Foreign Policy of the U.S. Government

Foreign Policy of the U.S. Government A nation’s foreign policy is a set of strategies for dealing effectively with issues arising with other nations. Typically developed and pursued by the nation’s central government, foreign policy is ideally crafted to help achieve national goals and objectives, including peace and economic stability. Foreign policy is considered the opposite of domestic policy, the ways in which nations deal with issues within their own borders. Foreign Policy Key Takeaways The term â€Å"foreign policy† refers to a national government’s combined strategies for effectively managing its relationships with other nations. Foreign policy is the functional opposite of â€Å"domestic policy,† the ways in which a nation manages matters occurring within its own borders.The long-term goals of the United States’ foreign are peace and economic stability. In the United States, the Department of State, with the consultation and approval of the President of the United States and Congress, plays the lead role in the development and implementation of U.S. foreign policy.   Basic U.S. Foreign Policy As a key issue in the nation’s past, present, and future, United States foreign policy is truly a cooperative effort of both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. The Department of State leads the overall development and supervision of U.S. foreign policy. Along with its many U.S. embassies and missions in countries worldwide, the Department of State works to apply its Foreign Policy Agenda â€Å"to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community.† Especially since the end of World War II, other executive branch departments and agencies have started working along with the Department of State to address specific foreign policy issues such as counterterrorism, cybersecurity, climate and environment, human trafficking, and women’s issues. Foreign Policy Concern In addition, the House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs lists the following areas of foreign policy concern: â€Å"export controls, including nonproliferation of nuclear technology and nuclear hardware; measures to foster commercial interaction with foreign nations and to safeguard American business abroad; international commodity agreements; international education; and protection of American citizens abroad and expatriation.† While the worldwide influence of the United States remains strong, it is declining in the area of economic output as the wealth and prosperity of nations like China, India, Russia, Brazil, and consolidated nations of the European Union has increased. Many foreign policy analysts suggest that the most pressing problems facing U.S. foreign policy today include issues such as terrorism, climate change, and the growth in the number of nations possessing nuclear weapons. What About U.S. Foreign Aid? U.S. aid to foreign countries, often the source of criticism and praise, is administered by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Responding to the importance of developing and maintaining stable, sustainable democratic societies worldwide, USAID peruses a primary goal of ending extreme poverty in countries with average daily individual personal incomes of $1.90 or less. While foreign aid represents less than 1% of the annual U.S. federal budget, the expenditure of about $23 billion a year is often criticized by policymakers who argue the money would be better spent on U.S. domestic needs. However, when he argued for passage of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, President John F. Kennedy summed up the importance of foreign aid as follows: â€Å"There is no escaping our obligations- our moral obligations as a wise leader and good neighbor in the interdependent community of free nations- our economic obligations as the wealthiest people in a world of largely poor people, as a nation no longer dependent upon the loans from abroad that once helped us develop our own economy and our political obligations as the single largest counter to the adversaries of freedom.† Other Players in U.S. Foreign Policy While the Department of State is mainly responsible for implementing it, a great deal of U.S. foreign policy is developed by the ​President of the United States along with presidential advisers and Cabinet members. The President of the United States, as the Commander in Chief, exercises broad powers over the deployment and activities of all U.S. armed forces in foreign nations. While only Congress can declare war, presidents empowered by legislation such as the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists Act of 2001, have often sent U.S. troops into combat on foreign soil without a congressional declaration of war. Clearly, the ever-changing threat of simultaneous terrorist attacks by multiple poorly defined enemies on multiple fronts has necessitated a more rapid military response that allowed by the legislative process. The Role of Congress in Foreign Policy Congress also plays an important role in U.S foreign policy. The Senate consults on the creation of most treaties and trade agreements and must approve all treaties and cancellation of treaties by a two-thirds supermajority vote. In addition, two important congressional committees, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, must approve and may append all legislation dealing with foreign affairs. Other congressional committees may also deal with foreign relations matters and Congress has established numerous temporary committees and sub-committees to study special issues and matters relating to U.S. foreign affairs. Congress also has significant power to regulate U.S. commerce and trade with foreign nations. The United States Secretary of State serves as the foreign minister of the United States and is in charge of conducting nation-to-nation diplomacy. The Secretary of State also has wide responsibility for the operations and security of the nearly 300 U.S. embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions around the world. Both the Secretary of State and all U.S. ambassadors are appointed by the president and must be approved by the Senate.   Sources and Further Reference â€Å"Foreign Relations of the United States.† U.S. Department of State Archives.â€Å"Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations.† U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.US Foreign Aid by Country - Foreign Aid Explorer. United States Agency for International Development.â€Å"Efforts to Improve Management of U.S. Foreign Aid.† U.S. Government Accountability Office. (March 29, 1979).

