Monday, September 30, 2019

Standing Your Ground: The Life of Joshua L. Chamberlain

Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain was born on September 8, 1828 in Brewer, Maine to Joshua and Sarah Brastow. Perhaps as a portent of things to come, Chamberlain was named after a hero of War of 1812, Captain James Lawrence. Captain Lawrence was known for never giving up the fight, and whose dying words to his men were â€Å"Don't give up the ship!† Chamberlain’s family was a Puritan, and was raised in a household that puts high value on good behavior, good education, hard work, and benevolence.THE DUTIFUL SONLawrence was the eldest of five children and had a strong sense of duty at a very early age, perhaps because he was tasked to look after his younger siblings. A great deal of his childhood was spent outdoors, and he grew up loving and respecting nature. He had a shy and sensitive nature, and was always caring of others. More and more, as Lawrence was growing up, he took to academic studies with great enthusiasm. (Wallace 1995, p. 19) He took to scholarly pursuits even as he worked the farm land to help his father. In the fields, Chamberlain was taught that how much the land gives in harvest depends on how much work one is willing to put into it. The lessons of hard work and industry and relentless determination were values that the land taught him, and one that would carry him through for the rest of his distinguished life. (Cashin 2002, p. 76).When it was time for Chamberlain to set on a course for a lifelong career, his father, a former soldier, wanted his eldest son to follow in his footsteps and serve the country during peacetime. However, while Chamberlain had already been preparing for West Point and a career in the army, Chamberlain’s mother protested because she wanted Lawrence to serve the church and become a minister. In spite her mother’s objection, Lawrence wanted to go to West Point. However, his enthusiasm was dampened by the prospect of holding a military position during a time of relative peace and stability. So in the end, his mother’s desires won, and Chamberlain decided to become a minster in the hopes of getting a commission as a missionary in another country. (Wallace 1995, p. 45)When Chamberlain was nineteen years old, he entered college. For Lawrence, who has been very close to his family, the thought of living away from his family must have been difficult. Thus, he was very shy and stammered during his first years at college at Bowdoin College at Brunswick. Gradually, Chamberlain was able to overcome his shyness and stammering speech and became a champion orator and writer. (Wallace 1995, p. 97) It was also during college that Chamberlain decided to use Joshua for his first name.At college, Chamberlain’s strength of character began showing. He was known for standing firm on his principles, even when he was going against people who had more power and authority than him. He never turned his back on the values that he believed in, and this earned him the respect of the people w ho knew him. This strong sense of honor was a value that stayed with him all his life, even when his life was threatened in the battlefield. Chamberlain also had a great love for music and he turned for it for his relaxation.When not busy with school work, he played the organ for his school chapel, a skill that he learned all on his own. His love for the organ also drew him to Frances Adams, who also played the organ for the Brunswick church choir. Frances was three years older than Chamberlain, but that age difference did not matter to them. Their romance was serious right from the start and they were engaged soon after 1852, just a year after they first met and soon after Chamberlain graduated from college. However the marriage did not happen soon after the engagement. Joshua first pursued both a seminary course and his master's degree. After finishing both, Joshua and Frances became husband and wife, three years after their engagement.THE PROFESSOR BECOMES A SOLDIERHaving disting uished himself as an orator during his college, he became professor of oratory and rhetoric at Bowdoin College a year after earning his master’s degree. Five years after, in 1861, he became the chair of the department of modern languages. Chamberlain’s ascent to chairmanship was well-deserved. He has learned several languages during his seminary course. The languages were taught as part of the preparation for overseas missionary work which was his original intent. Chamberlain was fluent in nine languages namely, Latin, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, Arabic, and Syriac.In 1861, at the same year that Chamberlain was elected the position of chair of modern languages, Civil War broke out. The youthful dreams of serving the military and fighting in the battlefield of war were once again rekindled. Or perhaps they never left at all. It may be said that Chamberlain has always been a noble soldier. When Chamberlain was given a sabbatical, supposedly for study in Europe, he immediately went to Governor Washburn for military service. Thus in 1862, Chamberlain left the halls of the academe to fight in the Civil War. His decision was met with dissent at Bowdoin College, but for Chamberlain the need to serve the country took precedence over anything else. By virtue of his education and mastery of languages, he was commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Regiment of Maine Volunteers.While never having actual military training, Chamberlain soon learned the ropes through keen observation. The fact that he was in charge of an actual regiment was enough reason for Chamberlain to learn as he go. All his life, he has always been a self-starter and capable of learning things by himself. Under Commander Adelbert Ames, a recent West Point graduate, Chamberlain, along with about a thousand men transformed and became trained soldiers. (Ritter & Wakelyn 1998, p. 116) Chamberlain’s youngest brother, Thomas, was also part of the same regiment , and the two would soon distinguish themselves as soldiers of the Civil War.The 20th regiment’s first order of battle was to proceed to the battle at Antietam. However, they did not saw any action in that battle. Their first actual engagement was as a reconnaissance unit at Shepherdstown Ford. In October, Chamberlain was tasked to lead another reconnaissance at the South Mountain pass. It was during this time that Chamberlain saw first hand the horrors of war. He saw dead Confederate soldiers barely out of their youth, and such sights stayed with him during the entire course of the war. (Ritter & Wakelyn 1998, p. 64)A few months after, in December 1862, Chamberlain and his men were right in the middle of the Battle of Fredericksburg, a site of overwhelming defeat for the Union. All around, Chamberlain saw dead men, and when the orders to evacuate came down, Chamberlain was tasked to lead his men to safety. The following months were uneventful for the regiment. In May 1863, a n outbreak of small pox among the regiment kept Chamberlain’s men away from participating in the Battle of Chancellorsville. To keep his men in shape and their morale up, Chamberlain constantly asked for duties and engaged the regiment in positive activities. By the end of May, Chamberlain became Colonel of the 20th regiment, after having proven himself as an able soldier and a great leader.A HERO RISESOn July 1863, the 20th regiment received marching orders to go to Gettysburg. The Union forces faced a formidable opponent in the person of Confederate General John Bell Hood. General Hood was bent on cutting down the Union lines and under his command; the Confederate Brigades advanced and went up the hill. During this engagement, a good number of Union officers were killed, leaving Chamberlain in command. Before he died, commanding officer Colonel Vincent instructed Chamberlain to stand ground. Joshua was now in a very difficult decision. He was given orders to stand ground bu t his men’s ammunition were almost spent. (Martin 2006, p. 213). Chamberlain was left to decide the fate of his men and the fate of this battled. He thus gave quick and firm orders. Having the higher ground, Chamberlain told his men to counterattack. The downhill bayonet charge caught the Confederates by surprise, and the Union held their position.   For this heroic stand, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.Soon after that historic stand, Chamberlain became commander of the 3rd Brigade. By this time, Chamberlain has become a seasoned solider who has survived many battlefields. He was regarded with respect and commanded the loyalty of the men who served under his command, particularly the men of the 20th Maine. While an officer, he never considered himself better than his men and he accorded all of them with equal courtesy and respect. He never asked for special quarters and endured the same sacrifices as his men. All these traits endeared him all the more to th e military and the public as well. He treated the dead with respect and never forgot to attend to the sick after the smoke of battle has cleared.By now an acclaimed hero, Chamberlain never stopped throwing himself into the thick of the battle. He was a natural leader and tactician, able to execute strategic commands under exacting pressure. He never feared for his life and engaged in battle with very little regard for personal safety. For him, the safety of his men and winning the ground was most important.   (Martin 2006, p. 27) At one point, he was severely wounded but refused preferential treatment, insisting that there are others whose wounds are more serious than his. For fear of a mortal wound, General Ulysses Grant, in what is believed to be the only case of promotion on the battlefield, immediately conferred the position of general to Chamberlain. Doctors thought that Joshua had very little chances of surviving his wound, but he did. A few months after, Chamberlain reporte d back to duty in spite some physical limitations brought on by his war injury.Chamberlain became commander of a new 1st Brigade, 1st Division, a unit composed of two large regiments of soldiers from Pennsylvania and New York. Not fully recovered from his injury, he was prevented from seeing any military action. However, after a month of sick leave, he returned to service, much to the dismay of his doctors. Chamberlain returned to military action during the last of General Grant's campaign on March 1865. Chamberlain and his brigade were engaged in a bayonet fight while traveling the Quaker Road and Joshua was again injured. He would have been taken prisoner if not for his fast thinking. He eluded capture by donning a Confederate officer uniform and posing as one of the Confederates. His numerous injuries could not keep him from the call of duty. Under his leadership, Chamberlain claimed the strategic and much coveted lodge on the White Oak Road. For this accomplishment in spite of i njury, Joshua was promoted to Major General by President Lincoln. (Ritter & Wakelyn 1998, p. 128).General Chamberlain survived many injuries and lived to see the end of the Civil War and the Union’s victory. When General Grant designated him to receive the first flag of surrender at Appomattox Court House, in a moving demonstration of his noble spirit, Chamberlain received the surrender with graciousness and honor. He asked that his original 20th Maine regiment be with him in this historic event, believing that all of them deserved the honor that was accorded to him. (Martin 2006, p. 87)For saving his men and the Union’s position, Chamberlain was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration in the United States. He was brave under fire, and magnanimous in victory. After the war, Joshua went back to Bowdoin as president of the college. (Ashby 2003, p. 10). During his tenure, he instituted reforms which shook the foundations of the conservati ve school. Nevertheless, his presidency, like his tour of military duty, was marked with strong leadership and honor. He lived to an old age of 84, seeing the fruits of peace wrought by many years of war. In a poetic death, he died of the old war wound that many thought he has recovered from. He still dies in the battle, as a noble soldier.General Joshua Chamberlain stands tall in an age of greatness. His name will go down in history as among the greatest soldiers. It might be said that times make the hero, but in Chamberlain’s case, the choices that he made and his nobility in and out of the battlefield made him a soldier of life. He was a product of his times, and left just in time to plant the seeds of hope for a better and kinder world. May his nobility inspire all that is good and noble in each and every one of us.ReferencesAshby, R. (2003). Extraordinary People. Black Rabbit Book.Cashin, J. (2002). The War was You and Me: Civilians in the American Civil War. Princeton U niversity Press.Martin, I. (2006). The Greatest U.S. Army Stories Ever Told: Unforgettable Stories of Courage. The Lyons Press.Ritter, C & Wakelyn, J (1998). Leaders of the American Civil War: A Biographical and Historiographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group.Wallace, W. (1995). Soul of the Lion: A Biography of General Joshua L. Chamberlain. Clark Military Books.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Ww1 Trench Warfare

