Reformation for the Health of the Population Essay

Population health is an ever progressing branch of medicine that is fundamentally concerned with improving the health of a population as opposed to the sole health of the individual. Advances in technology continue to improve the average life expectancy, yet the American healthcare system is failing to evolve. Insurance companies routinely collect huge profits, yet a significant portion of the American population remains subject to poor health care. Reconstructions in academia and at the legislative level are a necessity if there is to be any advancement to our healthcare system and increase within population health. Medical training has proven to be insufficient in teaching students how to care for patients outside of the primary demographic to which they were exposed during their studies (Greenlick, p. 2). Future physicians should be trained to better understand the dynamics and diversified needs of the individuals from the populations in which they will be serving. Having a working awareness of multiple patient populations would allow physicians to better serve that individual and collectively improve the population. Socioeconomic disparities, ethnic variances, access to proper nutrition, and genetic predisposition to particular diseases are a few factors that need be considered to provide quality care. Reshaping of medical school curriculum to better prepare students to understand the distribution of disease, the environmental effects on health and disease, and how to interpret the needs of a larger variety of populations should become a priority in medical academia. Reformation is not isolated to any gender, ethnicity, social class, or age group. Health care reform remains a hot topic amongst the one-percenters, the bottom bracket, and the classes in between. Universal reforms need to be made in order to equalize our health care system. Quality care should not be about the bottom line for profit but about respect and concern for one’s fellow-man. The greatest opposition for reformation tends to come from a small, privileged demographic who is satisfied with the status quo and rather not pay reasonably higher taxes in order for the poorer population to access adequate health care. Legislation like the Affordable Care Act is in a sense socializing health care but its  ideals are a step in the right direction for successful reformation. Further clarity is needed to determine an exact methodology to make improvements in population health and the barriers that must be overcome for them to succeed (Eggleston, Abstract). Nevertheless, a financially sound method to fund health care for all should be implemented by the government. Millions of Americans are still uninsured or underinsured and taxing the wealthy to redistribute wealth and improve health resources for the population could alleviate some of the burden our system is facing. Insuring more Americans will prevent the uninsured from having to use emergency rooms due to untimely care of preventative disease which ends up being more costly and ineffective in the long run. Better access to health care for the disadvantaged would improve society on the whole as they would be better able to find and to remain healthy on their jobs thus becoming more productive contributors to society.†¨ In order to improve the quality of life for all, reforms in healthcare practice and academia need to be initiated. There is no room for political bias and unfounded claims for opposition if there is to be any improvement in the health of the population. Health care should be accepted as an essential human right, not a privilege. Social and financial factors must be eliminated when access to care is assessed in order to improve the health of the population and improve society.

towards Vietnam

In 1961, under the President-ship of Kennedy, America took the middle path as considered to be the most conducive policy to solve crises in Vietnam. This middle path included sending of machinery and advisors instead of large-scale troops as was suggested in White Paper or as was being recommended by his advocators on a negotiation table. This decision proved futile as it accorded the increase in the chances of success of NLF.As more and more news began to pour in, tension arose in Kennedy’s government machinery and they escalated upon a plan of providing â€Å"Safe Hamlets† to the villagers developed by GVN. The main purpose was to segregate them from NLF, but this strategy too did not head to in any direction, as this resulted in alienating villagers further from the Saigon regime. This policy though helped GVN in reaching countryside yet ironically produced more cadres for the NLF. The years of war between 1963- 1968 in Vietnam were considered to be the years of Esca lation and Americanization.In 1963, as NLF was heading towards victory, Diem’s brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, attacked Buddhist pagodas of South Vietnam; this resulted in massive protests on the streets of Saigon, and several Buddhist monks committed self-immolation. This made Kennedy to send in coup in the same year. But some of the Diem’s own generals in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) approached Kennedy seeking request to overthrow Diem and on 1st November 1963, Deim and his brother was arrested and then later killed.But after three weeks, President Kennedy too was assassinated at Dallas. At the time of his assassination, there were 16,000 advisors. Though Kennedy’s policy was not much successful yet he was able to continue his war with very little military intervention, but as soon as new president, Lyndon Baines Johnson took over, his conviction and policy made him to show world, the military might of America. He took the firm stand and urged for attaini ng more powers after the raid of DAV on two of US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin shook him.But looking at the strategies being adopted by Communists parties creating hindrances in the war as well as in the political efforts of United States, the Johnson administration too advocated what they termed as â€Å"cold blood† strategy- a war but with very little resources and little effect on their own nation. But this also proved futile, as this war created an adverse effect on their domestic front to the extent that Mr. Johnson was forced to think on the domestic consequences of his every major decision.In 1964, Washington had made all the plans to send all military strengths as retaliation to Tonkin Gulf incident. By 1968, situation became worse when DRV and the NLF led unified attacks on the most important southern cities, which were known as Tet offensive in the West; its main purpose was to coax Johnson to sit on for negotiations. Though communists were defeated in battle yet it was psychological victory for them. As Johnson was totally burdened by the heavy weight of war and secondly opposition from his home front made him take a decision that made all the exercises of previous Presidents futile.He decided not to support re-nomination of Democratic Party for president and was ready to go in for negotiations with communists to put an end to war. In 1968, secret negotiations were started to end the war but soon Republican challenger Nixon took over the charge of President-ship who professed to have a secret plan to put an end to war. But this secret plan was nothing else then the strategic moves of Lyndon Johnson. He began what was termed as process of â€Å"Vietnamization† to bring to the ears of his own force that no Vietnamese was fighting in jungles of Southeast Asia and dying there.This made the substitution of air wars over the American troops who returned home. Nixon increased the air attacks over DRV and for ground battle sent, ARVN. He also a ttacked Laus and Cambodia to put a barrier and an end to the communists supply routes and their safe sanctuaries. This was violation of the international rights of these countries. The air war had a little or no effect on Communists, but they continued with their efforts to make more and more demands in Paris. Though Nixon’s approach made critics quite but his repeated attacks as a protective cover for the retreat of American troops irritated U.S citizens and paved the path for the U. S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and DRV representatives Xuan Thuy and Le Duc to think on peaceful lines of Paris. Many owe the strategic failure to President Lyndon Johnson’s policies, as it was during his tenure that America saw most of casualties. But according to Jeffrey Kimball, President Nixon was responsible for these states of affairs. He wrote in his much thought provoking book â€Å"Nixon's Vietnam War 1998†, that President Nixon must be held, responsible and account able, for the failure.It was quite true that America made wrong assessment of the strong folds of North Vietnamese in their soil and tried to resolve the problem with military strength, which was in itself a wrong move. Kimball argued that when Nixon took over the office, he was aware of the fact that this war could not be won militarily yet he resorted for war because only by showing their might, they could force Hanoi into negotiations favorable to Nixon’s view of honorable peace. His statement was based on the United States interest at the international level and on owing to his reelection. 4 Accordingly they wanted to endorse the President-ship of Thieu.This device was a strategy to take America out of Vietnam on certain terms, but there were many uncertain in-linking parts like risk from China, several schemes of negotiations, effect on societies and Vietnamization etc, and all did not prove to be as effective as was supposed to be. He believed his political success to b e based on the mad man theory: the efforts to make his enemies think that his opposition for communism was so strong that he could go to any extent like put in maximum force that would not only be accordingly disproportionate in size but also extremely dangerous.5 Along with this, there was certain element of uncertainty, a policy forcing enemies to think on multitude lines on one subject to confuse them. The years, 1962 to1969 were the years of great dissatisfaction and American’s strategic misnomers on the Vietnam soils. Vietnam passing through the strategic influence of three American regimes only retaliated harsher. Though the Nixon policy also could not be considered as full success yet his strategy at least paved the path for both himself and Kissinger think that the best they could have done was to promise Thieu government a â€Å"decent interval† 6 of security once Americans would leave Vietnam.Bibliography Brigham, Robert, Battlefield Vietnam: A Brief History, PBS. org. , (1 March 2008) Daum, Andreas Gardner, Lloyd and Mausbach, Wilfried, America, the Vietnam War, and the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Kimball, Jeffrey, Nixon’s Vietnam War 1998, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1998.

