Environmental Planning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Environmental Planning - Research Paper Example The local planners scrutinize proposed public facilities such as hospitals, schools, parking areas, market places among others. They present their request to the relevant government department so as to get approval as well as funding. They have to keep abreast of social, economic as well as legal issues for their project to be viable (Levy, 2011). When the government is sure that all the regulations have been followed, they allow the local planners to implement the plan. This improves the living standards of people in the urban areas as well as creating job opportunities. However, the government is keen to ensure that the project achieve their objectives. They do this by constant evaluations. This ensures that public money and other resources are not misappropriated. In addition, the local planners work together with civic leaders, land developers as well as public officials. They are also charged with the duty of mediating in case of disputes. Thus, they are on many occasions required to defend their proposals before elected official and legislative committee. This ensures that the local developer do not deviate from the state authorities objectives (Levy,

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Essay Example for Free

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Essay In ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’ by Charles Dickens, there were two characters that have many different personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses. But they also had a few things in common as well. These two characters are Sydney Carton and Madame Defarge. Although these two characters are alike, they both have different motives. Sydney Carton is a very strong and intelligent man. Fist, Carton presents himself as a drunk, lazy attorney, who feels as though his life has no meaning. Carton professes his love to Lucie Manette, but later on Carton becomes a changed man. He transform into a Christ-like figure. He begins to shoulder his way through life. His goals are positive and lead to his â€Å"recalled to life,† in book the first. Carton only wants to do what he knows will please Lucie, because he wants to die with the knowledge that one human being in the world who thought he was worth something and cared for him. Another character in the book named Stryver, describes Carton as â€Å"summons, no energy, and purpose.† Sydney also describes himself as, â€Å"like one who died young.† The only time in which Carton’s motivation kick in is towards the end, when he sacrifices his own life for Charles Darnay because he knows it is what would make Lucie Manette happy. The next character I will describe is Madame Defarge. Madame Defarge is completely motivated as well as Carton is, but Madame Defarge is also driven with revenge. It appears that Madame Defarge goals are only of vengeance. Madame Defarge is self-centered; app her goals are reflected around herself and her own revenge, which is shown when she says, â€Å"Tell the wind and fire where to stop; not me.†

Product Hopping Case Study Analysis

Product Hopping Case Study Analysis

Contemporary Music Analysis and Speculation :: essays research papers

Nuova Consonanza - NC Berlino 1969 The piece begins with about 3 sounds occurring concurrently. I can identify a guitar or similar string instrument distinctly. I also hear a wind instrument drone. As the piece progresses, I hear random noises in the background. These begin with an object sliding down a wire, creating a downward scale effect. High pitched piano that is low in intensity is heard. Suddenly I hear a squeaky, high pitched sound that sounds like squeaking on glass with wet fingers. This is soon followed by clinging objects such as keys. It sounds as if they are made of plastic or wood. The squeaky sound continues and becomes more regular and frequent. Added to it is a sound similar to a xylophone. I hear objects being struck that produce different tones, medium in pitch. The mood of the piece gradually changes into a darker aura. Deeper, lower pitched percussion begins to take over as the most-noticed sound in the piece. This low percussion gets louder and more frequent, leading into some high pitched sounds that resemble an object striking wooden planks. Soon after, I begin to notice the sound of trumpets or some other brass instrument backed by low pitched percussion, such as a bass drum. The brass is joined by what sounds like a squeaky hinge for a short time. The metal-on-metal sound heard here is very distinct. These sounds gradually fade away as the piece becomes more silent. The instrumentation becomes more drone-like, resembling the beginning of the piece. After the period of reduced volume, I hear several instruments making short, fast sounds. The drone style continues, as the short, fast sounds are clearly the secondary focus. The first sound I identify sounds like a human blowing into a long tube. Next I hear a flute and what sounds like a high pitched electric motor speeding and slowing. This transitions into high pitched, continuous percussion, which sounds like cymbals. The brass heard before continues but now it is much more continuous and drone-like. After a while the volume gets louder, while the sounds continue in a drone fashion. The sounds fade away, but as the piece ends I hear springs creaking and a human inhale. As a listener I can categorize this piece into the collage category. I feel that while listening I am among a collection of objects and am free to observe any one of them at any given time.

