APOL 104 Worldview Essay

â€Å"A worldview is your philosophy of life. It is the framework you bring to decision-making† (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011, p.69). How we view the world leads us to our destination. II.1. The question of origin- Where do we come from? Christians believe that we were created by the one and only sovereign God (Genesis 1:27). The Christian worldview says that God created the world and everything in it within a six day period where on the sixth day God created one man and one woman from which the past and present global population has originated (Genesis 1:28). 2. The question of identity-What does it mean to be human? The Christian worldview accepts that we are a unique creation of God. Christians believe that man was made in the likeness of God (Genesis 1:27) and then given the authority over all of the earth (Genesis 1:28-30). God intended that man would care for both the livestock and plant life, and both livestock and plant life were given to man to be used as a food source. 3. The question of meaning/purpose- Why Does mankind exist? Christians believe that mankind exists to glorify the creator. This is accomplished through a wide variety of efforts and means. Some of these efforts include worship, (Psalm 95) obedience, (Philippians 2:12-13) prayer, and thanksgiving. The object of these efforts is to establish a personal relationship with God. The end result of the relationship being eternal life where the individual pleasures in God’s immeasurable glory for eternity. 4. The question of morality -What is meant by right and wrong? The Christian worldview cites that morality is derived from the person of God. Specifically God provided mankind with law to establish a baseline for morality (Exodus 20). Morality was not left for man to determine, but was established by God. Mankind has rejected God’s law of morality and so this is in need of salvation from God’s judgment (Romans 3:23) 5. The question of destiny- Is there life after death? Christians believe after death the soul will eternally go to one of two places, with God in heaven or separated from God in Hell. The Christian worldview maintains that both heaven and hell are not figurative, but literal places. In order for one to go to Heaven one must be justified and sanctified. Justification is completed through an individual’s belief in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the Son of God and trust that Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient atonement for one’s sin (John 3:16). Sanctification is carried out daily through a personal relationship with Jesus; the product of which is repentance from sin and obedience to God’s standards of morality ultimately resulting in the soul’s eternal residence in Heaven (Matthew 25:23) III.1. The way the biblical worldview influences the way that I think about, treat, and speak to others on a daily basis comes from being able to accept everyone for who they are. It is easy for the flesh to pass judgment, but I always try to hold each person in the eyes of our Lord. I do not want to be judged or spoken down too therefore I will not act that way towards others. Our biblical worldview can reflect a huge impact on others. 2. The way the biblical worldview influences the way I treat/interact with the environment and non-human creation is based on how God took the time to create every single thing on this planet. I want to take care of His earth, His creation just as He expects me too. We were given authority over the earth, so I will obey. â€Å"God is the source of all that is good, and His goodness can be seen in the beauty of His creation† (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011, p.75). For mankind to harm His creation would be the same as if I bake a cake and then someone comes along and just dumps it in the floor.

Peace in Mindanao

The peace process in Mindanao still needs a lot of work. The path to peace on the Bangsamoro sector. The establishment of compromising and reaching of the meeting of minds has been conducted. What I want to see is how this will all played out. It is one big step and a giant leaf to a very narrow treacherous process to surpass from but the president assures that it will be done or happen when our countrymen will be willing to help them in their quest for peace.The people itself will have to give justification on the stipulation and not only must the president himself will be the one to fight for peace but also the people itself that must be as well involve for this is their nation to bring about the prospering of peace in the land. We all do want peace. But there is no real peace. Then has always been conflict. What action can we take in the name of peace? Can both sides change the politics of anger and resentment into a policy of cooperation?The Filipino’s lack of discipline e ncompasses several related characteristics. We have a casual and relaxed attitude towards time and space which manifest itself into lack of precision and compulsiveness, in poor time management and in procrastination. We are impatient and unable to delay gratification or reward, resulting in the use of shortcuts, in skirting the rules (pasulot syndrome) and foolhardiness. We are guilty of ningas cogon, starting out projects with full vigor and interest which abruptly die down leaving things unfinished.Our lack of discipline often results in inefficient, wasteful work system, violation of rules leading to more serious transgression and a casual work ethic leading to carelessness and lack of follow-through. The path to peace is always a sensitive topic to obtain. In life there are no shortcuts and so we must be conscious not to show our weakness in character when we mean business. I just hope in this modernize world by while walking on the road with the right determination and enduran ce that it eventually lead to the right path and that is the path to peace.There is no need for haste because peace does not come out automatically, after all people do have safety precautions labeled on each one of us that trust does not easily be gain but you work for it. As the saying goes â€Å"hastes makes wastes†. Filipinos do have strength in characters as well. One of that is the pakikipagkapwa-tao where Filipinos are open to others and fell one with others. We regard others with dignity, respect and deal with them as fellow human beings.It is manifested in a basic sense of justice, fairness and concern for others. It is demonstrated in the ability to empathize with others, helpfulness and generosity in times of need (pakikiramaray), in the practice of bayanihan and the famous Filipino hospitality. Throughout human history, mankind has seemingly always been able to solve problems. So there is a possibility that this dilemma can be surpassing despite the obstacles that awaits it. Peace in Mindanao The peace process in Mindanao still needs a lot of work. The path to peace on the Bangsamoro sector. The establishment of compromising and reaching of the meeting of minds has been conducted. What I want to see is how this will all played out. It is one big step and a giant leaf to a very narrow treacherous process to surpass from but the president assures that it will be done or happen when our countrymen will be willing to help them in their quest for peace.The people itself will have to give justification on the stipulation and not only must the president himself will be the one to fight for peace but also the people itself that must be as well involve for this is their nation to bring about the prospering of peace in the land. We all do want peace. But there is no real peace. Then has always been conflict. What action can we take in the name of peace? Can both sides change the politics of anger and resentment into a policy of cooperation?The Filipino’s lack of discipline e ncompasses several related characteristics. We have a casual and relaxed attitude towards time and space which manifest itself into lack of precision and compulsiveness, in poor time management and in procrastination. We are impatient and unable to delay gratification or reward, resulting in the use of shortcuts, in skirting the rules (pasulot syndrome) and foolhardiness. We are guilty of ningas cogon, starting out projects with full vigor and interest which abruptly die down leaving things unfinished.Our lack of discipline often results in inefficient, wasteful work system, violation of rules leading to more serious transgression and a casual work ethic leading to carelessness and lack of follow-through. The path to peace is always a sensitive topic to obtain. In life there are no shortcuts and so we must be conscious not to show our weakness in character when we mean business. I just hope in this modernize world by while walking on the road with the right determination and enduran ce that it eventually lead to the right path and that is the path to peace.There is no need for haste because peace does not come out automatically, after all people do have safety precautions labeled on each one of us that trust does not easily be gain but you work for it. As the saying goes â€Å"hastes makes wastes†. Filipinos do have strength in characters as well. One of that is the pakikipagkapwa-tao where Filipinos are open to others and fell one with others. We regard others with dignity, respect and deal with them as fellow human beings.It is manifested in a basic sense of justice, fairness and concern for others. It is demonstrated in the ability to empathize with others, helpfulness and generosity in times of need (pakikiramaray), in the practice of bayanihan and the famous Filipino hospitality. Throughout human history, mankind has seemingly always been able to solve problems. So there is a possibility that this dilemma can be surpassing despite the obstacles that awaits it.

