What is the role of broca area Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is the role of broca area - Essay Example The region was named after a French neurosurgeon called Paul Broca who is responsible for the discovery of the role of Brocas area when he was examining the brains of patients who had difficulty in language. Anybody with damaged Brocas area of their brain will not be able to understand the language properly, but they will have difficulty in the speech formation and production. Another brain region called Wernickes area is connected to Broca’s area (Grodzinsky, pg. 7). The Wernickes area is also responsible for the understanding and processing language, and when the area is damaged, it lead to a deficiency of language but one fail to remember the details. Together with the Wernickes area, Broca’s area is located within the left hemisphere of the brain. Given its role in language production and understanding, Broca’s area has a perfect proximity to the motor cortex, therefore, the neurons from the Broca area sends signals to the larynx, to the tongue and finally to the mouth motor areas. The mouth motor area then sends the signal to the corresponding muscles which, therefore, facilitates the creation of sounds. According to a recent study on the functions of the left frontal gyrus in the verbal fluency, it is found that the pars opercularis (Brodmann area 44) sub-serves phonological fluency while pars triangularis (Brodmann area 45) is responsible for the semantic fluency (Grodzinsky, pg. 19). Being located within the frontal lobe of the brain, Brocas Area is linked to the human language and speech. Brocas Area is strictly associated with the production of language, it also has an important role in the understanding of language as well, and also deals with production of speech related actions and gestures. A person with damaged Brocas Area will suffer from Brocas Aphasia, which does not interfere with the way a person understands a language but will make the person have a