Differences in cultures Essay

Culture impacts the strategies of marketer for different markets and consumer groups. There are various factors which impacts culture for instance globalization, internationalization and development in the telecommunication sector. These have enabled transfer of ideas and views of one culture to another. Hence impacts the populations worldwide. Various markets today are transforming to homogenous marketplace. The differences in consumer preferences and choices are reducing day by day. Either consumer would ask for totally different product or will buy something which is common. The choices of consumer are based on the factors like his needs and financials. As said by Williams, â€Å"People across cultures can do the same thing for different reasons or motives, and people in different countries may do different things for the same reasons. †(Mooij and Marieke K. de, 2004, p. 138) Cultural values vary with product categories. A marketer would use those attributes of any product which are culturally more accepted to design its marketing, selling and advertisement strategies. Buying motives will be different in different cultures. For instance for a particular country having automobile can be a status symbol while in other having environmental friendly vehicle can be more important issue. Culture impacts the attitude and decision making capability of the consumer. It impacts the branding, packaging and promotions strategies. Different Colours and shapes have different meanings attached to it. Marketer needs to understand these meanings and factors in order to decide for the marketing mix product, price, place and promotion. The packaging which plays different roles for the marketer and consumer from protecting the product to attracting the consumer requires special attention so that it can be accepted within the target consumer groups. â€Å"Throughout the past two decades globalization has resulted in saturation of domestic markets which lead companies to become more international. The ideal strategy in the evolution to the international marketplace would be to produce, package and sell the exact same product that was sold in the domestic market. This concept is supported by a variety of researchers (Samli, 1995), who declare that 75% of the world market may be quite alike culturally. Yet, this might be an egocentric perspective of the world, ignoring the unique qualities of each culture. In quintessence, the remaining 25% of the world is culturally different. † (Weber, J. M. et al. , 2002, p. 396) I. i. a. Various Factors Influenced by Culture There are various factors influenced by culture. The reason why people buy certain product at specific period of tie may be influenced by the cultural setting of the individual. Organizations’’ prior to launching their product or setting any operational study go through the cultural aspects of the specific market. This helps organizations to serve and operate within that area effectively. Many global standard products, assumed to be culture-free, are brought for different reasons across cultures. But there are differences in understanding certain product attributes and varying buying motives which can be well explained by underlying cultural values that vary by product category. For instance, advertising appeals which are effective in one culture may result in different responses when used in another culture such as, in UK beer advertising uses humorous appeals and German car advertising uses technological appeals. Apart from advertising appeals even in case of basic needs the motives of buying varies as for example, motives for buying a car may vary between safety, status, design, and environmentally friendly, all based on different cultural values. (Mooij and Marieke K. de, 2004) Some of those are discussed below: †¢ Attitude †¢ Ethnocentrism and Ethnic Background. †¢ Lifestyle †¢ Language †¢ Aesthetic Experience †¢ Purity †¢ Colour Perception †¢ Selective Perception †¢ Communication †¢ Visual Images †¢ Shopping & Buying Behaviour Attitude: Attitude of individuals are guided by their values and beliefs. These factors are also influenced by the culture individual belongs or lives. Attitudes have an impact on behaviour and vice versa. Different culture shows different kind of attitudes on various issues like countries of origin of products, brands, ethical standards and many more within its members. Ethnocentrism and Ethnic Background. â€Å"When consumers prefer products or brands from their own country to the products or brands from other countries, this is called Consumer Ethnocentrism† (De Mooij, pp. 120). The social identity of the product varies according to its country of origin. The products from west are considered prestigious and sophisticated while products from china are considered to be low quality products. Lifestyle: As mentioned in the work of Mooij and Marieke K. de, (2004) Lifestyle is defined as the way of living. Living across the globe is different in different cultures. Language: Language is a medium of communication. It can be either in written, spoken or even in sign form. Language is an expression or a demonstration of a society and culture. Various elements of culture like thoughts, ideas, values, beliefs are reflected through language. Particular language represents its own cultural framework. Speakers of different languages not only say things differently, they experience things differently. Aesthetic Experience: Aesthetic experience refers to the experience of pleasure or displeasure caused by stimuli that are perceived as being beautiful or not beautiful, attractive or un-attractive, and rewarding or unrewarding (Russell et al., 1997. p. 125). The aesthetic value can be created by the visuals, shape, language use and others. Particular society may consider particular factor important for instance Visual language is culturally specific in Western cultures. In Asian cultures visuals plays an important role in the imagination. For the Asian designers as centering is meant to be a fundamental principle in visual art in many Asian cultures. There is a big difference on the aesthetic appeals impacting individuals in east or west. In Asian cultures complexity in the designs and visuals is very common. The use of Colours and shapes will be different. Usually bright Colours are used in Asian countries which have its own meaning attached to it. Brides usually wear red bridal uniform as red is the symbol of prosperity and growth in many cultures. Environment: Different cultures deal with the environment in different ways. In the west countries like Britain and US environmental concerns are so high these concerns have impact on the product manufacturing to product packaging strategy. The packaging would vary according to the environmental standards. This is the reason why the use of poly begs have been replaced by the recyclable paper and products for the packaging. Purity: Purity is a subjective terms used by the researchers and academicians. Purity is sometimes attached to the cleanliness and sometimes to the soul of people. It varies from culture to culture. In some culture eating food from hand may be acceptable while in other it can be unacceptable. The recent controversy on the leading reality show of UK â€Å"Big brother† the aspects of culture and purity come into picture where one member refused to eat meal prepared by the other member and would have been one of the issues of content. Colour Perception: â€Å"Colours are known to posses emotional and psychological properties (Hevner 1935; Ward 1995). † (Thomas, J. M. et al. , 2000) According to Gunnerod (1991), Japanese consumers prefer white, while consumers from Hong Kong prefer red. Tektronix (1998) found that in India, orange is considered the most sacred Colour by Hindus whereas the Ndembo in Zambia do not even consider orange as a separate Colour. In a study a Housewife’s were given 3 different packages containing the same detergent of different Colours; blue Colour (quiet Colour), the second yellow (it had strong visibility) and yellow with blue stripes. The feed back of consumer was that detergent in Blue did not clean properly. While detergent in Yellow – ‘was too strong’ and Yellow with blue stripes ‘was just perfect’. The results can be based on various factors of an individual. In US Colours are associated with certain images. These images are as follows: †¢ BLUE is associated with Wealth, Trust, and Security †¢ GRAY is associated with Strength, Exclusivity and Success †¢ ORANGE denotes cheapness †¢ YELLOW, ORANGE, BLUE are connected with happiness †¢ RED, BLACK, BROWN are connected with sadness The perception of Colour is different across cultures. In Dutch culture RED is the prominent Colour comes to mind whereas in US it is BLUE. Similarly BLACK and BROWN are the two Colours strongly associated with Sad and Stale in various cultures has some additional meaning of Formal in Brazil, Colombia, PRC and Taiwan. These Colours are considered Masculine in Austria, Hong Kong and US. BLUE, GREEN and WHITE Colours are associated with Peace, Gentle and Calm in almost all the countries. Colours like GOLD, ORANGE and YELLOW which do not posses strong association with any of the Colour meanings and are some how close to one another. In India white Colour is also associated with mourn. People wear white Colour clothes in death ceremony. Widows in Hindu culture wear white dress throughout their life after the death of husband. They are not allowed to use any form of Colour. While in west white is used as a Colour of the bridal dress. Selective Perception: Perception of an individual regarding any particular aspect depends on number of factors like values, beliefs, level of education and others. It can be defined as selective observation of reality. Selective observation is distorted understanding and formation of view regarding particular thing. People see what they want to see and how they want to see. They reinforce their perception by seeing certain things and would hardly like to change it. Selective perception is a universal phenomenon. It is reinforced by culture. Communication: Communication is a process through which ideas, emotions, faith belief and actions are transferred to one individual to another. To communicate properly one should have the knowledge of rules of communications, norms and other factors of the related community. One of the most important aspects of proficient communication is knowledge of appropriate words used at a particular point of time. There is a strong relationship between culture and language. Each of these factors is functional and mutually complementary to each other. In the process of communication message is selected and encoded in order to transfer meaning to the receiver. Cultural knowledge provides the basis for interaction. The purpose of communication may also be different across cultures. †¢ Visual Images: Most of the researches on perception are carried out in Western societies. Since the development of visual perception depends on certain kinds of learning experiences, due to which there are cross-cultural differences in perception. Evidence of a basic cross-cultural difference in perception was reported by Turnbull. Some studies suggest that the integration of pictorial elements varies cross-culturally. The correct naming of elements of a picture does not predict ability to correctly perceive their mutual relationships. There are significant cultural differences in pictorial perception and recognition. As discussed earlier, complex visual images, relying on implicit meaning, can be better processed by members of collectivistic cultures who are more used to deriving meaning from context, than by members of individualistic cultures who are made used to simple visual images that carry explicit meaning i.e. pictures speak for themselves. A picture that is very meaningful for the members of one culture because it expresses important values of that culture can be completely meaningless to the members of the other culture. For instance, imagery is a very important element of advertising which has been undervalued in research due to the historical focus on verbal communication in US. This has been proved by an advertisement of Benetton in which a black women is nursing a white baby, was been awarded fro its message of unity and equality in Europe. Simultaneously, the same advertisement stirred up controversy in US, since many believed it depicted a black nanny in the subordinate role as a slave. Shopping & Buying Behaviour: Shopping & buying behaviour is also to a large extent affected by the culture of the nation. In low power distance cultures more number of women work part-time so it influences the number of visits they make to the shop where as in high power distance cultures women mostly work full-time so they have fewer shopping-time.

Iron ladies of liberia Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Iron ladies of liberia - Term Paper Example One of the questions that needs an answer from this movie is: Are women more democratic than men in politics? Or are women capable of making differences in politics with regard to good governance and democracy? This movie illustrates how women play an important role in politics and how they can transform the political landscape and playfield. The following discussion is an outline how the movie irons ladies of Liberia portrays women to have very important and strong stuns with regard to democracy and good governance and fair politics. The film is produced in the Liberia’s contexts and is about the political landscape that the nation has made after a long struggle with the civil war which took fourteen years. After the fourteen years of war, the new president is elected, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf after a hotly contested presidential election. Sirleaf is however backed by the overwhelming support especially from the women in Liberia. As the first elected woman head of state in Afric a, she appoints other women to the powerful ministries of finance, head of police, ministry of commerce and ministry of justice. However, Johnson and other women leaders are faced with the challenges of not only bringing peace to the nation but also improving the economy that was suffering from debts amounting to over three billion dollars. Iron Ladies of Liberia therefore provides an insight of the leadership of the president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and other extraordinary women as they strive to restore order in the nation that had been devastated. Liberia had suffered from two civil wars that took over two decades and hence the nation is trying to cope up with the economical challenges as they strive to restore political order in the nation. Daniel Junge, the director of this film has presented the first term of Sirleaf in the government in which Junge presents the leadership of Sirleaf and other women as very challenging. Even though Iron ladies of Liberia does not go into finer d etails of whet that new president faces, but it outlines certain challenges that are a threat to the nations peace and has to be acted upon with immediate action. There is also fear that the nation might go back to violence and hence restoring public confidence in the new governance after the devastating war in Charles Taylor’s regime is important. Among some of the challenges facing Taylor are the high rates of unemployment that is standing at ninety percent. Ellen and the other iron ladies are experiencing hard times in which there are huge numbers of youth walking along the streets. There is chaos and disorder in the streets due to unemployment that has resulted into the increase in crimes, theft and robbery along the streets; hence an increase in the level of insecurity in the nation. It is also important to note that the film reflects the divided army which is also a threat to the national peace and security that has begun to take place in the nation. Other problems incl udes corruption, how to manipulate the political elite that are still clinging onto power due to their riches and hence influence on the economy. As a result, there are huge disparities in the incomes of the individuals. This has seen the poor earning less than a dollar in a day while the rich, owning the greater percentage of the national economic resources continue to rule the nation economically. Ellen Johnson also takes leadership of the nation a time when the nation living standards is very low. There exist no sewerage

Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 Assignment

Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 - Assignment Example Subsequently, in the year 2000, two additional protocols to this convention were adopted. The first among these prohibit the engagement of children in military conflicts; whilst the second precludes child prostitution and pornography, and the sale of children. Hence, an examination of the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, helped me in assessing the rights accorded to the child, by the nations of the international community, against child labor. Despite adopting this convention, child labor is rampant in most of the nations of the world. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which subsequently became the African Union, adopted the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. This transpired in the year 1990. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child is to a major extent, similar to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. It bestows an elaborate system of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights upon children. This charter emerged due to the perception of the African Union that the Convention on the Rights of the Child had failed to address several of the economic and socio-cultural issues that were peculiar to African nations. For instance, this charter unequivocally prohibited the recruitment of individuals, whose age was less than 18 years, and the employment of children in begging. Moreover, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provided protection to refugee and internally displaced children. This source helped me to make an evaluation of the prevalence of rights controlling child labor in Sub-Saharan Africa, where child labor is rampant in its most aggravated form. Although the majority of the nations of African subcontinent, implemented the child laws in their legislation, most of it is restricted to formal labor.