Aardvark Fast Facts

Aardvark Fast Facts Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) are known by several common names including antbears and anteaters; they are native to sub-Saharan Africa. The name aardvark is Afrikaans  (a daughter language of Dutch) for earth pig. Despite these common names, aardvarks are not closely related to bears, pigs, or anteaters. Instead, they occupy their own distinct order: Tubulidentata. Fast Facts: Aardvark Scientific Name: Orycteropus aferCommon Names: Aardvark, antbear, anteater, Cape anteaters, earth pigBasic Animal Group: MammalSize: Up to 6.5 feet long, 2 feet at shoulder heightWeight: 110–175 poundsLifespan: 10 yearsDiet:  CarnivoreHabitat: Sub-saharan AfricaPopulation: Not quantifiedConservation Status: Least Concern Description Aardvarks are medium-sized mammals (weighing 110–175 pounds and up to 6.5 feet long) with a bulky body, arched back, medium-length legs, long ears (resembling those of a donkey), a long snout, and a thick tail. They have a sparse coat of coarse grayish brown fur covering their body. Aardvarks have four toes on their front feet and five toes on their rear feet. Each toe has a flat, sturdy nail that they use for digging burrows and tearing into insect nests in search of food. Aardvarks have very thick skin which provides them protection from insect bites and even the bites of predators. Their teeth lack enamel and, as a result, wear down and must regrow continuously- the teeth are tubular and hexagonal in cross-section. Aardvarks have small eyes and their retina only contains rods (this means they are color-blind). Like many nocturnal animals, aardvarks have a keen sense of smell and very good hearing. Their front claws are especially robust, enabling them to dig burrows and break open termite nests with ease. Their long, serpentine tongue (10–12 inches) is sticky and can gather up ants and termites with great efficiency. The classification of the aardvark was controversial at one time. Aardvarks were formerly classified in the same group as  armadillos, sloths, and anteaters. Today, genetic studies have shown that the aardvark is classified in the order called the Tubulidentata (tube-toothed), and the family Orycteropodidae: They are the only animal in either order or family. Shongololo90/Getty Images   Habitat and Range Aardvarks inhabit a variety of habitats including savannas, shrublands, grasslands, and woodlands. Although they once lived in Europe and Asia, today their range extends throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa, every ecosystem except marshes, deserts, and very rock terrains. Bridgena_Barnard/Getty Images   Diet and Behavior Aardvarks forage at night, covering extensive distances (as much as 6 miles per night) in search of food. To find food, they swing their noses from side to side over the ground, trying to detect their prey by scent. They feed almost exclusively on termites and ants and can consume up to 50,000 insects in a single night. They occasionally supplement their diet by feeding on other insects, plant material or the occasional small mammal. Solitary, nocturnal mammals, aardvarks spend the daylight hours safely tucked away inside their borrows and emerge to feed during the late afternoon or early evening. Aardvarks are extraordinarily fast diggers and can excavate a hole 2 feet deep in less than 30 seconds. The main predators of aardvarks include lions, leopards, and pythons. Aardvarks dig three types of burrows in their ranges: relatively shallow foraging burrows, larger temporary shelters to hide from predators and more complex burrows for permanent residence. They share their permanent residences with other creatures but not other aardvarks. Investigation of the residential burrows has shown that compared to the surrounding soil, soil inside the burrow is cooler (between 4 and 18 degrees F cooler depending on the time of day), and moister. The differences remained the same no matter how old the burrow was, leading researchers to name the aardvark an ecological engineer. Reproduction and Offspring Aardvarks reproduce sexually and form pairs only for a short time during the breeding season. Females give birth to one or rarely two cubs after a gestation period of 7–8 months. In northern Africa, Aardvarks give birth from October to November; in the south, from May and July. The young are born with their eyes open. The mother nurses the young until they are 3 months old when they start eating insects. They become independent of their mothers at six months and venture off to find their own territory. Aardvarks become sexually mature at two to three years of age and have lifespans in the wild of about 18 years. Evolutionary History Aardvarks are considered to be living fossils due to their ancient, highly conserved genetic make-up. Scientists believe that todays aardvarks represent one of the most ancient lineages among the placental mammals (Eutheria). Aardvarks are considered to be a primitive form of hoofed mammal, not because of any obvious similarities but instead due to subtle characteristics of their brain, teeth, and musculature. The closest living relatives to the aardvarks include  elephants, hyraxes,  dugongs, manatees, elephant shrews, golden moles, and tenrecs. Together, these mammals form a group known as the Afrotheria. Conservation Status Aardvarks once existed in Europe and Asia but are now only found in sub-Saharan Africa. Their populations are unknown but they are classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and not listed as threatened at all by the ECOS Environmental Conservation Online System. Major identified threats to the aardvark are habitat loss through agriculture, and human and trapping for bush meat. The skin, claws, and teeth are used to make bracelets, charms and curious and some medicinal purposes.  Ã‚   Sources Buss, Peter E., and Leith C. R. Meyer. Chapter 52: Tubulidentata (Aardvark). Fowlers Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine, Volume 8. Eds. Miller, R. Eric and Murray E. Fowler. St. Louis: W.B. Saunders, 2015. 514–16. Print.Gozdziewska-Harlajczuk, Karolina, Joanna Kleckowska-Nawrot, and Karolina Barszcz. Macroscopic and Microscopic Study of the Tongue of the Aardvark (Orycteropus Afer, Orycteropodidae). Tissue and Cell 54 (2018): 127–38. Print.Haussmann, Natalie S., et al. Ecosystem Engineering through Aardvark (Orycteropus Afer) Burrowing: Mechanisms and Effects. Ecological Engineering 118 (2018): 66–72. Print.Ratzloff, Elizabeth. Orycteropus afer (aardvark). Animal Diversity Web, 2011.  Taylor, W. A., P. A. Lindsey, and J. D. Skinner. The Feeding Ecology of the Aardvark Orycteropus Afer. Journal of Arid Environments 50.1 (2002): 135–52. Print.Taylor, A. and T. Lehmann. Orycteropus afer. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T41504A21286437, 2015.