Factors Affecting Animal Growth

Factors Affecting Animal Growth Modern cattle are descendants of Bos indicus and Bos Taurus (Gillespie, 1992). According to Lawrie (1991) these breeds are believed to be descended from Bos primigenius, the wild cattle. The last representative of the wild species died in Poland in 1627 (Zeuner, 1963). Lawrie (1991) reported that domestication of cattle followed the establishment of settled agriculture about 5000 B.C. and domestication of hump-back cattle (Bos indicus) existed in Mesopotamia by 4500 B.C. Garner (1944) stated that the immediate predecessor of majority of the breeds of British cattle was Bos longifrons, which was of relatively small frame rather than Bos primigenius which is massive in size. The development of many present British breeds was due to the early improvements initiated by Bakewell in the middle of the eighteenth century, who introduced in-breeding, the use of proven sires, selection and culling (Lawrie, 1991). Since 1790, the focus on cattle improvement is towards smaller, younger and leaner animals; and there has been growing realization that breed potentialities will not be fully manifested without adequate food given at the right time in the growth pattern of the animal (Hammond, 1932a). Lawrie (1991) suggested that a beef animal should be well covered with flesh, blocky and compact-thus reducing the proportion of bone whereas in a dairy animal the frame should be angular with relatively little flesh cover, the body should be cylindrical thus accommodating the large digestive tract necessary for efficient conversion of food into milk and mammary tissue should be markedly developed. Aberdeen Angus has been regarded as the premier breed for good-quality meat (Gerrard, 1951). Lawrie (1991) reported that one of the reasons for the good eating quality of the Aberdeen Angus is its tenderness which is due to the small size of the muscle bundles, smaller animals having smaller bundles. Good-quality meat can also be attained by feeding concentrates such as barley to beef cattle (Preston et al., 1963). Efforts have been made to cross various breeds of Bos indicus (Zebu cattle) with British breeds, to combine the heat resisting properties of the former with the meat-producing characteristics of the latter (Lawrie, 1991). Unfortunately, unusual breeds of cattle are found within a normal breed: dwarf Snorter cattle occur within various breeds in U.S.A., and pronounced muscular hypertrophy, which is often more noticeable in the hind quarters and explains the name doppelender given to the condition, arises in several breeds e.g. Charollais and South Devon (McKellar, 1960). Recessive genes are thought to be responsible in both cases (Lawrie, 1991). FACTORS AFFECTING THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF CATTLE Lawrie (1991) reported that as an animal grows two things happen: first, it increases in weight until mature size is reached; this is called growth and secondly it changes in its body conformation, shapes and its various functions and faculties come into full being; this is referred to as development. Genetic factors According to Lawrie (1991) several economically important traits in meat animals are heritable to some degree and can thus be selected for by breeding. In cattle, certain growth features are controlled by recessive genes which have not so far been controlled, complicating breeding. One such trait is dwarfism; another is the doppelender or double muscling condition, which causes muscle hypertrophy and thereby increases the animals commercial value (Lawrie and Ledward, 2006). Genetic analysis continues to reveal the genetic mechanisms that control numerous aspects of the endocrine system and, through it, meat growth and quality as concluded by Lawrie and Ledward (2006). Genetic engineering techniques can shorten breeding programmes significantly because they allow for the identification and isolation of genes coding for desired traits, and for the reincorporation of these genes into the animal genome as reported by Lawrie and Ledward. Experimental reproductive cloning of commercially important meat animals such as sheep, pig or cattle has been successful. The multiple asexual reproductions of animals bearing desirable traits can thus be anticipated, although this is not yet practical on a commercial scale. Environmental Factors Heat regulation in livestock especially cattle is of great economic significance, because mammals attempt to maintain a constant optimal body temperature (Lawrie and Ledward, 2006). Low temperatures tend to prolong animal development and high temperatures tend to retard it. Depending on their size, body shape and insulation through tissue and fur, some animals have a relatively narrow zone of temperature tolerance and others (e.g. cattle) a broad one. Static magnetic fields, for reasons still unknown, also retard animal development. Nutritional Factors Acker and Cunningham (1991) reported that the quality and quantity of usable meat depends on the animals plane of nutrition, i.e., whether it is over or underfed. The composition of the diet, especially the amount of protein provided, is also an important factor regulating animal growth and development (Wardlaw, 2000). Cattle digest cellulose which is better adapted to poor-quality diets, but their ruminal microorganisms degrade high-quality protein if supplied in excess, because producing high-quality protein animal feed is expensive. Several techniques are employed or experimented with to ensure maximum utilization of protein. These include the treatment of feed with formalin to protect amino acids during their passage through the rumen, the recycling of manure by feeding it back to cattle mixed with feed concentrates, or the partial conversion of petroleum hydrocarbons to protein through microbial action (Gillespie, 1998). In plant feed, environmental factors influence the availability of crucial nutrients or micronutrients, a lack or excess of which can cause a great many ailments. In Australia, for instance, where the soil contains limited phosphate, cattle are being fed additional phosphate to increase the efficiency of beef production. Also in Australia, cattle and sheep in certain areas were often found losing their appetite and dying in the midst of rich pasture; this was at length found to be a result of cobalt deficiency in the soi (Acker and Cunningham, 1991). Gillespie (1998) stated that plant toxins are also a risk to grazing animals; for instance, fluoracetate, found in some African and Australian plants, kills by disrupting the cellular metabolism. Certain man-made pollutants such as methyl mercury and some pesticide residues present a particular hazard due to their tendency to bioaccumulate in meat, potentially poisoning consumers. SLAUGHTERING AND KILLING OF CATTLE Slaughtering Religious slaughtering The Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 (as amended) (WASK) require that all animals are stunned before slaughter, using the methods of stunning prescribed by the Regulations, subject to specific exemptions. One of these exemptions refers to slaughter without the infliction of unnecessary suffering by the Jewish method for the food of Jews; or by the Muslim method for the food of Muslims, provided the requirements for the licensing of slaughter men under the Regulations are met. Since a complete bleed is necessary, cattle are not stunned before bleeding (Donin, 1972). Religious issues surrounding slaughter without pre-stunning were explored in detail in the FAWC report on religious slaughter published in 1985 and have not been reiterated in this report. Council has taken account of relevant information generated since then in drawing its conclusions. Jewish method The Jewish method of slaughtering animals for food (Shechita) requires that they be healthy at the time of slaughter and must not have suffered any physical injury. For this reason, pre-slaughter stunning methods that are judged to cause physical injuries prior to cutting the throat have been considered unacceptable for this slaughter method. Cattle are restrained in an upright position in a specialized pen with the head held fast and the neck exposed in a suitable position for incision of the throat. A transverse cut is made using a reciprocal, uninterrupted motion of the knife. The intention is to produce an immediate outpouring of blood by severing both jugular veins and both carotid arteries. The knife used for cattle has a long, extremely sharp and undamaged blade. After the cut has been made the animal must remain restrained until it is bled out before being released, shackled and hoisted. With Rabbinical approval some premises have adopted a post-cut stun for cattle. The Islamic method The Muslim method of slaughter (Halal) is, in many respects, similar to Shechita. However, pre-slaughter stunning methods for cattle and sheep that have been demonstrated not to kill the animal, such that the heart is still beating, have been deemed acceptable and have routinely been adopted in many Halal slaughterhouses. The level of restraint required to expose the throat, perform an effective cut and hold the animal still until it has bled out is greater than is needed for conventional slaughter. The restraining pens used for this purpose require Ministerial approval. This is designed to protect bovine animals from any avoidable pain, suffering, agitation, injuries or contusions in the pen and in particular to ensure effective means of restraint and support (WASK). The design and operation of restraining pens are assessed by the SVS before Ministerial approval is given. Humane slaughtering Cattle are slaughtered by being first stunned and then exsanguinated (bled out). Death results from the one or the other procedure, depending on the methods employed. Stunning can be effected through asphyxiating the animals with carbon dioxide, shooting them with a gun or a captive bolt pistol, or shocking them with electric current as reported by Lawrie and Ledward (2006). According to Lawrie (1991) draining as much blood as possible from the carcass is necessary because blood causes the meat to have an unappealing appearance and is a very good breeding ground for microorganisms. The exsanguination is accomplished by severing the carotid artery and the jugular vein in cattle and sheep, and the anterior vena cava in pigs. Bleeding According to Beinempaka et al., (1990) the neck of the animal is cut and it is allowed to bleed by hoisting it up. They also reported that adequate bleeding is essential to reduce meat spoilage since blood is a good source of moisture and nutrition for most of the contaminating organisms. This indicates that the amount of blood retained in the beef determines the degree of spoilage of the beef. Panda, (1986) reported that the amount of blood drained out from different types of birds vary depending on the stunning technique and physiological condition of the cattle. Deskinning and dressing This process of deskinning is done manually or mechanical and manual at the same time. The mechanical and manual ones are normally done at the abattoirs. This involves using a sharp knife to deskin the animal while the machine pulls the skin off the animal. Dressing involves the opening of the carcass to remove the internal organs (Beinempaka et al., 1990). Care must be taken in removing the intestines, as an unintentional incision may result in the distribution of fecal bacteria onto carcass possibly contaminating the beef (Borch and Arinder, 2002). Washing Following the deskinning and dressing stage is the washing stage. It involves using a stream of water which removes dirt and the amount of blood retained in the carcass. This helps in reducing microbial load present on the carcass. Chilling This is done immediately after the preparation of the carcass and must last for as short a time as possible to avoid bacterial proliferation (Gracey, 1986). Nester et al., (2001) stated that chilling inhibits the growth of micro-organisms such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp at temperature below 3-50C. Chilling in a common bath may result in cross-contamination from Escherichia and Salmonella carriers to free carcasses (Cross et al., 1988). NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BEEF The use of lean and clean beef is advisable to include in diet, it could be as an ingredient in stews or traditional recipes. Beef is a popular meat rich in protein, being a red meat had always made it a bad food when it comes to studies and researches (Owen et al., 2005). Wardlaw, (2000) stated that, a lean beef adds to health benefits related to heart and prevention of cancer. As a matter of fact, no one can deny that beef is an important source of protein. Beef is found to be very rich in Iron, Zinc, Selenium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Magnesium. Sodium and Copper are found in good quantities. However, minute quantities of Calcium and Manganese are also present. According to Acker and Cunningham (1991), beef is one of the best sources for Vitamin B12, Vitamin B6 Niacin and Riboflavin. However, it is also rich in Thiamin and Pantothenic Acid. Small amounts of Vitamin E, Vitamin K and Foliate are present. According to Owen et al., (2005) the calorie count of Beef per 100 gm is 155.0; it is meat which is higher in protein and moderate in fat. Beef is good for bones and teeth. It enhances immunity against infections of ear etc., and prevents blood vessel walls from damaging. Moderate consumption of lean beef is altogether good for cardiovascular health and to prevent cancer risks. The amount of fat in beef carcasses has decreased compared to what it was during the middle of the twentieth century; beef contains about 6 percent less fat (Gillespie, 1998). FRESHNESS OF DRESSED BEEF Beef is a perishable product and may cause public health concerns. Fresh beef is most likely to spoil before it will cause food-borne diseases (Gill, 1998). For preserved meat the opposite may be the case, where micro-organisms have been eliminated. There is the tendency to use milder preservation methods either because of energy saving, because of consumers preference for mildly cured or cooked products, or their desire for having more fresh beef products or because of an aversion to the use of preservatives (Panda, 1995). According to Lawrie and Ledward (2006) in order to satisfy these demands, it will be necessary for meat industry to improve microbial monitoring of production including hygiene and to formulate processes which will give minimal variation in their results. Although intensive work is being carried out by meat industries to find substitutes for known processes with equivalent inactivation or inhibition of microbial froth, no overall acceptable alternative seems to be readily available (Gracey, 1986). QUALITY OF BEEF The quality grades are based on the degree of marbling (intramuscular fat) in the beef, and the maturity of the animal at slaughter (USDA, 2007). A quality grade is a composite evaluation of factors that affect palatability of meat; tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. These factors include carcass maturity, firmness, texture, and color of lean, and the amount and distribution of marbling within the lean. Beef carcass quality grading is based on degree of marbling and degree of maturity (Hale et al., 2007). Texture Meat from less tender cuts or older cattle can be mechanically tenderized by forcing small, sharp blades through the cuts to disrupt the proteins (Denver, 2003). Also, solutions of exogenous proteolytic enzymes such as papain, bromelin or ficin can be injected to augment the endogenous enzymes (USDA, 2007). Similarly, solutions of salt and sodium phosphates can be injected to soften and swell the myofibrillar proteins. This improves juiciness and tenderness. Flavour Evaporation concentrates the remaining proteins and increases flavor intensity; the molds can contribute a nut-like flavor. The majority of the tenderizing effect occurs in the first 10 days, although two to three days allow significant effects. Boxed beef, stored and distributed in vacuum packaging, is, in effect, wet aged during distribution. Premium steakhouses dry age for 21 to 28 days or wet age up to 45 days for maximum effect on flavor and tenderness.. Salt can improve the flavor, but phosphate can contribute a soapy flavor. SOURCES OF CONTAMINATION OF BEEF Lawrie (1991) suggested that contamination of beef is a continuing possibility from the moment of bleeding until consumption. Contamination of beef from the moment of bleeding until consumption is from microbial to physical contamination. The microbiological contamination of carcasses occurs mainly during processing and manipulation, such as skinning, evisceration, storage and distribution at slaughterhouses and retail establishments (Gill, 1998; Abdalla et al., 2009). Fecal matter was a major source of contamination and could reached carcasses through direct deposition, as well as by indirect contact through contaminated and clean carcasses, equipment, workers, installations and air (Borch and Arinder, 2002). Cattle slaughter operations, such as bleeding, dressing and evisceration, expose sterile muscle to microbiological contaminants that were present on the skin, the digestive tract and in the environment (Gill and Jones, 1999; Bacon et al.,2000). Moreover, dirty workers hands, clothes and equipments of the slaughterhouse and at the market by retailers act as intermediate sources of contamination of meat (Gill, 1998; Gilmour et al., 2004; AbdelSadig, 2006; Abdalla et al., 2009). Also, handling and storage of beef contribute effectively to meat contamination (Beinempaka et al., 1990). The storage place should be clean and preferably cold (400F). Any temperature above will contribute to microbial growth which act on the meat and cause spoilage whereas the beef must be handled with proper care. METHODS OF MINIMIZING CONTAMINATION OF BEEF Rangaswani (1983) reported that meat quality could be enhanced and prolonged when the causes of microbial contamination are drastically reduced or removed altogether. He stated further that quality and wholesomeness of meat depend on many factors of which the following are part: Source of Beef Meat from abattoir slaughtered animals and well established farms generally have less bacteria counts than meat from backyard slaughtered animals because at the abattoir or farm, all the necessary safety and hygiene consideration are undertaken. The level of infection is thus minimized unlike backyard slaughtered animals where animals are killed and dressed on the floor with no better hygiene condition (Zeigler, 1966). Health of Animals Beef from healthy animals keep longer than beef from diseased cattle. This is so because beef from healthy animals are more likely to be free from any microbes unlike diseased cattle. Zeigler (1966) reported that veterinary inspection should be the priority when animals are being slaughtered since it will be proven whether animals are free from any diseases. Method of Slaughter Meat from bruised animals, improperly bled animals, meat contaminated with faeces during evisceration and meat soiled with dirt from skin tends to spoil early. The normal micro flora from the skin of carcasses includes Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli and organisms of fecal origin (Cross and Overby, 1988). The source of these organisms is not clearly understood but in addition to contamination from the skin and intestines, equipments and tools during slaughter and selling of beef may be responsible for some contamination. To avoid further contamination, potable water should be used for rinsing carcasses and surfaces coming into contact with meat and offal. PRESERVATION OF BEEF According to Panda (1995) preservation or meat can be done by adopting several techniques among which are refrigeration, dehydration, curing, smoking, canning, irradiation, microwave heating and use of chemical additives including antibiotics. Refrigeration Refrigeration includes cold storage and frozen storage. In cold storage a temperature between 00C to 70C is employed and in frozen storage at between 150C to 170C (Panda, 1995). Controlled temperature assists in preventing quality loss and maintaining shelf life of the product. Proper air circulation in addition to maintenance of air temperature prevents mould growth and controlled air composition provides fresh air and avoids development of extraneous odour out of undesirable gases. Moisture control assists in preventing excessive dehydration of the product stored (Panda, 1986). Smoking Smoking helps in preserving beef by acting as an antioxidant, bactericidal agent and providing a protective covering on the surface. Smoking also imparts specific flavour to meat. Various types of wood used for generating smoke also impart different flavour to the finished product. However, the best type of wood which could be exploited for producing quality smoked beef is hard wood. Smoke also influences the colour of the smoked beef. Curing This is a process of preserving meat. It is done to preserve and maintain red colour of the meat and also to add flavour. This ingredients used include common salt, sodium nitrate or nitrite, sugar and spices (Beinempaka et al., 1990). Therefore selection of curing formulation is extremely important while using it, as long as large amounts of salt or spice will mask the flavour of meat. The functions of these curing agents are different. Salts assists in preservation of meat while influencing the flavour and texture. Sugar adds to the flavour while checking the drying and toughening effect and nitrate provide the desired pink colour to it (Panda, 1995). Chemical Additives Gill (1998) stated that fresh beef in intact carcass is not severely contaminated except for its surfaces and skinning. However, as it is minced for utilization in further processed products, the solution changes. As the beef gets exposed, added bacterial contamination from hands of operators and machineries used occurs (Borch and Arinder, 2002). According to Panda (1995) the use of additives in beef extends the life of the beef and has a little effect on the colour, flavour and texture. PACKAGING AND STORAGE If the beef is to be used for processing, then it is taken straight to the meat cutting and industries to be processed. If they are to be stored for use at a later stage, these are properly packed in suitable polythene bags and kept inside a deep freeze maintained at 15-180C. Panda (1995) reported that the packaging material used for packaging the beef should be colourless, transparent and of adequate strength to safeguard the dressed beef packed during handling and transportation. Also, the packaging material should not transfer any harmful substances to the packed material. The major objectives in using the packaging material is that it should provide optimum protection to the product packed inside it and to maintain wholesomeness for its anticipated shelf life, while preventing physical, microbial and insect damage with appropriate properties and capacity to preserve its nutritive value in an acceptable way and other quality factors, important in the marketing channel (Panda, 1995). Various types of primary and secondary containers as well as flexible material are being used for packing beef products. Primary container is one which is in direct contact with the food item. The secondary container is the outer box or wrap that holds the primary units of food such as jars, cans, tins flexible packages which have no direct contact with the food item. Some of the various types of packaging material used for beef packaging include tins, cans, glass, plastic films and laminates.

