Scenario planning – Industry scenarios

Before embarking on the discussion, there is one question or so we need to ask ourselves. What is a scenario? What is scenario planning all about? What constitutes industry scenario planning? Straight away, a scenario is a story or a descriptive narrative about the future which aims at sketching the boundaries of the probable and it is assembled on a methodical scrutiny of various factors bearing in mind those alternatives which are credible and somewhat measurable. These factors are: – social, political, economic, environmental and technological. Future environment of a given business, region or policy area could be shaped by these very factors. According to the World Economic Forum, the scenarios explore three or four dissimilar eventualities of how the world might look if the most uncertain and important drivers unfold in different ways. The same source elaborates further that good scenarios are not just dry, analytical descriptions of possible future outcomes. No matter how meticulous they are constructed, they should also be well inspired and highly compelling enough to engage the imagination. They challenge postulations wile at the same time raising awareness of fundamental factors and inspire participants into fresh thinking about what could happen and what it would mean for them. They offer both a new perspective on events and a scaffold for positive deliberations. Scenario planning on the other hand can be used by distributors as a tool of management to predict and benefit from change. In this article, we shall briefly introduce scenario planning, its relevance in connection to distributors and we shall also look at its application as a valuable tool in the industrial sense. As we have said above, that when we think of scenario planning, one great point that has to cross our minds is that a range of alternative futures has to be put into consideration, each of which is considerably diverse and varied from the present operating atmosphere. It would be better to compare and contrast alternative views on how the industry may evolve rather than pinning ourselves on a single forecast which we have assumed to be most probable. Scenario planning is externally oriented and therefore very effective at identifying growth strategies for the company as well as impending threats to its market positions. Scenarios can also help us identify the specific external industry changes that might be causing the company to lose market share or margins. In his article, Scenario Planning Basics for Distributors, Fein Adam presents ways in which distributors are using scenario planning to the betterment of the company. Distributors, he says, should make sure that the management of their company does not erroneously presuppose that changes will not place in the future. In other words, they should explore all the possibilities the company can face and, not only that but, come up with viable alternatives. In connection to this point, they should also assist the management to identify and understand possible threats comprehensively. They should point out growth strategies for the company and test the success of its current strategy in various possible futures. Lastly, they should understand and appropriately react to new customer buying behavior since the customer is the basic unit of the industry and the satisfaction of the customer should be the prime objective of any decision made by the company. Facing the Forces of Change has suggestions of four possible scenarios for distributors to consider. The first scenario is that which stretches into the future and here distributors have entirely incorporated technology into their companies. Given the high level of information development, customers expect distributors to work with them impeccably across numerous communication interfaces. Distributors have effectively achieved this due to rapid rates of developments. These distributors still remain the prime route to market for manufacturers. Coordinated Channels is another scenario where customers seek more information directly from manufacturers. Here, manufacturer Web sites give existing product specifications, comprehensive technical data and also appropriate product feature are selected by the customers who want such information. This information can be accessed by the customers both directly and indirectly. Directly they get connected to the manufacturer Web site and indirectly through an allied distributor’s Web site. Product collaboration between manufacturers and distributors is undertaken on the internet with marketing and inventory management also being done in the channel. However, it still remains the role of the distributors to provide information back to the manufacturer and ensure new performance qualifications are met The third scenario is the one describing a world where consumers and producers pay for the specific conduit activities they may be in need of. This Unbundled Supply Chain has distributors competing directly with supply chain organizations and intermediaries in this scenario are rewarded according to their rate of activity performance. That is, what they have done on behalf of their customers and producers. In the fourth scenario, there is a world with a cluster of consumers forming open and non-profit online exchanges. These common platforms handle the data among supply chain partners. Scenario planning requires a few guidelines to be followed. One must establish a core planning team because analysis of the strategic implications is best in groups. Secondly, a cross section of expertise should be availed, and this includes the heads of the all functional areas of the company. Bringing the ideas of the thinkers the company is endowed with is such a feat worth the take. It is worthwhile to include the outside people by incorporating information gathered from them into the whole system. The focus here should be on infusing appealing and challenging perspectives into the discussion. Outsiders include customers, suppliers, consultants and competitors who hold a vital position in the success of the company. There should be great care in selecting the person to facilitate the scenario planning strategy. An employee of the company should not be part of the choice, neither the senior executive officers. This is because the facilitator should be someone who is focused on planning processes and the two do not appear in this category. Implications scenario planning, just as other forms of business planning, needs an extensive spending of resources from all the individuals of the company. Therefore, the support of top management is a very important determinant of success the company’s planning capability. What this implies is that there should be readiness from every corner of the company in order for this planning strategy to work in the success and goodwill of the company. An honest assessment must be carried out to ascertain as to whether the senior decision makers in the company are not only involved but also dedicated to the scenario planning process. Should the company be unready to work with the process, then even the most sophisticated techniques of a manual or outside consultant are destined to fail. In addition, if the company is faced with a threat of financial insolvency, then it must suspend the identification of long-term threats and other prospects until business stabilizes because this kind of planning is not suited with survival planning. Disruptive innovation is one of the revolutionary theories of technological change used to describe the impact of new technologies on firm’s existence. (Nauosa Hirotta). Combining scenario planning with disruptive innovation is unavoidable in this era of high level of technological embrace. It is sure and straight that a company which does not embrace technology in its strategic plan is left behind. Disruptive technology which initiates the advent of disruptive innovations for example e-marketing is a vital tool but has to be fused with industry scenario so that the company does not lose its clients for the companies. Summary There must be clear repercussions for the company and its strategy if at all scenarios planning is intended to be meaningful. Each scenario can be viewed as a playing ground in which the company finds itself competing in the future and this allows us to apply all of the apparatus of competitive analysis within a given industry setting. The same tools can then be applied in a totally different future. For us to have the best out of scenario planning, a scrutiny of the company’s position must be known. The company may be one which can manipulate how the future evolves by virtue of actions and investments of its members. On the other hand, if it is too small or insufficiently influential, it becomes a scenario taker and in this case its must carefully examine its line of trade and customers so that it is prepared to react and adjust quickly to changes. Such scenario takers will find it wise to rapidly imitate and adopt to survive; they must do what good companies do. Bibliography: Olaisen J, A Johannessen, B Olsen, – International Journal of Information Management, 1999 – Elsevier Page 15 Fein Adam. â€Å"Scenario Planning Basics for Distributors† Accessed last on February 27, 2008 from URL: Accessed last on February 27, 2008 from URL: International Journal of Information Management, Volume 19, Issue 4, August 1999, Pages 263-275 Jon-arild Johannessen, Johan Olaisen and Bjà ¸rn Olsen Disruptive Technology May 3, 2007, Accessed on February 28, 2008 from URL:

