Pest Analysis of Russian Retail Market

PEST Analysis The PEST analysis is used in this report to evaluate the political, economic, social and technological aspects of the macroeconomic environment in the targeted market, Russia. This study helps to frame the basis for the decision-making about a possible market entry. Thus, it is of vital importance to scrutinize the macroeconomic environment as part of the market research. Political and Legal Aspects According to the Russian 1993 Constitution, Russia is a democratic federative state with a republican form of government grounded in the rule of law (pwc, 2012).After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has gradually opened up and after a seven-year transitional period with numerous market reforms, political stability was achieved under Prime Minister Putin and President Medvedev. Moreover, since 1999 when Putin became president for the first time, Russia’s political system has shown continuity in its policies. The Russian judicial system is based on statutor y law, but has been ineffective and weak since the fall of the Soviet Union. However, the introduction of many reforms is expected to eventually bring about improvements.Russia has also entered various legal assistance programs with countries across the world, as unfair competition practices are hindering FDI inflows into the country (Datamonitor, 2011; pwc, 2012). However, corruption and crime are still major challenges for doing business in Russia. Russia has been ranked 143rd in Transparency International’s corruption perception index of 2011 concerning perceived public sector corruption. In addition, the high degree of bureaucracy within the country makes doing business slow and complicated.The business environment is further negatively affected by the high number of corrupt state officials (Datamonitor, 2011). Terrorist activity is one of the major concerns in Russia as bomb explosions and suicide attacks (such as those in the Moscow-St. Petersburg express train in 2009 or in the Moscow metro in 2010) have killed dozens of people over the last years (Datamonitor, 2011). Russia is member in many different international, regional, economic and financial agreements such as G8, G20, and International Monetary Fund just to name a few of them. pwc, 2012) The country further integrated within the world economy by entering the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2012 (Datamonitor, 2011). Economic Aspects Russia of 2011 is characterized by a per capita GDP (PPP) of $16. 750, GDP and FDI growth of 4. 3% and 33% respectively. Furthermore, the ease of doing business in the country improved by 4 ranks between 2011 and 2012 and hence Russia is ranked 112th in 2012 (Datamonitor, 2011; pwc, 2012). Historically successful economic reforms during the 1990s led to liberalization of the Russian economy and to high growth rates.Yet, the global economic downturn beginning in 2008 led to a negative growth of 7. 7% in 2009. However, the country’s economy managed to q uickly recover, achieving a 3. 9% GDP growth in 2010, mainly due to the high oil prices (Datamonitor, 2011). Improved competitiveness and higher oil prices facilitated a turnaround in the current account, from a deficit in 1998 to a surplus of 12% of GDP in 1999. Since 2000, Russia has maintained a current account surplus, which dropped from around $102bn in 2008 to around $47bn in 2009 (Datamonitor, 2011; pwc, 2012).Current challenges in Russia’s economic landscape include a high budget deficit and a banking system being under continuous stress. Moreover, the unemployment rate of 6. 6% is another negative side of Russia’s economic landscape (Datamonitor, 2011). Social Aspects The main ethnic group within Russia is Russians with 79. 8%, while other ethnic groups include Tatar 3. 8%, Ukrainian 2%, Bashkir 1. 2%, Chuvash 1. 1%, other or unspecified ones with 12. 1% (2002 census) (CIA The World Factbook, 2012).Concerning religion, estimates from 2006 suggest that 15-20% o f the population are Russian Orthodox, 10-15% are Muslim, and 2% – other Christian, yet large parts of the population are non-believers, a likely legacy from the Soviet era (CIA The World Factbook, 2012). The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) ranks Russia 66th with regards to overall human development, making Russia part of the high human development quartile. However, one major challenge within Russia is the huge gender gap concerning life expectancy.Average life expectancy is 66. 2 years, yet it is only 59. 8 years for men, while boosting 73. 1 for women (United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 2011; Datamonitor, 2011). Russia is estimated to be one of the fastest-growing countries concerning proportion of population to be considered middle class. (Financial Times – Chart of the week: tracking the rising EM middle classes, 2012). The related increase in disposable income can be illustrated by the tripling in middle class spending between 2000 and 2010.Howe ver, the widening income inequality may pose a challenge for long-term success (Datamonitor, 2011). In general, Russia’s current strengths concerning social development are the high level of social governmental spending and the well-educated population. However, the country still struggles with a high mortality rate and a widening income inequality gap (Datamonitor, 2011). Technological Aspects Russia has signed the TRIPS (Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property) agreement, but nevertheless faces Intellectual Property Rights issues regularly.Moreover, the country still lacks adequate telecommunications infrastructure (Datamonitor, 2011). PEST Implications for the Retail Industry Russia’s political and legal framework suggests that foreign retail operations in Russia, although not restricted, may be inefficient because of bureaucracy and corruption. In addition, the usage of the ruble exposes foreign investors to exchange rate risks. The economic characteristics of the Russian market, however, paint a much more attractive picture of the industry, which represents 15. % of the country’s GDP. The Russian retail and wholesale sector has attracted 17. 1% of the country’s FDI in 2011. The country also has the lowest retailer penetration rates in Europe (pwc, 2012), suggesting it is a market in its growth stage with significant opportunity for new entrants. Yet, a recent study conducted by the management consulting group, AT Kearney, shows that Russia has fallen behind BRIC and other emerging market nations in terms of the countries’ attractiveness for investments in the retail sector.In fact, it ranks 26th out of 30 emerging market nations with regard to the attractiveness of the retail sector. As some experts argue such a ranking may reflect the strong foothold of local retailers, with such rivalry making the Russian retailer market a developed rather than an emerging one (Financial Times – Russia retail: loosing app eal, 2012) The pending commercialization of the cloud-dispersal aircraft technology may also have a positive trickledown effect on the retail industry.The technology may solve the problem of drought-prone areas, representing 6% of arable land within Russia, possibly improving domestic food production, and supplier reliability (Datamonitor, 2011; CIA The World Factbook, 2012). Overall, the country environment suggests that despite some institutional voids, the economic environment is conductive to a booming retailer segment with a growth that can be exploited by foreign retailers. The decrease in FDI attractiveness, however, points to the likely presence of established competitors that may prevent such an entry, which will be analyzed in greater detailed in the industry analysis.