The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age – Immigration & Urbanization Immigration and Urbanization during the Gilded Age were without a doubt a major issue. Many of the political leaders were Immigrants themselves when they started from the bottom. The controversy with them is whether or not they held on to their roots. Urbanization during the Gilded age had a horrible impact for the lower class. Their living environments were beyond unpleasant. Having open sewers also created diseases and contamination. The amount of poverty during this time was very high.The Urbanization of cities separated the classes causing an even bigger mess. The rich and poor no longer lived in the same areas. Instead they each had their own suburbs. (B) Mass amounts off people were homeless, crime rates grew at a fast pace, and children were left starving. All these problems happened because of the urbanization. While the poor were living miserable lives, the rich had all they could ask for living the good life. (D) The Street s were also a very filthy place in any weather condition. When it rained it turned into slimy conditions.When it didn’t rain, the streets were full of dust. The sprinkling in the summer made the dust into mud and then that mud was turned into dust by the winds. No matter what time it was always an unpleasant setting. Sewers were clogged by the grease that came from the wagon axles, pavements couldn’t even be viewed because of the mass amounts of dust. The open sewers filled the air with an unpleasant smell on every land. Once the citizens were tired of it all the voters soon influenced their political leaders to do something about it. O) We’ve seen these types of influences by the voters in the present day as well. The pros of living in a democracy is that with the will power of the people things can be changed for the better. Religion was also a big craze during this time. Reverends during this time focused on converting citizens to Christ’s Religion. Th ey came up with a belief in religious remedies. These remedies were said to purify a man’s whole being. They swore they had converted many foul men and women by sanctifying them. They claimed that by doing this, it would free them from committing any social sins.Desires for drinking, anger, pride, and love were also â€Å"removed† and healed by the blood of Christ. (K) These different types of religions were also a reason as to why different groups were separated. Immigration during this time was good for those who employed. Not so good for those who were employed by them. When big amounts immigrants arrived at one time, those in the industry lowered the wages knowing that the new immigrants would work for any salary. Long hours and very little pay most likely exhausted the workers. Conditions were not the best even though the companies claimed they were. Q) These problems are still slightly seen today. Immigrants are still being paid whatever the employers want and it ’s obviously not fair at all. It is such a shame that there is still no solution to this problem. Cultural differences also separated many couples. They might have started loving each other while in one of their countries and eventually gotten engaged. The opinions of others could also have caused these separations. The fact that couples from two different places could have been the cause of the very judging opinions of others.Those opinions from others could also have created the same thoughts about their partners. (V) The knowledge that some of the people who were joined could have benefited the governments but because of the judgment it became otherwise. All of these factors contributed the bad times during the gilded age. We still see many of those problems in the present day. It makes us think about the different options that we have in order to change these repeated troubles. It is up to the young generation to think these things through. With many contributing great th inking minds anything can be solved The Gilded Age