Prescriptive Approach to Business Strategy Formulation Essay

Prescriptive Approach to Business Strategy Formulation - Essay Example This essay describes main characteristics of the prescriptive approach to business strategy and compares it with the emergent approach. The present day business environment is largely characterized by the large scale fluctuations and turbulence in the business environment. This has called for an immediate need for business organizations to develop a strategic framework that seeks to generate competitive advantage. Prescriptive strategy is largely being rated by scholars and business strategists as a top down approach. Prescriptive strategies are usually framed by the top management and are largely applicable in stable business environments. These strategies are increasingly employed when customers have low bargaining power and it is easy to predict customer’s moves and motives. This strategy therefore cannot be used in times of turbulence. Since the top management is the sole decision maker in the prescriptive strategy making process hence the decision maker is segregated from the target market that makes these strategies largely ineffective in turbulent and fluctuating business environment. Prescriptive strategies normally are effective during stable conditions when the situations are largely stable and the market behavior can be easily analyzed. While prescriptive strategies may be beneficial in times of stable business environments however the emergent strategy framework with its bottom up approach and flexible nature scores well above the prescriptive approach in times of turbulence in the business markets.

Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy Essay

Multinational Enterprises and the Global Economy - Essay Example For instance, foreign direct investment is one such activity, which has influenced the overall relationship among various governments and international companies trying to enter the host nations. FDI will be studied as an extended example along with its pros and cons in various nations as well as host organizations. According to Peters and Pierre (2006), â€Å"globalization refers to the worldwide phenomenon of technological, economic, political, and cultural exchanges among nations, organizations and private individuals.† As a direct result of these exchanges, nations are more dependent on each other than ever. This has also resulted in interconnectedness and innumerable opportunities, in terms of modern technology, larger markets, superior and modern goods and services as well as minimum barriers to capital and trade flows. This has also changed overall wants, tastes, demands and needs of consumers, who are increasingly converging towards being called as global customers. Apart from opportunities, globalization is also filled with numerous challenges. These challenges include fierce competition, decline in the number of local job opportunities, close-down of various local organizations and even some retail formats, market liberalization, economic volatility, new and more complicated se curity issues as well as increased non-tariff trade barriers. So, it can be said that globalization has brought both positive and negative influences on the overall world economy as well as relationship between the host government and MNEs. The overall influence of globalization can be described in terms of two critical developments. Firstly, the re-occurrence of regional and economic proximity that contributes to enhanced investigation about innovation. The second development is the growing inter-relationship between innovation and technology. It has been observed that majority of innovations, occurring across sectors, are direct or indirect results of advancements in

Obtain a copy of the annual report for Intercontinental Hotel Group Coursework

Obtain a copy of the annual report for Intercontinental Hotel Group PLC for the year ended 31 December 2011 - Coursework Example Financial performance and position of the Group â€Å"The big picture is 9 hotel brands, over 153 million guests annually, more than 672,000 rooms in over 4,500 hotels in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world† (IHG website, 2012), The nine renowned brands being Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, EVEN Hotels, Hualuxe Hotels and Resorts. Performance of the Brands The performance of all the brands during 2011 compared to the previous year has improved (Exhibit – I). Total gross revenue has increased by 8% to 20.2 bn in 2011 compared to $18.7 bn in 2010 for the group as a whole. Exhibit - I $ in bn. However, the performance in terms of cost and profitability in respect of the brands could not be worked for comparison due to inadequacy of details furnished in this respect. Performance can be analyzed with reference to classific ation of the business into Franchised, Managed and Owned & Leased. 12 months ended 31 December in $m 2011 2010 % Change Revenue Franchised 502 465 8.0 Managed 124 119 4.2 Owned and leased 204 223 (8.5) Total 830 807 2.9 Operating profit before exceptional items Franchised 431 392 9.9 Managed 52 21 147.6 Owned and leased 17 13 30.8 500 4 26 17.4 Regional overheads (49) (57) 14.0 Total Operating Profit 451 369 22.2 It could be observed that operating profits vary considerably due to incidence of expenses and overheads at varying levels. For example, in franchised revenue is up by 8% and operating profit is up by 9.9%, where as in managed hotels it is 4.2% and 147.6% and owned & leased hotels (-) 8.5% and 30% respectively . Key Performance Indicators The key performance indicators measure the group’s progress in the business. The KPIs over the past three years and their growth have been good. Year 2009 2010 2011 Net Rooms Supply 632325 0647161 658348 Gross Revenue ($ bn) 16.8 18 .7 20.2 CSR (Green engage hotels) 911 1122 1722 2011 2010 Earnings per share (EPS) 1.30 0.98 Revenue per available room: Revenue per available room is up by 6.2%. (Annual Report, p. 2) The Group’s reportable segments segmental information The reportable segments in the business have been classified based on the geographical locations of the hotels. There are five segments viz. Americas, Europe, AMEA (Asia Middle East and Africa) and Greater China and the central segment. Operating profit has increased in all the geographical segments. Since the central segment carries the burden of general support services provided by it to all the segments, the figures are not comparable. RevPAR growth in the Americas at 7.5% and Europe at 4.7% respectively has contributed significantly for the overall performance of the business. It is important to note that gross revenue includes revenue related to Franchised, Managed and Owned & Leased. 2011 2010 % Change % Change in revenue Operating Pro fit Americas 451 369 2.2 2.9 Europe 104 78 33.3 2.4 AMEA 84 82 2.4 1.4 Greater China 67 54 24.1 15.2 Central (147) (139) (5.8) 7.7 Operating Profit Before Exceptional Items 559 444 25.9 8.6 It could be observed that as in the case of franchised, managed and owned and leased classification of the business, % change in operating profit is inconsistent with the % change in revenue due to incidence of expenses and overheads in different reportable segments at varying levels. Impact of exceptional items on profitability The operating profit

WOMEN'S ROLE IN HISTORY FROM 1700 THROUGH PRESENT, THEIR SOCIAL CHANGE Essay

WOMEN'S ROLE IN HISTORY FROM 1700 THROUGH PRESENT, THEIR SOCIAL CHANGE TO SOCIETY - Essay Example That is, defying the traditional gender roles which are unanimously acknowledged by a patriarchal society, women have entered into male spheres and performed those male activities quite successfully. A critical analysis of the history of the changes in women’s role will necessarily reveal that these changes were, for the first time, induced during the Enlightenment Period in Europe. During that age, women were considered as mentally and physically weak. They were thought to be fit for indoor jobs such childrearing, maintaining house and hearth, cooking, washing, etc. Though women were excluded from public affairs and outdoor activities, Enlightenment scholars like Mary Wollstonecraft called for changes in the prejudiced view about women (Kreis, 2012, pars. 3). But during the early 18th century, public awareness about women’s education began to increase in the metropolitan areas of England and France. They started to participate in French Salons increasingly (Goodman, 19 94, p. 43). In public affairs, they appeared most as singers, though not professionals. But during the late 18th century, the epoch-making event, Industrial Revolution, seemed to change the whole scenario about women’s traditional role as a wife and a mother. Before the Industrial Revolution, men’s and women’s social role were highly distinctive. In a family, men were mainly considered as the breadwinner and women were dependent on their male counterparts for their bread and butter. But the Revolution, technology-based industries began to burgeon at a rapid rate, creating more opportunities for women to be involved in earning activities, as Hudson (2011) notes, â€Å"Many young people, especially young women, migrated to towns and cities in search of work as the possibilities of agricultural employment declined.† (pars. 5). During the Enlightenment period, women’s outdoor was limited to cultivation. Most the

Contemporary issues in management assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Contemporary issues in management - Assignment Example This paper makes a critical analysis regarding the innovation management practices adopted by two well known companies of the world. The names of these companies include Apple Inc. and Haier Group. These companies are well placed into consumer electronic industry and are known for their innovative practices at workplace. This paper aims at making critical analysis of organisational culture and human resource management practices in these two companies and their influence upon creativity and innovation of both the organisation. When we talk about innovation and management of innovation in the context of Consumer electronics, we cannot help talking about Apple Inc. It is considered as one of the most leading companies in the field of technology in today’s world. Initially, it was started with a scratch and grew rapidly in such a way that became a symbol of innovation in technology. It is known worldwide that no company can sustain in the market without innovation and creativity and when it comes to consumer electronic devices, continuous innovation and creativity becomes a prerequisite in order to survive and succeed in the market. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. and a great innovator once said, â€Å"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower† (Gillam 2012). Apple Inc. has set up itself as one of the most prominent companies in industry of consumer electronics. It has made the most significant position in both hardware as well as software through constant innovation and creativity. It was established in 1976 and since that day, it has been continuously focusing on innovation. It has made a great impact on society through its various major innovative products and features in the field of consumer electronics such as Trackpad, Mouse, GUI, iMac , iBook, iTunes, iPhone, iPod, iPad and so on (OGRADY 2008). Research and development is an integral part of any company especially when dealing in consumer

