Dangers of tetracycline and Treating gum disease Essay

Dangers of tetracycline and Treating gum disease - Essay Example Tetracycline is also known to cause teeth staining when the first teeth of the baby erupts (Tetracyclines). Delivery of therapeutic agent in an appropriate manner is highly imperative in the treatment of disease condition. Dental disease treatment especially the condition of periodontal disease is troublesome for the patient. Therapeutic agents such as tetracycline is used to treat periodontal disease condition. The delivery of drug is done using an agent called ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, which is a polymeric matrix. The drug tetracycline is delivered using this polymeric matrix. One of the advantage of this method of delivery is that it provides a constant therapy to the site of infection. However, the disadvantage of the therapeutic method is that it results in discoloration of teeth (yellow or brown or grey) or stunted bones in children (Intra-pocket drug delivery devices for treatment of periodontal

Russian Cultural Differences in Business Essay Example for Free

Russian Cultural Differences in Business Essay First of all, considering that Russian is my native language, I will warn that it is extremely hard for an American to learn Russian. Grammar is difficult, and we use the Cyrillic alphabet. But this will not be a big problem because every person with higher education in Russia speaks English fluently; we start learning English from 2-3 grades at school. Secondarily, names. Referring to one another by the first name is acceptable only between truly close friends, when meeting with someone-simply state your last name. Typically, Russians use three names: the first name, the last name, middle name is fathers first name, known as a patronymic. Here is an example, I will use my name: Elvira Viktorovna Stasescu. When you become well familiar with an individual, you may be asked to call him or her by the first and patronymic names. One more thing to remember, this made me confused when I came to USA, the date format. Here is the order of the date-06/04/2012; this is today’s date, which is April 4th 2012. Physical contact among Russians is uncommon, especially if you see the person for the first time. Although some gestures may be used, be cautious to control your own. The American OK (thumb and index finger) and ‘V’ signs are offensive gesticulations in Russia. Smacking the open hand over a fist can also be a bad-mannered gesture. Standing with your hands in your pockets may be considered impolite. The thumbs-up signal is positive as it indicates agreement. Eye contact should be recurrent, nearly to the point of staring, it expresses honesty and helps form trust. Speak in a tranquil, modest, tone of voice at all times. Speaking or laughing at the top of your voice in public is discouraged. Russians enjoy giving and receiving gifts. Gifts are normal for social events, especially as â€Å"thank-you†. If you invited to a Russian colleague house, bring a gift such as chocolates, cakes, good wine, and flowers for every woman in the house. And if you are about to buy some flowers for Russian women, bring the odd number, even number of flowers is used only for funerals, same with yellow flowers. Russian business culture has a deeply rooted hierarchy, although the state no longer dominates business as much as it used to. Managers have authority over their juniors and are eventually accountable for the concluding decision. Although you may give your presentation in English, it is important that any material and documents be printed in Russian. Praising and rewarding anyone in public are noticed only with mistrust. It will take a long time for conclusions to be made in Russia, we are particularly suspicious. The handshake is common. The Russian version is a strong hold with a number of quick shakes between two men. If you about to shake hands with a woman, wait until she extends her hand first. Take off your gloves before the handshake. Whistling in a home or other indoor spaces is unacceptable, and it is even referred as a superstition that it will cause a serious monetary damage. Russians feel very much susceptible by uncertain circumstances; it will take a long time to win their trust. Negotiations should be extremely detailed, well prepared and with brief explanations. Russians have a preference to have perspective and background material. Russians appear remarkably formal and distant. Although, formality is considered as a sign of respect. Russia is collectivist country; people belong to groups that take care of them in exchange for reliability. We use more often word â€Å"We† instead of â€Å"I†. Another example, if you are telling a story about you and your colleagues, you will name your colleagues names first and your name at the end. The international manager reconciles cultural dilemmas – the quote by Fons Trompenaars means that in order to succeed on international market, we must know the cultural values and assumptions differences between the countries we conduct our business.

Belgian Neutrality in the mid 1800s Essay -- essays research papers f

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A bond between two nations is like a serious relationship between two people who are soul mates there is nothing that can be done to break up their passion or alliance. This is the best way to describe the selected cartoon from Punch Magazine that will be analyzed in this essay, â€Å"Trust Me!† August 13th, 1870. This essay will discuss England’s support of Belgium independence and neutrality from a political and diplomatic viewpoint from the mid to late Nineteenth Century. Accordingly this essay will predominantly focus on the build up to the Franco-Prussian War, English diplomatic actions during the Franco-Prussian War in defense of Belgian independence and neutrality. Also, to understand England and Belgium’s relationship, the Treaty of London signed in 1839 will be analyzed and discussed. Thus, this essay will cover or touch on events from 1830 to approximately 1872 and explain why England had to get involved between the belligerents of the time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To accurately describe the situation at hand during the late nineteenth century in England that is depicted in the selected cartoon one must go a bit further back to understand decisions and actions that have happened in the past which would be effecting England and its decisions in the time period being discussed. To do this one must consider the Belgian Revolution of 1830. The cause of the revolution was brought upon the nation in La Monnaie opera house in Brussels on August 25th, 1830 . A previously banned play about Neapolitan insurrection against Spanish Rule managed to work the crowd into revolution through a song lyric, â€Å"My country gave me life, I shall give it liberty!† The revolt was a huge success for the Belgian people as they took the royal authorities by surprise with their intensity and rapid spread of rebellious activity that pushed Dutch troops out of Belgium. By September 27th, 1830 the Belgians had managed to set up a provisional gove rnment, proclaim Belgian independence, ordered an early election of a national congress, and finally drafted and proclaimed the proclamation of independence for Belgium by October 4th, 1830. Given the short time frame in which the Revolution of 1830 occurred, it didn’t give England and the other super powers much time to make a decision on what had to be done. The situation was best describe by the British P... ...cessful in her efforts.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bibliography Barker, Nancy and Brown, Marvin L. JR., ed. Diplomacy in an Age of Nationalism: Essays in Honor of Lynn Marshall Case. Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, 1971. Beck, James M. The Evidence in the Case as to The Moral Responsibility for the War. New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1915. Howard, Michael. The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, 1870-1871. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1962. Millman, Richard. British Foreign Policy and the Coming of the Franco-Prussian War. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1965. Raymond, Dora Neill. British Foreign Policy and Opinion during the Franco-Prussian War. New York: AMS Press Incorporated, 1967. Thomas, Daniel H. The Guarantee of Belgian Independence and Neutrality in European Diplomacy, 1830’s-1930’s. Rhode Island: D.H. Thomas Publishing, 1983.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Speedo LZR Racer

The Speedo LZR Racer is made from a unique lightweight, water repellent, and fast-drying fabric that has been developed to reduce drag and help hold the swimmer’s body in a more streamlined shape. Following three years of research that included input from NASA, tests on more than 100 different fabrics and suit designs and body scans of more than 400 elite swimmers, Speedo has launched its most hydro-dynamically advanced – and fastest – swimsuit to date. The specially engineered, highly flexible fabric called LZR PULSE is ultrasonically welded to appear seamless.It takes about 20 minutes to put the LZR Racer swimsuit on. The material is made to be skin tight on your body making it feel like nothing is pulling you back when swimming. When putting on the suit you have to make sure not to use your fingertips or fingernails also to grip the panels not the fabric. Start of by getting the suit out of the box and starting at the feet. At the bottom of the edges where the feet go flip the inside liner out that is what makes sure that the suit doesn’t ride up when kicking at a fast paced speed.Put a plastic bag over your foot and gradually pull the suit over your foot do the same to the other foot. Inch by inch grip the panels and gradually pull up your body. Once you have it over your knees it will be a lot harder to get over the back side do not grab the sides make sure you scrunch it up on both sides and gently but sternly grip the sides make sure your thumb is not pointed in and slowly move up. As you get over the backside, smooth the bottom making sure the panels are facing forward, and where the V starts it should be right at your hipbone. Next, carefully place your arms through the arm folds.Adjust everything from hip up making sure the front part where the stomach is that they are lined up forward. You will now need to people to help you zipper it up. Grasp the sides of the suit and pull them towards each other from bottom up next have one person grasp both sides of the suit and hold them together closer to each other as the other person pulls the zipper up. Make sure you zip up the back in sections and not all at once and when to let go each time of the zipper to put it facing down so it does not move when re grasping the suits sides. When all the way up make the swimmer end over and run your finger across the zipper teeth making sure there were not any bumps or where the teeth did not grasp together. Check the arm folds and pull them up towards the pit. Make sure everything feels good other than the tightness. Fix the liner part by your feet by making sure the liner is touching you actual skin. The LZR Racer is made to be a tight-skinned lightweight material that makes you repellent in the water the material feels like paper when you touch it but when on its light and breath taking. So when putting it on go from bottom up slowly and gently making it up to top.

