will be addressed in the implementation section of this report. Components The design of any combinational logic circuit is confined to the availability of chips (gates). In this project, we are not provided with AND and NOR gates. Hence, knowledge of Boolean algebra will aid us in realizing any logic with the universal NAND gate. In addition, the design of logic circuits also depends on the space of breadboard. Hence, minimizing the number of chips used takes higher precedence over the simplicity of design. This is to achieve compactness on the breadboard. Time A short time frame of seven weeks is given to build a laser communication system. Apart from building the prototype, our group must submit design and final reports for grading. Hence, it is critical that all group members adhere to the schedule. Further, since there are no extra lab sessions provided for testing and debugging, subgroups must build the circuits before going for the lab session. . System Design 2. 1 Project Requirements 1. 2. 048 MHz Master Clock, 64 KHz Bit Clock and 8 KHz Frame Synchronization: with rising edges aligned. 2. Clock signals into PCM encoder, training sequence generator and multiplexer. 3. Coder and decoder chips are needed for analog to digital conversion and digital to analog conversion respectively. 4. Model the photodiode as a voltage source. 5. Yield minimal noise in the photodiode circuit. 6. DPLL: Determine the value of K, N, M and constant phase difference between local clock and data sequence. 7. DPLL: Design a divide by N Counter. 8. Frame synchronization must be achieved. 9. Training Sequence must be generated. 10. A D flip-flop is required to switch training frame to data frame at the correct instance. 11. A logic circuit must be implemented to identify the training sequence at the receiver end. 12. Implement a â€Å"Divide by 8† counter to yield 8 KHz Frame Synchronization Receiver from the 64 KHz Bit Clock. 2. 2 Design of System The system consists of two functional components. They are the transmitter and receiver. In the discussion of this system, the transmitter side will be first discussed followed by the receiver end. 2. 3 Design of Transmitter The transmitter consists of several sub-blocks. These sub-blocks include the clock and counter networks, training sequence generator, switch, encoder and the laser link. 2. 3. 1 Clock and Counter Networks In this system, 2. 048MHz Master Clock (MCLK), 64 KHz Bit Clock (BCLK) and 8 KHz Frame Synchronization Signal (FSYN) are required. BCLK and FSYN are required by the training sequence generator and multiplexer (MUX) switch respectively. The encoder chip requires MCLK, BCLK and FSR. As such, the breadboard layout shown in Figure 1 is adopted. Figure 1: Breadboard Layout (Transmitter) Master Clock (MCLK) The Master Clock (MCLK) is obtained from the signal generators available in the lab. As a high speed clock is needed by the PCM encoder to function, the value of 2. 048 MHz is chosen. MCLK provides the timing signal to synchronize the other clocks in the system. In this manner, the rising edge of the generated BCLK and FSR will coincide with MCLK. Bit Clock (BCLK) The Bit Clock (BCLK) frequency is 64 KHz. This is generated by inputting MCLK into the Counter (74HC191) followed by a D Flip-flop (74HC74). BCLK is required because the frequency of bits generated by the encoder is 64 KHz. The BCLK allows the bit stream to be synchronized with the clock network. Frame Synchronization Signal (FSYN)

Business Culture: China vs. the United States Essay -- International T

Business Culture: China vs. the United States   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cultures are varying among different parts of the globe. People with different cultures have different characteristics and viewpoints on the subjects due to diverse understanding and method of learning. During the past few decades, the international trade grows in a very rapid rate due to the advantages that it provides; â€Å"increased sales, operational efficiencies, exposure to new technologies and broader consumer choices† (Heslin). Therefore, when considering the culture aspect to current business world, it is crucial for business to understand the culture aspect because of the tremendous growth of international business as well as utilize the international market to its maximum utility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today’s world’s leading markets are the United States of America and People Republic of China. The United States market growth is not a â€Å"jump† growth, instead it grows in steady manner. On the other hand, China’s market is not a very significance market until several decades ago where all suddenly, the market leaps from an insignificance market to highly imperative market and it seems unstoppable. Although both of the markets and its potential for growth is considerably dominant but the ways of managing its business are very distinct; both societal and institutional differences and values differences.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American workers are more individualize. American workers focus on their individuals and lives in the world of dist...

Are you ready boots

You Ready Boots is a short story about an English girl called Lulu and her black leather boots. The story begins in New York where Lulu, her good pal Spencer and another freind are on a four day trip. On a shoe sale she finds these marvellous boots that makes her feel fantastic, and she buys them. When shes back in England she can't bear to wear them bacause they were so expensive. Until one night six month later when she's going out with Spencer and he encourages her to wear them.She does, and that night she meets a very handsome man called Charlie. After a while she walks straight to him (in her boots), talks with him, and she ends up with dating him. They become lovers and he seems to be the â€Å"perfect† man. Only Spencer disapproves their relationship. After a while Charlie proposes and she accepts. The same night she decides to wear the same dress, including the boots, as the day the met. But then Charlie says that he hates the boots and he asks her to take them off. Th en she looks at her great boots, makes a decision and leaves†¦The main character is a woman called Lulu. I think she might be in the twenties because she's old enough to gets married and young enough to go out and get drunk with her freinds. She lives in England, and she seems to be like a typical city girl who likes shopping, going out with freinds and so on. She may be a little upper class for example bacause she drinks champagne when she's going out, but still she's not like a real richie, because of the way she's ashamed of the price of the boots and how she's very impressed of Charlie's Porsche.It also confirms my feeling of Lulu as a girl ho likes the â€Å"wealthy feeling† and that is also the reason that she in the beginning buys the boots even though they are too expensive. This leads to another of Lulu's traits; that she's pretty conscious about the way she looks, and others looks. When she finally takes courage to talk with Charlie for the first time, she's su re that it's because of the boots – she finds self-confidence in material things like the expensive boots. It's also notable how much of the text that the description of the boots and her thoughts about them fills.As well as the descriptions of Charlie's handsome look s described a lot of times. I think she's typical young and modern woman who likes a lot of â€Å"normal† things. The way she doesn't sees â€Å"the real† Charlie for such a long time, do I interpret as some kind of desperation sign. If she's in the late twenties many of her freinds may have really had a boyfreind†). Nobody wants to be the lonely old maid, when their freinds become parents and so on†¦ Two men have important roles in the story: Lulu's good pal Spencer and Charlie who becomes her boyfreind.Spencer is like a real freind who takes her out for fun, who orries about her and I think that he knows her very well. He is with her in New York when she buys the boots and he is the on e who tells her his actual opinion about Lulu and Charlie's releationship. At first she doesn't wants to listen to him, but she can't Just forgets what he said which shows us that she normally listens to Spencer's opinions. And in the end it's also like his the one who's proved right. Charlie is a totally different kind of man. He is not spontaneous funny like Spencer is – in fact I dont think he's spontaneous at all (or funny).But he walks straight in to Lulu's life, at a point when I think she needs a man. He's very good looking, seems to be the perfect man and Lulu is flattered because of the way he for example always remembers to call her. Her love for this man is not described anywhere in the text and it's tempting to doubt that she actually never loved him.. Fundamentally I dont think that you should Judge people's choices of clothes because you should be allowed to wear what ever you want to. But it is not always possible to escape if people ask you directly what you t hink of this and that- which girl freinds often do.And in such a situation I think that the only right thing to do is to tell the truth. But I still think that the whole truth may be a little too hard sometimes. And then it's okay to tell a tiny little lie. But there are cases where it's the best to tell the hard truth to kind of prepare the person you are talking with, bacause you can see that if you dont say anything other people, and maybe strangers, will do and that's a lot worse. So to what extent it is okay to Judge depends on the situation, how close you are to the person you are Judging and how â€Å"necessary' the Judgement is.