Nature of Life in the Trenches The nature of life in the trenches was a dangerous place. It was a place for the dead or for the survivors. Trenches were a front line which was dug metres underground, inside the trenches, were supplies, training areas, stores and mainly headquarters. The trenches were the main area to store arms of artillery and mortars. Life was hell for soldiers. Bearing the pain they went through, the diseases, the infections, the bad conditions living in, having to deal with sickness, all these illnesses became worse in the long run as soldiers ceased from them.The whole idea of the trenches was to gain and to give protection from enemy lines who would want to attack their enemies once seen, so trenches were a good hiding spot hence other various reasons as well. September 1914 was when trench warfare began and ended in August 1918. In the area of the River Somme on the Western Front, the ground is deathly and is easily tunnelled. The trench sides would dissolve e asily after rain so the ideas would have to be changed and wood, sandbags or any other suitable material would have to be a substitute of dirt.Trenches were never built to be straight for a reason, in case an enemy ever jumped into the trench they could have point blank shot of everyone hiding inside it, whereas, trenches were built in a zigzag form to avoid quick target shots from enemies. The living conditions in the trenches were unbearable. In order to minimise the risk of trench foot (a disease on the feet) they would have to build duckboards on the bottom of trenches to clear the mud and faeces at the bottom. The health risk was very severe and was a maximised hazard of death as the unhygienic smell can affect the body.The weather was a big factor in the trenches, temperatures down to less than 10 degrees Celsius was made impossible for soldiers to cope while sleeping or doing any activity. Diseases such as frost bites could occur as well as exposure and trench foot. Uses of s econdary weapons were used in the war as well as fire weaponry. Secondary weapons such as grenades, bombs, gas bombs, and much more were used and it was effective at long and short range targets. Gas masks were used continually due to the gas mixing with the air and making it hard to breathe so gas masks were introduced to protect the face from burnt skin as well as inhaling it.The main diseases caught while in trenches were trench foot, shell shock, blindness from mustard gas, snakes, infected rats, grenades, bombs, colds from low temperatures, frost bite, gangrene, body lice was a main disease maker as it irritated soldiers to itch numerous times of the day and that would cause infectious diseases on skin and could be caught off one another, the insufferable conditions, stench from rotting bodies, self-inflicting punishments and as well as suicide due to the trauma and depression. Body lice were a main factor in the trenches.It brought upon soldiers infections, high fevers, diseas es and probably death. Lice would stay on the body throughout the whole day and eat at the flesh and irritate soldiers, they would have to itch and itch and itch continuously in order to get the irritation feeling away. The aftermath would leave redness, bad smells, trench fever, first symptoms and shooting pains around the body and high illnesses. Many of the other diseases were much similar to lice and the treatment was similar was well but some things did differ, such as the kind of sickness, disease and the way the â€Å"infection† was going to affect the soldier.Mud affected the body as well as their existence, what they ate, what they were wearing and how they breathed. Mud was an enemy and misery to soldiers. Trench foot was a painful swelling of the feet caused by constant absorption in water. Some cases, toes could rot off and that can lead to gangrene and that can be led to amputation. Rats were known as â€Å"trench rats† because they were sizes of small dog s. Rats would consume food that was left on the ground as well as fresh food and take all food supplies which would then be limited for soldiers the next day or so.Rats were also good humour for the soldiers as they would attract it to food and shoot them once they seem them and hang them as a â€Å"trophy†. Gas gangrene was an easy target for many soldiers, the least of their problems were rats. They had to survive and live to continue the war, they couldn’t afford to inhale dangerous gases and die instantly. If the gas was ever inhaled, it would destroy the tissue inside the human body and the body will decay gradually and disintegrate. Gas masks were then produced.The cold fell to temperature of minus Forty degrees Celsius; nevertheless, trenches had temperature of minus Fifteen degrees Celsius. Soldiers had to manage with the cold, hard to believe, it was worse than lice. The cold made it impossible to sleep. Frostbite affected many men and frequently directed to i nfection, decomposition and later on, amputation, along with hypothermia. In addition the infections led to boils, impetigo (a contagious skin disease caused by streptococcal bacteria, forming pustules and yellow sores), ulcers, hypothermia, frostbite, gangrene and amputation.There were many psychological effects that were put onto soldiers such as trauma, shell shock, tics, a feeling of disillusionment and a growing sense of distrust of political leaders. The effects led to long term effects which made them think about the past most of their lives and that caused controversy to war officials. In conclusion, life in the trenches was difficult and distressing. Soldiers sacrificed their life to create peace in the world but it continued unfortunately. As oppose to all the past dramatic effects on soldiers, they had to live with it their whole lives, having to go through long or short term effects.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

How the Boeing 707 Jet, the Bell X-1 and the NASA Mercury Capsule Essay

How the Boeing 707 Jet, the Bell X-1 and the NASA Mercury Capsule Friendship Seven Changed Aviation - Essay Example This paper aims to explain the contributions of some innovations in the aviation industry that became cornerstones of overcoming the physical limitations of man during the early 19th century. This paper also aims to discuss the positive and negative effects of aviation in America for the past seventy years, specifically starting from 1942 to the present time. According to Lombardi (8), the Boeing 707 took its first flight in Renton, Washington on the afternoon of December 20, 1957. It tool Boeing five years to be able reach the point of being able to showcase their first jet powered aircraft, that was later referred by historians as the start of the Jet Age. At exactly 12:30 pm that afternoon that day, Boeing decided to continue their first test flight of the Boeing 707. However, the weather conditions suddenly changed against the flight and officials had to abort the initial test that lasted only for 7 long minutes in the air. It was not enough, though, to claim that their design wa s truly a success since they needed a test flight that would last a full 30 minutes airborne. As the weather cleared, Boeing had decided to continue the test flight and that marked a historic day in aviation history with Boeing 707 being able lift-off, remain airborne for 71 minutes, and land back safely to the tarmac. The US government gave its full support on the achievement of Boeing and this led to a massive advertising campaign directed to the public that provided them information about the comfort and safety of travelling on jet liners. Boeing 707 and its other models that are technically similar to the design and concepts applied in the pioneer prototype aircraft, the 707-80 or commonly known as the Dash 80 jet transport prototype, have been mainly utilized for two operations – commercial flights for passenger transport and military services (9). In 1958, where Boeing 707 started its early days of operation, people who could afford to travel by air flew in slow, piston -powered transportations or Propliners. This mode of transportation was limited at that to a few dozen of passengers and shorter range flights, which was very costly at that time that not all Americans had the luxury to travel to other countries and even among other states via air travel. Mostly travelled by train for interstate travel, and transatlantic travels were carried out by large shipping vessels. However, in just a short span of two years, Boeing was able to dominate passenger air transport over travel by land and sea, this occurred during the 60s and have remained the same throughout the 70s (9). The compelling factor of the success of Boeing 707 is that the design of the aircraft can carry more passengers as compared to other aircrafts during the 60s and it allowed longer range flights, this led to reduced cost for travelling by air. It also allowed transcontinental and inter-continental travels safer, faster, and easier. Within the service lifetime of Boeing 707 from 195 8 to 1979, 1,010 aircrafts were built with a large percentage of it used for the military. Boeing also provided the Air Force with stronger air supremacy by developing aircrafts specifically modified to carry out a certain function for the needs of the air force. It was also used as Air Force One that transports the President of America to any point in the world (9). With the success of the Boeing 707 in changing the way of how commercial

Friday, September 27, 2019

Theory used in Social Work Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Theory used in Social Work Practice - Essay Example The social scientific texts, which focus on culture does not make it abstract and hence culture is important in social sciences. Narrative theory is also important in describing every aspect including the looking after the people who lost lives of their near and dear ones. The narrative realities include individual emotions, psychic realities as referred by Freud and thus evade all narrative formalizations. The point in this paper is about 'tragic' news narratives of an Asian Lady suffering from depression due to sudden death of her mother. In the above aspect, style holds the important place as it depends on both culture and nature of the individual. In some cases of tragic narratives style can define the culture and the extent of depression of the subject. As the present situation is about the Asian lady suffering from depression, understanding the differences in narration due to culture can help in understanding her. Though some writers feel that the narratives reduce personal and social meanings to glib fables, the other writers emphasize on cohesion and repetition (Corinne Squire, 2000). 1 The application of theory depends on the subject chosen. The subject here is an Asian lady suffering from depression due to loss of her mother due to sudden death. ... The psychological orientation in social service and work can be fulfilled by applying narrative theory to the subject in the present context. The changes that occur in the work of a social service practitioner will be from the expressions of the subject and narrative theory helps in understanding them in a clear manner. The notions of expertise in narrative theory can influence work education and can enable direct change in the subject with the help of research of the practitioner. In addition to above mentioned aspects, narrative theory helps in reshaping qualitative enquiry, which helps in recovery of a subject in depression. The thematic, structural, dialogic and visual things in the research will critically analyze the data and thus the researcher can choose the approach to deal with the subject. The subject in the context of the paper needs pragmatic approach and narrative theory is suitable for the meant treatment and to modify the social work contexts. The narration in the cou rse of treatment helps the researcher to collect different types of data and to compare it in different ways to know Th exact point of the treatment (Jan Fook, 2002). 2 Advantages in Applying the Theory The important advantage in using the narrative theory is avoiding suicide by the subject by the treatment that involves narration. As the depression in United States is substantial and it is more in Asian population, the qualitative research in narrative theory helps in coping up with depression motivated suicide. As the lady in the present context is suffering from the depression of sudden death of mother, there is every chance of attempting suicide and narrative theory helps in avoiding it. The subjects of depression of above mentioned

Thursday, September 26, 2019

The benefits of training bank officials in Ethiopia Dissertation

The benefits of training bank officials in Ethiopia - Dissertation Example Studies on the banking sector in Ethiopia reveal consistent findings that service expectations of customers do not match perceived performance. Thus, with the aim to recommend a suitable strategy for an effective training program for bank employees in Ethiopia, three objectives were set in Chapter I. All three objectives have been achieved through qualitative secondary analysis of data. Several benefits of training have been identified which include enhancement of knowledge and skills, motivation and retention of employees, open and honest communication and promotion of the  interpersonal relationship. Training can improve service quality, spur growth and impact productivity. Shortcomings among bank staff have been identified through studies conducted by other researchers in Ethiopian banks. These include lack of soft skills among employees, lack of product-specific knowledge and skills. The level of education of employees is also not known which could impact the outcome. Based on the short comings and the literature and theories on training, factors that could contribute towards an effective training program on Ethiopia have been evaluated. These include evaluation of training needs which would have to be based on organizational mission and goals. In addition, training should be an ongoing process and should be kept in-house, while continuous monitoring and evaluation of the training interventions have also been found to be necessary. (Donovan, Hannigan & Crowe, 2001).