Critically evaluate information-processing accounts of cognitive Essay

Critically evaluate information-processing accounts of cognitive development - Essay Example The first major formulation of a developmental psychology was completed by Jean Piaget, who uses a system of schemas to describe the development of the mind from birth to adulthood. He broke this development down into four stages: the sensorimotor, the preoperational, the concrete operational, and the formal operational, each of which is described by a certain set of cognitive processes which are matched with an empirical task that can detect those processes in action (Hestenes). The driving force that makes a person progress within stages, or from one stage to the next, is called â€Å"equilibration† or â€Å"self-regulation† (Hestenes). In other words, a person finds a way to resolve apparent inconsistencies in the way in which s/he views the world, and this resolution brings progress. Another way to describe this process is defining growth as a â€Å"process resulting from the recurrent destabilization of the existing structure by novel and unexpected features of wo rld objects, followed by the subsequent generation of a more powerful structure† (Verillon). This sense of personal agency is crucial in the development of a healthy sense of dualism between self and world, and of the ability to make judgments about the physical and mental world (Russell). The idea of the learner as an active participant, rather than a passive receptacle for information, was revolutionary in educational circles in Piaget’s day, and eld to widespread revisions in the way that children were educated (Nurrenbern). This process is inconsistent in speed and can bring about quite abrupt transformations, in Piaget’s view. Information-processing approaches came about, as thinkers attempted to apply Piaget’s theories in ways that could be empirically tested. Some of these information-processing experiments found find nothing wrong with Piaget’s theories. Parisi and Schlesinger developed an Artificial

The idea of dance Essay Example for Free

The idea of dance Essay The idea of dance has always been interesting and a mystery to me. When I was younger, I used to participate in Indian dance performances for birthday parties, weddings and/or anniversaries. I was fairly decent and I remember that it gave me a sense of freedom. I loved to dance. It was a way of expressing my uniqueness. However, things changed, life moved on and the stress of it all hid those feelings for another lifetime. They remained hidden for the past four years here at UCR until now, my senior year. Now was the only time in my college career that I had time for anything other than major related, science-y courses. I was excited to take a class that didn’t involve four hour laboratory times or quizzes every week. I wanted to take a class that made me feel free. That’s when I remembered how dance made me feel when I was younger and Dance 005 seemed like the perfect fit. In the short time that I have been able to take this course, I have learned quite a lot about my body’s capabilities. Usually, when I do something physical, whether it be sports or working out at the gym, I push myself hard. With dance, I felt as if I needed to take my time, and let my gracefullness take the lead. I wanted to accomplish a different side of me. I wanted to allow myself to do something that I wasn’t necessarily used to. I felt as if my strengths were mainly the numbered combinations that we learned in class. I do well with order, direction and a planned out routine. However, on the other hand, when we would practice improvisation, I found harder to relax and â€Å"go with the flow.† I realized that I don’t work well with spontaneous, no rule moments. I still struggle with that part of the class and I believe it isn’t something that can be taken care of with one course. I also enrolled in a dance of Mexico course and I enjoy noticing t he differences between modern dance and cultural dance. Viewing the live performance by Paradigm put many things in perspective. My view on dance expanded with every dance performed that night. It was interesting to see the different outlooks on the idea of dance as a whole. It can be theatrical, comedic, sad, happy, etc. It all depends on how the emotions are absorbed by the audience as a result of the performers. Writing  the reflection paper on the performance helped me understand the real meaning of it all. It made me take the time to recall reactions and go into depth about how the idea of modern dance came about. Dance, to me, meant structure but walking out of the theater that night shook that assumption to its core. I learned that the modern dance movement based works upon experience, using their bodies to express emotions using many gestures. It seemed like each dance was a type of impulse control. Each performer was allowed to express any feeling that came to them within boundaries. And the boundaries were what made up the sho w and made it enjoyable for the audience. One idea of dance that stuck with me was when we performed our pathway dances. I think that was also my favorite part of this class so far. I enjoyed watching each dance with and without music. The music made each dance come alive in some way. I also liked the fact that the musician matched the dance with a separate tone that allowed for comedic relief during what could have possibly been a boring, simple routine. The way he described music adding to dance as a sort of parallel was also quite interesting. I don’t think I have ever heard music and art spoken in that way. This class gives an insight into a different, calmer than my usual workload, form of expression. Another idea of dance that I can take away from this course is whenever we added pedestrian movements into our dances. I loved that we could incorporate anything and everything we do in life to dance. For instance, I just recently started going to the cardio kickboxing class at the rec center. And I remember I added some of the moves I learned from that class into this class by adding a little flare and art value to them. It just goes to show that anything can be art by tweaking something just a smidge. I thoroughly enjoyed taking this class. To be brief, it was entertaining, interesting, and I can actually say I know something about the art of dance and not just how to dance. I think it’s important to have knowledge about everything in this world. No need to be an expert on the matter but a little taste of different culture never hurt anyone. And I believe that this class gives a small slice of a worldwide tradition of dance.

Communicative Functions of Sentences

Communicative Functions of Sentences (Timothy. Shopen 2007) stated that, there are at least four senses in which one can talk about clause or sentence types in a language. One way is in terms of the distinction between declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences. A second sense of clause type is represented by the distinction between main clause and subordinate clause, and among different types of subordinate clauses. Issues related to this sense are discussed in the chapters on subordination, A third sense of clause type concerns the way the same event or situation can be spoken about, from different perspectives, with grammatical consequences such as voice and pragmatic consequences such as topic and focus. The fourth sense, the one discussed, involves different types of clauses in terms of their internal structure, primarily surrounding different types of predicates. Here, the most basic distinction is between verbal and nonverbal predicates. Literature review: Sentence in traditional grammar Introduction: B.A.Okolo(2008) stated that the traditional grammarian fellow a certain procedure according to what he understand about the nature of the language, he added that if the language is the reflection of our thought, then there must be correlation between what we think and the language that we express our thoughts, and that why traditional grammarian began his description with complete meaning full statement, imposing that each sentence must has subject and predicate, thus these parts contribute each other to the meaning of the whole sentences. Definition of a sentence in traditional grammar Sidney. Greenbaum (2002) stated that the traditional definition of the sentence is that A sentence is a group of words that express a complete thought but he argued that this definition is notional, because it could lead to misunderstanding to what it meant by a complete thought, so he approved this assumption by explaining that some sentences have more than a thought. B. A. Okolo (2008) added that the words complete thought in traditional definition of a sentences do not mean logically complete, because logical complete thought does not turned out to be a sentence, but the paragraph, the essay, the chapter or even the whole book. Sidney (2002) defined the sentence as a group of words that begins with capital letter and ends with full stop, but again he argued this definition stating that there are a large number of sentences begin with two capital letters (in the case of nouns) and still considered as sentences, and others begin with capital letter but not end with capital letter like imperatives, exclamations and questions, so this definition is not adequate. Another common definition of sentence in traditional grammar is that a sentence is a group of words that consist of subject and predicate but A. B (2008) argued that by stating that lots of sentences in English do not consist of subject take like for example imperative take off your shoes thus sentence is easy to describe (explain) rather than define. Bas Arts and April MCmahan (2006) defined the sentence as A sentence is basically a group of words which are tied together and convey an idea, event or description. The words in an English sentence have a certain order and rules regarding ways to either expand or shorten it. The boundaries of a sentence are easily recognized, as it begins with a capital letter and ends with a terminal punctuation mark (period, question mark or exclamation point). It is important for English writers to know the language of sentence grammar terms in order to be able to analyze and develop their writing Sentence types according to meaning and word order: M. Verspoor and K. Sauter (2000) stated that English sentences can be classified according to communicative functions and patterns into four basic finds: Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative and Exclamatory sentence patterns, they added that when people communicate, they communicate for various reasons, but the four main reasons are: To inform someone of something To get information from someone To get someone to do something To express ones attitude about something And each of these communicative functions has the following patterns John is leaving. Is John leaving? Leave! How awful John is leaving! So these patterns have the following syntactic characteristics: Subject- whole verb Part of verb- subject- rest of the verb Verb by itself How à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..Followed by remainder of sentence Thus the words john is leaving express the following functions Informing (declarative) Asking for information (interrogative) Getting someone to do something (imperative) Expressing feeling/attitude (exclamatory) B.A.Okol (2008) added that traditional grammarians generally agreed that sentences can express four kinds of meaning Facts (declarative sentences) The declarative sentence is used chiefly to make an assertion; usually it states a fact, but sometimes a probability, a possibility, or even an impossibility, the normal word-order of the declarative sentence is subject-verb or subject-verb-complement. This order is usually changed. Commands (imperative sentences) An imperative sentence expresses a command or a request, there is usually no formal difference between an imperative sentence with expressed subject and a declarative sentence. Thus you sing out of context may be either a request that you do the singing (imperative) or a remark that you know how to sing (declarative). But sentences using the verb (be) can be distinguished by the form of the verb: You be the singer (imperative) You are the singer (declarative) Questions (interrogative sentences) The interrogative sentence usually asks a question Exclamations (exclamatory sentences) An exclamations sentence expresses feeling or emotion. Exclamatory sentences are often introduced by what or how, as a modifier of the complement Interrogative Sentences The interrogative sentence usually asks a question: Have you seen Sam? Do you know that John is sick? Did the doctor say it will be twins? Is the food good? Sentence according to verbal predicate Transitive and intransitive clause: Timothy Shopen (2007) explained that the distinction of the clause with verbal predicates, is that the distinction between transitive and intransitive, transitive clause takes two or more argument, whereas intransitive takes only one argument, so in languages like English the distinction can be, by saying that transitive clause has an object, whereas intransitive does not as in the following examples: My dog ate the hamburger (transitive) My dog is sleeping in the abasement From the examples above, it is clear that transitive verbs like eat need an object to complete the meaning of the clause, but intransitive verbs like sleep does not need an object, although there a prepositional phrase followed the verb sleep in the above sentence but it is not an object, it is an adjunct because the meaning is still complete if this prepositional phrase removed from the sentence. Ditransitive clause Timothy (2007) stated that some English constructions contain more than object, or at least two nonsubject arguments, so these constructions are so called ditransitives as the examples below explain: Nancy gave Jeff some flowers Bob told Sally a story So in these examples the noun phrases Jeff and Sally are so called indirect object, and the noun phrases some flowers and a story are direct object, in the previous examples indirect objects flowed immediately the verb, whereas direct objects end the sentence, but in the construction with preposition direct object flowed the verb immediately and indirect object flowed the preposition as in the following constructions: Nancy gave some flowers to Jeff Bob told a story to Sally Data collection and analysis: Data collection: For the purpose of this assignment the researcher selected randomly a chapter from the book titled, the memories of babikr bedri, this book is written by Babikr Bedri in Arabic and translated to English by his son yousif bedri, the chapter selected is chapter one which is titled, Babyhood and Youth page 1-14 . And the motivation beyond this is to investigate clause types in English language according to the following criteria: According to meaning and word order And according to verbal predicates Data analysis: The data collected for the purpose of this study were analyzed in the following steps: Step one: to identify clause types according to meaning and word order Step two: to identify clause types according to verbal predicates Step one Clause according to meaning and word order Facts (declarative sentences) Our teacher sat down (Para 1 Page 6) I mastered the memorization of koran in the year 1880 (Para 4 Page 7) We arrived in Madani (Para 5 Page 9) Commands (imperative sentences) Come here (Para 2 Page 5) Go and wash your slat (the same Para) Come and write what you washed off before (Para 3 Page 5) Questions (interrogative sentences) When and in what circumstances did you copy this book? (Para 2 Page 12) Do you eat better than that in rufaa? (Para 2 Page 10) What food do you have? (Para 2 Page 10) To who did recite the previous piece? (Para 2 page 5) Who was with you? (Para 2 page 5) Exclamations (exclamatory sentences) How he put me down (Para 3 Page 1) Step two Clause according to verbal predicates Transitive clause Our teacher Muhammad had studied the Koran and other subjects (Para 2 Page 12) I was explained the word wabar (Para 3 Page 10) Intransitive clause We all laughed (Para 3 Page 10) We agreed (Para 3 Page 10) Ditransitive clause My parents told me that I was born on 8 August 1861 (Para 1 Page 1) Let me tell you about this man (Para 1 Page 4) A pupils family send a feast to the school (Para 1 page 7) She put my books in a cloth satchel (Para 2 Page 9) Conclusion In this study, you saw that sentences may have different communicative functions and that each of these communicative functions is expressed with a typical sentence pattern, called the declarative, interrogative, imperative or exclamatory pattern. The declarative sentence pattern is the most common and will be studied the most in this study. A typical declarative sentence gives information about a situation or event and may name one or more participants, a process, an attribute of one of the participants, and various aspects of the setting. The sentence constituents naming these are subject, and predicate. The predicate names the process, and possibly other participants, attributes or setting. The predicate consists of a predicator, which names the process, and its complement. The complement in the clause with verbal predicate (transitive, intransitive and ditransitive) can be a direct object and indirect object. If there is a direct object, there may also be either an indirect or benefactive object or an object attribute in the complement. English language is unlike other languages, it can employ different clause types in its sentences according to different aspects that why anyone could not talk about definit clause types without referring to all these criteria, but I think that clause can explained rather than classified.