The Handmaids Tale

Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale takes place in a post Cold War society plagued by infertility. Atwood presents the reader with â€Å"The Republic of Gilead†, the Christian theocracy that overthrew the United States government. Narrated by a woman renamed Offred, the reader gets an idea of a future in which women are no longer women, but are solely needed for reproduction. Atwood uses a system of vocabulary established under the Republic of Gilead in order to manipulate and dehumanize women and men throughout the text. Under this new society women are efined under their gender roles.No longer are women allowed to hold Jobs, make an income, or have control over their body. Men on the other hand are referred to by their military rank. Women are then placed into the group in which the Republic of Gilead finds fitting. Some sent off to reproduce children, others to work and wait for a slow cruel death. Offred is what the Republic of Gilead labels a handmaid. A handmaid's sole purpose is to produce a child for elite families of the Republic. Handmaids are stripped from their own clothes and are forced to wear all red.A floor length dress that gives the handmaid no shape, red shoes, and red gloves. The color red is extremely symbolic towards their position in society. The red clothing could be interpreted in a multitude of ways. Red is the color of a women's menstrual blood. Therefore the wearing of red deems the handmaids one of the few fertile women among society. However, in history red has been a marker of sexual sin. The handmaids are essentially having sex with married men. All handmaids are immediately stripped of their birth name and put under possession of the commander.Offred receives this name because her commander's name is Fred, and she is â€Å"of† Fred. This is the Republic of Gilead's way of literally dehumanizing and stripping the handmaid's from any personalization. I looked up the definition of the word â€Å"handmaiden†, and it is defined as such, â€Å"A handmaiden is a personal maid, female servant, or a subordinate thing†. Under this new society, these women who are able to produce life, are literally referred to as â€Å"things† and â€Å"possessions†. In the beginning of this new society handmaidens arrive at a place called â€Å"the red center†.It is here they learn to be trained by what the Republic of Gilead labels â€Å"Aunts†. Aunts attempt to promote the handmaid's as an honorable Job and position in society. The term â€Å"aunt† is appropriately used and applied by Atwood throughout the novel. Their Job is to train, reform and advise handmaids in order to prepare them for their new life. One activity the aunt's used in attempt to brainwash and manipulate the handmaid's was â€Å"testifying†. It was during this time handmaid's told their apparent â€Å"faults† from their previous lives and was then taunted for it.Offred tells one han dmaid's story from â€Å"testifying as such, â€Å"It's Janine, telling about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion†. The other handmaids chant in unison claiming it is â€Å"her fault, her fault, her fault†. Offred explains how during the last time Janine told the story she burst into tears. However, during this weeks testifying she immediately takes responsibility tor being raped claiming, â€Å"It was my tault It was my own fault, I led them on†. The aunt's have completed their Job by manipulating the handmaids into believing that a rape was wanted.Upon entering a commander's home there are no longer aunts, but â€Å"Marthas†. The Handmaid's Tale is laced with biblical references throughout the entire novel. Atwood's use of the name â€Å"Martha† comes directly from a story in Luke 10:38-42 in which Jesus goes to visit his mother Mary and Martha. While Mary sits and listens to Jesus speak, Martha is too busy with all of the dut ies she had to accomplish. This is exactly what the Martha's are seen doing while working in the commander's home. The Marthas, Cora and Rita, are to fulfill all domestic roles in the house, exactly likeMartha had done in the bible. While Marthas take care of the house, the commander's wives are not expected to do the same. Wives are superior to all women, and it is made clear to Offred right away. However, while living in the commander's home it is apparent that even though the handmaidens are forced into a situation unwanted, so have the wives. Wives are to lay with the handmaiden while the commander has sex with the handmaiden. Labeled as, â€Å"the ceremony', this event is emotionally scarring towards both females in the situation.After one of the ceremonies Offred even wonders, Which of us is it worse for, her or me†. The act of the â€Å"ceremony' directly shows how the Republic of Gilead has dehumanized both low ranking and high-ranking women. Sex is no longer perform ed for love and passion, but only to produce a child. On one hand, Offred has no say over her body and what is happening to her. Offred even states, â€Å"It's only the inside of our bodies that is important. The outside can become hard and wrinkled for all they care†. On the other hand, the commander's wife, Serena Joy, has to lie there while her husband has sex with another woman.While dealing with those struggles seem unfair and unjust, other women are worse off. Deformed babies, sterile women and former feminists are not even given a chance in this society. Denoted with the labels of â€Å"unwomen† and â€Å"unbabies†, they are sent to â€Å"the colonies†. The colonies are places in which agriculture is produced and also a place of deadly radiation and pollution. The Republic of Gilead immediately sends them there because they have no use for them in their supreme society. The Republic of Gilead does not only oppress women, but men too.Offred's ormer friend Moira explained to her in detail the colonies, â€Å"All of them wear long dresses like the ones at the Center, only gray. Women and the men too, Judging from the group shots. I guess it's supposed to demoralize the men having to wear a dress†. Under this society, if you do not fit their standards, you are deemed unnecessary. Atwood also uses certain vocabulary to define certain religious rituals that take place throughout the novel. â€Å"Praywaganzas,† â€Å"Salvagings,† and â€Å"Particicutions† are a few of the rituals used to manipulate handmaidens into practicing the societies beliefs. The Handmaids Tale Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale takes place in a post Cold War society plagued by infertility. Atwood presents the reader with â€Å"The Republic of Gilead†, the Christian theocracy that overthrew the United States government. Narrated by a woman renamed Offred, the reader gets an idea of a future in which women are no longer women, but are solely needed for reproduction. Atwood uses a system of vocabulary established under the Republic of Gilead in order to manipulate and dehumanize women and men throughout the text. Under this new society women are efined under their gender roles.No longer are women allowed to hold Jobs, make an income, or have control over their body. Men on the other hand are referred to by their military rank. Women are then placed into the group in which the Republic of Gilead finds fitting. Some sent off to reproduce children, others to work and wait for a slow cruel death. Offred is what the Republic of Gilead labels a handmaid. A handmaid's sole purpose is to produce a child for elite families of the Republic. Handmaids are stripped from their own clothes and are forced to wear all red.A floor length dress that gives the handmaid no shape, red shoes, and red gloves. The color red is extremely symbolic towards their position in society. The red clothing could be interpreted in a multitude of ways. Red is the color of a women's menstrual blood. Therefore the wearing of red deems the handmaids one of the few fertile women among society. However, in history red has been a marker of sexual sin. The handmaids are essentially having sex with married men. All handmaids are immediately stripped of their birth name and put under possession of the commander.Offred receives this name because her commander's name is Fred, and she is â€Å"of† Fred. This is the Republic of Gilead's way of literally dehumanizing and stripping the handmaid's from any personalization. I looked up the definition of the word â€Å"handmaiden†, and it is defined as such, â€Å"A handmaiden is a personal maid, female servant, or a subordinate thing†. Under this new society, these women who are able to produce life, are literally referred to as â€Å"things† and â€Å"possessions†. In the beginning of this new society handmaidens arrive at a place called â€Å"the red center†.It is here they learn to be trained by what the Republic of Gilead labels â€Å"Aunts†. Aunts attempt to promote the handmaid's as an honorable Job and position in society. The term â€Å"aunt† is appropriately used and applied by Atwood throughout the novel. Their Job is to train, reform and advise handmaids in order to prepare them for their new life. One activity the aunt's used in attempt to brainwash and manipulate the handmaid's was â€Å"testifying†. It was during this time handmaid's told their apparent â€Å"faults† from their previous lives and was then taunted for it.Offred tells one han dmaid's story from â€Å"testifying as such, â€Å"It's Janine, telling about how she was gang-raped at fourteen and had an abortion†. The other handmaids chant in unison claiming it is â€Å"her fault, her fault, her fault†. Offred explains how during the last time Janine told the story she burst into tears. However, during this weeks testifying she immediately takes responsibility tor being raped claiming, â€Å"It was my tault It was my own fault, I led them on†. The aunt's have completed their Job by manipulating the handmaids into believing that a rape was wanted.Upon entering a commander's home there are no longer aunts, but â€Å"Marthas†. The Handmaid's Tale is laced with biblical references throughout the entire novel. Atwood's use of the name â€Å"Martha† comes directly from a story in Luke 10:38-42 in which Jesus goes to visit his mother Mary and Martha. While Mary sits and listens to Jesus speak, Martha is too busy with all of the dut ies she had to accomplish. This is exactly what the Martha's are seen doing while working in the commander's home. The Marthas, Cora and Rita, are to fulfill all domestic roles in the house, exactly likeMartha had done in the bible. While Marthas take care of the house, the commander's wives are not expected to do the same. Wives are superior to all women, and it is made clear to Offred right away. However, while living in the commander's home it is apparent that even though the handmaidens are forced into a situation unwanted, so have the wives. Wives are to lay with the handmaiden while the commander has sex with the handmaiden. Labeled as, â€Å"the ceremony', this event is emotionally scarring towards both females in the situation.After one of the ceremonies Offred even wonders, Which of us is it worse for, her or me†. The act of the â€Å"ceremony' directly shows how the Republic of Gilead has dehumanized both low ranking and high-ranking women. Sex is no longer perform ed for love and passion, but only to produce a child. On one hand, Offred has no say over her body and what is happening to her. Offred even states, â€Å"It's only the inside of our bodies that is important. The outside can become hard and wrinkled for all they care†. On the other hand, the commander's wife, Serena Joy, has to lie there while her husband has sex with another woman.While dealing with those struggles seem unfair and unjust, other women are worse off. Deformed babies, sterile women and former feminists are not even given a chance in this society. Denoted with the labels of â€Å"unwomen† and â€Å"unbabies†, they are sent to â€Å"the colonies†. The colonies are places in which agriculture is produced and also a place of deadly radiation and pollution. The Republic of Gilead immediately sends them there because they have no use for them in their supreme society. The Republic of Gilead does not only oppress women, but men too.Offred's ormer friend Moira explained to her in detail the colonies, â€Å"All of them wear long dresses like the ones at the Center, only gray. Women and the men too, Judging from the group shots. I guess it's supposed to demoralize the men having to wear a dress†. Under this society, if you do not fit their standards, you are deemed unnecessary. Atwood also uses certain vocabulary to define certain religious rituals that take place throughout the novel. â€Å"Praywaganzas,† â€Å"Salvagings,† and â€Å"Particicutions† are a few of the rituals used to manipulate handmaidens into practicing the societies beliefs.

The Doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ

The Doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ Introduction The person of Christ has been the center of theological debates in both Christian and non-Christian arenas. Theologians and philosophers have attempted to define the person of Christ using human and divine attributes, which Christ portrays. Moreover, the prophets and disciples provided insights about the person of Christ, which have enhanced the definition of Christ using both the human nature and the divine nature.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Among Christians, Christ is the savior of humanity. The apostasy of humanity compelled God to devise means of saving humans from sin and averting their eternal condemnation. In this view, God sent Christ to save humanity by becoming flesh through normal birth, living as an example, preaching about the Kingdom of God, and shedding His blood to redeem humans from their sins. F rame (2013) holds that Jesus Christ is â€Å"our Lord, Savior, Redeemer, King, Friend, Shepherd, Leader, and Teacher† (887). Essentially, the person of Christ and His works portray Him as the savior of humanity in the world in which the sins have pervaded. Therefore, the research paper aims to describe the person of Christ and His works in relation to the divine nature and the human nature. The Person of Christ Virginal Conception of Jesus Christ To execute some of His roles such as the salvation of the humankind, Christ took the human nature and bore all the attributes of men. The human life of Christ is evident in the various aspects of His life from birth until death. It is imperative to understand that Christ was born of a woman, who was a virgin. The birth of Christ was not unique for it occurred like other births of babies. As a result, several people view Christ as the son of Joseph, a mere carpenter (Placher 2001, 7). Moreover, when Christ was born, He went through th e stages and processes that Jews undergo. For instance, after 8 days, the Jews named and initiated Christ according to their culture. The element of initiation and naming after 8 days was very instrumental in compounding the human nature of Christ and increasing the bond between Him and humanity. Humanity of Christ To affirm His human nature, Christ also felt emotional and physical pain just like other humans. When Lazarus, who was the brother of Mary and Martha, died and stayed in the grave for three days, He demonstrated emotions like ordinary humans. Owen (2001) explains that Christ shed tears, which is an emotional demonstration that takes place during an unfortunate demise of a close family or friend (22).Advertising Looking for research paper on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the scripture, Christ wept when He saw the suffering that mourners like Martha and Mary experienced due to the lo ss of their brother (John 10:35 [King James Version]). Moreover, Jesus Christ felt the physical pain when the Romans and Jews tortured and crucified Him. After the death Christ, Joseph of Arimathea took His body and buried it in a grave. The events of death and burial reflect aspects of human nature since all humans must die when their lifetimes on earth end. Christ as a Spirit The spirit form of Christ is evident in several scenarios that occurred during His life on earth. Disciples of Christ witnessed some of the events that distinguished the human nature of Christ and demonstrated His spiritual person. When Christ was only 12 years of age, He surprised the elders in the synagogue with His extensive knowledge concerning the issues of the scripture. The extensive knowledge of the scripture that Christ had is one of the factors that distinguished Him from other children of His age (Placher 2001, 6). In addition, during the baptism of Christ, unique anointment and spiritual presence of God demonstrated the existence of the trinity and the spiritual nature of Christ. Deity of Christ Some of the events that reveal the spiritual person of Christ include the transfiguration and incarnation. During transfiguration, Christ appeared to be more of spiritual than human. Transfiguration is one the activities that can only materialize in the spiritual form of a person. Other major factors that show the divinity and the deity of the spirit person of Christ include the events such as the one that transpired during his baptism in the River Jordan (Frame 2013, 889). When John baptized Christ, a dove landed on His head and a voice spoke from heaven confirming that indeed Christ was the beloved son of God. The voice from heaven spoke and said that, â€Å"this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased† (Matt. 3:17). Therefore, the events that occurred during the baptism of Christ are very practical in portraying the spiritual person of Christ and creating a distinction between Him and the humans.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Doctrine of the Person and Work of Christ specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Christ the Image of God and the Hypostatic Union The fact that Christ remained infallible irrespective of all manner of insults that He received during His lifetime on earth substantiates His spiritual person. The substantiation materializes since God is the only infallible being in heaven and on earth. Therefore, the infallible nature of Christ depicts Him as God, who took the form of man and operated as a complete spirit in the human form. According to the scripture, Christ explains that whoever has seen Him has already seen God, since God is in Him and He is in God (John14:9). It is imperative to highlight that Christ is a reflection of God and He is one of the members of the trinity. In the exposition of the hypostatic union, during His lifetime on earth, Christ live d as a human being and as a spirit. In essence, Christ had the form of a spirit and the form of a human being, all of which facilitated His role and work of salvation on earth. The concept of the hypostatic union explains that Christ did not only take a complete human nature, but He also took a complete spiritual being. The Work of Christ Savior and Priest Christ plays very important roles in the lives of Christians, who view Him as the savior, priest, and a prophet. When men sinned against God, Christ came to save them and restore the union between them and God. Through the act of sacrificing Himself for humanity, Christ played the role of a savior. The sacrifice that Christ made to save the humankind from the wrath of God was an act of reconciliation aimed at bringing together the union between God and humanity. The concept of sacrifice is very clear in the scripture because the disciples assert that, â€Å"while we were yet sinners Christ died for us† (Rom. 5:8). Furthermo re, Christ is a priest, who sacrificed Himself for humanity to bring atonement. According to Placher (2001), as Christ understands the weaknesses of humans, He sympathizes and intercedes for them before God (4). The roles of cleansing humanity of their sins and interceding for their redemption are the roles of the savior and the priest. Prophet The ability of Christ to preach the word and pass commands from God to the humankind presents Him as a true prophet and clearly elucidates His prophetic role. For Christ represents the eternal life through His sacrifice to the humankind. The excellence that Christ demonstrated through His words and deeds from the scripture affirms His role as prophet (Owen 2001, 5).Advertising Looking for research paper on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Although Christ came to the earth as a savior, Christians believe that a day is coming when Christ will come with a prophetic authority and every knee shall bow before Him (Phil. 2:10-11). The process and establishment of the prophetic authority held by Christ is one that is eternal and beyond human rule or influence. Conclusion During His lifetime on earth, Christ lived a life that represented the divine nature and the human nature. The representation of the person of Christ has been the center of controversy in the field of theology. As a result, the person of Christ has been the center of theological debates in both Christian and non-Christian arenas. The ability to combine the divine nature and human nature into one entity, Christ, is a phenomenon that theologians call ‘hypostatic union’. Some of the aspects that substantiate the argument that Christ was indeed a human being include the virgin conception, His humanity, and sufferings, whereas the elements that demon strate His divine nature person include the deity, infallible nature, savior of humanity, priesthood, and prophethood. During His time on earth, Christ played the roles such as prophet, savior, and priest. The roles are very practical in the life of several individuals, who profess the Christian religion. According to the Christians, these roles played by Christ are still functional and applicable in the daily engagements of life. Reference List Frame, John. 2013. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief. New Jersey, NJ: Presbyterian Reformed Publishing Company. King James Version. 2004. The Holy Bible. New York, NY: Hendrickson Publishers. Owen, John. 2001. The Person of Christ. New York, NY: Sovereign Grace Publishers. Placher, William. 2001. Jesus the Savior: The Meaning of Jesus Christ for Christian  Faith. New York, NY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Carr and the Thesis