Geore Orwell essays

Geore Orwell essays The True meaning behind the Killing of the Elephant An elephant has been shot and killed. Wt a mere act of violence or does it go beyond that? In this situation, the killing of the elephant goes far behind self-defense and security. Its taken to a personal level, which leads to difficult complications. George Orwell is overwhelmed with what is expected from him, than what he knows is morally correct. Even though he knew emotionally that it was wrong to shoot and kill the elephant; it was more important to him how others perceived him over what he though about himself. George had very sour feelings towards the Burmans. Theoretically he was both, for and against the Burmans. He was for them because they were oppressed, and against them due to emotional experiences. Theoretically-and secretly, of course-I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British. As for the job I was doing, I hated it more bitterly than I can perhaps make clear (Orwell 725). He felt as if he had to portray a certain character, in order for him to feel superior to them. It was a way for him to feel accepted and to feel comfortable with his surroundings. What Orwell wasnt aware of was the fact that he was portraying someone he really wasnt. By doing that he was lying to himself. Orwell was there representing the Britih; the last thing he would want to do is make himself look like a fool, in front of the Burmans. It would merely give them more reasons to laugh and taunt the British officers Going to another country, and having the responsibility of an officer, wasnt an easy task for Orwell. It was more like going thorough a maze with traps. Not knowing if the people want you there, and not being familiar with your surroundings. Orwell was there for a reason; he was there for the people. But it made his job more difficult knowing he disliked the people he was protecting ...

Three Stages of Celtic Art essays

Three Stages of Celtic Art essays The Three Main Stages of Celtic Art Remnants of the Celtic people have been around for at least 4,000 years. Archaeologists mainly interpret Celtic history and art from relics left over in graves and garbage dumps. Roman documents are also a source for scholars yet they can be one sided description of the Celts. Many of the elements in Celtic art are not totally Celtic. Many of the relics and Artifacts that are found are borrowed from many parts of western Europe. The Celts picked up some of these styles from other areas that they may have been trading with or even attacking at the times the artifacts were constructed. Scholars divide Celtic art into three stages. These three stages consist of Hallstatt Culture, La Tene, and The age of Celtic Renaissance. The first stage that was identified was the Hallstatt Culture. This culture lasted from two-thousand BC to six-hundred BC. Artifacts found from this time period were named after a small town in western Austria. Artifacts from this era stretch from Austria to Brittany in France. The art found from this time period is believed to have influence from the Mediterranean. The Hallstatt zone was split into a eastern section and a western section. Pottery found from the western part of the Hallstatt strictly showed geometric designs, whereas the eastern part some narrative scenes where found along with many geometric designs. During the Hallstatt time period, central Europe artists started experimenting with abstract representations of forest wildlife and waterfowl. One specific example I found was: The horse was in a way a symbol of the rise and expansion of the Celtics. (Finlay 31). By putting horses in pictures and on different artifacts leads us to believe that they were and important part of the Celts culture. There were many forested valleys which limited the numbers of horses that they had. This points out why horses played such a main role because they were not very a...

Free Essays on Ideology According To Marx And Althusser In Relation To Bartleby The Scrivener

, subsistence, what one needs to live. Subsistence is acquired by tools, and with out ideology and concepts, no culture would develop and no groups would form, and therefore one... Free Essays on Ideology According To Marx And Althusser In Relation To Bartleby The Scrivener Free Essays on Ideology According To Marx And Althusser In Relation To Bartleby The Scrivener Ideology according to Karl Marx and Louis Althusser in relation to Herman Mellvile’s â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener† Ideology is defined as one’s certain beliefs or ones philosophy. Many theorists have interpreted and expanded upon this definition in a myriad of ways. In his essay, The German Ideology, Karl Marx sees ideology as a camera obscure, a distortion that hides the truth, that makes us believe one thing, but is inverted. He also sees ideology as being the product of an epoch. This means that an epoch’s dominant class is the deciding factor in that period’s dominant ideology. In the essay Ideology, and Ideological State Apparatuses, Louis Althusser defines Ideology as a â€Å"representation of the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence.†(2) This means that nobody believes in something purely and that all beliefs are shaded by ones experience. As concepts things do not function materially, but imaginary. Althusser also argues that ideology comes automatically to each individual as we are all pulled into some idea of sel fhood from birth, and the very idea of selfhood is a product of ideology. Herman Melville’s story, Bartleby the Scrivener is exemplary of where these two ideologies can be analyzed and discussed. Bartleby is a very quirky character according to what is seen as normal in society. His boss, a lawyer describes himself as someone who from â€Å"his youth upward, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best.† (3) This is a classic example of typical ideological concepts. According to Marx, the dominant class of an epoch is the deciding factor of the dominant ideas of that epoch. Ideology involves developing the means of survival, or in Marx words, subsistence, what one needs to live. Subsistence is acquired by tools, and with out ideology and concepts, no culture would develop and no groups would form, and therefore one...

Sweetness In the Bible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sweetness In the Bible - Essay Example ver, a person may not avoid bitterness until he experiences it and this is probably the principle of the God of the Hebrews who allowed his beloved people to undergo so many hardships in their lives. On a general note, the Israelites were exposed to many difficulties but the plans of God were for their good and not their destruction, for their faith in him to be strengthened and not to be misled by false gods. David’s stand against an undefeated giant is a story of God’s help. Introduced as the youngest in his family, perceived as unable because of his age and portrayed as good only for bringing food for his warrior brothers but not in engaging in manly responsibilities like being in a war, David was an unlikely hero. With such a description, he could be just another kid on the block, unable to do extraordinary things. However, he proved to be a man of faith who was strongly jealous for his God so that in his anger towards the giant who belittled his God and his people, David killed Goliath with only a stone and a sling. Such circumstance placed the young man on a pedestal where he was revered, yet for him maintained his humility and faith in God. This example has been caused by God to be written in the most popular book in the world, and the man to be remembered hundreds of generations after him. Dependence on the God who gives and is able to take away is Job’s testimony. Considered a righteous man by God himself, Job seemed to have been unjustly inflicted with all the pains he had been through in just a day. As a prayerful man, one can say that he did not deserve to lose all his possessions, sons, daughters and servants in just a single day. Yet that was what happened to him and as though that would not be enough, he was suffered from skin disease that made him scratch himself with broken pottery. His friends were not of help to him either because they added to his hardships with their accusing words that he might have sinned against God to deserve all

Business Strategy in a Global Environment Case Study - 2

Business Strategy in a Global Environment - Case Study Example Samsung ensures that all of its raw materials are procured from legal sources like the US, Thailand, Russia, etc (Samsung, 2008). Owing to the highly reputed brand image and high financial strengths, Samsung is often able to exert influence on the supplier companies and thereby controlling the supply chain. However, Samsung is dependent on particular companies for procurement of certain integrated circuit equipments. However, the company maintains a good relationship with its suppliers so as to ensure a long term sustainable sourcing of raw materials (Marketline, 2014). Capability 2 (Manufacturing): The manufacturing process of a firm is the most important capability, as it produces the products for the company which is sold to generate revenue. Samsung owns several manufacturing plants in more than 80 countries (Grobart, 2013). It allows the company to increase the production level in the host countries. It has also enabled the company to manufacture at a lower cost and sell products at a lower price compared to exporting from home country. Samsung leverages the comparative advantage of host countries by utilizing the low cost skilled labours, particularly in the Asian markets. The company used the most technologically advanced tools and equipments to manufacture its products. As a result, its production process is highly cost effective and yields large volume at lesser time. Samsung also employs skilled labours and trains them to increase individual efficiency, which in turn increases the production output of the facility (Samsung, 2015). The man ufacturing process is highly energy efficient which allows the company to operate in an environmentally sustainable way by reducing its carbon foot print. Moreover, Samsung continuously looks forward to expand its production capacities. It has invested nearly $15 billion to develop a new manufacturing plant in Seoul (Market watch, 2014). Capability 3 (Distribution):

Euthanasia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Euthanasia - Essay Example In the two scenarios, the doctors argue that the actions were in the best interests of the patient. Legalizing involuntary euthanasia is likely to be opposed by law enforcers for many reasons. One of the reasons as explained by Lafollette is that people may shy away from hospitals and trained medical experts for fear of being killed against their wishes. Another reason for denial of legalizing it is the fear that unconscious persons will be terrified to be taken into hospitals and be killed against their will. These reasons have made it hard for euthanasia to be legalized because of the possibility that people may avoid hospitals whenever they get life threatening ailments. Based on a poll conducted on April 8th to 11th in 2005 by the Polling Company, 15% of interviewed persons agreed that doctors should be allowed to withhold life support machine, 77% said patients should be able to get the life support machine while the remaining 8% are undecided. With these results, it only shows how difficult it will be when it comes to legalizing euthanasia because it is clear that many people are opposed to its legalization. Many people believe that life is sacred and the strong argument that is favored, in my opinion, is that life is inviolable and it is wrong to take it away from someone without his or her consent. The suffering of one person does not give the other the right to help him or her die. I believe nature should be left to take its course. The responses are shown in the table below.