Taxi Driver

In the American film classic, Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorcese, Travis Bickle's personality and point of view of reality are heavily twisted. His disassociation with the norm and extreme mental states of mind depict the life of a deranged, depraved, and lonely Vietnam veteran. His terrible social skills are an apparent sign of mental illness and continue to drive Travis into deeper levels of solidarity. This loneliness gradually fuels Travis into living a miserable and misanthropic life. Travis's social ineptitude inevitably leads to his isolation and distorted perception of himself and the rest of society.The film opens with Travis being interview and accepting the job as a taxi driver. He explains his willingness to work lots of extra hours and preference for night shifts is due to his inability to sleep. It is revealed then that Travis suffers from insomnia. Although Insomnia is a serious disease, Travis seems complacent and shows no interest in curing himself. Even in the first scene of the film, it is already exposed that Travis suffers from at least one mental disorder yet has no aspirations to improve himself.Upon getting the job and exiting his place of work, he proceeds to pull out a flask of what is perceived to be alcohol and starts drinking it in the clear of day on the street. He displays no inclination that his actions are not the acceptable social norm. After a long twelve hour shift, Travis reflects on how the city of Manhattan has become a dump for degenerate punks and prostitutes. He perceives the New York nightlife he caters to and drives around as garbage polluting his town. He himself then enters a dirty porn theater once he's off-duty.He does not see the similarities between himself and the other pervs and goons of New York City. He sees them as lowly scum that are responsible for the dirtiness of the city, even though he is apart of the same dreary world he despises. The constant encounters with lowlifes and trash creates Travis's view of the city as a terrible and mediocre place, while he forgets about how during the daytime the streets of Manhattan are much different. His only evidence to judge the city is through the brief interactions and conversations between himself and his patrons.And with most of them being drunks and criminals, Travis is left with a distrustful and negative view of what the inhabitants of the city where he lives. He is alone and only has himself to create assumption of what reality really is, and unfortunately with his mental illnesses he is in dyer need of someone to guide him towards reality. Yet when Travis attempts to find someone who can give him companionship and help him, his lack of social skills only push people farther away. When purchasing his ticket for the porn theater, Travis tries to initiate a relatively normal conversation with the young woman at the concessions.She shows obvious disgust towards Travis but with this unbeknownst to him he continues the conversation an d presses her for her name. Upon failing, he enters the theater but doesn't seem to understand why she was so resistant to introduce herself. His inability to pick up on social cues only confuses Travis and separates him even more from social interaction. Travis then sits alone in the theater with the various purchased candies sleep deprived and further drifts into his own little world. Even the relationship with his family has been severed because of Travis purposely lying to family through the mail.He has been telling them for what is assumed many years that he has been healthy and fine but is now working for the federal government and is unable to give them his real home address. These blatant lies prove Travis's reality is not like our own and also shows how his mental illnesses have successfully removed him from a sane state of mind. Travis's doomed future of complete and utter insanity is surprisingly sidetracked when he sees Betsy for the first time. At his first site of her he describes her begin an angel, the purest of beings among the dirt and scum of the city.He envisions her as angelic perfection and of course, due to his lacking social skills begins spying on her from his cab for a number of weeks to the point that Betsy actually notices his stalking. Though eventually Travis gets the stregnth to ask her out. He dresses noticeably nicer than usual and appears to act as normal as he physically can. Betsy's first impression of Travis is seen with much curiosity. He interests her because of his odd and quirky demeanor and agrees to go out for coffee with him. Travis successfully takes her out for coffee without any problems of showing his ineptitude in social situation.Following their coffee date, Travis's decides to take Betsy to a movie. His relationship with Betsy ends with him bringing her to a film at one of the porn theaters he frequents instead of a regular cinema. The choice of venue disgusts Betsy and leaves her in contempt for Travis. And a fter several attempts to win her back with gifts and hundreds of phone calls Travis justifies himself by concluding she is not the angel he envisioned earlier but really just like all the other dirt he's surrounded by. He had destroyed the only relationship he had in the world because he was not able to realize what was socially acceptable.Though Travis was quick to write Betsy off as just another scum of the city, his anger and disappointment towards grow increasingly more visible. Before his fling with Betsy he had only been a secluded and seemingly content with his life. He was fine with how he lived and saw nothing wrong with his skewed view of reality. But after his final confrontation with Betsy at her place of work, he exhibits a new qualities of violence and almost throws a punch at one of Betsy's co-workers. Travis's spark of violence is implodes when he has a passenger which forever changes his psyche.The passenger directs Travis to park across the street from a specific a partment building. At the angle they parked the man witnesses his wife through the window of another man's apartment. As Travis listens from the driver's seat, he hears the furious man's deliberation of how he will make his wife pay for cheating on him. The man's violent and graphic detailing of his of he is going to murder his wife and her lover affects Travis in very powerful ways. Travis's lack of interaction with people leaves him vulnerable and very impressionable. The encounter he has with the patron is more interaction than he has had since his break up with Betsy.Even with Travis remaining completely silent through the event he is detrimentally changed. He irrationally takes the man's horrific description as a sign of determination and strength. He almost seems to admire the man's ability to take control of the situation and do what he believes is fair and just. Even while the man continually says â€Å"You must think I'm pretty sick† Travis seems to be already planni ng his own similar plan on doing his own vigilante law enforcement. Following that night, Travis concludes he is destined to do justice and clean the dirt off the streets himself.Just as the passenger had planned to do, he believed to do what is right you must take matters into your own hands. Travis sees this as an opportunity to get rid of the scum polluting his city and to prove to himself that he is someone who has made in impact. This is the ultimate breaking point for Travis. He seems to have cut any strands he had with reality and is only viewing the world as his own playground for justice. He immediately begins changing his life style. He begins daily regiments of exercise and weight training. He starts to drink and eat healthier and no longer drinks alcohol or consumes medications.He also trains his body for combat and pushes his body and mind to new limits, even sticking his hand into scolding flames to learn pain suppression. His obsession with his body and mind makes Tra vis an empty canister of dangerous ideas. These new life choices all occur at the same time he buys four guns from an illegal dealer. He tells the man he is going to change his life and eagerly practices using his weapons upon buying them while pointing them at innocent civilians in the street below the building he is in. This makes Travis even more dangerous and likely to be violent.His perception of right and wrong are invisible and his objectives seem to illogical, irrational, and completely insane. These objectives culminate into him becoming hell-bent on making the dirt of his home pay and feels it is time for him to truly make a difference. His course of action to change the city for good fixates onto Iris. Iris is an underage prostitute which Travis had only came in brief contact with before deciding she would be his â€Å"damsel in distress†. He begins his quest to save her from the slums she is living in and get her back to a safe regular life that he feels she deser ves.He is obsessed with making an impact in Iris's life and by doing so fulfilling what he believes is his purpose in life. It is clear at this point that Travis no longer has any concept of reality or even the law. He has no fear of the outcome of his actions and then decides to assassinate Palantine, a leading presidential candidate whom is also Betsy's boss. These actions are what Travis sees as his last stand against the world and all of it's evils and problems. Determined to make a difference he arrives at the rally Palantine is having and readies himself knowing he will most likely die.Confident he will die during the attempt, he leaves a letter with 500 dollars in it explaining he is probably dead by the time she reads the letter. He has lost all rationality and has no second thoughts on staying alive. He has no connection with the world yet he is focused on changing it. Fortunately, his assassination attempt fails and Travis flees from secret service. Surprised to still be a live, Travis goes to the apartment which Iris and her pimp, Sport, use for her services. Still armed to the teeth, he quickly kills Sport while he is guarding the entrance to where Iris is.A gun fight ensues resulting in Travis being shot multiple times but killing the others involved. He sees scared and trembling Iris and feels he has done his job successfully. The belief that he succeeded conveys that Travis has completely extroverted himself from normalcy and has no longer has a sane thought in his mind. Once completing his objective he tries to commit suicide multiple times but fails because of his guns are empty and he has ran out of bullets. Now that he is fulfilled his duty he feels useless and accepts his fate to die.As he sits and bleeds out through his many bullet holes the police arrive only to find him miming a gun and â€Å"shooting† himself in the head. The police take him and he remarkably survives though goes into a coma for many months. Upon finally waking up he sees that he has been proclaimed a hero by the city for killing off the multiple criminals he had shot. Travis's actions had been viewed positively by the public who saw him as a symbol for morals and a model citizen. His attempt to kill Palantine was unknown and his plans that were driven by insanity were seen as acts of bravery.Only when Travis was completely distanced and separated from society by his mental illness do they recognize him. And ironically recognize him in a positive way not realizing that he is truly needs help and psychological examination. Travis's dive into psychosis was a collaboration of mental illness which he could no longer subdue. Each one triggering a stronger and powerful response which led him into the depths of solitude and isolation. He was without social stimulation for extensive periods of time and his lack of interaction with others only led to his psychological demise.Not many people came into contact with Travis but when they did they impacte d him in very extreme ways. These interactions led to Travis making decisive actions and decision which forced him out of control. He was tragdically without help and unable to even ask for some because he didn't even realize there was anything wrong with himself in the first place. His mental problems created a young man who spiraled out of control without the ability to stop and understand his problems. His escalations led to him not only not able to see reality correctly but also not realize he needed help and was suffering from multiple mental illnesses.

Final Exam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final Exam - Assignment Example In this regards, one is assured of job security because of knowing another language. Knowledge of another language can be important can be advantageous when one wants to learn and understand cultures of other people. It is utterly impossible to comprehend other cultures if in the first place you do not know the language of those cultures. Lack of knowledge of other peoples’ culture may lead to intolerance and conflicts because behaviors in one culture are expressed differently through language in other cultures. 2. An English language learner (ELL) can be confused for a child with learning disability because both of these scenarios exhibit similar characteristics and behaviors. These two groups of individuals usually share a number of traits and sometimes the line separating them becomes blurred leading to mistaken identities. ELL students may speak infrequently in class and most of the times they make keep to themselves. In other times they may engage excessively in conversat ions using either their first language or English. Others may have poor memory, pronunciation, grammar and syntax, refusal to respond to questions besides refusing to volunteer information. This sort of confusion can be sorted out by the teachers of the students teaming up with other professionals in order to differentiate the problems arising due to learning disabilities and those due to second language acquisition. 3. One of the important strategies of promoting language in English learners is by using questions. Many teachers ask their students questions which to an ordinary student may appear to be redundant and obvious. When questions are asked about the community and other happenings outside the class, students tend to be more assertive and active in class which promotes second language acquisition. Another strategy is use of teaching practices that are culturally responsive in order to create a positive and interactive learning environment. Incorporation of cultural and lingu istic resources in the class occurs through such practices like storytelling and vivid description of past events by the students. Besides these two, a teacher can also use successful practices that ensure that there is promotion of language as a means of sharing experiences, ideas and interests in class. This simply means developing social groups within a class whereby students learn through shared experiences by socialization with peers. 4. Receptive as well as expressive language skills are very important and pertinent to the writing and reading processes. As such, they form a central part of emergent literacy in children since they form important ways in which children perceive and understand their world. Young children like adults usually learn through writing and reading but not in the way adults do because they are still learning their expressive and receptive skills. On the one hand, expressive skills are developed through reading whereas receptive skills come from reading. The combination of these two skills is very important in influencing how emergent literacy on a child will be. Children that have poor receptive and expressive learning usually tend to be poor in emergent literacy which affects their participation in class and their performance. 5. Emergent literacy develops over a long period in students which is depended on the ability of the students to move through different