Competition law in Nigeria

Competition law in Nigeria INTRODUCTION SCOPE OF THESIS The area of Competition law in Nigeria remains an area of law that has not been fully tapped. Currently, there is no competition law operating in Nigeria and although there has been a bill, it is yet to be passed to law. The ongoing lack of a competition law regime has quite predictably led to price-fixing, excessive pricing of products , market concentration as well as domination being the order of the day, all to the detriment of the consumer. The primary objective of this thesis therefore, is to discover the value of introducing Competition law in Nigeria and indeed a sector specific Competition Law to the Nigerian Communications Industry. The theses will begin by examining the global significance of Nigeria and the position of Nigeria as a developing economy. This research further seeks to examine the state of the Nigerian telecommunications industry and the steps that have been taken by the Nigerian Government towards the opening up of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. The thesis will also look at both the arguments for and against the introduction of a competition law in Nigeria and a specific competition law in the telecommunications industry which forms the main focus of this research. The present situation in Nigeria can be likened to a market where all the telecommunications providers provide their services at the same price, a price that always seems to be a little higher week after week, In such a case, what might have happened is that the telecommunications providers have formed cartels so that they can force up prices and make large profits. If such is the case, it is the welfare of the customers that suffers because of the lack of competition. Competition issues in various sectors of the economy are handled by other regulatory regimes such as The Special Trade and Malpractices Investigation panel, standards organisation of Nigeria, Nigerian Civil Aviation authority, Securities and Exchange commission, Central Bank of Nigeria, and of particular importance to this thesis, The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) which is the national regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. The question that arises however is whether the regulations set out by the NCC are sufficient to promote and preserve competition. This thesis will analyse the position of the NCC as a regulator of the Nigerian telecommunications industry. RATIONALE AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In carrying out this research, the author will rely on a collection of theories, comparative study of the Law in different jurisdictions and Interviews with various individuals who have experience in this field. Primary and secondary sources of information will be used to collect and analyze data to come to a viable conclusion. The primary sources which the author will utilize include authoritative materials of the law such as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, statutes and legislations in force, official publications and judicial decisions relating to competition law, telecommunications law and Privatization in Nigeria. Books, journals, articles, dictionaries, periodicals, newspapers, The Federal Competition Bill and internet documents will constitute secondary sources of information. These are materials which pertain to law but are not themselves authoritative records of legal rules. A comparative study of competition law systems in other jurisdictions will also form a part of the study. In order to make this thesis logical, the author will sketch headings and arrange materials to accommodate research findings. Headings and cross headings will not only assist to readily identify where a particular point has been dealt with, it will also make the theses flow in a logical way and keep the readers interested. Because the area of law to being researched in this thesis is relatively young in Nigeria, it is necessary to perform foundation research and as such, secondary sources of research will be highly relied upon in this thesis. Challenges of Research Methodology: It is widely accepted that competition authorities in developed and developing countries alike encounter challenges and obstacles in their effort to promote competition and enforce their various competition laws. While the challenges faced are similar in nature their degrees vary across countries. It has been observed that Developing countries such as Nigeria do not generally place the implementation and administration of competition law on their priority lists. They are generally of the mind that it is like giving a silk tie to a hungry child. However, with the changing global landscape, trade barriers being removed and markets becoming more integrated, developing countries find themselves in the situation in which they now have no choice but to institute the relevant legislation. The implementation of institutional reform that the developed countries took several decades to accomplish is now being thrust upon developing countries which do not have the luxury of time, the requisite skill or the resources. In the same vein, in carrying out research on competition law in the Nigerian telecommunications industry, the author came across various research challenges. The main challenge has been the inability to get research materials. This is due to the fact that the area of research is still in its infant stage in Nigeria as a result there is not enough written material on it. Further, it is a very contentious and political issue as a result; companies, institutions and individuals who have access to necessary material or information are not willing to release information. The Bureaucratic nature of Nigerian Institutions also posed as a major challenge to this research. This is because there are many levels of management, much paperwork and impersonal officials working to a fixed routine who seem to find it difficult to provide necessary information or give necessary interviews which would be advantageous to this research paper. The unstable state of the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) which operated monopoly status in the Nigerian Telecommunications industry for a long time also proved to be a challenge in getting research information. This is because as management of NITEL changed, the operations change and this makes it difficult to get information on previous happenings in the company. Other challenges faced by the author in the research process came in the telephone interview process. This is because some people do not have telephones or do not have their telephone numbers listed. People also often dislike intrusion of a call to their homes and never have time for a telephone interview at work. Also telephone interviews need to be relatively short or people get impatient or feel imposed on. The use of the internet as a form of research also came with its own challenges some of which include accuracy and reliability of information obtained from online sources and difficulties in verifying a writers credentials. COUNTRY PROFILE AND GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE OF NIGERIA The Federal Republic of Nigeria consists of 36 states and 774 local governments administrations. The Capital city is Abuja, located in the Federal Capital Territory and it is geographically situated in the middle of the Country. Nigeria has a population of over 148 million making it the largest market in sub-Saharan Africa with reasonably skilled and potential manpower for efficient and effective management of investment projects within the country. Nigeria is a regional power and it is listed among the Next eleven economies Nigeria is a nation blessed with an abundance of natural and mineral resources as well as renewable energy sources. Its oil reserves make Nigeria in the league of the top ten petroleum rich nations, and by far the most affluent in Africa. Nigeria is a member of the organisation of petroleum exporting nations which makes it significant to the world at large. The petroleum industry in Nigeria has brought unprecedented changes in the Nigerian economy, particularly in the past five decades when it replaced agriculture as the cornerstone of the Nigerian economy and contributes the lion share of in the nations gross domestic product, accounting for the bulk of federal government revenue and foreign exchange earnings. The Nigerian economy can be described as most promising. Nigeria has however been long hobbled by political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, and poor macroeconomic management. Nigerias former military rulers failed to diversify the economy away from its overdependence on the capital-intensive oil sector, which provides 95% of foreign exchange earnings and about 80% of budgetary revenues. Following the signing of an IMF stand-by agreement in August 2000, Nigeria received a debt-restructuring deal from the Paris Club and a $1 billion credit from the IMF, both contingent on economic reforms. Nigeria has a mixed economy which accommodates all; individuals, corporate organisations and government agencies to invest in almost all economic activities. Over the last decade, the Nigerian government has introduced some economic measures such as liberalisation and privatisation of sectors that had been monopolies, with the purpose of introducing competition, wealth creation and encouraging foreign investors. In 2003, the Nigerian government instituted the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), a domestically designed and run program modelled on the IMFs Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for fiscal and monetary management[4]. NEEDS focused on four key strategies; poverty reduction, wealth creation, employment generation and value re-orientation. The initiative has recorded remarkable achievements, meeting most of its targets, and in some instances surpassing them. In November 2005, Nigeria won Paris Club approval for a debt-relief deal that eliminated $18 billion of debt in exchange for $12 billion in payments a total package worth $30 billion of Nigerias total $37 billion external debt. The deal requires Nigeria to be subject to stringent IMF reviews. OVERVIEW OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY The telecommunications industry forms a major infrastructural requirement for any meaningful economic development to take place in a country. The importance of a robust telecommunications infrastructure cannot be over emphasized as it is pertinent to economic growth, and constitutes a significant portion of the worlds economy. This chapter discusses the historical and present state of the global telecommunications industry with particular focus on Nigeria. The Chapter will consider the policy approach to deregulation of the Nigerian telecommunications industry, as well as provide an overview of the evolution of the Nigerian telecommunications industry from the colonial times to full liberalisation as is the position now Over the last one hundred and thirty (130) years, the global telecommunications industry has experienced an unprecedented growth from an almost unnoticed analogue telephony to a modern digital mobile communication with billions of subscribers worldwide. This is evident in the Europe and Latin American telecommunications market worth â‚ ¬424bn in 2007, with mobile services accounting for 51%. The Evolution of the Global Telecommunications Industry The African telecommunications market being the fastest growing telecoms market in the world plays host to the next wave of global competition. In 2006 alone, mobile companies signed up about 60 million new subscribers across the continent, as many people as the entire population of the United Kingdom. Africas unique infrastructure challenges have made telecommunications (particularly mobile phones) an indispensable business and social tool. Despite impressive recent growth in telecommunications, penetration rates in Africa remain relatively low, thereby suggesting a large underlying potential market in this populous continent. It is expected that 260 million new subscribers will be added across Africa by 2014, nearly equal to the present population of the entire United States of America. THE NIGERIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY In consonance with the global trend in the telecommunications industry, Nigeria shares a similar success story over the past 130 years of navigating its telecommunications operations. The figure below shows incremental successes achieved within the Nigeria telecoms industry. The Evolution of the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry HISTORY OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN NIGERIA Telecommunications facilities came into being in 1886 by the colonial administration. The initial purpose was merely to carry out administrative duties as opposed to the provision of socio economic development for the country. Thus, the introduction of public telegraph services connecting Lagos by submarine cable along the west coast of Africa to Ghana, Sierra-Leone, Gambia and on to England was more important than an efficient telecommunications network. Subsequently, as at 1960 when Nigeria gained her independence, there were only 18,724 telephone lines available for a population estimated at 40 million people. This translated to a tele-density of about 0.5 telephone lines per 1,000 people. The telephone network consisted of 121 exchanges out of which 116 were of the manual (magneto) type and only 5 were automatic. Since independence, there have been a number of development plans for the expansion and modernisation of the telecommunications networks and services. Most of these plans were not fully implemented. After the Nigerian Independence in 1965 and up until 1985, the telecommunications industry was divided into: The department of Posts and Telecommunications (P T) and The Nigerian External Telecommunications (NET) Limited, P T took charge of the internal network while NET overlooked the external telecommunications services and provided the gateway to the outside world. By the end of 1985, the installed switching capacity was about 200,000 lines as against the planned target of about 460,000. All the exchanges were analogue, and telephone penetration remained poor equal to 1 telephone line to 440 inhabitants, well below the target of 1 telephone line to 100 inhabitants recommended by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for developing countries. The quality of service was largely unsatisfactory, the telephone was unreliable, congested, expensive and customer unfriendly. These unsatisfactory services led to the split of P T in January 1985, it was divided into Postal Division and Telecommunications Divisions. The telecommunications division was merged with NET to form Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL),a limited liability Company, while the Postal Division was reconstituted into another organisation called the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST). NITEL On establishment, NITEL became the national operator for telecommunications services in Nigeria. Although efforts are being made to privatise NITEL, and indeed there was a recent privatisation attempt where by 51% equity stake of NITEL was sold to core investors, this privatisation attempt was reversed and NITEL remains wholly owned by the Government of Nigeria. NITEL was set up to reverse the defects which characterised telecommunications development from independence up until 1984[11]. Its main objective was to harmonise the co ordination of the external and internal telecommunications services, rationalise investments in telecommunications development and provide easy