Big Brother Isn’t Watching You.

Big brother isn't watching you. Big brother isn't watching you is a commentary on the UK riots in 2011, written by the famous British actor, Russel Brand. Brand is known for his characteristic British accent, several popular movies, such as â€Å"Get Him to the Greek† and â€Å"Forgetting Sarah Marshall† but also the boyfriend of the famous singer, Katy Perry. He is also a comedian, which he mentions in the commentary. It can also be spotted several places in the text, where he is some how humorous and sarcastic.For an example where he wrote â€Å"I mean even David Cameron came home from his vacation† and â€Å"I’ve heard Theresa May and the Old Etonians whose hols have been curtailed (many would say they’re the real victims) saying the behavior is â€Å"unjustifiable† and â€Å"unacceptable†. Wow! Thanks guys! † He tells us that he no longer lives i England, but moved to Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles. He was usually not that fon d of really TV, until he started working for Big Brother. It got to him, and he described it as â€Å"bloody† interesting.It was also part of his job. Brand uses the famous quote â€Å"Big Brother is watching you† by George Orwell, where he depicted a dystopian surveillance society. This phenomenon is now known as a Big Brother society. He then rewrote it, by adding â€Å"isn't†. He is referring to the UK riots, and how no one is watching, and no one is doing anything about it. The rioters are from the underclass, and are not really a part of the society. The politicians and government are from the upper-class and do not ‘see' them, even when they are rioting.Frankly, they just ignore them, and this is bothering Brand. He can somehow relate to the young rioters. He himself was from the underclass in his youth (but sure isn't now), and also took part in some protests and riots. It irritates him that no one is doing anything about the riots. His background i s also reflected in his style of writing. Like I said, he is being sarcastic from time to time. But he is also fornicating. He uses the word â€Å"fucking† twice.He is good at reaching out to the reader and makes his point, while it is still interesting. It is also his job to make us like whatever he writes, says and does. Brand's primary way of argumentation is pathos. He is making us relate to the rioters too, and is some how successful. Roughly, one could also say that he uses ethos. I am referring to the part where he quotes a British first-world-war general â€Å"You cannot rouse the animal in man then expect it to be put aside at a moment's notice†.The fact that he is using quotes, and knows that it was said by a British first-world-war general. It makes the reader trust the facts he is stating. The rioters are the real victims. They should be looking at causes of the riots, which Brand claims is the government and society ignorance and carelessness towards the y ouths. In this context the phrase â€Å"Big Brother isn’t watching you† is suitable, because Brand believes just that –the government isn’t really watching the rioters.A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a

Abercrombie & FItch vs American Eagle Essay

INTRODUCTION Fashion may be defined as a way of living, decorating, etc., which is popular today, but will soon lose their popularity. It is something passing and temporary, a simple craze of the moment to be looked down upon with dislike. For example, tight pants are the fashion today, but only a short while ago broad loose pants were the order of the day. If today a man appears in society wearing broad pants, he would be held up to ridicule, but only a few years ago they were the height of fashion, symbols of good taste and culture. American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) and Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) are two companies that play a major role in the clothing industry. The following discussion with compare and contrast the competitive advantages of the supply chain of the two companies. COMPANY HISTORY AEO American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., a billion dollar corporation, is ranked as one of the largest retail chains in America. With their central corporate headquarters in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and two other corporate facilities located in New York City and Tokyo, Japan, American Eagle, Inc. operates numerous mainline stores, factory stores, franchised stores, and distribution centers across the country and the globe. In 1977, brothers, Jerry and Mark Silverman, who owned and operated Silverman’s Menswear, a Retail Ventures, Inc. company, founded American Eagle Outfitters. Opening their first store in Novi, Michigan at Twelve Oaks Mall, the Silverman brothers were hoping to diversify their menswear line (AEO Management Co., 2013). Several stores were opened up and a catalog was created. American Eagle Outfitters continued to grow into 1990, when Jacob Price took over which led to the introduction of casual, private-label merchandise for men and women. In 1994, American Eagle Outfitters became  part of the NASDAQ stock exchange, which enabled the opening of 90 stores the following year (AEO Management Co., 2013). In 1996, new executives joined AEO and decided to modify the target demographics of the target market and reach more women, as well as focus on those who were between the ages of 18 and 32. Shortly after, American Eagle expanded to e-commerce with ae.com. By 2000, American Eagle operated 500 stores and revenues for the company quintupled to $1 billion. The Canadian market was penetrated in 2001 and in 2003 American Eagle expanded to Hawaii. Aerie, a brand extension of American Eagle, focusing on intimates for women, was launched in 2006. Another line extension, 77kids, which offered clothing for babies to pre-teen girls and boys, was established online in 2008 and the first 77kids store was opened in 2010. Today, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. operates over 1,000 stores, including 911 American Eagle Outfitters stores, 158 Aerie stores, and 21 77Kids stores, 21 of which are franchised around the globe. Additionally, ae.com, which includes links to Aerie and 77kids, reaches 77 countries. American Eagle Outfitters offers apparel, shoes, and accessories for both men and women. Clothing merchandise is comprised of denims, sweaters, graphic T’s, fleece and sweatshirts, outerwear, tops and shirts, dresses, and skirts. Shoe merchandise includes sneakers, boots, flats, sandals, slippers, clogs, heals, loafers and socks. Accessories merchandise consists of jewelry, hats, sunglasses, scarves, bags, perfume and cologne, purses, and wallets. Aerie offers merchandise for college girls that include dorm wear, such as sweats and pajamas, exercise apparel, bras, underwear, accessories, and some personal care items. 77kids offers apparel for infants, children, and preteen girls and boys (AEO Management Co., 2013). A&F Abercrombie & Fitch originated in 1891 as a retail sporting goods store based in New York City. It was known for its wide variety of expensive and often exotic sporting equipment and attire, ranging from tennis shoes to elephant guns. For more than half a century, the store’s apparel, guns, tackle, and other merchandise were the image of wealth and prestige. When it expanded, the firm confined its new branch stores to downtown areas of large cities and to resort areas. In the early 1970s, Abercrombie & Fitch attempted to widen its customer base by adding less-expensive items to its usual stock and by moving into the suburbs, where other stores had been building for some time. Although these steps did attract new customers, they came too late; Abercrombie & Fitch was in financial trouble and filed for bankruptcy in 1976 after 85 years in business (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2013). Oshman’s Sporting Goods, Inc. bought the firm in1978. In 1988 Abercrombie & Fitch was bought by The Limited, Inc (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2013). Repositioned as the trademarked â€Å"casual luxury† brand, it became parent to the subsidiary brands Abercrombie kids, a children’s line launched in 1998 and marketed as Abercrombie; Hollister Co., a line for younger teens launched in 2000; RUEHL No. 925, a line targeting post-graduate s launched in 2004; and Gilly Hicks, a women’s line launched in 2008. Following Abercrombie & Fitch’s overhaul, the company received significant criticism for its advertising and its clothing, which were perceived by many as encouraging its target audience to adopt a sexually promiscuous lifestyle (Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 2013). MISSION STATEMENT AEO American Eagle has a clearly defined set of â€Å"corporate values† which guides the actions of employees at all levels of the AE organization: PEOPLE The vitality of our company resides in our people. We collaborate, we engage, we achieve (About.com, 2013). INTEGRITY We hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards. In the face of difficulties and challenges, we don’t compromise (About.com, 2013). PASSION Our passion infuses our actions and purpose. It transforms stores into places of energy and customer delight (About.com, 2013). INNOVATION We operate in a dynamic and competitive industry. We continually refine the unique processes that drive our business, and we use insightful research and analysis to balance our instinct and to guide our decisions. Our associates embody entrepreneurial spirit, develop creative solutions, and initiate change (About.com, 2013). TEAMWORK We work together – listening to one another, reaching consensus and supporting group decisions. We celebrate achievements. Because we respect and trust one another and commit ourselves to our company goals, our teamwork succeeds (About.com, 2013). Additionally American Eagle has a service goal that guides employees in their everyday retailing tasks: â€Å"We respond to the needs of our customer and enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done (About.com, 2013).† A&F â€Å"Abercrombie and Fitch focuses upon high-quality merchandise that compliments the casual classic American lifestyle (About.com, 2013).†   But beyond that simple mission statement, Abercrombie & Fitch emphasizes its brand vision, brand attributes, and the value of the Abercrombie & Fitch brand, which has been of ultimate importance since CEO Mike Jeffries took on the leadership role. Abercrombie & Fitch has said this about its brand to its stakeholders: â€Å"The A&F brand is more authentic and relevant than ever. The brand is our lifestyle, our focus—it ensures growth and promises stability. A great brand is a center of growth and revenue—it represents a relationship with customers. It’s not a faddish chip to be cashed in on shortsighted gains. The value of having a great brand is far-reaching and cannot be overstated—it’s a snowball effect. The A&F label gives us the ability to evolve, creating endless growth opportunities. It helps us attract the brightest, most talented young people from around the country. It attracts millions to our website. It allows for greater profit margins. It lessens the risk of moving on new business concepts. It promotes innovation. It ensures long-term profitability. It adds built-in value to everything we produce. It accelerates growth. It stabilizes. It gives focus and direction. It produces an emotional response in consumers (About.com, 2013).† Comparing these two mission statements, it is clear that American Eagle Outfitters is focused more on just their merchandise, unlike Abercrombie & Fitch. AEO has a passion not only for their brand and employees but their consumers as well. While A&F, is only focused on their brand not on the  operational execution of its employees, or the experience of its customers. This holds true of A&F because recently their CEO, Mike Jeffries, came under fire for reportedly saying they only target to â€Å"thin and beautiful people† which is why they do not sell or make any size over 10 or large for women. Mike Jeffries has said, â€Å"That’s why we hire good-looking people because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that (Walker, 2013).† On A&F’s website, they claim to embrace diversity throughout the entire organization but what Mike Jeffries has been quoted saying, is contradictory of what the company claims they are about. â€Å"We are committed to embracing the diversity of our associates and management throughout our organization. On the surface, our dedication to maintaining a diverse working and shopping environment can be easily seen by walking through one of our stores, domestically and internationally. More notably, Abercrombie & Fitch’s commitment can be seen through our exceptional diversity programs, whether they are internal or external, and the results they yield. Diversity reflects the multidimensional insights we share collectively. Simply put, it is imperative to our growth that we staff our business with diverse talent and run our business with an inclusive mindset (Abercrombie & Fitch, 2013).† SUPPLY CHAIN AEO American Eagle Outfitters strategy to improve apparel factory working conditions starts with factory inspections based on their Vendor Code of Conduct. They then focus on remediating the issues they find during those inspections, which often includes additional factory training and capacity building programs (AEO Management Co., 2013). They partner with other brands and retailers, multi-stakeholder organizations, civil society groups, trade unions, governments, and others to better understand and address what is happening in the factories and countries where their clothes are made. By working together, they strive to  collectively develop more sustainable solutions to the problems they find (AEO Management Co., 2013). Finally, they are committed to being obvious about how they are doing. By reporting publicly on their efforts, this is one of the many ways they ensure that they remain focused on their goals, disciplined in their efforts, and accountability for their performance (AEO Management Co., 2013). A&F Abercrombie & Fitch has very tight control over the design and manufacturing of their clothing. To help the company keep control, have higher margins and protect the brand, they design their own ranges which are manufactured exclusively for A&F. The head office for A&F is located in Ohio and is called â€Å"The Campus†. At this location, there is a center known as the â€Å"Innovative Design Center†. Here, a dedicated team uses over 100 wash, quality assurance, lab and graphic machines (Webb, 2009). They are responsible for merchandise design and development. â€Å"Design packages† were created by the company to reduce the time and cost of product development (Webb, 2009). These design packages are then given to the vendors. By keeping strict control over design, manufacturing and product development, the company is able to protect the brand from being copied and having the image damaged. By having greater control, it allows A&F to deliver on their promise to the customer and consumer. This in turn creates a relationship based on trust and gives them a competitive advantage. Again, with Abercrombie & Fitch, they are more focused on keeping control of their brand and image, while American Eagle Outfitters are trying to improve factory conditions for their workers. This once again proves that A&F does not care about their people. CONCLUSION In summary, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters play a significant role in the clothing industry. While A&F’s practices are some  what contradictory and outlandish, AEO remains the opposite. A&F needs to take a cue from AEO and focus more on their consumers than just their brand. There is no question why it is that AEO is ranked at 649 on the Fortune 1000 List and A&F is trailing behind them at 651 (Salesforce, 2013). Works Cited Abercrombie & Fitch. (2013). Diversity Commitment. Retrieved from A&F Cares: http://www.anfcares.org/diversity/commitment.jsp About.com. (2013). Abercrombie & Fitch Mission Statement. Retrieved from About.com: http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/Abercrombie—Fitch-Mission-Statement.htm About.com. (2013). American Eagle Company Mission Statement. Retrieved from About.com: http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/American-Eagle-Mission-Values.htm AEO Management Co. (2013). AEO History. Retrieved from American Eagle Outfitters: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=81256&p=irol-history AEO Management Co. (2013). AEO Supply Chain. Retrieved from American Eagle Outfitters: http://www.ae.com/web/corpResp/supply_chain/our_strategy.jsp Encyclopedia Britannica Online. (2013). Abercrombie & Fitch. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1121/ Abercrombie-Fitch Salesforce. (2013). Fortune 1000 Company List. Retrieved from Data.com Connect: https://connect.data.com/directory/company/fortune/1000 Walker, T. (2013, May 08). Not available in XL. Retrieved from The Indepedent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/not-available-in-xl-abercrombie–fitch-ceo-mike-jeffries-accused-of-only-wanting-thin-and-beautiful-people-8608022.html Webb, B. (2009). Managing the Fashion Brand Case Study Assignment.