Market Analysis of Starbucks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Market Analysis of Starbucks - Research Paper Example Its expansion has been based on foreign direct investment and also acquisitions of rival coffee houses. Starbucks’ success from the late 1990s onward has been to its dedication in providing consumers with a gourmet coffee experience, a means of differentiating the company and also establishing pricing that was higher than industry norms per cup of its products. This high pricing model is supported by advertising and the comparable, tangible quality of its products that continue to satisfy consumers that are willing to pay this extra price for the Starbucks experience. Description of International and Domestic Markets Starbucks does not target specific market groups, rather it has adopted a mass market advertising strategy positioned always on quality compared to competing coffee houses. However, the domestic market consists generally of high income consumers, professionals, and those with above-average household and discretionary income. There are also psychographic elements o f Starbucks’ positioning strategies, appealing to those who find ostentatious consumption to be important as it relates to their social reputation. â€Å"Beyond signaling of quality, there is some status symbol effect to what coffee you are drinking† (Aronin, Fetterman, Liu & Peng, 2004, p. 3). ... These two markets make up approximately 10-15% of the American population and are usually associated with white collar career-minded individuals. The international market is scattered and does not fit any specific personality, lifestyle, or income profile. Starbucks operates in collectivist cultures where tradition and family are valued and also individualist countries that promote social self-expression, finding favor in both in terms of profitability and consumer following. In China, marketers for Starbucks stand outside of Starbucks facilities, using a handheld clicker each time they achieve new traffic (Boone & Kurtz). Market research identifies that it is the younger, more fashionable cultures that frequent the organization. In Austria and Canada, it is generally the teens, tourists and young adults that favor Starbucks coffee (Boone & Kurtz). SWOT Analysis of Starbucks To understand the market potential of the company it is necessary to understand where Starbucks excels and whe re the business is lacking in key areas. Strengths Considerable cash capital that provides opportunities for expansion and a high credit worthiness for lending purposes or foreign investment. Backed by years of quality positioning and quality-focused advertising that has established a well-recognized brand and considerable consumer following. High pricing model that contributes to higher capital growth. In-store innovations such as its Coffee Master program that teaches customers about the subtleties of coffee, referred to as the â€Å"cupping ceremony,† similar to wine-tasting seminars (Helm, 2007). Partnerships with foreign coffee producers that express its commitment to corporate social responsibility that gains market attention and loyalty and also

Job analysis 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Job analysis 1 - Essay Example Several studies have explored the close link between job analysis and company performance and conclude that when the analysed jobs suit the employees well, they perform well in their jobs, and this translates to improved company performance in general (Cascio, 1998). It is essential that a job analysis to accurately identify the jobholder’s knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA) because this would decide the operational effectiveness in the provision of quality performance of a worker (Safdar et al., 2010). Cascio (1995) claims that when organizations understand the KSA of their employees, it helps them plan for changes or create new jobs and recruit the qualified candidate accordingly so organizational goals are met. Cornelius et al. (1979) enumerated categories of job analysis methods. One is the task-oriented approach wherein each job is broken down into more basic units called tasks. The focus of analysis for this approach is the work activity itself. Another is the worker- oriented job approach where the unit of analysis is not the task but the human behaviours involved in completing the work. Jobs are described by the processes undertaken by the workers. Third and last is the abilities-oriented approach proposed by Fleishman (1972, 1975). This approach focuses on the underlying abilities and aptitudes of the worker – the qualities he possesses that make him suited for the job. For this particular job analysis project, it will fall under the abilities-oriented approach which corresponds to the competency-focused approach (Siddique, 2004). It will give special attention to competencies such as â€Å"interpersonal skills, conflict resolution skills, innovative thinking, flexibility, decision-making ability and self-motivation (Sherman et al., 1998; Dessler ,2003)† (Siddique, 2004, p. 226). That is why it is important to analyse the jobholder’s skills as it applies to her job. This job analysis is for a secretary/ administrative assi stant. The methods used were interviews and self-reports based on standardized questionnaires taken by the jobholder. These evaluation questionnaires were part of the jobholder’s human resource training conducted recently. Its purpose was to evaluate the jobholder’s skills and its compatibility for her job and her future aspiration to be part of the sales team. The jobs she is currently holding as secretary/ administrative assistant as well as the job she wants in the future in sales both need skills in customer relations. The method of interview with the jobholder initiated the job analysis. I spent one afternoon talking with the jobholder, asking semi-structured questions about her work. Soon, she revealed her own self-analysis which will later be reconciled with the job analysis and if she is in the right job. Summary of Interview Job Description The jobholder’s work as a secretary doubles as the administrative assistant to 2 General Sales Managers. Her job d escription includes assisting her supervisors and the entire sales team of 48 taskforce to manage office administration procedures. Her general administrative duties include correspondence, invoicing, advertisements, calculation of timesheets, petty cash and office equipment maintenance and a full spectrum of secretarial duties. She

Market Analysis of Starbucks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Market Analysis of Starbucks - Research Paper Example Its expansion has been based on foreign direct investment and also acquisitions of rival coffee houses. Starbucks’ success from the late 1990s onward has been to its dedication in providing consumers with a gourmet coffee experience, a means of differentiating the company and also establishing pricing that was higher than industry norms per cup of its products. This high pricing model is supported by advertising and the comparable, tangible quality of its products that continue to satisfy consumers that are willing to pay this extra price for the Starbucks experience. Description of International and Domestic Markets Starbucks does not target specific market groups, rather it has adopted a mass market advertising strategy positioned always on quality compared to competing coffee houses. However, the domestic market consists generally of high income consumers, professionals, and those with above-average household and discretionary income. There are also psychographic elements o f Starbucks’ positioning strategies, appealing to those who find ostentatious consumption to be important as it relates to their social reputation. â€Å"Beyond signaling of quality, there is some status symbol effect to what coffee you are drinking† (Aronin, Fetterman, Liu & Peng, 2004, p. 3). ... These two markets make up approximately 10-15% of the American population and are usually associated with white collar career-minded individuals. The international market is scattered and does not fit any specific personality, lifestyle, or income profile. Starbucks operates in collectivist cultures where tradition and family are valued and also individualist countries that promote social self-expression, finding favor in both in terms of profitability and consumer following. In China, marketers for Starbucks stand outside of Starbucks facilities, using a handheld clicker each time they achieve new traffic (Boone & Kurtz). Market research identifies that it is the younger, more fashionable cultures that frequent the organization. In Austria and Canada, it is generally the teens, tourists and young adults that favor Starbucks coffee (Boone & Kurtz). SWOT Analysis of Starbucks To understand the market potential of the company it is necessary to understand where Starbucks excels and whe re the business is lacking in key areas. Strengths Considerable cash capital that provides opportunities for expansion and a high credit worthiness for lending purposes or foreign investment. Backed by years of quality positioning and quality-focused advertising that has established a well-recognized brand and considerable consumer following. High pricing model that contributes to higher capital growth. In-store innovations such as its Coffee Master program that teaches customers about the subtleties of coffee, referred to as the â€Å"cupping ceremony,† similar to wine-tasting seminars (Helm, 2007). Partnerships with foreign coffee producers that express its commitment to corporate social responsibility that gains market attention and loyalty and also

Mid Term Exam, Ethics 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mid Term Exam, Ethics 1 - Essay Example This is the main feature of the ethical theories of Immanuel Kant. The most famous ethical theory of Kant is Categorical Imperative. This theory calls for evaluation of one’s action according to certain rules and guidelines or maxims. The main elements of the theory include universality which calls for acting in a manner which will not hurt or displease the acting person if the same act is made a universal law. Any action, under Kant’s ethical theory, should be judged not on the basis of consequences it brings but on the basis of the nature of the action. For example, Kant would not allow a person to lie even if this action results in collective good of the society because lying is not an ethical behavior itself. This is the main feature of Kant’s ethical theory. Focus on principles and guidelines are also important part of Kant’s ethical theory. An action is principally good or bad and consequences or other elements have nothing to do with the rightness and wrongness of any action. The principle on which the action is carried out is the main focus of evaluation in Kant’s ethical theory. Kant’s ethical theory differs from other important ethical theories because it focuses on actions and treats an action as an end in itself. The act is important for Kant and not its consequences. This is the main difference between the ethical approach of Kant and other ethical theories. The ethical theories of Kant can be applied to modern policing practices. There are many ways in which modern police can improve its practices based on Kant’s ethical theories. Kant stressed on treating actions as an end in itself and not just as means. Police can also apply this theory to its practice by following due process. Sometimes police can be tempted to break the law and focus on the consequences of their actions. This is how modern policing practices can learn from Kant’s ethical theories. Police should also act in a way according to the guidelines which if