Different Types of Cancer and Their Treatments Essay -- Cancer Health

Different Types of Cancer and Their Treatments All living things are made up of cells. They are the smallest things that are capable of basic life-they take in nutrients when needed, they put out waste and they reproduce. Cells divide (reproduce) at least once during their life, sometimes dozens of times. Organisms rely on this, this is how they grow or repair themselves when they are damaged. A normal body has around 30 trillion cells. Permanent gene mutations are what cause cells to malfunction. When this happens several times to the same cell it can become cancerous. This can take many years in some cases. A cancerous cell reproduces at different rates, but eventually they overcrowd the normal cells and turn into a tumor. There are two types of tumors, benign and malignant. A benign tumor does not spread to other parts of the body, it stays in one place. Benign tumors are not dangerous and do not need to be removed, but if you would like to have it removed for appearance purposes or if it is uncomfortable it can be surgically removed very easily. A malignant tumor is a tumor that can spread to other parts of the body which makes them very dangerous. There are many different kinds of cancer and they all react differently to different types of treatments. Cancer cells can break away from a tumor and spread to other parts of the body. They usually spread through the blood or lymph systems. When this happens it is called metastasis. It doesn’t matter where the cancer spreads to; it is still named after the part of the body where it started. For example if the cancer started in the breast and then spread to the lymphatic system it is defined as metastastic breast cancer. A recurrence is when the cancer returns after someone has had treatments and appeared to be cancer free. Cancer can take years to develop so it is usually a few things that contribute to it. Scientists are not exactly sure what causes cancer but there have been studies that show that some people are more prone than others to develop it. One million people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer every year. In the United States 163 out of every 100,000 men develop cancer, and 110 out of every 100,000 women develop it.1 People of all ages develop cancer but it is more common in people 50 years old or older. Although we are not quite sure what causes cancer studies have... ...nt for lymphoma, because it so easily spreads throughout the body. Sometimes radiation therapy is used after chemotherapy to help prevent relapses. Several recent discoveries have improved treatment for lymphoma. These include, antibody therapy, which monoclonal antibodies are used to destroy lymphoma cells without as much damage to the normal cells. There is also a vaccine therapy, which helps stimulate the patients immune system to help fight off lymphatic cancer. These treatments are still experimental and very expensive. In patients who have reoccurring lymphoma, higher doses of chemotherapy or radiation may be necessary in an attempt to kill the cancerous cells. These treatments also destroy the blood producing cells in the patient’s bone marrow. This sometimes requires a bone marrow transplant. NOTES 1. Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2001 2. www.ucan.cc 3. Prostate Cancer written by David G. Bostwick M.D. Published by Villard Books in 1996. 4. Colorectal Cancer written by Bernard Levin M.D. Published by Villard Books in 1996 Call #: NF 616.99 5. Women and Cancer written by Carolyn D. Runowicz M.D. Published by Villard Books in 1999.

Difficulties disabling growth of market oriented system in China Essay

Difficulties disabling growth of market oriented system in China Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The total achievements of the ongoing social economic reforms in china are very astounding, China from among the poorest nations up to 1976 when Mao Zedong died. Since then, the economy of china has grown rapidly to assume the second position of the biggest economy in the. The rapid growth of the china’s economy has brought sufficient resources to the government to further development and also has rescued million citizens from abject poverty. It is amazing to see the success and speed of the china miracle. The rapid development in china has attracted attentions worldwide in the recent years. The consequences of various aspects of the rise of china ,starting from its military muscles and expanding influence to its expanding energy supply demand, are be mostly debated within china and the international community. Thus it is crucial to correctly comprehend the achievement of china and its wide path toward higher development (Harry J Wa ters, 1997).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   China has continuously faced many challenges to accomplish its performance in developing as in other developed states. Since 2001, commercial banks have been poorly allocating its funds disorderly. This has been a severe problem in china. The Chinese banking system has been a problem on the way has allocated funds.. The private business has relied on the informal finance for a long time. This has affected the success of the private sector. This situation is caused not only by banking system but also is due to capital market. The banks could have solved this challenge if it had lent out loans to the private sectors enterprises with a reasonable interest rate. The lack of reliable corporate credit information made it difficult for commercial banks to assess the risk of lending the loans (Wang, 1990).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The china government improved the legal environment, which occurred remarkably. China made changes to this legal system in accordance with the country’s accession. Even though, the law was so good in the country did not mean that market system was in phase. In fact, the banking system was deteriorating on the way was performing their duties. The senior executive specified some issues basing his argument on banking sector such as absence of regulations and rules on credit registry, the underdeveloped businesses liquidation law, the inability in criminal investigation for financial theft and irregularities(Rotberg, 2008). The PBC senior executive also launched the study project with association of World Bank and other monetary financial institutions (Wang, 1990). The main task was to propose a series of reforms to attain a new framework on the market system. The private sectors concerning the law on the banking system proceeded to the court with an aim to get loans from commercial banks with reasonable interest rates (Wang, 1990). This did not even succeed as planned by the complaints.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nowadays when the commercial banks require enforcing their bill of rights to the collateral, they face many challenges. This occurs when they try to register some projects system, which they have to intervene with the court. The banks lack motivation of reconciliation therefore has to intervene with the court. They usually face trouble enforcing court decisions due to local government interference (Rotberg, 2008).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   China has faced numerous challenges affecting the whole government and even the development of the country. In china, there has been fraud reports and corruption in banking sector. It is not of necessity whether financial frauds are on the increase or whether more crimes are reported and uncovered. There are three main challenges facing the banking system in China, which are high-technologically financial offences; the use of criminally obtained money to corrupt officials in order to run away punishment and to keep away from regulation, and funds crimes report with a more sophisticated means, global focus. The Chinese government is increasing institutional mechanisms for exposing and eradicating financial crime. This has been a prolonged challenge of fraud and corruption affecting the banking system in China (Wang, 1990).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Chinese commercial banks’ strength to vie with foreign banks was posed in the context of three areas. These areas are in the domestic financial markets, in the open and developed domestic markets for future, and in world markets. Therefore, this is not easy for foreign banks to enter into the Chinese market. Banks involve in local currency where its mission does not move forward. This is much more expensive than simply opening branches (Rotberg, 2008). This affected the market oriented system negatively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   China indeed has achieved most of the objectives it set in 1978.it has improved significantly the well being of the citizens although it’s economic development has often been uneven and narrow. The last twenty seven years of growth and reforms has presented to the world the size of its, labour force, purchasing, creativity, commitment to development and the level of national cohesion. The contribution of china to the whole world as a way of growth will be ground breaking after mobilization of all of its resources. China has struggled with economic development mostly because of its population since a small challenge in its social development or economic when spread over a vast population become a huge problem. The most important strategic choice the government of china has made was to accept the economic globalization instead of separating itself from it .during 1970s the great signs of economic globalization and technological revolu tion was unfolding with huge momentum when Beijing held the trend and overturned the practices of Cultural Revolution (Kiichiro Fakasaku et al , 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Based on the judgment of the development, the president of china alongside other great leaders in the government chose to take up the historic chance and shift the focus of their undertakings on the domestic development and hence tapping in to the international ones .they enforced the system of household contracting in the rural areas hence opening up fourteen coastal cities thus bringing in the economic period take off. Once again, china invoked a strategic because of the financial crisis that was rampant in. Asia and the continued struggles against globalization the decision of china to take part in economic globalization that it was facing was a great challenge .by clearly considering the advantages and the disadvantages related to economic openness and getting lessons from the history, the leaders in china decided to expanded china even more by deepening home economic reforms and world trade organization   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The leadership of china has been striving to improve the relation with the whole world as their pursue their objective of rising in peace despite the downs and up the relationship of china and the united states for many years together with other dramatic alterations in the worldwide politics like the death of the soviet union. The leader in china has stuck to the fact that there are more good opportunities than problems for china in the international market today.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With respect to the strategic plans of china, it will take 45 years from today before it can be termed a modernized, medium level grown country. China will encounter several challenges before it get to 2050 mostly because of it’s over population, environmental pollution and lack of coordination among the two key factors of economic and social development. Another great challenge chain must encounter is clearly shown in series of tension that the government officials must deal with. The most common one are the gross domestic product growth and also social progress, between increasing job opportunities and upgrading technology, also the leaders are not sure whether to foster urbanization or expanding agricultural areas and others .to be able to solve all these dilemmas successfully, several properly coordinated policies are required to foster development which is more balanced and faster.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   China is continuously losing its ample due to economic development and erosion that has swept the most top layer which is essential for crop production. The government of china is looking forward to add more energy creation capacity from other sources apart from oil and coal and is shifting their focus more on alternative energy development and nuclear sources. The major problem which are associated with setting up nuclear facilities and to maintain them .they are charged with the responsibility of putting heavy boundary the prevent radiation leakage which otherwise would cause terminal diseases such as cancer. Several other factors are converging to decelerate the growth and development .the debt overhang resulting from the stimulus program, slow recovery of the partners trading with china and industrial overcapacity. The economic growth in china has benefited eastern and the southern region more than the region. This has led north to inc reased disparity between south and north .the agricultural activity in has been left behind. Many farmers are struggling to make cater for their daily bread. Consequently this kind of imbalance has favored migration of workers to south china. It is struggling hard to fix this regional inequality (Shahid Yusuf, 2008). References Fukasaku, K., Mello, L. R., Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, & â€Å"Decentralisation, Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and Macroeceonomic Governance†. (1999). Fiscal decentralisation in emerging economies: Governance issues. Paris: OECD. Waters, H. J. (1997). China’s economic development strategies for the 21st century. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books. Yusuf, S., & Saich, T. (2008). China urbanizes: Consequences, strategies, and policies. Washington, D.C: World Bank. Dorn, J. A., Wang, X., UniversiteÃŒ  de Fudan (Shanghai, Chine), & Cato institute (Washington, D.C.). (1990). Economic reform in China: Problems and prospects. Chicago: University of Chicago press. Rotberg, R. I. (2008). China into Africa: Trade, aid, and influence. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press. Source document