Contribute to the complex nursing of clients Case Study

Contribute to the complex nursing of clients - Case Study Example She was admitted into the ward by wheel chair for investigation of increased abdominal girth and jaundice. She has been taking corticosteroids for her asthma for 6 months and has been receiving insulin SC, BD which her husband has been administering at home. This paper shall discuss the clinical manifestations of Mrs. Carr’s diagnosis. It shall outline the appropriate nursing interventions for Mrs. Carr, taking into consideration her physical, emotional, and psychosocial needs. A rationale for these interventions shall also be discussed. Mrs. Carr’s medical management shall also be discussed along with an outline of their mode of action and what reactions may be observed from these medications. This paper shall also discuss the observations I would perform on Mrs. Carr, and the rationale for such observations. Finally, this paper shall discuss how I, as an enrolled nurse, can maintain the client’s dignity and rights within legal and ethical guidelines. There are numerous manifestations of Mrs. Carr’s disease. Since, she has multiple diseases, various signs and symptoms will be seen. Mrs. Carr’s Alzheimer’s disease manifests with her loss of memory, disorientation, mood changes, and difficulties in performing her activities of daily living. These symptoms are consistent with the symptoms of Alzheimer’s as enumerated by Vishnu (â€Å"Conditions and Diseases†). Mrs. Carr’s osteoarthritis manifests with symptoms which include pain and stiffness in her joints, loss of flexibility in her joints, and very often swelling and tenderness in the vicinity of her joints. These symptoms are consistent with the symptoms of the disease as enumerated by the Mayo Clinic (â€Å"Disease and Conditions†). Her Type I diabetes manifests with excessive thirst and fatigue, weight loss, blurred vision, and frequent urination. Such symptoms, according to

Math portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Math portfolio - Essay Example In addition, it will be also checked that what happen if no further doses is given to malaria patient over a week period after an initial dose of 10 ÃŽ ¼g. From The graph of the given data, it is obvious that the amount of drug in the bloodstream decreases as the time passes. From investigation, it is found that it is similar to the graph of an exponential decay function (for example radioactive decay graph). The general equation of such an exponential decay function is: From the above function, the different values of can be determined for the given data that is summarized in table 2. Since, there are different values of for every data points, therefore, for our model function taking average value (mean value) of from the calculated values of ,. Figure 2 shows the Graph of model function and data given. From figure 2 , it can be seen that the graph of model function and data given are similar and approximately follows the same path. Some minor deviations may be because of the error in colleting the data for the amount of drug in the bloodstream over a period. The model functionis suitable for the modeling of amount of the drug in the bloodstream. The suitability of the model function is also derived from the comparison of the graph of model function and data given and both are similar. From given graph of amount of drug in the bloodstream for 10-hour period following an initial dose of 10 ÃŽ ¼g, it can be seen that amount of drug remained in the bloodstream after six-hour period is equal to 3.7 ÃŽ ¼g. Therefore, in six-hour period the amount of drug decay is 6.3 ÃŽ ¼g. Assuming this decay-rate is constant for further period, when a patient is instructed to take 10 ÃŽ ¼g of this drug every six hours. Then, the amount of drug at start and at end of each period will be as given in table 3. The maximum amount of drug 21.1 ÃŽ ¼g in the bloodstream will be at start of fourth period (i.e. 18-24 hour period) and the minimum amount of drug 3.7 ÃŽ ¼g in