access, efficient and affordable services. The historical key businesses of NITEL include fixed telephony services including international, internet, payphone and interconnection; Long distance carrier including fixed international calls and satellite services; cellular, including all cellular activity carried out within M-Tel. After the inception of NITEL,little progress was made in the development of the telecommunications industry and it was still characterised with poor management, lack of accountability and transparency and inefficiency. At this time, NITEL occupied a monopoly status and being owned by the Government, this resulted in its having a weak infrastructure base, high unmet demand, Lines concentrated in selected urban areas, slow growth of subscriber base and limited investment into the telecommunications sector. In order to tackle these short comings, and in line with what obtains in several developed nations, The Government of Nigeria identified that Liberalisation of the Telecommunications market was essential for rapid network growth. Private sector participation was essential for attracting financial resources, innovation and new technology. The industry was thus deregulated through the establishment of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) by Decree No. 75 of 1992. The NCC has since approved almost 200 operating licenses for private providers of various telecommunications services, including internet services providers, which of course has in turn generated a high demand for telecommunications equipment, accessories, consultancy and technical partnerships. In addition, NITEL has approved various private firms to be connected to its switching systems so as to provide more lines (with greater efficiency and service) and thus act as a buffer for the grossly inadequate NITEL services. Despite all these efforts, it was quite clear that there was a dire need for the Nigerian Government to be more pro-active about improving telecommunications. As such, in 2000, the NCC awarded licenses for Global System of Mobile Communications (GSM) to NITEL by auction to two preferred bidders Econet Wireless Nigeria Limited and MTN Nigeria Limited. The licenses were bought at almost US$240million dollars, the highest amounts ever paid for such licenses in the world. The GSM technology has completely overshadowed NITELs land lines, as the demand is high for them due to efficiency, despite the astronomical tariffs its consumers are subjected to. These cumulative events eventually spurred the NCC, through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (its secretariat) to seek to privatise NITEL by requesting for Core investors to acquire controlling interest in the entity and manage its day to day activities. The privatization of NITEL has always been shrouded in controversies and politics. Many people are of the view that the Federal Government has not shown enough seriousness or sincerity in the many attempts to sell the telecommunications company. The first attempt in 2002 to privatise NITEL could not materialise due to the failure of Investment International Limited (ILL) of Britain to pay the $1.317 billion it offered for the 31 per cent shares of the company. ILL paid up the mandatory 10 per cent deposit, but was unable to make up the balance by the end of several deadline Periods, thereby derailing the process. Another attempt was made in 2003 with the engagement of a Dutch company, called Pentascope to manage NITEL and put it on sound footing preparatory to its sale. This one also collapsed. In the third attempt, Orascomm of Egypt offered $256.43 million for 51 per cent shares of NITEL. This offer was considered ridiculously low, and, so the government cancelled the deal. This has been the story of the efforts to privatize this big and potentially rich government-owned telecommunications firm. One deal that stood out was the Pentascope agreement. While Pentascope was expected to revitalize NITEL, Pentascope ended up not only ruining the company but it mounting up huge debts for the company as well. In particular, when Pentascope took over NITEL in March 2003, NITEL had about N17.7 billion in its coffers. However about a year later when its agreement with NITEL was terminated, it had left NITEL with a debt burden of N38 billion and a reduction in the number of functional land lines from 455,000 to 288,000. It therefore seems correct to state that the singular error of picking Pentascope as the management consultant to NITEL in 2003 is largely responsible for the pitiable condition the company finds itself in today. In 2006, 51 per cent equity in NITEL was sold to another company, Transnational Corporation[16], (TRANSCORP), for US $ 500 million. However, this process also failed to turn around the operator as TRANSCORP has been unable to raise the money to overcome the many problems of NITEL. The Nigerian government holds 49% of NITEL. The government however, wants Transcorp to sell 27% of Nitel to a new investor, which would then purchase a further 24% from the government to take control. This new core investor was scheduled to take over in February 2009; however this has not yet happened. In the meantime, the NCC has awarded a second national carrier license to Globacom Nigeria Limited, the only company out of three who expressed an Interest that was able to come up with the US$20 million 10% deposit of the Auction price requested by the NCC. Government was of the belief that a second National carrier would offer much needed competition to NITEL. Globacom has since commenced operations and as of today, it has the third highest subscriber network in the Country. POLICY APPROACH TO DEREGULATION AND PRIVATIZATION Liberalisation and privatisation It was only a matter of time before it became clear to Nigerian policy-makers that a shift in its policies was required. The over-regulation of the economy had become unhelpful, the economy was anaemic, and the Government had trouble keeping up with subventions to State owned enterprises, many of whom, at any rate, were inefficiently and unprofitably run. For SOEs in the telecommunication sector such as NITEL, the implications of its inefficiency for the entire economy were very far-reaching as it contributed to the retardation of the countrys overall industrial development. The merits of a deregulated economy were thus too overpowering for the Nigerian Government to ignore: much-needed foreign direct investment was to be attracted, bringing in tow the required technology, management and technical skills that would not only boost the economy but would transform the SOEs. To achieve this, however, it was obvious that radical legal reforms would have to be undertaken. Following the collapse of communism and apartheid, more countries joined the race for foreign investors. Investment climates therefore needed to be competitive. Before then, through the indigenisation policy pursued since the early 1970s, foreign investors in Nigeria had to contend with ceding a portion of their business to local investors. The real challenge, however, lay in removing regulation and monopoly so that foreign investors could have a level playing field. What followed was a rash of laws designed to facilitate foreign direct investment in Nigeria. Significant among these reforms was the repeal of the Nigerian Enterprises Promotions Decree 1989 (under which the indigenisation policy was sustained), and in its place came the Nigerian Investment Promotion Decree No.16, 1995 which made it possible for an enterprise to be 100 per cent owned by foreign investors. Also, the Exchange Control Act 1990 under which foreign investors required the approval of the Minister of Finance in order to transfer profits abroad was repealed in favour of the Foreign Exchange Decree No.15, 1995 that guaranteed free transfer of capital. The Companies Act 1968 was also repealed in favour of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 1990, a more comprehensive and forward-looking company code. Against these reforms, Nigeria began its gradual journey towards deregulation, privatisation and a free market economy. However, as the free market was a model that had never previously been applied in Nigeria, its handlers had trouble grappling with it, and this led to the initial efforts being short-lived.This was followed by another privatisation law, the Bureau of Public Enterprises Decree, 1993. Privatization In every great monarchy in Europe, the sale of crown lands will produce a very large sum of money, which if applied to the payment of public debts, would deliver from mortgage a much greater revenue than any which those lands have ever afforded to the crownWhen the crown lands become private property, they will in the course of a few years become well improved and well cultivated ADAM SMITH, WEALTH OF NATIONS (1776). The term privatization is used to describe a range of different policy initiatives designed to alter the balance between the public and private sectors. It commonly refers to the transfer of ownership and control of enterprise from the state to the private sector.This may occur in various ways, such as, the sale of all or part of the privatized companys equity to the public, or the sale of the company as a complete entity. It may also take the form of joint ventures, where the private sector will invest in a public enterprise Privatization as a tool for economic management came about in the early 1970s when Chile became the first country to turn public businesses to private operators. Since then, over 140 countries have embraced privatization as a route to economic growth and prosperity. In the process of privatization, more investible capital has been injected into the various economies through local and foreign investors to the benefit of the country at large. In the process, funds that would have been committed to the maintenance of otherwise inefficient enterprises have been freed into more productive sectors of the economy. Privatization in Nigeria Privatization in Nigeria was formally introduced by the Privatization and Commercialization Act of 1988[25], This Act set up the Technical Committee on Privatization and Commercialization (TCPC) with a mandate to privatize 111 public enterprises and commercialize 34 others. In 1993, having privatized 88 out of the 111 enterprises listed in the decree, the TCPC concluded its assignment and submitted a final report. Based on the recommendation of the TCPC, the Federal Military Government promulgated the Bureau for Public Enterprises Act of 1993, which repealed the 1988 Act and set up the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) to implement the privatization program in Nigeria. As at May 1999 the Federal Government investment in these public enterprises was in the region of US$100 billion. In spite of these massive investments, however, public enterprises have failed to perform the functions and attain the objectives for which they were set up. The gross failure of these enterprises to live up to expectations is partly responsible for the current move towards economic liberalization, competition and privatization. The philosophy behind privatization in Nigeria therefore is to restructure and rationalize the public sector not only to lessen the dominance of unproductive investments in the sector but also to initiate the process of gradual cession to the private sector of public enterprises which are believed to be better operated by the private sector. It is also expected that the privatization programme will provide the channel for reintegrating Nigeria back into the global economy as a platform to attract foreign direct investment in an open, fair and transparent manner. THE ENABLING PRIVATISATION LAWS Public Enterprises (Privatisation and Commercialisation) Act 1999 provides the enabling legislation for the implementation of the privatization and commercialization programme. This Act created the National Council on Privatization (NCP) whose functions include: making policies on privatization and commercialization; determining the modalities for privatization and advising the government accordingly; determining the timing of privatization for particular enterprises; approving the prices for shares and the appointment of privatization advisers; ensuring that commercialized public enterprises are managed in accordance with sound commercial principles and prudent financial practices; and Interfacing between the public enterprises and the supervising ministries in order to ensure effective monitoring and safeguarding of the managerial autonomy of the public enterprises. The 1999 Act also established the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) as the secretariat of the National Council on Privatization. The functions of the bureau include among others to do the following: implement the councils policies on privatization and commercialization; prepare public enterprises approved by the council for privatization and commercialization; advise the council on capital restructuring needs of enterprises to be privatized; ensure financial discipline and accountability of commercialized enterprises; make recommendations to the council in the appointment of consultants, advisers, investment bankers, issuing houses, stockbrokers, solicitors, trustees, accountants, and other professionals required for the purpose of either privatization or commercialization; and Ensure the success of privatization and commercialization implementation through monitoring and evaluation. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Nigerian laws dealing with the issues of privatization do not exist in a vacuum. It is part of the body of laws governing the transfer and acquisition of property in Nigeria. The most fundamental legal document in Nigeria is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. Under sections 43 and 44 of the Constitution, the right of the individual to own movable and immovable property is guaranteed by the Constitution. As a corollary to this guarantee, these properties cannot be acquired by the Government without the payment of compensation. The issue that has been discussed very frequently is whether the guarantees protect the sale of shares. This depends on whether the shares are movable property under the Constitution. It has been argued that since shares are choses in action they are not strictly so called movable property. They are special specie; consequently they are not protected under the Constitution. If this argument prevails it means that if a NEW Government which does not share the philosophy of the recent Governments ascends to power, it can reacquire the shares which it had disposed off through privatisation without any obligation to pay compensation for the share. At present the position of the Constitution should not create any serious alarm because, Under the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission Act, Decree No. 16 1995 (the law enacted to encourage inflow of investments in Nigeria) the Government of Nigeria guarantees expressly that no compulsory acquisition of enterprises and interests shall take place in Nigeria. This clearly includes chooses in action. Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Decree 1995 A major factor which provided a catalyst for the privatization process was the need to attract foreign investment. The commanding height of the economy theory had failed to attract investments. The oil boom had disappeared and it was necessary to augment national revenue through foreign investment. The laws governing the allocation of foreign exchange had to be adapted in such a manner as to make it very attractive to the foreign investor. Consistent with this spirit of liberalization and privatization of the economy the rules