Effect on Starbucks Store Design on Consumer Behavior

How Starbucks store design affect its consumer behavior in China. Starbucks Corporation is an American global coffee company, coffeehouse chain stores that adapt Italian-style coffeehouse. It is the largest multinational chain of coffee shops with 20,366 stores in 61 countries, including 13,123 in the United States and 732 stores in China. The first Starbucks opened in Seattle, Washington, on March 30, 1971 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegl, and writer Gordon Bowker.The three were inspired by coffee roasting entrepreneur Alfred Peet, whom they knew personally, to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment The first Starbucks location outside North America opened in Tokyo in 1996. After that Starbucks entered the U. K market in 1998. And Finally in January 1999, Starbucks opened its first store in Mainland China at the China World Trade Building and continue spread its wing to Hong Kong in May 2000, and Macau in August 2002. Right now there are near 500 stores in China, including Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.In the Mainland—the region with the fastest growth, there are over 230 stores in 22 cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Within a period of time, Starbucks has successfully established itself as the premium coffee leader in China with great brand recognition and high customer satisfaction. In this paper, our group will focus on how Starbucks store design influence its consumer behaviour in China. In order to achieve our goal, first, we will focus on how Starbucks consumer behaviour in China and compare it with other countries such as U. S. A.And then we will compare Starbucks in China store concept design and how it affect the consumer behaviour in China and then compare it with KFC store design. STARBUCKS IN CHINA Asia, particularly China, is well known for its love of tea. Yet Starbucks so excited about the market in China. The stores are full of people most o f the time. But it is clearly a tea drinking society. It would be a much longer education process. With an overall population of around 1. 3 billion, rising incomes, & increasing in global attitude are viewed very promising for companies around the world. However, coffee market in China is still far behind the hype. 0 percent growth in coffee sales for past 5 years, per capita consumption 1kg per person, while 4kg in US. Tea is still number one beverage in China. Comparing China with Japan, Japan also well known for a tea nation, but Japanese also love to drink coffee. Coffee marketers still find difficulties in transforming tea drinking nation to coffee drinking nation, because Chinese people believe that tea have medicinal qualities that coffee doesn’t have. With China growing economy and middle class is increasing in size. Middle & upper class, which are the consumer of Starbucks, tend to be located in major city (GZ, BJ, & SH).Coffee for younger, wealthier, professional C hinese is seen as enjoy eating out, associated with western lifestyles, associate Starbucks with wealth and status, enjoy sweet tasting foods and beverages, particularly desserts. There are some competitors such as McCafe, etc. However, instant coffee is the major player. Because the Chinese not yet appreciate the taste of coffee and also cannot taste the difference between each types. Inexpensive mixes, such as Nescafe holds nearly half the market share. STARBUCKS IN USA Basically, America is a coffee drinking nation.They are used to drink coffee in the morning before go to work. Americans always look for coffee during the break time, or in meeting time. Before Starbucks era, coffee used to so cheap and simple, then Starbucks revolutionize it. The Starbucks culture has infiltrated almost every part of American society. They have created a new lifestyle for American people. The Starbucks stores don't just sell coffee, they sell an atmosphere. An example is taken from the Starbucks i n Times Square in New York City. It is very common to find several college student doing homework late at night around ten o'clock.The late hours that most Starbucks stores have is great for business because customers know that there will always be a Starbucks open to sit down and have a cup of coffee. Some Starbucks are even open until midnight. The atmosphere is simply contagious. In US, couples of all ages stop by in Starbucks just to sit down and talk. During the winter, American really like to have a cup of coffee or even hot chocolate to warm up and to sit and chat. Yet Starbucks ran with the idea of the sit down atmosphere and not only applied the concept to the winter time and hot coffee, but they expanded the idea to include every season during the year.Now a large part of the Starbucks menu is â€Å"iced† or â€Å"cold† lattes and