Political Violence and Gangsters Essay Example for Free

Political Violence and Gangsters Essay Eventually, due to many reports of violence and killings being associated with D’Andrea, he decided to withdraw from politics instead of his political ambitions being linked with blood shedding. Immediately after his withdrawal from politics, he and his friend started receiving death threats. On May 11, 1921, as D’Andrea was moving to his home with who used to be his bodyguard, they parted well and on reaching his doorsteps, he was attacked and suffered internal bleeding. Other incidences of violence which were politically oriented were witnessed in Chicago city after Merriam Charles who was a professor lost in the elections of Chicago reforms. He made it clear that Chicago was the most corrupt city in America. Until the times of Cermark, the issue of one monolithic was no more, but instead establishment of a collection of mini machines. Such machineries were controlled by prominent political factotums who dispensed their jobs in favor to their home constituents in return due to their loyalty on the material election date. An alderman’s clout purely depended on liability of political structures and schemes to have his vote delivered. In this city, the question of either winning or losing never rose to the politicians but the organizations definitely won the battles through all means because always the court was based on pluralities. (Write here Author’s name)Could you write here author’s name please? Introduction. The Chicago’s criminal reputation preceded long the wars between beer and Al Capone. Although they were born during the same year as sensationalists, American’s new and penny press fear of a masteries working class, the city was perceived even to its earliest observers as a hotbed of immorality and criminal events. Cases of theft murder, rape and crimson among other mayhems became the town’s breaking news in most of the media services. According to the cities complain that the business stealing horses had been reduced to a regular system in 1840, the tribune echoed the perception of the countless Chicagoans (Wirth 1965, p.77). Within the course of the same year, around 2,500 cities’s first hangings were reportedly and confirmed. As the time went on, observers from both beyond and within the city continued to note the existence of identifiable events of crime under ward. In the democrat ward, it was still getting to be notorious fact that pickpockets, thimble, robbers, three-shell game players and broad cases of sly tricks application to cheat become perfectly in the city. The criminal reputation in the city was enhanced by the visibility of vice (Brumer 1969, p.28). Within a half century’s period, more cases of gambling were reported in the city than the larger city of Philadelphia and more per capita than in New York. The vice was first concentrated in a certain area along the river of Chicago known as the ‘patches’ where by the tribune interpreted it as the most beastly sensuality and darkest place of criminal events. The city’s reputation was also wicked as many people witnessed the fire of that time as divine retribution which was against a modern day of Sodom and Gomorrah. The case of lawlessness after the conflagration provided no cause for optimism. One of the newspapers called the city reported that the entire city was infested with groups of burglars, thieves and cut-throat, bent on plunder and also murdered. The fire did not show any sense of redemption whereby the Chicago’s reputation darkened with time. As a result of existence of the image of lawlessness, violent labor dispute crisis increased especially with the Hay market crisis (Davis 1960, p.78). Understanding Political Violence. There is more to the modern political regions than the political religions and rituals sematics as it is assumed regarding to National Socialism and other regimes in totalitarian. Political style and other ideologies do not matter although they provide an answer to as how dead certainty came to be achieved by the ultimate mission. The revolutionary terror furies and sacrifice of the national revivalism give provision that in the current world, it is the region that is in violence but not the violence in region. Human rights violations, including the torture, kidnappings and murder were the daily phenomenon in Chicago city in 1920th. It had become a normal issue that disappearances and murder of labor leaders, kidnapping, union organizers and leftists to be increase especially during the events of politics. According to the research, many people were assassinated as a result of politically motivated killings in the country. Political violence and social change should be considered as the major factor as a breeding ground for violence. The focus should be to the armed organizations mainly the terror perpetrators who are not within the military operations. The aspect of how the political and economic situations in different social strata and how they link with violence should also is considered. Both armed organizations and terror contribute to economic decline. Armed conflicts are more common in the transitional societies like Chicago than in advanced countries (Green 19995, p.65 ). The killing of the vice leader by the name Jim Colosimo in the year 1920 which was the first year of prohibition, indicated a new phase in Chicago’s violence. The violent bloodily a beer wars between the year 1924 and 1930 made Al Capone very famous and the city synonymous with a new phenomenon of gangsterism. Notoriety in Chicago city grew due to series of violent incidences including; the 194 violent shooting of gang leader Dion O. Banion in his flower shop in North side, 1926 machine gunning of Hymie Weiss near the Holy Name Cathedral, 1929 Saint Valentine’s Day massacre which was done to seven people in a clerk street garage. These cases were very widely reported in the international press and also became the incidents of subjects of the popular contemporary plays and books (Haller 1973, p.254). Political Violence and Gangsters. To outline how politics contributed to violence activities in Chicago in 1920th, Chicago’s Union Siciliana elaborates how the decade was marked with series of slaughter. The organization of Unione siciliana was like a mafia group which was very mysterious. It was composed of the Camorra and the Black Hand. This organization was among thousands of fraternal organizations established in America for the purpose of mutual benefit in the societies. It was organized in the Chicago city and had limitations in membership. Depending with the organizations rules, the natives from other countries were interested to join and they were allowed, whereby at the end of first world war, there were many lodges of non Sicilians among them being Tuscan lodge, the Ventiam lodge, the Roman lodge and many more (Mc Garry 2004, p.556). The Union had no leadership but only membership. The leadership of Unione siciliana was exclusivity a stone in the shoe in most infamous gangs always. Al Capone whose heritage was in Neapolitan was associated with the responsibility of the killings of the most Unione Siciliana leaders during the 1920s due to their gang allegiances. Within the decade of 1920s, Anthony D’Andrea was appointed as the leader of the Chicago’s Unione Siciliana. Being born in Sicily, Anthony was a graduate from Palermo University who was a linguist and at the same time, he had studied priesthood. In the year 1902, he was convicted due to counterfeiting and forced to serve 13 months in the prison. In 1903, a former student of D’Andrea interceded on his behalf whereby Anthony was pardoned by the president Theodore Roosevelt. In Chicago, Anthony D’Andrea was known as the former power in the old red light district because in his early teens he was linked as being in connection to a certain gang of Italian counterfeiters and also bank robberies that based operations throughout the country. During this time, Ignacio who was also called Lupo the wolf Saietta was put under arrest in the city of New York and imprisoned. On the other hand Anthony and Frank Milano were also involved in counterfeiting and apprehended in Cleveland and both charged. This indicated that the Italian underworld criminals may have been networking together for long time prior to prohibition (Merriam 1929, p.78). When Anthony D’Andrea was released from prison in the year 1903, he proceeded to Chicago and settled in the so called 19th ward. He was interested with politics and joined local unions. D’Andrea’s Brother Joseph who was the president in the Sewer Diggers was later involved in the Peon system of extorting money from the Italian robberies. As a result, he was murdered on the canal street during a labor quarrel as they were budding the Union’ station. Consequently, it was noted that his brother Anthony D’Andrea would take his position of a presidency. John powers had been the Alderman and the democratic political boss in the 19th ward since the year 1888 had won the Alderman’s post in the ward for 16 elections consecutively (Shapiro 1988, p.143). It is from this time when the ward transformed from predominately Irish to around 80 percent Italian. Most of the democrats started to look for Italian democrat to represent them whereby Diamond Joe was the representative of Italian republican voters within the ward. Earliest on, the split between powers and D’Andrea had been noticed in 1915. The difference was due to each one of them supporting a different mayor candidate. In 1916, D’Andrea presented himself for the Democratic nominations against powers picked candidate James Bowler. In the same year, a Bowler supporter was killed in a Taylor street saloon. Police from streets of Maxwell claimed Lombardi Bowler’s killing as being just the latest addition to Black Hand toll. On the same month, Chicago’s daily tribune printed an article with title that, police on guard in two homes in Mafia terror (Hagan 1978, p.112). According to the article, it indicated that police had full confidence that the killing was as a result of Sicilian feud as it was opposed to the 19th ward political war. According to John Landesco with organized crime in Chicago, he declared that D’Andrea was the elected as the Unione Siciliana’s president which was one of the strongest organizations of foreign groups in America. When power noticed his defeat, he tired to make peace with D’Andrea whereby D’Andrea accepted to support powers for adreman’s position. The Supreme Court of Illinois however voided the election results and Powers took the position. When these events turned, there was a declaration of political war to the death (Gosnell 1937, p.432). On September 28, 1920, an explosion of bomb was witnessed on the porch of Alderman Power’s residence. Powers political rivals claimed that, Powers was keeping the house on Alister place so they intended him to claim residency within his 19th ward. Sometime after the explosion, Anthony D’Andrea was recorded announcing his candidacy as a non partisan for alderman’s position in that 9th ward. On the Feb. 11, 1921 just eleven days before the elections of the aldermanic, another powerful explosion of bomb was evident at Anthony D’Andrea’s political rally in the building on the Avenue of Blue Islands. After the incidence, Alderman Powers was the most sympathetic man. In response to these incidences, the Illinois state’s Attorney Robert E. who for long had proved to be a person of integrity reacted to the bombing incidences through vowing to have new state bill. He declared that, whoever was to be caught with bombing cases would serve for 25 years in penitentiary with death sentence as the maximum punishment. He also added that whoever who was to be caught placing a bomb where it can endanger children or women would be hanged. Chicago city had very tough and terrible conditions in the nineteenth ward. The gunmen were patrolling all over in the streets. Many bump off and kidnapping threats were being offered to D’Andrea while his supporters were being threatened and slugged. Gunmen and cutthroats had been imported from Buffalo and New York due to campaign intimidation. Within less than one week later, on the Feb. 18th, an explosion was made at the home of D’Andrea’s territorial area which adversely spoiled D’Adrea’s political offices of campaign headquarter. Immediately after each occurrence of bombing, Powers covered himself through posting $2,000 as a reward to capture and arrest the concerned perpetrators (Lesswell 1939, p.87). On the elections day in Feb. 22, 1920, security officers were ready very early in full force throughout Chicago city. They succeeded to arrest around 150 men during the day time. The most notorious one was Edward O Donnell who was the leader of a certain gang in southern sides. The day’s biggest catch included that of dynamite. In the area where the law enforcement officers called the headquarter for pre-election bomb outrage in the 19th ward, the security officers managed to raid a certain farm near the 71st street and the Avenue Central park. They were able to collect around 200 pounds of uncovered dynamite and many sacks of blasting powder indicating that those were the major bomb manufacturing centers. From the residence, two men were arrested (Wirth 1973, p.99). Within the 19th ward, more than 450 police officers were stationed. Before noon on the same day, 50 violators were under the police custody. In surprise, despite the fact that many security officers were put in place, three people from the camp of powers including the election judge and the precinct captain had already been kidnapped in the morning section. Power emerged as the winner by a slim margin of only 435 votes. This however did not put to an end the criminal activities and war. In less than just three weeks after conducting the elections, two precinct captains of Powers where killed mercilessly by gangsters. On March 9th, 1920 at around 9 in the morning section, Bailiff A. who was a municipal court Deputy was attack by two bandits as he walked to work. Just a few distant from that scene the same man was attacked again and hit nine times to death. After the murder of Bailiff A, another man by the name Raimond was also murdered while in his store of cigar on Taylor Street. After the incidence, two of the killers ran from the store and dropped one of the murder weapons on sidewalk. It was immediately speculated that most of the gunmen who were involved in the two killing were imported from New York. On April, 12 of the same year, D’Andrea who used to carry a gun for his own safety purposes was arrested after a social club was raided where the gun was found in his pocket. Also several men were arrested for being found gambling in the club (Woodiwiss 2001, p.71). Eventually, due to many reports of violence and killings being associated with D’Andrea, he decided to withdraw from politics instead of his political ambitions being linked with blood shedding. Immediately after his withdrawal from politics, he and his friend started receiving death threats. On May 11, 1921, as D’Andrea was moving to his home with who used to be his bodyguard, they parted well and on reaching his doorsteps, he was attacked and suffered internal bleeding. Other incidences of violence which were politically oriented were witnessed in Chicago city after Merriam Charles who was a professor lost in the elections of Chicago reforms. He made it clear that Chicago was the most corrupt city in America. Until the times of Cermark, the issue of one monolithic was no more, but instead establishment of a collection of mini machines. Such machineries were controlled by prominent political factotums who dispensed their jobs in favor to their home constituents in return due to their loyalty on the material election date. An alderman’s clout purely depended on liability of political structures and schemes to have his vote delivered. In this city, the question of either winning or losing never rose to the politicians but the organizations definitely won the battles through all means because always the court was based on pluralities. (Landesco,1973) During the Election Day, a message was being sent stating that the enemy should be punished and destroyed such that he can never think of politics again in future. The end justified the resulting means in time of insuring a victory decisive in the often grim Darwinistic struggle for life and death. Threat campaigns, brass knuckles, and even murder came to be the only preferred tactics methods especially when the normal ways of using propaganda and persuading voters seemed not to work. The violence associated with Al Capone and the terror campaigns during the election eve in 1923, he waged against the other political bosses of Cicero. Al Capone tried to invade the blue-collar factory in Chicago town when things proved to be too not for him. Capone was the only piker in the town. Intimidation and violence was the Chicago’s way out, and its roots historically extended very much in those times as compared to the rollicking era of Big Fellow and the bathtub gin. Chicagoans much involvement was in the political elections results not considering distractions of the professional sports televisions and other diversions of 20th century than today. In every ward, there was organization of social clubs which aimed to boost the areas preferred candidates. In the city, there were pageantry of colorful parades, torch light rallies, bombastic oratory emissions of sets of smoke were all over the meeting halls and also scattered all over the city (Adamic 1931, p.56). All these events were to show important senses ethnic pride hopes neighborhood identity, fears and also prejudices which vested in candidate’s fortune and enough courage to descend out of the same dominant nationality which was found within the wards. At times a Republican club or the Democratic club engaged in rival organizations which represented some other districts and the ethnic groups in woolly and wild free for alls which were often settled by bats, bricks and also pavement stones. In 1928, Aiello Capone war was still controlled by Unione Siciliana in Chicago. In April, 1928 elections, Capone supporters were heavily backing their Uniuone Siciliana candidate Bernard Barasa. This group had been associated with a number of explosions in connection with his campaigns although he lost the battle to the incumbent with more than 100, 000 votes. Immediately after the primary elections, Capone left for Miami Beach. In late June 1928, other leaders who included Fischetti Charley, Dab Serritella and Jake Guzik visited the boss. Soon they were accompanied by the famous machine gun jack and other killing twins who had been associated with murder of two Chicago killings of police officers. They discussed the fate of Frank Uale, who was the national president of Unione Siciliana in the state of New York. The next visit of Capone to Chicago was to attend the funeral of Lombardo Anthony, who was the Capone; sponsored president in Chicago.Lombardo had been killed by Aiello forces. As Capone was leaving Chicago, he met Lollordo and discovered that he could be threat to him in aspirating the presidential seat. On January, 8, 1929, Lolordo was shot with .38 Caliber guns without any warning (Landesco 1931, p.68). Conclusion. Some few years later, the long awaited reformist aim of shadowy conspirators who were seeking for control of Chicago’s violence situation got the public attention in the city when vice entrepreneur and boot legging Al Capone and Torrio John rose and prominence shocking violence. Their main agenda discussed about the earliest depictions of the criminal events which oriented from election activities during the boot legging time. They ignored many illegal businesses from international liquor trading networks t neighborhood soft drinks parlors. It also ignored public demands for booze which focused on competition in violence among the gangs in dominations of the illegal trading especially in urban space. Their illustrations also show the fuzzy and ever shifting turf of major gangsters around 1925 which suggests that no Chicagoan could control some of the gang. Generally these criminal events indicated that the city of Chicago had no well established rules to govern the country’s activities. It is also noted that most of the organizations associated with violence were supported and funded by the prominent political aspirant’s. At the same time, more groups of gangs formed due to the advantage of political crisis. For instance, the robberies, arson, rape among other evil events. All these symbolized government’s failure to provide enough security force to curb the problem. References. Adamic L, (1931), Dynamite: The story of classic violence in America, London. Asbury H, (2002).The Gungs of New York.London. Brumer H, (1969), Symbolic Interactionsm.Berkly. Davis H, (1960).Reinhold Niebuhr on Politics: New York Gosnell H, (1937).Machine Politics: Chicago Model. Chicago. Green P, (1995).The Mayors: The Chicago Political Tradition. Carbondale. Hagan J, (1978).Modern Criminology. New York. Haller M, (1973).Organized Crime in Chicago Part iii of the Illions crime survey 1929.Chicago. Landesco J, (1973), Organized Crime in Chicago: Part iii of the Illions Crime Survey 1929.Chicago. Lasswell H, (1939).World Revolutionary Propaganda: A Chicago Study. New York. McGarry j, (2004).The Northern Ireland Conflict: Consociational Engagements. Oxford. Merriam C, (1929).Chicago: A More Intimate View of Urban Politics.New York. Shapiro H, (1988).White Violence and Black Response: Amherst. Wirth L, (1965).On Cities and social life.Chicago. Woodiwiss M, (2001), Organized Crime and American Power. Toronto.