Edward Carr begins What is History? By saying what he thinks history is not†¦by being negative. In Carr’s words, what history is not, or should not be, is a way of constructing historical accounts that are obsessed with both the facts and the documents which are said to contain them. Carr believes that by doing this the profoundly important shaping power of the historian will surely be downplayed. Carr goes on to argue – in his first chapter- that this downgrading of historiography arose because mainstream historians combined three things: first, a simple but very strong assertion that the proper function of the historian was to show the past as ‘it really was’; second, a positivist stress on inductive method, where you first get the facts and then draw conclusions from them; and third – and this especially in Great Britain – a dominant empiricist rationale. Together, these constituted for Carr what still stood for the ‘commonsenseà ¢â‚¬â„¢ view of history: The empirical theory of knowledge presupposes a complete separation between subject and object. Facts, like sense-impressions, impinge on the observer from outside and are independent of his consciousness. The process of reception is passive: having received the data, he then acts on them†¦This consists of a corpus of ascertained facts†¦First get your facts straight, then plunge at your peril into the shifting sands of interpretation – that is the ultimate wisdom of the empirical, commonsense school of history. 2 Clearly, however, commonsense doesn’t work for Mr.Carr. For he sees this as precisely the view one has to reject. Unfortunately things begin to get a little complicated when Carr tries to show the light, since while it seems he has three philosophical ways of going about his studies one being epistemological and two ideological his prioritizing of the epistemological over the ideological makes history a science too complex for comprehension to anyone other than himself. Carr’s epistemological argument states that not all the ‘facts of the past’ are actually ‘historical facts. Furthermore, there are vital distinctions to be drawn between the ‘events’ of the past, the ‘facts’ of the past and the ‘historical’ facts. That ‘historical facts’ only become this way is by being branded so by recognized historians. Carr develops this argument as follows: What is a historical fact? †¦According to the commonsense view, there are certain basic facts which are the same for all historians and which form, so to speak, the backbone of history the fact, for example, that the battle of Hastings was fought in 1066. But this view calls for two observations. In the first place, it is not with facts like these that the historian is primarily concerned. It is no doubt important to know that the great battle was fought in 1066 and not 1065 or 1067†¦The historian must not get these things wrong. But when points of this kind are raised, I am reminded of Housman’s remark that ‘accuracy is a duty, not a virtue’. To praise a historian for his accuracy is like praising an architect for using well-seasoned timber. It is a necessary condition of his work, but not his essential function. It is precisely for matters of this kind that the historian is entitled to rely on what have been called the ‘auxiliary sciences’ of history archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, chronology, and so-forth. 3 Carr thinks that the insertion of such facts into a historical account, and the significance which they will have relative to other selected facts, depends not on any quality intrinsic to the facts ‘in and for themselves,’ but on the reading of events the historian chooses to give: It used to be said that facts speak for themselves. This is, of course, untrue. The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in what order or context†¦The only reason why we are interested to know that the battle was fought at Hastings in 1066 is that historians regard it as a major historical event. It is the historian who has decided for his own reasons that Caesar’s crossing of that petty stream, the Rubicon, is a fact of history, whereas the crossings of the Rubicon by millions of other people†¦interests nobody at all†¦The historian is [therefore] necessarily selective. The belief in a hard core of historical facts existing objectively and independently of the historian is a preposterous fallacy, but one which it is very hard to eradicate. 4 Following on from this, Carr ends his argument with an illustration of the process by which a slight event from the past is transformed into a ‘historical fact’. At Stalybridge Wakes, in 1850, Carr tells us about a gingerbread seller being beaten to death by an angry mob; this is a well documented and authentic ‘fact from the past. But for it to become a ‘historical fact,’ Carr argues that it needed to be taken up by historians and inserted by them into their interpretations, thence becoming part of our historical memory. In other words concludes Carr: Its status as a historical fact will turn on a question of interpretation. This element of interpretation enters into every fact of history. 5 This is the substance of Carr’s first argument and the first ‘positionâ€⠄¢ that is easily taken away after a quick read his work. Thereby initially surmising that Carr thinks that all history is just interpretation and there are really no such things as facts. This could be an easily mislead conclusion if one ceases to read any further. If the interpretation of Carr stops at this point, then not only are we left with a strong impression that his whole argument about the nature of history, and the status of historical knowledge, is effectively epistemological and skeptical, but we are also not in a good position to see why. It’s not until a few pages past the Stalybridge example that Carr rejects that there was too skeptical a relativism of Collingwood, and begins a few pages after that to reinstate ‘the facts’ in a rather unproblematical way, which eventually leads him towards his own version of objectivity. Carr’s other two arguments are therefore crucial to follow, and not because they are explicitly ideological. The first of the two arguments is a perfectly reasonable one, in which Carr is opposed to the obsession of facts, because of the resulting common sense view of history that turns into an ideological expression of liberalism. Carr’s argument runs as follows. The classical, liberal idea of progress was that individuals would, in exercising their freedom in ways which took ‘account’ of the competing claims of others somehow and without too much intervention, move towards a harmony of interests resulting in a greater, freer harmony for all. Carr thinks that this idea was then extended into the argument for a sort of general intellectual laissez-faire, and then more particularly into history. For Carr, the fundamental idea supporting liberal historiography was that historians, all going about their work in different ways but mindful of the ways of others, would be able to collect the facts and allow the ‘free-play’ of such facts, thereby securing that they were in harmony with the events of the past which were now truthfully represented. As Carr puts this: The nineteenth century was, for the intellectuals of Western Europe, a comfortable period exuding confidence and optimism. The facts were on the whole satisfactory; and the inclination to ask and answer awkward questions about them correspondingly weak†¦The liberal†¦view of history had a close affinity with the economic doctrine of laissez-faire – also the product of a serene and self-confident outlook on the world. Let everyone get on with his particular job, and the hidden hand would take care of the universal harmony. The facts of history were themselves a demonstration of the supreme fact of a beneficent and apparently infinite progress towards higher things. 6 Carr’s second argument is therefore both straightforward and ideological. His point is that the idea of the freedom of the facts to speak for themselves arose from the happy coincidence that they just happened to speak liberal. But of course Carr did not. Thereby knowing that in the history he wrote the facts had to be made to speak in a way other than liberal (i. e. in a Marxist type of way) then his own experience of making ‘the facts’, his facts, is universalized to become everyone’s experience. Historians, including liberals, have to transform the ‘facts of the past’ into ‘historical facts’ by their positioned intervention. And so, Carr’s second argument against ‘commonsense’ history is ideological. For that matter, so is the third. But if the second of Carr’s arguments is easy to see, his third and final one is not. This argument needs a little ironing out. In the first two critiques of ‘commonsense’ history, Carr has effectively argued that the facts have no ‘intrinsic’ value, but that they’ve only gained their ‘relative’ value when historians put them into their accounts after all the other facts were under consideration. The conclusion Carr drew is that the facts only speak when the historian calls upon them to do so. However, it was part of Carr’s position that liberals had not recognized the shaping power of the historian because of the ‘cult of the fact’ and that, because of the dominance of liberal ideology, their view had become commonsense, not only for themselves, but for practically all historiography. It appeared to Carr that historians seemed to subscribe to the position that they ought to act as the channel through which ‘the facts of the past for their own sake’ were allowed self-expression. But Carr, not wanting to go the route of his fellow historians, nor wanting to succumb to the intellectual complaints about the demise of the experience of originality, says: In the following pages I shall try to distance myself from prevailing trends among Western intellectuals†¦to show how and why I think they have gone astray and to stake out a claim, if not for an optimistic, at any rate for a saner and more balanced outlook on the future. 7 It is therefore this very pointed position which stands behind and gives most, if not all, of the reason for Carr’s writing What is History? Carr himself seems to be quite clear that the real motive behind his text was the ideological necessity to re-think and re-articulate the idea of continued historical progress among the ‘conditions’ and the doubters of his own ‘skeptical days’. Carr’s ‘real’ concern was ‘the fact’ that he thought the future of the whole modern world was at stake. Carr’s own optimism cannot be supported by ‘the facts’, so that his own position is just his opinion, as equally without foundation as those held by optimistic liberals. Consequently, the only conclusion that can arguably be drawn is that ‘the past’ doesn’t actually enter into historiography, except rhetorically. In actuality there should be no nostalgia for the loss of a ‘real’ past, no sentimental memory of a more certain time, nor a panic that there are no foundations for knowledge other than rhetorical conversation.