The History Of The Food Choice Negotiations Education Essay

To offer a representation of the organic nutrient pick procedure based on the findings of this survey, a conceptual theoretical account was drawn up ( Figure 1 ) . The theoretical account consists of 4 cardinal concepts ( personal properties, personal context, nutrient values and external influences ) that contribute to the factors involved in nutrient pick dialogues. Food brushs vary harmonizing to single experiences. These experiences are enriched as life style, age and personal demands alteration over clip. Based on experiences shared by participants on their nutrient pick behavior, the alteration in nutrient picks based on age and careful considerations due to income capacity was noted in nutrient pick considerations. Though minimum mentions associating gender types to organic nutrient pick were highlighted, the function that adult females played as cardinal nutrient pick shapers showed its impact on organic nutrient pick. In this survey, the undermentioned facets of personal context peculiarly the individuality assumed by participants was noted to act upon organic nutrient picks made. To exemplify the procedures involved in organic nutrient pick, factors of influence identified were evaluated for similar effects based on its properties and the nature of its impact. Common factors were categorised into subjects and labelled consequently. Based on the combined findings obtained from the impact of factors of influence, nutrient pick dialogue spiels and organic nutrient perceptual experiences and attitudes, a representation of the organic nutrient pick procedure was developed. A theoretical account picturing the flow of organic nutrient pick was proposed and used to depict the procedure of organic nutrient pick happening among Singaporeans. Choices made sing organic nutrients, like other nutrient types are based on attitudes and perceptual experiences held towards it. These form ideas about organic nutrient that guide involvement degrees and purchase purpose. When sing organic nutrient picks, several factors of influence are known to be involved in the dialogue procedure. These factors are deliberated at changing degrees depending on its associated grade of significance. In placing the factors of influence involved in organic nutrient pick, themes extracted from participants ‘ conversations were evaluated for common togss and categorised for a better representation of its influence. The following are the thematic groups categorised based on the assorted factors of influence. An analysis of motives for and against organic nutrient pick was conducted through interviews with participants. The interviews offered a deeper apprehension of organic nutrient perceptual experiences as participants shared in item the assorted considerations and value fond regards involved in organic nutrient determination devising. The significance of values is evident as participants often focused on selected grounds for involvement or deficiency of involvement in organic nutrients. Value dialogues emerge in the conversations as participants attempt to warrant their sentiments and judgements on organic nutrient within the local context. This uncovers cardinal values involved in organic nutrient pick considerations and provides the footing for farther probe. Value dialogues were observed in many participants ‘ nutrient pick considerations. The demand to run into demands, fulfill demands and satisfy penchants guided value considerations. Valuess were re-evaluated for prioritisation to simplify determinations. Lowered outlooks held for certain values were besides noted in accomplishing desired results in concluding determinations. In the procedure of nutrient dialogue, several schemes were adopted by participants in their efforts to decide value struggles happening during organic nutrient pick considerations. These schemes involved equilibrating Acts of the Apostless such as irregular purchase or purchase of limited assortments of organic nutrients and prioritisation of values harmonizing to state of affairss. Based on this survey, similar values in struggle were observed among several participants in changing state of affairss. Common values such as affordability, wellness, nutrient safety and convenience often dominated nutrient pick considerations peculiarly with respects to organic nutrient pick. These common values including others that were invovled in nutrient dialogues among participants were identified as nucleus values responsible for organic nutrient pick considerations. Assorted factors of influence impacting organic nutrient pick were described by participants in this interview. The impact of these factors ranged from personal context, merchandise offerings to the consequence of external influences. Participants shared on what organic nutrients offered them, concentrating on merchandise properties and the impact external influences had on their picks. Percepts of organic nutrient were besides noted as participants describe their sentiments and experienced with organic nutrient. Their attitude towards organic nutrient was noted as they shared on the impact of external factors on their determination to buy organic nutrient. Reasons for involvement and disinterest in organic nutrient highlighted participant ‘s attitudes towards organic nutrient pick. Reasons for involvement in organic nutrient revolved around the benefits conferred by the merchandise attributes of organic nutrient. Naturalness, higher alimentary belongingss and enhanced centripetal entreaty of organic nutrient were responsible for increased involvement in organic merchandises. These properties besides formed the footing for conditional purchase of organic nutrients for several participants. The function of participants in life, peculiarly as household members and parents were seen to play an of import portion in nutrient pick determination devising. The individuality adopted in assorted state of affairss guided the values sought for when sing nutrient picks and organic nutrient was considered based on carry throughing cardinal values such as wellness and nutrient safety. For some participants, changing involvement degrees in organic nutrients was influenced by external influences such as handiness of organic merchandises, handiness of organic shops, societal influences and cost. Interestingly, deficiency of involvement in organic nutrients was besides attributed by similar external influences every bit good. These were considered under conditional fortunes and weighed based on single capacity and demands. The factors of influence identified were deliberated against personal nutrient values held by participants. These nutrient values played important functions in the considerations made towards organic nutrients picks. In contemplating the organic nutrient pick, personal nutrient values of nutrient safety, wellness, entreaty, ethical belief, trust, cognition, relationships, affordability and convenience were used as criterions against which organic nutrients were measured. Measurement of organic nutrient was reflected in the ability to run into single ‘s demands, household demands and ends of ingestion.III Food pick dialoguesScripts related to personal nutrient values and factors of influence were closely examined for happenings of outlooks, comparings, need fulfillment and balancing Acts of the Apostless taking topographic point as people considered organic nutrients. Using discourse analysis, a thorough scrutiny of selected books was conducted to foreground value dialogues happ ening as participants weigh their demands against the merchandise offerings of organic nutrient. As participants consider their picks in visible radiation of on-going external influences such as the local nutrient context, resource capacities and societal dealingss, schemes adopted to make a balanced point of view or considered determination are uncovered. These schemes and dialogue forms offer a clearer apprehension of the nutrient pick procedure involved for organic nutrient merchandises. Organic nutrient pick determinations are motivated by personal values which are embedded in nutrient experiences encountered in society. These personal nutrient values are formed harmonizing to people ‘s beliefs, demands and desires sing nutrient. These values are negotiated and compromised to bring forth a balance position that guides the perceptual experience and attitude of organic nutrients. To better understand the procedure of organic nutrient pick, a closer scrutiny of how personal nutrient values are considered in nutrient pick determinations was conducted. Below are selected remarks taken from interview books to exemplify the diverse and complex value dialogues that occur in organic nutrient pick considerations. In the first section of the interview session, participants were requested to portion their experiences and ideas on their current nutrient wonts. They were guided towards ideas on their nutrient pick behaviors such as types of nutrients preferred, common wonts when taking for nutrients, topographic points of purchase and willingness to seek new nutrient types. As these were approximately general nutrients wonts, it facilitated easiness of sharing. Understanding nutrient pick habits offers a broader position of the nutrient pick considerations of Singaporeans. Participants were so asked to portion on celebrated alterations in nutrient wonts happening in across their life. Food wonts and its alterations in life revealed factors of importance that influenced nutrient pick determinations. These besides offered insight into the personal nutrient values held by participants as organic nutrient picks were contemplated. Food pick behavior of participants in this survey were besides evaluated based on their involvement degrees in organic nutrients, penchant towards nutrient picks and experiences with nutrient. Due to the little figure of participants in this survey, findings from this analysis reflect some of the nutrient pick behavior of Singaporeans. Food pick wonts At the beginning of the interview, participants were requested to portion their nutrient purchasing wonts and purpose of purchase. Participants shared that nutrient picks made were based on nutrient beginning dependability, quality merchandises such as freshness, long term storage, pleasingness and good looking merchandises. Food picks were besides dependent on cooking manners peculiarly Asiatic cookery manners and culinary art. Food options revolved around handiness of merchandises suited for the coveted culinary art. Most participants mentioned trying to choose for healthy nutrient picks which included more veggies, whole nutrients and less processed nutrients. With respects to participants purchase purposes, run intoing wellness demands for betterment of current wellness status, recovery from unwellnesss and wellness bar intents were cited as cardinal considerations in nutrient picks made. This was peculiarly noted among nutrient picks made by participants with kids. Food picks were besides made based on kids ‘s gustatory sensation involvement and demands. Another ground mentioned for involvement in wellness nutrient wonts was involvement in fittingness. Several participants shared on their alterations in eating wonts based on involvement in losing weight, remaining tantrum and qui vive. The exposure to information on alternate nutrient picks such as organic nutrient was reported as grounds for alterations noted in nutrient picks. Increased handiness of information through the local media, health-related magazines and web site had raised people ‘s consciousness on populating a healthy life style. With the ability to do more informed nutrient pick determinations, alterations in nutrient choice wonts were mentioned. Past experiences with nutrient was observed to impact involvement in nutrient and affected nutrient picks over clip. The influence of parents on eating wonts was described by some participants as holding a permanent consequence on their nutrient picks. Some shared on wellness witting eating picks encouraged by parents while others mentioned limitations experienced in nutrient picks made by their parents. Some participants shared on their alterations in eating wonts as they transited from young person to adulthood. During young person, less attending was paid to wellness and picks were made to fulfill gustatory sensation and appetency. With age and higher disbursement power, more nutrient options were accessible. It was noted among several participants that with age, involvement in wellness consciousness was increased therefore taking to greater focal point on wellness nutrient options. Food experiences encountered during interaction with friends and people from assorted backgrounds were besides shared by participants. Some participants shared on their alterations in nutrient wonts after exposure to alternative nutrient beginnings such as organic nutrients during their stay overseas and the influence of interaction with organic nutrient advocators. Interest in organic nutrients Interest degrees in organic nutrients varied among participants for different grounds. Eighty-eight per centum of participants interviewed in this survey purchased organic nutrients at least one time a twelvemonth ( 16 purchased hebdomadally, 20 purchased at least one time a twelvemonth and 5 ne'er purchased organic nutrients ) . Participants who were interested in organic nutrients had positive experiences based on past organic nutrient ingestion and tests. Some were motivated by wellness grounds or were encouraged by friends and household. For others, involvement in organic nutrients was dependent on merchandise entreaty, temper, increasing presence of alternate picks. Curiosity and willingness to seek new types of nutrient were besides attributed to increasing involvement in organic nutrient merchandises. Some participants shared that organic nutrient pick had become a lifestyle alteration and continual involvement in organic nutrient as a nutrient wont was maintained through expo sure to more information on natural and organic nutrients. Those interested in organic nutrient exhibited personalities such as willingness to seek new nutrient types and openness to information about alternate nutrient types. Health witting behaviors, healthy feeding picks and willingness to go in hunt of healthy nutrient options were besides features described by those interested in devouring organic nutrients. Lack of involvement was noted in 12 % of participants who were deterred from buying organic nutrients due to common wonts of buying certain nutrient types, deficiency of a compelling ground to pass more on organic nutrients, big assortment of non-organic nutrient options available, absence of involvement, minimum apprehension of the benefits of organic nutrients, handiness and cost issues. Some participants shared that their deficiency of involvement was based on the absence of sufficient informations to turn out the benefits of organic nutrient promised. Higher cost and limited assortment available added to the neutrality experienced. Those who lack involvement in organic nutrients or ne'er considered organic nutrient options described themselves as non being adventuresome in seeking new nutrient types and preferred to adhere to habitual nutrient options. Some considered themselves conservative feeders while others were apathetic to new nutrient options due to past nutrient wonts. Drumhead Food pick behaviors are based on people ‘s wonts and involvement in nutrient. In this survey, participants shared their nutrient wonts, experiences and alterations observed over time.rephrase Interest in factors related to merchandise properties, run intoing the demands of peculiar culinary art and wellness attention were some of the cardinal focal point of nutrient pick. Fitness attention and involvement in carry throughing kids ‘s demands were besides cited as purchase purposes among participants. External factors that affected alterations in eating wonts included exposure to information on healthy nutrient picks, increased income capacity and societal exchanges on nutrient experiences. Age alteration was besides another factor shared by several participants that impacted nutrient picks made peculiarly in position of continuing wellness. Reasons for involvement and disinterest in organic nutrients reveal to us certain factors which are valued in people ‘s nutrient considerations. Interest in organic nutrients was seen to be motivated by wellness consciousness, merchandise entreaty and benefits offered by alternate nutrient picks. Issues refering to handiness, cost and deficiency of sufficient information were cited as grounds for neutrality in organic nutrients. Examination of participants ‘ nutrient wonts, behaviors and involvement in nutrients reveal cardinal motive factors that influence nutrient picks. An rating of these factors would supply grounds for its significance in nutrient pick peculiarly towards organic nutrient pick. It besides highlights assorted personal nutrient values sought for in nutrient determinations. In subsequent analysis, a closer probe of these factors would be conducted as participants portion their positions on organic nutrients.II Factors of influence and perceptual experiences of organic nutrientIn the undermentioned section of the interview, participants were requested to portion freely on their ideas about organic nutrients including what it means to them and if they considered buying organic nutrients. Participants were asked to portion their sentiments and their grounds for involvement or disinterest in organic nutrient. Common themes related to organic nutrient pick were identified utilizing a combi nation of conventional and directed analysis methods. Emerging subjects from interview books were corroborated with findings from similar research on organic nutrient pick. The subjects were so evaluated for its relevancy in organic nutrient considerations and labelled consequently under the term ‘factors of influence ‘ . These factors are believed to undergird people ‘s organic nutrient pick determinations. Interview books related to these factors of influence were extracted and analysed separately for its impact on organic nutrient pick. Using discourse analysis, books refering to each factor of influence were closely examined for its significance and part to organic nutrient pick determinations. Organic nutrient perceptual experiences and attitudes are formed through assorted influences including personal experiences with nutrient and external affects through societal interactions. The formation of perceptual experiences and attitudes occur over clip as people indulge in exposure to more information on nutrient and regular contact with the local nutrient environment. In this survey, participants shared their perceptual experiences and attitudes to organic nutrient as they deliberated nutrient picks through their conversations. Their perceptual experiences on organic nutrients are revealed as they refer to assorted factors of influence that play a portion in their determinations.