Theories of Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Theories of Emotional Intelligence (EI) Discuss how intelligence and emotion are linked and refer to the differing theories that unite these features in order to assess their relevance for adults. Introduction In 1990, Mayer and Salovey wrote, ‘Emotional Intelligence‘[1] (E I) which gave rise to this concept as a medium of individual assessment that accurately describes the attributions for responses to successes and failures in life. In 1995, Daniel Goleman wrote his popular follow-up to this work, entitled, â€Å"Emotional Intelligence, Why it can Matter More than IQ. †[2] Here Goleman, expanded upon this concept and provided it with an often criticised[3] and lay version of the earlier notions of Mayer and Salovey. This paper, concentrates largely on the works of Mayer and Salovey and Goleman as a tool to establishing the inherent link between emotion and intelligence. This paper will therefore begin by giving an overview of the origins of the concept of Emotional Intelligence and how these two attributes of the human condition are linked. There will be a description and critique of the meaning, distinctive nature and importance of E I. Following this, there will be exploration of Mayer and Salovey’s four areas of E I, which are assessed on the basis of the MSCEIT ability test. These four areas will be compared with the five areas stated by Goleman and each will be critically assessed. Finally there will be a discussion of the practical applicability of E I to the education of adults and its relevance in various genres of the workforce. A. The Origins of E I 1. Emotion Mayer and Salovey stated that the traditional image of emotion is as a vice of human nature that is to be controlled as it was perceived to have the capability of fully possessing the individual to create â€Å"a complete loss of cerebral control,[4]† thus depriving him of his rationality. This was then turned on its head with the new concept of emotion as the motivating force which for the first time gave insight into emotion as an integral function of the human condition. Emotion is therefore a response mechanism whereby the appropriateness of its intensity has been determined through natural selection. 2. Intelligence The same professors then turned their attentions to intelligence, which they acknowledge the definition provided by Wechsler, which describes intelligence as: â€Å"the aggregate of global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment. [5]† 3. Emotional intelligence The concept of emotional intelligence was therefore created by Mayer and Salovey as a means of identifying types of intelligences that go further to identify the social context of intelligence beyond that of the conventional IQ intelligence. They did this because they noticed that the two concepts are not wholly separable but their work was largely unnoticed at the time of its publication in 1990. Indeed, it was not until Goleman’s publication in 1995 when the E I concept finally gained popular recognition. The reason for this was the appeal of everyday life, and adult referencing to the E I concept, which provided it with a more workable model for the lay person. B. The Link between Emotion and Intelligence 1. What is E I? Salovey and Mayer define E I as a subset of social intelligence, namely, the ability to understand, manage and manipulate the responses of others[6]. E I is a sub-set of this concept that is defined as the ability for the individual to understand ones own feelings and the feelings of those around them: â€Å"the ability to monitor one’s own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among the and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and actions. †[7] The ability itself is a measurement of how an individual is able to make decisions based on their own and other’s personal, emotional responses throughout life. Goleman noticed profound differences in test groups of children in relation in simple temptation exercises when he referred back to his subjects fourteen years after the initial tests[8]. The result was a profound tangent of social maladjustment in those who acted on impulse and profound social adjustment in those who were able of overcome emotional urges. [9] 2. The Distinctive Nature of E I Unlike the conventional IQ concept, E I deals with emotion, which is given driver status as a key element to the personal influences that affect our lives. In contrast, the conventional IQ deals specifically with intellectual abilities such as dimensional perception, numerical ability, literacy and problem solving. Unlike emotional intelligence, the vital social dimension is not provided for. This means that IQ, although accurate in the determination of intelligence, provides no indication of success in life and emotional intelligence is a more complete picture[10]. 3. The Importance of E I Goleman’s writing on the subject of Emotional Intelligence has found its way into the main curricular of schools in deprived areas of the USA. An example is that of the New Haven, Connecticut Public Schools[11] with large scale unemployment and poverty. The result is an inherent need to diffuse the types of social problems that depressed areas such as these can create. The ability to understand ones own emotion, those of others around you and make decisions rationally based on these responses is vital to social wealth. This expands throughout all human, emotive concepts such as self esteem and confidence to interact with others, which inherently lead to improved abilities in leadership and teamwork. C. The three Areas of E I according to Mayer and Salovey in 1990 In order to fully understand the origins of E I, it is essential to draw upon the original three branch model of firstly, appraisal and expression, secondly, regulation and thirdly, utilization of E I that are present in the 1990 paper[12]. In 1997[13], these concepts were re-devised to encompass identification, use, understanding and management of emotion but they came after the publication of Goleman’s book, â€Å"Emotional Intelligence,† and contain the same broad concepts of the original 1990 paper. Another reason for scrutiny of the earlier work is that the 1990 text was the primary inspiration for Goleman. Explanation of the 1990 categories below does refer to the four branch model devised in 1997. 1. Appraising and Expressing Emotions in the self and others This is a double pronged notion of firstly identifying emotions in oneself and others and then using them to achieve a specific goal, which are facilitated through verbal and non-verbal communication. To understand others, perception is facilitated through body-language and empathy, all of which are key social skills. Mayer and Salovey state that clear communication of emotion is necessary in order to effectively convey feelings as well as be able to decipher emotive responses. The verbal version of clarity is therefore the use of coherent language as a way of expressing emotion. The non-verbal version of emotive expression is as far more widely used tool in emotive expression and appraisal as our specie is well adapted in the art of producing many facial expressions. E I is a recognition of the assessment level in ability to both express and empathetically decipher this non-verbal method of emotive communication. Empathy in particular is regarded by Mayer and Salovey as one of the most base and essential tools in any social specie[14]. 2. Regulating emotion in the self and others This is the process of understanding emotions in order to, ‘monitor, evaluate and regulate,’ them[15]. Mayer and Salovey also refer to the longer lasting ‘mood’ as a key facet of the emotional spectrum that also requires regulation. Moods and emotions tend not to be conscious decisions but are states of minds that the individual can learn from in order to ascertain for the future the precise environments and situations that will bring about these moods. This results in conscious efforts to either avoid or seek the behaviour that will trigger the mood. The complexity of this model is added to by further notions of social association so as to avoid jealousy and promote pride and also to more prominently recall positive mood stimulants as opposed to negative ones[16]. Further to this is the inherent desire to know full sorrow, which although somewhat baffling, is in its own right an educator as to the potential extent of profound joy[17]. Regulation of emotions in others is an essential tool for the workforce as it is key to the employer’s ability to pick out the best employees. This is determinable from indications such as appearance and grooming in the workplace, attention to work ethic, punctuality and contribution to the working environment[18]. 3. Utilization Utilization relates to the management of emotions and in the self. Mayer and Salovey refer to the varied ability in us all to ‘harness emotions in order to solve problems. ’[19] The mood that we are in will draw attention to different solutions that are dependent on a requisite mood as inspiration. This has the result that multiple moods create varied solutions that give way to skills in creativity, flexibility of planning and motivation. 5. The Meyer, Salovey and Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) In 1999, Mayer and Salovey’s 1997 four branch model of Emotional Intelligence was developed from an earlier test to measure performance tasks that assessed the ability to perceive the intensity of emotion. The test takers are required to answer questions relating to the outcome of increased intensity of emotion and changes in mood and the predominant task is to therefore select the correct course of action in a given situation. This is the E I equivalent to the IQ test and is a clear indication of the technical stance of Mayer and Salovey. D. The five Areas of E I according to Goleman 1. Self Awareness This is very similar to Mayer’s observation of the identification of emotion in oneself. Goleman points to the maxim of Socrates, â€Å"know thyself[20]† as a major key to the fulfilment of life. ‘Metacognition’ or ‘Self Awareness,’ are essential in order for us to be able to recognise our emotions and, more importantly, the thoughts that these generate: â€Å"being aware of our mood and our thoughts about that mood,† Goleman, accurately draws upon the profound spectrum of differences that are inherent among us in our ability to be self aware. He states that, on the one hand, some of us can be engulfed by our emotive responses and others can be accepting of them but neither of these groups is active in the pursuit of escape from emotional extremity[21]. On the other hand, the self aware individual applies rationality to the emotion in order to aid in its diffusion[22]. 2. Self Regulation An awareness of the self is a fundamental requirement towards self regulation which will allow us, not only to ‘know ourselves,’ but also regulate or control our emotive responses. The afore mentioned, self aware group, who actively rationalise their emotions are the most sophisticated self regulators. Plato himself made the definition between, ‘passion’s slave’ and sophrosyne[23] or: â€Å"care and intelligence in conducting one’s life; a tempered balance and wisdom,[24]† The ability to temper such emotions as rage is regarded as the forefront emotions to which escape is sought. [25] 3. Motivation Positive thinking is a further sophistication of E I that extrapolates from Mayer and Salovey’s notion on seeking specific moods. Goleman uses the concept of ‘hope,’ whose intensity in the individual will determine the outcome following a failure[26]. In simple terms, the defeatist will be utterly demoralised whereas students of a high hope will have the will power to motivate themselves to try harder. High commitment to motivation through hope will most certainly yield a positive outcome. In addition, the status of flow, which Goleman describes as the ’zone[27]’ between boredom through lack of personal stimulus and overwhelming sensations intrinsic to acute difficulty is the exact wavelength that teachers should seek in order to obtain optimum motivation. The problem however is that this is profoundly difficult in large classrooms where the state of ’flow’ is different for each student. 