A Letter to His Parents by Dr. Jose Rizal Essay

PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM Psychoanalytic criticism: * It adopts the methods of reading. It argues the literary texts, like dreams, express the secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the author. * A literary work is a manifestation of the author’s own neuroses. * It usually assumes that all such characters are projections of the author’s psyche. * It validates the importance of literature. * Seeks evidence of unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, guilt, ambivalences and may result to a disunited literary work. * The author’s own childhood traumas, sexual conflicts and fixation can be traced within the behavior of the characters in his/her literary work. Key terms in Psychoanalytic criticism by Freud: 1. repression. Every human has to undergo a repression of the pleasure principle by the reality principle; for some, even whole societies, repression may become excessive and make us ill. The paradox at the heart of Freud’s work is that we come to be what we are only by massive repression of the elements that have gone into our making. A vital conception in Freud’s thought is that that which is repressed will ‘return’ in some way — among the ways are parapraxis and psychic disorders. 2. sexuality The zoning of pleasure — through oral, anal and phallic stages; a gradual organization of the libidinal drives. The object of drives is flexible, changeable. Freud considered the biologically appropriate ‘phallic’ stage to be the proper, mature phase. The drives can be ‘hung up’, as it were, on objects, which are thus fetishized, wrongly experienced as the goal of the drive. 3. self. The early years of child’s life are not those of a unified subject but are a complex, shifting field of libidinal force in which the subject has no centre of identity and has indeterminate boundaries with the external world. The self which emerges, however, from the Oedipus complex (see below) is while more stable, a split subject, torn between conscious and  unconscious being, as it is forbidden to consummate the union it desires and so must repress those desires and substitute more acceptable objects of desire. 4. the Oedipus complex. The Oedipus complex is/marks the structure of relations by which we are produced and constituted as subjects. The self must be taken in hand to exist in the world — formed as an individual, a gendered subject through the Oedipus complex, and the threat of castration. The child desires (union with) mother, the father intervenes and bars this union; the son sees his difference from mother (her lack of a phallus), adjusts to reality by seeing its capability of being like the father who is also his enemy and whose power threatens to castrate him. This is not an easy or unproblematic process but is deeply disturbing and marks the child as he represses his true desire. This process is less clear for women, who resign selves to being like the mother, and displace their desire for, in their case, the father, onto a desire to have a child. 5. dream interpretation. The aspects of a dream are condensation (focusing various meanings in one referent), displacement (something like the use of tropes, allusions), regressive transformation (replacing ideas and feelings with images), secondary revision (making everything fit into a story ): all concepts which can easily be transferred to the function of literature. 6. unconscious Produced through repression, the unconscious peaks in the world through dreams, through parapraxes (slips, ways in which the unconscious speaks despite the vigilance of our conscious selves). The unconscious is powered by libidinal drives, and is an inevitable force in our lives. 7. disorders 1. neurosis [obsessional, hysterical, or phobic]: the result of internal conflict as the ego defensively blocks the intrusion of desire; these begin during the Oedipal phase, arrested or fixated ; analysis uncovers the hidden causes and acts to re-live, re-interpret the failed development, in order to relieve the patient of her/his conflicts, so dissolving distressing  symptoms. 2. psychosis: the ego comes under the sway of the unconscious — paranoia, schizophrenia; a harder case to treat than neurosis, as the self has been virtually subsumed. 8. transference. As the patient talks to the analyst, he transfers his conflicts onto analyst: this creates a controlled situation, a form of repetition of the conflict, in which conflict the analyst can intervene; what is repaired in analysis is not quite what is wrong in real life, but the patient is able to construct a new narrative for herself, in which she can interpret and make sense of the disturbances from which she suffers. 9. the early theory of the self: According to Silverman(see particularly Ch. 2 and 4) the earlier theory of the self is a more flexible, dynamic concept than the later. In the early theory, or ‘topography’, found in The Interpretation of Dreams, the mind is divided into three areas, the memory, the unconscious, and the preconscious. There are as well two temporary conditions, memory, which leaves sensory mnemonic traces (fully accessible to the unconscious, but fully accessible to the conscious self), and the motor response. The unconscious is, of course, not itself accessible to the conscious self except in disguised form. The cultural norms and repressions are stored in the preconscious, which is somewhat available to the conscious self. It is the preconscious which substitutes attainable gratifications for unattainable ones, and which works to substitute thought for sensory and affective memories. The pleasure principle is in fact the motive to avoid discomfort, not t o seek pleasure; the discomfort is produced by the conflicts that we inevitably feel through repressions, prohibitions and so forth. 10. The later theory: the Id operates at the behest of the pleasure principle; the ego, formed through a series of identifications with objects external to the self, carries out the commands of the reality principle; the superego in an internalized ideal image of the father in his power, his privilege, his repressiveness, and his genuinely-experienced superiority.

A Farewell To Arms - A Love Story Essays - English-language Films

A Farewell To Arms - A Love Story Essays - English-language Films A Farewell to Arms - A Love Story A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is a typical love story. A Romeo and his Juliet placed against the odds. In this novel, Romeo is Frederick Henry and Juliet is Catherine Barkley. Their love affair must survive the obstacles of World War I. The background of war-torn Italy adds to the tragedy of the love story. The war affects the emotions and values of each character. The love between Catherine and Frederick must outlast long separations, life-threatening war-time situations, and the uncertainty of each other's whereabouts or condition. This novel is a beautiful love story of two people who need each other in a period of upheaval. Frederick Henry is an American who serves as a lieutenant in the Italian army to a group of ambulance drivers. Hemingway portrays Frederick as a lost man searching for order and value in his life. Frederick disagrees with the war he is fighting. It is too chaotic and immoral for him to rationalize its cause. He fights anyway, because the army puts some form of discipline in his life. At the start of the novel, Frederick drinks and travels from one house of prostitution to another and yet he is discontent because his life is very unsettled. He befriends a priest because he admires the fact that the priest lives his life by a set of values that give him an orderly lifestyle. Further into the novel, Frederick becomes involved with Catherine Barkley. He slowly falls in love with her and, in his love for her, he finds commitment. Their relationship brings some order and value to his life. Compared to this new form of order in his life, Frederick sees the losing Italian army as total chaos and disorder where he had previously seen discipline and control. He can no longer remain a part of something that is so disorderly and so, he deserts the Italian army. Frederick's desertion from the Italian army is the turning point of the novel. This is the significance of the title, A Farewell to Arms. When Frederick puts aside his involvement in the war, he realizes that Catherine is the order and value in his life and that he does not need anything else to give meaning to his life. At the conclusion of this novel, Frederick realizes that he cannot base his life on another person or thing because, ultimately, they will leave or disappoint him. He realizes that the order and values necessary to face the world must come from within himself. Catherine Barkley is an English volunteer nurse who serves in Italy. She is considered very experienced when it comes to love and loss since she has already been confronted with the death of a loved one when her fiance was killed earlier in the war. The reader is not as well acquainted with Catherine's inner thoughts and feelings as we are with those of Frederick. The story is told through Frederick's eyes and the reader only meets Catherine through the dialogue between her and Frederick or through his personal interpretations of her actions. Catherine already possesses the knowledge that her own life cannot be dependent on another. She learned this lesson through the death of her fiance. Her love for Frederick is what her life revolves around, yet she knows not to rely on him to be the order in her life. Had she been dependent on Frederick for the order in her life, she would not have been able to allow him to participate in the war for fear of losing her own stability with his death. The theme that Hemingway emphasizes throughout the novel is the search for order in a chaotic world. Hemingway conveys this through Frederick's own personal search during the chaos of World War I. Catherine has found strength within herself to lead her through life. This is what Frederick must come to realize. Through his involvement with Catherine, Frederick slowly finds his own inner strength. Frederick's affair with Catherine prompts him to leave his wild life of prostitutes and drink. He becomes aware of an element of stability in their affair and realizes that the war that he was involved in was

The Disadvantages of Homeschooling Essay Essays

The Disadvantages of Homeschooling Essay Essays The Disadvantages of Homeschooling Essay Paper The Disadvantages of Homeschooling Essay Paper Homeschooling is when pupils are educated at place by parents or coachs instead than go toing public or private school. Many parents home school their kids to maintain them sheltered from the environment and the universe. I believe homeschooling should merely be an option in utmost state of affairss because there are legion disadvantages. The three major disadvantages are the deficiency of resources. the deficiency of forbearance from parents. and the deficiency of socialisation with equals. Students that are homeschooled are non needfully entitled to the resources that pupils go toing public or private school may hold. An article titled â€Å"The Advantages and Disadvantages of Homeschooling† provinces. â€Å"The theory is that schools will hold better books. and the instructors will hold a better instruction than the parent does. and it could function as a disadvantage if the parent is non ready and willing to be the go-to individual for everything. † Teachers. bibliothecs. pupils. and text editions are all considered resources. and most place schooled pupils do non hold handiness to this battalion of resources. This could go a job with the child’s acquisition. I believe it is more effectual if pupils can utilize their equals and other people to better understand what is being taught. and if homeschoolers are being taught by the same individual that is restricting them to one position. Parents besides have to come out of pocket for most of the stuf fs needed for their kid to larn. The cost of these points can besides go a load for the household of a kid that is homeschooled. Parents that take on the function as their child’s teacher have to be really patient. Students are easy discouraged when he or she can non get the hang a topic or a specific lesson in school. As a instructor. the parent has to be certain that they do non go defeated because they have to make full their function as the instructor. The article â€Å"The Advantages and Disadvantages of Homeschooling† provinces. â€Å"It is of import that you are able to divide at times the function of parent and instructor. because you will hold to be at that place for your kid in a different mode in times like these. † The major disadvantage is the student’s deficiency of socialisation with equals. Students that are homeschooled should non be wholly separated from society. They should still interact with other childs in their environment ; they should be involved in athleticss and other extracurricular activities. Harmonizing to the article â€Å"The Advantages and Disadvantages of Homeschooling† . â€Å"An inability to socialise good. shyness that comes with non being around other childs and the inclination to work better as an person. instead than in a squad root from this deficiency of association. † Parents who choose to home school their kids to maintain them off from bad influences. are really impeding them from larning how the existent universe truly is. Attending public school will supply acquisition experiences for pupils. which is better than them being ‘told’ about the universe.