Conservatives Favour Pragmatism Over Principle

Conservatives support Pragmatism over principle Discuss. Pragmatism essentially believes in a more practical behavior or form of policy, as opposed to an ideological principle. Conservatives traditionally favour pragmatism because it emphasizes the impact of applied ideas that have been tested over time- highlighting the importance of tradition (one major traditional conservative value. One-nation conservatives agree with the foundations of pragmatic ideas.Whereas the New Right was heavily ideological- arguably, the application of Neo-liberal ideas with an emphasis on free-market economics (i. e. : heavy privatization in the Thatcher period) shows a radical change into applying newer principles. Traditional conservatives place a higher emphasis on pragmatic ideas- as these ideas have been tested over time (a conservative would argue that they work; they are product of years of continuity) thus humans are incapable and essentially limited in radically making theories themselves.Their ideas may be based upon the idea of tradition; which alig ns itself with the Darwinian belief that only the fittest policies have survived over the years- and have created what Chesterton called the ‘democracy of the dead’ which is much more reputable than todays ‘arrogant oligarchy’. Pragmatic ideas are preferred because they have continuously growing over centuries whereas principle would ensure instability- for example: the sudden abolition of the monarchy would heavily affect the public; because it’s nationally loved- therefore extreme principles of ideologies like communism would definitely cause imbalance.This agrees with the Burkean view that a human principle can’t be superior to the pragmatic principle that has developed on its own- as the political world is ‘boundless and bottomless’ (as Oakshott said), essentially too complicated for the human mind to articulate principles efficiently. Furthermore, traditional conservatives disregarded the application of representative democra cy as it was seen as being too radical in the early 19th century.Although one could argue that these conservatives are unaware of the benefits that radical change could bring- it can be countered by stating that fair democracy was a product of years of supplementing the system (example: through many Reform Acts-1832, 1848,1867†¦ etc. ); therefore this gradual and continuous change (that benefit pragmatic ideas) completely contrast the excessive change the immediate application of principle would bring.Another sect of conservatives- One-nation conservatives clearly favored pragmatism but Disraeli realized the importance of ‘change in order to conserve’, which would satisfy the masses without significantly impacting the elitists. The 1867 Reform Act exemplifies that these traditional principles were supplemented for beneficiary purposes- for example: Disraeli thought reform would diminish the brewing hope of revolution and actually convince the supporters to support conservatives. Thus Disraeli’s pragmatism was non-conventional but still built up on practical ideas.Moreover, the application of political principles by Thatcher led Macmillan to give the ‘selling of the families silver’ speech- this can create an illustration: the silver which has been accumulated over the years pragmatically has been radically excluded and unnecessarily cashed in. In contrast, New right conservatives oppose the idea of pragmatism but rather favour the principled ideas. The mixture of neo-liberal ideas used by Thatcher and the rise of neo-conservatism through Reagan who placed an emphasis on supply-side economics.These ideas proposed something different- for example: Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign placed a large emphasis in less government interference in lives of people- which completely obstructs the traditional idea of organic society and social obligations. Although New Right affected people socially, its economic impact was exc essive- as the ideas of neo-liberal economists like Hayek and Freidman who proposed leaving it to the market (like the father of economics: Adam Smith). Freidman once remarked ‘Governments never learn.Only people learn. ’- so this was applied by Thatcher who met much opposition from public/even party members who believed in more pragmatic change and weren’t ready for such a radical one. These ideas created a rapid increase in unemployment numbers, realistically reaching 4 million in terms of relative poverty; this widened the gap between South and North- a pragmatic conservative would have altered their political policies in order to come to terms with the public yet Thatcher ocused on her original ideological principles. Thatcher went against many traditional conservative values that have been developing over the years. There was a rejection of social obligations and responsibilities which was traditionally emphasized; yet the increase in atomistic individualism and egoism. In her famous speech, she said: â€Å"there is no such thing as society†- this can itself exemplify that her beliefs are formed from neo-liberal political beliefs, rather than incorporating pragmatism.An idea that evolved form an organic society; into what One nation conservatives’ idea of a paternalistic state- this was completely rejected which is evident in the increase in privatization of industries in order to ensure profit. Although one could argue that the application of this was essentially required- for example before Reagonomics, the economy was in its worst shape since the Great Depression- therefore if these New Right ideas weren’t applied and more pragmatic ideas were used then progress would be stationary and the debt would rapidly increase.Essentially, if we simplify the argument it’s just trying to, (a) bring change through principles, and, (b) do what pragmatism failed to do- so maybe, it’s just changing in order to co nverse. For example, if these free-market economic ideas are applied, they can eventually be successful- for example: Estonia, which was influenced by ‘Free to choose’ (Friedman) introduced a flat tax rate-it’s now very profitable and there is a boost in public satisfaction.Although, arguably it wasn’t able to act pragmatically because it had just been released from the cruel soviet system therefore this doesn’t significantly illustrate the benefits of ideological principle- as it couldn’t purely work on Britain, for example: the Thatcher era: there was a boost in unemployment, poverty, frustration. In conclusion, on large conservatives believe in pragmatism instead of ideological principle- although when the economy is in a slump then the application of newer ideas can revolutionize the system, evident with the New Right.However, Thatcher can be seen as an anomalous character in Britain- one could argue that David Cameron is shifting back to the pragmatic style of conservatism: with Big Society which will loosely reinstate social responsibilities. Although it’s equally arguable that New Right had an impact on New labor thus principle could be significantly important (as it was famously called: â€Å"Thatcherism with a human face†). Furthermore, on a whole, conservatives based their views on pragmatic ideas as opposed to ideological principles.

What is the general public's perception of US Army's educational Dissertation

What is the general public's perception of US Army's educational levels compared to civilians in corporate America - Dissertation Example Study what is required and revise.   -Comments part II  - CHANGED THE TITLE I like reading the words Action Research in the titles of theses studies, but I do think yours can be improved upon as it almost reads like two sentences or a fragmented sentence. I mention it as the title is so very important for setting the tempo with the reviewer and more importantly for future researchers to search on for further study. I would recommend something like:   An Action Research study to Bring about Change in the Public’s Perception of soldiers in the United States Army compared to Civilians Working in the Public Sectors.   Or I might even drop the latter part:   An Action Research study to Bring about Change in the Public’s Perception of soldiers in the United States Army. compared to Civilians Working in the Public Sectors.   As to the study itself I think Bruce made some good points to be considered. Overall I would look to minimize the content here and there and a lways have the focus to be on answering the instructions on the left side of teach text box. The reviewer will look at that as their focus in approving and if it too wordy and not to the point, it makes it harder for them to do.   -Comments part III   This is strange but I do not see her name, contact information, etc. on the SMR. That page is missing.   {PLEASE ADD THIS BEFORE SUBMITTING} This may not be appropriate here, but the References are not in APA style. CHANGED   The whole foucus seems to be on Army officers when the largest number of Army personnel are enlisted personnel. In dispelling one of the myths that Army personnel are not highly educated, the large percentage of officers with college degrees is cited. Are we talking about the whole...Due to these reasons, many individuals do not consider the army to be an active career option for them. (Muth, (2011). However, this is far from reality. This stereotype was formed among people, because of such a portrayal by war movies and mass media. (Buffalo Soldiers, 2001.) In recent times, the whole approach of the army has changed towards education and a high number of personnel are well educated individuals are a part of the army. Moreover, the environment within the army also provides a number of opportunities to the personnel to pursue further studies and improve their academic qualifications. same in the civilian world. A research is needed to understand how and why civilians have this perception about the Army personnel; then, it is necessary to educate them about how the perception is wrong. Bringing about this change of perception can make a big change not only to the way people look at the soldiers, but it can also motivate general public to be a part of the army. While it is understandable that it would be a very daunting task to educate a large number of people, it is possible to start out at a small level and see if that brings about a level of difference. (Muth, 2011).

Space Age Furniture Company Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Space Age Furniture Company - Assignment Example According to the paper the company incurs a cost of $0.75 per unit per week to hold stock for any subassemblies in stock from one week to another. Hence Space Age Company will incur a total cost of $975 for the six weeks in relation to holding cost. It is clear that due to the high number of subassemblies being produced, there is a demand for part 3079 to be produced in high numbers since it is used to make the subassemblies. However, this can lead to the company incurring overtime costs in order to meet the demand for sub assembles produced in lot sizes of 1000 units. This paper recommends that the lot size of producing the subassemblies should be reduced in order to avoid too much demand for part 3079. This is because it can lead to overtime costs, which in turn can lead to the loss of competent staff. This can be done by reducing the lot size to say 800 units and analysing its effects through Material Requirements Planning. If reducing that number still does not yield better resul ts, the company can consider reducing the number further up to a point where they can sustain the demand for part 3079 that is used to make the subassemblies for the final products. Alternatively, since the machine that makes part 3079 can make as much units as possible, the company can consider employing more staff who can make the part in order to meet the demand for the subassemblies required. This will eliminate overtime costs, stock out costs and motivate the staff who will work the regular 40 hours per week. According to Hanna & Newman, for a company to come up with the best course of action, a cost-benefit analysis must be done in order to choose the one that minimises costs and maximises benefits. In this case, the two recommendations will be analysed. A trade-off is a situation where one gains something at the expense of losing something. That is when one item increases, the other

Management in a Globailsed world Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Management in a Globailsed world - Assignment Example Globalization in business results to free trades that create a way for economic growth by creating jobs brings the point of competition between companies which result to reduction in prices to cover a bigger market demand. Globalization opens up opportunities for poor countries that see through democracy and human rights. Globalization and democracy should go together to increase the global economy by promoting mutual trust and respect. The two power blocks will promote business for the involved countries. This will create an international market for consumers of different countries (Gore, 2013). Globalization in business gradually creates world’s power by promoting unity in the world by merging of political powers and common pool of decision making. By creating a common pool of decision making benefit the world as compared to compartmentalized power sectors. Globalization promotes interconnection and hence, benefits many countries to share information. With sharing of information, result to the sharing and borrowing of cultural activities between different countries (Gore, 2013). The purpose for global changes is to promote globalization through government and originations sharing of common financial interests in business. Globalization have resulted to social tolerance with people of different countries and therefore promoting world wide economy. Speeds in interconnection and sharing of information through internet are promoted by globalization (Gore, 2013). Differences exist between native countries and immigrants in relations to job openings and political illustration. Youth of marginal ethnic background encounter sidelining when participating in the job market. Furthermore, minority ethnic employees are under-embodied in economic and political domains. There is an wide-ranging records on the causes why people might be willing to work overseas. Core backgrounds encompasses an individual’s family and

How too conduct an accident investigation in the workplace Essay

How too conduct an accident investigation in the workplace - Essay Example Once at the scene take photographs and examine the site thoroughly for any possible causes of the accident or underlying causes that may have attributed to the event. For example if the site itself is an open plan work-room, describe the layout of the room with the position of all furniture, noting whether it was fixed or movable and in what condition it is in. Take a note of all, if any, cables and wiring and their location in regards to the accident, also note the type of lighting in the room, and if there are any bulbs or lights not working in case the room dimmed enough to cause an accident. Note what type of flooring the room has, if it carpeted or tiled and if there are any frayed or loose edges, or if the floor is made of polished wood or linoleum, if so is it polished enough to cause a person to slip. Is there any possibility of spilt liquids or leakages from over head pipes or under floor pipes. Once the site has been investigated and thoroughly examined the next stage is to interview the injured person or persons and any witnesses present or involved in the accident, including those who had a role after the event. Keep a copy of the report to hand, but as the injured party to describe the event prior to and leading up to their having the accident.