How should one understand the classical structure of marriage, Essay

How should one understand the classical structure of marriage, divorce, and the main differences of marriage, divorce in the islamic schools like sunni and shi'a - Essay Example Marriage was very important and both partners were subjected to rules that would help keep the marriage peaceful. Marriage was very important and could not be dissolved easily. In most ancient societies, family members and those concerned would mediate on issues before initiating a divorce. In some cultures, the women had to get permission before divorcing. Some of the reasons for initiating a divorce in the classical times would be infidelity, political interests, and loss of wealth and lack of sex. Marriage had a strong and deep meaning. It involved families and not just the individuals getting into the union. Islamic schools like Sunni and Shi’a view marriage as a sacred institution that should be protected. Marriage was taken as a means to protect people from acts of indecency like adultery (Rapport, 30). Marriage is expected to provide protection, children, status and sexual satisfaction. In these laws, divorce would be initiated by the man or the woman. However, it is important to note that it is very difficult for a woman to be granted a divorce request. The couples would be given time to settle their differences before the divorce is finalized. Family members and relatives would be allowed to settle the matter before the divorce is finalized. It is essential to note the Shi’a are stricter on divorce than the Sunni. In some cases, the Sunni can allow a divorce without passing through the waiting period. This is not acceptable to the Shi’a. This implies that marriage holds a much stronger sacred meaning among the Shi’a. In conclusion, the understanding of marriage in Islam and classical times is similar in many ways. In both cases, marriage is a source of sexual satisfaction, protection and children. The importance of marriage is emphasized in Islam and in the classical cultures. In both cases, divorce is not easily granted except in civilized cultures like

Da Vinci and the Modern Female Portait Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Da Vinci and the Modern Female Portait - Essay Example Renaissance art portrayal is a naturalistic reflection of realities that is recent in terms of discovery, rather than just framed myths and gender-based constructions. Leonardo’s art portrayal was regarded as abnormal in social terms. He presented through art, a view of female sex, which was culturally abnormal in the patriarchy of his day. To them, a woman is an intelligent being, and therefore biologically equals half of human species. Earliest portraits preserved by Leonardo, referred to as Ginevra de’Benci, done in the late 1470s, puts forth a fundamentally new female age. It portrays a sitter posed in a three-quarter view and it engages the eye of the observer. Portraits done by Northern Renaissance painters indicates a preoccupation with realism and having a precise detail of physiognomy and the costume. This kind of approach is a characteristic of panels by the Flemish masters Rogier van der Weydan and Hans Memling (Victoria 100) High Middle Ages evolution of portraiture reached its crescendo in the fifteenth century. This was the period during which greatest masters of artistic illusionism begun to appear in Europe. Italian Renaissance painters discovered the use of textural properties of oil painting. Leonardo da Vinci was famous for his portraits that were life-like in their realism. He used to learn entirely from nature and science to make his paintings look real. He drew and took many notes from observation, since he believed that it is the basis of knowledge. Leonardo was among the first Italian Renaissance to use the three-quarter pose instead of the popular profile. His subjects had unique facial expressions that challenged viewers. The new technique he invented-chiaroscuro and sfumato, also brought his subjects to life (Patrick McDonnell 56) Rogier van der Weyden transcends the concept of naturalism formal or informal,