Market Entry Plan Essay

The Aluminum market in Europe does not have a good prospect to be expanded. Alcoa claimed that it will shut down the factory in Portovesme, Italy, and reduce the output of the factory in Spain. This is because Alcoa and European commission have argued for the power supply contract for a long time. Moreover, the European debt crisis led to a depressed economy. Thus, Alcoa decided to turn its market out of Europe and then start to look for other oversea markets. Although, Africa is one of the poorest continents of the world, in some countries, such as Mozambique, the economy has been growing steadily. From this prospective, we recommend Alcoa to open up the market in Mozambique, South Africa. We conducted the research based on sources from on-line resources. Our proposal focuses on analyzing the operation of Alcoa and the opportunity of a new market. 2. About Alcoa Alcoa is the world’s most famous producer of aluminum and fabricated aluminum, and it is the biggest miner of bauxite and refiner of alumina. Alcoa has over 61,000 employees and over 200 locations in 31 countries. Alcoa not only provides hard alloy extrusions, forgings, Alcoa ® wheels, but also has its expertise in other light metals. The sales of Alcoa were $25 billion in 2011. 2. 1 Brief History Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa Inc. ) has 120-years’ history. During the 1920’s, Alcoa monopolized aluminum production in North America and produced more than 63 percent of the world output. At the end of World War I, Alcoa produced excessive capacity, especially for civilian uses. However, the war made Alcoa realize that it was very important to improve the quality of product, and Alcoa invested more money in research and development. In 1925, Alcoa entered the first external market, Canada, and it held over half the rimary aluminum in the world. In 1958, Alcoa started the first major overseas mine-to-metal venture in Suriname. After the successful venture in Suriname, Alcoa decided to expand the offshore ventures. In 1960s, Alcoa developed operations in Australia and Brazil. At the same time, Alcoa drove the strategy to focus on commercial real estate construction and fabricated products. The Easy-Ope n aluminum technology made Alcoa hold a large percentage of the canned beer market. In the 1970’s, Alcoa continuously expanded the overseas market and used mathematic modeling to control the production. In the 1980’s and the 1990’s, Alcoa focused on producing non-aluminum products and was concerned about safety. From 2000 to present, Alcoa has made strategic mergers and acquisitions, such as Alumax, Reynolds. 2. 2 Business Operation Alcoa Business System (ABS) is the core used to manage Alcoa businesses. Here are its three principles: ?Make to Use The first principle is based on customers’ will and demand, such as single-piece production, on demand; defect free, at the lowest possible cost, made safely. ?Eliminate Waste The second principle aims at exposing and solving problems and focuses on cost cutting and cost saving during all their manufacturing and business processes. ?The People Linchpin the System The third principle is concerned with creating on environment which satisfies people. Also, Alcoa tries to identify and solve problems, and link to their transition from â€Å"make to inventory† to â€Å"make to use†. 2. 3 Product Scope Alcoa produces various products, such as flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings; as well as Alcoa ® wheels, fastening systems, and precision. Here are some important products of Alcoa: ?Aerospace Alcoa is the world leader in single-crystal technology for advanced castings that withstand the extreme temperatures of clean-burning aero engines. ?Automotive Alcoa builds a better car, truck, trailer or vessel. The reason for this is using more aluminum to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle, which significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions. ?Building & Construction Alcoa has always offered unique advantages for designing the shape, appearance and sustainability of modern buildings. These new aluminum components can achieve green building standards. Alcoa also provides high-performance glass, which allows for efficient light control, lower energy consumption, corrosion-resistance and immunity from the harmful effects of UV rays. ?Packaging Aluminum packaging solutions deliver freshness, convenience, and security for food, beverages and other products. For example, the aluminum bottle offers premium, high-end packaging options. 2. 4 Targeted Market According to the statistics, Asia, North America and Western Europe are the top three aluminum consumption areas in the world. In Asian region, such as China, Korea and India, these developing countries have an increasing demand for aluminum. However, the total amount of aluminum consumed in America, Canada and Japan experienced a downward trend. At this point, Alcoa’s target market should pay more attention to China and India. Besides, although Africa is endowed with natural resources, aluminum resources have no commercially exploited value. Therefore, all the producing raw materials are dependent on imports from foreign countries in South Africa. In other words, Africa is mainly producing primary and secondary aluminum products. As a result, if Alcoa exports other forms of aluminum products to Africa, Alcoa will gain a huge profit. Figure 1: Target Market of Alcoa 2. 5 Strength and Weakness Alcoa is the world’s largest miner of bauxite and refiner of alumina. Also, it has a long history started in 1888 so the company is an expert in administration and producing. In addition, Alcoa is the leading producer of primary aluminum and fabricated aluminum all over the world. Alcoa has received many records and good will, such as 100 Best Corporate Citizens 2012—Corporate Responsibility Magazine. What is more, advanced techniques and unremitting effort in innovation make its products and services play an important role in the aluminum market. However, Alcoa is faced with the problem of pollution. For example, Alcoa’s pollutions made the residents who lived six kilometers away from the factories get sick. As a result, Alcoa was punished by the government in Australia. 3. New Oversea Market: Mozambique Located in Southeast Africa, bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world. Mozambique is abundant in rich and extensive natural resources, and its economy is based largely on agriculture. Today, the economy is growing very fast in Mozambique, and the developed legal system makes Mozambique become a hope in this poor continent. We recommend Alcoa to enter this market, because of the prosperous development of Mozambique. 3. 1 Economy in Mozambique Mozambique is in the poorest region in the poorest continent of the world, Sub-Saharan Africa. Besides, it was considered as the second poorest country, with a per capita GDP below the African average. 4 percent of the population of Mozambique was below the poverty line in 2008. But, economic growth in Mozambique has been strong since the country’s civil war ended in 1992, and it has emerged as one of the fasted growing economies. Since 1996, economic growth has been stable; the economic growth rate was around 6. 2 percent in 2009. The inflation rate has been around its lowest level in a decade. Also, the rea l income grew rapidly, and it tripled in the same decade. Moreover, the real income has grown by 14 percent in 2001 and 11 percent in 2002. However, Zimbabwe, a neighboring country, has declined 8 percent in 2001 and 6 percent in 2002. Currently, more foreign firms have invested in Mozambique, and these firms are mostly in the aluminum industry and mining industry. The foreign enterprises can enjoy tax privileges in Mozambique. In 2010, UK exported around 112 million pounds to Mozambique with imports at almost 78 million pounds. A British mining group has invested 1. 3 billion dollars in the country, which covered aluminum industry, tourism, and it leads to much foreign exchange. The large towns and cities have been promoted by the influence of foreign investment; however, the influence does not apply to the rural area in Mozambique. We can infer that the economy in Mozambique is the hope of this region, comparing to other country in Sub-Saharan Africa. 3. 2 Political System in Mozambique During the civil war, the politics and economy were disrupted. Since the end of the civil war, the political situation in Mozambique has been stable. The government is determined to maintain national unity, and implements appropriate and pragmatic politic policy. Mozambique held the first democratic elections on October 1994, under international scrutiny. Although some limitation exists, for example, the electoral process was boycotted in municipal elections in 1998; this election system can help the electorate to express their will. Mozambique now has developed an elected democracy, which gives rise to a strong legal system. Moreover, a good legal system protects private property and provides incentive to people to invest and produce by both domestic and foreign investors. 3. 3 International Relationship Mozambique has very close relations with its formerly British-ruled neighbours in Africa, because these countries shared experience that fought against white rule. This led to Mozambique joining the Commonwealth in 1995. Mozambique also dispatched troops to contribute to the United Nations, helping them in peacekeeping affairs in Burundi, and participated in South African Development Community peacekeeping training and planning. 3. 4 Aluminum industry in Mozambique 3. 4. 1 Brief Introduction of the Market Alcoa is located in 31 countries all over the world. However, it is only located in two countries in Africa: Morocco and Guinea. To start up a new business in Africa is a brand new challenge for Alcoa. Mozambique is growing rapidly in recent years. The Aluminum industry has a very significant impact on this country’s economy. In order to attract foreign investment and capital, Mozambique’s government takes special policy. The country is not the producer of minerals, but the overseer and promoter of mining activities. This is good news and a great chance for Alcoa to enter the aluminum market in Mozambique. The development of Mozambique’s economy urges big companies’ entry like Alcoa to provide funds and advanced technique. The labor wage is low there, which is also a benefit for Alcoa. Aluminum is a key element in Mozambique’s economic growth. The export of aluminum accounts for nearly 60% of the country’s total export amount. The strongest rival is Mozal, which is the largest company among the country. However, the potential market is still huge. The construction of buildings and machines for production are all relative with aluminum. The fast growth of economy in Mozambique will drive the demand of aluminum. The domestic market can not satisfy the demand and will turn to foreign companies or investment. It provides a great opportunity for Alcoa to gain a sizable market share in this new market. 3. 4. 2 Operation in Mozambique ?Geography Mozambique lies beside the Indian Ocean in southern Africa, and this convenient location is good for delivering goods or trading with others through marine transportation. Besides, it is relatively easier to generate electricity here by taking advantage of sea water at a coastal position. ?Natural Resources Mozambique is well endowed with natural resources, such as coal, titanium, natural gas, hydropower, tantalum, and graphite. However, the country’s natural resources are not fully exploited. Mineral resources such as gold, gemstones and bauxite have not been mined yet. Mozambique’s natural wealth can satisfy Alcoa’s demand for natural resources. ?Transportation Under great efforts, Mozambique’s transportation infrastructure has been improved in recent years. The Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) aimed at improving current infrastructure conditions in Africa. The first phase of the AICD focused on 24 countries that together account for 85 percent of the gross domestic product, population, and infrastructure aid flow in Sub-Saharan Africa. Mozambique was included in these 24 countries. Transportation plays an essential role in a company’s business plan to purchase raw materials or deliveries of finished goods to customers. ?Local Government Policy Since its first trade policy review in 2001, Mozambique has taken actions to liberalize its trade regime. Its tariff was reduced in 2002 and again in 2007, with maximum rates lowered from 30% to 20%. Therefore, it is a piece of good news for foreign companies to directly invest in this market. ?Workforce Mozambique is a developing country. Compared to developed countries, Mozambique’s labor cost is relatively low. As a result, it helps Alcoa reduce costs and increase revenue. Take the minimum wage for a 19-year old worker or an apprentice for an example: in Mozambique, the wage is 80. 5 US dollars per month, Australia is 1597. 1 US dollars per month, Brazil is 299. 6 US dollars per month, Jamaica is 215. 0 US per month, and China is 182. 5 US dollars per month. ?Economic Condition The economy was boosted in many aspects, such as mining, financial service and construction, which helped to push GDP real growth rate to 7. 2 percent in 2011. Moreover, the consistence of high foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, along with strong agricultural growth and infrastructure investment will drive growth to 7. 5 percent and 7. 9 percent in 2012 and 2013. Good economic conditions indicate Alcoa can gain huge potential profits. Figure 2: Real GDP growth of South Africa ?Advanced Technology Alcoa is the world’s third largest producer of aluminum so it implies that Alcoa has advanced technology and equipment. It well known that Mozambique has abundant resources, but aluminum firms in Mozambique can only produce limited types of aluminum products out of technology problems. Under this situation, with its advanced technology, Alcoa can produce aluminum products which are extremely demanded by Mozambique’s market. 3. 5 Competitors: Mozal: Mozal, an aluminum smelter is belong to BHP Billiton, is located in the Maputo province of southern Mozambique. Mozal was the first major project for BHP Billiton in Mozambique and it was Mozambique’s largest private investment in the past 30 years. BHP Billiton is a leading global resources company and one of the world’s largest producers of major commodities. Mozal is one of the largest smelters in Mozambique; the output of Mozal is more than 500,000 tones of aluminum per year. In the two construction phases, the project of Mozal contributed more than 160 million to the local economy. Especially the employment of Mozambican, which make good use of the local labor and stimulate the local’s contractors and suppliers’ profit. The local government and the Mozal’s operations teams have created a great achievement by cooperation. Harmonious industrial relations were created during the construction period; no days were lost because of any industrial action. The local government and the Mozal have benefited a lot from needs-based infrastructure, social and community development projects. It’s a kind of win-win cooperation. 4. Evaluation Alcoa’s expansion in to Mozambique is a bold attempt as Alcoa does not have much experience of open up a new business in Africa. However, as one of the most famous companies in aluminum industry, it can provide adequate funds and mature management to support the operation in Mozambique. This country’s development relies greatly on foreign companies’ investment. Government in Mozambique will provide preferential policy to Alcoa. Besides, the low labor cost in Mozambique helps Alcoa to save operation cost. Although Mozal, the strongest competitor, has taken the largest project in Mozambique, the potential for Alcoa to enter this market is strong. Alcoa has built up a good reputation, with a long history and rich experience in aluminum industry, and this cannot be competed by Mozal. We recommend that Alcoa should seize this opportunity to enter the aluminum market in Mozambique with its advanced technology and experienced management.