Competitive Strategies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Competitive Strategies - Research Paper Example This paper concentrates on competition between two rival companies, Coca Cola Company and PepsiCo, and the strategies they employ to make sales and increase profits in the soft drink industry. How PepsiCo corporate cultures differ from Coca Cola Company The strategies that the two companies use differ in their method of advertising, search for new markets whether globally or nationally, and uncovering market niche that they can they control easily. Pepsi controls the youth markets for soft drinks in America while Coca Cola concentrates in the others. Coca Cola went global and seized a new market, which Pepsi has been unable to penetrate. These companies also employ the method of cutting costs. Coca Cola uses a lot of money for advertisements compared to Pepsi, which uses relatively a low amount. This helps Pepsi cut costs even though it makes huge profits. These companies also use anti-competitive practices such as exclusive dealing. Pepsi and Coca Cola companies exclusively supply c ertain businesses enterprises with their products and ensure that the rival’s products are not sold (Capparell, 2007). Advertising is crucial as it helps draw attention to a product and enables in the recognition of a company. Coca Cola and Pepsi companies have engaged in many advertisements across the globe in a bid to promote sales of their products (Moses & Vest, 2010). To a certain extent, Coca Cola and Pepsi have produced advertisements with common themes emphasizing on having fun but have continued on different courses over the years (Foster, 2008). Coca Cola leans towards an emotional position of branding while Pepsi maintains an energetic, music-oriented and humorous strategy. Pepsi’s advertisement strategy appeals to a younger audience since they largely use celebrity endorsements thus helping Coca Cola focus on the older generation. Coca Cola’s advertisement strategy ensures that the theme focuses on the global aspect, therefore, attracting a wider arr ay of consumers. Pepsi started its global campaign in 2012, therefore, has not been able to target consumers globally (Emerald Group, 2006). In order to keep pace with each other, both companies have employed different tactics that have seen an increase in sales and profit margin. In order to induce demand for its soft drinks, the Pepsi Company utilizes a pull strategy, employed in its distribution channels. However, this strategy concentrates on the younger generation, which is the main target market for Pepsi. As compared to Coca Cola, Pepsi’ product positioning controls the youth market in terms of demographics. The two companies constantly have to come up with new marketing ideas that help them capture their target markets (Johnson, 2013). How competition has benefited the rival company Due to the intense competition between these companies, innovations have been introduced to give each company an advantage over the other. The two companies have introduced a wide range of new products, which are sold at premium prices. PepsiCo has introduced alternative beverages such as Gatorade and Aquafina, which are sold at high prices. The brands bring high profits to the company due to customer’s brand loyalty that has been built over the years. Coca Cola also introduced numerous alternative beverages brands and they have made profits competing with PepsiCo, as some consumers prefer their products to the other companies (Thompson, 2012). Competition between PepsiCo and Coca

Zenn Motor Company Ltd Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Zenn Motor Company Ltd - Assignment Example ZMC has created and delivered to consumers a form of vehicle for personal transportation, which is â€Å"zero emission no noise† better known as â€Å"ZENN†. Ultimately, ZMC has addressed the question of marketing by creating, pricing, distributing a form of electric vehicle that is efficient for consumer use and above all it is environment friendly (Boone & Kurtz 34). Question # 2 The critical relationships that ZMC should focus on are with its consumers, companies in the vehicle industry and companies with a large number of vehicles. These three categories of consumers will provide ZMC with a big and potential market for its electric vehicles, which are environment friendly (Boone & Kurtz 36). Question # 3 One primary target group that ZMC has focused on is consumers. Precisely, ZMC has targeted commercial fleets and urban commuters. ZMC has taken various steps, which have aided in building relationships and value. These steps include developing a website in which the management has used to trace visitors and their preference. Through its website, ZMC has been able to establish the particular car that is preferred in a defined geographical area. ZMC has also built a relationship with consumers through viral marketing. The first adopters of the ZENN car have become evangelists of this product. ZMC has created an Ambassador program, which has trained customers on issues of marketing, and this has aided in building relationships and value for this group (Boone & Kurtz 57). Chapter 2 Question # 1 ZMC’s mission entails providing consumers with vehicles, which are pocket and environment friendly. This mission is achieved through creating a product that consumes less in terms of energy, and above all conserves the environment. ZMC’s mission is effective and efficient because the company has truly come up with a product that satisfies the need that brought it into existence. The number of consumers in need of the electric vehicle that is p ocket and environment friendly has been on the increase, a clear demonstration that ZMC’s mission is effective and efficient (Boone & Kurtz 74). Chapter 4 Question # 1 ZMC as a company has highly embraced the idea of social responsibility while marketing its product. The company has not only directed social responsibility towards consumers, but also towards the environment. It is also critical to note that the inspiration that led to ZMC existence came from the idea of conserving the environment and stopping global warming. The company has followed the principles of social responsibility by formulating a mission, which does not benefit the company alone, but also consumers and the environment. ZMC demonstrates social responsible marketing by availing the market with electric cars, which match up issues of climate change and a growing demand for environment friendly vehicles. Ultimately, ZMC’s mission of creating electric vehicles that target conserving the environment and stopping global warming is a great social responsible marketing movement (Boone & Kurtz 84). Chapter 5 Question # 1 The most efficient form of secondary source of data, which ZMC as a company can use to its advantage are published reports and journals regarding the vehicle industry. There exists a lot of published information, which pertains to the success and failures witnessed in the vehicle industry. ZMC can use this information by capitalizing on the shortcomings witnessed within the vehicle industry while at the same time taking advantage of the vehicle industry’s capabilities. In essence, the published reports will provide critical information that will aid in developing specialty vehicles (Boone & Kurtz 72). Question # 2 There are a number of critical, ethical issues

Management - Business Simulations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management - Business Simulations - Essay Example The month end bank balance of ?7687 is decent enough to start with and is sufficient to meet the immediate cash needs as compared to the level of business activity. The slightly higher fixed costs of ?826 are indicative of the initial spending in research and networking which is absolutely crucial at this stage to take the business into the future. This is a step in the right direction at this stage. There is a net loss of ?778 and at this stage it is quite expected as the sales effort starts showing results only after some time. Besides, from the Time spent breakup (Appendix 1.2), it seems that the sales effort is greater than the overall marketing effort at this stage, since building cash inflow is a priority at this stage. The idle time shows that here is pressure to build up business and this is translated into sales activity which is more action oriented than the marketing activity. The same trend continues in February and is depicted in March ’13 report. In March’ 13, the bank balance is more or less maintained, indicative of even cash inflows and outflows. However, the expenditure and time on the marketing and product research activities shows an increase. The customer research and competition research is complete and the product redesign based on the research has been completed y this time. The business breaks even in the month of March 13 which is shown in the April 13. The bank balance is maintained and the business shows strong growth signs. The sales are increasing and the bank balance is building up with increase in new orders. The production time is increasing and the idle time is decreasing. The business has made a small profit of ?45. However, this trend is reverted the very next month owing to higher overheads in terms of spending business website. The website though a cost, is the right decision at the right time for the business, since, an online presence with the traditional marketing as well as supply chain management methods was hugely complemented by the same. Since at this time, the number of sales enquiries from traditional marketing methods is too low to sustain the business (Appendix1.3). The sales effort and its effectiveness has been maintained and is evident from the fact that the product stock at the end of the month is zero for a considerable period of time that is from Jan’ 13 to Feb’14. This apart from sales effort is also indicative of good inventory planning. However, by month May 13, due to lack of orders, the production capacity was idle for the most part. The scenario seems to be a result of overemphasis on research and planning at the expense of sales effort in recent past. The management was advised to give some more focus to the core activity of selling. This showed some result in the very next month, when the orders from previous month exceeded an amount of ?2870 and this is where the business starts making profit on a sustainable basis. The production capacity is util ized to a great extent and the idle time minimized. The growth in profit continues and by August, the production targets are being met. The Marketing team was advised to work out the possibilities of a long term business opportunity. The effort showed results in the form of the first customer contract by August 13 (Appendix 1.4). By September

A Question of Corporate Law Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

A Question of Corporate Law - Literature review Example To de Tocqueville, that is a burden of democracy. Limitless influence is dangerous because utter control is the origin of oppression. If people are mistreated, the only place to turn is the majority.    MacDougall v Gardiner clarified the principles of majority rule. If the grievance of a minority is about something to which the majority of the company has the privilege or has done unevenly a meeting may be called, and the majority ultimately gets what it wants. Over the years, the principle of majority rule has become more inclusive, however. We recount some of the more representative policies to make our assessment of the historic nature of the question at hand. A place to start is the generally accepted structure of corporate membership. Members of a corporation have rights against each other and against the business as outlined the company's charter.3 As such minority shareholders usually accept they cannot command the overall control of the organization and must accept the will of the majority rule. Majority rule can be wicked especially when there is a single controlling shareholder. Many exceptions have developed relative to the broad standard of majority rule. Here are some of the more common: Where the majority votes to carry out deception against the minority, judges may allow the minority to sue. Everyone maintains the right to file suit if the majority invades personal rights or, for example, where the company's dealings are not in accordance with the company's foundation. It is possible for minority shareholders to secede in the name of the business when the company is controlled by the supposed wrongdoers.4 In these matters of rights and ethics, the court is supposed to favor the minority. Court involvement in corporate voting has been minimized over the years though. Corporate law has focused on progressive minority protection and shareholders action, but a majority cannot force a dissentient minority to do that which is not allowed by the charter.5 It must allow the minority to express their opinions on the matter of the meeting, but the minority cannot irrationally hinder the resolution of the popular vote by filibuster, for example.6 The minority has no right against the majority with respect to actions of which they do not support if the majority is allowed to do them.   This standard applies where something has been done irregularly which the majority is at liberty to do regularly.8 Nevertheless, the minority may still sue when the majority is abusing power and depriving the minority their rights.9 Again, the court favors the majority while bolstering minority power when there is an ethical question.   