From washington's farewell address warning against getting involved in Essay

From washington's farewell address warning against getting involved in foreign entanglements to the Monroe Doctrine to Theod - Essay Example They were not the only presidents to do this. In later times, at least three Cold War era presidents also followed this course, including Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. Nor did it end with the conclusion of the Cold War. Barack Obama himself has embraced this policy of implied force as a central theme of his policy. As will be seen, this overriding theme of implied force is the definitive common denominator of all presidential decision-making in foreign policy. Five sources were consulted in the preparation of this paper, and all proved invaluable in the development of one’s understanding of this topic. Harry Ammon provided a critical background for the analysis of James Monroe’s famous doctrine of 1823 as a major departure point for American external policies. Harlow Giles Unger took a somewhat dissenting view from the conventional view that the Europeans had a distinct advantage over the fledgling American republic, and notes that the Ameri cans were stronger at that time than usually given credit for, a surprising position indeed! Former senator Cary Hart of Colorado has the unique insider’s perspective as a practicing politician in the halls of power for many years. Although a seasoned practitioner, Hart is no intellectual lightweight. He holds a doctorate and has lectured at Yale, Oxford and other hallowed institutions. Aida Donald offers keen insights into the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, and helps to elevate Roosevelt in historical stature. Louis Auchincloss, an authoritative Roosevelt biographer, establishes the basic thread of continuity between Monroe and Roosevelt, the two presidents emphasized here. James Monroe seemed marked out by destiny to be a diplomat. A protege of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, fellow Virginians and his immediate forerunners as presidents, Monroe apprenticed himself as a minister to foreign powers. What bothered him from an early date, however, was the comple te lack of respect he encountered toward American diplomats and his beloved country. He felt that America should be taken more seriously as an emerging power in its own right, and he was determined to gain that respect. When he became president, Monroe continued to be influenced by Jefferson and Madison. Britain, Spain and Russia proved particularly worrisome to him. Jefferson had cautioned him against entanglements with European powers—echoing Washington—but Monroe had some ideas of his own about diplomacy. Apparently, as early as March 1822, Monroe was disturbed by European expansion into Latin America (Ammon 476-481). He was already toying with the notion of an â€Å"American system† by that date, so it was not surprising that he went before Congress in December 1823 with the address that would come to be known as the â€Å"Monroe Doctrine†, but only after 1850. This policy, now so familiar to posterity, was only part of Monroe’s unique position in American history. He may be credited with being America’s first â€Å"national security president† (Hart 114). He had already fortified America’s northern border with Canada and taken other measures deemed appropriate for security purposes, so it was but a small leap for him to

Training Activity Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Training Activity - Coursework Example The general staff needs to be trained to follow the policies and procedures of the new company, Massive Computers. Each organization has a different culture and the new company’s culture and way of doing things must be communicated across to the employees so that they may adjust to the new environment and feel a part of the group. Of course, the new management needs to filter out candidates who they feel are not going to be part of the new regime. These employees can be made redundant based on age, qualifications, work experience with the company and a number of other criteria including, but not limited to, ability to adapt to surroundings. The remaining ones should then be notified of their job security so that they will be motivated and be willing to co-operate and be a part of the new training program. Whatever the management has planned for the long-term future of the company should be communicated to the employees so as to avoid ambiguity, apprehensiveness and make them f eel a part of the group. Short-term operational planning decisions should also be communicated here. Employees can be trained by their supervisors and should be fully trained and motivated for work, preferably in under a month. Program 2 – Middle Management The middle management should be given training regarding the tactical side of things and be communicated the medium term objectives so that they may be able to handle their subordinates.... They should also be trained to keep employees motivated and aligned with the organizational goals so as to ensure that nobody falls off-track. Middle-level managers can be provided training in areas which were previously not under their control but would now be under the new management. The training division, in collaboration with the local HR department should provide this training to the middle-management and the entire process should be concluded in a matter of two weeks. Program 3 – Senior Management The senior management should be provided training pertaining to the strategic aspects of conducting business. The surviving members of the old management should be brought up to date with the methods being used by their American colleagues. Empowerment techniques should also be taught so as to help these members of the senior management feel comfortable when delegating authority and learning to trust their subordinates. Since most of the senior management comprises of American s, they should be trained to learn aspects of the Australian culture that are relevant to conducting business here so as to better understand their employees and the working environment. This program should be conducted in an informal, off-the-job setting such as at a hotel suite, where the new and old members can get to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere and exchange ideas. The local executives can teach their American counterparts about the Australian culture whereas the Americans can teach the locals about how they want things to work and what direction they expect the company to be heading in. The duration of the meeting should be kept short and must be concluded in under one week at best. Training Evaluation Evaluation is a

Marketing Strategy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing Strategy - Research Paper Example The intelligent device is equipped with Police-grade Xtendâ„ ¢ Fuel Cell Sensor Technology to trace even the lowest possible amounts of alcohol, as low as 0.001% of Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and confirms to be a significant use for security systems. The device is smallest, lightest, and thinnest with the ability to share the results via text messages or publicly on a social network with minimum manual interference (SAMSUNG, â€Å"BACtrack Mobile Breathalyzer†). MARKETING STRATEGY OF SAMSUNG BREATHALYZER Target Customer/Segments. Market segmentation helps to identify the most potential customer range to be served (Kotler and Keller 177-180). In case of is the newly launched breathalyzer, Samsung has taken into account all the three factors of targeting customer group, which are demographic, psychographic and behavioral. Simultaneously, it should also opt for multi segment targeting, which will ensure focusing on two or more defined market segments. Samsung can target the s chool authorities, car owners and young generation people who are aware of their safety needs. To be precise, school authorities are today, observed to be always in need to prohibit the intake of alcohol in the school premises and discourage students to do so even in their personal lifestyles. The intelligent device can give the freedom to school owners. ... Correspondingly, as most of the people including the above mentioned three segments, have been increasingly observed to prefer buying things online, Samsung must keep eyes on online users and try to attract them with captivating offers (Kotler and Keller 177-180). Positioning. Positioning is in general, referred as the process of creating brand awareness in the minds of the consumers. This process also involves improving the customers’ perceptions about the product (Kotler and Keller 198-200). Considering the recently on-going brand conflicts affecting Samsung’s brand positioning in the global market to a large extent, as a trusted brand, Samsung should not go for aggressive promotional strategy to promote its breathalyzer (Reuters, â€Å"Samsung's aggressive advertising rarely achieves desired effect†). It should rather use the positioning strategies of product attributes, product categories and benefits. Product attributes highlights a specific attribute of the product (Kotler and Keller 223-224). Accordingly, in marketing its breathalyzer, Samsung can highlight its features as different from its substitutes adding value to customer needs, as it is able to be connected with the smartphones and thus, reflect more accurate information. Additionally, positioning strategies based on product categories emphasize comparison of the product with its available competitive brands and helps to differentiate the brand to obtain competitive advantages by luring a larger volume of customers (Kotler and Keller 223-225). Similarly, Samsung use its product categorization to claim the accuracy of the breathalyzer and trace even the lowest possible amount of alcohol present in the blood until the level of 0.001 %. Simultaneously, Samsung can

Access to E-Mail Essay Example for Free

Access to E-Mail Essay Traditionally, the standard of evaluation an administrative law judge might use when determining the importance of an error was the question of intent. If the person committing the error had no intent to cause harm, the additional evidence provided to the law enforcement agency would likely remain inadmissible, but there would be no penalties to either the provider of the information or the law enforcement agency receiving it. In fact, in not too ancient American history, the extra information would have been viewed as a bonus for the law enforcement agency and the discussion would have stopped there. However, in more recent cases, the court has placed a new set of restrictions and responsibilities on the law enforcement agency, possibly to the detriment of law enforcement. The best example of this new anti-law enforcement attitude is evidenced in Eric Lichtblau’s New York Times article â€Å"F. B. I. See more:  Capital budgeting essay Gained Unauthorized Access to E-Mail†. The article firmly places the blame for the mistake on the internet provider and yet expects the FBI to correct the mistake. â€Å"Marcia Hofmann, a lawyer for the privacy foundation, said the episode raised troubling questions about the technical and policy controls that the F. B. I. had in place to guard against civil liberties abuses. â€Å"How do we know what the F. B. I. does with all these documents when a problem like this comes up? † Ms. Hofmann asked. † (Lichtblau, 2008). The author likens the mistake to the FBI receiving a warrant to search one apartment and the landlord mistakenly giving them the keys to the whole building, but the problem with that analysis is that in this case, the FBI did not immediately know it had been given a master set of keys. Perhaps more appropriately would be to say that the FBI had permission to search a single book in the library and the librarian provided them with every book in the library. Somehow, privacy activists are claiming that the FBI must have a policy in place to prevent the mistake in the first place and clean it up when it does happen. Hofmann specifically questions how the FBI was disposing of the documents and there is a legitimate question there; however, the article misses the point and creates an administrative law nightmare for the bureau and subsequently for all law enforcement agencies. By implying that the FBI is somehow responsible for the manner in which other comply with search warrants, the newspaper article is promoting a significant shift in the administration of the law. Instead of simply asking law enforcement to be able to investigate crime and enforce that aspect of the law, we are asking them to act as administrators of the law as well. Though the title law enforcement does imply that they should be responsible for the administration of court orders including warrants, this new approach seems to blur the line between the court and the investigating agency, making it that much more difficult for the investigators to do their jobs. In the American tradition, with common law as its backing, law enforcement traditionally has served to enforce the compliance with administrative orders (like search warrants) only when the person responding to the warrant has refused to comply with the court’s orders. Now, with issues like the one discussed in this article, it appears that the focus may be changing and law enforcement may be charged with determining how well the respondent complies with the warrant as well. Though this initially will mean more work for the agency, as in this example, the FBI would need to ascertain that it received only the information in the search warrant, this could spell problems for civil rights down the road. If the law enforcement agency is now defining the degree of compliance with a search warrant, it is completely plausible that a future agency could demand more information than the warrant initially authorized and with the right judge, could justify whatever actions they took to get the information. The erosion of individual rights begins when we move away from judicial review of search warrant compliance and place it in the hands of law enforcement. Works Cited Lichtblau, Eric. â€Å"F. B. I. Gained Unauthorized Access to E-Mail†, New York Times, February 18, 2008. Available at: http://www. nytimes. com/2008/02/17/washington/17fisa. html? ex=1203829200en=58b05e0425027b1bei=5123partner=BREITBART, Accessed march 5, 2008.