Cahokia - Prehistoric Capital City on the Mississippi

Cahokia - Prehistoric Capital City on the Mississippi Cahokia is the name of an immense  Mississippian (AD 1000-1600) agricultural settlement and mound group. It is located within the resource-rich American Bottom floodplain of the Mississippi River at the junction of several major rivers in the mid-central United States. Cahokia is the largest prehispanic site in North America north of Mexico, a proto-urban center with numerous allied sites spread across the region. During its heyday (1050-1100 AD), the urban center of Cahokia covered an area of between 10-15 square kilometers (3.8-5.8 square miles), including nearly 200 earthen mounds arranged around vast open plazas, with thousands of pole and thatch houses, temples, pyramidal mounds and public buildings laid out in three great planned residential, political and ritual precincts. For perhaps no more than 50 years, Cahokia had a population of about 10,000-15,000 people with established trade connections throughout North America. The latest scientific research indicates that Cahokias rise and fall were engineered by immigrants who together refashioned the Native American communities for the greater Mississippian culture. The people who left Cahokia after its breakup brought the Mississippian culture with them as they traversed throughout fully 1/3 of what is today the United States. Cahokias Chronology Cahokias emergence as a regional center began as a collection of rudimentary Late Woodland farming villages about 800, but by 1050 it had emerged as a hierarchically-organized cultural and political center, inhabited by tens of thousands of people supported by local plant domesticates and maize from Central America. The following is a brief chronology of the site. Late Woodland (AD 800-900) numerous small farming villages in the valleyFairmount Phase (Terminal Late Woodland AD 900-1050), the American Bottom had two many mound centers, one at Cahokia and the Lunsford-Pulcher site, 23 km (12 mi) to the south, with a total population at Cahokia of around 1,400-2,800Lohmann Phase (AD 1050-1100), Cahokias Big Bang. Around 1050, there was a sudden growth at Cahokia with a population estimated between 10,200-15,300 people within an area of 14.5 sq km (5.6 sq mi). Changes concurrent with the population explosion included community organization, architecture, technology, material culture, and rituality, all of which likely involved in-migration from elsewhere. The site was characterized by large ceremonial plazas, post-in-circle monuments (woodhenges), dense habitation zones of elites and commoners, and a central core of 60-160 ha (.25-.6 sq mi) of at least 18 mounds surrounded by defensive palisadesStirling Phase (AD 1100-1200), Cahokia still controll ed the American Bottom, the lower portions of the Missouri and Illinois river floodplains and the adjacent hilly uplands, amounting to some 9,300 sq km (~3,600 sq mi), but the population was already in decline by 1150, and its upland villages were abandoned. Population estimates are 5,300-7,200. Moorehead Phase (AD 1200-1350) Cahokia saw steep decline and final abandonmentthe latest population estimates for the period are between 3,000-4,500 Greater Cahokia There were at least three great ceremonial precincts within the region known as Greater Cahokia. The largest is Cahokia itself, located 9.8 kilometers (6 miles) from the Mississippi River and 3.8 km (2.3 mi) from the bluff. It is the largest mound group in the United States, centered on an expansive 20 ha (49 ac) plaza fronted on the north by Monks Mound and surrounded by at least 120 recorded platform and burial mounds and lesser plazas. The other two precincts have been impacted by the modern urban growth of St. Louis and its suburbs. The East St. Louis precinct had 50 mounds and a special or high-status residential district. Across the river lay the St. Louis precinct, with 26 mounds and representing a doorway to the Ozarks mountains. All of the St. Louis precinct mounds have been destroyed. Emerald Acropolis Within one days walk of Cahokia were 14 subordinate mound centers and hundreds of small rural farmsteads. The most significant of the nearby mound centers was likely the Emerald Acropolis, a special religious installation in the middle of a large prairie near a prominent spring. The complex was located 24 km (15 mi) east of Cahokia and a broad processional avenue connects the two sites. The Emerald Acropolis was a major shrine complex with at least 500 buildings and perhaps as many as 2,000 during major ceremonial events. The earliest post-wall constructed buildings date to about 1000 AD. Most of the remaining were built between the mid-1000s to the early 1100s AD, although the buildings continued in use until around 1200. About 75% of those buildings were simple rectangular structures; the others were political-religious buildings such as t-shaped medicine lodges, square temples or council houses, circular buildings (rotundas and sweat baths) and rectangular shrine houses with deep basins. Why Cahokia Blossomed Cahokias location within the American Bottom was crucial to its success. Within the limits of the floodplain are thousands of hectares of well-drained tillable land for farming, with abundant oxbow channels, marshes, and lakes that provided aquatic, terrestrial, and avian resources. Cahokia is also quite close to the rich prairie soils of the adjacent uplands where upland resources would have been available. Cahokias cosmopolitan center including people migrating in from different regions and access to a broad trading network from the gulf coast and southeast to the trans-Mississippi South. Vital trading partners included the Caddoans of the Arkansas River, people of the eastern plains, the upper Mississippi Valley, and the Great Lakes. Cahokians dabbled in long-distance trade of marine shell, shark teeth, pipestone, mica, Hixton quartzite, exotic cherts, copper, and galena. Immigration and Cahokias Rise and Fall Recent scholarly research indicates that Cahokias rise hinged on a massive wave of immigration, beginning in the decades before AD 1050. Evidence from upland villages in Greater Cahokia indicates that they were founded by immigrants from southeastern Missouri and southwestern Indiana. The influx of immigrants has been discussed in the archaeological literature since the 1950s, but it was only recently that clear evidence showing a huge increase in population numbers was discovered. That evidence is in part the sheer number of residential buildings built during the Big Bang. That increase simply cant be accounted for by birth rates alone: there must have been an influx of people. Strontium stable isotope analysis by Slater and colleagues has revealed that fully one-third of the individuals in mortuary mounds at Cahokias center were immigrants. Many of the new immigrants moved to Cahokia during their late childhood or adolescence, and they came from multiple places of origin. One potential place is the Mississippian center of Aztalan in Wisconsin since strontium isotope ratios fall within that established for Aztalan. Main Features: Monks Mound and Grand Plaza Said to have been named after the monks who were using the mound in the 17th century, Monks Mound is the largest of the mounds at Cahokia, a quadrilateral flat-topped, earthen pyramid that supported a series of buildings on its upper level. It took about 720,000 cubic meters of earth to construct this 30 m (100 ft) tall, 320 m (1050 ft) north-south and 294 m (960 ft) east-west behemoth. Monks Mound is slightly larger than Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, and 4/5 of the size of the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan. Estimated at between 16-24 ha (40-60 ac) in area, the Grand Plaza just south of Monks Mound was marked by Round Top and Fox mounds on the south. A string of smaller mounds marks its east and west sides. Scholars believe it was first used as a source of soil for mound construction, but then it was purposefully leveled off, beginning at the end of the eleventh century. A wooden palisade enclosed the plaza during the Lohmann phase. It took an estimated labor of 10,000 person hours to build even 1/3-1/4 of the entire plaza, making it one of the largest construction projects at Cahokia. Mound 72: The Beaded Burial Mound 72 was a mortuary temple/charnel house, one of several used by the Mississippians at Cahokia. It is rather inconspicuous, measuring only 3 m (10.5 ft) high, 43 m (141 ft) long, 22 m (72 ft) wide, and it is located 860 m (.5 mi) south of Monks Mound. But it stands out because there were over 270 individuals deposited in 25 burial features (several suggesting human sacrifice), along with large votive caches of artifacts, including arrow bundles, mica deposits, discoidal chunkey stones, and masses of shell beads. Up until recently, the primary burial at Mound 72 was considered a double burial of two men lying atop a beaded cloak with a birds head, alongside several retainers. However, Emerson and colleagues (2016) recently restudied the discoveries from the mound including the skeletal materials. They found that, rather than being two men, the highest ranking individuals were a single male buried atop a single female. At least a dozen young men and women were buried as retainers. All but one of the retainer burials were either adolescents or young adults at the time of their deaths, but the central figures are both adults. Between 12,000-20,000 marine shell beads were discovered intermingled with the skeletal material, but they were not in a single cloak, but rather strings of beads and loose beads placed in and around the bodies. The researchers report that the birds head shape shown in the illustrations from the original excavations may have been an intended image or simply fortuitous. Mound 34 and Woodhenges Mound 34 at Cahokia was occupied during the Moorehead phase of the site, and while it is neither the largest or most impressive of mounds, it held evidence of a copper workshop, a nearly unique set of data on the hammered copper process used by the Mississippians. Metal smelting was not known in North America at this time, but copper working, consisting of a combination of hammering and annealing, was part of the techniques. Eight pieces of copper were retrieved from Mound 34 backfill, sheet copper covered in black and green corrosion product. All of the pieces are abandoned blanks or scraps, not the finished product. Chastain and colleagues examined the copper and ran experimental replications, and concluded that the process involved the reduction of large chunks of native copper into thin sheets by alternately hammering and annealing the metal, exposing it to an open wood fire for a few minutes. Four or perhaps five massive circles or arcs of large postholes called Wood Henges or post circle monuments were found in Tract 51; another has been found near Mound 72. These have been interpreted as solar calendars, marking the solstices and equinoxes and no doubt the focus of community rituals. Cahokias End Cahokias abandonment was rapid, and that has been attributed to a wide variety of things, including famine, disease, nutritional stress, climate change, environmental degradation, social unrest, and warfare. However, given the recent identification of such a large percentage of immigrants in the population, researchers are suggesting an entirely new reason: unrest arising from diversity. Americanist scholars argue that the city broke apart because the heterogeneous, multiethnic, likely polyglot society brought social and political competition between centralized and corporate leadership. There may have been kin-based and ethnic factionalism that may have reemerged after the Big Bang to splinter what began as ideological and political solidarity. The highest population levels only lasted about two generations at Cahokia, and researchers suggest widespread and tumultuous political disorder sent groups of immigrants back out of the city. In what is an ironic twist for those of us who have long thought of Cahokia as the engine of change, it may well have been the people who abandoned Cahokia beginning in the mid-12th century that spread the Mississippian culture far and wide. Sources Alt S. 2012. Making Mississippian at Cahokia. In: Pauketat TR, editor. Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p 497-508.Alt SM, Kruchten JD, and Pauketat TR. 2010. The Construction and Use of Cahokia’s Grand Plaza. Journal of Field Archaeology 35(2):131-146.Baires SE, Baltus MR, and Buchanan ME. 2015. Correlation does not equal causation: Questioning the Great Cahokia Flood. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 112(29):E3753.Chastain ML, Deymier-Black AC, Kelly JE, Brown JA, and Dunand DC. 2011. Metallurgical analysis of copper artifacts from Cahokia. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(7):1727-1736.Emerson TE, and Hedman KM. 2015. The dangers of diversity: the consolidation and dissolution of Cahokia, Native North Americas first urban polity. In: Faulseit RK, editor. Beyond Collapse: Archaeological Perspectives on Resilience, Revitalization, and Transformation in Complex Societies. Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press. p 147-178. Emerson TE, Hedman KM, Hargrave EA, Cobb DE, and Thompson AR. 2016. Paradigms Lost: Reconfiguring Cahokia’s Mound 72 Beaded Burial. American Antiquity 81(3):405-425.Munoz SE, Gruley KE, Massie A, Fike DA, Schroeder S, and Williams JW. 2015. Cahokias emergence and decline coincided with shifts of flood frequency on the Mississippi River. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(20):6319-6324.Munoz SE, Schroeder S, Fike DA, and Williams JW. 2014. A record of sustained prehistoric and historic land use from the Cahokia region, Illinois, USA. Geology 42(6):499-502.Pauketat TR, Boszhardt RF, and Benden DM. 2015. Trempealeau Entanglements: An Ancient Colonys Causes and Effects. American Antiquity 80(2):260-289.Pauketat TR, Alt SM, and Kruchten JD. 2017. The Emerald Acropolis: elevating the moon and water in the rise of Cahokia. Antiquity 91(355):207-222. Redmond EM, and Spencer CS. 2012. Chiefdoms at the threshold: The competitive origins of the primary state. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31(1):22-37. Schilling T. 2012. Building Monks Mound, Cahokia, Illinois, a.d. 800–1400. Journal of Field Archaeology 37(4):302-313.Sherwood SC, and Kidder TR. 2011. The DaVincis of dirt: Geoarchaeological perspectives on Native American mound building in the Mississippi River basin. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 30(1):69-87.Slater PA, Hedman KM, and Emerson TE. 2014. Immigrants at the Mississippian polity of Cahokia: Strontium isotope evidence for population movement. Journal of Archaeological Science 44:117-127.Thompson AR. 2013. Odontometric determination of sex at Mound 72, Cahokia. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 151(3):408-419.