Vocabulary learning program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Vocabulary learning program - Essay Example Vocabulary learning programs have been embraced by most countries especially the western countries, and they can be defined as a program that is developed to help pupils to master and learn new words with ease and faster. Additionally, vocabulary learning is important because it helps the students to refresh their minds. Most teachers prefer to give the students time to think about the new words before they can correct the meaning. This makes the students to be able to do it on their own hence aiding their comprehension. Different teachers will use different methods to make students understand the words depending on the student’s ability to comprehend (Graves,2006). Vocabulary learning program for grade five students This vocabulary program will focus on grade five students a class of 15 students. I have chosen this particular class since I have taught them since the third grade. The composition of the class consists of eight girls and seven boys. Most students are above avera ge although there are some who have difficulties in comprehension of some concepts. Generally the students are able to comprehend concepts with ease. The concentration span of most students is low but this is expected because most are between the age of nine and ten years. Mostly I prefer to incorporate games while learning to make it interesting. For example, before introducing a new concept I usually read them a story on the same or perform a skit bringing out the same concept.

A CRITICAL INCIDENT REPORT Lab Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A CRITICAL INCIDENT - Lab Report Example Therefore, giving dehydrated patients enough water serves to increase the ability of the patient to fight other illnesses, hence promoting their safety (â€Å"National Patient Safety Agency†, 2007). Consequent to this, the following discussion highlights one of the incidences that involved failure of a nurse to give water to a dehydrated patient. The error worsened the condition of the patient, increasing harm to the patient. I once observed an incidence that occurred in the surgical ward involving an elderly man, who was admitted with critical limb ischaemia. His right leg was greatly affected, thus causing him a lot of pain. The patient was also frail and was diagnosed with dehydration on admission, which characterizes many elderly patients (Scales, 2011). Therefore, an overnight plan was laid out to help him rehydrate his body. The plan consisted of close monitoring of the patient’s fluid balance as he was to be given plenty of water for the night. More to this, his urine measurements were to be taken on an hourly basis. However, the nurse on duty did not follow the plan as expected. The nurse seemed a bit tired on this particular night, thus spent little time with the patients. The patient received 1000ml of water in 12 hours, as the nurse did not take heed to the doctor’s instructions to monitor the patient closely. Additionally, the patient received only four urine measurements as opp osed to the hourly measurements. The patient’s output remained dangerously low during the entire period, but no action was taken to try and seek a solution for the patient. This made the condition of the patient worse as he was still dry, and made little urine in the morning. More to this, the leg of the patient had worsened, and the chances of salvaging the leg were quite low. This situation compromised the safety of the patient as water plays a critical role in a patient’s body. Therefore, denying this patient the water required by his body made his condition

The structural frame paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The structural frame paper - Essay Example â€Å"UncÐ µrtainty appÐ µars as thÐ µ fundamÐ µntal problÐ µm for complÐ µx organizations, and coping with uncÐ µrtainty, as thÐ µ Ð µssÐ µncÐ µ of thÐ µ administrativÐ µ procÐ µss. Just as complÐ µtÐ µ uncÐ µrtainty or randomnÐ µss is thÐ µ antithÐ µsis of purposÐ µ and of organization, complÐ µtÐ µ cÐ µrtainty is a figmÐ µnt of thÐ µ imagination, but thÐ µ tightÐ µr thÐ µ norms of rationality, thÐ µ morÐ µ Ð µnÐ µrgy thÐ µ organization will dÐ µvotÐ µ to moving toward cÐ µrtainty† (Thompson, 2003, p. 159). That is, thÐ µ organization is dÐ µvoting a lot of Ð µnÐ µrgy towards cÐ µrtainty, from this pÐ µrspÐ µctivÐ µ, through maintaining a codifiÐ µd training program and a hiÐ µrarchical powÐ µr structurÐ µ. ThÐ µ organization usÐ µd for this rÐ µport is, as mÐ µntionÐ µd, thÐ µ forÐ µign languagÐ µ school. In this organization, of thÐ µ tÐ µaching staff of thÐ µ branch officÐ µ and thÐ µ officÐ µ staff, thÐ µ of ficÐ µ staff is thÐ µ dominant informal powÐ µr coalition. This is bÐ µcausÐ µ thÐ µy havÐ µ much morÐ µ contact with thÐ µ rÐ µgional salÐ µs managÐ µr. ThÐ µ tÐ µachÐ µrs do not havÐ µ any powÐ µr or contact with this sidÐ µ of thÐ µ organization at all rÐ µally, and arÐ µ motivatÐ µd by prizÐ µ incÐ µntivÐ µs, travÐ µl timÐ µ, and othÐ µr mÐ µthods. ThÐ µ sizÐ µ and composition of thÐ µ group is not proportionatÐ µ to thÐ µ numbÐ µr of tÐ µachÐ µrs rÐ µtainÐ µd by thÐ µ branch officÐ µ. ... ThÐ µ most important stakÐ µholdÐ µrs of thÐ µ organization arÐ µ its studÐ µnts. IntÐ µrnally, thosÐ µ non-dominant powÐ µr coalition positions in thÐ µsÐ µ sÐ µctors could also includÐ µ, in thÐ µ Ð µxamplÐ µ of thÐ µ forÐ µign languagÐ µ school, thosÐ µ tÐ µachÐ µrs who arÐ µ sÐ µnt to work at othÐ µr organizations as outsourcing labor, and thosÐ µ who arÐ µ kÐ µpt as thÐ µ corÐ µ tÐ µachÐ µrs of thÐ µ branch, into sÐ µparatÐ µ coalitions of tÐ µachÐ µrs. This is not rÐ µally Ð µffÐ µctivÐ µ, though, bÐ µcausÐ µ most of thÐ µ tÐ µachÐ µrs want to movÐ µ up in thÐ µ organization’s formal powÐ µr structurÐ µ by joining thÐ µ officÐ µ staff as a tÐ µachÐ µr trainÐ µr, thÐ µ lowÐ µst rung on thÐ µ officÐ µ staff laddÐ µr. Thompson (2003) for Ð µxamplÐ µs statÐ µs, â€Å"ThÐ µ Ð µmployÐ µÃ µ who scorÐ µs wÐ µll on a small boundary can Ð µxpÐ µct to bÐ µ visiblÐ µ, intÐ µrnally or Ð µxtÐ µrnally or both, and thus havÐ µ thÐ µ possibility of bargaining for a job at a largÐ µr or morÐ µ critical sÐ µctor of thÐ µ organization or of anothÐ µr organization†¦ such jobs can frÐ µquÐ µntly bÐ µ Ð µntÐ µrÐ µd with common skills† (p. 111). This shows how thÐ µ tÐ µachÐ µr trainÐ µrs and othÐ µr officÐ µ staff mÐ µmbÐ µrs arÐ µ thÐ µ dominant formal powÐ µr coalition in thÐ µ organization’s structurÐ µ, bÐ µcausÐ µ Ð µvÐ µn though thÐ µy arÐ µ outnumbÐ µrÐ µd by thÐ µ tÐ µachÐ µrs, thÐ µy arÐ µ morÐ µ of a stablÐ µ labor pool for thÐ µ organization, bÐ µcausÐ µ it tÐ µnds to havÐ µ high tÐ µachÐ µr turnovÐ µr. TÐ µachÐ µrs arÐ µ paid thÐ µ lÐ µast, of all thÐ µ positions. PÐ µriphÐ µral powÐ µr rÐ µlationships nÐ µÃ µd to bÐ µ mÐ µntionÐ µd in tÐ µrms of thÐ µ tÐ µachÐ µrs of thÐ µ forÐ µign languagÐ µ school. This also involvÐ µs paying attÐ µntion to thÐ µ dominant sÐ µctors which makÐ µ