Henry Moseley

Henry Moseley: An Annotated Bibliography Todd Helmenstine (November 23) November 23 Science History. Retrieved from: http://chemistry. about. com/od/novemberinscience/tp/november23history. htm In this short analysis of Moseley’s accomplishment, Helmenstine basically summed up the most important facts about Henry Moseley and his discoveries. He shows how Moseley proved that the element’s atomic number is more important than the element’s atomic weight. This proved to be important because back then, â€Å"atomic number was just a number indicating the element's position on the periodic table and not a measurable quantity. Although the facts are short, it is a quick outlook of Moseley’s accomplishments. The information found here is safe to use because sites such as About. com do not make up any of their facts. Henry Moseley (2012) Retrieved from: http://www. famousscientists. org/henry-moseley/ This biography has far more information than the previous one. It goes deeper into Moseley’s life instead of just giving general facts about him. The author goes in chronological order by stating his early life, his middle life which includes his discoveries and accomplishments, and his life when he’s older.It goes into more detail by giving the names of his discoveries such as Moseley’s Law which happens to be the systematic relationship between the atomic number and wavelength. The biography also explains that if he had not died in war, he would have contributed even more about the atomic structure and possibly winning a Nobel Prize. † This biography is up to date, and seems to be reliable due to the wide range of other scientists. Heilbron, J. L. (1974). H. G. J. Moseley: The Life and Letters of an English Physicist, 1887–1915. Berkeley: University of California Press. Retrieved from: http://www. hemistryexplained. com/Ma-Na/Moseley-Henry. html In this analysis of Moseley’s life/ discoveries, more fac ts are being shown. For example, it shows that there was a research group composed of Ernest Rutherford, Niels Bohr, Hans Grieger, and of course Henry Moseley. All of these scientists made important discoveries, but Moseley wanted to further investigate x-rays. The author suggests that the way Moseley did things was a â€Å"classical example of the scientific method. † The article is very excellent and seems very reliable, and it seems to have gathered information from various sources.Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley from World of Chemistry. (2005-2006) Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved. Retrieved from: http://www. bookrags. com/biography/henry-gwyn-jeffreys-moseley-woc/ Other than just saying what Moseley experimented, this biography actually explained in detail what he did exactly with the x-rays. It also explains the reason why Moseley knew why atomic number was far more important than the atomic weight. The main difference is that the variati on in atomic masses between adjacent elements is never consistent, whereas the variation in nuclear charge is always precisely one. This statement is one of the most important ones because this is basically his whole discovery. The information is quite old, but it has all the same information as other reliable sites. The University of Oxford (2011) The Story of Moseley and X-rays. Retrieved from: http://www. physics. ox. ac. uk/history. asp? page=moseley Although some of the information has already been mentioned in other various sites, what many of them lack is a visual of Moseley’s experiments, and that’s exactly what this biography has. The visual portrays his experiment in exact details and all the results that came from it.Although â€Å"there was no explanation for these multiple lines (and several other weaker lines not shown on Moseley's diagram) and this had to await the discovery of the spin of the electron and the quantum theory, as did the slight departure s from linearity. † This shows that sometimes even the scientist that is conducting an experiment can be confused or have the lack of knowledge of something. The article found here is a year old, so the information is still valuable, and the source from which it came from is valuable.

Employee Reaction Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Employee Reaction - Assignment Example The level of innovation comes into focus in this case. The more innovative an employee is at the workplace, the greater the chance that he or she will be a valuable asset to the organization. In this case, the compensation for such an individual will be high. This is for the purpose of maintaining them. This is especially bearing in mind that other organizations may be looking for such individuals and offer them even greater pay packages (WorldAtWork, 2007). The requirements of the job ought to be clearly highlighted. This is especially in the case of the employees. For this reason, the employees will apply for job positions while knowing what is in store especially in the case of their compensation. At times there is the issue of signing up for a job without the knowledge of what the implications of the job are. 5. Is it relevant for employees to state the amount of compensation they would like? To a greater extent it would be relevant. This is because it is the employees who know how much work they have to do and what is in store in the course of their duties. However, in most cases, the quoted figure would be high. For this reason, the management ought to negotiate with the employees on matters to do with compensation until a valid figure is reached (WorldAtWork,