My Assignment Essay Example for Free

My Assignment Essay According to Wikipedia, custom is defined by an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country. Other definition of custom is practice or rule of conduct established in a particular community, locality, or trade, by long usage and obligatory on those within its scope. A valid custom must be certain, reasonable, not contrary to statute law, and of immemorial antiquity. It is also called custom and usage. Malaysia which once known as Tanah Melayu has implemented the collection of tax since before the colonial era. The one responsible on that era to collect the tax known as Shahbandar and the one who become their chief is Penghulu Bendahari. Upon with the colonial era, Straits Settlement (Negeri-Negeri Selat) was formed. There were three straits in the Straits Settlement; Malacca, Penang and Temasik (Singapore). Each straits consist of Governor who has the authority to collect the tax. They were lead by General Council located at Calcutta which control by Board of Control of British East India Company. Even though the Straits Settlement has been formed, the previous tax used by Pembesar Melayu still used such as Tax Farming. With the formation of Federation of Malaya on 1948, Customs and Excise department also establish for the whole Malay Peninsula. The formation of the customs union Federation of Malaya 1948 was suggested by Sir Cecil Clementi. The suggestion was made on the Head of Rulers Conference which also known as Durbar on 1931 at Seri Menanti, Negeri Sembilan. According to Custom Ordinance 1952, those who involve with The Federal Council are responsible for issuing all regulations relating to customs matters. Upon reaching the independence days on August 1957 and the formation of Malaysia, the Customs and Excise department were restructured many times to make the regulation was tally with the developing Malaysia. In Malaysia, custom department was known as Royal Malaysian Custom. Each department or organization in government or private sector has its own mission and vision. The vision of Royal Malaysian Custom is to make Malaysian Customs services world class in 2015. Royal Malaysian Custom got three main missions. First and foremost is to drive economic growth. Second is protects national security and public welfare through revenue collection services. Third is facilitates the trade and industrial and ensuring adherence to the laws through efficient and effective means. The article state that the custom has increased and upgrade the scanner machine located at the country gate. They did this to ensure that their officer can increase the performance via high technology machine. The custom done this because of the increase of smuggling activity happen in our country. Recently, the smuggling activity has increased. As a normal citizen, I observe that this thing happen due to government has increase the price of some items without telling to the citizen. Thus, the normal citizen demand on the low price items has increased greater. Smuggler who wants to make the profit will use this opportunity to distribute their items. What is smuggle item? Smuggle item is an item which were brought into the country illegally and not paying the duty. Usually the item also did not follow the standard rate of a certain item. For example is smuggle phone. Are the phones either is safe to be used and has the safety warranty or any others. Another example is nicotine and tar ratio in a cigarette. Usually the ratio in the smuggle cigarette not following the standard that is state by the ministry of health. Proposal to Improve Custom 1. In my opinion, what custom has done was a great worked. This is because they will prevent smuggling from occur and prevent a person or company that trying to evade from paying tax and create an equal right among all importer. A research has been done by Richard James from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. According to the statistic that was done by him, our country was listed as the top country that smuggling cigarettes. James said that on year 2009, the percentage of cigarette smuggle is 37 percent and is expected to increase as the legal cigarette price was announced increase by the government. The smuggler today also has come with many creative and unimaginable methods to smuggle their goods. For example is what stated by www.harian –metro-online.com. There was a smuggler who dug a whole between a bunch of 15 piece of footwear. Thus, custom effort to upgrade the scanning machine was a great idea to prevent from a new way of smuggling that the smuggler keeps improving it. All of this activity happen due to what is stated before, that is due to government has increase the price towards several item. To prevent this from occurring again, I think government should decide properly before making decision on increasing the price of items. For example, the price of the smoke was increased because the government think that by increasing the smoke price, a smoker citizen will decrease thus create a healthy citizen. But what is expected by the government was wrong. A heavy smoker made the smoke as their habit. Even there is a slogan made by them. The slogan is â€Å"smoke is like their second life† or â€Å"we cannot live without smoke†. Thus, to continue their habit, they intend to find a smoke which has lower price. The lower price smoke is surely the smuggle smoke. And the smuggle smoke contain higher nicotine and tar which did not follow the ratio of both ingredient that is allowed by the ministry of health under the poison act 1952 and food act 1983 control of tobacco product (amendment) regulation 2008. This indicates that smuggle smoke is more dangerous compare to prohibited smoke. 2. One of custom general objective is to prevent loss of revenue. As we all know the tax collected by the custom is one the country revenue. The revenue will be used to develop the country. It also gives benefit to the citizen if the country developed well. Thus, by more smuggling activity occurs, it causes lot of country revenue loss. It is equal to a hard for the government to develop the country. To prevent or reducing the activity, Malaysian Custom can implement what has been done by the Singapore Customs (SC). SC has made â€Å"joint media released by Singapore Customs (SC) and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA)†. On these joint, the SC manage to arrested many smuggling attempt. One of the attempts is happen on 11 April 2009 at Tuas Checkpoint. The smuggler foiled a smuggling attempt using bricks to conceal illegal cigarettes. They done the operation as soon as they receive the information that there will be Malaysia-registered prime mover would be smuggling duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore. As the first line of defence towards the smuggling activity on Singapore region, ICA has intercepted the vehicle that is believed to be the smuggler. As the result, they found a total of 20,970 packets of cigarettes hidden beneath the floorboard of the centre column of the trailer. Officers had to drill and pry open the centre column of the trailer’s floorboard to expose the smuggled cigarettes. All the content in the vehicle was seized and the driver was arrested and punished using the Singapore Law. On the contrary, Malaysia first line of defence from smuggling activity is the custom itself. Thus, the custom can create a division for the immigration and check point authority to make the work flow more ease and efficient. They also must act fast as soon as they received the information. The custom must execute the law strictly. They must tighten up the security checks on the cargo or vehicles to prevent attempts to smuggle things. This is to prevent the loss of country revenue which helps the country to develop. Besides, custom side must aware with new techniques used by smuggler to smuggle things as they somehow will try to find a new way to smuggle their things. 3. As addition, I think the custom also can send their officer regularly to make exercise on checking cargo or goods pass the custom. This will ensure that they can do a full check on the cargo or goods fast and efficient without wasting time. This also can increase the quality of the custom and make the other country respect our custom. Besides, the custom also must select their officer carefully so that there will be no bribe case happen during the process of checking and pass the custom. This is to ensure that our custom not look down by the smuggler and other country custom.