The methode of returning cash to company shareholder Essay

The methode of returning cash to company shareholder - Essay Example Non-core operating assets like long term investments and related assets are not critically relevant for a firm's current operations. When Marks & Spencer (M&S) finally disposed of some of its non-core operating assets in 2002 and began to restructure the company, the decision was obvious because it wanted to adopt an alternative technique for the more traditional method of repurchasing shares or that of the increased dividend pay-out. In other words there was a clear effort on the part of M&S management to redistribute revenue to shareholders though its negative implications would have invariably affected the success of the program (Davies, 1999). According to financial managers' own way of thinking such efforts would not be in the best interest of the long term company value creation process because when such cash returns to shareholders take place at regular intervals in the future as the stock prices appreciate and hectic deposal of shares takes place, the company would lose its investor confidence. The net result thus would be to jeopardize the very relationship between the manager and the shareholder. This in turn would lead to a much closer relationship between the manager and the debt-holder. ... Debt instruments often consist and includes restrictions on the company's all the activities. And thus it is preventing and disturbing top management from pursuing alternative financing options and core business opportunities. Large companies always consider debt-equity ratio as a risk because the company is more concern towards lenders and investors. And thus the business is limited as to the amount of debt it carries (Marks and Spencer annual report 2002). For the better and efficient financing companies are usually pledge assets of the company to the Lender as collateral. And the share holders and executives of the company are in some cases required to give guarantee by personally for the repayment of the loans (Devaney, & Lizieri, 2004). Because of this capital restructuring programme marks and Spences certain advantages to their managers can be expected. because of the less liability of the company the managers will enjoy a greater power in all the operational actives. Thus it brings less liabilities to their company so it will be a greater relief for the managers. (Finlan, 1992) But it would certainly demotivates their share holders because they will loose their voting power and the opportunity to take part in the decision making process. So this fact can leads to a morale problem of the share holders. In every company, the financial and real sectors cooperate with each other in order to maintain a sound and progressive balance between the two. This is important as a deficiency in one sector impairs developments in the other sector. So therefore it is important to have an optimal capital structure in the company to maintain the balance between equity and the debts. The value of corporate debt

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Report on Foreign Direct Investment of The Toyota Motor Corporation Term Paper

Report on Foreign Direct Investment of The Toyota Motor Corporation - Term Paper Example According to 2010 financial data, India is the world’s fourth largest economy by purchasing power parity and tenth largest by nominal GDP. As per International Monetary Fund’s report, the country’s per capita GDP is $3,339 in 2010. As Shurtleft and Aoyagi point out, India initiated its free market operations in 1991, and that highly boosted India’s economic growth (999). The country’s industrial operations account for 28% of the GDP and it employs 14% of the total workforce. India’s economy is the world’s 12th biggest in terms of nominal factory output whereas it is 13th on the ground of service output. The country has achieved significant improvements in its energy and power resources during the last few decades; India’s oil reserves are capable of meeting the country’s 25% of the domestic oil demand. Well structured Indian banking system plays a notable role in supporting India’s economic growth. A stable currenc y is another prominent feature of Indian economy. Hence, the economic factors of India offer potential opportunities for Toyota in the market. Despite these positive economic elements, the country has been facing serious income inequalities, higher unemployment, and increasing number of malnourished children. Higher unemployment rate in India may be beneficial for the Toyota to obtain labors at cheaper costs. The country’s exports increased 22.3% in November 2010 whereas the imports rose by 7.5%. Similarly, the country’s trade deficit dropped from $10.45 billion in 2009 to $8.94 billion in 2010. Political Scenario India is the largest economy in the world and a federal constitutional republic. The country’s political situation is more or less stable. While analyzing the democratic history of India, it is obvious that Government of India has been led by the Indian National Congress most times. The Indian state politics is dominated by several national parties inc luding INC, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and a number of other regional parties. Presently, the Government of India is being led by the INC by winning with a surprising majority in the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections. Different political parties represent different societies and regions and their core values can have a great influence on the Indian political spectrum. Since India is a democratic country, the Toyota may sometimes confront with agitations as occurred in the case of Coca Cola. However, the Indian government believes that foreign investment would significantly contribute to the rapid economic growth of the country. Therefore, the political spectrum of India offers opportunities for Toyota. By the end of 1970s, India liberalized its foreign trade policy and it provided multinational firms better access to Indian market (Dahlman & Utz,). As a result, India’

Monday, September 23, 2019

Energy Risk Management Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Energy Risk Management - Dissertation Example Regulatory agencies of governments sell smaller units of this limit to individual organisations in the form of emission permit or carbon credit (Bayon, 2007). The emission permit gives an organisation the right to emit a specified volume of green house gas. The carbon credits can be traded in the market and on specified stock exchanges. Organisations must buy the required number of permits equivalent to the amount of emissions. There is a limit on the total number of permits that are offered by the government. If an organisation needs more permits, it can buy these from the market and thus offset their emissions. The whole system of carbon credit trading is rigidly controlled by the stock exchanges. While erring firms now have the option of getting away with pollution and excess emissions, the government is at least making these firms to pay for the emissions. Since the number of carbon credits available is limited, the price of the credits can fluctuate. Eventually, erring firms wou ld be expected to improve their process so that fewer emissions take place. The carbon credit trading market is worth more than 64 billion USD in 2007 and the market is expected to grow rapidly as accountability increases (Tietenberg, 2009). This dissertation will research the structure of carbon credit market and emissions trading. The dissertation will also examine price fluctuations, drivers for price variations and make recommendations to improve the market structure. 1.1. Rationale for the paper The term carbon credit is used to identify a permit or tradable certificate. It gives the owner the permission to emit one tonne of greenhouse gases or carbon dioxide or any other equivalent gas such as sulphur or carbon monoxide. One carbon credit represents one metric tonne of green house gases and is designated by the term tCO2e. The Kyoto Protocol brought in some accountability for nations and signatories to this protocol agreed for some legal targets that limited the amount of emis sions by each nation (Stone, 20110. The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme - EUETS and other bodies have agreed to reduce the CO2 emission by 8% in 2012 as compared to the 1990 levels. As per the protocol and agreements, emission quotas were assigned to each nation and these are called as assigned amount units AAAs. Each nation was allowed to sell these units to industries and even individuals. Based on the nature of industry and processes, each industry was expected to buy a certain amount of units. Failure to comply would result in social stigma besides having to pay extra taxes. In some nations, these units were in shortage and in France, Germany and UK; the price for a unit quickly rose from 50 Euros to 90 Euros per unit. Croci (2011) says that nations such as Russia, Ukraine and many other former USSR satellite nations had huge surpluses and they dumped their AAAs in the market, bringing the market down. It was also seen that during recession, the amount of emissions in ma ny nations reduced and this was mainly due to fewer industries operations. Overall, the market for carbon credit sees a lot of volatility, fluctuations and even price manipulation (Stone, 2010). Existing literature does not examine these aspects or understand the correlation between various drivers. In addition, since the subject of emissions trading is relatively recent, many studies have not been conducted in

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Custom Made Cranial Implants Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Custom Made Cranial Implants - Dissertation Example Other disadvantages of using autografting include donor site morbidity, tissue harvesting difficulties, and high chances of contagion to both the recipient and donor site. Moreover, such drawbacks include additional surgeries to ensure reabsorption of the graft and the availability of highly skilled surgeons to undertake the extensive procedure. Cranial injuries can be because of traumas, fractures, infections or degenerative diseases (Hallermann et al 10). Often, the bone layer remains expansively damaged to an extent that the tissues cannot regenerate and reintegrate to reinstate the patient’s appearance. This has thus prompted the use of cranial implants. Cranial implants are able to specifically adapt to the region of implantation, reduce the surgical time and reinstate the appearance of the patient. Scientists have developed preoperative techniques to enable the surgeons to plan effectively for the surgery and to prepare models for the cranial implants. Visualization techniques have remained greatly embraced to ensure that these preoperative measures are attained (Kozakiewicz et al 32). Computer-assisted design and computer-assisted manufacturing systems are the recent computational techniques that have made the visualization more effective (Kozakiewicz et al 34). Manufacture of the custom-made cranial implants can occur in a number of ways, for example, the use of 3D modeling, radiolucent or electron beam melting technology. They all aim at eliminating the constraints, which have been previously associated with cranial facial surgeries in the past years such as the internal structure, size, shape and mechanical properties of the patient (Schilickewei and Schilickewei et al 15). Cranial implants can be manufactured from a variety of alloplastic materials such as 2 titanium. The material used to make the implant determines its success and longevity of the surgery.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Edgar Allan Poe Essay Example for Free