4. Empathy This is one of the most fundamental of emotive skills[28]. This represents his designation of the attributes that Mayer and Salovey described in their account of the ability to recognise the emotions of others. Empathy is the awareness to register the pains and the joys of others, which Goleman determines as essential for the development of ability to caring for the feelings of others and solidifies relationships between family, friends and partners. Without empathy, serious deficits of human compassion are noticeable and these can manifest in sociopath behaviour, child abuse and other acts that are inherent in a lack of empathy. 5. Social Skills The ability to determine the social structure of ones surroundings is a key skill in the development of knowing the emotions of those around us and being able to shape them. Goleman refers to the specific model of an argument between two toddlers and their mother as an illustration of sophisticated handling of emotional perception in others at extremely young ages[29]. This is related to Mayer and Salovey’s concept of appraising, expressing and regulating the emotions in others in order to achieve a specific goal. The adult counterpart is what Goleman describes as the ‘mastery’ of being able to diffuse the extreme emotions of others. E. Critical Assessment of the works The concept that Goleman adds little to the insights of Mayer and Salovey is to ignore the importance of creating a general work that is accessible to the lay individual. Emotional Intelligence is a scientific study of the interaction of the emotional and rational portions of the brain and any attempt to communicate such study and findings to the general public is surely the ultimate goal of the social science of psychology! Education in this field provides the individual with a greater understanding of how they think and react to life and it is essential that such knowledge become just as integral to the well being of basic fundaments of life as are the more practical skills of reading and writing. Further to this, the concept that Goleman is suggesting that we ‘be nice’ is an overly simplistic summary of his writings. Goleman describes intricate flaws that can occur in the neurological communication between the emotive and rational portions of the brain. He accurately describes the effect that long or short term deficits in either emotional or rational awareness can have on the personality and social, interactive skills of the individual. Meyer and Salovey argue profusely that there is more to E I than the simple feature of being nice and far from being contradicted by Goleman, he extrapolates upon this point. This is accurately illustrated by Goleman’s constant reference throughout the five elements of E I to the subjective decision making that is determined by dominance by the mind of either the emotional or rational brain portions. The result is that an argument to be nice contradicts the internal and external factors related to awareness of emotion in ourselves and others that lead to profound differences in displays of characteristics such as niceness. Goleman argues that a normative balance and sophisticated grasp of the above five skills will lead to the most positive response to a given situation and lead to the greater success in present and future life. These positive responses are not confined to displays of nicety. This is merely a common fiction that results from external perception of constant nic eness in individuals who in reality are highly attuned to their E I and reserve negative emotions for extreme situations. F. The Practical Application of E I as it applies to the education of adults The application of good E I in the work place is of fundamental importance. All five elements of E I contribute to a rounded perception of both the self and others that ensures a sophisticated navigation through the roadmap of social interaction, in which sophisticated levels of E I act to facilitate successful completion of the task in hand. The following are two key examples of how this operates in adult life. 1. Military Sophistication the Canadian Armed Forces Livingstone, Nadjiwon-Foster and Smithers prepared a on the use of Emotional Intelligence in the leadership skills of the Canadian Armed Forces[30]. The Forces are an ideal premise from which to analyse E I as they draw upon the two key areas of social interaction that are dependent on E I, namely, leadership and teamwork but that such skills are essential in all adult groups. Livingstone, Nadjiwon-Foster and Smithers draw upon Mayer and Salovey’s later four branch model of E I and identified key uses for leadership such as idealized influence of the role model and inspirational motivation that create the role model and encourage teamwork under the proficient and respected leader. Further to this, individualised consideration through attention by the leader to the individual skills and needs of each team member are fundamental to the utilization of the full potential of a company of soldiers. The intellectual stimulation required in the location of ‘flow’ and tran sformational leadership as a tool for the creation of job satisfaction are also fundamental to efficient armed forces that thrive on teamwork and leadership. 3. Sales Sales instils a third prong of skill sourced from E I and is highly useful for the adult world. This is the power of persuasion. In no other profession is the skill of establishing fast rapport and engaging in emotional sale through the rapid identification of a buying need more profound and acute than in the sales environment. This is because the hard sale technique, unlike the widespread application of E I for teamwork and leadership, requires the sales person to utilize persuasion in order to harness the emotional impulse. This carries with it a more passionate and more definite decision to make a purchase. Conclusion Analysis of both Mayer and Salovey and Goleman have revealed two outcomes. Firstly there are two versions of the E I concept of which the former is both intellectualised and scientific and the latter, by Goleman, is simplified and popular with greater reference to real scenarios as a tool to illustration. Secondly, it is emphasised that both schools are in harmony and each fulfil the two different yet essential goals for the use and teaching of E I, namely, a technical framework from which to develop further intellectual discourse in the highly relevant application of E I to adult life and secondly, a popular outreach those same adults which facilitates them with the opportunity to soul search their own personal endeavours with Emotional Intelligence. Bibliography Articles Mayer, J. D. , DiPaolo, M. T. , Salovey, P. (1990). Perceiving affective content in ambiguous visual stimuli: A component of emotional intelligence. Journal of Personality Assessment, 54, 772-781. Salovey, P. Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, 185-211. D Wechsler, â€Å"The Measurement and Appraisal of Adult Intelligence,† (Williams and Wilkens, Baltimore, 1958) N. Cantor and J. F. Kihlstrom, â€Å"Social Intelligence: The Cognitive Basis of Personality, in Review of Personality and Social Psychology, 6P (Shaver, 1985) 15-33 Holly Livingstone, Maria Nadjiwon-Foster Sonya Smithers â€Å"Emotional Intelligence Military Leadership, Prepared for: Canadian Forces Leadership Institute (March 11, 2002, as represented by the Minister of National Defence) Salovey, P, C. , Mayer, J. D. (1993). Emotional intelligence and the self- regulation of affect. In D. M. Wegner J. W. Pennebaker (Eds. ) Handbook of mental control (Pp. 258-277). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Mayer, J. D. , Stevens, A. (1994). An emerging understanding of the reflective (meta-) experience of mood. Journal of Research in Personality, 28, 351-373. Salovey, P. , Mayer, J. D. , Goldman, S. , Turvey, C, Palfai, T. (1995). Emotional attention, clarity, and repair: Exploring emotional intelligence using the Trait Meta-Mood Scale. In J. W. Pennebaker (Ed. ) Emotion, disclosure, and health (pp. 125-154). Mayer, J. D. , Salovey, P. (1995). Emotional intelligence and the construction and regulation of feelings. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 4. 197-208. Mayer, J. D. , Salovey, P. , Caruso, D. R. (2000) Models of emotional intelligence. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed. ). Handbook of Human Intelligence (2nd ed), pp 396-420. New York: Cambridge. Mayer, J. D. (2000). Spiritual Intelligence or spiritual consciousness? Journal of Psychology and Religion, 10, 47-56. Text Books D Goleman, â€Å"Emotional Intelligence, Why it can matter more than IQ† (Bloomsbury, 1995) Salovey, P. , Sluyter, D. J. (1997). Emotional development and emotional intelligence. New York: Basic Books and Mayer, J. D. Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey D. Sluyter (Eds). Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Implications for Educators (pp. 3-31). New York: Basic Books. Steve Hein, â€Å"E Q For Everybody† (1996) Full text available at http://eqi. org/eqe96_1. htm Video Daniel Golemen Presents: Emotional Intelligence: A new vision for Educators (Video) (National Professional Resources Ltd, 1996) Footnotes [1] Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 9 185-211 [2] (Bloomsbury, 1995) [3] See Steve Hein’s article at http://www. eqi. org/hrcom1c. htm [4] Salovey, P. Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, at p187 [5] D Wechsler, â€Å"The Measurement and Appraisal of Adult Intelligence,† (Williams and Wilkens, Baltimore, 1958) [6] ibid 4 at p 190 [7] N. Cantor and J. F. Kihlstrom, 2Social Intelligence: The Cognitive Basis of Personality, in Review of Personality and Social Psychology, 6P (Shaver, 1985) at pp 15-33 [8] D Goleman, â€Å"Emotional Intelligence, Why it can matter more than IQ† (Bloomsbury, 1995) chapter 3 [9] ibid [10] ibid chapter 6 at pp 80-83 [11] See â€Å"Daniel Golemen Presents: Emotional Intelligence: A new vision for Educators (Video) (National Professional Resources Ltd, 1996) [12] ibid 1 [13] See Salovey, P. , Sluyter, D. J. (1997). Emotional development and emotional intelligence. New York: Basic Books and Mayer, J. D. Salovey, P. (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In P. Salovey D. Sluyter (Eds). Emotional Development and Emotional Intelligence: Implications for Educators (pp. 3-31). New York: Basic Books. [14] ibid 1 at p 192 [15] ibid 1 [16] ibid 1 at p 195 [17] ibid 1 at p 196 [18] ibid [19] ibid 1 at p 199 [20] See Goleman chapter 4 [21] ibid p 48 [22] ibid [23] See Goleman at p 56 [24] Quoted from the translation of the ancient Greek by Page DuBois. See Goleman at p 56 (ch 5) [25] Goleman at p 59 [26] Goleman at p 89 [27] Goleman at pp 93-95 [28] Goleman at Chapter 7 [29] Goleman at pp 111-113 [30] Holly Livingstone, Maria Nadjiwon-Foster Sonya Smithers â€Å"Emotional Intelligence Military Leadership, Prepared for: Canadian Forces Leadership Institute (March 11, 2002, as represented by the Minister of National Defence)