Marketing influences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing influences - Essay Example The four elements of marketing mix which are product, place, promotion and price affects consumers in various different ways. This project aims to project a report on marketing influence on consumer making decision making and also aims to show how the marketing influence which are product influence, price influence, promotional influence and place influence. The influence which would be discussed in the rest of the project is about promotional influence that a marketer has over its customers to influence the consumers to purchase the products. Marketing strategy varies as per the involvement of a consumer while purchasing a product. Promotional influence is the tool which is mainly used by the marketers to promote and sell its product and is the most effective tool in attracting consumers. For a high involvement product marketers have huge responsibilities. Promotion is an important tool and it should be informative and extensive. A good and effective advertisement helps the consumers with information that they need to make the purchase decision and also stating the advantage of owing the desired product. For example the two page advertisement made by the Toyota Company for its Toyota’s Camry Hybrid provided extensive information of the benefits of driving the vehicle. The photo of the young eyed girl along with the globe appeals to consumers to care for the future and the caption on the interior photos of the vehicle notes its unique technology which benefits the consumers in its decision process. In case of low i nvolvement product the consumer makes the decision of making it only after entering the store and when the consumers see the product. Thus to influence the customers, in store promotion is an important tool which is mostly used by marketer. Marketing manager puts on special attention to packaging so that the product can

Most ideas representative of general administrative theories are Essay

Most ideas representative of general administrative theories are relevant to modern global organizations - Essay Example Administration is only one of these functions. Hence it is more realistic to talk of management theories instead of the administrative theories as the former encompasses the latter. Broadly speaking, management theory attempts to emphasize management functions with a view to generate broad administrative principles that would serve as guideline for the realization of organizational activities. There has been numerous attempts made by scholars of various disciplines to construct a 'general management theory'. However, neither of these attempts seems to favor one another and it has almost become impossible to find out two scholars sharing a common view. Suojanen (1963).The earliest writings on the subject came from such eminent scholars like Henri Fayol, Mooney and Reiley, and Gulick and Urwick (1937). The greatest development that has occurred in the management literature in recent years is the classification of various views of management in a coherent and logical way. This scientific classification of diverse approaches to the subject has been done by Koontz (1961), widely known as the 'management theory jungle'. Koontz (1961) classified the major schools of management theory into six broad categories. 1. ... His main contributions included among others to define a body of principles that would empower a manager to formulate a formal structure of the organization for its effective administration. Being a staunch advocate of the universality of management concepts and principles, Fayol introduced management as a separate discipline is his original contribution to management thought. Fayol opined that the five functions of managers were to plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control. His fourteen principles of management included division of work, authority and responsibility, discipline, unity of command, unity of direction, subordination of individual interests to general interests, remuneration of personnel, centralization, scalar chain, order, equity, stability of tenure of personnel, initiative, and esprit de corps (union is strength).Though he been often associated with his Frederick W. Taylor, the two had opposite viewpoints. Whereas Fayol advocated productivity improvements fro m the "top down", the Scientific Approach of Taylor advocated "bottom up". 2. The Empirical School: The empirical school seems to be based on the premises of 'learning by doing/following'. In other words, it advocates learning from the experiences of successful managers or mistakes made in the management policies in the past for successful implementation of management policies in the future. More specifically it views management as a study of experience. However, it must be argued that though past experiences are priceless but it may not always be the case that what seemed right in the past would also be applicable in the future. Hence it is advisable to not only learn from the past but consider the present and if possible the future while formulating a management decision. 3. The Human

Beijing Envy, Chine in Gabon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Beijing Envy, Chine in Gabon - Essay Example China currently has good diplomatic relations and a large amount of influence in many African countries. #######China has historically had a large level of influence in Gabon, and retains a high level of influence today. Gabon has deposits of oil and other natural resources that are needed by the booming Chinese economy, and the country is a good market for Chinese manufactured goods. China has aided Gabon by giving it debt relief and Chinese engineers and technicians have explored and developed the oil fields in Gabon. In the last quarter of the twentieth century and the early twentyfirst century, Chinese envoys have made multiple visits to the nation. #######Diplomatic Relations between Gabon and China began in 1974. This is when Gabon ended its foreign relations with Taiwan, which the communist government of China considers to be a requirement for friendly foreign relations. The Joint Communique on the Establishment of the Diplomatic Relations Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Gabon establishes relations between the two nations at the ambassador level and pledges that the Chinese government will provide friendly and cooperative relations with Gabon on the principles of mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual nonaggression, noninterference in internal affairs, equality, mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence. This treaty is similar to most of the other diplomatic treaties signed between China and other African nations. #######After this, the Chinese government has helped Gabon in the fields of medicine, science, and technology; and they have also cooperated with Gabon on economic, political, diplomatic, and cultural issues. The two nations have had good diplomatic relations throughout this time. It is reported by the Chinese foreign ministry that #Chinese leaders and officials who paid visits to Gabon include: Chen Muhua, vice premier of the State Council (August 1978), Gong Dafei, vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (October 1981), Zhao Ziyang, premier of the State Council (January 1983), Wu Xueqian, vice premier of the State Council (March 1990), Qian Qichen, member of the State Council and minister of foreign affairs (January 1993), Li Lanqing, vice premier of the State Council (November 1995), Tian Cengpei, vice minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (April 1996), Li Peng, premier of the State Council (May 1997), Chen Jinhua, vice chairman of the NPPCC (July 2000), Tang Jiaxua n, minister of foreign affairs (January 2001), and Wei Jianxing, member of the Central CPC Standing Committee, etc##

Analysis for Chevron Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

Analysis for Chevron Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example The company also looks at various stakeholders’ benefits. The company has adopted quite a few CSR strategies to get involved in the market. Table of Contents Abstract 2 1.0 About Chevron 4 2.0 The Corporate Social Responsibility Activities of Chevron 5 2.1 Business Ethics 6 2.2 Government 8 2.3 Human Rights 8 3.0 Evaluation of the Motivations for CSR Activities Drawing Upon the Company's Market Environment 9 4.0 Evaluation of the Motivations for CSR Activities Drawing Upon the Company's Non Market Environment 11 5.0 The Stakeholder Theory in Relation to Chevron 14 6.0 Conclusion 17 7.0 Recommendations 18 References 19 1.0 About Chevron Chevron is regarded to be one of the largest American multinational oil producing companies. It is considered as one of the top energy companies with various subsidiaries all over the world. The company is engaged in a string of activities such as exploration, transportation, production of crude oil along with natural gas as well. They are engag ed in generating power and in the production of geothermal energy. The company is focussed on providing safe and healthy environment to the people. Their main objective is to uphold the organisational reliability and effectiveness in the minds of the people. It also produces mining, pipelines, chemicals and is involved in power construction businesses as well. In the US, the company owns 9,600 gas stations that function under the brand name of Chevron along with Texaco. It also own or has stakes in around 12,400 gas stations outside the market of the US with brand name of ‘Caltex’. Chevron signed a $4.3 billion deal with  Atlas Energy  in 2011 (Chevron, 2008) 2.0 The Corporate Social Responsibility Activities of Chevron Corporate responsibility at Chevron is the use of ‘The Chevron Way’ across social, environmental along with governance issues and concerns. The corporate responsibility of the company is implemented through existing systems, procedures a nd policies of management in order to operate ethically and responsibly. The major aim of the company is to constantly develop the performance and activities in the organisation. The business is performed in an efficient, ethical and responsible way. Through the corporate social responsibility activities Chevron looks to perform their business responsibly by delivering not only energy but also creating sustainable partnership. Chevron has prepared an Action Plan in which climate change has played a significant part in their projects related to emissions reduction, research improvements and also efficiency improvements. Chevron also sustains their CSR activities by touching the requirements of the human lives by initiatives such as ‘Corporate Champion of The Global Fund’ in order to fight against diseases such as Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria. They were working towards controlling as well as eradicating these harmful diseases in six different countries that has high lev el incidence rate (Chevron, 2008). Chevron’s Operational Excellence Management System (OEMS) defines the expectations with regard to the organised management of safety, reliability, environment, health and efficiency in order to attain outstanding performance in operational excellence (Chevron, 2010). Chevron uses various motives for their role towards corporate social responsibility. The motives are ethical motives, economic motives and strategic motives. CSR and