Edgar Allan Poe Essay Many poets and story writers write their stories based upon events and aspects of their life. They do this because it is so relatable and easy to write about because there is some truth in the words. Edgar Allan Poe is said to be one of these because his stories actually relate to his tragic, love stricken life. He is known to lead an overall depressing life that was full of loss and grief of loved ones. So because of this, Poe suffered most of his life. But although he had many misfortunes, he resorted to his passion of poetry to help him. Poe wrote many stories and poems that both reflected and represented his life. Stories such as Annabel Lee strongly show this as it is about the death of a loved women. Edgar Allan Poe was a mysterious man that accomplished many feats and went on to become one of the world’s most famous poets, although he also had a devastating life. On January 19th, 1809, Edgar Poe was born in Boston (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). He began his tragic life at a young age of three years old when his mother died and father left him (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). Then as an orphan, young Edgar was adopted by his uncle, a tobacco merchant, John Allan, and his wife Frances (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). After years of school, Poe was admitted to the University of Virginia at only sixteen, but stayed for only one semester because of lack of financial aid from Allan (Giordano). Angry with Allan, Poe decided to enlist into the army as a private (Giordano). There, he published his first book in 1827, â€Å"Tamerlane and Other Poems,† and his career as a writer spiraled outward from there (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). Poe continued to write and publish small books, earned little money, and did what he could to get noticed. He soon had another book published and by this point, he had a great fan base and was considered a celebrity in Baltimore (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). His readers felt his work was so unique and sometimes even asked for autographs from Poe. From this publicity, he was earning good money. But the good fortune didn’t last long and he was soon at the poverty level again and moved back and forth from New York to Virginia, submitting stories to and working for different magazines, getting small amounts of money here and there. Then, in 1841, while working for Grahams Magazine (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† NNBD), Poe wrote the first ever detective story, a murder mystery. It was titled â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue† (Giordano). The public had never seen this kind of story so it immediately became famous and Edgar’s fame rose even higher. Poe had created a whole new topic in literature and some agree that this was his greatest contribution to world literature. In the next several years, Poe lost his wife Virginia but continued writing novels and stories in his grief (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Gale). This is said to be a basis for inspirations for his stories such as Annabel Lee and others (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). He once said â€Å"The death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world. † (LeVert 12). When not further loved, Poe tried to commit suicide in Boston (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† NNBD). In this state of depression, Poe wrote the poem â€Å"Annabel Lee† using his favorite theme, the grief a man feels when he loses women (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). Poe died on the October 7th due to complications related to a brain lesion (Giordano). This was the end of the tragic life of poet Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe led an influential but very rough life. He was usually in need of money despite his fame, but wrote a total of 30 books alongside starting a whole new genre of writing. This author/poet wrote some of the best stories and poems and although he wasn’t so lucky in the events of his life, he will always be remembered as a great influence on American Literature. One of the stories Poe wrote relating to the â€Å"death of a beautiful women† was Annabel Lee wrote in 1849, approximately 5 months before his death. This makes sense because throughout his life, Poe had lost many women to death in his life including his mother and his only wife Virginia, who died two years prior to the poem being written (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). There has been debate on who this tragic story is about but most believe that is was truly written for Virginia, who he had married when she was 13 years old and died in 1847 (Giordano). This is supported by the fact that Virginia was Edgar’s only marriage, and the only one of his girlfriends that had died (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). Also, in the poem, the narrator says that he fell in love with â€Å"Annabel Lee† when they were children and he did make her his wife (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). The famous poem is about, again, the death of a beautiful woman named Annabel Lee and the eternal love after death he fells for her. The narrator says that â€Å"even winged seraphs of heaven coveted her and me† meaning that even the angels in heaven were jealous of the love he and Annabel shared (Giordano). Like Poe’s love for Virginia, the narrator expresses great loss and sadness when she dies, losing his one true love. As also implied in the poem, he sits by her grave at night just to be near his loved one. This shows the divine love he had for â€Å"Annabel Lee† (Giordano). Annabel Lee is a prose poem written in the first person and was first published in Sartain’s Union Magazine. As it was so close to his date of death, it was his very last completed poem (â€Å"Edgar Allan Poe† Wikipedia). Edgar Allan Poe had a great impact in the poetry and the overall literature world. He was a very mysterious man who lived a tough life and went through several struggles including death of loved ones. But from these losses and hardships came the inspiration for incredible poems like â€Å"Annabel Lee†. He wrote some of the world’s best poems, short stories, and novels and in doing so introduced the first detective story to America. The inspiring work he produced will be read and cherished forever.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Strategic Analysis Of First Choice Holidays Tourism Essay