Slavery between 1800 and 1865 and the the development of the American Essay

Slavery between 1800 and 1865 and the the development of the American South - Essay Example Slavery is interesting because there are many economic, political, social and cultural implications, which will be covered during the course of this essay. Social and Cultural Slavery The main social implication of slavery is that there will always be one ruling class and one formed of slaves. In the case of the United States, people were born into slavery and it was very difficult to escape, unless you could escape to the Union states and begin a new life, something which was not always easy. This led to black slaves being seen as inferior and finding it very difficult to move up the hierarchy into becoming landowners. This led to the culture that the United States has only recently (debatably) escaped, which is thinking that black people are somehow inferior. After the abolition of slavery, black people still found it very difficult to be treated equally to the white European settlers, simply because the cultural and social stereotype of slavery was left behind. Slavery in Economic s Economically, slavery was more positive. There were many available sources of labor which could be bought for a one-off price and then used until the slave was no longer fit for work. This was particularly important in cotton agriculture, because a large number of field hands were required for every harvest. The economics of the situation are impressive because actually, cheap or free labor is something that still occurs in the modern age and has been very useful to many companies over the years. This facet of slavery is interesting because if you take it apart from the other problems, it seems to make the situation seem almost positive, something which cannot be said of how slavery affected people themselves politically, morally and socially. Slavery in Politics Political interests in slavery have been wide-ranging and varied over the years. The Civil War occurred between 1861 and 1865 and was essentially a war waged between two sides (Union and Confederate) that could not bring themselves to agree politically about the topic of slavery. The Union side favored abolition, and was the side that eventually won. Politically, most people today would agree with the Union side, perhaps because of this victory and perhaps because of the burgening social interest in equality between races. The Confederate side believed that slavery was an essential part of the lifestyle, and necessary to keep the cotton (and other) crops being grown and harvested successfully. Slavery was part of the way of life, with slaves being incorporated into nearly every family, with the number of slaves a household possessed being a generally accepted measure of wealth. This ties in well with the social and cultural implications of slavery, which essentially suggested that the American South required slavery to continue being the prosperous land that it was. Slavery and the Development of the American South Slavery is something that affected the development of the American South greatly. As previously mentioned, slavery was a great part of the culture in the South prior to the Confederate states losing the American Civil War. Every respected household had black slaves up until (and past) the point at which it was illegal. The American South is still famous for having a higher level of racial inequality than the North, and this may be something of a hangover from

The Great Athena Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Great Athena - Essay Example Alan LeQuire was the sculptor behind the design and construction of the Great Athena. In his research, LeQuire found out that the original sculptor, Pheidias, built the Athena on with curved ivory on a wooden framework. The ivory acted as the gold wardrobe and skin for the original Athena. After sufficient research, LeQuire began to reconstruct the Athena. LeQuire began by first creating small clay models of the statue. From these models as starting points, the sculptor spent more than three years in enlarging the statue. This also involved the casting process which led to the building of the full Athena of Parthenos (Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County 1). The artist assembled the Great Athena by casting gymnasium cement in the Parthenon. The assembly involved casting of many moulds that enlarged the statue while giving it its beautiful look. In order to ensure that the statue had sufficient support, LeQuire attached each of the sections of the Athena into an ar mature made of steel. The statue is constructed of gold, ivory and silver. The sculptor put a Sphinx likeness in the center of the statue’s helmet to make it more appealing. The statue was constructed and made upright with griffins on both sides of its helmet. A work of ivory was done on the head with a long tunic which goes down to the Athena’s feet. ... It is argued that the serpent was meant to represent Erichthonius (Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County 1). The quality and character that is expressed by the Athena is owed to the imagery that the sculptor brought about through the coins and miniature sculptures which are combined into one whole. This makes the Athena to seem like being engraved on numerous gems and therefore making it more unique and attractive. Improvements were made to the statue in 2002 which included detailing of the shield and wardrobe and enhanced details of the statue’s face. The Great Athena was made more unique with the horizontal elements of its architecture which arch towards the center (Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County 1). Moreover all of the statue’s columns in the exterior are forwardly inclined. The diagonal incline of its corner columns also makes the statue unique. More significantly is the Parthenon’s interior which is divided into t he East and West rooms. The East room acts to house the Athena while the West room is the housing of the Athena’s treasure. The similarity with the Greece Parthenon, the Nashville Parthenon also symbolically faces the East. The assembly of the Athena was however achieved on a wooden core. This core was surrounded by plates of bronze. The original Athena was a significant part of the treasury of Greece in Athens. This is because of the numerous removable plates of gold that covered the plates of bronze. These were designed and included as a representation of wealth of the Athens. It is notable that there is a slight forward incline of the Athena’s head. This makes the observer reflect on the sculptor’s intention of spreading the weight of the statue evenly. This is further disclosed by the fact

Religions (two traditions) and the Modern World Essay

Religions (two traditions) and the Modern World - Essay Example However, almost all religions look for the spread of peace, justice, equality and freedom of thought and action for the sustenance of order in the world, as well as for the moral and spiritual uplift of the humans. Abrahamic religions enjoy very respectable status among the long list of prevailing faiths, which include Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Since all these three faiths regard Abraham as their ancestor and the source of spiritual guidance and inspiration, they are generally called Abrahamic faiths. (Hemeyer, 222) The fundamental set of belief, concept of the Creator, His angels, prophets and heaven and hell-fire etc are almost same in these religions, which distinguish them from the rests of the faiths of the world. Judaism is the oldest of these three faiths, while Islam is the last one among the three. Islam is the second largest religion of the present world, which seeks its origin in the Middle East like its predecessor Abrahamic religions. It has its unique ideology, teachings, methods and manners of worship and basic set of belief. Being the monotheistic faith, Islam vehemently lays stress upon worshipping of One God, the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe and each and everything existing in it. (Hemeyer, 224) Since God has created humans for His worship, declaring other gods as similar to Allah as well as worthy of adoration is the greatest sin according to Islamic thought. Islamic teachings command the followers of the religion to have unabated and unconditional belief in the Oneness of God, and revering the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the Seal of all the prophets sent by the Lord time and again for the guidance and welfare of humanity. Hence, belief in the Oneness of God, praying to God five times a day, keeping fast, paying Zakat (tax according t o the income), and performing of the pilgrimage of the Sacred House of God (Al-Haraam Mosque situated in the city of Makkah)

What events in Juliets life shape Essay Example for Free

What events in Juliets life shape Essay What events in Juliets life shape this change in her personality, and how does her language reflect this change? At the age of fourteen Juliet was a young and nai ve innocent girl. However, during the play she matures emotionally and broadens her ideas and her way of thinking. This vast and rapid change was a consequence of her relationship with Romeo and there are many ideas in the play which illustrate these points but it is through her language that we can see these changes. The prologue gives an outline of what is yet to come and explores these ideas using metaphors and many linguistic devices. From ancient grudge break new mutiny, where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. This shows the audience the basis of the story. Each line skips to a different event such as And the continuance of their parents rage, which but their childrens end nought could remove. This suggests that each event happens quickly through-out the play, showing changing events happen in a short period of time. The use of the word children suggests that Romeo and Juliet are very young and irresponsible, thus requiring the events to be fast to emphasise some of the irrational decisions. The secrets of the play are revealed in the prologue yet it also gives many hidden depths. The which if you with patient ears attend, what here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. These are left for the audience to ponder on and to await the two hour traffic of our stage . From the play we see that Juliets responses and actions to others around her moulds her character. Juliet changes her approach to her mother in the play. In her first appearance Juliet is found talking to her mother and nurse; however, even though Lady Capulet called upon her daughter, she directs her speech towards the nurse as though Juliet is not there. We must talk in secret. Nurse come back again- Act 1 Scene 3, line 9. This indirect speech between Juliet and her mother shows that there is a distance between them and this is also shown further on into the play as the nurse becomes even closer than before to Juliet. Her mother brought up the topic of Juliets appearance to lead on to the topic of marriage. Never the less Juliet, with a formal approach, expresses that she is not yet longing for marriage. It is an honour that I dream not of (Act 1, scene 3, Line 66) While talking Lady Capulet asks the nurse if Juliet is at a pretty age. This comment shows that Lady Capulet is not sure how old Juliet is but thinks she is old enough for marriage. The nurse responds telling the mother Juliets exact age. This response by the nurse shows that the nurse is close to Juliet and in this scene the Nurse appears as a motherly figure towards young Juliet. In this scene Lady Capulet uses her authority and use of rhetorical questions win the agreement. This powerful status shows how the mother can also manipulate young Juliet towards her way of thinking. In Act 1 Scene 3 Juliet uses sly language skills to tell her mother that she is willing to do as her mother requires; without herself getting to involved. I look to like, if looking liking move; but no more deep will I endart mine eye. On the other hand Juliets acceptance of this proposal, made by the mother, shows that Juliet is young and innocent and does as her mother requires. In Act 1 Scene 5 Juliets fate is set as she is suddenly engaged into a profound moment with Romeo at the house of the Capulet where there is a ball. The couple begin to use language in a way of expressing their love to one and other. The couple use metaphors and symbolic meanings to express this as such For saints have hands that pilgrims hands to touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers kiss. During this conversation they express their language through a sonnet, which is uncannily a lovers poem. The lines are split between the two which shows that both of them are involved in this love, unlike when Romeo unrequited love for Rosaline. Using metaphors is a romantic linguistic device that is personal to the couple throughout the play. When Romeo talks to Juliet, he talks about the situation being both holy and special. O then dear saint, let lips do what hands do ; they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair. This religious imagery tries to portray Romeos love as sincere and devoted, like those of Religious followers. Romeo also uses more metaphors and tells Juliet that they too are like pilgrims on a religious Journey. My lips, two blushing pilgrims ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss. I believe that Romeo is attempting to say that both of them are like two pilgrims on a journey searching for something they both believe in. However, in this case I believe Romeo is talking about love, which is what they are searching for. This is when Juliet becomes more confident in answering and using her own initiative, rather than following examples set by her elders. Let lips do what hands do, they pray . This expresses her confidence more thoroughly and shows an overpowering Juliet standing upon her own two feet. In Act 1 Scene 5 lines 127-140 Juliet begins to experience some disappointmentas she finds out Romeo is a dreaded Montague. My only love sprung from my only hate, too early seen to known, and known too late. This shows gradual maturity as she accepts that it is too late now she is involved and her feelings cannot change towards Romeo. And that bonding she has with him is too strong too let go. Acceptance is present here as now she realises that as she has accepted her decision she must be held responsible for those actions she wishes to take. Further action is taken as she is met by Romeo in the Orchard in Act 2 Scene 2. This scene is also known as The balcony scene as the use of the balcony symbolises many meanings and expresses a production of love. The use of status and power is used here and the symbolic religious meanings appear once again. Romeo announces to Juliet O speak again bright angel In this scene Romeo is looking up to Juliet as the midnight light id upon her, illuminating her as if she was an angel. Juliet is also placed above Romeo and this symbolises how she is above him as though she is in heaven and he, in hell. In the theatre the balcony would also be placed up high and Romeo would be among the audience; and the audience would also be able to relate her to a high status symbol, such as an angel. In this scene costume would also be appropriate here and the use of the colour white worn upon Juliet would support many ideas of her angel figure. It is interesting that in Baz Luhurmanns interpretation of Romeo and Juliet Luhurmann clothes Juliet in an angel costume at their first meeting. Another drastic point in Juliets life is when she soon begins to take risks for the one she loves to show her commitment and love for him. In the evening she returns to her balcony and begins to go over what has just happened and confesses her love for Romeo to the midnight sky. Deny thy father and reuse thy name, Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love Act 2 Scene 2 Lines 39-40. However, Romeo, overhearing, appears before her and tells her that he too feels the same. Call me but love, and Ill be new baptised. Her feelings here over take her logical thinking and in this state of excitement she defies how her parents would let her speak towards another man, since she is promised to Paris. Even though moments before she found out that Romeo is a Montague, the only son of her deepest hate and knows this will cause a dramatic fiasco between her and her father. Beforehand the audience can see that she would never look further than her mother desires but yet her mother does not know of what took place at the balcony. By and by I come lines 152-153. This suggests that Juliet knows that what she is doing is wrong, therefore leaving the manipulating Juliet behind. Juliets feelings for Romeo soon become more extreme and he asks her to marry him. Though Juliet agrees she is disobeying her parents and marrying a Montague, as there is still an arrangement for her to marry Paris. During this time Juliets personality has changed, only slightly but dramatically enough that she has begun to shape her life by her choice, showing development in maturity. Juliets emotional change throughout the play tends to jump from ecstatic to almost suicidal. As a young girl Juliet has depended upon her nurse. During the play the nurse defies Romeo and Juliet. She tells young Juliet that she should marry Paris leaving Juliet no-one to turn to who could understood how she felt. Juliet was left alone to make decisions that no teenager could possibly do. This abandoned feeling caused Juliet to feel alone and drastic feelings soon led to drastic measures. I believe that if Juliet had continued with her life she would have overcome over her love for Romeo. Her love for him seems more of a romantic attraction towards him. The treacherous options made his love more inviting and the uninviting parental consent just adds to the temptations, and as that wanting was wanting what you cant have it made that lust so much stronger. I believe that if her parents approved of Romeo, she would never have been so much in love as she claims. On the other hand, this part of her life also helped her to mature as a person but maybe that maturity should not have been the cost of their ghastly deaths.