Poetry changed alongside wider society Essay Example for Free

Poetry changed alongside wider society Essay We learn that Arnold can no longer draw comfort from the sea of faith or religion which encompassed him and like the folds of a bright girdle furled. Instead, the coast and sea is an analogy for religious trend. Christianity is ebbing away because of scientific dispatch. This results is the naked shingles of the world; a place that is unprotected and fragile with no supreme power to guide man. This confusion is emphasized the informality of its structure. The lack of a coherent rhythm and rhyme scheme creates the illusion of tide, But now I only hear, Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar, Retreating to the breath, which swashes and washes along the coast just like the different line lengths. As we can see, Arnold is hesitant of change and acceptance for him results in apprehension. This is unusual in the sense that, conventionally, acceptance results in peace of mind. Ironically, in gods Grandeur, when Hopkins refutes absolute science, he is more buoyant and cheerful towards which is not the usual characteristics of denial. In the poem, despite the fall of contemporary Victorian society, nature is never spent and permeates the world with the dearest of freshness. Hopkins conveys an image of god being a regenerative force who is able to bring morning following the last lights of the black west. He is defiant of the theory of evolution and instead believes in the holy ghost. Gods Grandeur ends with: World broods with warm breast and with ah! Bright wings. This imagery is inspired with hope and resembles the techniques by Romantic poets where an animal would be used as the vehicle to escape misery; for example the skylark in Keats poem. On the other hand, Dover Beech is not optimistic but instead shares the pessimism associated with poems in the 1900. Arnold depicts the world as a stagnant site with neither joy, nor love nor light. In the last stanza, he talks personally to his wife: Ah, love, let us be true In a place of no faith, Arnold wishes to pin their faith on each other- the language becomes poetic with a series of semantically related adjectives: So various, so beautiful, so new The Victorians lived through a time of change however change in the near future results in neither certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain. This apprehension is felt by Arnold who is swept with confused alarms; the complete antithesis of Hopkins.

What inspires you? :: essays research papers

What inspires you?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have two things that inspire me in my life. One of them is my parents especially my mother, the other is the accident of my dad ¡Ã‚ ¯s company occurred in recent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I will talk about the accident happened in March of this year. I live in States but my parents live in Korea. Only way we contact is using phone, or I visit them for every summer and winter vacation. If they don ¡Ã‚ ¯t tell me what is going on in our family there is no way to figure out that when I am in States. When I got home for this summer vacation, my dad asked me to come home early one day and he said that there is a serious thing that he wanted to talk to me. I had no clue what was going on. He said that there was a fire broken out in his factory. He owns huge furniture factory and he is C.E.O of this company. The biggest storage of his plant was gone because of the fire. It was about 1.8 million dollars worth, and it ¡Ã‚ ¯s gone now. People said that it was on the TV and newspaper for 3 days as a big tragedy. I visited there and I saw people working there to build new one again. The first problem he got was the loss of his assets and the second one was that he was getting too much of stress from that. I always got my personal expenses from my dad during vacation, but I just decided to work and make money. I know it is hard since I am taking 10 credits of summer courses during whole summer vacation. I strongly felt that I need to do something for my dad. So I applied one of the biggest accounting corporation in Korea, I got accepted as intern. It ¡Ã‚ ¯s been a little bit more than a month I ¡Ã‚ ¯ve been working, but the problem is that I only get 3hours sleep except the weekend. After I get home from work I eat dinner and start my homework and quizzes for my summer courses then I can go to sleep at around 3 or 4 o ¡Ã‚ ¯clock in the morning. I get really tired physically and mentally but when I think about what my dad was suffering from the accident it is nothing. I started thinking in positive way that this is good opportunity to overcome the suffer in my life. What inspires you? :: essays research papers What inspires you?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have two things that inspire me in my life. One of them is my parents especially my mother, the other is the accident of my dad ¡Ã‚ ¯s company occurred in recent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I will talk about the accident happened in March of this year. I live in States but my parents live in Korea. Only way we contact is using phone, or I visit them for every summer and winter vacation. If they don ¡Ã‚ ¯t tell me what is going on in our family there is no way to figure out that when I am in States. When I got home for this summer vacation, my dad asked me to come home early one day and he said that there is a serious thing that he wanted to talk to me. I had no clue what was going on. He said that there was a fire broken out in his factory. He owns huge furniture factory and he is C.E.O of this company. The biggest storage of his plant was gone because of the fire. It was about 1.8 million dollars worth, and it ¡Ã‚ ¯s gone now. People said that it was on the TV and newspaper for 3 days as a big tragedy. I visited there and I saw people working there to build new one again. The first problem he got was the loss of his assets and the second one was that he was getting too much of stress from that. I always got my personal expenses from my dad during vacation, but I just decided to work and make money. I know it is hard since I am taking 10 credits of summer courses during whole summer vacation. I strongly felt that I need to do something for my dad. So I applied one of the biggest accounting corporation in Korea, I got accepted as intern. It ¡Ã‚ ¯s been a little bit more than a month I ¡Ã‚ ¯ve been working, but the problem is that I only get 3hours sleep except the weekend. After I get home from work I eat dinner and start my homework and quizzes for my summer courses then I can go to sleep at around 3 or 4 o ¡Ã‚ ¯clock in the morning. I get really tired physically and mentally but when I think about what my dad was suffering from the accident it is nothing. I started thinking in positive way that this is good opportunity to overcome the suffer in my life.