Ram Jam - Black Betty :: essays research papers

â€Å"Black Betty† – Ram Jam   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A man by the name of Charles Simic once said, â€Å"Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them†(Quote Land). Poems have been written for thousands of years. When most people think of poetry, they either think of a sonnet, limerick, all the way down to a haiku. They also think that a poem is something that must be recited, but in reality a poem can also be sang as a song. Lately more and more songs that are being released have a story behind them, trying to express feelings of loneliness, death, or past experiences. One of the best examples would be rap. Rappers love to tell about â€Å"their† life in the city; when the times were rough because they were poor and all the violence going on. But rap isn’t the only type of music that can be interpreted as a poem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  William Huddie Ledbetter was born on January 29th, 1885 in Louisiana (Ledbelly). Huddie was the world’s greatest cotton picker, railroad track liner, lover, and drinker, but he was better known for his astounding guitar playing. He was a black man who traveled the south singing and recording folk songs. William Huddie Ledbetter was known as â€Å"Ledbelly†, and his one song â€Å"Black Betty† was widely known. On December 6th, 1949 Huddie died due to lateral sclerosis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ram Jam was an east coast band formed in the mid 70’s. It’s members consisted of Bill Bartlett, Howie Blauvelt, Peter Charles, Myke Scavone, and Jimmy Santoro. Ram Jam is known for being a one hit wonder by using William Huddie Ledbetter’s song â€Å"Black Betty† It reached number 18 on the charts in 1977, and in the UK it reached number 7 & it’s remix made number 13 (Ram Jam). â€Å"Black Betty† can be considered a poem because of its rhyme scheme and many other poetic devices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When explicating â€Å"Black Betty† at first, it’s real meaning is hard to find. It takes more than one try to figure out what William Huddie Ledbetter was trying to dictate in his song. The song is about a black woman who lives in Alabama by herself. She was young and made a couple wrong decisions like drinking, drugs, and having a one-night stand with somebody. This caused her to conceive a child that she wasn’t ready for. She wasn’t ready for the responsibilities of being a mother.

The Turkish Pogrom of 1955 and the Elimination of the Greek Minority of

This work is trying to investigate the Turkish Pogrom of September 6-7, 1955 and its impact on the Greek minority of Istanbul. I emphasized the case study approach, because I was focusing on a particular ethnic minority. The methodology that applied for this study had been chosen in order to obtain information about the economic and social ramifications of the events of September 6-7, 1955 on the Greek minority of Istanbul and the role of the Turkish Government and the Turkish Intelligence Service in planning, organizing and carrying out the Pogrom. For the end of my research, and in order to achieve the objectives the data was collected from primary and secondary sources. I used descriptive statistics in order to determine the effect of destruction in economic and social life of the Greek minority. Also, I cited some testimonies and interviews from people who lived through these events. This research shows the enormous economic and social ramifications of the Turkish pogrom on the G reek minority of Istanbul and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. At the same time, illustrates the Turkish policy of compensation for the victims of Pogrom that marked the end of the existence of the Greek Orthodox community in Istanbul and its migration in Greece and abroad. Finally, this work demonstrates that the Turkish elites and the Turkish Intelligence Service in cooperation with the police, the Turkish Press and the nationalist organizations were responsible for planning, organizing and carrying the Pogrom. Introduction The incidents of September 1955 have not been subject to strict political analysis in both Greece and Turkey. The aim of this work is to integrate the Turkish Pogrom of 6-7 September 1955 and the destruction of the Greek mino... ...ion testimonies and interviews from people who lived through these events. At the same time, I am going to analyze the Turkish policy of compensation for the victims of Pogrom and the response of the Greek Government. This is an extremely important issue due to the fact that marked the end of the existence of the Greek Orthodox community in Istanbul and the beginning of its repatriation in Greece also its migration to other countries in the world. Finally, in the last part I am going to investigate the role of the Turkish Government and the Turkish Intelligence Service (MIT) in planning, organizing and carrying out the Pogrom, in cooperation with the police, the Turkish Press and the nationalist organizations. Although it is important to understand the historical significance of this event will use this narrative to support the political significance of the event.