Case Analysis Hershy Food Company Marketing Essay

Case Analysis Hershy Food Company Marketing Essay The evolution of global chocolate industry presents many interesting details. Chocolate industry on a global scale is a huge. Chocolate, given its tempting qualities is a huge marketable product for many reasons. Hence, the industry itself is huge we can speculate. As we are aware, chocolate is made out of cocoa seeds. In the initial periods, chocolate was expensive to be manufactured. It was only after the industrial revolution in Europe that a remarkable shift in chocolate industry can be seen. Chocolate also comes in a variety of taste. (Allen, 2010 , p. 21)According to the international cocoa organization, chocolate industry on a global scale is a multi-billion industry. During the year 2006 chocolate industry and manufacturer made tremendous gains from sale. Some of the forerunner or top manufacturing companies in accordance to their sales during 2006 were Hershey Foods Corporation, Mars Inc, and Cadbury Schweppes PLC who topped the list. (ICCO) During 2002 and 2001, the chocolate industry can be concurrently be classified in terms of their sales itself. According to the report available with IOCC, it is mentioned that during the year 2000/2001, the world cocoa industry witnessed a remarkable jump in terms of their share, be it production, consumption and sales. Most importantly, for year 2000/2001 production of world cocoa or chocolate was estimated to be 2,825,000 tonnes. (ICCO, Annual Report for 2000/2001 , 2001 , p. 13) However, for the year 2008/2009, which is the last available report published by ICCO, cocoa production was estimated to be 3.5 million tonnes. (ICCO, Annual Report 2008/2009, 2009, p. 3) From these data we can assume that world chocolate industry is a huge business globally. Hence, it would be interesting to analyze the case also related to Hershey Food Company, a chocolate manufacturing giant, which is discussed as follows. Hershey Food Company: Performance Audit Report 2002 and 2011 Starting the year 2002, Hershey Food Company faced many challenges. Some challenges that were brought to the notice of the audit board were competition from competitors, namely Nestle and Mars that has increased manifold. The global market shares of Hershey Food Company also fell sharply during the said year. Another challenge facing the company CEO then was the factor covering value enhancing to its customers worldwide. As the case is, competition from Nestle and Mars are such that it gave a sense of fear for the company management and its board of director. Hence, the company report that came henceforth was to make a strategic shift to enhance its products, which necessarily raise a question of investment. In that regard, what the company CEO then in the year 2002 recommended was to include realignment plan of US$275 as a shift towards reduction of the workforce in the company that will go towards voluntary compensation. Such a plan was really for a company that is known to have been a people champions for long enough. Yet it was probable, and the case can be looked to the declining market share and unpredictability, given the fierce competition from Nestle and Mars. As reported by ICCO, Hershey Foods Company for the year 2005 was dismal to say so, given that it an annual sale was estimated to be US$ 4881 million dollars, four places below its competitors namely, Nestle, Mars, Cadbury and Ferrero. (ICCO, The Chocolate Industry ) So considering these developments the voluntary realignment plan was a necessity felt the company CEO, Richar d H, Lenny. Audit that was carried out for the year 2001 to 2011 brought into face the many unknown facts and figures about Hershey Food Company. The investigation carried out by Attorney general brought to the notice the most unfamiliar case. What is interesting to note is that audit carried out in the company shows that majority of shares in the company was owned by single large shareholder. This is very unlike and came as a surprising factor for auditors as well given the complexity in shareholder and their ownership, besides the links of the company to many charitable initiatives, which posed many questions for auditors. Somewhat Hershey Food Company represents a community shareholder. This is what the audit report showed about Hershey Food Company. Then Strategic Development from 2001 to 2011 The strategic development starting March, 2001 till September, 2002 saw many proposals being raised in a span of one year as a factor to push the sales and revenue generation initiatives of the company. Given the board of director meeting it was figured that Lenny, who was the CEO of the company then and his management styles, was not received by the company stakeholder properly. It is said that Lenny management was somewhat out of the boundary, which brought to fore disagreement amongst employee and co-managers in the company. In March 2002, the company strategic team decided to explore upon the sales factor of the company, however, the company CEO was reluctant and was trying to seek alternative to such a decision being made. As a matter of fact, competition also the market was not only posing many pressure on the company management, but also brought into contention the test of time that raised a conflict amongst stakeholder and director of the company. Such happening was a pre-cursor to the overall episode encompassing Hershey Food Company. The conflict of idea and recommendation regarding sales objectives between the board of the company and the trust was really interesting to note. Part of the strategic development from 2001 to 2011 also saw many forms of protest, within and outside the company management realms. Such case is sad indeed for a company of repute. The development that came about also somewhat show an increase of 10% sales for Hershey Food Company in 2002, that also in a span of 3 months under the leadership of Lenny, the company CEO. The success in that regard was accorded to the cost cutting measure initiated by Lenny in context of the realignment plan. However, somewhat the case of conflict as can be seen is that the vision of Lenny and that of the company founder was not match-able in any regard. Such development in parts within Hershey Food Company and its strategic development starting the year 2001 to 2011 brought into contention the very conflict that is reported between the trust and board of directors, which is central to the issue facing the company at the most critical time, and reason enough for the conflict to erupt. Board Meeting Outcome Given the audit that was developing in the company, sales of the company was brought to an injunction or ban by a panel of judges. However, following the year 2002 during September, the injunction was cleared and granted. This development saw the introduction of Candy Swoops Slices in 2003, which was listed by Productscan as the most innovative product of the year itself. Following the board meeting, the outcome also saw the acquisition of Joseph Schmidt by Hershey Food Company in 2005. (Malhotra, 2009, p. 395) Company Status Today The company status today as we have maintained earlier is one amongst the major manufacturers of global chocolate. Many innovative products were introduced by Hershey Food Company in a span of five years. Moreover, to gain its market share lost to its competitors, Hershey Food Company decided to become a fearless product innovator. These somewhat paid dividends, which brought Hershey Candy Slices Swoops which was received highly in the market. (Malhotra, 2009, p. 395) Hence, today Hershey Food Company is a major competitor in the chocolate industry. The battle for the company was won in actuality, and today Hershey and Mars are fighting for the number spot in the global industry, which to some analysts is a $73 billion industry annually. (Malhotra, 2009) Hence, these figures itself present many interesting facts about Hershey and where it stands today after the internal turmoil since 2001. Recommendation What we learned from the case study and its analysis is that governing issue was one formidable background that can be read and make out. Given the presence of huge number of shareholders in the company and unbending management further ignite the pressure that the company is facing. Hence, it is recommended that corporate govern ace of the company should:- Be held by a body of authority that is designated to take decisions and dismantle complex issues in organized way. Bring into contention effective leadership. Finally, production and Operational Management overall should be streamlined for enhanced process of the company. SWOT Analysis of Hershey Food Company Hershey main strength as can be analyzed lies with its innovative approach to introduce products that are to the taste of consumers. In the history of the company, advertising also have been the main strength that Hershey [posses to outdo its competitors. Being a chocolate manufacturing giant, Hershey the board also was one factor which posed many dangers for the company. For instance organizational weakness was one feature overall of Hershey. Yet the opportunities for the company lays within the competitive leader that the company has strive for many years. Given that Mars is on the number spot the factor of it also presents Hershey with an opportunity like never before to reclaim its place as the number one manufacturer in the industry. Yet the threat was always there, and recurring as can be seen to the stiff financial audits and leadership of Lenny, which to the boards is not a feasible one as far as Hershey Food Company strategy goes.