How does an organization create customer value Essay

Marketing experts Don Peppers and Martha Rogers said: â€Å"Without customers, you don’t have a business.† It is such a simple, nevertheless, a scary thought. We live in a world of consumerism, in which the customer’s wants and desires greatly exceed their basic needs. Even though many see this concept as a threat to modern world society, it has created the extremely competitive marketplace for businesses. The companies are competing everyday to win over as many customers as possible by offering products that create irreplaceable value and benefit to those customers. Many companies will succeed in getting the customers to buy into their value and benefit however, the true success of a business is not linked only to getting new customers. It is considerably linked with keeping those customers around and winning over the customers from their competition. Companies work hard to develop creative marketing schemes for their products so that the company is recognized a nd perceived as valuable and beneficial to the customer. However, I believe that all strong companies start from the same point: listening to the customer. The extraordinary merits of information technology, such as the internet, cell phones, social media, television, radio, etc. have made the world we live in a global village. Thanks to the information technology, distance has never been less of an obstacle to communication amongst people. Technology has made information essentially accessible to everyone, everywhere, at any time making consumers, â€Å"more educated and informed than ever. They have the tools to verify companies’ claims and seek out superior alternatives† (Kotler & Keller, 2009, p.121). Consumerism and technology have made it possible for the customer to be heard. They can share interests, as well as positive and negative reviews for others to see. Companies follow and act upon those interests and reviews. They analyze all the information and seek to create a product that will satisfy the consumer’s interests and minimize the negative reviews. The creation of a quality product or a service that satisfies a great number of the customer’s needs and wants will create competitive advantage in the marketplace for the company and will make the product or service valuable to the customer. Ultimately, it will create an valuable experience. Positive experiences create loyalty towards that product and, â€Å"deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or service in the future despite  situational influences and marketing efforts having the potential to cause switching behavior† ( Kotler & Keller, 2009, p.123). Negative experiences on the other hand can cause dissatisfaction with the product and cause a customer to defect and go to the competitor. When defection happens companies seek other ways to retain current customers, gain new ones, or even stop dissatisfied customers from defecting. Som e of the other ways companies make themselves valuable to the customer are: speed of service, discounts and rebates, warranties, loyalty programs, gifts, etc. Sale!Sale!Sale! 20-70% off entire store! 2 for 1! All these marketing schemes, discounts, and rebates are used to promote value in the eyes of the customer. Customers like to use phrases like: †I want more for my money†, or, â€Å"getting more for less†. One of the best ways that companies show they are valuable to customers is lowering the price of their products. The value created for the customer is satisfaction and a feeling of success. Meeting customer needs with a product is great, but the real measure of success cannot be measured by the product made, but by the feeling that the customer gets after purchasing it. That feeling of satisfaction or dissatisfaction after purchasing the product will affect the customer retention base, customer loyalty, company’s image, and ultimately the bottom line. Many companies today compete on price and try to create value for the customer by giving them more for less. No matter how good the product or service is, mistakes will happen and the customers will complain. Many people don’t like to hear complaints, but when there is money involved there will be complaining. The first step in making the company valuable to the customer is by making complaints easier and more accessible. By doing this the company makes it personable, consequently creating the value of importance for the customer instead of making them just a number. Benjamin Franklin said, â€Å"Well done is better than well said†. Companies might say they will make it personal and resolve the issue, but then you are put on hold for thirty minutes when you call in for a complaint, or your car might have to stay in the shop two days longer than anticipated. When inconveniencing the customer in moments like these, any effort to help the customer resolve the issue thereafter may be futile. That may very well be the last time the company will deal with that particular customer. The second step in creating value for the customer is the speed at which the issue will be resolved. It  might sound clichà ©, but time is money, and an attorney that has to be on hold for thirty minutes might have lost the opportunity to earn two hundred dollars. He might take it personal and go to your competitor. Acc ording to Kotler & Keller (2009), â€Å"Of the customers who register a complaint, between 54% and 70% will do business with the organization again if their complaint is resolved. The figure goes up to a staggering 95% if the customer feels the complaint was resolved quickly† (p.129). Therefore, it is not just resolving the issue that makes the customer value your company, it is the speed at which that issue or complaint is resolved. The desire of each marketing person and each company, per se, is building a strong and loyal customer base. Quality products and services create satisfied customers, and that satisfaction creates a relationship between the customer and a brand. If the customer is repeatedly content with the benefits from the particular product or service, it starts building loyalty. Once loyalty is established companies continue creating value for the customer thru development of loyalty programs that provide customers with extra rewards and benefits, making them feel more valuable since they are not getting those benefits anywhere else. The company has created ultimate value for both customer and themselves when their customers become their clients. According to Kotler & Keller (2009), â€Å"Customers may be nameless to the institution; clients cann ot be nameless. Customers are served as part of the mass or as part of the large segments; clients are served on an individual basis. Customers are served by anyone who happens to be available; clients are served by the professional assigned to them† (p.140). Companies create competitive advantage in the market by putting the customer’s wants and needs ahead of everything, understanding that without their customers they would not exist. In today’s world of consumerism and information, every company is capable of creating a valuable experience for their customers. However, the difference between the leaders in the market and others is that the leaders are constantly making their customer’s feel valued. Leading companies listen to their customers, they resolve their customer’s complaints and concerns in a fast and effective manner. They make customers feel valuable by building personal relationships thru numerous loyalty programs, and ultimately deepe n that relationship by making their customers into clients.