Liberation Theology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Liberation Theology - Essay Example Many European priests heeded his call and went to work alongside their Latin American colleagues. "In time, the arrival of priests who were accustomed to the economic and political situation in developed countries contributed significantly to the development of liberation theology". (Tombs, 2002, p. 18) The influx of foreign priests encouraged a sense of renewal in the Latin American church and particularly strengthened those who believed that poverty could and should be prevented. In the many instances where progressive priests faced resistance and persecution, the foreign priests were sometimes at an advantage over local nationals. This is the reason as to why "the Theology of Liberation and other early works of liberation theology focused attention on the urgent need for social justice and suggested a more open attitude towards socialism and Marxist analysis". (Tombs, 2002, p. 137) "Many poor families had lost their land and were forced to move to urban areas or remain in desperate conditions in rural areas, facing social exclusion". (Ribeiro, 1999, p. 304) Despite Liberation Theology, the main reason for confronting to the poor people of the society is that we have kept the basic principles of liberation theology aside, and are unable to recognize the true face of capitalism. T he Gospel messages have been out of touch from our lives. We can again start developing those liberation rules in our lives, which we have put aside. Those rules will make us start once again act according to true theologians of liberation. For this purpose we must start reading the bible in order to make it clear the social injustice confronted by the poor. We must percept the real image of socio analytical capitalistic system, which always dominated the poor in the context of human rights. The perception of social reality must be seen and implemented in the light of Bible quotations. Before a plan for a social program is being floated, the question to consider is, "Will this, or will this not, improve the situation of the poor" If it will, it should be supported, since it will bring about a consequent broadening of the degree of social justice in society. If it will not, it should be opposed, as it will simply entrench the non-poor with greater power than ever. "The opposite of a preferential option for the poor would be a preferential option for the rich, assuming that if the rich get more and more money and goods, some of the gains will 'trickle down' to the poor. This is a convenient theory for the well-to-do, but it is a dubious bit of economics, since those with wealth are exceedingly loath to share it with others, and the result of a preferential option for the rich is almost always that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer". (Brown, 1993, p. 32) There must be an equal distribution of wealth according to the principles of Liberation Theology. To feel the societal injustice, one must not find it hard how a verse in the scripture rings a responsive cord in the lives and hearts of the two thirds of the human family who go to bed hungry every night, or the parents who fear that their child will be one of the fifteen thousand children who die every day from starvation or malnutrition. "If we were truly hungry, we would have greate r

Authentic learning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Authentic learning - Essay Example In many cases authentic learning incorporates a multiplicity of styles that are basically meant to enhance the quality of the learning process (Herrington & Herrington, 2006). The learning environment in authentic learning stretches beyond the classroom to include other aspects of learning that may lie beyond the school compound to the wider community. The resources of the learning process are obtained both from the school and the community around where the authentic learning takes place (Herrington, Reeves & Oliver, 2010). The students often engage in social discourses in order to make it possible for the learning process to proceed in a manner that is both resourceful and meaningful within the understanding of knowledge development. Studies on the effectiveness of authentic learning have argued that it enhances the process of cognitive development more than the traditional learning systems. The learning process is distinguished through a hands-on approach. This approach allows the students to participate in the learning process in a manner that is consistent with the need to develop a learner-centered strategy. One characteristic of authentic learning system is that it allows students to develop products that are meant for the benefit of a real audience (Mishan, 2004). For example students in a history may make use of authentic learning by developing an oral product that narrates some details of the learning product. The importance of authentic learning revolves around the aspect of the development of the learning process. It might be argued that the process of cognitive development is largely controlled by a combination of different experiences. Authentic learning usually involves the processing of knowledge from factors that are determined by the society and other forces often included within the element of learning. It might be argued that learning in such situations often involves a combination of social, individual and academic factors. A concise underst anding of the authentic learning process must begin with an appreciation of some of the factors that relate to the aspect of social development. Precisely, theories that emphasize on the social dimension of the learning process have been used to develop structures on which authentic learning takes place. The curriculum that supports authentic learning must involve some specific structures and operational mechanics that foster the element of social interactions throughout the learning process (Magliaro, Lockee & Burton, 2005). This kind of learning is results-oriented and tailored on specific needs of the society. In usual cases learning takes place within an open environment that allows for flexible participation of students in group activities. The goal of authentic learning is to develop a body of knowledge and skills that is responsive to the actual needs of the society. It derives from the philosophy that knowledge must address the needs of the society. It is precisely because o f this factor that it departs from the tradition of abstract learning. Authentic Learning Experience Plan Brief guided interactive discussion on authentic learning and behaviorism theory of learning, (10 minutes). Questions to be administered (10 minutes) 1. Apart from chalk and the writing board,

Multinational Corporation Expansion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Multinational Corporation Expansion - Essay Example The political and legal factors ruling the target company determine the ease with which the organization can establish its business. Proper understanding of the demographics as well as socio-cultural environment of the target market will determine the strategies and promotional plans for market growth. In the current expansion plan, the company chosen is Pfizer, largest pharmaceutical company worldwide. The target market chosen will be Vietnam, where the company has launched its operations yet. COMPANY DESCRIPTION Pfizer is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in United States (Pfizer, 2013a). It is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in terms of revenue. The company is involved in manufacturing and production of vaccines and medicines for a wide range of medical conditions. The company has its operations in more than 42 countries around the globe. In the current making plan, the company is planning to launch its business in Vietnam (Pfizer, 2013b). COUNTRY DESCRIPTIO N Vietnam, also known as Socialist Republic of Vietnam and is located in the eastern coast of Southeast Asia. The country is bordered by china, Laos and Cambodia. Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam. The country has a single party socialist system, with the government and the president having executive powers. The country is inhabited mainly by the Viet, constituting about 86 percent of the total population. The average life expectancy is 73 years. Around 70 percent of the demographics belong to age group 15- 64 and merely 7 percent of population constitute 65 years or above. In terms of health and malnutrition, it is one of the major issues in rural provinces. The country has suffered from diseases such as malaria and has made progress in establishing a south health system. DIMENSIONS OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCE Management of international finance deals with monetary and financial decisions taken in the area of international business. High inflation of international trade is responsible f or the growth in international business. Thus, while doing international trade, involvement of trade and tariffs is normal and financial management becomes critical as these trade laws and regulations are different for different international markets. International finance is different from domestic finance. There are three dimensions of International finance which differentiates it from others; 1. Political risks and Foreign exchange, 2. Imperfections in market, and 3. Expanded set of opportunities. Political risks and Foreign exchange When individuals and companies are involved in cross-border transactions, they are exposed to risk associated with foreign exchange markets. These are foreign exchange risks and political risks. The companies are exposed to risk in terms of currency rates and nature of the foreign markets. To curb these risks, Pfizer can opt for conducting business in the local currency. Vietnam’s forex market has remained low, so to decrease the forex risk, P fizer can utilize the foreign risk management techniques used in United States. Political risks range from unexpected changes in tax laws to inappropriate or misuse of assets by foreigners. The economic development

Hitler's Rise to Power and Fascism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Hitler's Rise to Power and Fascism - Essay Example Rather, he wanted to become the dictator of a Nazi Germany. This paper seeks to examine and analyze the events that took place between 1929 and 1934 that contributed to the rise of power of Hitler and evaluate how these events define fascism. The paper also tries to examine fascism and its nature from a Marxist viewpoint1. The late 1920s and early 1930s market the most unstable period in Germany socially, politically, and economically. Most of the government administrations were is a state of disarray, the populace scared and disillusioned, and the Great Depression of 1929 market the crumble of the economy before the eyes of the population. The events combined to create a precarious stature in the nation, a country looking for a saviour. However, the saviour came in form of fascism, an ideology whereby the all-power state dominates the individuals under the rule of one supreme leader. The hand â€Å"designated† to lead the Germany people out of the deceptions and problems was Adolf Hitler, the fascist dominator2. The challenges and difficulties of this period gave the Nazi party and Hitler an opportunity to employ their schemes and propaganda to gain favour with the disenchanted nation and win their trust, but importantly, manipulate their minds. By mid-1920s, Hitler was an established leader of the Nazi Party. Hitler’s success in his pilgrimage to higher power as a politician was due to his dominating and powerful personality. Hitler was not only a master orator and a charismatic speaker, but also his public speeches were so dynamic and passionate that he drove the crowds wild with enthusiasm. His devoted oratory prowess enabled him to make vague promises while avoiding details, by using simple catchy phrases and repeating them repeatedly3. Hitler’s authoritarian and dominance nature was the exact change that people of Germany were looking for after subjection to unsuccessful and indecisive muddling of Weimar government and other predecess ors. Another most significant factor that led t the rise of power of Hitler was the Treaty of Versailles, in five basic ways. First, the people of Germany believed that they had been betrayed because the Armistice was signed before the arrival of allied troops into German soil. Second, the treaty angered the people of Germany and caused economic and political disabilities. Third, the Weimar republic was moderate and weak, thus allowed things to get out of hand. Fourth, the German economy was over-dependent on American loans, which led to significant devastation after the Great Depression of 1929. Last, the Stock Market Crash and the subsequent increment of tariffs created tense international relations4. All these created the right condition for Hitler to seize power. After the Great Depression, the economy of Germany was in ruins, and the inflation rate was staggering. For majority of its citizens, the hyperinflation resulted to more suffering than the war5. This led to festering re sentment and anger among the people, not laying the blame on Kaiser’s war government that had initiated the borrowing trend. Instead, the blame was on Weimar government, which had signed the Versailles treaty to pay reparations. This meant that Germans were more willing to listen to extremists who advocated for the overthrow of the government. Among the most successful extremists was the Nazi Party, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. The famous Wall Street Crash and the resultant Great Depression of 1929 plunged the world into an economic slide. Most people fell

An Outline for Malden Mills Complex Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

An Outline for Malden Mills Complex - Coursework Example The downside effect of his decision is that he lost a lot of money. On the face of his decision, Malden Mills was viewed as a company with a human face, whose main objectives were not only making a profit but also maximizing the employees’ welfare and the community at large. It’s also because of this gesture that Malden Mills was able to get a tender from the Department of Defense to manufacture high-performance apparel for its military. This contract was able to get them out of bankruptcy. Ironically, the very merits for which Malden Mills is lauded among CSR advocates are also the main causes of Malden Mills’ bankruptcy (which left its former creditor GE Capital its largest shareholder) and of Feuerstein’s fall from management. Malden Mills was a capitalist firm in competitive environment structure. Continuing to maintain idled workers expanded the cost structure of Malden Mills. Lump sum compensation for the workers would have been the ideal solution in such a situation if I were the president of Malden Mills. Feuerstein’s philosophy captures human resources management at the pick of its effectiveness. He did not allow a devastating fire to shut Malden Mills down. With the help of a people-focused leader, Malden Mills displayed tenacity, loyalty and dedication in its decision to rebuild. He made a decision - one that others in the textile industry found hard to believe. Feuerstein decided to rebuild right there in Lawrence - not to move down South or overseas as much of the industry had done in search of cheap labour (Leung, 2009). The company may have filed for bankruptcy twice but what Feuerstein did for the Malden Mills staff opened a new leaf in the field of human resources management. Though not talked about, Malden Mills had a very strong HRM team that was able to stand by it until it was rebuilt.   A private company is owned by the company founders, a group of private investors or the management.  