Difference Between Acclimation And Adaptation Biology Essay

Difference Between Acclimation And Adaptation Biology Essay Adaptation for an animal is any genetically heritable trait that allows an individual to reproduce and pass on its genes. Example (Camels adapting to be able to survive long periods of time without water in the desert) Acclimation for an animal is the process by which an animal gets used to a changing environment. Example (If a deer lives in a forest, and one year that forest experienced a colder, then the deal would have to acclimate get used to the cold or move to a different forest) 10/10 List 5 protein types and their roles (functions) in organisms. Antibodies defense Motor / Contractile Proteins provide help with movement Structural Proteins provide structure and support Hormones initiate chemical reactions Enzymes catalyze chemical reactions Transport Proteins Help transport substances across the membrane 10/10 List 3 significant differences between DNA and RNA. The secondary structure of DNA is a double helix, the secondary structure of RNA is a hairpin. In DNA the 4 bases are Thymine, Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, in RNA the 4 bases are Uracil, Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine. The sugar in DNA is deoxyribose, the sugar in RNA is ribose 10/10 List 3 types of polysaccharides and their use in cells. Starch used to store energy in plants Glycogen used to store energy in animals Chitin used to provide structural support for the cell wall of bacteria, as well as the exoskeleton of crustaceans and insects Peptidoglycan used to provide structural support for the cell walls of bacteria Celluose used to provide structural support for the cell wall of plants 10/10 Give a detailed explanation of the two methods by which molecules move across lipid bylayers. Active Transport Active transport describes when a molecule uses energy to cross a lipid bilayer Passive Transport Passive transport describe the movement of molecules across a membrane that does not require energy or ATP 10/10 For each of the following, tell whether the component is an organelle and briefly describe its function. Ribosome not organelle (make proteins for amino acids are protein builders / synthesizers. Mitochondria organelle (produces ATP) Lysosome organelle (break up food, and other particles to make it easier for the body to digest the food or said particles Vacuole membrane bound organelle (digestion, and getting rid of waste) Nucleus organelle (stores genetic information) 10/10 Give examples of the diversification in animal development in the areas of feeding, movement and reproduction. Diversification in animal feeding = some animals like deposit feeders (sea cucumber, worms, etc) eat through the sediment that is around them to obtain their nutrition. Filter feeders (certain types of whales) filter through water in order to obtain tiny crustaceans like krill. Many types of insects use a proboscis to obtain food like nectar, Humans, and many other animals like dear, bears, lions, otters, snakes, some fish, etc. have the presence of a jaw which allows them to eat. Diversification in movement = some animals like worms move with the a hydrostatic skeleton. Many other animals use the presence of limbs like legs, fins, tails, wings and other appendages to move. Other animals like snakes make coiling actions with their spine to propel themselves forward. Diversification in reproduction = some animals reproduce asexually, some animals are able to reproduce by budding (sea stars), and other animals (humans, some fish, deer) reproduce sexually. 10/10 List the differences between protostomes and deuterostomes. Protosomes developed an anus first then a mouth Deuterostomes developed a mouth first then an anus 5/10 What are coeloms, pseudocoeloms and hemocoels? Coelom = A fluid filled cavity within the mesoderm Pseudoceoloms = An internal body cavity of some invertebrates. Homocoel = A cavity or space in most arthropods and mollusks between the organs where the blood or fluid flows through or bathes the organs. 10/10 What is a hydrostatic skeleton and how does it work? Give one example of a specimen with a hydrostatic skeleton. A hydrostatic skeleton is a skeleton that consists of fluid filled closed chambers, that generates movement as a result of muscle contractions. Examples worms 10/10 Describe the process of natural selection as postulated by Darwin. Darwins process of natural selection basically said that animals and species who dont have certain heritable traits or are unable to adapt to their surrounding will die out and species who have certain heritable traits or are able to adapt will live and produce offspring with those heritable traits. Natural selection doesnt affect the individual but the population. 7/10 Discuss the concept of behavior in which an animal sacrifices itself for the good of the species in the context of natural selection. (i.e. Does such behavior fit into Darwinian evolutionary models? Why or why not? Can you give or refute examples of it? Is this consistent with evolutionary models?) I think this question can be best answered with another question. Can animals (besides humans) feel emotion? Does another animal feel compassion towards other members of its herd enough so thats its willing to sacrifice its life? I believe the answer is yes. All mammals and most other animals have the natural tendency to protect their young and the young of the heard. For example in Africa when elephants are crossing the Serengeti and a young elephant is attacked by a lion or other predator, it is very common that many other members of the heard (not including his or her parents) will defend and in some cases die for that young elephant. We can also see this among dogs (whom I believe do have emotions for humans). In domesticated dogs there have been numerous incidents where the dog will defend their owners if they feel that their owner is threatened by another dog or what have you. This is because the dog feels the human as its own family or heard and would in some cases die for the greater good of his heard (human family). I personally dont believe that these examples dont fit into the Darwinian models, because theres no way to predict, or accurately count how many times an instance like this occurs. Darwinian evolutionary models show how animals adapt, die out, or reproduce depending on their surroundings. Sacrificing yourself for the greater good of your species / heard / family does not fit into that model. 12/15 List the differences between mitosis and meiosis. Meiosis = 2 cell divisions, chromosomes are halved, results in 4 haploid daughter cells, synapsis of homologs, different identical make up of chromosomes in daughter cell Mitosis = 1 cell division, chromosomes stay the same, results in 2 diploid daughter cells, no synapsis of homologs, identical make up of chromosomes in daughter cell 10/10 Asexual and sexual reproduction each have advantages and disadvantages. List one advantage and one disadvantage of each. The advantages of asexual reproduction are that it is more efficient than sexual reproduction. The disadvantages are that the offspring is going to have an identical genetic makeup which can possibly keep a bad gene in the in an offspring through generations of asexual reproduction The advantages of sexual reproduction are that with sexual reproduction you will get a variation on the genes with each offspring depending on the maternal and paternal genes. The disadvantage is that it far less efficient than asexual reproduction. In most cases of sexual reproduction you have to attract / get the consent of the opposite sex to mate via (songs, fighting over with other animals, displays, etc.) 10/10 Trisomy is the presence of an extra chromosome, while monosomy is the absence of a chromosome. Approximately 1 in 200 humans have a trisomic karyotype and about 1 in 5000 humans have a monosomic karyotype. What conclusions can you draw about the relative survivability of organisms with extra genes compared with those with missing genes? Explain why you think this would be so from an evolutionary prospective. From the number you have given me it would appear that the relative survivability of an organism with a monosomic karyotype is much lower than those with a trisomic karyotype. A monosomic karyotype is 50 times less likely to occur than trisomic karyotype, which causes me to believe that people with a monosomic karyotype would die out more quickly or be less able to reproduce, there for causing the gene to be less frequent in individuals. The fact that monosomic is becoming less frequent in individuals shows me that people are evolving to combat the issue, or the gene is dying / fading out. 15/15 The same genetic process is used to produce both sperm and egg cells, yet more than 90% of trisomies appear to be due to maternal errors. Give a hypothesis to explain why this might be so. How might one test this hypothesis? Its possible that there is a predisposition in all females that allow this error to occur. This could be similar to Tuner Syndrome where the end results are always sterile females. My guess is that the reason 90% of trisomies appear to be maternal errors is there is something in the female body or a slight different in the way something is produced that causes this error. However since 10% would appear to be a paternal error, the cause for the error in females must relate somehow the error in males. To test this hypothesis, I would run hundreds of tests in a laboratory to produce sperm and eggs and watch how each of them develop, exactly what goes into both of them, and see how they both develop under different conditions, and the exact conditions. From there I might be able to find the missing link to why this is happening. 15/15