Impact of FDI Flows Outflow on the Indian Economy

Impact of FDI Flows Outflow on the Indian Economy Abstract This paper discusses the trends in Indias outward FDI over the last decade and attempts to identify the factors for the same. The main aim is to help policy makers with insights regarding levers which will help in improving FDI outflows and to stimulate further research in foreign investment from emerging economies. 287 conditions of investment from India by Indian companies in 17 sectors have been taken for the analysis. The paper elaborates on the concept of studying the impact of ownership, location and internalization variables on Indias foreign investment. An analysis of sector wise of entry strategy, reason of entry and geographical analysis has been performed. Overall, it has been found that acquisitions was the major way of entry for Indian firms who are investing abroad and seeking new markets. The paper also describes the policy changes which had impacted FDI flow from India and the relation of outward FDI with macro-economic indicators like Fischer Open Differential and GD P. Objective of the study We would like to study outward FDI flows from the emerging economies, specifically to the Indian context. An analysis of FDI flows from different sectors of the Indian Economy will be done To see what is the intent of investment, the mode of entry, and the macroeconomic factors that affect FDI flow. To find out the impact of the Fischer Open Differential due to the FDI flow. Introduction The first overseas Indian venture was a textile mill set up in Ethiopia in 1959 by the Birla Group of companies, Indias second largest business conglomerate at the time (kudaisya 2003). The following year, the Birla Group set up an engineering unit in Kenya. Sustained growth in Indian overseas investment could be seen starting around the late 1970s when the industrial licensing system became much more stringent as part of the governments move to control big businesses. By 1983, there were 140 foreign investment projects in operation and another 88 in various stages of implementation (lall 1986). The total number of approved projects had reached 229 by 1990 (kumar 2007). Most of the foreign affiliates set up during this period were small- or medium-scale ventures; total approved equity during the period 1975-1990/1991 amounted to only $220 million. The second wave of internationalization of Indian firms began from about 1995 and gathered momentum as foreign exchange restrictions on ca pital transfers for overseas acquisitions liberalized in successive stages from 2000 (nagaraj 2006). There was a surge in outward investment from 2005. The number of approved projects increased from 220 in 1990/1991 to 395 in 1999/2000 and to 1,595 in 2007/2008 (kumar 2008). Total FDI outflow from India increased from about $25 million in the early 1990s to nearly $14 billion in 2007. Indias share in total developing economy FDI outflows remained below 0.5 percent throughout the 1990s, but increased continuously since, reaching nearly 6.0% in 2007 (see table 1 and Figure 1). India remains a net FDI recipient, even though the gap between outflows and inflows has been sharply narrowing over the past few years. In 1990, annual outflows, on average, amounted to 7 percent of inflows. This increased from about 30 percent to 60 percent between 2000-2005 and 2005-2007. The data in table 1 help in understanding Indias relative position in the world as a source country of FDI. In the early 1990s, Indias share in FDI outflows from developing economies was the lowest compared to the four large emerging market economies used as comparators (Brazil, Peoples Republic of china [PRC], Mexico, and South Africa). Over the ensuing years, Indias share has grown faster than those of the comparators. In 2004-2005, it surpassed that of South Africa and in 2006-2007, it surpassed that of Mexico. The share of FDI outflows in gross domestic capital formation (GDCF) in India has likewise increased much faster than the other four economies and the average for all developing economies during the period 1994-2007. Figure 2 compares the outward FDI from the PRC and India in terms of the percentage contribution to total developing economy outward FDI and relative to GDCF in each economy. During 2006-2007, on average, the PRC accounted for 7.3 percent of the total outward FDI from developing countries compared to 3.2 percent for India, although the gap has been narrowing over the years. By contrast, relative to GDCF, outward FDI from India on average is larger compared to that from the PRC. The difference widened sharply following the significant liberalization of the outward FDI regime in India during 2004-2005. During 2005-2006, the contribution of outward FDI to GDCF in India (4.4 percent) was more than twice as large as that of the PRC (1.7 percent). Theories of FDI flows The paper on FDI outflows by John Dunning in which he explains the same through the OLI (Ownership, Location and Internalization) framework. DUNNINGS Concept OWNERSHIP An MNC faces several disadvantages them moment they entrench the domestic firm when it enters a external market different from its country of origin. However, a firm chooses to enter a foreign market if it has advantages which outweigh the disadvantages outlined above. These include access to natural resources, intellectual property, strong domestic / global brand which become a competitive advantage for the companies. LOCATION The location specific concept involves the attractiveness of the foreign market as a destination for entry by a firm. There are 3 ways how a foreign market can differentiate itself- 1. Economic Size of the foreign market, market concentration, growth rate, availability of talent, infrastructure, competitive cost structures etc. 2. Political These include the political risk of the country, the judicial mechanisms and their transparency, ease of doing business, labour laws etc. 3. Social These include similarities of culture, ways of doing business, social structure between the country of origin of the firm and the foreign country etc. INTERNALIZATION A firm has to choose between various entries modes into foreign markets starting from marketing alliances, licensing and greenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ field ventures and to full blown acquisitions. The decisions are made keeping in view the tradeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ off of transaction costs versus internalization costs. In poorly operating markets firms prefer to avoid high costs of external transactions. The intensity of the regulation of the foreign market is another parameter which determines the internalization decision. HYMERS THEORY Hymers theory explains that MNEs are elements of market imperfections. There are two causes for imperfections removal of competition and monopolistic powers. Hymer states that investment made abroad gives them the ability to use its worldwide operations to separate markets and reduce competition. MNEs control assets to minimize risks and increase their monopolistic power by creating entry barriers. Hymers analysis is based on structural imperfections which are caused by large scale economies, having knowledge, wide distribution networks, product diversification and credit advantages ALIBERS MODEL Alibers theory says that MNCs invest in foreign assets as the MNCs have the ability to hold assets in different currencies and thus take advantage of structural and transactional imperfections in foreign exchange markets. He also outlines that the firm will face the same operational problems abroad as in the domestic market and that is not a decision making criterion for firms. VERNERS THEORY Vernons location theory says that a MNEs often acquire low cost resources than that of nations company as the cost to a MNE is just the marginal cost to the system This helps the NEs acquire factor inputs and resources at a cost prevailing in the home country while MNEs acquire them at the best price worldwide having lower labor and input costs. This difference between national cost and marginal cost will be a key driver of FDI worldwide. Literature Review We have come across various articles and research papers related to our topic: The papers explore the uneven beginnings of FDI in India and examine the developments (economic and political) relating to the trends in two sectors: Industry and Infrastructure and sub sector Telecom. The papers laid the relation between institutions in emerging markets and the entry strategies chosen by foreign direct investors. The merits of alternative strategies from investors perspective as well as the impact on the host country were investigated. For this purpose FDI strategies were investigated and were compared with four important emerging markets India, Egypt, South Africa and Vietnam. The papers also enlightened the sector wise FDI inflows in India and the reasons for industrial sectors attracting the highest FDI inflows. The best part of the analysis was in its specific focus on the implications of changes in trade and investment policy regimes and the overall investment climate for internationalization of domestic companies and the nature of their global operations. The findings cast doubt on the popular perception of the recent surge in outward foreign direct investment from India as an unmixed economic blessing, given the remaining distortion in the domestic investment climate. Foreign Direct Investment in India: A Critical Analysis of FDI from 1995-2005 by Kulwindar Singh (Center for Civil Society, New Delhi Research Internship Programme, 2005) Survey of FDI in India by Sumon K. Bhaumik (London Business School, 2003). Foreign Direct Investment Inflows in India- Opportunities and Benefits by Syed Khaja Safiuddin (Assistant Professor, Department of Management and Commerce, 2010) Outward Foreign Direct Investment from India by Prema- Chandra Athukorala (Asian Development Bank, 2009) Scope of the study The scope of the study was restricted to analyzing the dependence of foreign investment on ownership variables only .The scope of the study was further restricted owing to the lack of availability of data on foreign investment by Indian firms. There was, 287 data of foreign investment from India were collected. The data spans across 17 sectors as will be discussed later. The lack of data posed several restrictions on the scope of the study such as: It was not possible to do trend analysis for foreign investment from India The data was available for only 99 records. The size of the investment could be found for 65 records. Indias Outbound Data: Trends and Empirical Data A majority FDI outflows has been for quest for raw materials as India is a raw material scarce country. For instance, Tata Steel was more into securing coal assets in Indonesia with better quality coal which was not available in the country where private players are not allowed and there was too much of regulation. The Pharmaceutical sector has gone on an acquisition spree mainly for IP and access to markets including distribution networks. In recent times Indias FDI have been in acquisitions in the IT and IT services sectors. Indian enterprises have developed expertise and capabilities in IT services which they leverage and enter global markets. This gives them the opportunity to find newer clients at lower costs as a consequence of a booming local stock market and low P/Es in economies abroad. For example HCL Technologies acquired Axon for 440 million pounds. Indias FDI flows in recent times has been to acquire crude oil assets in a bid to secure the energy needs of the country through ONGC Videsh Ltd. Figure I: FDI outflows are expected to double over the next 5 years with a CAGR of 16.7% Source: EIU Country Data    Actual Figures Projected Figures Values Row Labels Sum of Inward FDI Sum of Outward FDI 1996 2125 119 1997 2525 240 1998 3619 113 1999 2633 47 2000 2168 80 2001 3585 509 2002 5472 1397 2003 5627 1669 2004 4323 1879 2005 5771 2179 2006 7606 2978 2007 19622 12842 2008 22950 13649 Grand Total 88026 37701 Indias FDI Inflows and Outflows (US $ Millions) Source: UNCTAD 2008 Figure II: Graph showing the FDI outflow in the next 5 years. Research Methodology A large number of data on the FDI outflows have been gathered (about 300) using press releases from the firms websites and annual reports, news articles and clippings, databases such as Thompson Reuters and Capitaline, industry forums and various other sources. The variables of ownership, location and internalization were further elaborated in detail later. These have been filtered by virtue of their sales, with those having sales greater than 100 crores making it to the final list of firms. This data has been gathered from Center for Monitoring of Indian Economy (CMIE). For this study, number of sectors was limited to 17 as shown in Table I below. Number of instances IT 36 Pharmaceuticals 37 Auto Components 20 Construction 32 Telecom 28 Petroleum Products 7 Oil Gas Mining 24 Steel 20 Dyes 4 Paints 3 Machinery/Capital Goods 14 Non Ferrous Metals 2 Auto 30 Cosmetics, toiletries, etc. 8 Tyres Tubes 6 Diversified 1 Food Products 15 TOTAL 287 Table I: Total foreign investment by each sector We have restricted the research to determining the impact of ownership variables on FDI outflows from India. Two types of research were qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research includes the trend of FDI flows, which has been shown through different modes of entry and further was analyzed for specific trends within sectors. This shows why different sectors use different routes for entering into foreign markets for example, pharmaceutical companies enter through alliances while manufacturing firms go for acquisitions and IT firms go for both routes depending on the objectives. For quantitative analysis, this is done in the broad section of determining whether there is an outward flow of foreign direct investment from India. Another analysis has been done on the lifecycle of the firm. The mode of entry might also depend on the risk taking ability of the management. The research objectives were translated into the following questions, which were then tested using statistical analysis: Q1: Whether FDI is the preferred mode of entry for foreign investment by Indian companies? Q2: Whether the intent of foreign investment by Indian companies is market seeking, product, brand or resource seeking or technology seeking? Q3: Whether foreign investment by Indian companies is more towards less income countries as well as in certain cases where FDI by Indian companies is attributed towards certain geographical aspect? Q 4: Whether FDI is related to other macroeconomic indicators such as GDP (non agricultural)? Q 1: MODE OF ENTRY In total 287 instances of FDI outflow was classified into the following categories: Greenfield: It refers to the opening up of a new branch, office or setting up of a new wholly owned subsidiary in the target country Alliance: Alliances are arrangements such as Memorandum of Understanding signed with the universities for technological research Joint Venture Expansion: This refers to the instance which is related to the expansion of its existing operations such as opening