Research Topics with Explanation Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Topics with Explanation - Research Paper Example overnment is in a dilemma of either eliminating farm subsidies on the basis that the farmers have the capacity to fund their activities, or increasing this funding for the better of the country. The debate about nuclear energy has been ongoing for a long time. Thus, there are many resource materials about this topic. Additionally, many people have interest on issues concerning nuclear power. Information gathered would be highly invaluable to me and other people as well. The world faces a mounting task of preserving energy sources as the needs for energy keeps on rising. Scientists have proved that nuclear energy is one of the most clean and efficient sources of energy available to humankind. The same scientists are quick to add that the use of this source of energy pose the greatest threat to the same people it is supposed to be benefiting. Crime rates in America is said to be one of the highest in the World. The fact that it is affecting the minor is even more worrying. A lot of research has been done on the issues facilitating this kind of behavior. Communities living in the U.S are very much aware of this situation. Although the government is doing a lot to help the situation, they seem to be failing in the mission. This topic has the potential to provide an understanding of the problems young people are facing and how to respond to them. It is with no doubt that, there has been an upward trend of minor getting involved in violent criminal activities. However, the debate has been whether these kids should be held responsible for their action or simply put the blame on some other

Concept Of Relationship Marketing Marketing Essay

Concept Of Relationship Marketing Marketing Essay The following report will look at IKEAs relationship marketing with its key community groups in Coventry (see appendix 1 for company background). The concept of relationship marketing, summary of audit findings, pressure groups, developing a co-ordinated communication mix and finally methods to measure success of communication mix are considered. 2. CONCEPT OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETING Early 80s was the emergence of the concept relationship marketing as an influential issue in the marketing literature. Bund Jackson is recorded as having used the term relationship marketing in 1970s in the field of industrial marketing (Gumesson et al., 1997). As IKEA strives to remain competitive in the business market, the company is moving away from transactional marketing that is based on a single, short-time exchange with a distinct beginning and ending towards a focus on retention of customers, establishing loyalty and building long-term relationships. According to Kotlet et al (2008 )relationship marketing is the process of creating, maintaining and enhancing strong, value-laden relationships with customers and other stakeholders IKEA is also active in establishing and maintaining a beneficial relationship with the communities by adopting corporate citizen values and approaches. Benefits from relationship marketing for IKEA are: Loyalty and retention Loyal community groups will recommend IKEAs business to others by positive, word-of-mouth communications which in terms will lead to business expansion. Christopher et al (2002) suggest that loyalty and retention can be achieved using relationship marketing ladder of loyalty: partner, prospect, purchaser, client, supporter, advocate and partner. Competitive advantage Good community relations programmes will add value to the IKEAs corporate social responsibility (CSR), thus differentiating from competitors CSR activities. Support for marketing activity IKEAs active community relations will create a positive image to the company by planned marketing communications. The basis of any relationship is based upon trust, commitment and co-operation. Morgan and Hunt (1994) with their model of what builds trust suggest that relationship commitment and trust are key variables for successful relationships because they promote cooperative behaviors between relationship partners and encourage them to maintain long-term relationships. Relationship commitment Co-operation Trust Figure 1.1. Three dynamics to trust within a relationship by Morgan and Hunt (1994) Once trust is formed the opportunity arises for relationship commitment and it is through this co-operation successful outcomes can be gained. In order to develop trust, commitment and co-operation IKEA should consider the following: Service encounter. Using face-to face interaction with key community groups such as site and neighbourhood community IKEA will result in a higher level of satisfaction, and a long-term commitment on behalf of both parties to the relationship. Collaboration. Collaboration in terms of sharing information, solving problems and an acceptance of compromise will establish long-term relationships between community groups and IKEA. Transparency. Relationship transparency has been suggested as a potential source of competitive advantage in business markets (Bliemel and Eggert, 1998). By informing, delivering value and satisfaction to the community groups IKEA will gain a competitive advantage. Creation of value. Community satisfaction implies that needs of community groups are being met by IKEA, for example, supporting local events, and environmental concerns. If they are not satisfied, they will withdraw their support and thus damaging corporate image of IKEA. 3. SUMMARY OF AUDIT FINDINGS IKEA is involved in a number of local, social and environmental projects in communities in the countries where they do business. The majority of IKEAs projects support children, homeless, student scholarships and environmental projects on climate change and the protection of natural resources. Different community groups may have some impact in one way or another on the company. An audit was undertaken to identify key community groups of IKEA, and to assess the nature and level of their impact on IKEAs relationship marketing and potential future use of relationship marketing. (For research methodology and detailed findings, see Appendix 2.) By grouping community groups in the power/interest matrix, IKEA may achieve a better picture on how communication and relationships between various community groups should be developed to reach agreement about and acceptance for the project and its implementation. Key community groups identified by the audit are the following: Site community The site community is defined by its geographical boundaries, thus it is a city or town where the company and any of its major facilities are located. (Burke E, 1999, p 61) Fenceline community The neighbourhood community is made up of the immediate neighbours surrounding the property of the company. (Burke E, 199, p 62) Workplace community Workplace community includes staff of IKEA. Local media: local press in Coventry The media provides focus and attention on many areas of corporate strengths and weakness of the company. Level of influence and impact of community groups on IKEA Local universities, church groups require minimal effort and monitoring. They have low interest or power to influence current IKEA relationship plans. These groups should be informed only to a necessary extent, and not much effort should be invested into them. There is no need for excessive communication with these types of communities. Local media should be kept informed. Despite of their low power they could be powerful enemies or allies when influencing attitudes of more powerful community groups. Their interest in the project must be taken seriously through dialogue and information to make certain that the companys viewpoint is heard. They can be helpful with the detail of companys project. They publicize issues and corporate achievements and form a line of communication from the company to the community groups. Local government, pressure groups should be kept satisfied. These community groups are powerful, although their level of interest in the strategies of the organization is relatively low. They are meainly relatively passively, but may unexpectedly appear due to certain events, moving to key community groups on that issue. IKEA should put adequate work in with these community to keep them satisfied, but not bombarded with information because that they become bored with message. These groups of communities are often passive, but can exert a great impact on the project. The relationship between a relative low interest and a high level of power makes these groups difficult to handle, it is therefore necessary to analyse their intentions and to involve them according to their interest. Site community, fenceline community, workplace community are key players of the project. The site community can provide services to the company such as fire, safety, education, transportation and the like. They are significant community groups with high interest in the project and high power to influence project implementation and completion. They should be an important consideration in the appraisal of new strategies. These community groups must be involved in all relevant project developments. They are the key players IKEA must engage with fully, and make maximum efforts to satisfy them. The needs and wants for each of community groups are various. On their own, no one group can entirely influence the activities or directions of the organization. However, some group communities posses greater power comparing to others. Overall, IKEAs relationship marketing was found to be effective in the area of media and sponsoring for charities. 