iced coffees. Moreover, following the interest of people in USA, Starbucks continues to expand and no competition pursuing it. The y continue to play a huge role in society. In NYC, especially in Manhattan, you won't walk by more than four blocks without seeing a Starbucks. The stores are everywhere and the mere sight of them makes you walk into them. COMPARISON BETWEEN STARBUCKS IN USA AND CHINA By their culture themselves, USA and China are different.American use to drink coffee, on the other hand, China is a tea drinking nation. People in US see drinking coffee in Starbucks as a part of their life. They gather, do homework, do some business meeting, or even just enjoy a cup of coffee. In China you wouldn’t find that. Chinese people prefer to just get some Coco milk tea or Happy Lemon and take it with them while walking. In major cities in China, younger wealthier generation starts to follow the western culture. They start hanging around in Starbucks with their friend, but more into status show-off oriented.The last point is the level of appreciation on coffee for each country. In America, they will sp end a bunch amount of money only for drinking Starbucks coffee because they know that Starbucks is offering high coffee quality. On the other hand, in China, they still consider Nescafe (simple mix coffee) as their choice. So Starbucks should implement different strategy for each of the market. For Starbucks in USA, they should maintain their quality stability so the consumer would be loyal to them, while in China they have to continue their education about the art of drinking coffee.Starbucks vs KFC As we all know Starbucks and KFC are MNC which already have many branches all over the world. In order to keep the standardization of their branches, they made some characteristic which is very fundamental for every branch to follow as the basic concept of their store. With these standardizations, it is easy for people to notice their store. Now, we are going to learn more about the standardizations which is created by Starbucks and KFC and also their differences. KFC is very famous fas t food restaurant in all over the world.We could find KFC in a lot of countries and also if we notice, all of the KFC stores have same design both exterior and interior. Red and White store colour is their trademark in all over the world. KFC also set their store ambience for family dine in. Coffee; it is the first thing that will come to our mind if we heard the name of Starbucks. As KFC, Starbucks also do some standardization on their branches design which one of them is the brown and green colour. They also use the coffee scent to attract their customers.However, in some of Starbucks branches, you can see different store design. Starbucks sometimes try to adapt with the local culture like for example Starbucks in Qian Men. Starbucks Qian Men is using classic Chinese Store design as their main theme, but still keep the green and brown concept of Starbucks. Image 1: Starbucks in Qian Men on the top floor. Image 2: Starbucks in Qian Men from outside. Image 4: KFC store in China Imag e 3: Interior of Starbucks in Qian Men. We found that both KFC and Starbucks have some standard that they have in all of their store design.However, the difference between KFC and Starbucks is that KFC keeps some the major characteristic of their store with only minor changes while on the other hand, Starbucks sometimes do a little bit of modification on some branches. According to www. starbucks. com Starbucks are using â€Å"design sandboxes† concept as their main concept. Concept stores are unique environments created by our designers to explore innovations within the coffeehouse. That sense of exploration is extended to everyone who visits, through daily coffee and tea cups, artistic events and community gatherings.However, Starbucks sometimes take a bold step to take it to another level. They bravely made major changes in some of their store to adapting to the local market and local culture but yet still maintaining their main concept which is sandbox concept. The Conclu sion After comparing Starbucks in China and U. S. A, we can conclude that Starbucks consumer in China, whose mainly are mainly rising upper-middle class â€Å"modern Chinese†, white collar workers and college students, consider Starbucks not as a mere coffee shop.In China, Starbucks image has been upgraded from just a mere coffee-shop to a â€Å"modern† way of living, in comparison to Starbucks in U. S. A. In most cases, Chinese people’ motivation to purchase Starbucks is not because they are a coffee-drinking society but more into status show-off oriented. From store design and atmosphere point of view, Starbucks in China is trying to implement sense of chill and relax to make people like to stay for longer time; in which, you can’t find in any KFC branches.