Microsoft Opens the Gates: Patent, Piracy, and Political Challenges in China Essay

Microsoft faced many macro risks when operating in China. Many of these risks included software piracy, Chinese government pressure to transfer technology, host government promotion of competitor products, discriminatory procurement practices by sub-national authorities in China, and the strong encouragement for Microsoft to enter joint ventures with local firms. One main micro risk that Microsoft faced was when the Beijing Municipal government avoided Microsoft by awarding operating system software contracts for 2,000 PCs to Red Flag Linux. I see these risk increasing due to the fact that the Chinese Central Bank has put new restrictions to foreign exchange transactions in attempt to control the flow of convertible currency out of the country. This restriction set in place by the Chinese Central Bank was described as a â€Å"crackdown† on illegal transactions. This change will effectively make it more difficult for both domestic and international companies to move capital in and out of China. In result, only increasing the risks for MNCs to do business in China. Another main reason why I see the risks increasing is that the Chinese government has not made an effort to control the piracy/counterfeiting issues. Counterfeiters are China’s largest state owned factories. These risk are also found in other developing countries such as India where piracy and counterfeiting is a big issue. After the U. S. – China accord on intellectual property rights in 1992, it encouraged Microsoft to explore further opportunities in China. In order to manage political risk in China, initially, Microsoft signed various agreements with Chinese PC producers to pre-load its software on their computers. Other approaches to manage political risk included opening Microsoft Research China (Microsoft’s second international research lab and the first one in Asia) and signed agreements with China’s top four computer makers to preinstall Windows XP on their machines. One of the most notable approaches was when Microsoft signed an accord with the Shanghai Municipal government whereby agreed to help develop Shanghai’s software sector, expand its Shanghai regional support center into a global support center, and train thousands of software architects. Ultimately, Microsoft continued to manage political risks throughout the years by continuing to build agreements with Chinese PC manufacturers, develop new partnerships and better its relations with the Chinese government. I favor the strong ties that Microsoft built over the past two decades with the Chinese government and feel that all the techniques they used to manage political risk were needed in order to conduct profitable business in such a scrutinized country and economy. Going forward, Microsoft should continue to try and enforce IPR and keep healthy relationships with the Chinese for obvious reasons. They should keep developing partnerships and build a Microsoft oriented software sector in China through training/certification to strengthen the company’s forecast. By having to deal with lower levels of government, it created an initial challenge to â€Å"win† over the lower level of government in order to strengthen Microsoft’s overall relationship with China. Specific challenges included when the they signed agreements with China’s State Development & Planning Commission to invest in education/training, signed a large investment and cooperation deal with the Beijing Commission on Science & Technology and struck partnership deals with various Chinese companies such as Petro China. Although Microsoft kept making strong efforts to strengthen the relationship with China, they still faced many challenges to overcome China’s discrimination towards the company by requiring all ministries to purchase Linux based software. These challenges created new opportunities for Microsoft to create new initiatives to benefit the Chinese economy which in result helped them build a strong footprint in China. Yes other firms do have the same risk management options as Microsoft did. Other firms did have the same risk management options because all MNCs faced the same macro/micro issues that Microsoft faced when entering the China markets which included pressure to transfer technology, host government promotion of competitor products, discriminatory procurement practices by sub-national authorities in China, and the strong encouragement to enter joint ventures with local firms. Microsoft is creating serious risks by supporting, financing, and transferring technology to local Chinese software firms but had to do so in rder to have success in China. By them giving back to the Chinese economy, in return a large percentage of software users are using Microsoft product legally and illegally. In result, the end user is most likely using a Microsoft product and creates brand awareness. Microsoft used the appropriabiltiy theory to manage their risks by only sharing information with their partners that is only appropriate in order to make the partnership work.