Definitions of Self in Community in Morrisons Sula and Song of Solomon

Definitions of Self In Community in Sula and Song of Solomon        Ã‚  Ã‚   "In that place, where they tore the nightshade and blackberry patches from their roots to make room for the Medallion City Golf Course, there once was a neighborhood" (Sula 1). Toni Morrison begins the novel Sula with these powerful words, describing more than a physical place, but a spiritual place where a community once stood. She begins with the destruction of the community, ultimately beginning at the end because her novel traces the history of this community. In Song of Solomon. Morrison takes the opposite path. She traces the history of self that ultimately ends in a type of destruction when Milkman leaps off the cliff. In both novels, however, she explores the tension between self and community and the sacrifices each demand from the other. Morrison's characters are both empowered and restricted by the heavy sense of community that operates in her novels. In all of her novels the characters are pulled along by and enmeshed in the communities in which they live. In Sula and Song of Solomon the struggles of me community and me characters with in the framework of community are me driving force behind much of me novel. Both the characters and the larger communities are irrevocably changed throughout me course of the novels the as tension to define both individual and community surfaces. From the opening lines of Sula which foreshadows me ultimate deem of me community, Morrison calls attention to me sense of community in the Bottom. In "Eruptions of Funk. Susan Willis says, "The opening line from Sula might as well have been me novel's conclusion, so complete is the destructioni it describes. This is the community Morrison is writing to reclaim" (315)... ... Pessoni, Michele. â€Å"‘She was laughing at their God.’: Discovering the Goddess Within Sula.† African American Review 29 (1995): 439-451. Rigney, Barbara Hill. The Voices of Toni Morrison. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1991. Rubenstein, Roberta. â€Å"Pariahs and Community.† Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and K. A. Appiah. New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1993. 126-1 58. Smith, Valerie. â€Å"Song of Solomon: Continuities of Community.† Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and K. A. Appiah. New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1993. 274-283. Willis, Susan. â€Å"Eruptions of Funk: Historicizing Toni Morrison.† Toni Morrison : Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Ed. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and K.A. Appiah. New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1993. 308-329.      

Stephen Crane and His Unique Choice of Subjects :: essays research papers

Stephen Crane   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Stephen Crane was born on November 1, 1871 in New Jersey. Crane became a writer at the age of twenty-one and died of tuberculosis at the age of twenty-eight. Crane’s sister, Agnes, raised him and tutored him. She eventually became a schoolteacher. His parents were very religious and his father had an essay published in an 1869 issue of Popular Amusements. Crane â€Å"felt himself unworthy of his father because he fell short of his father’s moral principles and his nobility of spiritual outlook.†He studied poverty, war, and life and death struggle. â€Å"Crane united from the beginning an iron self-assurance with a deep shyness.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"The Red Badge of Courage† Crane describes the characters in depth. He chose a significant event in Americas history and wrote about it. During the Civil War while a Union regiment is based along a river, a tall soldier named Jim Conklin spreads a rumor that the army will march within a day. A new recruit, Henry Fleming, feels that if he were to see battle he would run like a coward. When the regiment marches they meet up with the enemy but Henry is unable to flee because he is surrounded. The Union regiment stops the charge of the Confederate. The next day the Confederates charge again and this time Henry is able to flee from the scene. Later he meets up with a group of wounded soldiers walking down the road and he believes that a wound is like â€Å"a red badge of courage†. He meets a soldier with extremely deep wounds and then recognizes that it is Jim Conklin. While they are walking down the road Jim Conklin runs off behind the bushes and dies where the other soldiers can not see him. Henry wanders through the forest alone until he comes to a battlefield. He attempts to stop one of the soldiers to ask what is going on but he gets hit in the head with the soldier’s rifle. Another soldier takes Fleming back to his regiment’s camp. His friend Wilson cares for him because he thinks that Fleming has been shot in the head. The next day the regiment goes back to the battlefield and this time Henry stays and fights in Jim Conklin’s honor. Wilson and Henry overhear an officer making fun of their regiment’s style of fighting so they go out to prove him wrong.