Myths About Spanish and the People Who Speak It

Myths About Spanish and the People Who Speak It When many people, especially those in the United States, think of Spanish, they tend to think of mariachis, their favorite Mexican actor and Mexican immigrants. But the Spanish language and its people are far more diverse than the stereotypes suggest. Here we debunk 10 myths about Spanish and the people who speak it: More People Grow up Speaking English Than Speaking Spanish Because English has become a worldwide lingua franca for science, tourism, and business, its easy to forget that English is far surpassed by two other languages in terms of numbers of native speakers. Easily ranking No. 1 is Mandarin Chinese with 897 million native speakers, according to the Ethnologue database. Spanish comes in a distant second with 427 million, but thats well ahead of English with 339 million. One reason English seems more prominent is that its regularly spoken in 106 countries, compared with just 31 countries for Spanish. And English does rank ahead of Spanish when non-native speakers are counted as it is the worlds most common second language. Spanish Is the Language of Latin America The term Latin America traditionally is applied to any of the countries of the Americas where a Romance language is the dominant language. So the most populous country of Latin America - Brazil with more than 200 million residents - has Portuguese, not Spanish, as its official language. Even French-and Creole-speaking Haiti is considered part of Latin American, as is French Guiana. But countries such as Belize (formerly British Honduras, where English is the national language) and Suriname (Dutch) are not. Neither is French-speaking Canada. Even in countries where Spanish is the official language, other languages are common. Indigenous languages such as Quechua and Guarani are widely used in large swaths of South America, and the latter is co-official in Paraguay, where it is spoken even by many who arent of Amerindian heritage. Nearly two dozen languages are spoken in Guatemala, and in Mexico, about 6 percent of people dont speak Spanish as their first language. Native Spanish Speakers Talk Like Speedy Gonzales The Spanish of the cartoon character Speedy Gonzales is an exaggeration of Mexican Spanish, of course, but the truth is that a minority of Spanish speakers have a Mexican accent. The Spanish of Spain and Argentina, to take two examples, doesnt sound like Mexican Spanish- just as U.S. English speakers dont sound like their counterparts in Great Britain or South Africa. Although much of the regional variations in English tend to be with the vowels, in Spanish the variation is in the consonants: In the Caribbean, for example, speakers may tend to distinguish little between the r and the l. In Spain, most people pronounce the soft c with the tongue against the upper teeth rather than the front of the palate. There are substantial variations as well in the rhythm of speech from region to region. The Spanish 'R' Is Difficult to Pronounce Yes, it does take practice to get the trilled r to come naturally, but millions learn it every year. But not all Rs are trilled: You can pronounce the common word pero close to correctly just by sounding out peddo, and mero sounds very much like meadow. In any case, its undoubtedly easier for native English speakers to pronounce the Spanish r than for native Spanish speakers to pronounce the English r. People Who Speak Spanish Are Spanish As a nationality, Spanish refers to people from Spain and only Spain. People who are from Mexico are, well, Mexican; people from Guatemala are Guatemalan; and so on. I wont try to settle here any controversy over how to use terms such as Hispanic and Latino. Suffice it to say that traditionally in Spanish, hispano is used to refer to someone from the Iberian Peninsula, while latino can refer to anyone from a country that speaks a Latin-derived language - and sometimes specifically to people from the Lazio region of Italy. Native Spanish Speakers Have Brown Skin, Brown Eyes and Black Hair In their totality, Spain and the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America are every bit the melting pot of races and ethnicities that the United States is. The societies of Spanish-speaking Latin America descend not only from Spaniards and indigenous Amerindians but also from peoples of Africa, Asia, and non-Spanish Europe. Most of the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas have a population that is majority mestizo (mixed race). Four countries (Argentina, Chile, Cuba, and Paraguay) are majority white. In Central America, many blacks, usually descendants of slaves, live along the Atlantic coast. Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, and Nicaragua each have a black population of around 10 percent. Peru especially has a large population of Asian ancestry. About 1 million are of Chinese heritage, and thus the abundance of chifas, as Chinese restaurants are known there. One of the former presidents of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, is of Japanese heritage. You Can Form Spanish Nouns Just by Adding 'O' to the English Word This works sometimes: A car in much of Latin America is a carro, a telephone is a telà ©fono, an insect is an insecto, and a secret is a secreto. But try this often and most of the time youll just end up with gibberish. Besides, an a works sometimes too: A jar is a jarra, music is mà ºsica, a family is a familia, and a pirate is a pirata. And, please, dont say No problemo for No problem. Its No hay problema. People Who Speak Spanish Eat Tacos (or Maybe Paella) Yes, tacos are common in Mexico, although it should tell you something that Taco Bell markets itself as U.S.-style fast food in Mexico, not as a Mexican-style chain. And paella is indeed eaten in Spain, although even there its considered something of a regional dish. But these foods arent found everywhere that Spanish is spoken. The fact is every region of the Spanish-speaking world has its own culinary favorites, and not all have crossed international boundaries. Not even the names are the same: Ask for a tortilla in Mexico or Central America, and youre likely to get a sort of pancake or bread made from cornmeal, while in Spain youre likelier to receive an egg omelet, possibly prepared with potatoes and onions. Go to Costa Rica and ask for a casado, and youll get a simple if tasty four-course meal. Ask for the same in Chile, and theyll just wonder why youd want a married man. Spanish Will Take Over English in the United States While the number of native Spanish speakers in the United States is projected to increase to around 40 million by 2020 - up from 10 million in 1980 - studies consistently show that their children will grow up bilingual and that their grandchildren are likely to speak English exclusively. In other words, the level of Spanish speaking is tied more closely to current immigration rates than it is to use of Spanish by those born in the U.S. The descendants of Spanish speakers switch to English as they assimilate just as did those who came to America speaking German, Italian and Chinese. Spanish Is an Official Language in Just Spain and Latin America Of the African territories that were once part of the Spanish Empire, one independent country still uses Spanish. Thats Equatorial Guinea, which gained independence in 1968. One of the smallest countries in Africa, it has around 750,000 residents. About two-thirds of them speak Spanish, while French, Portuguese and indigenous languages also are used.