According to Instructions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

According to Instructions - Coursework Example As a result, God awards death the victory for conquering the life of man while man rewarded with honor as a way of demonstrating care and concern. This brings in the basic elements of Renaissance literature and the humanistic view of life and circumstances (Johannes, 106). The pope himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by God; or, at most, he can remit it in cases reserved to his discretion. Except for these cases, the guilt remains untouched. Martin Luther criticized the Catholic Church on the basis that they church advocated for matters that did not adhere to the basic principles of human rights and freedom. The papacy did not approve the reading of the bible by the masses as they preferred that they be the ones to dictate to the people what they ought to read as far as the holy book was concerned. He was against the fact the people had to approach the throne of God through the pope and not directly as indicated in the bible. He argues that only faith alone through the grace of God could save the sinners from their sins as well offering them the perfect form of forgiveness. The poem by Andreas Gryphius talks about the negative result of the thirty years war that adversely affected the Germans. Many destructions were occasioned to lives and property. The atrocities that were committed were very gross and many people lost their lives through torture, rape, and fire outbreaks. The war was not just about rivalries among nations but it was more about the Catholics and Protestants. Lack of religious tolerance further led to the escalation of the war and very little could be done to prevent the war from going to the extreme thus leading to the negative events (Byers, 113). The society has been divided into two main rival camps namely the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The book stipulates that there has always been class struggles in which the working

Taxes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Taxes - Assignment Example The revenues collected through a progressive tax regime can be utilized to strengthen the public healthcare system. As it stands, the United States has more than 50 million citizens without health insurance. This is a shocking statistic, for with only a fraction of the yearly military budget, health access and healthcare outcomes in the country could be improved multifold. In a similar vein, channeling a portion of corporate revenues toward strengthening our healthcare system will pay rich social dividends. Much of the criticism directed at welfare programs like Medicaid, Medicare and social security are misplaced. Existing welfare programs are a godsend for those Americans belonging to the lowest strata of American society. They should not be criticized for being a drain on the economy. To the contrary, it is corporations which owns substantial resources and yet acts without social or environmental responsibility. It is only fair that corporations are taxed more as reparation for the damage they chronically cause to society and

According to Instructions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

According to Instructions - Coursework Example As a result, God awards death the victory for conquering the life of man while man rewarded with honor as a way of demonstrating care and concern. This brings in the basic elements of Renaissance literature and the humanistic view of life and circumstances (Johannes, 106). The pope himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by God; or, at most, he can remit it in cases reserved to his discretion. Except for these cases, the guilt remains untouched. Martin Luther criticized the Catholic Church on the basis that they church advocated for matters that did not adhere to the basic principles of human rights and freedom. The papacy did not approve the reading of the bible by the masses as they preferred that they be the ones to dictate to the people what they ought to read as far as the holy book was concerned. He was against the fact the people had to approach the throne of God through the pope and not directly as indicated in the bible. He argues that only faith alone through the grace of God could save the sinners from their sins as well offering them the perfect form of forgiveness. The poem by Andreas Gryphius talks about the negative result of the thirty years war that adversely affected the Germans. Many destructions were occasioned to lives and property. The atrocities that were committed were very gross and many people lost their lives through torture, rape, and fire outbreaks. The war was not just about rivalries among nations but it was more about the Catholics and Protestants. Lack of religious tolerance further led to the escalation of the war and very little could be done to prevent the war from going to the extreme thus leading to the negative events (Byers, 113). The society has been divided into two main rival camps namely the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The book stipulates that there has always been class struggles in which the working

Finance and Surplus Funds Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Finance and Surplus Funds - Assignment Example Finance companies can facilitate Carlsons expansion by providing long-term loans to meet the company's fund requirement that is used to buy the long-term assets such as machinery, equipment, land and building. The funds provided by financial institutions are essential to finance the fixed assets procurement necessary for the expansion of the existing business or for totally a new line of business. Commercial Banks are depository institutions. Deficit units such as Carson are provided loans by commercial banks. Commercial banks have large assets generated by providing the deposit accounts to surplus units. The financial institutions look at financial leveraging of the firm such as debt ratio, debt-equity ratio, interest coverage, that decides company’s capacity to pay the interest and original debt over a long period of time. Obviously, that hinders Carson to access more debt funds for further expansion and growth. The primary market can support expansion program of Carson by absorbing their issued stocks and bonds to the common investors at the predetermined price. The money thus garnered falls under the category of equity or debt as the case may be and can be used to meet the expansion needs. The financial institutions work as financial intermediaries especially, when the market is imperfect. When the market is perfect, information is available free to buyer and seller and market settles at the lowest possible cost of funds discarding the need of any financial institutions for they cannot give any benefit to either buyer or seller. Every commercial bank would like to review the risk profile of the business and the company to whom they have provided the line of credit. Accordingly, it is quite obvious that in case of Carson undertaking any large expansion, commercial banks would like to know how the line of credit provided by them will be used and in what way the new expansion will alter the risk profile of the company. Banks would also  like to assess about how the expansion plan of Carson will affect the fund security and the ability of the Carson to pay them the due interest on the borrowed funds.