Strategic Analysis Of First Choice Holidays Tourism Essay This report is based on the strategic analysis of First Choice Holidays PLC, one of the worlds leading package holiday companies. An analysis of the companys internal and external environments will be undertaken resulting in the researchers findings of the opportunities and threat that the industry faces. A look at the industrys competitive forces will determine show the profitability of different industries and the data found, analysed showing the different external competitive forces that affect organisation and how information can be used to counter them. A strategic analysis of the company will show the companys competitive and financial strength in which the companys strengths and weaknesses will be highlighted. A strategic fit which will indicate whether the companys mission and strategies fits its internal capabilities and its external environment. 1.0 Market Environment Analysis of First Choice Holidays PLC 1.1 History First Choice Holidays PLC, trading name of TUI UK limited is part of the TUI Travel PLC Group of companies, one of the worlds leading travel companies, which operates in over 180 countries. The company boasts of having more than 30 million customers worldwide in 27 key source markets such as the United States, Italy, France, India and the United Kingdom. In addition to First Choice Holidays, the company has over 200 brands which are comprised of market leading mainstream brands and specialist brands. The company operates in four sectors: Mainstream this is the largest sector in terms of the companys financial performance and employee numbers. It comprises of leading tour operators and power brands as well as it operates 146 aircraft and serves 22 million customers. Activity this sector has over 40 activity travel businesses that operate under five divisions which are Marine, Adventure, Ski, Student and Sport. The adventure businesses take more customers to iconic adventure destinations than any other operator and serve 1.1 million customers. Specialist and Emerging markets this is an international portfolio of travel businesses focusing on specific destinations, premium travel experiences or particular customer demographic segments, often with differentiated and exclusive products. Accommodations and Destinations this sector sells and provides a range of services in destination to tour operators, travel agents, corporate clients and direct to consumers worldwide. Some services include hotel accommodations, cruise handling and round trips for customers. TUI Travel operates its headquarters from the U.K and employs approximately 50,000 people in over 200 travel businesses in the world. First Choice Holidays PLC, formerly Owners Abroad (Wholesale) Limited and Owners Abroad PLC was formed in 1973. After launching an airline, Air2000, the company moved into Specialist holidays. The company was restructured and rebranded into First Choice Holidays PLC after several acquisitions and joint ventures with various tour companies and cruise liners. The group then structured itself into four sectors: Mainstream, Activity, Specialist and Online Destination Services before the merger with TUI Travel PLC in 2007. First Choice was awarded the Most Environmentally Responsible Large Tour Operator (2007-2009) from the British Travel Awards. 1.2 Vision and Strategic Goal Since First Choice merged with TUI Travel, it shares the same vision and strategic goals. The companys vision statement is Making Travel Experiences Special. The companys strategic goals are to create superior shareholder value by being the leading global leisure travel group providing its customers with the widest choice of differentiated and flexible travel experiences to meet their changing needs and focusing their strategic initiatives for profitable growth. These include developing the companys business model, continuous efficiency improvements and development of growth opportunities. 1.3 PEST Analysis According to G. Johnson et al. in the text Exploring Corporate Strategy, PEST stands for Political, Economical, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal. It provides a comprehensive list of influences on the possible success or failure of particular strategies that First Choice may face or is facing at present. Political With the governments hiking of aviation taxes and Air Passenger Duty (APD), this causes airline tickets to be expensive, therefore discouraging prospective customers from choosing the package holiday company. Political unrest in some countries may cause customers to decide on not travelling to that particular destination out of fear for their safety. Impact on individual of anti-terror measures likely to increase inconvenience of some travel options. The governments Fuel Price escalator is a way of government making money while protecting the environment by discouraging people to travel less. The May 2010 British elections caused political instability with certain actions destabilising the whole of Europe. The government can form new regulations under which these companies can operate which may or may not be positive. Economical The current inflation rate of the U.K is 3.1% which affects air fares, clothing, food etc. With the rise in petrol fuel which increased by 3% above inflation, customers are feeling the pinch of this and are less likely to choose taking a vacation with any package holiday company. The unemployment rate is at 7.7% which lowered by 0.1% over the last quarter. Having a rise in employment will raise confidence in consumer spending. The UK Pound Sterling Exchange Rate has shown recent developments which are indeed very much favourable for the citizens of the U.K. travelling abroad. At present the UK Pound Sterling Exchange Rate has posted the UK Pound Sterling at nearly double the worth of the US Dollar, which means that when British citizens travel to the U.S. they will be able to draw double bargains for their moneys worth.   Social The number of people purchasing on the internet has been on a constant rise. In 2009, 18.31million U.K households have access to the internet. In a survey it was found that 69% of U.K households use the internet to purchase services related to travel accommodation. Increased popularity of foreign travel leading leads to a boom in demand for air travel. However, this has been adversely affected by international terrorism which causes concern for the safety and security of future package-holiday makers. The interaction between tourists and the chosen host community can be one of the factors that may affect a community as tourists may not be sensitive to local customs, traditions and standards. Peoples life style changes cause package holiday companies to now offer customised packages and online booking facilities to meet customer expectations. Technological Today more companies are choosing to broadcast their products via the internet. Online booking has been one of the biggest factors affecting the package holiday industry. U.K residents are now constantly using the internet to book their holiday trips which saves on time for them as well as providing convenience. Advertising on the internet has been proven to boost sales for companies; more and more people are using the internet as a way to communicate their needs and wants to the outside world. 1.4 Porters Five Forces Analysis Figure 1. The Five Forces That Shape Industry Competition First Choice is in a very dynamic and competitive industry, the Porters Five Forces Model was created to show the profitability of different industries. This model is used for analysing the different external competitive forces that affect organisation and how information can be used to counter them. The following is an analysis using the model: Threat of New Entrants First Choice has direct ownership of its own airline and hotels. New entrants may not have the capital for such an investment and therefore may depend on external airlines and hotels to provide their customer with a service. New competitors may not possess the know-how or have the necessary experience to begin operating a package holiday business. Government regulations provides a list of rules that new competitors have to take into consideration before beginning operation, some of which may pose a problem for beginners in this industry. In an already highly competitive market, there will be the issue of pricing to new competitors. Pricing packages in a way that it may be attractive for holiday travellers without being too low so that it may end up running at a loss. Threat of Substitute Products or Services First Choices main competitor, Thomas Cook, has dropped its prices to compete with them for lowest priced package holidays. If successful, customers may be lead to choose that company and divert from the services of First Choice. Competitors may not possess assets such as its own airline or hotel but offers the same services at a cheaper cost. Destinations that the company may not have package deals for, other competitors may provide causing prospective customers to switch to the competitors services. Bargaining Power of Buyers Buyers can dictate the price of package holidays being that the industry is a highly competitive one. Buyers have a lot more choices on package holiday services to choose from. Market research has shown that buyers are taking fewer 7/14 night packages causing package holiday companies to attempt differentiation and specialisation of certain package deals to cater to those who take shorter trips. The threat of buyers going directly to suppliers is possible. The purchasing of airplane tickets from the airline and the booking of accommodation is an imminent threat to the industry. Convenience is key for todays buyers. With the internet customers would choose the company which can provide the complete package holiday service without leaving the comfort of their homes. Bargaining Power of Suppliers If oil prices rise, suppliers of fuel for the airlines may raise their prices. Fuel suppliers can dictate prices for their product depending on the demand for flights. Taxes applied to the cost price of fuel can affect the cost of package holiday deals. Suppliers will have high negotiation powers for those package companies now entering the market but for those experienced and large companies such as First Choice or Thomas Cook, there will be a balance of power. Rivalry Among Existing Competitors Thomas Cook, the main competitor for First Choice and parent Company TUI Travel, has joined with the company offering cheap package deals which increased the already existing price competition. First Choice was combined with its sister company Thomson award winning airline Thomson Airline to be one of the top package holiday airline in the UK which is acquiring the Boeing 787 Dreamliner which meant it will be a fifth more fuel efficient than its competitors Flybe and Thomas Cook Airlines. Thomas Cook offers a range of financial services that First Choice does not which includes foreign exchange services, their own prepaid currency card and the recent innovation of creating an app for the Iphone and Android phones. 1.5 Industry Life Cycle Figure 2. Industry Life Cycle Source: http://alife4testing.co.uk/ This model is used to showcase which stage the package holiday industry is at current. The industry is currently in the Shakeout stage of the lifecycle. The barriers to entry are currently high, economies of scale have been achieved, forcing smaller companies to be acquired by bigger companies such as TUI Travel and Thomas Cook or exiting all together. 1.6 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) The Critical Success Factors of the package holiday industry will highlight the key factors that present and upcoming companies should focus on that will bring satisfactory results, therefore ensuring successful competitive performance. Creating a consolidated market Combining companies or products into one provides opportunities for significant cost savings as well as revenue synergies. Having more direct ownership of airlines and accommodation suppliers. Having successful product differentiation will attract more customers from segments such as university students. To raise awareness, influence choice, change behaviour, and develop and promote new products to encourage responsible holiday choices. Maximised web sales and content. 1.7 Opportunities and Threats of the Market Environment Having analysed the market environment of the industry, the following will highlight the various opportunities and threats the market faces. INDUSTRY Opportunity Threat To consolidate the market by taking over smaller companies. The opportunity to come up with new innovative products/services because of the changing consumer market. To build new capital to purchase assets such as aeroplanes and cruise ships, reducing dependency of suppliers with that mode of transport. New mergers and strategic alliances to promote the maximisation of synergy profits. To maximise on the use of the internet market, to make it more interactive for consumers. Low cost airline competitors such Ryanair and EasyJet has relatively low prices. Natural disasters that may occur at destinations or the home country. People owning foreign property wont be willing to take a full package holiday, just a cheap flight. People booking their holidays for themselves and not through the package holiday companies. Threat of terrorist attacks may change a customers perception on safety when travelling. Table 1. The Opportunities and Threats of the Package Holiday Industry Having analysed the market environment of the industry, this paper will now take a closer look at First Choice Holidays PLCs strategies which will explain the companys various operations and the resources to get it done. 2.0 Strategic Analysis of First Choice Holidays PLC Strategy is concerned with matching a firms resources and capabilities to the opportunities that arise in the external environment. The following shows the strategic analysis of First Choice and the tools used. 2.1 Value Chain Analysis of First Choice Holidays PLC A Value Chain Analysis describes the activities that take place in a business and relates them to an analysis of the competitive strength of the business. Figure 3. Michael Porters Value Chain Model Source: http://www.12manage.com/images/picture_porter_value_chain.gif The following is the value chain analysis for First Choice Holidays PLC: Inbound Logistics Providing all working material for travel shops and tour operators. Printing of travel brochures. Liaising with suppliers of fuel for Thomson aircraft. Liaising with financial institutions for the supply of various foreign exchange currencies to be made available online and at First Choice travel shops. Communication with various hotels and other sources of accommodation. Hiring of security for airport parking facilities. Operations Booking and pre-payment of hotels and other sources of accommodations for clients at various destinations. Liaising with different tour operators, transport and excursion providers. Booking and pre-payment of excursions providers. Updating the travel website for online booking. Securing flights for various destinations. Liaising with insurance company, Mondial Assistance (UK) Ltd., for travel insurance for customers. Fuelling of aircraft for flights. Ensuring there is enough on board staff for flights. Outbound Logistics Distributing brochures to customers. Distribution of airline tickets or cruise ship passes to customers. Marketing and Sales Online booking as well as a pre-departure website for new and existing customers. The availability of 300 travel shops spread conveniently across the UK. Advertising of the company and airline by television and print also on the companys website. Call centre staff are readily available for customer support. The offering of special package deals at a lower price. Existing customers sharing their experiences about the company through word-of-mouth. Service The service of travel insurance for all customers. Airport parking so that customers can safely use their vehicles and park instead of hiring alternative transport to get them to the there. The service of Travellers cheques is provided to customers who want to purchase foreign currency. Seats on the plane can be reserved before customers travel, making it easier and more comfortable for a family to sit together. Car hires are organised for customers in need of transport during their holiday. Qualified child care-takers or nannies are provided to customers equipped with toys and other equipment from respected UK brands such as Crayola and Little Tikes. Firm Infrastructure The following departments make up First Choices company infrastructure. Sales Marketing Finance and Admin Human Resources Support Engineering and Research Operations IT and IS Human Resource Management Employees are trained to be knowledgeable about the industry and company. Training is done for employees so that they can assist customers with choosing the perfect holiday option for their budget. Nannies for baby-sitting services are trained and qualified with  NNEB/CACHE (or equivalent). Air hostesses are equipped with the necessary first aid and situation response training. Technology Development Continued development online booking and interactive websites such as the pre-departure site. Outbound dialler system was installed to automate the call-in service for agents, giving them guidance through the many services and products First Choice has to offer. A browser-based management information system enables management to access operational and business information to monitor how calls are made. Procurement Research on various locations for new accommodation according to customers needs and wants. Communication with vendors and other tour operators. Acquisition of the necessary technology needed to run the company. The purchasing of new aeroplanes for flights to more destinations at a greater speed. 2.2 The Strategic Capabilities of First Choice Holidays PLC An organisations strategic capabilities are its capacities, resources and skills that create a long-term competitive advantage. The following shows the strategic capability of First Choice. 2.2.1 Resources and Competences Resources Competences Threshold Capabilities Threshold resources Tangible 300 travel shops in the U.K 14,000 employees Airline First Choice Airways Expedition cruise ships Over  £2 billion in assets Intangible 4th largest package holiday company Brand strength Owner of several market leading brands such as 2wentys Falcon Online booking website State of the art communication systems (MO Communicator) A contributor to an  £13.8 billion revenue Threshold competences Deployment of travel shops in various key areas in the U.K. To create a market leading presence in the Russian market through joint ventures The introduction of Microsoft Office Communicator to implement an IP-based voice network to deliver better customer service. Enhancing customers experience online by ways of after-sales services Investments such as yachts, aeroplanes and expedition cruise ships that provide First Choice with a greater competitive advantage. Capabilities for competitive advantage Unique Resources Tangible Boeing 787 Dreamliner aeroplanes that are able to go greater distances and offers greater fuel efficiency. First Choice Holiday Village designed for families and a 5-star spa concept for couples. Intangible Powerful brand with the merger with the largest leisure company in the world. 37 years in the travel and leisure industry. Relationships with suppliers to retain 150 million bed nights per year. Core Competences Operational profitability which allows First Choice to respond to changes in the trading environment. Possessing profitable capacity by having individual flight allows the company to determine optimum seat capacity by each U.K airport and to ensure the most appropriate aircraft fleet size and type are maintained. Consolidation of aircraft fleet as a fuel conservation measure and to reduce the companys direct carbon footprint. Table 2. Resources and Competences of First Choice Holidays PLC 2.3 The Financial Analysis of First Choice Following a look at the companys resources and competences, a brief analysis of the company is needed to see where it stands in the industry. First Choice is a part of TUI Travel PLC, therefore shares in the groups profitability. Having merged with the group, First Choice has contributed to  £93million in synergy profits as well as the groups overall revenue of  £18.6billion. The following shows a break-down of the companys financial capability in the following areas in 2009: 2.3.1 Profitability Gross Profit Margin This is used to assess  a firms financial health by revealing the  proportion of money left over from revenues after accounting for the cost of goods sold. The companys Gross Profit Margin stood at 8.4% in 2009, an improvement of 1.1% of the previous year. This shows that the companys pricing strategies have been effective. Net Profit Margin This is used to show how much profit a company makes for every  £1 it generates in  revenue  or  sales.  The companys net profit margin stood at -0.77% which states which has improved over the previous year of -2.1%. Therefore this shows a rise in efficiency after all expenses and that have been considered. Return On Assets This gives an idea as to how efficient  management is  at using its assets to generate earnings. The company earned 0.3% from invested capital (assets) compared to 2008s -1.4% loss. As a result this shows the company is earning more money on less investment. Return on Equity This shows the amount of net income  returned  as a percentage  of shareholders equity. The company showed a 1.2% profit made from shareholder investments, a rise from the previous year -0.1%. Thomas Cook, the companys main competitor had a higher return at 2.37%. 2.3.2 Liquidity Current Ratio This is used to determine a companys ability to pay off its  short-terms debts obligations. The companys current ratio stands at 3:5 which means they can pay off its obligations should it become due at that point. Acid Test Ratio This indicates  whether a firm has enough short-term assets to cover its immediate liabilities without selling inventory. The company showed a ratio of 1:2 for 2009, which means that the company has enough liquid assets to cover an unexpected drawdown of liabilities. 2.3.3 Leverage or Debt Debt to Equity Ratio This indicates what proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets. The company showed a ratio of -3% which means that they were not aggressive in financing its growth with debt and has the ability to repay loans. Total Debt to Total Assets This is used to measure a companys financial risk by determining how much of the companys assets have been financed by debt. The company showed a ratio of 3:4 meaning that 75% of the companys assets are financed by the creditors or debt (and therefore 25% is financed by the owners). 2.3.4 Activity (see Appendix) Asset Turnover This shows the amount of sales generated for every dollars worth of assets. The company showed a ratio of 1.5 which means for every dollar in total asset spent they gain 1.5 in revenue compared to the industrys 0.34 ratio. Despite a drop in revenue, the company still remained profitable and above its competition. It is seen that the company has an edge and is inviting for any investor. The following shows the companies. The following shows the strengths and weaknesses of the First Choice. First Choice Holidays PLC Strengths Weaknesses One of the market leaders in the package holiday industry both domestically and globally. Technologically advanced, creating new ways using technology to make decisions on their own without going physically to an agent. Offers a wide range of comprehensive services that customers enjoy. Ability to consolidate the market. Inability to fully penetrate the Western market resulting in dependency on the European market for revenues. As at August 2010, there was a consistent decrease in bookings following the recurrence of airspace closures, the emergency budget and the UK weather. Accounting errors on the part of executives. 3.0 The Strategic Fit Analysis of First Choice Holidays PLC Strategic fit indicates how well the First Choice Holidays mission and strategies fit its internal capabilities and its external environment. First Choice is the 4th largest package holiday company in the UK. Its main competitors are Airtours, Thomas Cook and its sister company Thomson Holidays, currently Thomsons dominates the industry. According to Investopedia, competitive advantages give a company an edge over its rivals and an ability to generate greater value for the firm and its shareholders. The more sustainable the advantage, the more difficult it is for competitors to neutralize the advantage. It is the companys competitive advantage that allows it to earn excess returns for its members. Having a competitive advantage is important to First Choice because without it, the company will have no economic reason to exist and will just simply wither away. Through the analysis done in this essay, although First Choice is ranked as #4, it still holds an advantage on its competitors. First Choice used the strategy of backward integration, meaning the company purchased suppliers in order to reduce dependency. An example of this would be its own airline and the First Choice Holiday Village. The acquisition of new aeroplanes, the Boeing 787 Dreamliners, would prove to be a major advantage as consumers are now taking responsibility for the environment and with these aeroplanes; the company will showcase environmental performance by reducing their carbon emissions. Having these assets will give First Choice the advantage of delivering products or services of a higher value at a cheaper price, as a result gain cost leadership. Using the internet for online sales has maximised their profits also the company retained their customers while gaining new ones. The companys liquidity and financial situation is stable despite a drop in revenue in 2009, with that they are capable of market consolidation. An example of that would be the acquisition of C.I.T Holidays, a UK based company with extensive operations in Spain and Italy. First Choice has a long history within the industry along with experience. They have proven to be well prepared to any changing environment. The company has achieved high economies of scale because of its access to larger market allowing them to operate with greater geographical reach. They have the ability to create value for money to its customers and have shown to be innovative by way of creating differentiated products such as its pre-departure website, an after-sales service. 3.1 The SWOT Analysis of First Choice Holidays The SWOT Analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firms resources and capabilities to the competitive environment it operates. First Choice Holidays PLC Strength One of the market leaders in the industry. Ability to offer differentiated products/services. Commitment to customer service. Wealth of knowledge of the industry. Backward Integration which made them spread across the value chain. Strong distribution channels, the strongest being online sales. Weakness A 13.5% reduction in package prices because of a decrease in sales as a result of the recession and events such as the volcano ash disruption in mid-April 2010. A loss of  £69million in revenue in 2009 compared to the year before. Opportunities Further expansion through acquisitions and mergers. With new mergers and alliances, an opportunity to create synergy profits arise. Threat Airlines and hotels are now offering package deals. Threat to Thomson Airlines from low cost airlines such as Ryanair. Terrorist threats or attacks will change customers perception of safety when travelling. In conclusion, First Choice Holidays PLC is strategically fit and has a high advantage over the competition. The company is seen to be attractive for investment, although their profits fell for the previous financial year and sister company Thomson Holiday still stands at number one, but with new products underway, there may be a positive change.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Ku Klux Klan :: essays papers