up of a new office. Acquisition: Acquisition if the Indian company refers to acquiring a majority stake in the equity of the foreign company or acquiring assets of a foreign company or acquired. Minority Stake Here we can see that, the main entry mode for India firms has been acquisitions accounting for 33.80% of the total Indian outward investment from the instances studied. This is closely followed by joint ventures, Greenfield operations and expansion for 19.86%, 17.07% and 16.03% respectively. Table II presents a detailed sectoral picture of the instances based on the way of entry. Figure III: Indias outward direct investment based on mode of entry Table  II:  Sectoral break up of foreign investment depending on the mode of entry Due to limited amount of data, a sector wise analysis to identify trends within each sector in the case of the mode of entry could not be done. However, based on the data available following trends (see Table 3) were discovered: Acquisitions were the most common modes of foreign investment in case of automobile components, pharmaceuticals, capital goods, cosmetics food products and tyres tubes. Greenfield investments are selected mode of investment in case of IT, Petroleum Products and Oil Gas Mining. Joint ventures accounting for around 60.71% of the entire foreign investment of telecom companies Construction companies resorted to expansion of existing foreign operations Sectors most likely show foreign direct investment include auto auto components, fast moving consumer goods, technology based companies such as pharmaceuticals, IT, and capital goods. Table  III:  Sectoral distribution of mode of entry Q 2: INTENT OF INVESTMENT The main reason for investing abroad was identified as follows: Market Seeking: This is driven by gaining access to local or regional market which would help prevent some operational costs eg: distribution cost. Technology or Brand Seeking: Companies also invest in order to gain access to new technology or acquisition of some brands or products. Resource Seeking: This is driven by gaining access to natural resources. In each of the 287 instances of investment was evaluated based on available information. In certain cases, investment was found out to have multiple characteristics or intents. For instance, a foreign investment could be made to both get access to a new market as well as to a new technology. Same weight age was given to each of the elements: therefore, in this case both market seeking and technology seeking will get a score of 0.5. The results, are given below Table  IV:  Foreign investment based on investment Figure 4 below summarizes the intent of entry for the instances studied. It can be seen, the foreign investments made by Indian companies have been mainly market seeking. Over 52% of the total investments made abroad were for market seeking while 32% of the investments are made to seek new technologies, brands or products. Resource seeking investments form only 16% of the total investments made by Indian companies as a whole. Figure IV: Foreign investment based on investment A sector wise analysis of the foreign investment offers more insights as follows (see Table 5): Market seeking foreign investment is the driving force in case of IT, pharmaceuticals, auto components, construction, telecom, and tyres tubes. Technology or brand or new product seeking kind of foreign investment intent is predominant in case of capital goods, auto and toiletries and food products. As expected, oil and gas mining, petroleum products and non ferrous metals exhibit resource seeking as their predominant intent of foreign investment. Table V: Sectoral distribution for investment Q 3: TARGET COUNTRY The target countries of investment were classified based on two parameters: Income Continent INCOME OF COUNTRY Based on income, the target countries were classified into three categories (based on United Nations Human Development Report 2007à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 08): High Income: The high income countries are those with GNI per capita of USD 10,726 or more in 2005. Middle Income: These are countries with GNI per capita of USD 876 to USD 10,275 in 2005 Low Income: These are countries with GNI per capita of USD 875 or less in 2005 Based on the above classification; India is categorized as a low income country. The target country of the 287 conditions of foreign investment was determined. The data is as shown in Table VI. The overall results are also summarized in Figure V. Table VI: Investment based on country Figure V: Foreign Investment based on income Figure V show that most of the foreign investment from India has been to countries with high income. As seen in Table VI, high income countries account for 61.32% of the total foreign investment from India. Table VII helps us analyze the sector wise trends in terms of target country of investment. The following inferences can be drawn based on the data available: The IT, pharmaceuticals, auto auto components, toiletries food products, capital goods and construction sector had most of the foreign investment is made to high income countries include. The sectors where majority of the investment has been made to middle income countries include oil gas mining. Petroleum products have invested mainly in low income countries For metals (ferrous nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ferrous) sectors, the investment has been equally distributed between high income countries on one side and middle low income countries on the other. Table VII: Table showing foreign investment based on the countrys income TARGET COUNTRY CONTINENT A geographical analysis of the collated data was also done. The target countries were identified into 6 major geographies as follows: North America South America Asia Europe Middle East Africa Table VIII and Figure VI summarize the inferences drawn from this data. In certain instances, the target country could not be singularly identified for instance if a JV is formed among three countries. As a result, the total no of instances is 290 instead of 287 (See Table VII) Table VIII: Foreign investment based on geography Figure VI shows that Europe and Asia together account for about 54.48% of the instances of foreign investment, while North America accounts for another 20.69%. Figure VI: Foreign investment based on geography Table IX shows the sector wise percentage distribution of geography of investment. From the table it is apparent that: Sectors like non ferrous metals, IT, cosmetics toiletries and pharmaceuticals have major investments in North America. South American investments largely have oil gas mining In Asia, paints, metals (steel and nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ferrous metals), telecom and tyres tubes predominant sectors from India Europe is a preferred destination for companies in sectors such as capital goods, auto and auto components Construction companies target their foreign investment in Middle East. Foreign investment from Indian companies in petroleum products occurs in Africa Table IX: Sectoral distribution of foreign investment depending upon geography Q4: CORRELATION WITH OTHER MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS Indias outward FDI was correlated against Indias non agricultural GDP and portfolio investments out of India to assess the impact of growth in the economy on Indias outward FDI. Indias outward FDI and Non agricultural GDP The results are summarized in the table below. From the correlation results, it can be concluded that Indias outward FDI has a positive relation with the Indias non agricultural GDP. However, the negative coefficient in the equation implies that FDI out of India starts only after a certain threshold of INR 3, 59, 468 crores is crossed. Table X: Indias outward FDI vs. GDP (Non-Agricultural) IMPACT OF POLICY CHANGE Changes in the regulation policies in India have also been a major contributor to the observed increase in investment outflow from India, especially the year 2000 onwards. Some of the key policy changes which have impacted investment outflow from India are: Reserve Bank of India Notification No. FEMA.40/2001 ­RB; 2 March 2001 Overseas investments are allowed to be funded up to 100% by American The three years profitability condition requirement has been removed for Indian companies making overseas investments under the automatic route Overseas investments are opened to registered partnership firms and companies that provide professional services. The minimum net worth of Rs. 150 million for Indian companies engaged in financial sector activities in India has been removed for investment abroad in financial sector Depository Receipt/General Depository Receipt proceeds; up from the previous ceiling of 50%. Reserve Bank of India Notification No. FEMA.49/2002 ­RB; 19 January 2002 Indian companies in Special Economic Zones can freely make overseas investment up to any amount without the restriction of the $100 million ceiling under the automatic route, provided the funding is done out of the Exchange Earners Foreign Currency Account balances Reserve Bank of India Notification No. FEMA.53/2002 ­RB; 1 March 2002 and FEMA.79/2002 ­RB;10 December 2002 The annual limit on overseas investment has been raised to $100 million (up from $50 million) and the limit for direct investments in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries (excluding Pakistan) and Myanmar has been raised to $150 million (up from $75 million); for Rupee investments in Nepal and Bhutan the limit has been raised to Rs. 700 crores (up from Rs. 350 crores) under the automatic route Reserve Bank of India Notification No. FEMA.49/2002 ­RB; 2 March 2001 An Indian party which has exhausted the limit of $100 million in a year may apply to the Reserve Bank of India for a block allocation of foreign exchange subject to such terms and conditions as may be necessary Reserve Bank of India Notification No. 83/RB 2003; 1 March 2003 Indian companies can make overseas investments by market purchases of foreign exchange without prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India up to 100% of their net worth; up from the previous limit of 50% An Indian company with a proven trackà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ record is allowed to invest up to 100% of its net worth within the overall limit of $100 million by way of market purchases for investment in a foreign entity engaged in any bona fide business activity starting fiscal year 2003à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 2004. The provision restricting overseas investments in the same activity as its core activity at home of the Indian company are removed. Listed Indian companies, residents and mutual funds are permitted to invest abroad in companies listed on a recognized stock exchange and in company which has the shareholding of at least 10% in an Indian company listed on a recognized stock exchange in India. Changes brought about in fiscal year 2003 ­2004 Indian firms are allowed to undertake agricultural activities, which was previously restricted, either directly or through an overseas branch Investments in joint venture or whollyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ owned subsidiary abroad by way of share swap are permitted under the automatic route; In January 2004, the Reserve Bank of India further relaxed the monetary ceiling on Indian companies investment abroad. With effect from fiscal year 2003-2004, Indian companies can invest up to 100% of their net worth without any separate monetary ceiling even if the investment exceeds the $100 million ceiling previously imposed. Furthermore, Indian companies can now invest or make acquisitions abroad in areas unrelated to their business at home. In 2005, banks were permitted to lend money to Indian companies for acquisition of equity in overseas joint ventures, wholly owned subsidiaries or in other overseas companies as strategic investment. In 2006, the automatic route of disinvestments was further liberalized. Indian companies are now permitted to disinvest without prior approval of the RBI in select categories. To encourage large and important exporters, proprietary/unregistered partnership firms have been allowed to set up a JV/WOS outside Indian with the prior approval of RBI. In 2007, the ceiling of investment by Indian entities was revised from 100 per cent of the net worth to 200 per cent of the net worth of the investing company under the automatic route of overseas investment. The limit of 200 per cent of the net worth of the Indian party was enhanced to 300 per cent of the net worth in June 2007 under automatic route (200 per cent in case of revisited partnership firms). In September 2007, this was further enhanced to 400 per cent of the net worth of the Indian party. The Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) for Resident individuals was further liberalized by enhancing the existing limit of US$ 100.00 per financial year to US$ 200.00 per financial year (Aprilà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ March) in September 2007. The limit of portfolio investment by listed Indian companies in the equity of listed foreign companies was raised in September 2007 from 35 per cent to 50 per cent of the net worth of the investing company as on the date of its last audited balance sheet. Furthermore, the requirement of reciprocal 10 per cent shareholding in Indian companies has been dispensed with. The aggregate ceiling for overseas investment by mutual funds, registered with SEBI, was enhanced from US$ 4 billion to US$ 5 billion in September 2007. This was further raised to US$ 7 billion in April 2008. The existing facility to allow a limited number of qualified Indian mutual funds to invest cumulatively up to US$ 1 billion in overseas Exchange Traded Funds, as may be permitted by the SEBI would continue. The investments would be subject to the terms and conditions and operational guidelines as issued by SEBI. Registered Trusts and Societies engaged in manufacturing/educational sector have been allowed in June 2008 to make investment in the same sector(s) in a Joint Venture or Wholly Owned Subsidiary outside India, with the prior approval of the Reserve Bank. Registered Trusts and Societies which have set up hospital(s) in India have been allowed in August 2008 to make investment in the same sector(s) in a JV/WOS outside India, with the prior approval of the Reserve Bank. As can been seen from the above chart, the outward FDI in India really picked up after Q1 2006. CONCLUSIONS The major mode of entry for India firms in the last 5 years has been acquisitions which are around 33.80% of the total Indian outward investment from the instances studied; this is closely followed by joint ventures. This shows that Indian firms have the confidence to venture abroad and maintain operational control of the acquired company Most foreign investments made by Indian companies have been market seeking. Over 50% of the total investments made abroad are for market seeking while 33.78% of the investments are into seeking new technologies, brands or products. This is seen mainly towards the service sector showing that the required competencies are being built at home while small forei