Womens Economic Role In WWII essays

Women's Economic Role In WWII essays Coming only 21 years after the war to end all wars, World War II plunged the United States into yet another worldwide conflict. This brought significant changes to everyone's lives, especially those of American women. Until the 1940's, women usually got married at a young age. They did housework and took care of their children while their husbands went to work to support the family. In fact, during the depression, the federal government joined with local government, school boards, and private business to exclude married women from the work force (Woloch 301). All of this changed forever with the onset of World War II, which opened numerous opportunities for women. During the Depression years of the 1930's, many changes took place. Men were losing their jobs, and family life was severely stressed. "Middle class families had a sudden decline in status. In such families, wives often moved in to fill a power vacuum" (Woloch 285). "Contradictory pressures" were brought to bear upon women wage earners (Woloch 287). "Public attitudes urged them not to work, but economic circumstances both spurred wage labor and in some instances made jobs available" (Woloch 287). While there was significant job loss suffered by both men and women during these years, due to the "segregated occupational patterns" of women's jobs and the fact that "men did not seek 'women's work,'" women were "protected to an extent" by a division of labor within the work force (Woloch 287). While many women maintained jobs, employment in some cases was very difficult. Wages were low and working conditions were unpredictable with "layoffs or speed-ups" (Woloch 288). While "Fra nces Perkins sat as Secretary of Labor in Franklin Roosevelt's cabinet, massive male unemployment brought forth demands that married women be dismissed from jobs in order to spread the work" (Janeway x). At about this same time, the National Recovery Administration permitted lower minimum w...

Grammatical Error Definition and Examples

Grammatical Error Definition and Examples Grammatical error is a term used in prescriptive grammar  to describe an instance of faulty, unconventional, or controversial usage, such as a ​misplaced modifier  or an inappropriate verb tense. Also called a usage error. Compare grammatical error with correctness. Grammatical errors are usually distinguished from (though sometimes confused with) factual errors, logical fallacies,  misspellings, typographical errors, and faulty punctuation. Interestingly, many people  tend to view usage errors primarily as gaffes or potential sources of embarrassment, not as impediments to effective communication. According to an ad for an amazing book on usage, Mistakes in English can cause you embarrassment, hold you back socially and on the job. It can make you look awkward and hide your true intellect. (Note that in the second sentence the singular pronoun it has no clear referent. Many English teachers would regard this as a grammatical error- specifically, a case of faulty pronoun reference.)   Examples and Observations The expression grammatical error sounds, and is, in a sense, paradoxical, for the reason that a form cannot be grammatical and erroneous at the same time. One would not say musical discord. . . . Because of the apparent contradiction of terms, the form grammatical error should be avoided and error in construction, or error in English, etc., be used in its stead. Of course one should never say, good grammar or bad grammar.(J. T. Baker, Correct English, Mar. 1, 1901)â€Å"We believe, as do most linguists, that native speakers do not make mistakes.†(Peter Trudgill and Lars-Gunnar Andersson, 1990, quoted by Carl James in Errors in Language Learning and Use. Addison Wesley Longman, 1998) Garner on Grammatical Errors If descriptivists believe that any linguistic evidence validates usage, then we must not be descriptivists. Hardly anyone wants to be a nonjudgmental collector of evidence. It’s far more interesting and valuable to assemble the evidence and then to draw conclusions from it. Judgments. Rulings. To the extent that the masses want such reasoningas one could only wishit’s because they want to use language effectively. (Bryan A. Garner, Which Language Rules to Flout. Or Flaunt? The New York Times, September 27, 2012)Because grammatical may mean either (1) relating to grammar [grammatical subject] or (2) consistent with grammar [a grammatical sentence], there is nothing wrong with the age-old phrase grammatical error (sense 1). Its as acceptable as the phrases criminal lawyer and logical fallacy. (Bryan A. Garner, Garners Modern American Usage. Oxford University Press, 2009) Grammar and Usage Usage is a concept that embraces many aspects of and attitudes toward language. Grammar is certainly only a small part of what goes to make up usage, though some people use one term for the other, as when they label what is really a controversial point of usage a grammatical error. (Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed., 2003) Error Analysis Error analysis, as a descriptive rather than a prescriptive approach to error, provides a methodology for determining why a student makes a particular grammatical error and has been a potentially valuable borrowing from this field [research in second-language acquisition], one that could have altered the prescriptive drilling of standard forms which still comprises much of basic writing texts. Unfortunately, however, error analysis in the composition classroom has generally served to simply keep the focus on error. (Eleanor Kutz, Between Students Language and Academic Discourse: Interlanguage as Middle Ground. Negotiating Academic Literacies, ed. by Vivian Zamel and Ruth Spack. Lawrence Erlbaum, 1998) The Lighter Side of Grammatical Error First mobster: Hey. Theys throwin robots.Linguo: They are throwing robots.Second mobster: Its disrespecting us. Shut up ayou face.Linguo: Shut up your face.Second mobster: Whatsa matta you?First mobster: You aint so big.Second mobster: Me an him are gonna whack you in the labonza.Linguo: Mmmm . . . Aah! Bad grammar overload. Error. Error.[Linguo explodes](Trilogy of Error, The Simpsons, 2001) Also Known As: error, usage error, grammar error or mistake, bad grammar