Week 4 Individual Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Week 4 Individual Assignment - Essay Example Clear Hear manufactures phones at its own facilities. One of the goals of the managers of the company is to optimize production in order to take advantage of idle capacity. The company has an unused production capacity of 70,000 units. The firm has to decide whether or not to take an order of 100,000 units. The current bid is a price of $15 per unit. The firm has to consider the variable and fixed cost of producing the model. Clear Hear produces two types of phone models. The Alpha model is sold at $20. The profit margin on this model is 15% due to the fact that total cost equal $17 per unit. The Beta model is sold at $30 and it has a net market of 26.66%. Due to the fact that the production cost are higher than the price bid of the proposal the company cannot take the order under normal circumstances. To take the order the firm has to outsource the order to produce the phones at $14. The company would make a profit of $100,000 on the transaction. In order to increase revenues Clear Hear can utilize several strategies. The firm can invest money in marketing in order to attract new customers. Advertising campaigns can ignite the demand of the product. Another way to improve revenues is by motivating the sales staff. Increasing commission incentives is a way to motivate the salespeople to produce more. A firm can increase its production capacity by investing in technology such as new machinery for the production line. Increasing the production capacity of the firm can enabled the company to shift its supply curve to the right. Greater production would enable the company to increase its revenues. Another simply solution to increase the demand for the product is to decrease the price of the phones. Due to the thin margin on the Alpha model the company has to be careful with its price decreases because it may hurt profitability. It is important to pay attention to the laws of diminishing return.

Gender attribution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Gender attribution - Essay Example The system is pretty straightforward, blue for boys and pink for girls. Even parents who opt to know their baby’s sex through ultrasound allows for an early determination of purchasing choices for the birth of their child. The moment the doctor informs them of the sex creates stability in their mind that will allow for easier choices in the things they will have to buy and the atmosphere they will have to create. It determined the color of the room, the crib, the clothes and the toys just to name a few. For those who wish to wait till actual birth, they will have to settle for neutral colors just to ensure they will not look foolish if they get the gender wrong. These practices of gender referencing through color is a major issue in stereotyping gender roles that start very early on in a person’s life. The young child’s life is bounded by specific categories pertaining to their gender that has consequent effects to their future. Katrin Bennhold’s â€Å"Toys Start the Gender Equality Rift† starts off with an anecdote that took place at Hamleys. A mother looks for a gift for her niece and specifically asks the attendant where the girls section is and even remarks on the need to categorize the store properly. This incident reflects how starting from toy stores, labeling is important to emphasize gender roles. The article cites Laura Nelson, a neuroscientist and head of Breakthrough which addresses stereotyping, who remarks that â€Å"Gender-specific-color-coding influences the activities children choose, the skills they build and ultimately the roles they take in society† (Bennhold par.7). ... This will be all well except that there also exists a pay gap where women earn approximately 16% less than their male counterparts from male-dominated industries. This also affects leadership as high positions are seen to be more appropriate for male employees. â€Å"Leadership is associated with ‘male’ qualities like aggressiveness and risk-taking† (Bennhold par.10). This can be seen even in politics and other areas of society where males usually take high positions faster than do women. To date, the country is yet to elect a female president. Nevertheless, there are toy stores and countries that aim to address the elimination of gender stereotyping through toys. Sweden has implemented governmental measures which foster neutrality in order to prevent gender stereotyping. Harrod’s toy department, Toy Kingdom, has also established â€Å"gender-nonspecific zones† that aims to deal with the issue. Apart from toy stores, another child-related business wh ich seems to propagate gender stereotyping is greeting cards. These cards given by friends and family when a child is born also specify gender roles. Though they are not accepted directly by the child, they demonstrate how parents play a vital role in their child’s future. Lynda Willer’s â€Å"Welcome to Your World, Baby† is a study of greeting cards and the greeting cards industry in the sale of cards that celebrate the arrival of a newborn. The study was conducted by visiting 10 greeting card stores and examining 30 cards from each to a total of 300. The 30 cards consist of 10 boy-identified, 10 girl-identified and 10 non-gender specific (338). The study focused on two research questions as follows: Research Question 1: What are the differences in language usage in boy-specified birth