american Essay -- essays research papers

The 21st Century American The traits of the typical American have changed drastically throughout the years. Americans have become different in many ways from when they officially became independent in 1776 to the present time in 2001. America is strong, powerful, and influential. Americans exemplify positive values, selflessness, hospitality, and the American way of life. Our values often differ from values of other countries due to cultural contrasts such as with religious, racial, and education issues. We give much more freedom than many other countries do to those of different races and religions. Also, we hold education in a much higher regard than other countries. It is these differences that sometimes make our country seem more appealing to those of foreign lands. Our common American values bind us together as one unit. Americans are often stereotyped as living a fast paced working environment in which they eat fast food and drive fast cars. Some of the aspects of American culture which are typical are: pizza, jeans, sunglasses, baseball hats, name brand clothing, tattoos, cellular phones, bagels, and bottled water. The Popular culture that has developed in America has had a major influence on cultures in countries all over the world. Cell phones have become popular in Europe; name brand clothing has taken off in Asia, and McDonald’s restaurants exist all over the globe. While the American can be looked at as a singular stereotypical entity, it is important to realize the many differences that exist between Americans living in different regions of the country. When people who have lived in America all their lives travel to a different part of the country, they are often just as amazed at the differences in culture as people are who come to America from foreign countries. For Instance, a woman who is a New England native that travels south to North Carolina for the first time will be shocked at the cultural differences she encounters. The New Englander will discover that the natives of North Carolina speak different, eat differently, and even act differently. She discovers what is referred to as ‘Southern hospitality’ when she interacts with people who exhibit a sense of kindness and manners far beyond that of which she is accustomed. On the menu at restaurants she will see items she is unfamiliar with, such as: grits, pigs feet, cheesy w esterns, an... ... his luggage he has a conversation with a man who introduces himself and for some strange reason takes his hand and shakes it. When faced with the decision of what to eat he finds it difficult to decide because of the many different types of restaurants in America. He has trouble deciding whether to eat at a fast food place, southern restaurant, western restaurant, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Indian, or French cuisine. After making his decision he is again amazed that rice is nowhere to be found on the menu. Despite the differences in culture between America and China he realizes he is in a great nation that is full of opportunity. America is a just and free nation. Its greatness is admired by the entire world. Many immigrants come to America to find a better life and for others it is merely a dream. Those who do become citizens are welcomed into the greatest most powerful nation in the world. American is made up of a cornucopia of cultures from around the world. The fact that Americans from different regions are different does not obscure our identity as a nation. Instead, these differences are what unite us as one nation, under God, Indivisible, for liberty, and justice for all. american Essay -- essays research papers The 21st Century American The traits of the typical American have changed drastically throughout the years. Americans have become different in many ways from when they officially became independent in 1776 to the present time in 2001. America is strong, powerful, and influential. Americans exemplify positive values, selflessness, hospitality, and the American way of life. Our values often differ from values of other countries due to cultural contrasts such as with religious, racial, and education issues. We give much more freedom than many other countries do to those of different races and religions. Also, we hold education in a much higher regard than other countries. It is these differences that sometimes make our country seem more appealing to those of foreign lands. Our common American values bind us together as one unit. Americans are often stereotyped as living a fast paced working environment in which they eat fast food and drive fast cars. Some of the aspects of American culture which are typical are: pizza, jeans, sunglasses, baseball hats, name brand clothing, tattoos, cellular phones, bagels, and bottled water. The Popular culture that has developed in America has had a major influence on cultures in countries all over the world. Cell phones have become popular in Europe; name brand clothing has taken off in Asia, and McDonald’s restaurants exist all over the globe. While the American can be looked at as a singular stereotypical entity, it is important to realize the many differences that exist between Americans living in different regions of the country. When people who have lived in America all their lives travel to a different part of the country, they are often just as amazed at the differences in culture as people are who come to America from foreign countries. For Instance, a woman who is a New England native that travels south to North Carolina for the first time will be shocked at the cultural differences she encounters. The New Englander will discover that the natives of North Carolina speak different, eat differently, and even act differently. She discovers what is referred to as ‘Southern hospitality’ when she interacts with people who exhibit a sense of kindness and manners far beyond that of which she is accustomed. On the menu at restaurants she will see items she is unfamiliar with, such as: grits, pigs feet, cheesy w esterns, an... ... his luggage he has a conversation with a man who introduces himself and for some strange reason takes his hand and shakes it. When faced with the decision of what to eat he finds it difficult to decide because of the many different types of restaurants in America. He has trouble deciding whether to eat at a fast food place, southern restaurant, western restaurant, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Indian, or French cuisine. After making his decision he is again amazed that rice is nowhere to be found on the menu. Despite the differences in culture between America and China he realizes he is in a great nation that is full of opportunity. America is a just and free nation. Its greatness is admired by the entire world. Many immigrants come to America to find a better life and for others it is merely a dream. Those who do become citizens are welcomed into the greatest most powerful nation in the world. American is made up of a cornucopia of cultures from around the world. The fact that Americans from different regions are different does not obscure our identity as a nation. Instead, these differences are what unite us as one nation, under God, Indivisible, for liberty, and justice for all.

aristotle :: essays research papers

Analytical Paper #3: Book 7, Ch. 4 Aristotle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this chapter it is Aristotle’s goal to explain the ideal size of a city-state, and the proper multitude of people to inhabit that city-state. Aristotle argues â€Å"most people suppose that a happy city-state must be a great one† (line 7). This thought is wrong, he concludes, claiming that it is not the number of inhabitants that makes a city-state great, but its â€Å"ability†. â€Å"For a city-state has a task to perform, so that the city-state that is best able to complete it is the one that should be considered greatest† (line 13).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aristotle’s second claim is that in order to have an ideal city-state, one must have the ideal inhabitants within that city-state. Typically, in large city-states a great number of the inhabitants are â€Å"slaves, resident aliens, and foreigners†, this makes for a densely populated city-state. The great city-states are the ones who have the most people that are â€Å"a part of it†. Meaning a city-state in which a majority of its inhabitants are involved in the daily activities and governing of the city-state.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Aristotle continues by stating â€Å"from the facts at least it is difficult, perhaps impossible, for an overly populated city-state to be well governed† (line 25). He argues that law is a kind of â€Å"organization†, and thus for a government to be a good government it must be well organized. Trying to organize a large city-state is impossible, it is a task for a divine power, therefore, a city-states population must be restricted. â€Å"The size of a city-state, like everything else, has a certain scale: animals, plants and tools. For when each of them is neither too small nor too excessively large, it will have its own proper capacity† (line 35). Aristotle then relates it to a ship. One that is too small is not a formidable ship. Yet one that is too large is also not worthy of being called a ship. The ship will sail badly if it is too small or too large, and so it is with city-states, one that has too few people is not self-sufficient, yet, one that consists of too many, is not ideal, because it is too hard to govern.