3 Questions to case with EPA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

3 Questions to case with EPA - Essay Example EPA had imposed a ban on any manufacture of coffee tables with a glass-top. The news on the ban of the coffee tables posed a threat to the business of Skywalker, a California resident whose main source of income came from the manufacture of coffee tables. Skywalker business was growing fast, but the news on the ban by EPA posed a threat to the booming business. The EPA regulations reached the target group through a short warning statement to the media houses and a comment on EPA website (Jennings 25). After the effective date for implementation of the new regulation regarding the ban, Skywalker could face an arrest and possible prosecution by EPA. After the regulation’s effective date, it is evident that Skywalker had already sold five such coffee tables already banned by EPA. According to the news received by the table mania business owner, Mr. Skywasker, the law took effect from 10 July. Therefore, it is with no reasonable doubts that his store contained the banned items. EPA could either charge, jail or impose sanctions to the violators of the law from its effective date (Jennings 31). Skywalker could face the law since the EPA had a mandate to propose and implement a law after approval by the Congress. According to the US federal government, any proposed regulation by a state agency, becomes law after the congress approves it. However, the complainant can challenge the regulation and avoid the punishment. EPA could face a challenge depending on the administrative authority of the state agencies. The acts by the state agencies have two categories, which are rulemaking depending on the nature of the rules, and adjudicative referring to the right of the accused to hearing (Jennings 240). Skywalker could challenge the EPA regulation on the ban of glass-coffee table in the US appeal court (Jennings 245). In this court, the complainant has a right to have his case listened to giving the facts as to why he thinks the regulation is

The Government Intervention on Private Residential Property after Essay

The Government Intervention on Private Residential Property after Economic Turmoil - Essay Example This paper declares that  the economic turmoil in Asia, commonly known as the Asian economic crisis took over the continent in 1997, submerging most sectors in a type of economic upheaval whose repercussion sustained even years after the termination of the crucial phase. The four South-East Asian tigers were the most deeply affected in the region. Soon after the popularization of the concept of export-led growth, the region got engrossed in paving out strategies of attaining fast growth through this channel.  This study highlights that the South East Asian tigers of Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea., soon started concentrating in building up a comparative advantage in the manufacture of electronic goods that led to the inflow of enormous amounts of foreign exchange into the region. The short term success that the region saw generated perceptions among the external economies about the investment potentials bestowed in the region. Quite naturally, this observation led to a rise in the inflow of resources into the economy in the form of foreign direct investment of which the real estate sector was one of the pioneer one. The real estate sector especially bore its roots in the economy of Hong Kong, which had a relatively more relative trade environment than its neighbors, which is why it was almost like a haven for foreign real estate developers, despite the active participation of the domestic government in the sector.

Heart Transplant Team Clinical Journal Term Paper

Heart Transplant Team Clinical Journal - Term Paper Example I have had the opportunity to attend to a number of heart transplant operations and carefully observed what transpires during this process. This has given me a background of the activities related to heart transplant operations. Secondly, I have had the opportunity to apply the nursing process in real life situation. In this regards, I have been able to collect a variety of population data from both the clinic and the community sources. I am now able to analyze such data both qualitatively and quantitatively. Basing on this knowledge, I am now able to help in the process of formulating goals and objectives for patient care and give an analytical feedback that can be applied in improving various nursing processes. I have reviewed cases regarding the determination of the need for health promotion and illness management shortcoming with the aim of implementing the best plan interventions basing on the best practice guidelines. Besides, I am now in a position to evaluate the effectivenes s plan interventions basing on the socio-cultural, economic, spiritual, environmental and developmental factors. I have had the opportunity to discuss with the preceptor on issues relating to the effectiveness, the evidence and the ethics of various plan interventions. ... I have established a rapport and gained as much client confidentiality as possible. Further, I am now able to carry out various documentation protocols, utilize the information technology systems and collaborate with my colleagues and staff effectively. Finally, with regards to professional practice, I am glad that I am better placed to maintain professional code of conduct and good behavior during practicum. Besides, I am now able to abide by all the agency’s regulations and policies. 2) What has been the most significant or meaningful learning outcome for you during clinical? The most eminent learning outcome I have achieved this far, is related to the application of the nursing process. Ever since my childhood, I have intrinsically wished to be a nurse. My efforts towards the achievement of this dreams has been inexorable. Thus, I feel great when I know I have the obligation to make a change in people’s lives. Application of the information I have gained in class in real-life clinical practice gives me am internal satisfaction I have always longed for. Seeing myself taking part in extending someone’s life and helping families hold onto their loved ones who are under my care, perpetuate my desire to take part in various other activities related to nursing activities. 3) As you reflect on your clinical experience, what knowledge and skills have you gained that will be helpful to you as a professional? Almost each and every learning outcome during my nursing training has been of great significance during my clinical experience. To begin with, the knowledge I have attained relating on how to attend to carry out patient interviews, perform physical assessments, obtain laboratory specimens and utilize specialty equipment has been very

Planning and Resourcing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Planning and Resourcing - Essay Example as de Trujillo, the Villas de Trujillo senior staff representative, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the community of Villas de Trujillo community leaders, the major employees from the Department of Health and representative of residents of Villas de Trujillo . All other organizations and departments were equally represented by experts in the respective fields. This includes the specialist in Dengue Fever and education, the generalist physicians, experts in health care research services, statistics and epidemiology and health plan administrator. In ensuring that the Dengue Action Plan improvement project is successfully implemented, it is upon each stake holder to play his or her part according to the requirements of the project. It is, therefore, of importance to clearly outline the duties and roles of each member. The Dengue community Action Program is funded by the US Agency International Development (USAID) who is the key project facilitators. I will be Project Manager who would manage the Project Team in ensuring they comply with the project objectives. I will help develop Project Plan with the project team while managing performance of the team. I will work to secure acceptance and approval some deliverables from the Project Sponsor or the Stakeholders. I will play a major role in communication. This includes reporting status, risk management, issue escalation and, in generally making sure the project meets the delivered in the budget, on the given schedule, and within a set scope. Other functions of the project manager are listed below. As the managing director of Villas de Trujillo hospital, I am mandated to oversee overall project coordination. On the overall the following additional roles are central to my work as a project manager. Developing and delivering the strategic plans of the project in the most effective yet efficient manner. As a managing director, I am accountable for the project overall performance, as well as day-to-day

Mary Shelly Essay Example for Free

Mary Shelly Essay In this essay I will be commenting on the effects Kenneth Branagh, the director and actor, has used on the creation scene in the film Mary Shellys Frankenstein. The film was released in 1994 but before it was a film it was a novel that was published in 1818 by a writer named Mary Shelly. The film version of this was then named with the writers names in the title in order to make it sound authentic. The film has a gothic/horror genre or theme, and I will try to analyse the different types of effects used e. g. camera angle, sound and music, lighting and special effects, costume, make-up hair and props. Robert De Niro plays the monster in this film. The reason that such a famous actor was picked to play this role and not just any random person in a suit is because then Kenneth Branagh can put Robert De Niros name on the front cover of the film to show that they have at least one famous person in the film. Another reason might be because then other people, considering watching or buying this film, might want to watch it to see the famous actor. When Victor Frankenstein, played by Kenneth Branagh, first enters the laboratory he is dressed in a red cape with gold embroidery, this has connotations of royalty and power. A boxer might wear this type of cape before he begins to fight to show that he is scared of nothing and is a hard man. Branagh, knowing this, is trying to project it on Victor. Victor has got nothing else on his top half but on his bottom half he has tatty trousers and shoes to show that he hasnt had much time to spend on appearance. Another technique Branagh uses to make Victor seem strong and/or bold is by filming him through a low angle shot, making it seem like he is towering above everyone else. Also, non-diegetic, fast paced, loud music is played to make it seem like what he is doing is really important but also that he is in a rush to finish it and make history. Not only is Victor made to seem important but so is the monster by pulling it up with the pulley on to the track and as it ascends, a bright light is shone directly above it. Since this light is so strong it creates a circle of light around the creation. I believe that the effect of this is to suggest the creation as a gift to God or even to make it seem like it is so close to him that Victor can show God he is about to create life just like he did. Victor is filmed using a high angle shot running at the same speed as the monster on the cradle. The effect of this is to show that Victor is completely dependant on the creation of the monster, therefore not letting it out of his sight. If Victor didnt care as much about it, he would have waited by the tank where the track finishes. Lots of diegetic sound is used when the log knocks the cradle and as it is running along the tracks. When the creature is put into the tank, and is above the fire, Branagh uses a series of extreme close up shots as the spikes are being stabbed into the monster. This type of shot is used so that you can almost feel the spikes going into you as you sit at home or in the cinema. This also creates sympathy for the monster. As the camera shots dissolve through all the bits of machinery and all the electric lines, which have sparks coming out of them to show that they are high voltage, it shows that there are loads of different things going on at the same time. The effect of this is to show that the task of creating the monster is extremely difficult because there are a lot of things to do and think about. While Victor is fastening a tube to the tank the camera slowly zooms out and pans to the right to show that the tube is connected to a big sack, which is shaking, that retains electric eels and a lot of amniotic fluid. The effect of this is to suggest that this is like a real birth because Victor uses amniotic fluid held in a sack or a container like in a real mothers womb. The sack is also filmed in a low angle shot to make it seem as it is a main part in the creation of the monster. As the eels are released into the tank they start to attack the monster at first. Then it looks like they are trying to heal him as they go for stitches to make it seem like they are repairing the monster. The first of this part is filmed using a close up, panning shot running up the monsters body, then an over the shoulder shot of the eels repairing him is employed. There is a lot in the mise en scene when Victor is standing on the tank. Victor himself standing on the tank, with the sack that held the amniotic fluid in, shaking the chains, looks to me like he has got eight hands due to the way the light is shone onto the sack. I think that if this was deliberate then it is meant to portray that he is Godlike with eight hands meaning that he is more powerful than an everyday man. The fire under the tank looks like it has been over fuelled so it is jumping up the side or even dancing.