Ku Klux Klan To my dear parents, I regret to inform you that by the time you are reading this I will have begun my journey west. Times have grown harsh I can no longer bear to live in the shadows of this family’s actions. As I have grown, it has become more difficult for me to deny the actions of daddy and uncle Wesley. While you have done everything you can to raise me in your image, your actions outside of our house have made that impossible. You have imposed your views of racial hatred and prejudice on me for long enough. Now that I am sixteen I am able to see what you really are: scared to lose your job to a colored man who would work twice as hard as you for half the money. The day will come when your actions will comeback to haunt you. As years pass you will realize that your hatred for an innocent race has cost you what could have been a beautiful relationship with your only son. Word of the klan’s latest hate crime has reached me, and I can only assume your involvement. I consider all these events awful random acts of fear and hatred but this one especially perturbed me. People won’t respond to your weak attempts at instilling fear in them. You burn a cross; you kill a cat; while its wrong I can live with it, however when you decide to end the life of another person over a mere four acres of land I can not stand by and say nothing. While the elderly coupled you brutally massacred was nothing but two useless defiant niggers to you, they were friends to me. They were the family that you could never be. They cared about me and did not force me into their beliefs. Everyday while you forced me to slave away my childhood in the grocery store to pay for your acts of bigotry, the Holberts took me in as one of their own. Mr. Holbert began working at the market for almost eight months ago and did amazing work. He was a good man who would never turn down another man in need. That’s much more than I could ever say about you. You and Wesley along with half of Lake City sat around eating your deviled eggs and drinking your lemonade (Ezparsa 2) while two innocent citizens with the same rights as you and I fell victim to a mob of scared white trash.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Nazis View of Marriage :: Marriage Germany History Essays

Nazi's View of Marriage The National Socialist Party quickly turned heads in July 14th, 1933 through the Law Concerning the Formation of New Parties, by declaring itself the only political party that was "allowed to exist in the Third Reich" (156.HCCR). Soon thereafter, the political perception the Nazis were likely to enforce would transform the whole view of German culture, economy, race, and especially, the way German individuals emotionally and physically interacted with one another. One relationship in the German state that stood out in my mind was the Nazi’s view of marriage, its purpose, its use and its representation in the German state. The Nazi’s perceived marriage as a processing factory, where each partner had certain roles and purposes to fulfill. Through the creation of speeches, art and laws, the relationship that would stand to the occasion in representing the Third Reich was the relation between man and woman...marriage. Thesis Statement: Marriage defined the Volksgemeinschaft, or â€Å"community of people,† of Germany because it was the basis relationship that connected the small world of the household to the larger German community. Also, marriage made it rightfully possible to produce "pure blood" German children with the genetically correct German parents. Marriage was so vital to the Nazis because it was the true basis of their socio-political perspectives. In effect, see if you agree with my thesis students...In order to define Volksgemeinschaft, the Nazis constructed marriage by associating the relationship with modeled public male and private female roles, and with the assumption of procreating â€Å"pure blood† Aryan children. The Nazis used marriage to define their Volksgemeinschaft because it enforced the vertical relationship in marriage into the Nazi based society and it would help increase the capacity and population of the Aryan race. How the Nazi’s constructed marriage: Part one Nazis constructed marriage to define their â€Å"community of people† by associating the relationship with modeled public male and private female roles. In the Nazis perspective, marriage was no longer a physical or emotional attraction between a man and a woman, yet it became a small system within a larger system that would sustain both the German households and the German society. Marriage soon became defined as a modeled system when Hitler depicted the Nazi‘s preferences in a speech to the National Socialist Women‘s section on September 8th, 1934.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Program of the National Socialist German Workers Party :: Nazi Germany Hitler Jewish Essays

The Program of the National Socialist German Workers' Party Germany under the rule of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party believed they were superior to the peoples of all other nations and all individual efforts were to be performed for the betterment of the German State. Germany’s loss in World War I resulted in the Peace Treaty of Versailles, which created tremendous economic and social hardships on Germany. Germany had to make reparations to the Allied and Associated Governments involved in World War I. As a result, Adolf Hitler gradually embarked upon his rise to power in Germany creating the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. As part of the surrender terms of World War I, Germany was forced to sign the Peace Treaty of Versailles, which held Germany responsible for the war. The country went bankrupt, millions of Germans were without work and food, and the nation was in despair and turmoil. Adolf Hitler’s rise to power began during these very difficult economic and social times. In the fall of 1 919, Hitler began to attend meetings of a small nationalist group called the German Workers’ Party. Hitler soon took control over the group and renamed it the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. The group later became known as the Nazi Party. The Nazis called for the union into one nation of all Germans. They demanded that citizens of non-German descent or of the Jewish religion be deprived of German citizenship and also called for the annulment of the Peace Treaty of Versailles. These demands were the primary cause for the Nazi Party to compose the document The Program of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party in 1920. Hitler blamed the Jews for the evils of the world. He believed a democracy would lead to communism. Therefore, in Hitler’s eyes, a dictatorship was the only way to save Germany from the threats of communism and Jewish treason. The Program of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party was the instrument for the Nazis to convince the German people to put Hitler into power. Point one of the document states, â€Å"We demand the union of all Germans in a great Germany on the basis of the principle of self-determination of all peoples.† 1 This point explicates the Nazi proposition that Germany will only contain German citizens and also, that these citizens would display his or her self-determination towards Germany to the fullest.

Constant Critics of Monopolies

Monopolies are under constant critics from the public and other producers of being polutive, straining to competition and they are accused of worsening resource allocation. Whether this is true or not, depends on the specific company, but certain characteristics are possible to define. It is these I will describe in the following, and hence conclude if monopolies worsen or improve It is important to distinguish between competition and monopoly before describing advantages and disadvantages of both. Many monopolies are government owned. This means that the incentive to trive for more profit, better conditions etc. is gone. This is due to the fact that, if there is a loss, the government will cover it, and government owned companies seldom strive to achieve maximum profits. A lot of the characteristics are also seen in privately owned monopolizing firms. When they become so big, that competition is practically gone, the incentive to make even more profits, and In a competitive industry this is not the case. The fear of loosing your job, not being able to compete, your products becoming obsolete etc. re important factors, which stimulate productivity. It is therefor obvious that the competitive industry will try harder to allocate their resources in the most efficient way. To land, the external costs in a competitive industry will often be pollution, seeing that the firm will strive hard to diminish their costs resulting in the firm ignoring ‘unnecessary' costs. The monopoly owned by the government, would never be able to ignore such a serious matter, and they would have to pay the costs. A monopoly would also have to be careful not to damage its image, seeing that is, in many cases, already is unpopular. Capital, on the other hand, is often to the benefit of a monopoly, since they produce at a large scale. To fully utilize capital, a lot of labour is needed, labour which a monopoly is expected to have, and a smaller competitive firm may lack. For example, a blast furnace might need a crew of 24 men working night and day, to fully utilize it. The monopolizing company may be able to provide the men, but the smaller firm might not have the money to hire all the 24 men at night, seeing wages are much higher at then. The question then is if the competitive company is so much more efficient due to ard work, that they still can produce more than the monopoly. When it comes to labour, it is obvious that a competitive industry will strive to utilize the workers at a maximum level, due to the desire of minimizing costs, and workers will in general be very efficient due the reasons mentioned above. The workers in a monopoly, often loose the feeling, that their work makes a difference in the firm, making it hard for managers to fully In my opinion, the characteristics described above are not as valid any more. Companies, which enjoyed monopoly status in the eginning of the 80's, like IBM, are now realizing that nothing lasts forever, and they have be innovative, even if the competition is not a great threat. Bill Gates, owner of MicroSoft, has very admirable policies concerning this. His firm is not a monopoly, but it is definably a cutting-edge firm, which is shaping the future. One rule he has, is that every six months the bottom five percent of the company's workforce (in terms of performance) get firedo. It is his goal to make his own products obsolete, not letting others do it, and it seems he is achieving that goal.