Volvo Group Of Companies and the challenges it faces

Volvo Group Of Companies and the challenges it faces 1 Introduction AB Volvo is the mother company of the Volvo Group of companies with its head office in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company was formed in 1924, with the first Volvo truck rolling off the production line in Sweden in 1928. The Volvo Group is one of the worlds leading suppliers of transport solutions for commercial use, also providing complete solutions for finance and servicing. This mission statement for the company is ‘By creating value for our customers we create value for our shareholders. We use our expertise to create transport-related hard and soft products of the superior quality, safety and environmental care for demanding customers in selected segments. We work with energy, passion and respect for the individual (AB Volvo Group Presentation 2011). Volvo as a group is tremendously proud of the core corporate values of, Safety, Quality and Environment and has retained and lived by these values from the start of the organisation. These three values are evident in every aspect of the business. The Volvo Group has now grown to become the second largest manufacturer globally of heavy trucks, and as illustrated in Figure 1.1 incorporates many different brands. As illustrated in Figure 1.2 , the Volvo Group is separated into business areas and business units. The business areas are responsible for generating revenues for the company and the business units are the recognised support units to support all business areas. Volvo Information Technology (Volvo IT) is the recognised support business unit for information technology strategy and systems support. Volvo IT does not confine their business to the Volvo Group, outsourcing their expertise to such organisations as the Ford motor company and the Stockholm Government. This ensures the Volvo IT is continually benchmarking the Volvo Group to other businesses in the open market to stay in the market forefront. Volvo Group works with external interest groups to continue to develop and drive progress in the transportation industry, especially on projects that align with the corporate values of quality, safety and environmental care. An example project requiring the key involvement of Volvo IT is the Alternative Fuels project. This project is examining a viable replacement of fossil fuels for commercial applications (Alternative Fuels 2011). In the Alternative Fuels project, the Volvo Group is working with customers, suppliers and governments to investigate workable fossil free fuels, with all business areas and units working towards making this possible. Volvo IT is involved to introduce software changes for engine management systems to ensure clean burning of these fuels. The solution is to utilise a centralised and shared IT infrastructure, platform and software application serving content to authorised users over the web. In this report we discuss the IT infrastructure issues and challenges for the Volvo Group and the business benefits and costs of a modern IT model called Cloud Computing. Recommendations are provided as to the adoption of Cloud Computing by the Volvo Group followed by concluding statements. 2 IT Infrastructure: issues and challenges 2.1 IT infrastructure challenges Two of the major components {Laudon, 2010 #159}of an IT infrastructure that must be coordinated by a firm include computer hardware platforms and enterprise software applications ( Laudon Laudon 2010, p. 203). These two essential components of an organisations IT infrastructure ecosystem ( Laudon Laudon 2010, p. 203) are concentrated on in this report as they exhibit the most risk to the Volvo Groups business, but they also provide the most opportunities for an information technology strategy to add business value to the Volvo Group. An information system is defined by Laudon Laudon ( 2010, p. 46) as ‘a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organisation. In modern organisations, most information systems are implemented via IT infrastructure that includes computer hardware platforms and enterprise software applications. These systems are ‘typically the backbone of an organisations information flow and the main vehicle for consolidating business information ( Bisbal et al. 1999, p. 103) and their failure can have a significant impact on the business. 2.2 Legacy information systems Information systems that have been in existence for a long time and continue to be resistant to modification and evolution due to a high replacement or redesign cost are called legacy information systems ( Brodie Stonebraker 1995, p. 103; Laudon Laudon 2010, p. 634). The evolution or appearance of legacy information systems in an organisation can also typically occur due to mergers and acquisitions ( Macknight 2005, p. 14). As described by Bisbal ( 1999, p. 103), legacy information systems can cause an organisation a number of problems: Running on old or obsolete hardware. Expensive software maintenance. Inflexibility in extending the systems. Difficult to integrate with other systems. Long failure or disaster recovery times. Old and obsolete hardware can be power hungry. Replacement can be expensive or sometimes impossible due to lack of skills or unavailable parts. Some organisations need to maintain spares holding and skills within their organisation to mitigate such risks. Similarly skills in software maintenance and fault-finding may be hard to out-source or outsourced service levels may not align with the needs of the business. The system may need to be flexible and able to integrate with other systems in order to respond to changing business requirements ( Bennett et al. 1999, p. 153) 2.3 The evolution of Volvos global information systems strategy Volvo Group has seen an increase in their legacy information systems mainly due to the impact of company acquisitions over the years. Many areas in the IT infrastructure ecosystem ( Laudon Laudon 2010, p. 203) required particular attention during acquisitions to ensure compliance through coordination of the many components of the ecosystem. Hardware platforms differed as did internet platforms. Data management and storage needed to be centralised. The need to change and centralise was evident. Throughout these acquisitions, the focus of the information management strategy of the Volvo Group has been to ensure key enterprise systems are incorporated into the acquired organisations. The ERP system based on SAP is an example one of the key enterprise systems common throughout the entire Volvo Group. In contrast, supply chain systems have remained as point solutions unique to each business area and physically deployed on a geographically separated basis. As specified by ( Ives Jarvenpaa 1991, p. 34), a ‘global information technology application contributes to achieving a firms global business strategy by using information technology platforms to store, transmit and manipulate data across cultural environments. With AB Volvo being a true global corporation experiencing ongoing growth through acquisition, challenges have presented themselves in most countries with legacy systems across the supply chain. Cultural diversity such as different languages utilised from regional area to regional area continue to discourage the upgrade of legacy supply chain systems. Also, the resultant point solutions all require local IT support. Evidently, having multiple point solutions poses many challenges for the Volvo Group, but it also causes misalignment with their core corporate values. For example, the Volvo Group core value of environmental care leads to goals to reduce energy usage in efforts to reduce the companys carbon footprint. With the multiple point solutions, and many of these being legacy systems, there would be a propensity for excessive energy usage due to the hardware platforms not complying with environmental requirements and other inefficiencies. There are better solutions available. Hospitals in the USA have started to use energy efficient, environmentally friendly hardware, as well as using cloud like technology for patient files access and program access ( Does Green Really Pay Off? Ideas from Hospitals That Say Yes!   2009). 3 Cloud Computing and its business benefits and costs 3.1 Cloud computing explained Cloud computing is referred to as a ‘model of computing by Laudon Laudon ( 2010, p. 196) ‘where firms and individuals obtain computing power and software applications over the Internet, rather than purchasing their own hardware and software. Typically ‘cloud computing infrastructure resides in a large data centre and is managed by a third party ( Jaeger et al. 2008, p. 270). Gilbert ( 2010, p. 1) states that ‘Cloud computing has been recognised as one of the most important developments in information technology in the past 60 years. Globally, organisations are implementing cloud computing solutions in order to reduce costs; be more responsive to market demands; to share information more readily and rapidly; ( Gilbert 2010, p. 1); to provide better customer service, and much more. Cloud computing has been enabled through technological drivers such as reducing communication costs, the internet and its growing speed, smaller footprints required for more processing power and data storage, advances in internet security, virtualisation and much more. Figure 3.1 describes further characteristics of the cloud environment. 3.2 Cloud computing service models Cloud computing services can be provided in three models ( Gilbert 2010, pp. 18-9) Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS), and Software as a service (SaaS). These models are described in more detail in Figure 3.1. For organisations such as Volvo, the cloud computing service models tend towards the use of IaaS and SaaS. The staff of Network World ( 2007, p. 28) quote eBays Paul Strong as stating ‘companies must decide what is core to their business and what can be commoditised as a utility served up by a SaaS (software as a service) provider. Cloud service providers are able to consolidate computing resources enabling cost reductions derived from centralised management and economies of scale, passing on these cost savings to the user of the cloud service who can utilise the service without the initial capital outlay and maintenance of a dedicated infrastructure ( Jaeger et al. 2008, p. 270). 3.3 Cloud computing delivery models Cloud delivery models can be public, private, hybrid or community ( Gilbert 2010, p. 19). These are described in more detail in Figure 3.1. For organisations, cloud computing ‘presents many major problems of information policy, including issues of privacy, security, reliability, access and regulation ( Jaeger et al. 2008, pp. 269-70) with legislation lagging commercial interest in this computing model. In evaluating their potential utilisation of a cloud computing service, organisations would need to consider a range of issues. Two typical issues revolve around trust in the integrity of the service provider. Organisations would need to trust in the ability of a cloud service provider to ensure the security of their valuable private information. There must also be trust in the business continuity of the service provider, along with the ability of the service provider to maintain their quoted service levels ensuring the appropriate access and reliability of the service. Subsequently organisations are more likely to take up a private cloud delivery model for enterprise software applications and computer hardware platforms. For larger global organisations with multiple business units, such as Volvo, a hybrid model of a private cloud and community cloud delivery model would be more desirable. Such a model is illustrated in Figure 3.2 3.4 Cloud computing business benefits to Volvo The Volvo Group can benefit greatly from the use of cloud computing. With the group having its own business unit that handles and manages IT requirements, Volvo Group has an opportunity to reduce costs from infrastructure and hardware duplications, have competitive advantage via speed to market of new services for customers and reducing the costs of good sold into markets via supply chains. Other benefits to the group include much lower cost of entry and capital expenditure, low and transparent cost of ownership, and tax advantages ( OSullivan 2009, p. 21). The supply chain systems within the Volvo Group are characterised as legacy point solutions with regionally located and managed data centres housing multiple software applications and hardware platforms, each providing the same business function. These legacy supply chain information systems would appear to be prime candidates for replacement by a cloud computing solution. Indeed, supply chain systems are one of the types of systems that are quickly moving from their traditional platforms to the cloud computing model ( OSullivan 2009, p. 20). 4 Recommendation of cloud computing adoption/adaptation 4.1 Volvos five year strategy The five year strategy from the Volvo Group is to continue to reduce their environmental impact, produce quality products in all areas of their business and continue to create value to customers and shareholders. A key aspect of the Volvo Groups five year strategy is to continue to reduce the carbon output in all areas of the business (Volvo Truck Corporation Sweden 2011). Laudon Laudon ( 2010, p. 223) provide six factors that should be used to answer the question â€Å"How much should our firm spend on IT infrastructure?†. They are: 1. Market demand for Volvos services These are ever increasing with more services being provided to Volvo Truck Customers through the complete life of the vehicle. 2. Volvo Business Strategy The group will continue to develop services and vehicles that reduce CO2 footprint and lead to better ways of commercial transportation. 3. Volvo information technology strategy, infrastructure and cost A cloud computing model should be considered for the replacement of supply chain information systems and considered for further system replacements and introductions. 4. Information Technology assessment The adoption of a cloud computing model would not be considered to be lagging behind the technology curve, nor would adoption at this stage be considered early. A review of the risks associated with policy associated with the implementation of a cloud computing model should be undertaken before adopting the model. 5. Competitor firms services Many other European competitors are experimenting with cloud computing. 6. Competitor firms IT Infrastructure investments Mercedes Benz are also investing in future services for customers, showing a trend of high IT infrastructure investment for the global market (Daimler Trucks Germany 2011). 7. Investment can be sought into cloud computing on a business case basis, generating revenues for Volvo IT, and reducing costs for Volvo business areas on a user pays system. Investment in IT infrastructure will give a competitive advantage to the Volvo Group. Investment can be sought into cloud computing on a business case basis, generating revenues for Volvo IT, and reducing costs for Volvo business areas on a user pays system. 4.2 Plan to consolidate of legacy supply chain information systems For the replacement of legacy information systems, Volvo Group Australia has the option to upgrade the current local legacy systems and servers. This would result in high upfront and ongoing costs. Another option is to move to centralised systems hosted by Volvo IT with all storage, maintenance and upgrading performed centrally for considerably less cost. Supply chain system workflows typically extend beyond the internal organisation, typically to dealers (retailers). A cloud computing model can connect entire networks of suppliers and service providers providing efficiency and cost savings ( Ford 2010, pp. 57-8). It is recommended that the Volvo IT department adopt a cloud computing model for the replacement of legacy supply chain systems. This model should be based on a global policy taking into account the issues surrounding cloud computing and its characteristic lag behind appropriate legislation and legal precedence. It is expected that the most appropriate model will be a SaaS service model delivered via a hybrid of a Private and Community model with the cloud service provider being Volvo IT. The cloud community members in this model would be the Volvo Groups Business Areas. The recommendation would be to identify all legacy supply chain information systems across the Volvo Group as candidates for replacement by a SaaS solution under the hybrid model. A business case aligning with the Volvo Groups corporate values should be completed for the replacement of each system or groups of systems. A pilot implementation of a cloud computing solution should be utilised as a proof of concept before a larger roll-out. The recommended pilot implementation is the TruckShop SaaS. 4.3 TruckShop SaaS Pilot Volvo Group Australia has the requirement to upgrade an online catalogue purchasing supply chain information system called TruckShop that allows dealers (retailers) to purchase truck parts via suppliers of the Volvo Group. The TruckShop SaaS model would represent the characteristics of Cloud computing, namely on demand service, internet accessibility, pooled resources, elastic capacity and usage based billing ( Goodburn Hill 2010). The service developed for the TruckShop project will be able to be sold to other business areas in AB Volvo to provide similar solutions. TruckShop is currently running on a legacy system platform with local servers in Sydney. Maintenance and upgrade costs are on the increase, with limitations also being evident on performance and capability to meet current user requirements. Energy consumption costs were noted as increasing due to more servers being required to store data. Whilst the costs of hardware had reduced in the last 10 years, the Volvo Group Australia wanted to capture more data to analyse business trends, something evident in most industries globally ( Tallon 2010). The legacy systems also are prone to downtime, costing thousands of dollars in lost revenue while not being available to the dealer network. 4.4 Post TruckShop pilot Should the TruckShop pilot prove successful the system is recommended to be rolled out into other business areas. The continuing success of the TruckShop roll out is expected to result in high availability, high reliability, low entry cost and ongoing cost effectiveness for all users of the system. All new supply chain enterprise system projects, and indeed other candidate enterprise systems within the group would be recommended to proceed with this cloud computing service and delivery model to ensure overall cost reductions, efficiency gains, centralising and amortising maintenance, upgrades and improvements across all business areas. 5 Conclusions For cloud computing solutions, Volvo IT would generate their revenue by charging the Business Area departments based on the number of users. Users could apply for only the access to systems that they required. System updates and improvements would be performed centrally in Sweden, and users would not have to concern themselves with updates nor have to present their hardware to IT to update. The pilot of TruckShop should prove to the company what cloud computing can achieve. Many other business areas in the Volvo Group can benefit from adopting cloud computing practices. With technology being built into Volvo Trucks, and the focus on providing business partnerships more online services will be developed into the future.