Wal-Mart Current Market Conditions Essay Example for Free

Wal-Mart Current Market Conditions Essay Market trends in the retail market are not difficult to track. â€Å"Any major initiative Wal-Mart undertakes has enormous supply chain implications worldwide† (ThomasNet News, 2010). The analysis for this paper is to look at the approach of Wal-Mart in a very competitive industry and examine how Wal-Mart is so successful. Some of the areas that will be examined are the Market Structure, the impact of new companies entering the market, prices, productivity, and cost structure, price elasticity of demand, competitors, supply and demand analysis, and impact of government regulations. When locating new stores, Wal-Mart tends to first look at more rural areas where there is less population, a higher income and where consumers are less likely to travel to larger cities. This may be due to the economics of the region or the size of city in which they propose to occupy. The company’s market is the same market as Target and K-Mart. The company’s growth will in all likelihood cause other smaller retail businesses to fail. New firms entering the market will continue to drive Wal-Mart’s prices lower. The impact of new companies entering this market would affect pricing indifference between companies. â€Å"Wal-Mart is the worlds largest retailer and second largest corporation. It is the largest private employer in the United States and Mexico. Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States, with an estimated 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business, and the largest toy seller in the United States, with an estimated 45% of the retail toy business, having surpassed Toys R Us in the late 1990s. Wal-Mart has 1,929 stores which as of 2005 sales figures totaled about $155 bilion in sales. Wal-Mart’s revenue as of 2006 was an estimated $315 billion USD, net income $11. 231billion USD, and employs more than 1. 8 million employees† (Information Food Source, 2006). Wal-Mart’s major competitors in the grocery market are the Kroger co. #2 in annual sales, Albertsons Inc. #3, Safeway, Inc. #4, and Costco Wholesale Group #5. Now even though Wal-Mart is leading the way in total sales the #2 and #3 businesses lead the way with total # of stores. The Kroger Co. has 3,302 with Albertsons at 2,476 stores nationwide. Wal-Mart’s total sales for that year alone were beating its 2nd place competition alone by more than 80 billion dollars. Wal-Mart’s major competitors in low-end general merchandise department would include Sears Holding Corporation, the slowly diminishing K-Mart chain, and Target whose trying different approaches including building Super Target stores to compete with the Super Wal-Mart. With Wal-Mart moving into the grocery business it has put a strain on grocery retailers also including: H-E-B, Kroger, Albertsons, Publix, Giant Eagle, Safeway, Winn Dixie, Food Lion and Save-A-Lot. Wal-Mart’s CEO Lee Scott in 2005 embarked on an energetic campaign to revive the company’s image. He installed Eduardo Castro-Wright to overhaul operations in America. Who remodeled 1,300 shops, modified merchandise and cut prices. Wal-Mart has had a number of suits filed against if for unfairly paying the female employee’s, not promoting the female employee’s fairly, placing them into positions where they can not advance, and paying them less than their male counterparts. Wal-Mart, Wally World or what ever the public wants to call wants to call it does not change what it is: A corporate machine that has made a major and horrific impact on the global economy. Wal-Mart has been accused of denying benefits, working employees off the clock, and denying them rightly earned over time pay. They also have exploited suppliers and been associated with monopolies. These are reasons that Wal-Mart, the corporate machine, the menace to the global community, must be stopped. Wal-Mart capitalizes on the use of the good value strategy when pricing their products. If Wal-Mart were to increase the price of their products then the demand for them would likely decrease and the demand for the competitor’s merchandise would likely increase, where if the price of the products drops at Wal-Mart then the demand will likely increase at Wal-Mart and decrease at the competitor’s stores. If Wal-Mart increased to match the prices then the demand would be perfectly elastic. Competition for Wal-Mart encompasses many different areas such as retail, electronics, club stores, and gasoline sales to name a few. In the US, Wal-Mart’s main competitors are department stores such as Target, K-Mart, nd ShopKo. When considering Wal-Mart’s Club store competitors one must look at Costco and BJ’s Wholesale Club in the eastern part of the US. Wal-Mart’s main US retail competitor is Target and seems to be doing very well considering the current market conditions. With Wal-Mart’s push to add greater sustainability and eco-friendly techniques to its repertoire, it becomes that much more difficult for the competition to stay with the industry leader. In 2009 Target’s EBIT (Earnings before Interest and Taxes) were 4. 74 Billion with a net income of 2. 49 Billion (Daily Finance an AOL Money and Finance Site, 2010). Target Inc. operates in the United States exclusively which keeps the Wal-Mart competitor in a distant second place. Although economic conditions in recent months have been difficult overall, firms operating in the consumer staples sector, and especially the food and staples retailing industry, have enjoyed a certain amount of stability, and even growth, which exceeded performance in other sectors of the market. This is especially true for those firms that have diversified into international markets. Access to a range of markets stabilizes earnings by reducing risk across a range of differing economic cycles. Although demand in the United States, Wal-Mart’s primary market, has been modest, it has continued on a general growth trend over the years. There have been months where demand fell; however, the overall trend has continued to rise. There are two major economic conditions that have worked in concert to contribute to moderate, but continued growth. First, income has generally suffered in Wal-Mart’s home market. Stagnant and declining wages, combined with rising unemployment have reduced the buying power of retail consumers. The sales of many consumer goods declined, and have only recently begun to recover (U.  S. Census Bureau, 2009; U. S. Census Bureau, 2010). This reduction in demand would cause a shift to the left in the demand curve for many of the products sold by Wal-Mart. On a global scale, Wal-Mart experienced a range of economic growth rates affecting demand in the markets where it has operations (United Nations Statistics Division, 2010). Overall, demand on a global scale was influenced by two primary mechanisms. Of greatest importance is an increasing customer base. As the firm reaches more consumers through new outlets and new markets, generally demand would increase across all products. Since many of Wal-Mart’s international markets are growth markets, incomes are increasing alongside the expanded consumer base. Although the company strives to bring value to all of its customers, since many of its products in growth markets are new to the market, income increases result in the reduction of demand for existing inferior goods in the market. In many ways, the items sold by Wal-Mart in growth markets are considered normal goods. Thus, increasing incomes actually increase for most of Wal-Mart’s products in these markets (Colander, 2008). Wal-Mart’s expansion into international growth markets may have helped the firm’s bottom line, but not without some upfront costs to overcome barriers to entry. At home, the firm must adhere to a range of labor, product safety, and reporting and audit requirements to do business. Similar regulations will likely be encountered in each of the markets where business is done. Some markets may actually have more rigid requirements than what the company has to deal with at home. The most important types of regulation the company will need to be responsive to deal with corruption and foreign direct investment. To combat corruption in both business dealings and interaction with governments, the United States requires its businesses to adhere to the Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA). Along with other unscrupulous practices, the law aims to prevent bribery as a business practice while improving transparency in business dealings. There may be similar regulation in some of the markets where Wal-Mart does business. In terms of Foreign Direct Investment, Wal-Mart must deal with a complex patchwork of laws that differ from each of the other countries in which it has operations. Some countries, such as Canada and Mexico, allow Wal-Mart to directly operate its stores as long as it maintains certain capital and operational conditions. Other countries, however, require the company to undertake operations through or in collaboration with a native firm. Likewise, regulation may restrict the types of business operations a firm may undertake or the area of the market in which it may operate. Both China and India have restrictions along these lines, requiring Wal-Mart to partner with existing retailers to do business (U.  S. Commercial Service, 2008). Trends in the world’s retail markets may not be difficult to track, but due to the complexity of handling such a wide variety of goods and the wide range of competitors they can be difficult to understand and successfully do business in. To be successful in understanding the retail marketplace an entity must be dedicated to comprehensive research of the landscape. Additionally, an understanding of economic principles is critical to putting the extensive amount of available information into context.

Music Genres Role And Meaning Media Essay

Music Genres Role And Meaning Media Essay Today there many varieties of music known worldwide, from pop, classical, rock, jazz and RB, these are just a few examples of different types or genre of music that is found anywhere you go at all places. Music genre can be described as a type or form of music. But what makes these types of music different from each other? What makes them different from each other is that genres help categorize and organize the many different types of music. Music genres role is important in the world music because it gives a type of music a sense of identity, culture and purpose for us to know what types differentiate from one another. Because there are so many styles we must I.D. types or genres of music and categorize them so that we can identify which music is which. Music genre can help give music their sense of identity. It will help us know that when we are listening to music, we know what kind of music were listening to and also what is involved in the music. For example, say a person is listening to jazz music. How can one identify it in the genre of jazz music? The things that are more often than not in jazz music are swing patterns on the drums, unusual time signatures, saxophones and trumpet. With these common traits of jazz music, these will help a person identify that it is jazz music when they hear these things. With genre it categorizes jazzs identity with swing drum beats saxophones and trumpets and in a way it is also categorizing what kind of instruments are in a genre. Another example of identity and categorization is rock music. How can a person identify rock music? Well as most of us know rock music will mostly contain drums, electric guitar and bass and keyboards. Rock music is also typically played harder and faster than most music with distorted guitars and booming drums. This is the kind of identity that rock music has with the instruments, dynamics and tempo involved. These examples show how music genre can give different types of music a sense of identity, and categorize and organize it for people to know how to differentiate between the many styles of music from its identity. Genre also can give people who listen to music an identity. Genres create stereotypes which gives each type of music a sense of identity for people who listen to that certain music. In terms of emo or scream music, people who listen to this music are stereotyped has gothic or scene with dark clothing and appearances to crazy hair styles. With that the way that they dress can easily tell us what kind of music they are into and it is also a way of communicating with another person who listens to the same genre of music. They can identify each other as gothic or scene and then they can form a connection with that person. This doesnt mean that they listen purely to emo or screamo music as they could have a broader taste in music and they could listen to country music or classical music as well. But these kinds of stereotypes can give us a generalization of what kind of music people listen and it can help us connect with one another. Different types of music genres also can serve purposes. Certain kinds of music can serve a certain kind purpose that go in unison with its identity. For instance, dance music obviously serves its purpose for people to dance to it. Its rhythm beat and tempo is designed specifically for people to dance to, then its tempo is usually fast and upbeat so that it catches peoples ear for them to dance to. Classical music today now serves a purpose for people to relax to. Because of its soothing sounds of strings and a calmer rhythm, it can help people relax because it is easy on the ears. Love or sadder songs serve a purpose in expressing feelings and can also serve as a technique for someone to express themselves and tell about they truly think about. Many athletes listen to Rap or Rock music to pump themselves up so it can serve a purpose in that context. Many different types of music can serve all kinds of purposes just as the examples have shown. Culturally speaking, music genre plays a role in identifying music with culture. With music genre we can identify what music comes from where. With samba and salsa music we can classify it in the genre of Latin Music. So with that we can understand that samba and salsa music comes from the Latin culture because its genre is Latin music. This will then help people understand that this form of music originates in Latin countries and genre plays a role in which it gives music a geographical background. With the genre of classical music when people hear this music, they can pinpoint the era of where it came from. When we hear Mozart or Bach we can hear what the music was like back during those times, and it gives us a sense of what the culture was like. In those times they didnt call it classical music it was just their form of music. The same can apply for 50s 60s music with doo wop or 70s music with disco. When we listen to these types of genres of we can hear how the music was like in any era and gives a sense of culture of how the music was like in those time periods. Classical music has been used often in advertisements and commercials to help sell their product from their cultural origins. When people hear classical music, many people will think first class and sophistication because back in that time period, people who would attend music events at theaters were usually ones of the upper class. So when people hear that kind of music in any advertisement they can think to themselves that the company selling the product is a first class product better than the rest or even that the product shown in the ad is first class itself. Advertising is manipulating the stereotype that classical music is for people of the upper class by giving them the illusion that they are a high class sophisticated company and probably also try to challenge their customers Are you a first class sophisticated person? Then buy our product! For example many car companies such as BMW or Lexus use classical music in their television advertisements because they are known to be in the upper echelon class of cars. Because they are luxurious cars they want showcase classical music in their advertisements so that they can live up to their reputation as first class luxurious cars. I dont think it is unfair for classical music to be showcased in television advertisements; the reason being that it much different than any of the music that is out there today. If anyone were to listen to a rock or rap song in advertisement it doesnt really catch the ear as much as classical music because they are the genres of music we listen to daily. So if someone hears a classical music in an advertisement, it can really catch their attention and make them pay attention to that commercial. I think its a brilliant strategy to put classical music to a commercial to help sell a product because its kind of a communication tool to really get your customers attention. In addition to that I think classical composers will feel accomplished of the fact that their music is still being played today. They have created music that is original, different for our generation and generations to come and also their music is timeless because no matter what classical music will live on. So its fair for us to continue to live on their legacy. In conclusion music genre role and meaning deals with three aspects in identity, culture and purpose to help us differentiate between different music styles. Genre helps people identify what the music is and what is composed in the music from the instrumentation to the rhythm and beat and how it sounds. Genre plays a role in cultural identity in that it gives people an idea of what time period the music is from or from where its country of origin is. Different types of genre also serve a purpose in that many types of music can serve for a single purpose to enhance peoples lives such as dancing or relaxation. These are the reasons music genre play an important role in the world of music.