Monday, September 16, 2019

“The World Is Blue” Reflection Essay

Kylee Luckett BIO 106 Dr. Harper 4/10/2012 â€Å"The World is Blue† Sylvia Earle Review and analysis by: Kylee Luckett â€Å"It is our choices†¦ that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. † -Albus Dumbledore They say only a few will ever speak loud enough to be heard over the other seven billion voices on the planet. Today someone is shouting. Screaming off of the pages of â€Å"The World is Blue† is Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Society’s Explorer in Residence, and vast contributor to the effort to preserve the planet’s oceans.Earle’s book is not an inconvenient truth, fueled by politics and funding, but rather, by Earle’s heart for the ocean, and its unique residents. Earle explores conflict and resolution, one chapter and issue at a time. Taking Marine Wildlife: The elephant in the room Earle utilizes her chapter on fish to call the world out on the elephant in the room-overfishing. Earle discusses how at one time in history, people believed that there was an infinite amount of fish to be caught, that there would never be a day when we would see something as popular as tuna, go extinct.We are sitting on the eve of â€Å"that day. † Earle really brings out the reality of overfishing, almost mocking our early ideas of sustainable yield. â€Å".. but those pesky animals didn’t obey the rules.. So what’s wrong with the concept of sustainable yield? † (Earle) Earle makes keen note that you cannot possibly create a concept of sustainability, when you know next to nothing about the species you are supposedly â€Å"yielding†. Earle debunks the idea of a surplus in the ocean of a healthy ecosystem, stating â€Å"What APPEARS to be an overabundance to human observers is a natural insurance policy†¦ (Earle) Earle applies the same idea of questionable yield to marine mammals. She spends a fair amount of this chapter on the touchy subject that is almost alway s controversial-whaling. She lends a nod to her own initial ignorance of marine mammals in an honest confession. â€Å"I had come to regard the cats, dogs, horses, squirrels and rabbits I knew personally as individuals, but I did not think of whales the same way. † (Earle) She goes on there after, to explain her emotional experience of â€Å"meeting† a whale, and her forever changed perspective.Whaling is just the tip of the iceberg or in this case, melting glacier, for Earle. Earle shifts into the amount of marine mammals killed as â€Å"by catch†, and the epidemic that breeds within the fishing industry. What would the world think if in fact the by catch of their tuna salad was the faithful Flipper? Would they still feel safe about their claimed â€Å"dolphin safe† tuna? I recall my six year old self, carefully checking each can of tuna my mother placed in our shopping cart, seeking out that little smiling dolphin to confirm that my lunch would be free of dolphin massacre.So much has changed since those would be conservation efforts. Earle does not forget to mention the smaller, less thought of creatures-the shellfish. Earle opens her chapter with a history lesson centered on oysters, at one time in our history- she notes â€Å"†¦. they were described as hazards to navigation. † (Earle) Today, few would ever say abundant in the same sentence as oysters. Earle pay homage to the importance of the shellfish in our ocean, discussing everything from clams to my personal favorite-the octopus, whom Earle notes as a critical part of the ocean’s health.Earle closes her shellfish segment with a sentence that hits close to home. â€Å"I have decided to cease and desist, hoping that every lobster I don’t eat, will increase the chances that somewhere a lobster might live, and do what lobsters do as a part of a healthy ocean. † (Earle) With that statement, I immediately connected on a personal level to Earle. As a devout vegetarian, I too, have hopes that every animal I do not eat, will aid in the future of that species, and ultimately, our planet’s future. She lends advice however, to these dynamic and complex issues- and it is all so simple.Do not take, what you cannot replace, and do not take what you know nothing about. The world is a vampire- sent to drain. Earle’s second major concept of her book is the relentless greed of the human race. Through pollution, ignorance, and pillaging of all resources, the human race has become that of a vampire species, feeding off of the seductive lure of power, money, and claim that our planet’s oceans bring. A particular lipstick wearing, wolf hunting politician made a statement that is becoming unanimous with most of America today- â€Å"Drill baby, drill. For the unknowing, that is Sarah Palin, a woman who agrees with offshore, and in some cases, onshore drilling. The topic of oil is sensitive. Do you drill in former wildlife and marine reserves to avoid wars with your supplying companies? Most of America, even the left minded Barak Obama was nodding to the idea of on and offshore drilling in the United States’ backyard. The steadily rising price of fuel and oil are making more Americans nod yes, than ever before. Earle is shaking her head no. largely because the action occurs underwater, out of the public view, little attention has focused on what actually happens on the ocean floor where drilling takes place, or what creatures are displaced by the thousands of miles of pipeline laced across the bottom†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Earle)Despite my serious vendetta against Sarah Palin, I myself, had not actually considered the impact of pipelines on the ocean floor, I was always more focused on oil spills and the tragedies which take place thereafter. Earle does make serious mention of oil spills, reliving the Exxon Valdez casualty that permanently damaged the Alaskan shoreline.The book even features the text of Earle’s testimony before Congress on the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is not the spills, the pipelines, or the seeping of the oil that sets a tic for Earle†¦ it’s the use of the oil itself. The subject everyone has heard about, even if they didn’t want to. It doesn’t take Al Gore to make one think or hear about climate change. The 1950’s were a time for poodle skirts, milkshakes, and good old fashion family values, along with cigarettes, seat beltless cars, and DDT. My point is it should not stun anyone that emissions are impacting the planet in a â€Å"negative† way.Earle seems to feel the same. â€Å"Civilization currently thrives on oil based economies, and is continuing to do so despite herculean efforts to move away from fuels that pollute the planet today and will potentially shorten the number of tomorrows our species will have. † (Earle) Sylvia Earle is not an extreme leftist; she is an educated woman who has worked beside oil engineer leaders, government officials, and offshore experts. I believe it is these credentials that make her so magnetic, and tune readers’ thoughts to her direction. Her powerhouse chapter on oil has n Achilles’ heel, her lack of insight on solution. It is not as though she has an answer and it is not as if she is not willing to share, it is that no one has a surefire way to reroute the flight of emissions. This chapter, though mind-blowingly effective, still has an unfinished climax, much like our planet. Uneducated or Unwilling to learn? Earle is consistently using the same explanation throughout her book as to why individuals are not taking more action. In every chapter, she highlights examples of attitudes and expressions from people associated to the topic.Earle’s book is one of the tools our society now has to combat the epidemic of the uneducated on the subject of anthropogenic damage to nature. There is not a single environmental ist who at one time did not face the reality transition of a need for change. The issue is entirely complex and tedious because alongside the uneducated, are the unwilling. There has been an outward cry on the subject of climate change from Christians, denouncing it as political corruption, or that climate change is merely an effect listed in the book of Revelations.Earle does not seem to let the major issue of uneducated and unwilling affect her view on the future. She positively lists the strides being made to better understand the ocean. In Earle’s closing chapters, it is as if she is taking the reader by the hand, and showing how we can all make a difference. I found Earle’s book to be stirring. I have definitely become something of a cheerleader for Earle after reading this book. As a woman pursuing conservation science as a career, I found Earle to be a keen example of what one person can do in their field that can change the thoughts of others worldwide.Earle to ok her opportunity as an author, and produced an extraordinary document that covers every issue associated with the ocean and humans, but goes a step beyond outlining what’s wrong. Earle uniquely includes what is right, and what is currently being done to change the course of the future. I have read several books on environmental issues, and none have so effectively utilized the opportunity to educate and motivate individuals like Earle has done in her book. Earle has motivated me to keep fighting the good fight. I often struggle over if my work with polar bears ill ever be worth anything, and Earle’s book was the push I needed to continue on. Even if I do not know the outcome, at least I can say, I have made the effort in my lifetime to try. Earle sets a standard for each reader, to simply make choices in favor of the planet, and its oceans. We may not all have the ability to write books, give speeches, or work directly alongside the ocean, but we all have choices we can make to better our tomorrow. We are living in a time of great uncertainty, and are all faced with a forked road ahead of us.One leads us to certain extinction, the other to opportunity to at least try to change for the better. The world is blue today, but what will it look like tomorrow? What will our children see when they look to the sea? The answer lies entirely on our willingness to change. Will we be the generation who turned the course of the planet around? Or will we be the generation who had the opportunity and denied our own species, and so many others a future? Works Cited Earle, Sylvia A. The World is Blue. Washington DC: National Geographic, 2009.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Integrating Facebook In Teaching And Learning Education Essay