Comparing Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Song of Roland Essay

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Song of Roland In mythological Europe, knightly heroes abounded whereever one could choose to roam. There are hundreds of tales of knights who embodied the concept of chivalry, slew huge dragons, slew legions of foes in single combat, and still made it home in time for dinner. Of all these tales, ballads and poems, a few have risen to the fore front of the genre as an example for the rest of the stories to follow. I will be comparing the positive and negative personality traits of two heroes from the famous poems "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "The Song of Roland." On the lighter side, both Gawain and Roland had more positive attributes than they did negative. Both men were honorable, almost to a fault. For example in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" Gawain agreed to be on time for his own execution: "Nor I know you not, knight, your name nor your court. But tell me truly thereof, and teach me your name, and I shall fare forth to find you, so far as I may, and this I say in good certain, and swear upon oath." (G&GK, pt.1, ln. 400-403) Gawain's agreement might have been honorable, but it doesn't strike me ... ...ght when it came to politics, apparently. All of these attributes might be considered undesirable in a knight. Though the characteristics of honor, fearlessness, and poor people skills might seem to be perfect for a knight, a perfect hero just doesn't seem realistic to a listener or a reader with out some sort of a vice or flaw. It makes them seem closer and more human to who the reader. This is important to a good story, simply because if a hero is totally unbelievable the ballad becomes more of a tall tale or a story to be laughed at. And while it might be fun to laugh at a "B" ballad every once in awhile, it just doesn't compare to a good action plot line. As a result, Gawain and Roland each flaws. Roland's just happens to be terminal.

Jews and Christians Essay

Islam is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. It is the second-largest religion in the world today, with an estimated 1. 4 billion adherents, known as Muslims. Islam is considered one of the second largest religions in Europe today especially in France and the United Kingdom. In regions like the Middle East, North Africa, south and central Asia, Islam is the dominant religion. The core belief of Muslims is that God revealed himself to all mankind through his Prophet Muhammad, and he gave his holy book, the Qur’an which embodies the message, teachings and traditions of the Sunnah which is considered as the basic sources of Islam. The Prophet Muhammad is regarded by Muslims as the true and final prophet of God. Islam, like Judaism and Christianity is also an Abrahamic religion. Muslims belief that God revealed his final message to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel, and that message is the truth of salvation and shall hold true until the day a of resurrection, that the holy Qur’an is the infallible word of God and has the seal of the prophets. Muslims belief that the core message of Islam, which is the worship of one God, is the same message preached by the all messengers that God has sent before Muhammad. Muslims also belief that the coming of Muhammad was the cache in God’s revelation of himself to mankind, the end of all the messages of one God which has been preached since the time of Adam. Muslims see their religion as the original and the final message of God to mankind, and see Christianity and Judaism as a distortion of the original revelation of God to Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. There are several similarities that run through these three religions. Geographically, they all seem to have their origins in the Middle East. They all lay claim to the most prominent religious figures the world has ever known i. e. .Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, as their forebears. The Qur’an even acknowledges Jesus Christ as a major prophet who walked the face of this earth and had a distinct knowledge of God. Islam acknowledges the practitioners of Christianity and Judaism as the people of the letter, which is to say that they are people who have received divine scriptures. All these not withstanding, Muslims believe that the final and truthful revelation of God and the right way of worship came through the holy prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe that Islam is the right way of worship, of seeking God and of attaining salvation and therefore they must seek to win more peoples unto the Allah. Like the Jews, who saw a non Israelite as a gentile, any one other non-Muslim is an infidel. They also belief that Allah appreciates it very much when you die a violent death defending the faith of Islam and that automatically grants you grace favor and salvation before the lord, Infact, you go straight to heaven which is the ultimate reward of serving God here on earth just as Christians believe. In conclusion, Islam sees itself as superior to Christianity and Judaism because they believe it’s the total revelation of God of himself unto mankind.

Analysis of a Hearing Loss

SHS 150 November 26, 2012 Analysis of Experiences/Expressions of Hearing Loss About 37 million people, in America, are affected by a hearing loss of some kind (Hearing loss, 2011). Only about 15 percent of those affected actually get treated for their hearing loss, no matter how mild or severe (Brody, 2012). This means people are either in denial about the hearing loss or are not aware that they have one. In order to properly analyze the experience of having a hearing loss, I wore earplugs for 8 hours in activities I would do on a normal basis.Some of these activities include attending class, doing homework, shopping, eating at a restaurant, watching TV, and hanging out with my roommates. Wearing the earplugs simulated me having conductive hearing loss, a type of hearing loss in which sounds is not well conducted from the ear canal to the eardrum and middle ear bones (Conductive hearing loss, 2011). The degree of hearing loss simulated is mild, which means that speech understanding i s reduced, especially in noisy environments (Hearing loss, 2011). This experience gave me a little insight on how people’s lives can become more complicated by having a hearing loss.In my first activity with the earplugs in, I attended one of my regularly schedule classes. This class is in a decent sized lecture hall, where the professor was standing at least 50 feet away from where I was sitting. Normally in this class I would listen to the professor speak as I wrote down notes in my notebook. Because the earplugs hindered my listening ability, I was forced to stare at the professor throughout the class to even remotely hear what he was saying. I began trying to read his lips to help understand more of what he was saying, but when I did this I was not retaining the information he was saying out loud.I became very frustrated very quickly and realized I had not really learned much in this lecture. Next, I attempted to complete some homework back at my apartment. It was a littl e easier to concentrate on my work because the sounds of my roommates talking or music being played where not there to distract me, like they normally do. While doing my homework, one issue did arise; because I was so concentrated on reading, things I could have heard even with the simulated hearing loss were non-existent.My roommate came to ask me a question and ended up startling me because I did not hear her walk up before she touched my shoulder. She told me she had already started talking to me and that I was not responding at all. While shopping for groceries and at the mall, I had a whole other set of problems. At the grocery store, I could not tell when other shoppers where waiting behind me to pick an item I was standing by. This became frustrating for not only me but also the other shoppers.Later, I asked a worker where a specific item was located and could tell by the look on their face that I was speaking too loud. When he answered my question I had to ask them to repeat the last part of their sentence again because another customer was talking on their cell phone right next to us and the workers words became very distorted. The grocery store, as a whole, was a very noisy place so I heard a lot sounds but a lot of times all the sounds became jumbled. The mall was a very similar situation, except that I know my way around very well so I did not have to ask for help.However, I normally would have asked the workers at certain stores if they had any deals or if specific items came in a different size, but I refrained because I was already aggravated from the other activities of the day. When the greeters at the store entrances said something, I usually just smiled and kept walking unless I could clearly hear what they said. I am sure it was an awkward encounter for them if I did not say anything back but I did not want to hear them wrong and say something wrong and embarrass myself. Needless to say, I left the mall empty handed.Two activities that prov ed to be less irritating than I originally thought they would be was watching TV and hanging out with my friends. I turned the TV volume up, which helped me hear it somewhat better. Also, I was mostly watching a football game so I could see how that could be less challenging than a sitcom because even if I could not hear every word the announcers were saying I still knew what was going on if the game. The last major event I wore the earplugs too was going out to eat with my family. This proved difficult since there was music playing and a lot of other groups talking throughout the restaurant.When ordering I had to really concentrate on what the waiter was saying so I did not have to ask him to repeat himself. I did a pretty good job but I was a little slower reacting to some of his questions than normal, as it took longer to process what he was saying. Once the 8 hours of wearing the earplugs was up I was very relieved to take them out. Conductive hearing loss can be caused by numer ous things, mostly commonly an ear infection, impacted earwax, a damaged ear drum, and poor Eustachian tube performance (Conductive hearing loss, 2011).As mentioned before, almost 85 percent of people with a hearing loss choose not to get treated by a doctor. Hearing loss awareness is not as high as it should be in America. Most people believe losing hearing is just a part of getting older, but some other reasons could be affecting their hearing and could eventually be reversible. In certain cases, the cause of a hearing loss could be a tumor, which if not treated could be deadly (Hearing loss, 2011).With the use of iPods and other listening devices increasing in kids and teens, their risk of obtaining a hearing loss is also increasing. They are most likely not aware how listening to their music too loud can affect their hearing. More awareness needs to be brought to this subject as well as other similar situations. Even if a persons hearing loss is something that can be fixed with a hearing aid, it is important to get one because activities such as driving, walking across a street, and working in certain environments could be dangerous, if you cannot hear properly (Brody, 2012).Through this experience, I have had a small taste of how a hearing loss can truly affect my everyday activities. It was a very lonely and sometimes depressing situation because simple communication was a labored tasked. I am normally very big on multi-tasking, but in certain cases the simulated hearing loss hindered my ability to do other things as I tried to listen to someone speak. The best word I can find to sum up how the whole experience affected me is I felt disconnected.The worst part about this disability is it is a hidden one. Other than some people wearing hearing aids, a person with a hearing loss is not always identifiable and therefore much harder to distinguish if they need assistance with something just by looking. From this experience, I have decided if I ever develop a hearing loss, I will visit a audiologist right away to figure out the problem for my safety and the safety of everyone around me. References 1. Conductive hearing loss.American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2011). Retrieved from http://www. asha. org/public/hearing/conductive-hearing-loss/ 2. Hearing loss. (n. d. ). House Research Institute. (2011) Retrieved from http://www. hei. org/education/health/loss. htm 3. Brody, J. E. (2012, January 26). Personal Health: Lifelines for People With Hearing Loss. Health and Wellness – Well Blog – NYTimes. com. Retrieved from http://well. blogs. nytimes. com/2012/01/16/personal-health-lifelines-for-people-with-hearing-loss/