The Convention on the Rights of Children Essay -- Essays Papers

The Convention on the Rights of Children Growing up, I could not possibly count the number of times my parents told me how hard it was to raise a child in this world. I can, however, remember how hard it was being one. Luckily, I was blessed with two loving parents who always had my best interests in mind and eventually as I passed through the innocence of my youth and the awkwardness of adolescence to where I am today, I got to fully understand the sacrifices that they made on my behalf. I also realize that not everyone has guardians who are able or willing to make such sacrifices, and as a result children can often suffer. As a society, we must investigate potential dangers to children that could hurt their upbringing both physically and mentally, and come to terms with certain solutions that would help underprivileged children. According to UNICEF, an estimated 12 million children under the age of five die every year of easily preventable causes, and about 160 million children are severely or moderately malnourished. Th ese figures only describe the tip of the iceberg in terms of physical barriers that children around the world face, and we cannot ever truly know the amount of emotional abuses that coincides with this figure. Clearly, something is not right and needs to be addressed in order to protect children on a global level. In order to determine the manner in which to protect children, we have to examine the nature of their rights. Do children have the need for special rights aside from established adult human rights? I would think so, and many would agree with that conclusion. Issues such as infant mortality, child labor, and child abuse extend beyond the scope of adult human rights. For instance, whereas an adu... ... to be addressed in addition to the human rights afforded to adults. Children are more vulnerable than adults and face several different issues that currently are not addressed in world affairs. The Convention on the Rights of the Child attempts to address these matters, but the lack of support from the United States gives the document a lack of esteem in terms of world respect. Obviously, there is something wrong with the picture that the U.S. and Somalia (which only does not sign because it does not have an official government) are the only countries to hold out from the process. The United States has the obligation as a world leader to not only participate in human rights issues, but to be an active leader in such matters. The U.S. has failed in both respects, and owes it to the children of the world to be a signatory on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Bertolt Brecht :: Drama

Bertolt Brecht. Brecht was born Augsburg, Germany in 1898. He then attended university in Munich in 1917. It was while he was at university that he witnessed the Bolshevik Revolution which was the first event to influence him. Brecht wanted what had occurred in Russia to repeat itself in Germany as he saw all there was to gain from a Revolution. This was the first influence that gave Brecht his voice in social and political issues. In 1918 Brecht was called up for World War 1 as a medical orderly. Here he witnessed some of the worst medical injuries created by the war. This experience made him an extreme pacifist. This was the second most influential event that took place which in turn caused him to be in opposition to those international opinionated political powers. He saw them as being capitalist populations, sending innocent men to be murdered meaninglessly, for their own efficient profitable gain. He felt misery as the human potential completely contradicted its entire meaning by the brute actions of humans around the world. Marxism was the influence that gave Brecht hope that there was good within humans although some needed re-awakening. He had seen the Russian Revolution and witnessed the collapse of Germany after World War 1 and the fall of the Royal Family of Europe. This all influenced Brecht to write his first play Baal in 1918. This raw play and episodic structure was the youth of Brecht’s later well-known work, which inhabited a more grotesque quality. His work looks at the incapability one has to have power over the lust and greed in the world. He uses the element of shock in his plays as he relates to his yearning for change and fury at his experiences. It was this yearning to bring change via the use of shock that bought us epic theatre. In 1922 Brecht went to Berlin and this experienced gave him the influence for all his later work. Here he observed real theatre and the cabaret, parts of theatre he never knew existed. This influence made him more culturally aware and gave him the knowledge to develop his work. Aesthetic theatre was influenced by expressionalism, the use of various scenes without any rational order. He discarded ‘Drawing room comedy’, realism and naturalism. Instead he took influences from Edwin Piscator whom considered theatre as a device for political education. Edwin Piscator used different means in which to convey his political message. He used news-real, projections and captions to portray the background knowledge of the play. He also used great chorus scenes, perceived in traditional Broadway or West- End performances, to demonstrate the significance of the play.

College Sports Gambling Essay -- Gambling Casino Las Vegal Essays

College Sports Gambling   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With all of the controversy of gambling in college sports, why is the issue still an issue? The answer is money. There were actions taken towards this by Congress, but the problem is that it was never completely abolished. Congress had made the mistake of creating a way around it. It is now commonly referred to as â€Å"the Las Vegas loophole.† They outlawed the betting nationwide with the exception of one state, one state that is the capital of gambling, Nevada. This has caused few changes, with the exception of the ever-growing revenue that it generates. Another reason the legality still remains is one not frequently mentioned, but the question of the ban being constitutional. But no matter what the law, is there realistically ever going to be silence or content?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To trace the tracks to the start of mending this problem, we need to go back to 1992. This is the year that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act took precedence. This law restricts gambling on amateur sports in 46 states and essentially leaves Nevada as the only state that can take bets on those games. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) and Rep. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) are striving to get two separate bills passed, both of which are targeted at prohibiting gambling on amateur sports. The bills were introduced a year ago, and at the time, were heavily favored. The bills would legally put a stop to betting on NCAA games, the oh-so-notorious March Madness (the NCAA Tournament), and wagering on all college sports for that matter. Las Vegas casino lobbyist have turned offensive. Who wouldn’t, if there were possibilities of losing a $700 million cash cow, with approximately $70 million on March Madness?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The money that is generated from sports betting both legal and not, is much too vast to be eradicated. Nevada is the tree trunk for which sports gambling is derived. The casinos are complete with giant electronic boards that offer information on daily events ranging from odds to player injuries. This is the basis of most sports wagering. Nevada generates $2.3 billion a year on legal sports betting , where as, betting on college sports revenue in Nevada accounts for $650 million of the amount. This is far from the issue though. If betting on college sports in Nevada is made illegal, I find the impact to be very small considerin... ... and James B. Steele, â€Å"Throwing the Game,† Time, (September 25, 2000) Gillespie, Mark, â€Å"Americans Split on Whether Gambling on College Sports Should Be Banned,† The Gallup Organization, (April 1, 2002) Isenberg, Marc, â€Å"Gambling on College Sports: The NCAA’s Solution is Part of the Problem,† National Association of Basketball Coaches, Official Athletic Cite, (April 25, 2002) Jansen, Bart, â€Å"Big name coaches support ban on amateur sports gambling,† The Detroit News, (April 25, 2002) Pells, Eddie, â€Å"Complaint: Dupay received money for sharing info,† Slam! Basketball, (September 14, 2001) Rovell, Darren, â€Å"Congree could trump Vegas on college book,† ESPN, (March 15, 2002) Sauve, Valerie, â€Å"Issues Committee holds discussion on illegal sports wagering in NCAA,† The Daily Beacon, (March 5, 2002)