Physical Therapy and Kinesiology Essay -- relieve, stress, allergies, a

Physical therapy and kinesiology work in a close relationship to each other. Essentially one may think they are one in the same, however there are small differences between the two that provide different results when applied singularly. As a combined effort physical therapy and kinesiology work to heal the muscles and joints of the body, recreating movements perfectly as they were before injury or in some cases as closely as one can get to a perfect function. First one must understand where the lone is drawn between the two fields and how they balance each other to create desirable results in a patient. Kinesiology is a complimentary therapy used to identify and correct internal issues to relieve stress, allergies, and pain. Being described as a complimentary therapy, kinesiology is not meant to be a cure-all for the patient, but a secondary method of increasing positive results of the original therapy; this method however can be used as a primary or secondary form of therapy depending on the results for the patient and satisfaction with said results. During treatment the doctor tests 14 different areas of muscles balance, these major muscles and how they react are believed to uncover problems that need correction which cannot be found with any other testing (Rude Health). During testing, most patients are found to need correction in all 14 balance tests, depending on the ailment the patient complains of and how well they react to the muscle correction will tell whether or not further treatment is needed. The physical aspect of the therapy, despite the name and basic principles, is not the only aspect required for optimal results. One must also report lifestyle and diet changes ranging from daily stress levels to pat... ... begin without the other, though the end result is far from the same ideal. Physical therapy can work with kinesiology in a way to take it into the light it belongs, and further the study from a more scientific approach. From that step forward, with more scientific study, the therapy may eventually hold its own and the results speak for themselves in the same way physical therapy has proven to be beneficial. References Mayo School of Health Sciences. (n.d.). Physical Therapy. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://www.mayo.edu/mshs/careers/physical-therapy Rude Health : Kinesiology. (n.d.). Proquest. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://search.proquest.com.ezp-02.lirn.net/docview/759739277/8E660E12CC7646E0PQ/4?accountid=107221 What is Physical Therapy?. (n.d.). Medical News Today. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160645.php

Essay --

Literature review 1) Authors: Dietmar , Rabussay & Denise ,M, Korniewicz Title: The Risks and Challenges of Surgical Glove Failure Source: Aoran Journal, 1997, 66(5): 871-876 Research Question or Hypothesis : What is the relationship between using of same gloves for removal of more than one dirty dressing and the subsequent increasing infection rate in Women’s Surgical Ward? Rabussay, D., & Korniewicz, D. M. (1997).Surgical Glove Failure- Part 2, Nurses as Inventers and Professional Collaboration, Aoran Journal , 66(5), 867-880.Print. Gloving is one of the occupational health and safety standards which exhibit a strong relationship between infection control standards and gloving practices. The risk of a particular transmission depends on level of pathogen resistance to environmental influence and its evading abilities, mode of transmission and barrier effectiveness also plays a major role. Gloves are highly effective barriers against pathogens. Infection is sometimes spread from staff to patients, this result in rise of nosocomial infections. Transmission is the only factor that can be controlled by the staff. The use of gloves as a barrier of protection is unclear. Moreover, failure of gloving protocols leads to infection to occur. A use of glove in infection control is to prevent the spread of infections from patient to patient, is only considered effective when the provided gloves are changed and hands often cleaned. Gloving practices is viewed as an important part of infection control measures and can be an au tomatic habit as a result of constant practice. The authors as stated above identified that when a conscious thought is given to standardized gloving practices and choices and improvements available when deciding o... ...e changed when indicated, that is, gloves are removed after caring for a patient an also when moving from a contaminated body site to a clean body site. Gloves need to be removed properly so that the hands are not contaminated in the process. Also WHO guidelines stated that nurses should wear gloves to protect themselves from acquiring infections from patients as well as to protect patients from acquiring microorganisms that may be on the hands of nurses. WHO also states that a health care worker should remove gloves after caring for a patient and not wear the same pair of gloves when caring for more than one patient. However, wearing gloves does not provide complete protection and also stated that wearing gloves does not take the place of hand hygiene. In addition to monitoring of glove usage should be incorporated in the routine hand hygiene skills and competency.

Haunted :: Creative Writing Essays

Haunted One day I was walking along side a road that not to many people travel on. All of a sudden it started storming really bad. I didn't want to get sick so I decided to run into an old abandoned house for cover. No one lived there, I was sure of that. As I got in, I looked around and noticed what a spooky house it was. It seemed really spooky. I saw a large room that was the foyer. The room had a checkered tile floor. It was lit a dark blue color. There were two lights on either side of the staircase that led to the second floor. Off to the right of the large foyer was a door that led to the kitchen. The kitchen was old a musty smelling. As I walked to the back of the kitchen, I noticed a door. I stared at it. A second later it opened! I ran out of the kitchen as fast as I could and ran up the stairs. Up stairs it was even darker. I saw a long narrow hallway with a lot of doors on both sides and on the end. I checked all of the doors and I could only get into one of them. I walked into the one that I could get into and heard someone yelling and pleading. I grew scared but then noticed it wasn't a person. It looked like a hologram, but you could see and hear him. He seemed to be pleading for his life. I could not see whom he was talking to, but I don't think it was a person. The man was balding and looked like he was in his upper forties. He was saying, "I am sorry for coming into your house. I thought it was empty. Please! Please! Let me go. I won't say anything; I didn't see you murder him. No! Don't! Ahhhhhhh! Stop..." Then he fell to the floor after I heard a sickening crack. I raced out of that room only to find myself in the hallway again. I decided it was time for me to leave! I went quickly down stairs and went to the door I came in at. I turned the handle and nothing happened.

Land Degradation and Global Warming Essay

Our planet has experienced many changes in its climate from day 1 of creation up to the present. Today, we are faced with issues concerning global warming or the average increase of temperature of Earth’s atmosphere. What causes global warming leads researchers to identify natural conditions and manmade activities that cause this phenomenon (U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008). Land degradation is being eyed as one of the contributing factors of global warming. By definition, it is the loss of the land productivity that could be permanently or temporarily (Stocking & Murnagham, 2000). Literature Review Land degradation has been a problem for a long time. Researches are done in order to find out the most applicable solution to the affected areas. Michael Stocking and Niamh Murnaghan, in 2000, had published â€Å"Land Degradation: Guidelines for Field Assessment. † This publication consists of 8 chapters. The authors have focus on the following areas: farmers’ perspective on land degradation, definition and causes, effects and consequences to land users, soil loss, effects to production, indicators of land degradation, and the benefits of conservation. Agencies such as the Canadian International Development Agency or CIDA, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the United Nations have promoted their awareness programs regarding land degradation and global warming. With the help of these agencies, people are gaining information about the effects of natural events and some human activities to the environment. Methodology This research is mainly based on information, researches, and readings from the Internet. I have chosen Web sites from reliable agencies such as U. S. EPA, CIDA, and the United Nations in order to acquire information about land degradation and global warming. Since the Internet is also known as the information superhighway, these agencies are successful in spreading their researches and making the public aware of the increasing effect of global warming to our environment. Data Analysis California is just one of the States that promotes rainforest conservation to lessen the effect of global warming by reducing emissions from deforestation and land degradation or REDD. REDD is an state-to-state sub-national agreement that aims to promote improved forest management practices and reforestation. The parties involved in this agreement have signed the Memorandum of Understanding on 18 November 2008. (Mongabay. com, 2008) In Canada, CIDA has led the promotion to reverse the effects of land degradation. CIDA works with the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification or UNCCD. CIDA’s efforts to reverse the effects include: tree planting, sustainable irrigation, and environmental monitoring among others. (Land Degradation, CIDA, 2008) Results The effects of land degradation to Earth’s climate were not observed immediately. Now, the effects of global warming are increasingly being noticed. We have experienced El Nino and La Nina and heard news about the melting of ice in the Arctic. The processes done to counteract the effects could also take longer time before we could see the results. Discussion When the soil lost its productivity due to land degradation, trees and plants could not thrive on it. Add to this phenomenon the continuous illegal logging and deforestation activities could lead to decreased numbers of planted trees and plants. When the number of planted trees and plants continue to lessen, few trees and plants could absorb carbon dioxide, the gas that contributes to global warming due to excessive production. Carbon dioxide traps heat. Too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to an abnormal increase in the temperature of the atmosphere, thus the occurrence of global warming. The common causes of land degradation are overgrazing, deforestation, and pollution. There is a human factor in these causes. We are responsible to what is happening in our climate now. As we wait for the results of the present actions concerning global warming. It’s best to help in our own simple ways on how to prevent land degradation. One is to help promote the advocacies of the concerned agencies. Conclusion Global warming is a reality. The effects of it are tremendous and detrimental. Should global warming continue to worsen, Earth and all its tenants are in grave danger. Public awareness of the effects of global warming is deemed necessary. We are the ones who have triggered the ignition of global warming. We should also be the ones to trigger the solution. Works Cited â€Å"California Joins Effort to Fight Global Warming by Saving Rainforests. † Mongabay. com. 19 November 2008. 25 November 2008 â€Å"Climate Change. † Canadian International Development Agency. 24 October 2008. 27 November 2008 â€Å"Climate Change. † U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2008. 27 November 2008 â€Å"Land Degradation. † Canadian International Development Agency. 23 July 2008. 25 November 2008 Stocking, M. & Niamh Murnagham. â€Å"Land Degradation: Guidelines for Field Assessment. † PLEC Databases. 2000. 25 November 2008