Business Financing and the Capital Structure Essay

Explain the process of financial planning used to estimate asset investment requirements for a corporation. Explain the concept of working capital management. Identify and briefly describe several financial instruments that are used as marketable securities to park excess cash. As a business owner, it is important to know the value of your assets as they can be used as leverage for obtaining loans and can be used to estimate your ability to repay your debts. Calculate your current assets, long-term investments, fixed assets and intangible assets and add them up to get your total business assets. Pledgeable assets support more borrowing, which allows for further investment in pledgeable assets. The trade-off between liquidation costs and underinvestment costs implies that low-liquidity firms exhibit negative investment sensitivities to liquid funds, whereas high-liquidity firms have positive sensitivities. If real assets are not divisible in liquidation, firms with high financial liquidity optimally avoid external financing and instead cut new investment. If real assets are divisible, firms use external financing, which implies a lower sensitivity. In addition, asset redeployability decreases the investment sensitivity. Financial management includes management of assets and liabilities in the long run and the short run. The management of fixed and current assets, however, differs in three important ways: Firstly, in managing fixed assets, time is very important; consequently discounting and compounding aspects of time element play an important role in capital budgeting and a minor one in the management of current assets. Secondly, the large holdings of current assets, especially cash, strengthen firm’s liquidity position but it also reduces its overall profitability. Thirdly, the level of fixed as well as current assets depends upon the expected sales, but it is only the current assets, which can be adjusted with sales fluctuation in the short run. Marketable securities replenish cash quickly and earn higher returns than cash, but come with risks; maturity, yield, and liquidity should be considered. Marketable securities are the securities that can be easily liquidated without any delay at a reasonable price. Firms will maintain levels of marketable securities to ensure that they are able to quickly replenish cash balances and to obtain higher returns than is possible by maintaining cash. There are four factors that influence the choice of  marketable securities. These include risks, maturity, yield, and liquidity. Assume that you are financial advisor to a business. Describe the advice that you would give to the client for raising business capital using both debt and equity options in today’s economy. Some business owners say ratios are an accountant’s problem. That’s not smart, says Dileep Rao, president of Minneapolis’ InterFinance Corp, a venture-finance consulting firm, and professor at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. â€Å"Running your business without knowing your numbers is like driving a car without being able to see your direction or speed,† says Rao. â€Å"It’s only a matter of time before you crash.†(Rao, 2011) The terms â€Å"debt† and â€Å"equity† get tossed around so casually that it’s worth reviewing their meanings. Debt financing refers to money raised through some sort of loan, usually for a single purpose over a defined period of time, and usually secured by some sort of collateral. Equity financing can be a founder’s money invested in the business or cash from angel investors, venture capital firms, or, rarely, a government-backed community development agency—all in exchange for a portion of ownership, and therefore a share in any profits. Equity typically becomes a source of long-term, general-use funds. The share of any hard assets, such as property and equipment, that you own free and clear also counts as equity. Striking the right balance between debt and equity financing means weighing the costs and benefits of each, making sure you’re not sticking your company with debt you can’t afford to repay and minimizing the cost of capital. Choosing debt forces you to manage for cash flow, while, in a perfect world, taking on equity means you’re placing a priority on growth. But in today’s credit markets, raising equity may simply mean you can’t borrow any more. Until recently, bank credit was a financing mainstay. But experiences like Flipse’s underlie a point made by the Federal Reserve Board’s quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, released in November. According to loan officers, small-company borrowers were tapping sources of funding other than banks. They were being driven away for many reasons. Banks â€Å"continued to tighten standards and terms†¦on all major types of loans to businesses,† though fewer were doing so than in late 2008, when tightening was nearly universal. Interest rates on small business loans were on the rise at 40% of the banks surveyed, even as the prime rate reached historic lows. One in five banks had reduced small  companies’ revolving credit lines. One in three had tightened their loan standards, and 40% had tightened collateral requirements. Partly because of the plunging value of the real estate securing many commercial loans, pressure from bank examiners for tighter standards continued to build. Meanwhile, home equity loans, another popular source of small business cash, had evaporated. Many recession-weary business owners knew they had essentially become unbankable: Loan officers surveyed said far fewer firms were seeking to borrow. Those few who could borrow were repelled by higher rates. All of a sudden, equity financing l ooked better. Explain why a business may decide to seek capital from a foreign investor indicating the risk and rewards for such a decision. Provide support for rationale. Many investors choose to place a portion of their portfolios in foreign securities. This decision involves an analysis of various mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETF), or stock and bond offerings. However, investors often neglect an important first step in the process of international investing. When done properly, the decision to invest overseas begins with a determination of the riskiness of the investment climate in the country under consideration. Country risk refers to the economic, political and business risks that are unique to a specific country, and that might result in unexpected investment losses. This article will examine the concept of country risk and how it can be analyzed by investors. There are many excellent sources of information on the economic and political climate of foreign countries. Newspapers, such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times dedicate significant coverage to overseas events. There are also many excellent weekly magazines covering international economics and politics; the Economist is generally considered to be the standard bearer among weekly publications. For those seeking more in-depth coverage of a particular country or region, two excellent sources of objective, comprehensive country information are the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Fact Book. Either of these resources provides an investor with a broad overview of the economic, political, demographic and social climate of a country. The Economist Intelligence Unit also provides ratings for most of the world’s countries. These ratings can be used to supplement those issued by Moody’s,  S&P, and the other â€Å"traditional† ratings agencies. Finally, the internet provides access to a host of information, including international editions of many foreign newspapers and magazines. Reviewing locally produced news sources can sometimes provide a different perspective on the attractiveness of a country under consideration for investment. It is important to remember that diversification, which is a fundamental principle of domestic investing, is even more important when investing internationally. Choosing to invest an entire portfolio in a single country is not prudent. In a broadly diversified global portfolio, investments should be allocated among developed, emerging and perhaps frontier markets. Even in a more concentrated portfolio, investments should still be spread among several countries in order to maximize diversification and minimize risk. After the decision on where to invest has been made, an investor has to decide what investment vehicles he or she wishes to invest in. Investment options include sovereign debt, stocks or bonds of companies domiciled in the country(s) chosen, stocks or bonds of a U.S.-based company that derives a significant portion of its revenues from the country(s) selected, or an internationally focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) or mutual fund. The choice of investment vehicle is dependent upon each investor’s individual knowledge, experience, risk profile and return objectives. When in doubt, it may make sense to start out by taking less risk; more risk can always be added to the portfolio at a later date. In addition to thoroughly researching prospective investments, an international investor also needs to monitor his or her portfolio and adjust holdings as conditions dictate. As in the U.S., economic conditions overseas are constantly evolving, and political situations abroad can change quickly, particularly in emerging or frontier markets (Forbes, 2011). Situations that once seemed promising may no longer be so, and countries that once seemed too risky might now be viable investment candidates. Explain the historical relationships between risk and return for common stocks versus corporate bonds. Explain how diversification helps in risk reduction in a portfolio. Support response with actual data and concepts learned in this course. Portfolio diversification is the means by which investors minimize or eliminate their exposure to company-specific risk, minimize or reduce  systematic risk and moderate the short-term effects of individual asset class performance on portfolio value. In a well-conceived portfolio, this can be accomplished at a minimal cost in terms of expected return. Such a portfolio would be considered to be a well-diversified. Although the concepts relevant to portfolio diversification are customarily explained with respect to the stock markets, the same underlying principals apply to all types of investments. For example, corporate bonds have specific risk that can be diversified away in the same manner as that of stocks. Bonds issued by companies represent the largest of the bond markets, bigger than U.S. Treasury bonds, municipal bonds, or securities offered by federal agencies (Worldbank, 2013). The risk associated with corporate bonds depends on the financial stability and performance of the company issuing the bonds, because if the company goes bankrupt it may not be able to repay the value of the bond, or any return on investment. Assess the risk by checking the company’s credit rating with ratings agencies such as Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s. Good ratings are not guarantees, however, as a company may show an excellent credit record until the day before filing for bankruptcy. When you purchase stock in a company during a public offering, you become a shareholder in the company. Some companies pay dividends to shareholders based on the number of shares held, and this is one form of return on investment. Another is the profit realized by trading on the stock exchange, provided you sell the shares at a higher price than you paid for them. The risks of owning common stock include the possible loss of any projected profit, as well as the money paid for the shares, if the share price drops below the original price. Corporate bonds hold the lowest risk of the three types of investments, provided you choose the right company in which to invest. The main reason for this is that in the event of bankruptcy, corporate bond holders have a stronger claim to payment than holders of common or preferred stocks. Bonds carry the risk of a lower return on investment, as the performance of stocks is generally better. Common stocks carry the highest risk, because holders are last to be paid in the event of bankruptcy. Preferred stocks generally have higher yields than corporate bonds, lower risk than common stocks, and a better claim to payment in the event of bankruptcy. References Dileep Rao. 2011, â€Å"InterFinance † Cambridge, Massachusetts, The MIT Press. Forbes. 2011, † Small Business Loans: A Great Option â€Å". Retrieved on 6/19/2013 from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryancaldbeck/2012/11/14/small-business-loans-a-great-option-unless-you-actually-need-money/ â€Å"Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$) | Data | Table† . Data.worldbank.org. Retrieved 6/19/2013 from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.KLT.DINV