Examining Disadvantages of U.S. High School System Essay

In light of a lot of controversial issues over education matters, different people take different sides and give out individual opinions. There is a common belief that good education would provide a country with a lot of benefits such as more promising economic growth and higher living standards. As the global economic recession is taken more seriously, more and more people are now turning their attention to education in America, the most powerful country in the world, asking whether it will be still up to its name in the future and what kind of improvement to education can make contribution to the social economy. In addition, media also gives data on America’s stagnant education outcome. In a study released in September 2009, what stands out is that U.S. students scored the lowest in Math and Science, with a Math result â€Å"in the bottom quarter of all the countries that participated, including Finland, China and Estonia†(Lattimore). As well, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan claimed that students are going to struggle in the global market competition without intellectual growth. Thus, education issues become outstanding among all the challenges people are going to meet in the recent future. Since secondary education plays a fundamental and transitional role in one’s whole education journey, here are examinations of important factors in the current U.S. public high school system that cause its education quality to decline. Students are not being helped by tests because standards are not rigorous in American high schools. According to Dr. Kristy Vernille, an expert in Mathematics Curriculum and Instruction, American students usually move from grade to grade easily and â€Å"without having to demonstrate competency in any subject matter†, as a result of the loose and vague test standards in America (Vernille 5). Although American students are often asked to take a lot of standardized tests, based on the American Federation of Teachers, the tests results of students usually do not influence their progress through the system. Furthermore, state and commercial tests have lower degree of difficulty and focus on less-advanced problem solving than the international tests; at the same time, international tests include more open-response items (in which students have to show how they solve the problems), whereas â€Å"the United States tests are predominantly multiple-choice items with little intellectual demand associated with determining the answer† (AFT 15). Under these circumstances, U.S. students are not motivated for further study or higher academic accomplishment, resulting in their lower competency than their international peers. However, establishing more rigorous test standards in the U.S. public school system will improve American students’ academic performance. To demonstrate, in China, there is a highly standardized test named â€Å"the National College Entrance Examination†. It also appeared in Time magazine as the â€Å"most pressure packed examination in the world† (Siegel). The Entrance Examination is held for the sake of selecting students for higher education and leadership, and is taken by every Chinese twelfth grader every year. In every state, schools are informed what to teach students and what will probably appear in the exam (Schaack 5). During the preparation for the exam, students have to receive an extremely large amount of information from teachers and finally implement it into the Entrance Exam. Those who perform extraordinarily well are admitted to the nation’s top universities; â€Å"the rest find spots in provincial universities or two- and three-year coll eges† (Siegel). Due to the fact that Chinese students are under such kind of pressure, they are more likely to learn things in order to be competitive and prepared for their future. To a large degree, their academic achievement is related to their educational policies and environment. They don’t have many alternatives in their testing system, which is considered to be fair and standardized. This method can be adopted by American public school system to reduce their test alternatives, in other words, to make a standard in the testing system. With a more clear and rigorous standard, American students are going to have better understanding of what teachers convey and what skills they are supposed to pick up. Thus, academic improvement will subsequently be fostered. Besides the lack of a rigorous testing standard, American schools set up their curriculums based on the education policy approved by law, resulting in negative consequences. Since the No Child Left Behind program was signed into law in 2002, test scores have become the most basic measure of school quality (Ravitch 15). Schools then had to modify the curriculums to enhance their test scores in order not to lose students. How does education make sense when the purpose of testing goes beyond the substance of learning? Diane Ravitch, a historian of education and educational policy analyst, writes this program â€Å"demanded that schools generate higher test scores †¦ It ignored such important studies as history, civics, literature, science, the arts, and geography. Though the law required states to test students eventually in science, the science scores didn’t count on the federal scorecard†(Ravitch 16). She watched her hope for better education fall though she was initially supportive of the so-called education reform. Under this circumstance, coupled with the contemporary, vague, unchallenging test standard, schools are rather unlikely to have curriculums that can help students develop fully or help them attain high scores in those more advanced and comprehensive international tests. To illustrate, data collected by NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) shows that U.S. students perform the worst in areas like Math and Science. Especially in Math, U.S. high school students scored much lower than other countries that participated (Lattimore). Nevertheless, the situation can be changed if the whole school system revises the curriculums for the sake of students’ better development, which is the original intention of education. After that, tests should be based on the curriculums that schools are providing. How is it possible for students to achieve good grades while the test does not at all correspond to the courses they are taking? Although many people believe that the freedom of teaching and the freedom of learning are both significant, experts claim that a well-educated person has a well-furnished mind, â€Å"shaped by reading and thinking about history, science, literature, the arts, and politics†, and is armed with knowledge and skills that help him read, listen and also explain (Ravitch 16). Without basic knowledge and skills, people are unable to think critically, to debate or to question, let alone able to solve problems in tests or in their real lives. The continuous education reforms really expose th e effort that America is always trying to make for its nation. Nonetheless, paying too much attention to testing other than curriculum will only lead to a blow up of its previous efforts. Moreover, school resources, computer technology especially, are not being used effectively by teachers and students, causing a reduction in school productivity. It is now in the midst of the information age when technology use is widely spread. Although the goal of President Bill Clinton, â€Å"a computer in every classroom†, has practically been realized by American public schools and â€Å"the number of computers in U.S. schools has grown dramatically† (Evans 272), a research conducted by Harvard University economist Caroline Hoxby has shown that the productivity (the ratio of student performance to spending) has not increased as expected. Instead, it is declining (Woessmann 73). Originally, schools hope that technology can help students achieve better academic performance, instead of being a distraction for students. Hence, as can be seen in most schools, there are a lot of unwritten rules for students banning them from using electronic devices during class. But many students still behave as usual, making technology a destraction of class environment. For this reason, American schools are confused about whether their students are the beneficiaries or victims of this new age (Evans 272). Since it is a technological time, why not take good advantage of it? There are still many students in developing countries dreaming of this advantage that American students experience. And it definitely cannot be wasted. If students were guided to make good use of school resources, the teaching pace and quality would increase; homework assignments would receive more positive feedback; the testing burden would be lighter. Accordingly, the whole nation’s students would do much better academically. In addition to the hardware and software resources not being used well, adults are not paying enough attention to American students. During a student’s academic journey, adults around him can have a substantial influence on him. In particular, parental involvement has a considerably critical impact on their children’s education experience. If a child’s parents attach great importance to education, then the child would also tend to value their school work (Schaack 10). Again, to demonstrate using Chinese parents as an example, most of the time, they supervise their children’s behavior in school by attending parent-teacher conferences periodically, learning about their grades, discussing school programs and activities with their children, monitoring their homework and so on. They also provide private tutoring, paying private teachers, when their children are not performing as well as others or when they need to pass some specific tests and examinations. Some of the Chinese parents even consider their training to be high enough to teach their children while most American parents seem â€Å"less sure as to how much they could help† with children’s school work (Hunt and Hu 134). As a part of culture, Chinese students are motivated intensely by their parents to succeed in school from the time when they are young (Ho and Willims 136). In comparison, American parents’ involvement in their children’s education differs from area to area. During an interview with a Chinese student in Hillsdale High School, Yixi Wu, who left his country at the age of 15 and immigrated into America, he said that he could tell that American parents provide their children with more freedom when it comes to school matters. They care more about their children’s overall life pattern and everyday skills rather than pay too much attention on their academic achievement (Cannon and Ginsburg 122). However, parental involvement can substantially influence a student’s academic performance. To prove, statistics collected by Professor Esther Ho Sui-Chu from University of British suggest that â€Å"the most important parental-involvement factor at the individual level is Home Discussion. The estimated effect is approximately 12 percent of a standard deviation on both mathematics and reading achievement. This finding implies that an increase of 1 standard deviation in Home Discussion is associated with an increase in achievement of 0.12 of a standard deviation† (Ho and Willims 136). The result of this study really emphasizes the significant influence of parents’ facilitation on children’s academic success. Since cultures in Asian countries like China and Western countries like America are different, children in America manage to have more freedom in school life and academic matters. Consequently, their learning outcome compared to China is relatively lower. But if American parents pay more attention to their children’s school experience, more positive attitudes towards academic behavior will probably be fostered; homework assignment will have better quality; learning outcome will be more outstanding and dropout rates will definitely go down. Besides parents, teachers also have great academic influence on students and their impacts are more direct. Superficially, some people would consider that it was because in some countries teachers were too strict that students did not dare to obey them. This common recognition makes sense to some extent but is not exactly true. Obviously and overall, students are going to attain higher achievement if teachers pay more attention to them and give them corresponding advice on the difficulties they meet at school. As mentioned above, Chinese teachers have their own technique dealing with this issue. Usually, a Chinese teacher is going to ask a student to come to the board to solve a problem with everybody else watching him. If he is not able to have it done, others will try hard to help him deal with it so that no one will extremely lag behind. What’s more, if he still has difficulty figuring it out, teachers will ask him to go to his office after class and provide extra individua l tutoring. â€Å"In Contrast, in America, being called in front of a class and being critiqued by not only your teacher, but also by other peers, could be downright damaging to a student’s psyche† (Schaack 7). In this case, subsequently, students can only ask for help after class during teachers’ office hours, which are rather limited. What if one does not realize where his current position is compared to the others? What if he does not know what he misunderstands right after he gets confused? He will probably accumulate his misunderstanding and eventually lag far behind. Therefore, as the old saying goes â€Å"every coin has two sides†. In exchange for maintaining students’ self-esteem, American education has to lose some of its points in the international competition. Yet if the American schools were to learn from Chinese schools in this aspect, making the classroom environment to be more challenging and teacher-controlled, students are going to be more comp etitive and will achieve much better academically. Admittedly, there are still problems waiting to be fixed in America’s education system even if it has always been receiving a good reputation worldwide. With more rigorous test standards, students would have a better sense of direction in their education journey; with curriculums to be more comprehensive, students would be equipped with better skills for life and career; with more efficient use of resources, students would be able to release much of their pressure and make studying fun; and with the help from parents and teachers, students would probably be more motivated for further study and self-development. Fixing the defects in the U.S. education system and adopting advantages from other countries like China will awaken students’ potential, thereby improving the whole nation’s academic achievement, finally consolidating its title of the most powerful country in the world. Those who suit their actions to the time are wise. Hence, corresponding changes in educ ation turn out to be necessary for America to succeed in its self-progress as well as in the aggressive global competition. Work Cited American Federation of Teachers. â€Å"Setting higher sights: A need for more demanding assessments for U.S. eighth graders.† Washington, DC: American Federation of Teachers. July, 1998. Web. May, 2012. Cannon, J. and H. P. Ginsburg. â€Å"Doing the math: Maternal beliefs about early math ¬ematics versus language learning.† Early Education and Development. 2008. Web. May, 2012. Evans, Dennis L. Taking sides: Clashing views on controversial issues in secondary education. University of California, Irvine. 2002. Print. Ho Sui-Chu, Esther and J. Douglas Willims. â€Å"Effects of Parental Involvement on Eighth-Grade Achievement.† Sociology of Education. (April, 1996):126-141. Web. May, 2012. Hunt, Jessica H. and Bi Ying Hu. â€Å"Theoretical Factors Affecting Parental Roles in Children’s Mathematical Learning in American and Chinese-Born Mothers.† The School Community Journal. 2011. Web. May, 2012. Lattimore, K. â€Å"Students in U.S. Falling Behind i n Math and Science.† 8 September, 2009. Web. May, 2012. Ravitch, Diane. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. New York. Basic Book, 2010. Print. Schaack, Tara L. Van. â€Å"Comparing U.S. and Chinese Public School Systems.† University of Michigan. n.d. Web. May, 2012. Siegel, Benjemin. â€Å"Stressful Times for Chinese Students.† TIME. 12 June, 2007. Web. May, 2012. Vernille, Kristy. â€Å"Why Are U.S. Mathematics Students Falling Behind Their International Peers?† University of Maryland. n.d. Web. May, 2012. Woessmann, Ludger. â€Å"Why Students in Some Countries Do Better: International evidence on the importance of education policy.† Education Matters. 2001. Web. May, 2012.