Narcissism in the Workplace Essay Example for Free

Narcissism in the Workplace Essay I. Introduction and Purpose Having an encouraging self-attitude, being self-assured, and having high self-esteem are worthwhile attributes in both work and personal life; some take these positive attributes to the extreme and become self-regarding, self-adoring, egocentric, and show little empathy for the problems and concerns of others. These people can be considered narcissists, and they can be especially problematic in business settings. Narcissists in work organizations, I believe, are more problematic than beneficial. They tend to cause problems in the workplace due to their toxic personalities. The purpose of this research paper is to prove my point that narcissists are more harmful in a workplace environment than helpful. I will point out the failures of companies due to narcissistic leaders. Although there are companies that are successful who have had a narcissistic leader such as Jack Welch and his company General Electric, it will not be covered in this paper. Secondly, I will make the point that narcissists as leaders are toxic for companies due to their relationship patterns and how it can hurt the business. Freud’s three types of personalities relate to interactions between people that helps further prove the point that narcissists are not beneficial in workplace environments. Thirdly, I will discuss possible techniques to cope with narcissistic leaders and how employees can get their opinions across to their leaders. II. Failures due to Narcissistic Leaders As narcissists become progressively self-assured, they act more impulsively. They feel free of constrictions, and their ideas and beliefs flourish. They believe they’re invincible, which further inspires followers’ enthusiasm and feeds into feelings of grandiosity. One example of a company’s failure due to narcissism is Pehr Gyllenhammar and Volvo. He had a vision that attracted a broad international audience—a plan to transform the industrial workplace by substituting the dehumanizing assembly line mimicked in Chaplin’s Modern Times. His wildly popular vision called for team-based craftsmanship. Model factories were built and publicized to international praise. But his success in pushing through these dramatic changes also sowed the seeds for his downfall. Gyllenhammar started to feel he could ignore the concerns of his operational managers. He pursued chancy and expensive new business deals, which he publicized on television and in the press. On one level, you can credit Gyllenhammar’s falling out of touch with his workforce simply due to faulty strategy. But it is also possible to blame it to his narcissistic personality. His overestimation of himself led him to believe that others would want him to be the leader of a worldwide enterprise. In turn, these fantasies led him to pursue a partnership with Renault, which was extremely unpopular with Swedish employees. Because Gyllenhammar was deaf to complaints about Renault, Swedish managers were forced to take their case public. In the end, shareholders aggressively rejected Gyllenhammar’s plan, leaving him with no option but to resign. At the University of Amsterdam, a study was taken by Nevicka Babora to determine whether or not narcissists make for good leaders. The study recruited 150 participants that were divided into groups of three. One person was randomly assigned to be the group’s leader; all were told they could contribute advice, but that the leader was responsible for making the decision. Then they undertook a group task: choosing a job candidate. Of 45 items of information about the candidate, some were given to all three, and some to only one of the participants. The experiment was designed so that using only the information all three were privy to, the group would opt for a lesser candidate. Sharing all the information that was given would lead to the best choice. After the interviews, the participants completed questionnaires. The leaders’ questions measured narcissism; the others assessed the leaders’ authority and effectiveness. As expected, the group members rated the most narcissistic leaders as most effective. But they were wrong. In fact, groups led by the greatest egotists chose the worse candidate for the job. Barbora said â€Å"The narcissistic leaders had a very negative effect on their performance. They inhibited the communication because of self-centeredness and authoritarianism.† III. Narcissistic Relationships in the Workplace As narcissists move higher up in position in a company, they are more likely to maintain relationships with coworkers who are willing to conform to their ideas and motives. Some people believe narcissists benefit the workplace environment because they are good at making relationships quickly with groups of people by charming people with their charismatic personality at the first initial meeting. They also benefit the company by them willing, and able to make whatever personal sacrifices are necessary to gain reputation and position. Taken to a certain degree, these narcissistic traits are valuable to the person and the organization. They signal â€Å"leader.† Yet, as Manfred Kets de Vries has said, â€Å"narcissism is a strange thing, a double-edged sword. Having either too much or too little of it can throw a person off balance.† Narcissists will often become obsessed with gaining power and control. They tend to make decisions on impulse, with no second thoughts, leading to potential problems. Narcissists have trouble working with others and they often do not take blame for their mistakes and they do not like to share credit for successes. Leaders with a narcissistic personality often like to surround themselves with an unquestioning loyal and uncritical staff because they do not like to feel threatened by a colleague. Also, they exploit others; forming relationships only with those he or she feels will advance his or her goals and self-esteem. Jon Carlzon, former CEO of the Scandinavian airline SAS, is a textbook example of how a narcissist’s weakness can cut short a brilliant career. Carlzon compared the ideal organization to the Brazilian soccer team; there would be no fixed roles, only innovative plays. When another input of thought of a more military form of organization was added that disagreed with Carlzon’s belief, he stated, â€Å"Well, that may be true, if your goal is to shoot your customers.† He did not engage in serious dialogue with his subordinates, displaying his trait of self-interest. He also ignored the issue of high costs, even when others pointed out SAS could not compete without improving productivity. He spent tons of money investing in unnecessary items right before his company filed for bankruptcy. Carlzon’s self-image became so enormously inflated that his feet left the ground. Freud: The Three Types of Personalities Freud identified three main types of personalities: erotic, obsessive, and narcissistic. Most of us have elements of all three; therefore, we are all somewhat narcissistic. One type of personality will dominate over the other, making us react differently to success and failure. i. Erotics tend to be the compassionate and caring. They care about being loved and believe that it is most important. Erotics are dependent on people they fear will stop loving them. Erotic’s are generally teachers, social workers, and nurses; positions which help others in need. Erotics do not make the best leaders because they try to avoid conflict as much as possible and they make people dependent on them. According to Freud, they are the outer-directed people. ii. Compared to erotics, obsessives are more inner-directed. These people tend to be more self-reliant and conscientious. They make the most effective managers in a workplace environment due to their ability to create and maintain order. They are constantly looking for ways to help people listen and understand better to resolve conflicts and find win-win opportunities. Obsessives want to constantly improve due to their conscience and their sense of moral improvement. The best obsessives communicate effectively and set very high standards. They make sure that all procedures are followed according to plan and within the budget. The most productive obsessives tend to be great mentors and team players. iii. The third type of personality is narcissistic. Narcissists are not easily impressed and independent. In business, they are driven by their innovation to gain power and glory. The best narcissists go above and beyond being experts in their industries and they crave the knowledge to know everything about the companies and products. Compared to erotics, they want to be admired not loved. They are not afraid to express their feelings and put others back in pursuit of their goals. At the moment of success, narcissists are at the greatest risk of isolating themselves out of all three personality types. Narcissists constantly look for enemies due to their independence and aggressiveness. The most toxic relationships to be made are with narcissists out of the three personality types because they are the most unstable. Generally, a relationship with a narcissist is short term because of their fear of having someone be more superior than them and due to their independence. IV. How to Cope Narcissists are not likely to realize they do not have narcissistic personality disorder nor do they know how to react when they sense they are being targeted. The best thing for a person to do in order to work well with a narcissist is to follow along with the narcissist’s ideas or plans. The best way to determine if a leader is a narcissist is finding certain qualities that narcissists display. If he or she talks frequently about him or herself, and constantly uses the word â€Å"I† and bullies and abuses those who work for him and intimidates others to get his way, these are signs of a narcissist. Also, another sign would be in public if he or she presents himself or herself as patient, congenial, and confident; however, in private is smug, arrogant, snobbish, and patronizing to subordinates and coworkers. The biggest situation you should try to avoid is not to confront the destructive narcissist directly. Confrontation with them can lead to rage and a feeling of being attacked, causing a highly malicious response. Whatever happens, stay as calm as possible and behave in an admiring manner to calm the narcissist down. Never show that you are afraid of a narcissist for they will try to use it to think that you are of lower authority than them. Get everything you can in writing and keep notes of things that narcissists may lie, bluff, threaten, and deceive about. Narcissists are likely to apologize when they have no one on their side if a mist of an argument or disagreement. They will confess their wrong doings and ask for forgiveness however, they will not mean or believe what he or she is saying. Narcissists rarely see their wrong-doings until they have no one that is admiring them, so they may fake their emotions in order for the person to feel guilty and put the blame for the situation on themselves. This also relates to narcissists taking back the things they say in order for themselves to get out of tight situations. Expect the destructive narcissist to break contracts and agreements. Protect yourself emotionally and financially from betrayal. Have a backup strategy should the destructive narcissist go back on his word, which he or she probably will. V. Conclusion Narcissistic leaders are bad for companies due to their constant admiration of themselves and inability to take criticism well. They listen to only the information they seek and they don’t learn easily from others. If a company is at its highest stress level, adding a narcissist to the stress load may cause the company failure. Works Cited Boyett, Joseph H., Ph.D. Surviving the Destructive Narcissistic Leader. Apr. 2006. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. Bruner, Robert, and Robert Spekman. Alliances: Lessons from Volvo- Renault. 2 Apr. 1998. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. Grunes, Dennis. MODERN TIMES (Charles Chaplin, 1936). MODERN TIMES (Charles Chaplin, 1936). 06 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. http://grunes.wordpress.com/2007/11/06/modern-times-charles-chaplin-1936/. Konnikova, Maria. The Narcissistic Leader: Not as Good as He (Or You) May Think. 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. http://www.maccoby.com/Articles/NarLeaders.shtml. Maccoby, Michael. Harvard Business Review. Proc. of Weaknesses of the Narcissistic Leader. 02 Aug. 2006. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. http://www.maccoby.com/Articles/NarLeaders.shtml. Maccoby, Michael. Narcissistic Leaders: The Incredile Pros, the Inevitable Cons. Jan. 2004. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. Nevicka, Barbora. Narcissists Look Like Good Leaders—But They Aren’t! Association for Psychological Science RSS. 09 Aug. 2011 . Web. 26 Nov. 2012. http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/narcissists-look-like-good-leadersbut-they-arent.html. [ 1 ]. Grunes, Dennis. MODERN TIMES (Charles Chaplin, 1936). [ 2 ]. Bruner, Robert, and Robert Spekman. Alliances: Lessons [ 3 ]. Nevicka, Barbora. Narcissists Look Like Good Leaders—But They Aren’t! [ 4 ]. Quoted in Andrea Giampetro-Meyer, Timothy Brown, S. J M. Neil Browne, and Nancy Kubasek, â€Å"Do We Really Want More Leaders in Business?† Journal of Business Ethics, 17, no. 15, (November 1998): 1730. [ 5 ]. Maccoby, Michael. Harvard Business Review. The Rise and Fall of a Narcissist [ 6 ]. Maccoby, Michael. Harvard Business Review. Proc. of Weaknesses of the Narcissistic [ 7 ]. Boyett, Joseph H., Ph.D. Surviving The Destructive Narcissistic Leader.