4. PRESSURE GROUPS: SECTIONAL AND CASUAL Pressure groups are the activists of the community groups. In general, pressure groups are social aggregates with some level of cohesion and shared aims which attempt to influence the political decision-making process. (Ball and Millard, 1986, pp. 33-4) Pressure groups can be: Sectional pressure groups (also called defensive or interest groups). Examples: professional bodies, such as the British Medical Association, Trade Unions, The Law Society, etc. Casual pressure groups (also called promotional or attitude groups). Examples: Greenpeace, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, National Rifle Association, etc. Pressure groups interest and power are given in auditing findings (see appendix 2). Difference between sectional and causal pressure groups are: Sectional pressure groups Casual pressure groups directly and personally concerned with the effect of the campaign fought by the group as they generally stand to achieve economically and/or professionally membership is usually restricted as they are concerned with a particular section of society. aspire to involve as many eligible members as possible to join the group. seek to defend the interests of a section of society aspire to represent the general interests of a particular section of society not self-interested in that the accomplishment of their objectives is not essentially of direct economic or direct benefit to the members of the group. membership is not usually restricted as they aim to promote a cause tend to have an open membership in order to gain a critical mass of popular support and strength of campaigning. aim to change peoples attitudes about a particular issue or policy Local Trade Unions encourage companies to provide training at the workplace. They protect workers of the company. According to Harris D. et al (2008) trade unions may influence and impact the company in respect of working processes on the following areas: Issues of respect- workers are often misunderstood by the boss through verbal or physical abuse. Wage and benefits- some workers are not paid according to the full value. Working condition- health and safety at the workplace is the most unifying issue a union can pursue. Working hours- unions can force the boss the hire more workers and also can ensure that in emergency cases where someone must work overtime, they are fairly compensated for it. Job security- any disciplinary action taken against a worker may be subject to a procedure negotiated with the union. Environmental pressure groups is often formed to protest about, and arrest certain undesirable environmental impacts. For example, Greenpeace stands for positive change by defending the natural world and promoting peace through action. IKEA discusses environmentally related issues with Greenpeace. To respond to environmental concerns IKEA do the following: At IKEA Coventry used batteries, paper are recycled. It also phase outs single-use plastic bags. All profits from charging for plastic carrier bag have been donated to Englands Community Forest. Through swiping IKEA Family card at the IKEA checkouts customers help save over 3 acres of forestry. 5. TWO NEW COMMUNITY GROUP RELATIONSHIPS Two new community group relationships that can be developed are: schools community and homeless community SCHOOLS COMMUNITY IKEA can focus its activity in the local community on helping local schools. The company will support learning and development of children at schools, for instance by providing new facilities. Helping children to learn and develop is an area in which IKEA has experience and can make a difference. Criteria for selection local schools to IKEA are the following: Opportunities to engage in local community acting as a good neighbor and supporting community initiatives consistent with IKEAs corporate responsibility objectives. By building communication, sharing resources, expertise, skills and developing unique solutions to community problems, these partnerships can become important. Excellent media and corporate social responsibility opportunities associated with supporting the school Sponsoring schools IKEA can attract a lot of attention from local newspapers and can provide great publicity for its business at the same time as enhancing the learning process for children. Developing relationships that can enhance long-term brand recognition So, schools are the natural hub of a neighborhood or community, and can serve as the foundation for community partnerships that will be beneficial to IKEA. However, relationship with school community should be minimal. Schools have neither high power nor influence to impact IKEAs activity. It means that IKEA may provide them with enough information that will be adequate. There is no need to spend much time with them. HOMELESS COMMUNITY IKEA may support homeless people in Coventry. For example, IKEA can establish partnership with Coventry Cyrenians which is a charity dedicated to working with homeless people or whose accommodation may be at risk. IKEAs vision is: To create a better everyday life for the many people. The many people can be homeless people that live in Coventry community. Charitable partnership is one of the ways through which IKEA may invest in the community it operates its business. IKEA supports this organisation by furnishing and decorating day-time activity centres and housing facilities with individual apartments and communal areas. In addition, co-workers of IKEA may volunteer their time. IKEA should be consistent in selection of charities to support. The criteria used for the selection of the charity are the following: Type of organization- registered charity in Coventry and surrounding areas. Primary focus is to support homeless people or people whose home may be identified as at risk for whatever reason, providing them with accommodation Should be dynamic, innovative and cost effective Any contribution from IKEA should be used by charity for the purpose for each it was given and to report effectively to the company on the process of the initiatives which companys funding has supported. the project should have a long life and be seen to actively improve homeless people 6. COMMUNICATION MIX FOR TWO COMMUNITY GROUP According to Kotler (2008) promotional mix is the specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and public relations that a company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives. Communication mix is important because of the following: ability to use different promotional tools to reach target audience it helps to communicate a range of messages to different markets helps in achieving companys marketing objectives Communication mix should have clear objectives and target audience. Communication objectives of IKEA: 50% awareness of IKEAs community efforts for school community and homeless community in Coventry within the next twelve months. Target: community groups such as site and fenceline communities, local government in Coventry In order to achieve objective IKEA should decide what components of the communication mix is needed to utilize in communicating with school and homeless community groups. The following are suggested communication mix for two new community groups: School community- Sponsorship Sponsorship is a business relationship ad should be mutually beneficial to the sponsored individual and the sponsoring company. Many researches and authors agree that the use of sponsorship by organizations is increasing (Sneath et al., Harvey et al., 2006; 2007; Wakefield et al., 2007) and that it is becoming a more significant part of the marketing communication mix. According to Fill C (2009) sponsorship can be defined as a commercial activity, whereby one party permits another an opportunity to exploit an association with a target audience in return for funds, services or resources. Benefits for IKEA using sponsoring schools are the following: Increase brand awareness of the company among community groups. It allows brand of the company to be communicated without the clutter and noise associated with advertising. Building and enhancing positive corporate image in community groups mind As a means of reaching wider target audiences To suggest to the target audiences that there is an association between the sponsored and the sponsor and that by implication this association may be of interest and/or value. Show that a company cares about it community and is prepared to invest in its future and the welfare of its community IKEA may use sponsorship for school community. Sponsorship may last 2 years for example, sponsoring new facilities for education. Limitations: Different methods of support are applied to sponsees depending on their needs and the sponsors needs as well. This points out to a lack of standardization, and therefore requires more time on planning and evaluation. Homeless community- Donation A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. Donation for homeless community within next 2 years by donating products and home furnishing. Public Relations both for school and homeless community Public Relations is defined as the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics (Institute of Public Relations) Benefits of PR: Promotion of positive image of the company to the community group To build links with IKEAs community To oppose bad publicity PR activities will include press releases, press conferences and establishing community relationships. Limitations: Risk of losing control cannot always control what other people write or say about IKEA. Media: Local newspaper both for school and homeless community IKEA may use local newspapers of Covnetry such as Coventry Telegraph, and The Coventry Times. Coventry Telegraph is a daily newspaper in Coventry covering local news, sports, business, jobs and community events. Readers spend an average of 30 minutes reading The Telegraph. The Coventry Times is established free newspaper for the local area, providing local people with excellent information and advertising platforms. The Times reaches over 74% of houses in the Coventry area. Newspaper benefits: Gives favourable impression of the company A high profile image is lodged in the community groups mind Limitations: Short life span, circulation does not mean readership 7. MEASUREMENT OF THE SUCCES OF COMMUNICATION MIX It is essential to measure the effectiveness of each communication campaign. It is necessary to ensure that the communication objectives have been met and that the strategy has been effective and resources have been used economically. For example, advertising objective is to increase awareness of IKEA brand to 70% of the target market by 2009. Public Relations objective is to convince 80 % of community groups that the company is doing its business in a socially responsible way by 2009. Measuring and analysing the outcome of a specific interaction will help in the development of future communications and in evaluating the best methods to use. Evaluation is necessary for: Improvement of the effectiveness of different communication tools Knowing the effect of communication activities and improving needed