In this information age people are interacting with a assortment of new engineerings that people in different places try to utilize them to ease their occupations and come up with good consequences. Educators are besides be givening to utilize those engineering tools for more effectual instruction and acquisition by prosecuting and actuating scholars in the acquisition procedure. One of those technological tools is societal networking web sites. Among societal networking web sites facebook is the most popular one which has sucked a immense sum of young person to utilize it for communicating and practical societal interaction. As a effect, many instructors are trying to do a usage of facebook to better the larning out comes and do the acquisition more interesting to the scholars sing to the young person battle in the facebook use and the monolithic sum of clip which they spend in this practical environment. On the other manus, it is important for the pedagogues to cognize which type o f larning manner can profit more from utilizing this sort of engineering or whether there is a large difference in willingness of different acquisition manners for disbursement clip in facebook or non. Facebook is the most used societal web by worldwide active users which was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004 as Harvard-only societal web site. This societal web web site was able to pull a immense sum of users specially youth in a short period of clip. Right now it has more than 500 million active users around the universe. Actually, Facebook is defined as â€Å" a societal public-service corporation that helps people portion information and communicate more expeditiously with their friends, household, and coworkers † ( facebook.com ) . Although at first facebook was launched as Harvard societal web but developed to affect and prosecute other high school pupils, professionals inside corporate webs, and finally everyone who have entree to the on-line universe ( Cassidy, 2006 ) . Facebook allows users to make a personal profile while leting for information sharing, communicating, exposure albums, making a friends list, organizing or using to societal involvement groups, and different sorts of on-line games. In drumhead, Facebook members can portion their exposures, send messages, chat, tag themselves or others on exposures, write on friends ‘ walls, articulation groups, create new groups, portion thoughts in group treatments, add sorts of applications, and play games in Facebook. Facebook has been accessed by 1000000s of users in a short clip while going a portion of users ‘ day-to-day lives ( Ellison, Steinfield, & A ; Lampe, 2007 ; Selwyn, 2007a ) . Some maps and capablenesss of facebook such as enabling equal feedback, goodness of tantrum with societal context, and interaction tools make facebook an educational tool ( Mason, 2006 ) . Learning Manners The impression of larning manners is all about the ways which a scholar prefers to utilize when he/she is larning and retrieving new cognition ( Funda Dag & A ; Aynur Gecer, 2009 ) . Furthermore, Simsek ( 2001 ) stated that larning manner is a group of factors which determines how the pupils psychologically perceive, interact and response to larning environments. Harmonizing to Felder ( 1996 ) , every scholar prefers to larn otherwise. Some scholars can larn in an synergistic relationship with their friends and instructors and sing things by themselves, the others learn with a ocular presence of stuffs and information, and some scholars prefer to do usage of written stuffs and they agree that verbal accounts are more helpful to them. Therefore cognizing about the acquisition manners of the scholars is of import either for pedagogues or scholars. It could be utile for instructors because they will acquire a clear thought about how to learn persons with different larning penchants and besides it would be effectual for scholars to cognize how they learn better and easier. Indeed, there are some popular theoretical accounts to categorise larning manners such as ; David kolb ‘s theoretical account, Honey and mumford ‘s theoretical account, Anthony Gregorc ‘s theoretical account, Sudbury theoretical account of democratic instruction, and Fleming ‘s VAK/VARK theoretical account of larning manners. For the purpose of this survey Fleming ‘s VAK/VARK study was used to research different larning manners of research participants and see how different acquisition manners spend clip in facebook. VARK study tool was created in 1998 to research persons ‘ different acquisition manners. Alkhasawneh, Mrayyan, Docherty, Alashram, Yousef, ( 2007 ) , described ; â€Å" aˆÂ ¦VARK is based upon cognitive development work by Bruner ( 1967 ) and Piaget ( 1990 ) who argued that worlds assimilate environmental cognition through four centripetal modes: ocular, aural, reading and composing, and kinaesthetic ( utilizing tactile centripetal abilities such as a odor and touch ) . VARK is an acronym for Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic ( Fleming, 2004 ) . VARK is an instrument that is speedy and easy for pupils to utilize and understand. It creates an consciousness of larning manners and provides motive to seek betterments in their acquisition penchant. †MethodInstrument Data is collected by administrating an online and manual study. The study is consists of two subdivisions, the first subdivision leads participants to an on-line VARK questionnaire ( http: //vark-learn.com/english/page.asp? p=quetionnaire ) . Students are required to describe their tonss in an online VARK acquisition manners questionnaire in the manual questionnaire. The 2nd portion of the manual questionnaire consists of two parts. In the first portion, participants were required to reply five demographic inquiries include of their name, age, electronic mail reference, gender, facebook ID. Furthermore, the topographic point where they have normally entree to the Internet, length of clip spent online in facebook, and their rank in any academic group were collected. The 2nd portion, 5-point Likert graduated table with 6 inquiries, was measured participants ‘ clip spent for different activities in facebook. These six inquiries were developed by research worker based on different maps exist in facebook and different activities that a facebook user is able to make. Participants Data was collected from 36 signifier four Malayan Chinese pupils ( 14 Male and22 female ) from SMJK Kwang Hua School in province of Selangor, Kelang. The whole of participants are at the age of 16 old ages old. Two pupils of these 36 are non facebook users. The questionnaires were distributed among pupils and they were expected to make full up them at place sing to their entree to the Internet at place to make full up larning manners questionnaire.Date analysis and consequencesLearning manners:Learning MannersOcularAuralRead/WriteKinestheticEntireMaleFemaleFrequency88614361422Table1: Frequency of each learning manner among participants Harmonizing to pupils ‘ studies on their acquisition manners tonss, among 36 signifier 4 pupils, there are 14 kinaesthetic ( 39 % ) , six read/write ( 17 % ) , eight aural ( 22 % ) , and eight visual ( 22 % ) . The consequences validated this statement from Suffolk County Council ( 2002 ) , â€Å" It has been estimated that up to 37 % of the population are kinaesthetic scholars†¦ . †Different acquisition manners and clip spent in facebookData was collected shows that there are some differences among different larning manners on clip spent in facebook and different activity penchants. The holla tabular array showsQ1: E-PQ2: CHAQ3: ObQ4: ActQ5: W-VQ6: SHAfb/Internetnorm of clip devouring in fbOcular1.252.253.52.52153 %8.1Aural0.752.53.753.252.751.553.5 %5.5Read/Write0.81.62.42.42272 %6.5Kinesthetic0.613.3843.382.921.2364 %8.2Mean0.852.433.412.882.411.43South dakota0.27 0.730.70.50.480.42Table 2: Average of clip spent for each activity in facebook by different acquisition manners scholars Indeed, this tabular array shows ocular and kinaesthetic scholars spend the highest clip ( 8.1 & A ; 8.2hour/week ) among other scholars in facebook whereas, aural scholars spend the lowest clip in facebook ( 5.5hour/week ) among other scholars. Another consequence which is interesting is that read/write scholars spend about 72 per centum of their clip online in facebook. Chart 1: Different activities in facebook ; Q1: E-P: Educational Purposes Q2: CHA: Chatting Online With Friends Q3: Ob: Reading or Detecting What Others Do Q4: Act: Doing Activities in Facebook Q5: W-V: Watching Videos Q6: SHA: Sharing News and Information about School Harmonizing to the above tabular array and chart ocular, aural, and kinaesthetic scholars spend the highest clip in facebook â€Å" lurking † or reading others ‘ stations while read/write scholars spend an equal clip in facebook lurking and besides to make activities such as composing a position or uploading a image. In fact, pupils with different sorts of tilting manners spend the highest clip in facebook to detect and read whatever their friends do or skulking. On the other manus, pupils with any acquisition manners spend the lowest clip in facebook for educational intents. In fact, ocular scholars spend the highest clip ( 1.25 hour/week ) for educational intents among other larning manners where as kinaesthetic scholars spend the lowest clip ( 0.61 hour/week ) for educational intents. Kinesthetic scholars spend the highest clip ( 3.38 hours/week ) to chew the fat with their friends while read/write scholars spend the lowest clip ( 1.6 hours/week ) to chew the fat with their friends among other larning manners. Kinesthetic scholars spend the highest clip ( 4 hours/week ) to detect and read others ‘ activities while read/write learning manner scholars spend the lowest clip ( 2.4 hours/week ) . Kinesthetic scholars spend highest clip to make activities in facebook ( 3.38 hours/week ) while read/write learning manner scholars spend the lowest clip ( 2.4 hours/week ) . Kinesthetic scholars spend the highest clip to watch picture in facebook ( 2.93 hours/week ) , while ocular and read/write scholars spend the lowest clip ( 2 hours/week ) . Read/write scholars manner spend highest clip ( 2 hours/week ) to portion intelligence and information about school and classs while ocular scholars spend the lowest clip ( 1 hour/week ) . Students with read/write larning penchant spend 72 % of their clip online in facebook which it shows although they are non on-line every bit much as others but they spend most of their clip in facebook.Findingss and Discussi onThis survey aimed to calculate out the sum of clip spent in facebook for pupils with different larning manners and besides to happen out activity penchants of facebook users with different larning manners. Sing to the consequences there are some differences in clip spent in facebook for different acquisition manners. For case, the consequences show that ocular and kinaesthetic scholars claimed more clip spent in facebook so it can be concluded that this environment is more interesting and prosecuting to these types of scholars but it does n't intend that this environment is non suited for the other types of scholars with different larning manners like aural or read/write scholars. So any type of larning manners can profit from this environment and instructors can do a smart usage of this societal web web site to prosecute pupils in larning procedure and besides to enrich their acquisition. Furthermore, consequences show that each type of larning manners is interested in skulking o r reading and detecting whatever others do. In this respect, instructors should take into see this sort of pupils ‘ involvement in their instruction schemes and teaching methods. Actually, this is the teacher function to plan, construction, and program in a manner to do the facebook an educational environment. It can be done when a instructor uses facebook in a manner it is and in a manner that it engages pupils to remain in it for a long clip. Teachers should look at the nature of facebook and inquire themselves what has made the facebook popular like this. What is the facebook power that keeps people interested about it? To reply these inquiries some researches should be done. Harmonizing to some surveies that have been done, societal presence and interaction among people could be a ground for this attraction. People enjoy of societal interactivities and showing their sentiments in societal environment. They like to talk out to show themselves and they have wonder to cognize about others. Many instructors tend to utilize facebook for educational purposes because they know most of pupils are interested in utilizing facebook but they face some challenges in the manner of utilizing it because they want to utilize it in a similar manner that they use any other online tools like wikis, moodle, or educational web sites whereas, facebook has a different nature. Teachers can believe about facebook in a different manner. In a manner to reenforce face to confront schoolroom larning. They should inquire pupils to come to the facebook and portion their perceptual experiences, believes, thoughts, sentiments, and definitions about different constructs and topics to acquire more familiar with each other ‘s perceptual experiences, acquire more thoughts about different educational affairs and open up their heads about different affairs. For case, a mathematics instructor begins learning fractions in schoolroom and so asks pupils to take part in their class facebo ok group and reply the instructor ‘s inquiry. The inquiry could be why do we hold to larn fraction? Why it is of import to larn about fraction and it can be used in our life? To reply these inquiries pupils have to believe, hunt, and explore and so come up with different replies and discuss with their schoolmates about their findings. Right now, the instructor can do certain that they are more interested in larning fraction because they know how of import is the acquisition of this subject and furthermore they will be more curiose to see is their sentiments and thoughts about fraction comes true or non. Actually this survey has some restrictions. First, because the information was collected from merely 36 Chinese race pupils, it could non be generalized. In add-on, it has been limited to a study method. The consequences could be more accurate if there were some qualitative methods of informations aggregation.DecisionSocial webs, particularly facebook are used by a immense sum of pupils anyplace in the universe. As a consequence, most of instructors are interested in utilizing this societal environment to prosecute pupils in larning procedure. It is important for instructors to cognize whether facebook is suited for all pupils with any type of larning penchants or non. This survey showed that ocular and kinaesthetic scholars spend more clip in facebook but it does n't intend that the other types of acquisition manners do n't utilize facebook. Indeed, it depends more on instructors to take the best scheme to suit the demands of any type of larning penchants. Teachers should reply this inquiry ; â€Å" How to prosecute my pupils in an academic facebook group? † or â€Å" what makes the facebook so popular among young person and how to do a usage of this characteristic to prosecute pupils in larning activities? † This survey has been done on a little group of participants ( 36, 16 twelvemonth old pupils ) . Further surveies should be done on mo re sums of samples. Furthermore, some surveies should be conducted to happen out in which manner educational usage of facebook can be more interesting for scholars.