Describe how John Steinbeck Essay

   Similarities are used as well as the contrasting of characters. (Candy and his dog) By likening the dog to Candy, and Candy to the dog, an atmosphere which is created leads to one of the important themes of the book, the American Dream. The atmosphere itself helps us understand more about the life of the workers, where there is tension between workers â€Å"watched him uneasily†, and where it is a very cruel world, â€Å"I ain’t much good†. As previously mentioned, animal, light and sound imagery can be used very effectively to portray a certain atmosphere, but there are also other words Steinbeck uses to help him in this creation. â€Å"Fumed† can show anger in a character, making an atmosphere totally different to â€Å"sighed†. The description of the bunkhouse at the beginning of chapter two, we can see all the techniques used by Steinbeck to create atmosphere. The light images of sunlight, † bright dust-laden bar† highlights, where things will happen later on in the story. The plain words like â€Å"unpainted† help to create an atmosphere, describing the bunkhouse. References to sound, â€Å"flies shot in† uses onomatopoeia and creates movement like the beginning of the book. Finally, adding characters to the bunkhouse, â€Å"Stoop-shouldered† gives the imagery of the bunkhouse and its roughness and an image of the tiredness of the men. Using the imagery of light and sound, he sets the scene, then giving it life and relations to the reader using animal imagery, giving u the feeling you are there in the story watching what is happening. He finishes the effect by adding certain people into certain situations, Steinbeck has created an interesting story line and the way George and Lennie’s relationship has worked out. Animal imagery is used to describe the characters, but also their movements, which give us an idea of the overall atmosphere. Steinbeck has an amazing ability to create atmosphere. From the very start of the story you can tell that Lennie and George are very poor by the clothes they wear and they do not have backpacks they are carrying bindles with very little possessions in. Also they have to heat and eat the baked beans they have with them out of the tin as they do not have a saucepan or tin opener between them. This gives you a very good idea to how the two men are used to living. Loneliness affects all the characters, this is portrayed very well by Steinbeck and how the loneliness is making the characters life harder. This is due to the fact they never have a job for long enough to make permanent friends. You never find out much about the other characters as Steinbeck focuses on george and Lennie constantly, but you do learn that they are all going through the same and you find out the main characteristics of all the characters. Violence plays a large part through the story, mainly linked to Curley and Lennie. Curley made many threats to lennie and does eventually go through with what he is saying. The job at the ranch the two men have taken on is very hard and Steinbeck describes this very well by using phrases such as hard enough work to ‘bust a gut’. The bunkhouse they are staying in on the ranch is in very bad condition and the whole place is dirty and disgusting showing how bad conditions for men during those days were and what people would do just to get a bit of money. As the story develops u discover why the two men are there in the first place. George, the more mature of the two men looks after Lennie and you get the impression that Lennie needs a lot of support and isn’t capable of doing things on his own. Lennie has an obsession with soft furry things but due to his strength suffocates the mouse he gets, and this plays along throughout the story. The two men are dependent on each other but George tries to not show this to anyone. Lennie is very childish and is often referred to as having animal characteristics. When the two men arrive at the ranch and first meet the boss Lennie is told to be quiet, first u do not understand why but is eventually made clear, if he spoke he may of lost the two men their jobs due to an incident at the previous place. Lennie does not realise his own strength and gets himself in a lot of trouble. He seems to have difficulty understanding simple instructions and its George who always has to help him out of trouble. Parts of the story give you the impression that George can get very annoyed and uncomfortable with Lennie’s company and at several points threatens to leave him on his own and they will not live the ‘American Dream. ‘ The dream is one of the ways the two men combat their loneliness, by having the dream in their minds it makes them have faith and hope for the future instead f just giving up. Lennie uses the dream as something that keeps him going and he often asked George to repeat it when he is feeling down and unloved. Their American dream was to get enough money to move on and start a new life just like Lennie wanted, on a farm with rabbits (soft). We find out that Lennie has feelings for Curley’s wife and that when he gets close to her in the barn he manages to break her neck when he panics as she started to scream as he wouldn’t let go of her because her hair was soft. Lennie is very vulnerable to the outside world and has no understanding of the world and what’s going on around him. Steinbeck describes him very well, as he does George. You get the feeling of the emotions these two men are going through to get through life. It is a very good story and John Steinbeck is a very good author. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section. 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Ethical and Cultural Implications in the U.S. Supermarket Industry Essay

The supermarket industry in the U. S. is currently facing many challenges in ethics and culture. The industry not only consists of traditional grocers but other different types of retailers, like Wal-Mart and Target, that are attempting to make profits from the food industry. An estimation of the amount that consumers spend on food annually is $500 billion. The traditional supermarkets are losing their market shares because of supercenters like Wal-Mart, Costco, Sam’s Club and Dollar stores. In 2001, Wal-Mart became the largest seller of food. The supermarket industry is facing many challenges in attracting shoppers that are attracted to the lower prices offered at the larger supercenters. Approaches that supermarkets may focus on to attract more of the market share include offering organic foods, friendlier â€Å"neighborhood market† service, fully-prepared or semi-prepared foods, cultural and ethnic foods, friendly, helpful employees and service, technological advancements, digital signs, self-check-outs, and mobile terminals for employees making their services more available to customers. While the larger supercenters are providing much competition, it will force the supermarket industry to make the necessary changes that will attract customers who prefer friendlier service, quality foods, prepared foods, and quality service due to more advanced technology. Over time, the American consumer will be attracted to a food industry that caters to quality of product and service, rather than the supercenters that provide products at discounted prices and offer a lower quality of service and product. This paper addresses the ethical and cultural dilemmas facing the supermarket industry, and how it can make changes to ensure that both consumers and companies are ethical and culturally sensitive to the changing industry.

Population control in China

In 1950's China, under the government weakened by its countries opium dependence to westerners, the idea still existed that, â€Å"A large population gives a strong nation† This lead to China's population growing very rapidly, so rapidly in fact that this phrase was beginning to prove in correct. As china's population struggled to feed it's self, as well as extreme overcrowding especially in its cities. The death rate in china dropped (except for a blip in the natural decrease caused by a minor famine in the 1960's) and its birth rate continued to grow rapidly. Even after the government implemented tolerant population control policies, for example the â€Å"later longer fewer policy†. The hope was that if people were encouraged to wait longer before marrying, they would have children later in life and therefore is much more likely to have fewer children. However this did not produce dramatic enough results to help slow China's rapidly growing population and end its pending famine crisis. This is probably due to: a) People were still living in a very traditional way. This meant that people, especially those living in rural areas, they had big families. To make up for what was ah high infant mortality rate, during famine years. b) Women were not educated, and were considered the inferior sex whose job was in the home. They had no career so their only job was in the home. c) Being a developing country, and at that time very anti- western ideas, and almost fearful of the western world, Chinese people had little or no access to contraception, and even less education on birth control and family planning. d) No state pension meant that elderly people had to rely on their children to provide for them in their old age. So to be insured of safe elderly years they had to have at least one child who survived childhood and grew up to make an income. In this case boys were preferred, as they could have a paid job, not one in the home. e) A Cultural Revolution made the population increase by 55million every three years; this is nearly the same as the entire population of the UK. In the 1959 to 1961, a famine caused but an Industrial Revolution triggered the government to launch its first population control policies. People moved away from rural areas and their traditional work as farmers to towns and cities, to work in factories, often owned by western countries brought to china by cheap labour costs compared to the western world. This influx of western ideas thwarted the government's campaign, as the later longer fewer Policy was not considered attractive by the Chinese population who moved towards a western ideal. But the government continued and by 1970, State Family Programmes had been introduced. This lowered the population growth rate. In 1978 3 children per family was average but the government persisted, as this was still too many. This was in the form of various advertising campaigns, however their effect was not dramatic enough, and in 1979, the government wished to stamp out population growth completely. So they introduced a strict population policy. The policy used a â€Å"carrot and stick† method to encourage families who participated, and punish those who did not. Encouragement was in the form of great incentives from the government. These included free education for the child, priority housing, family benefit and a state pension for the family. There were also high penalties for having a second child. Including loss of all incentives, and benefits and fines of up to 15% of the family's annual income. This more than halved the birth rate per thousand from 40 per thousand to 17 per thousand. But the government continued further, the legal age for marriage was raised to 22 for men and 20 for women, to marry couples also had to apply to the state for permission. State permission was also required to have a child. Abortions became compulsory for the second pregnancy. Chinas population policy had been very successful at reducing population growth, it met targets set for 2000 in 1994. However the population policy had serious implications for the natural balance of population. The Chinese population has an entire generation of â€Å"little emperors† the title given to the supposedly spoiled, greedy, bad-tempered, lazy children of male only children. More seriously as young men this generation has difficulty finding a wife. This is a result of Chinese ideal of male supremacy. Families would try and find out the gender of the child before it was born, with the option to terminate if it was a girl. If a families first born child was female, it was at times abandoned so that the couple could try again for a boy. The Chinese government also commissioned teams to go from village to village providing a sterilisation service. This at times was a very unfair method and often breached human rights. As the teams were paid by the number of operations they carried out. So often women were sterilised against their will. In Chinas anti-feminist society it was almost always that women were sterilised instead of men. The government would defend their actions saying that there was a serious need for rapid population control or there would have been further suffering to the people. Credit can be given that the scheme worked and met target before time. Today regulations on population control have been relaxed mainly due to the fact that all targets have been met. But also because of pressure from the west. This is mainly in rural areas of china where children are still a useful form of labour on farms, so two children is permitted. But in industrial regions one child is still most likely. Sterilisation is now provided in a manner that is less likely to be damaging and in breach of human rights.