areas IKEA will be able to reach the outcomes it seeks. Effectively engagement with audiences Throughout implementation, evaluation can help IKEA find ways to collect feedback from its community groups, how advertising is being received and learn how they are responding to various media messages. Allocation of resources wisely It provides a potential source of material for the new campaign. Evaluation can help IKEA determine whether its communication investments could be redistributed more effectively to achieve the desired results. There are many ways to measure effectiveness of each of the communication tools. The following are suggested evaluation methods: PR evaluation: quarterly Awareness of community groups about IKEAs community initiatives in Coventry community can be evaluated using marketing research through qualitative or quantitative methods. Attitude of community groups to IKEAs projects- by using research to judge if attitudes have changed positively or negatively. Media coverage and tone- can measure the number of column inches achieved, the type of headings and tone of coverage. Positioning- by measuring the position of IKEA in comparison to the competition Qualitative method: Focus group: at the end of programme According to Kotler (1999) focus group is a small sample of typical consumers under the direction of a group leader who elicits their reaction to a stimulus such as an advertising or product concept. By using in-depth interviewing skills a moderator can probe the thoughts and feelings held by the members of the group towards media vehicles or advertising messages. By negotiating a focus group to monitor the marketing communications pre-, during and post-campaign, this can help maximise the effectiveness of the campaign. Overall, results from focus groups will help us identify feelings regarding the corporate image of IKEA: brand, reputation and understand the attitudes of community groups towards IKEA. Quantitative method: survey or personal interviews: annually In order to identify the effects of the media we will use written surveys. Survey can be conducted by IKEA or consultants. By using large sample size we will be able to know concerns, community expectations, extent and quality of relationship with key community groups and company. Results will help design plans and programmes that build sustainable trust in a community. Personal interviews: quarterly A personal interview is a two-way conversation initiated by an interview to obtain information from a participant on a face-to-face basis (Cooper Schindler, 2003, p323) Limitation. Personal interviews are a lot more costly and time consuming comparing with other methods in the communication approach. Evaluation of sponsorship Media exposure measurement- to count column centimetres of coverage about the sponsorship activity achieved by IKEA Pre-testing and pos-testing of awareness in relation to sponsorship activity of IKEA Feedback from participants- quantitative feedback from community groups sponsored party and other stakeholders to determine effect on corporate image. Internal communication evaluation: monthly Feedback forms and attitude surveys may be used to gain feedback from participating staff: how effective they thought communication was; what information needs were or were not met; what effect the new role emphasis has had on their job satisfaction; etc. 8. CONCLUSION The company recognizes that supporting the community is not only a matter of morality, but it also improves a companys brand image, reputation and allows the company to gain more publicity and exposure. It is important that IKEA makes a careful selection of communication mix to communicate with key community groups. Appendix 1: Organization overview Company background IKEA is a Swedish Multi-National home furnishing Company (MNC). It was founded in Almhult, Sweden in 1943 by only a 17-year old boy Ingvar Kamprad who started selling farm implements at a reduced price under the name IKEA, which is acronym for his initials (I.K), farm (Elmtaryd) and village (Agunnaryd) where he was born and grew up. At the beginning IKEA sold small items such as food containers, pens, jewelry and watches before becoming internationally known. Due to the success of furniture line, Ingvar Kamprad decided to put an end to all the other products focusing only on furniture. In 1958, the first IKEA store was opened in Almhult, Sweden and since 1960s the IKEA stores opened outside Sweden. Nowadays, IKEA has turned into the worlds largest furniture retailer, with over 300 stores in more than 35 countries since its first outlet and visited by 600 million visitors around the world and plans to develop further. IKEA managed to double its sales significantly in a couple of years. Turnover of all IKEA stores (sales tax not included) was 22,713 million EURO in 2009. Organization structure In spite of its great expansion, IKEA is privately owned company. Ingvar Kamprad still has some control over the company through a unique organization. The IKEA corporate structure is divided into two main parts: operations and franchising. Currently, the company is owned by Stichting INGKA Foundation based in Netherlands. INGKA holding B.V. is the parent of all the companies of the IKEA Group. Every IKEA store is given the rights to operate the IKEA Concept on a defined market. IKEAs vision is: To create a better everyday life for the many people. The many people include suppliers, employees, customers, and other stakeholders affected by IKEA operations. Business idea: To offer a wide range of well- designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them. IKEA does not have its own manufacturing facilities but uses subcontracted manufactures around the world. To facilitate shopping, IKEA provides catalogues, tape measures, shopping lists and website to help the consumer with fitting the furniture into the room. So, IKEAs success is based on the relatively simple idea of keeping the cost between manufactures and customers down. Target market The company targets the customer who is looking for good value and is willing to do a little bit of work serving themselves, so they pick up the furniture, carry it home and fix it themselves. The typical IKEA customer is young families and couples just starting out to middle income family. IKEA products IKEA product range is approximately 10,000 products in total. The product range of IKEA is extensive enough. It is wide in function as it sells not only furniture but also from plants and living room furnishings to toys and whole kitchens. IKEA make every effort to use renewable and recyclable materials in their products. IKEA brand and communication IKEA is one of the successful global brands associated with its unique cultural branding that merges the value, low cost and fashionable design to ensure the creation of affordable contemporary household goods for the middle class. The company emphasized its Swedish heritage in its international advertising, even going as far to insist on Swedish blue and yellow colour scheme echoes the colours of the Swedish national flag for its stores. Any IKEA stores include restaurants that serve Swedish meatballs. IKEA has a long tradition in marketing communication focusing primarily on printed media IKEAs catalogue is the worlds largest free distribution translated into several languages and now it is possible to view online on the website. Other IKEAs communication tools are: TV, radio, and internet. IKEA in UK According to the latest figures from market intelligence specialists Verdict Consulting, IKEA UK total market share up to the end of quarter three 2009 is 6.1 % IKEAs competitors in the UK are DIY retailers that are selling more home furnishings like Argos, B Q, Homebase and John Lewis. There are 18 stores in the UK, the first of which opened in Warrington in 1987. The largest IKEA store is in Croydon, London. In July 2009 IKEA opened a store in Dublin-its first in Ireland. Appendix 2: An audit of existing relationships with key community groups Introduction IKEA is undertaking an audit in order to identify projects key community groups in Coventry, an assessment of their interests, and the ways in which these interests affect project effectiveness and limitations. Stakeholder audit seeks to identify these. Audit methodology Methodologies that were used to undertake and audit of IKEA UK community groups are the following: Secondary research on stakeholder theory and stakeholder analysis methodologies. (See the selected bibliography attached as appendix of this report). Mendelows stakeholder mapping matrix will be taken as a technique to classify stakeholders according to their importance to the organisation. IKEA sustainability report 2008 and other documentary evidence in regard to the IKEAs relationships with community groups. Identification of community groups and nature of relationship A number of community groups were identified by the in-house survey. Identified community groups in IKEA are the following: Figure A1.1. Community groups and relationship Site community Workplace community Fenceline community IKEA Local media Strength of relationship Strong Weak Local government Universities Church groups Trade Union Greenpeace Stakeholder map: power/interest matrix In order to establish the community groups and their level of influence and impact on relationship marketing we will use stakeholder mapping technique. Mendelows stakeholder map classifies stakeholders in relation to the power that they hold and the extent to which they are likely to show interest in the strategies of the organization. The following figure shows the results of power/interest analysis for IKEA UK community groups. The symbols [+] and [-] are used, according to whether each group is, generally, a supporter or opponent of the aims and activities of IKEA. Figure A1.2. Power/interest for community groups in IKEA relationship marketing Level of interest Low High LowA: Minimal effort universities [+] church groups [+] Level of power B: Keep informed Media: local press [+/-] C: Keep satisfied HighLocal government [+/-] Pressure groups: Trade Union [-] Greenpeace [-] D: Key players Site community [+/-] Fenceline community [+/-] Workplace community [+/-] The current position of each community group may be justified as follows: Influence is considered with particular reference to the community groups potential impact on IKEAs relationshi