Why Is Soil Conservation Important Environmental Sciences Essay

Why Is Soil Conservation Important Environmental Sciences Essay Quantitative determination of the extent and impact of soil erosion by water in the tropics have been sketchy. However all available evidence indicates that accelerated erosion is a problem of serious magnitude and with a multitude of negative effects in many tropical countries. The awareness to conserve soil began approximately nine thousand years ago when human civilization shifted from nomadic hunting and gathering experience to a more permanent, settled and intensive soil-dependent plant and animal farming systems (Miller, Rasmussen and Meyer, 1985). Soil provides the medium from which most of the sustenance for humankind is derived. This thin, complex, crustal carpet uniquely integrates many attributes of the lithosphere, atomosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere (Miller, Rasmussen and Meyer 1985). Soil is regarded as a nonrenewable source since its formation from the parent rock material to an agriculturally productive growth medium is a very slow process (Lal 1990). The top soil is where most of the living activities of both flora and fauna take place. According to Brady and Weil 1999, the top soil is the upper most part of the soil ordinarily moved in tillage or its equivalent in uncultivated soils which range in depth from 7 to 25 cm (the plow layer). Removal of this plant nutrient enriched topsoil due to soil erosion would result in lowering of soil fertility through losses of both organic matter and nutrients which would result in decline of crop yields (Lal 1986; Rose and Dalal 1988). This loss in soil productivity due to erosion is serious in caribbean countries where fertilizer substitute for the lost plant nutrients is not affordable. This would lead to poorer soil profile characteristics such as low organic matter levels (Rose 1989;Rose 1998). Soil Erosion is perhaps the most serious form of land degradation throughout the world. For the tropics specifically, while it is acknowledged that erosion is more serious than else where, no analytical or systematic studies have been undertaken to document the problem, it consequences or potential solutions. Soil erosion results in lost water and plant nutrients at rates even greater than those occurring naturally through leaching ( Brady and Weil 1999). If there are no conservation practices present, soil erosion will occur and land degradation, reduced productivity due to loos of top soil, increased runoff and off site sedimentation problems (such as siltation of bodies of water and damage to crops and roads) will occur. The consequent socio-economic costs of sometimes more obvious off site damage are commonly easier to identify and quantify (Chrisholm 1987; Rose 1993). 1.2 Soil Conservation Strategies The caribbean is characterized by steep slopes. The degrees of steepness and the proportion of the land area classified as steep may vary. In Trinidad and Tobago, a larger propotion of steep slopes is still covered with natural vegetation which reduces the soil washed off the surface. Trinidad is marked with a long dry season in the early part of the year and then followed by an intense wet season. Most erosion occurs when the land is cleared of vegetation for farming. This usually occurs just before the rainy season. It is important to note however that most food crop production in Trinidad as well as the rest of the Caribbean, is carried out by small farmers on sloping land with no attention to soil conservation practices. This is the main reason for severe soil erosion in Trinidad and Tobago and by extension the Caribbean. Soil conservation is understood as not only involving the control of loss of soil material due to erosion but also the decline in fertility (chemical, physical and biological breakdown of the soil). (Young 1984). The adverse effect of soil erosion is not confined only to decrease in soil depth but ultimately to the loss loss of organic matter and plant nutrients and consequently to degradation of soil physical properties and crop yield decline ( Young 1984). It is important to note however that treating the benefits of soil conservation in isolation from other agricultural improvements does not assure adoption of the soil conservation practice (Young 1984). Integration of soil conservation is important ( Douglas 1988; Shaxson 1988). Sheng and Meiman (1988) stated reasons for the difficulty of farmers in adopting soil conservation practice. The reasons are as follows: i) long time for the result of soil conservation to be realized, ii) identification of benefits from soil conservation and iii) the need for big investments by farmers. It is important to note however that Williams and Walter (1988), in a terracing project in Venezuela, found that improvement in the living incomes and opportunites for employment, increases the difficulty of motivating the farmers to adopt soil conservation practices. Apparently when low income and underemployment prevail, farmers easily participate in soil conservation programmes (Williams and Walter 1988; Liao et al 1988). The adverse effect of soil erosion is not confined only to loss of soil particles but also the loss of organic matter and plant nutrients. As a result of this crop yield decline will occur (Young 1984). Conservation farming should serve as the basis for counteracting the problem of soil erosion. To carry out this approach in developing countries, novel approaches in extension and research are needed. The majority of the soil conservation techniques were developed in the United States of America under condtions different from the other parts of the world experiencing erosion (Sheng, 1982; Hudson 1988; Sheng 1988). The techniques that worked well in the United States were extrapolated to the tropics in the 1930s and 1940s. It took fifty years to realize that these methods were unsuitable for the tropics ( Hudson,1987; Hudson 1988). The dominant traditional farming system in the tropics are the shifting cultivation and related bush fallow systems (Okigbo and Greenland, 1976). The non-ac ceptance of the many recommendations on soil conservation methods is attributed to their in appropriateness and incompatibility with the farmers operating environment (Douglas, 1988). The following agricultural conditions in the United States of America paved the way for the development of soil conservation activities (Hudson,1982;Hudson 1987): Combined good topography and favourable climate Low population pressure for intensive land use Strong and sustained government support well educated and informed agriculture sector Readily available credit and financial support Reliable prices and market outlets for agricultural produce Highly developed and highly mechanized agricultural industry. According to Hudson (1987), the absence of these conditions in most developing countries made the North American approach to soil conseration in appropriate. The absence of political will, or the limitations in or lack of resources often hindered soil conservation programmes in developing countries. The main aim of soil conservation should be preventation rather than cure. Soil conservation activity should be focused mainly on preserving good land rather than reclaiming damaged land. Without waiting for visible soil erosion damage, farmers should be encouraged to understand that there is a need for soil conservation due to continuing reduction in agricultural yield (Hudson, 1987). Loss of agricultural productivity should be emphasized in any soil conservation programme. For sometime, soil erosion research activities had almost been exclusively directed towards uantfying soil loss, hence data on the effect of soil erosion on agriculture productivity is seriously lacking (Crosson and Stout, 1983; ASAE,1985; Follet and Stewart, 1985; Stocking, 1985). Removal of topsoil resulted in decline of yield of a variety of agricultural crops (El-Swaify, Dangler and Amstrong 1982). Factors like type of soil, depth of soil, fertility status, topography, and type of crop affected the size of the decline in agricultural yield (Frye et al, 1982; Langdale and Schrader, 1982; Schertz 1983). There is limited data for soil and crops in the tropics (Lal, 1977). The effects of soil erosion on soil productivity in the tropics are move severe than for temperate countries (Moberg, 1972). This is because of highly weathered soils, fragile fertility status and most crop nutrents are found in the topmost layer of the soil. There is also significant deterioration of physical qualities of the soil as a growing medium after soil erosion (Lo, 1990). Higher erosion rates, the more severe changes in chemical qualities resulting from erosion and the inability of the farmer to provide the necessary inputs for restoring those qualities to a sufficient level were the primary reasons given for these conclusions (El-Swaify, 1990). The benefits of soil conservation are not immediately realized in every case and may initially result in crop yield reductions (John 1988). Improvement in agricultural production, rather than mitigating soil erosion, is of more significance and desirable for the farmer, while prevention of soil loss is an unreal concept for them (Hudson, 1987). The new approach of soil conservation will be a mixture of both agronomy measures as well as mechanical works ( Tracy, 1988). Mechanical systems are frequently expensive, consume space and time, need regular maintenance and do not assure improved crop production (Roose, 1988). Too much emphasis put into mechanical works discourages effective soil conservation policies (Rose, 1989). Conservation farming systems include improved farming, with mechanical protection works being a component of last resort. This approach is consistent with the principle that improved agricultural production should lead to better soil erosion control (Hudson 1988). Biological measures provide immediately recognizable short term benefits to farmers. Any mechanical work involved in soil conservation must m aximize the use of locally available experts, minimize, the use of structures and required labour. Community involvement must be involved (Hudson, 1987). To gain acceptance by farmers, any proposed soil conservation strategy should offer short-term, apparent, rapid or immediately recognizable, directly effective benefits and positive results, particularly for subsistence farmers who work in a short-time scale and who comprise a large percentage of farmers in less developed countries (Harper and El-Swaify 1988; Hudson,1988; Lovejoy and Naiper, 1988; Sanders, 1988; Thomas 1988; Tracy, 1988; Wenner, 1988; Williams and Walter, 1988). Soil conservation techniques recommended for farmers should be simple, easily understood and demonstrated, low cost, productive, sustainable and acceptable (Douglas, 1988;Vonk 1988). Conservation measures should involve principles that can be applied to more than one situation. However, methods and techniques are often site specific and caution should be exercised in extrapolating them to other sites (Saunders 1988). Adoption of soil conservation technology is assured if the farmers have full understanding, support and participation in all the stages of the project, from planning, implementation to maintenance (Harper and El-Swaify, 1988; Sanders, 1988; Vonk 1988; Tracy 1988). Farmers full participation is ensured if they are convinced that their relevant and important needs can be adequately met (Sanders 1988). Thus the farmer needs to be recognized as part of the solution rather than a part of the problem (Hudson,1987; Hudson,1988). The three (3) main objectives of this study are: To investigate the effect of slope angle and rainfall intensities on soil erosion under controlled conditions using four distinct soil types To compare this data with that for a cropped plot. To highlight an approach at estimating erosion risk and nutrient loss for Trinidad and Tobago.