Iron Curtain

Q. 1: what did Churchill mean in May 1945 by the term â€Å"Iron Curtain†? A. 1: When Churchill stated â€Å"An Iron Curtain is being drawn upon their front. † He means that during 1945 when the war was over, he was talking about an imaginary line drawn between communism in the East and the democratic governments in the West. This was to prevent more fighting over the systems; Churchill knew that the Soviet Union were dangerous. Churchill wanted the allies to get to Berlin and take it before the Russians would.He claims in his speech â€Å"Nobody knows what Soviet Russia intends to do in the immediate future. † This shows he knew they were a threat he just didn’t know when they were going to pounce. By making this â€Å"Iron Curtain† it would provide safety. Q. 2: what happened to the Iron Curtain countries of East Europe? A. 2: The Iron curtain countries included: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugosla via.The actions taken in these countries were: in Bulgaria the communists executed leaders of other parties. In Czechoslovakia the USSR purged civil service, Security Police moved in. East Germany: industrial machinery and resources were moved to the USSR. The scientists and technicians moved to USSR. More actions were taken in other countries, the whole strategy of different countries had changed, this speech was inspirational and made countries feel like they could be independent instead of relying on others.Q. 3: Explain Stalin’s reply to Churchill’s â€Å"Iron Curtain Speech† A. 3: Stalin’s reply to Churchill’s speech was weird, Stalin didn’t really state the truth and made up figures to make people feel sorry for him, how USSR had been hit harder than any other country. This was the reason why Churchill was suspicious of Stalin because he wasn’t being truthful; he had become more independent more powerful so his response to the s peech mad Churchill even more suspicious. By Massimo Furness

Compare and Contrast Karl Marx’s and Walt Rostow’s Theories

This essay attempts to compare and contrast Karl Marx’s and Walt Rostow’s theories of stages of social and economic development. A theory is an interconnected, logical system of concepts that provides a framework for organising and understanding observations. The function of a theory is to allow us to understand and predict the behaviour of some aspect of the world (Miller, 1993). However, each theory of development presents a different view of how and why of society growth and change. Each theory is useful though no single theory explains everything.While Karl Marx had a different notion in regard to the stages of social and economic development it can also be noted that Rostow had a different perception on the theory. The Marxian stage theory tradition is intimately linked to turning points in the historical process of capital accumulation. These turning points mark the inauguration of a period of relatively unproblematic reproduction of capitalist social relations or , symmetrically, the beginning of a period of stagnation and crisis. Traditional/Primitive Communism: This stage was characterized by societies without a class.Most people in these societies were subsistence farmers and concentrated on their own individual survival. Marx and Friedrich (1983), explain that, the productive forces were hardly developed at all and property was held in common in this stage. During this period, land was vast and population was small. People lived as individuals and tried to fend for themselves regardless of whom or what was around them. A traditional tribal structure was the order of the day while the Means of Production was in a pre or early stage.The replacement of this stage of production came about by the gradual increase in population, growth of wants and extension of external relations such as war and trade (Marx & Friedrich, 1983). According to Marx (1993), the growing independence of the individual within the community meant that it was not possib le for the traditional stage to survive. Ancient Stage: in the ancient mode of production classes were prevalent. The ruling class controlled the surplus and, therefore, controlled the lower class (Marx, 1993).In this stage, slavery was the most predominant materialisation of class struggle as the coercion and restraint  of the lower class was very direct (Laibman, 2006). The ruling class physically owned the lower class and slaves had little to no motivation to advance the productive forces by increasing their labour productivity. The ancient stage was economically supported by agriculture and the discovery of trade. During this stage there were the introduction of a new technology which mainly involved the use of animals (horses, cows and ox) and the development of two ways farming. This mode of production can be identified within Ancient Greek and Roman Empires.In Africa, this act could be identified with the Great Ghanaian Empire and the Great Egyptian Kingdom (time of the pha raohs). Feudalism: Feudalism brought about the collapse of most cultures and the rise of Capitalism, Barbarism and other socio-economic characteristics which emerged as a result of wealth amassing. This wealth amassing was in the form of property. The feudalism age was characterised by the possession of land. Furthermore, there was the possession of human beings as peasants who worked on these lands (Marx & Friedrich, 1983).Feudalism is the age that has shaped Economic Development to this day. Therefore, it can be clearly seen that over generations these classes maintain their status and serve as leaders of the land, thereby, controlling the land which is owned by the peasants. Bourgeois: The development of governments and education were the driving force of the economy and resulted in an emergence of Capitalism which took its pedigrees from the division of labour created in a means to meet rising demands and improve production.Capitalism is the current stage of production. Accordin g to Shimp (2009), bourgeois stage is dominated by private property and markets. Businesses own machines, buildings and tools which are used to produce different items that can be sold in markets to make a profit. According to Marx (1993), capitalism increasingly divides people into two groups. In a capitalist economic system, the means of production (anything used to produce goods, like factories, machines, and land) are privately owned by the bourgeoisie, or capitalist class.The capitalist lower class is coerced into working for the capitalist ruling class. Even though members of the lower class have their choice of which employers to sell their labour to, the fact remains that they sell their labour to survive (Marx & Friedrich, 1983). The Rostovian take-off model (also called â€Å"Rostow's Stages of Growth†) is one of the major historical models of economic growth. The model postulates that economic modernization occurs in five basic stages, of varying length.Traditional society, Preconditions for take-off, Take-off, Drive to maturity, Age of High mass consumption. Rostow asserts that countries go through each of these stages fairly linearly, and set out a number of conditions that were likely to occur in investment, consumption and social trends at each state. Traditional society is one whose structure is developed within limited production functions, based on Pre-Newtonian science and technology, and on Pre-Newtonian attitudes towards the physical world (Chang, 2003).This stage is characterized by subsistence agriculture or hunting & gathering; almost wholly a â€Å"primary† sector economy limited technology; a static or ‘rigid' society: lack of class or individual economic mobility, with stability prioritized and change seen negatively.Pre-conditions to â€Å"take-off† External demand for raw materials initiates economic change; development of more productive, commercial agriculture & cash crops not consumed by producers and/ or largely exported widespread and enhanced investment in changes to the physical environment to expand production (i.  e. irrigation, canals, ports) increasing spread of technology & advances in existing technologies changing social structure, with previous social equilibrium now in flux individual social mobility begins development of national identity and shared economic interests Take off – The take-off is the interval when the old blocks and resistances to steady growth are finally overcome.The forces making for economic progress, which yielded limited bursts and enclaves of modern activity, expand and come to dominate the society. Growth becomes its normal condition. Compound interest becomes built, as it were, into its habits and institutional structure (Chang, 2003, p. 7). Manufacturing begins to rationalize and scale increases in a few leading industries, as goods are made both for export and domestic consumption the â€Å"secondary† (goods-producing) sector expands and ratio of secondary vs. primary sectors in the economy shifts quickly towards secondary textiles & apparel are usually the first â€Å"take-off† industry, as happened in Great Britain's classic â€Å"Industrial Revolution† Drive to maturity is that stage when a society has effectively applied the range of (then) modern technology to the bulk of its resources (Chang, 2003, p. 59).Diversification of the industrial base; multiple industries expand & new  ones take root quickly manufacturing shifts from investment-driven (capital goods) towards consumer durables & domestic consumption rapid development of transportation infrastructure large-scale investment in social infrastructure (schools, universities, hospitals, etc. ) Age of mass consumption the industrial base dominates the economy; the primary sector is of greatly diminished weight in economy & society widespread and normative consumption of high-value consumer goods (e. g.  automobiles) consumers ty pically (if not universally), have disposable income, beyond all basic needs, for additional goods Rostow's theory is limited in many ways it is considered too generalised and only applicable to western countries.It works on the assumption that funds are effectively put into investment projects. If financial institutions are not effective this will not take place. From this failure the next assumption will not occur. The government should develop an infrastructure, to develop roads, ports, hospital and schools, if this does not occur take-off will not take place.  (Rostow, 1960).The model de-emphasizes differences between sectors in capitalistic vs. communistic societies, but seems to innately recognize that modernization can be achieved in different ways in different types of economies. There are certain similarities between Rostow's stages of growth analysis and the Marxian analysis of the historical evolution of an economy. They are both audacious attempts to interpret how whol e societies evolve from primarily an economic perspective.Both accept the reality of group and class interests in the political and social process, linked to interests of economic advantage and both accept the fact that economic change has social, political and cultural consequences. In terms of economic technique, both are based on sectoral analysis of growth process, although Marx confined himself to consumption goods and capital goods sectors, while the stages of growth are rooted in a more disaggregated analysis of leading sectors which flows from a dynamic theory of production. Both the theories would pose, in the end, the goal of true affluence for human society.From other view points, however, there are fundamental differences. The most fundamental difference between the two analyses relates to the view taken regarding human motivation. Marx interpreted human behaviour only in economic terms. According to Marx profit-maximisation is the only dominant motive of man in his econ omic activities. Rostow's stages of growth analysis are no doubt an economic way of looking at whole societies, yet they do not ignore the non-economic influences. Man is viewed as a complex unit and therefore subject to a number of social, political, cultural and emotional influences (Rostow, 1960).Marx considers the behaviour of societies as determined by economic considerations. Rostow's analysis does not accept that view. In Rostow's (1960) view, cultural, social and political forces also influence the performance of societies. Even economic performance is conditioned by the above forces. A contrast between Rostow's analysis of post-traditional and Marx's post-feudal phase—capitalism—is also worth noting. Marx held that the decisions of capitalist societies are made simply in terms of the free-market mechanism and private advantage. Marxian analysis fails to explain the emergence of a welfare state.However, Rostow's analysis of the breakdown of traditional societie s is based on convergence of motives of private profit in the modern sectors with a new sense of affronted nation ­hood (Rostow, 1960). According to Marxian analysis, history moves forward by the clash of conflicting interests and outlooks. According to Rostow, however, â€Å"the outcome of conflict in a regularly growing society is likely to be governed by ultimate consideration of communal continuity. † Marx's analysis of history was based only on the experience of British take-off and drive to maturity.At that time, no other country had reached the take-off stage. By generalizing the British case Marx missed the variety of experience in the evolution of different societies. This makes the Marxian historical sequence unduly rigid and artificial. According to G. M. Meier, Rostow's analysis can claim to be a superior alternative to the Marxian sequence. Rostows stage theory helps us â€Å"to isolate the strategic factors that constitute the necessary and sufficient conditi ons for determining the transition of an economy from a preceding, stage to a succeeding stage.†Cairncross holds that, â€Å"Rostow, like, Marx, adopts a stage approach to history. But he has failed to show how the major variables in social and economic developments operate in different situations. Cairncross says, Rostow is perhaps too anxious like Marx to dramatize history not merely to make it dramatic and give it meaning but to reduce it to a set pattern, to compare the texture of events into too narrow a framework of logic,†An approach to history in these terms may make good drama or supply the element of myth required for a popular manifesto; but it  does not make good theory or, for that matter, good history. † Again in the opinion of Cairncross, one of the greatest weaknesses of stage approach to history is that it provokes but it cannot answer the question what comes next. The engine of growth in the Marxist system is assumed to break down completely wh en capitalism fulfils its destiny; Marx has nothing to say about the laws of motion of a post-capitalist society. In Rostow's exposition, the last but presumably no' the final stage is an era of high mass consumption.Although he brood on what lies beyond affluence he cannot tells us what stages have yet to come? Vaclav Holesovsky holds that Marx's classification of history is-only an approximation to the reality and the measuring rod is a single variable—the varying form in which the surplus is appropriated from the producers. This is not the case with Rostow. He has adopted a symptomatic approach and describes features of a society at various stages of development.