Baumans Self Preservation and Moral Duty and William C. Levins Assignment

Baumans Self Preservation and Moral Duty and William C. Levins Ideology - Assignment Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that ownership is a social affair, the owner can deny access to property while a non-owner has to ask for permission. Ownership allows the owner to become independent of another’s power, hence it is perceived as an enabling faculty. â€Å"It extends one’s autonomy, freedom, action, and choice† (Bauman, 2006, p. 128). Connecting this with ownership and self-preservation, Bauman says that man’s ultimate goal is to eliminate the competition and to gain control of goods. Because such interaction is a zero-sum game, the winners get to dictate the rules of the game while the losers suffer. In this view, the poor are viewed as â€Å"lazy, slovenly and negligent†¦[they are] lacking in character, shirking hard labor, and inclined to delinquency and law-breaking† (Bauman, 2006, p.130). In this view, there is no room for moral duty which â€Å"finds its expression in the consideration of the needs of others† (Bauman, 2006, p. 131). If man were to fulfill his moral duty, then he will have to exercise self-restraint or voluntarily renounce his personal gain. The bureaucracy which was supposed to ensure that resources are allocated wisely are neutral, according to Bauman, hence, it acts based on rationality. It seems that â€Å"every person had ‘a job to do’, a problem to be solved† (Bauman, 2006, p.133). When a man does not do his job, then he will suffer because of it. Because of this view, the bureaucracy is â€Å"made to service inhuman purposes†¦[it has the] ability to silence moral motivations and†¦[appeal] to the motive of self-preservation† (Bauman, 2006, p. 134). By acting rationally, a man can make correct choices that directly addresses his need for self-preservation and self-enhancement. Levin’s discussion of ideology directly relates to this need for self-preservation. According to him, â€Å"ideologies suit to change the times, a nd people can change the ideologies to which they subscribe† (Levin, 2001, pp. 241-242), depending on a person’s best interest. The changing ideologies are used to justify the actions of a group of people who are actually working to achieve their goals which based on the values that they have.

Comprehension strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Comprehension strategies - Essay Example Helping students to comprehend narrative, expository and poetic texts is a challenge that faces all teachers. Regardless of subject or grade level, all teachers are teachers of reading. Many comprehension strategies have been developed over the past three decades.While all can be applied to any of these three types of texts, some seem to naturally go with one more than another.Choosing â€Å"the best† for each one is not really possible, because teacher personality, state standards and concerns such as class size and student grouping all have bearing on which comprehension strategy should be used. The three strategies in this essay have all been used to good effect by myself or one of my former teachers. A good comprehension strategy for helping students to maximize their understanding of a c narrative text is an activity called â€Å"What is it?† This is an activity where students work individually and in cooperative groups to recall the most important elements of sett ing, character and plot. Students retell portions of the narrative text to one another while listening student record important points relating to setting, character and plot. This activity utilizes graphic organizers and is facilitated by the instructor. Retelling portions of the text allows the student speaking the opportunity to give voice to their impressions and remembrances of the narrative. Students listening use the graphic organizer to write points mentioned by the speaker. Each student in the group takes a turn adding to the growing list of setting, character and plot elements