Strategies of Performance Management in the Workplace

Strategies of Performance Management in the Workplace Human Resource Management (HRM) is a function in an organization that focuses on recruitment and management, providing direction for the people who work in the organization. HRM can be performed by line managers as well. HRM is a function that deals with issues within the organization related with its workers such as hiring; matching available human resources to jobs, appraisal; performance management, rewards; the reward system is one of the most under-utilized and mishandled managerial tools for driving organizational performance, organization development; developing high quality employees, employee issues; compensation, safety, benefits, wellness, employee motivation, training, communication and administration. The overall purpose of human resource management is to ensure that the organization is able to increase its success through its employees. As Ulrich and Lake (1990) say: ‘HRM systems can be the source of organizational capabilities that allow firms to learn and capitalize on new opportunities. HRM is expected to bring more efficiency in some areas which is shown in below. Organizational effectiveness: ‘Distinctive human resource practices shape the core competencies that determine how firms compete Capelli and Crocker-Hefter (1996). This drastic research has shown that such practices can make a significant impact on company performance. HRM strategies aim to supports the practices in the company for improving effectiveness by developing methods in such areas as knowledge management, talent management and generally creating a perfect place for workers. Human capital management: The human capital of an organization consists on the people who work in that company and on whom the company depends. Bontis et al (1999) defined human capital management as; human capital represents the human factor in the organization; the combined intelligence, skills and expertise that give the organization its distinctive character. The human elements of the organization are those that are capable of learning, changing, innovating and proving the creative thrust which if properly motivated can ensure the long-term survival of the organization. Knowledge Management: ‘Knowledge management is any process or practice of creating, acquiring, capturing, sharing and using knowledge, whenever it resides to enhance learning and performance in organizations (Scarborough et al, 1999). HRM enables supporting the developments of an organization specifically the knowledge and skills which are the practices of organizational processes. Reward Management: HRM aims to enhance the motivation, job engagement and commitment by introducing the employees that they are valued and rewarded for their work performances and achievements also the levels of their skills and competences that they reach. Employee Relations: The aim is in employee interactions to create a great work climate which increases the productivity and harmonious within the organization. HRM also supports enhancing through partnerships between management and employees and their trade unions. A common substance within the HRM literature in recent years has been designed to achieve high levels of employee flexibility, commitment and performance. Human resource practices are located in a much more direct relationship with organizational policy making and performance issues than traditional approaches to personnel management (Bach and Sisson, 2000). More and more, the management of change is seen like permanent function of businesses to improve the effectiveness and maintain organizations adaptable to the competitive market. Many organizations strategically employ the change to improve the effectiveness of organization. But to bring the successful change of the condition of competition of today requires pensive planning, the effective communication and the acceptance of the employees. In this context there has been discussion about the alleged strategic contribution of HRM to the actual processes of change. This is dominated by the accounts of positivist which treat the organization while a concrete entity and practices as regards HRM as being relatively easily definable and measurable (Delaney and Huselid, 1996). Changes are occurring today that are requiring human resource managers to play an increasingly central role in managing companies. These changes or trends include globalization, changes in the nature of work, and technology. This research allows for a wider understanding of the role of HRM in change processes. A great number of questions were identified as having the negative impact on effective change management. Some of the principal topics are identified below, which cover the questions of organization and individual resistance to the change. Various initiatives of change are not always undertaken as an element of a broader logical change plan, for example by considering linkages between the strategy, the structure and the questions of systems. Consequently a change which considers a new structure but does not establish the fact that they must present new systems to support such a structure is less to succeed. The lack of effective disciplines and project management of programs can lead to ice-skating in synchronizations, in the achievement of the wished results, by making sure that the projects deliver as envisaged. The insufficient and relevant training, for example in the project management, change management qualifications, leadership qualifications can all carry out negatively on the effectiveness of any initiative of change. The poor communication was related to the questions surrounding the effectiveness in carrying out the effective change in various ways. For example, the imposed change can lead to a greater resi stance of the employees. In conclusion, the lack of effective leadership was identified like effective inhibitor of change. The resistance to change can be defined as an individual or groups beginning in the acts to block or disturb an attempt to present the change. Resistance itself can take many forms different from the mining subtle of the change initiatives, refusal of information to active resistance (via strikes). The resistance to change can be considered along various dimensions: Passive versus active, direct versus indirect, individual versus collective, behavioural versus verbal or attitudinal, minor versus major. Similarly two broad types of resistance can be considered: Resistance to the introduction of a particular reward system and to the content of change (for example to a specific change in technology) Resistance to the process of the change: This relates to the manner that a change is presented rather than the object of the change intrinsically. For example, management restructure work, without pre-consultation of the affected employees. Management need to be aware of these various criteria to ensure they respond suitably. Stated reasons for resistance are: Shock of new, loss of control, inconvenience, uncertainty, competence fears, and threat to status. It is important to try to diagnose the cause of the resistance of the employees which this will help to determine the centre of the effort in trying to remove/reduce the issue. In practice, the management of diversity comprises forced and voluntary actions. For example, there are many legally forced measurements that the employers must take to the minimum to reduce discrimination at the time of recruitment. But while such forced actions can reduce the more obvious barriers of diversity, by mixing a various labour in a closely bound community and productive also require other stages. Such a control program of diversity usually means to begin from top, as follows. Provide Strong Leadership: The companies with exemplary reputations in the diversity of management typically have CEOs who support the advantages of diversity. For example, they take the strong positions on recommending the need for and the advantages of a diverse workforce, and act as models of role for the behaviour of pro-diversity of exemplification, as by promoting even-handedly employees. Assess the Situation: The control program of diversity itself starts typically with the company evaluating the progress achieved running with regard to diversity. In particular, how much various we are, and are there diversity-related questions which we must address? The common tools here include the equal and metric use of hiring and conservation, investigations of attitude of the employees, evaluations of management and employees, and focus groups (Patricia Digh, 1999). Provide Diversity Training and Education: To assume the evaluation indicates questions the needs for company to address, a certain type of program of change is in rule. This frequently implies a certain type of the staff training and program of education, for example by having employees discuss with the expert trainers the values of diversity and the types of the behaviours and damages which can undermine it (Robert Grossman, 2000). The formation of diversity often aims sensitizing all the employees with the need for evaluating differences and for creating the self-esteem, and at building generally more without jolt an operation and a hospital environment for the various labour of the company Change Culture and Management Systems: To reinforce the formation, the needs for management also to reinforce the words of the formation with contracts. In the best of the cases, combine the training schemes with other concrete stages aimed by changing the values of the organization, the culture, and the systems of management. For example, change the plan of allowance to motivate directors points for the attitudes investigation of the employees conflict in intergroup to improve their attitude survey scores. Evaluate the Diversity Management Program: For example, do the surveys of employee attitude now show any improvements in employees manners to the diversity? By creating control programs of diversity, do not be unaware of the obvious questions. For example, the immigrants being exerted in their mother languages can facilitate to learn and ensure conformity the subjects such as rules of safety and policies of harassing, and thus relieve their entry in your labour (Carol Hastings, 2002). The resistance of supervisor is another issue. One of the large British retailer found in their study that typical diversity prescriptions like â€Å"recognize and respond to individual differences† conflicted with the supervisors tendency to treat people even-handedly in the organization (Foster and Harris, 2005). Does it pay to invest the time and the resources of the employer by widening the diversity, and setting its employees to work together more harmoniously? The blatant answer would be ‘yes. IBM created several minority task forces focusing on group such as woman and Native Americans. In ensuring a decade or more, the task forces have expended IBMs multicultural markets. For example, somebody decided to focus on expanding IBMs market amongst multicultural and woman-owned business. As a result of that, this market has grown from $10 million to more than $300 million in revenue in just 3 years (David Thomas, 2004). Longo Toyota in El Monte, California, built its competitive strategy on diversity (Richard Orlando 1995). In regard to 60-person sales- force that can speak more than 20 languages, Longos employees provide a great rivalry advantage for serving a progressively diverse customer base. The human resources department of Longo accordingly has much to do with strategic success of Longo (J. T. Childs Jr., 2005). A survey of 113 MBA job seekers showed that women and ethnic minorities have seen diversity management to be important when accepting job offers (Eddy Ng and Bu rke, 2005). Furthermore, a recent study showed that â€Å"few positive or negative direct effects of diversity on performance,† so presenting an effective diversity program seems to be key point (Thomas Kochen et al 2003). How one can it indicate if the diversity initiatives are effective? There are some questions of good direction to ask: Are there women and minorities reporting directly to the senior executive? Do the women and the minorities have a fair equal opportunity to access for the international tasks? Do the women and the minorities have an equitable part of the tasks of work which are their traditional stepping-stones to the successful careers within the company? Does the employer take measurements (including evaluations of execution directed by development and to provide developmental occasions) which ensure the female and of the minority candidates will be in the drain of the professional life development in the company? Are the rates of sales turnover for directors for female and minority same or they are lower than those for the white male directors (Bill Leonard, 2002)? Even for a company with several hundreds of employees, to maintain such metric is expensive. The director of HR therefore may want to count on various automated solutions. One of those packages â€Å"Measuring Diversity Results† provides to directors of HR several diversity-related options of software aimed amplifying the exactitude of information at the disposal of the director, and reducing the costs to gather it and compile. In the other packages in suppliers diversity management which let the director more easily calculate: the cost by hiring of diversity; an index of profile of labour; numerical impact of the voluntary sales turnover among the various groups of the employees; effectiveness of the initiatives of diversity of the supplier of the company [employment]; current measurements of diversity; and the things such as direct as a replacement cost direct per hiring. The concept of the reengineering again traces its origins with the developed theories of management for the purpose of reengineering is to maximising all the processes to best-in-class. Frederick Taylor suggested in the 1880s, managers use such reengineering methods for discovering the best processes to carry out work, and these processes are reengineered to optimize the productivity. BPR shows the classical thought that the tasks were conducted with only one way. In Taylors time, technology was not enough high for big companies to create processes in a cross-functional or cross-departmental attitude. Specialization was the method of the last cry to improve the effectiveness given technology of time. (Lloyd, Tom, 1994) In the 1900s, Henri Fayol inspired the concept of reengineering: To lead the company towards its objectives while seeking to derive the optimum advantage from all the resources available. Although the technological resources of our age changed, the concept is always held. Meanwhile, the other business engineer, Lyndall Urwick stated It is not enough to hold people accountable for certain activities, it is also essential to delegate to them the necessary authority to discharge that responsibility. (Lloyd, Tom, Giant, Clay, 1994) This remonstrance announces the idea of the enabling of workman who is central with the reengineering. Nowadays, some of the successful business corporations around the world seem to be hit upon a great solution: Business Process Reengineering. However, it may be highly likely to fail in reengineering process unless the demonstration of how to reengineer the human resource in conjunction with reengineering processes is made clearly. In order to collision these tendencies, the top management must provide a perpetual information flow throughout the organization according to reengineering successes and expectations, and revised the job evaluation system to impress on the new values of team work and co-operation. When speaking about processes importance as most of the companies have their charts, they must also be dealing with what is called process road map for a picture to show how the work will be going through the company. This picture will provide some tools and methodologies to identify the companys actual business process and also which can be used to be a road map when implementing a reengineering process of products and business enterprise service functions. It can be a critical link that reengineering team of the companies can apply for a better understanding and sharply develop the companies business processes and bottom-line efficiency. The processes that they are taken mapped and identified, deciding on what needs to be reengineered, and in what operation million pounds will be invested important questions. Companies are not willing to take up disagreeable task of reengineering all the processes at the same time. Usually company decisions based on three criteria: Feasibility: wha t are the processes that have the highest possibility to be successful in reengineering process? Importance: what are the most accurate and efficient terms based on customer satisfaction? Dysfunction: what processes are not functioning as it is expected (Hammer,M., Champy.J, 1993)? If you fail to plan, you plan to fail (http://www.ecademy.com). Both processes Planning and Preparation are essential factors for any implementation to success it as well as reengineering process requires these factors. Before starting for reengineering, the question must be asked if BPR is necessary. When there is a significant need for the reengineering process, the confirmation of this need indicates the starting of the Preparation activity. This activity starts with the improvement of the executive consensus on the importance of the reengineering and the bond between the business goals and the projects of reengineering. A mandate for the change is produced and a cross-functional calculus team is established with a plan for the process of the reengineering. While training the cross-functional calculus team, measurements should be taken to make sure that the company continues to function in the absence of several principal players. Because the typical projects of BPR comprise the c o-operation cross-functional calculus and the crucial changes with the status quo, it is difficult to lead planning for the changes of organization without strategic direction starting from the top. The impact of the environmental changes which are used the impulse for the effort as reengineering must also be considered by establishing directives for the project of reengineering. Another factor that is important to consider while establishing the strategic goals for the effort of reengineering process is to include/understand the hopes of your customers and where your existing process is missing to answer these requirements. Having an identification of the objectives led by customer, the mission or the report/ratio of vision is formulated. The vision which company believes and wants to carry out when made a well defined vision will support the resolution of a company by the effort of the process of reengineering. The company believes in a vision and wants to achieve its success in t he future and in additional the company can resolve the stress through operations of sustaining the reengineering process. Training programs for the workers must be included within the preparation phase in order to clarify the job clearance to let workers to understand their duty to harmonize with the reengineering process of the company. Performance review is also a vital part to be monitored of the company whilst implementing a reengineering process. There are two important things which have to be monitored; first is the action progress and the results. The action progress is measured while seeing how much more peoples feeling informed, how much more engagement the management shows and at which point the teams of change are accepted from the broader point of view for the organization. This can be carried out by leading investigations of survey attitude. As monitoring the results, the monitoring should include measurements such as attitudes of the employees, perceptions of customer , answer of supplier etc. The communication is reinforced in all the organization, the measurement continuous is launched, reviewing teams execution against the well defined targets is made and a loop of feedback which placed to the top of 5 where the process re-analysed that re-organized and re-mapped. Therefore the improvement of this efficiency is made sure by a system of execution track and an application of the qualifications of the problems resolution. â€Å"The human resources function can help the organization develop the capability to weather the changes that will continue to be part of the organizational landscape. It can help with the ongoing learning processes required to assess the impact of change and enable the organization to make corrections and enhancements to the change. It can help the organization develop a new psychological contract and ways to give employees a stake in the changes that are occurring and in the performance of the organization (Mohrman and Lawler 1998).† Human resource activities that are involved when implementing reengineering process as follows: The formation is ineffective if the trainee misses of capacity or motivation to draw benefit from it. In terms of capacity, the trainee needs inter alia qualifications required for reading, writing and mathematics and needed the base of knowledge and intelligence, level of education. The effective selection of the employees is obviously important here. Some employers use miniature work training to introduce it for the new potential trainees. Sample tasks from training program of the firm involved by it to support ensure who will or not will carry on the training program (Wexley, Latham, 2002). The employer can have several measurements to increase the motivation of the trainee to learn. The municipalities functioning undertaking programs of education know that there is often more efficiently to obtain the attention of a student only by presenting in form graphs a filmed automatic accident. In other words, start the formation by making the material meaningful. For example, show why it is important, provide an overall picture of the material, and employ the familiar examples to illustrate the key points. Presenting opportunities to practice, and letting the trainee make errors also improve the motivation and the study (Wexley, Latham, 2002). Feedback including/understanding periodic evaluations of execution and criticisms verbal more frequent is also important. Performance management means taking an integrated, goal oriented approach to assigning, training, assessing and rewarding employees performance. Taking a performance management approach to training means that the training effort must make sense in terms of what the company wants each employee to contribute to achieving the companys goals. These emphases on strategic, performance management oriented training help explain why training is booming. Companies spent about $826 per employee for training in one recent year and offered each about 28 hours of training (American Salesman, Jan 2004). Training has a fairly impressive record of influencing organizational effectiveness, scoring higher than appraisal and feedback and feedback and just below goal setting in its effect on productivity (Bulletinto, 2002). One survey found that ‘establishing a linkage between learning and organizational performance was the number one pressing issue facing training professionals (DeViney, Sugrue, 2004). Training experts today increasingly use the phrase ‘work place learning and performance in lieu of training to underscore trainings dual aims dual aims of employee learning and organizational performance (Brenda Sugrue, 2005). Since several studies on a large scale showed that HRM is a critical conductive in the financial execution of an organization, it is imperative so that the HR and other chiefs include/understand critical nature and the greatest importance of arrangement the effectiveness of all the activities of HR by creating the value for the organization. It is only by the measurement of HRM that one can really articulate the advantages of the strategies of HR by carrying out the marketing strategy of the organization and in the process increase the credibility of the profession of HR. The profession of HR is at the joint where the measurement of HRs efforts is not simply a nice thing to make, but should be an integral part of the HR departments efforts. There will be people who would resist naturally this important aspect of HR, but by giving particular lessons, while forming, and the practice, the expertise will be developed and by finally improving their execution and the effectiveness of the function of HR. It is only by such efforts that HR can validate that is a strategic associate and a department with value added in the organization.

Jigsaw Dinosaurs :: essays research papers

Jigsaw Dinosaurs Jigsaw Dinosaurs is a non-fiction book as well as a child’s toy under one hard cover. The non-fiction aspect of it offers some introductory detail on the physical appearance and social behavior of six different dinosaurs: Allosaurus, Stegosaurus, Diplodocus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and Oviraptor. These are presented on each left-hand page along with information inserts about some of the smaller dinosaurs: Ornitholestes, Lesothosaurus, Compsognathus, Protoceratops, Velociraptors and Quetzalcoatlus. To complete the left-hand page is a 'stone-age' information rock sign, on each page, offering a little-known dinosaur fact under the title: Did you know? The toy aspect of it involves six different jigsaw puzzles elaborating on the main dinosaur being discussed on the left-hand page. The puzzles, illustrated by Anne Sharp, fully occupy each right page in the book. These puzzles make learning for the younger children easier, and more fun because of the clear simplicity of them. The last double page of the book is an illustrated time line following the common dinosaurs through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. This sums up the dinosaur period quite nicely. The illustrations are colored in highly appealing blue and green, red and yellow, purple and orange. The colors are moody, evoking the eeriness of the Mesozoic period. The illustrations fit the large text nicely so if this is being read aloud children will be able to follow lovely detail in the illustration, which will assist with gaining memory retention. Children will be able to track dinosaurs mentioned in text on one page, in illustrations on another: another fun game for dinosaur recognition. There is a nice sense of action about the illustrations, which is also reflected in the text. For example, the text asks: "Do you think the Struthiomimus will see the T Rex in time?" and Anne Sharp draws a distracted Struthiomimus and a T Rex ready to pounce. Very effectively. These could be used as hypothetical scenarios to encourage young kids to create their own imaginative plots to fit the illustration and the text question: Do you think... And what will happen next...? As there is no definitive ending supplied. So, this book offers some great catalysts for developing creative thinking in children. And even on re-reading, children could be encouraged to offer different responses, and even dramatize the very scenarios they create, further intensifying their pleasure in what they have read here. There are strong and weak points associated with having a book that is also a puzzle.

Machinery Hall, Centennial Exposition 1876, Philadelphia Essays

Machinery Hall, Centennial Exposition 1876, Philadelphia The "International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, in the city of Philadelphia" was opened on the 10th day of May in the year 1876. As it was more commonly known, the "Centennial Exposition" was America's first successful World's Fair. The fair celebrated the one hundred year anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and America's start as a sovereign nation. It was at the Centennial Fair that Americans were given a chance to display their knowledge and power in the growing industrialized world. Long gone were the days of single-structure exhibitions. The Philadelphia organizers peppered Fairmont Park with exhibition buildings and attractions, giving visitors much to look at. At the fair the United States sought to establish itself among the major countries of the world. The major buildings of the fair: Memorial Hall, the Main Building, Machinery Hall, Horticultural Hall, the Women's Pavilion and several national and state pavilions provided a suitable architectural framework for the exhibited materials. The most popular of these buildings was Machinery Hall, built to house the country's technological wonders of the past century (Snyder). Machinery Hall, "four times the space of St. Peter's" in Rome (Bruce, 150) covered an area of 558,440 square feet (including its annex). Fairmont Park was at the time the "largest and finest urban park in America" (Mass, 16). After selecting the site for the fair, the Centennial Commission held a competition for the design of the exhibition buildings offering awards to the top ten entries. The first prize was given to Collins & Autenrieth of Philadelphia whose design estimated construction ... ...usiasts to see what it was like to visit the fair first hand. Though these images are not always completely historically correct, they serve as an excellent tool for learning about the fairs. Bibliography Bruce, Edward C. The Century: Its Fruits and its Festival. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1877. Maass, John. The glorious enterprise: the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 and H. J. Schwarzmann, architect-in-chief / John Maass. New York. American Life Foundation. 1973. Snyder, Iris. (February 2000) "The Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876" University of Delaware, Special Collections Department http://www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/fairs/cent.htm(25 February, 2001). Trout, Silas E. The Story of the Centennial of 1876. Lancaster, 1929. ARCH SPCEXP T825.B1T7 Westcott, Thompson. A Centennial Portfolio. Philadelphia, T. Hunter, 1876.