Who owns the land owns everything reaching to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth Essays

Who owns the land owns everything reaching to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth Essays Who owns the land owns everything reaching to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth Paper Who owns the land owns everything reaching to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth Paper Essay Topic: Law This report will look into how far the Latin maxim cuis est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos or he who owns the land owns everything reaching to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth still holds true today. Gray and Gray (2009) state that the Latin maxim traces back to medieval times when its meaning held true. However in modern property law, there is evidence to suggest this does not hold true today. In Bernstein of Leigh (Baron) v Skyviews General Ltd1, it was declared that the rights of the owner are limited to a height that is necessary for the owner to use and enjoy his/her land and above that height the owner of the land has no more right than any other ordinary person of the public. Today there are hot air balloons, aircrafts etc which makes it necessary to balance the rights of airspace between fee simple and the public. The Civil Aviation Act 1982, s 76, also reinforces the concept of how the owners airspace is now restricted to a lower level than it once was. Section 76 of the act restricts the fee simples right to sue aircraft in trespass or in nuisance providing the aircraft flies over the property at a reasonable height. The restriction imposed by the Civil Aviation Act 1982, s 76, states no action whatsoever shall prevail providing it the aircraft does not affect the fee simples ordinary use or enjoyment of his/her property. However Gray and Gray (2009) show that aerial trespass can result from low flying aircraft2. Hence the flying height of aircraft should abide by The Civil Aviation Act 1982, s 76. This is supported by Justice Douglas3 who stated, the landowner must have exclusive control of the immediate reaches of the enveloping atmosphere or buildings could not be erected, trees could not be planted and even fences could not be run. This part of the airspace is known as the lower stratum. Whereas in contrast Gray (1991) states that the upper stratum which is beyond the lower stratum is open to exploitation by all. However Gray (1991) gives rise to the example of People v. Cook4 where the Supreme Court of California recognised that the owner of the property in the lower stratum is open to invasion of privacy via inspection from those that may be passing the property in the upper stratum. Gray and Gray (2009) emphasise how the importance of visual trespass has become more important today. For example importance of privacy laws, the emerging law of harassment and ECHR Art 8(i) (the right to respect of his private and family life, his home and his correspondence) have made visual trespass a concern within the area of property law. This shows that although property is thought to be divided into layers. Although the lower layer belongs to the fee simple to a region up to where the owner can reasonably use it and enjoy it. This questions the vulnerability of the owners land to those above it. Hence if the fee simples property is vulnerable to those above it. It raises the question can any of it be said to truly be the owners if its privacy can be so easily compromised. However there is a counter-argument which challenges this as it can be seen that the onus lies with the owner to protect those activities on their property that they wish to protect from those external to their property5. Damages may also need to be paid for trespassing whether or not trespass caused actual damage to the owner of the land6. This case showed that sky cranes trespassing over anothers property for the purposes of construction had to pay compensation even though no direct damage to the fee simple was caused. By using the cranes over the fee simples property, it saved the building contractor $500,000. It was ruled that compensation for the fee simple should result where economic advantage is made by the use of property of another. This can in effect be thought of as it being necessary to rent the property by the party requiring use. Although no direct damage is caused by the trespasser, the fee simple does incur a loss and the third party benefits from the fee simples property; whereas the trespasser profits from the property of the fee simple. While the first maxim cuis est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos (he who owns the land owns everything reaching to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth), imposes restrictions, another Latin maxim superficies solo cedit (a building becomes part of the ground or solum) has the effect of granting extended rights, this was illustrated in Rogers (Inspector of Taxes) v. Longsdon7 where an artificial heap of waste was held to have become part of the land once trees and grass started growing on it. Thus a house or other structure which cannot be removed without demolition or destruction is presumed to have been intended to form part of the realty as stated by Lord Lloyd of Berwick8. A top floor of a high rise block of flats would also constitute as being land as would a dry stone wall which inheres in the landscape in such a way as to become part of the land9. The Interpretation Act 1978, Sch 1 provides that land includes buildings and other structure, land covered with water, and any estate, interest, easement, servitude or right in or over land. It is not only actual buildings or parts of buildings but also anything that attaches to them in such a way as to become a fixture. There are two types of items fixtures and chattels; Luther (2004) states their distinction is elusive. When looking at whether an item is a fixture or chattel, it is usual for judges to refer to two tests from Blackburn J in Holland v. Hodgson10. The basic principle here is that if an item is attached to the land it is usually a fixture, whereas chattels do not attach to the land but rest on their own weight. The noteworthy point here is that fixtures that are between the land and the heavens do form part of the owners land but chattels may not belong to the owner and if the property was bought from a previous owner, the previous owner has the right to remove any chattels that are still inside the property he has sold even though they currently sit between the earth and the heavens of the new fee simple who has just bought the property. This shows that not everything between the centre of the earth and the heavens forms part of the owners land. It is also of note that chattels do not form part of the land under the tests which is why it does not form part of the land even though the chattel may be on his property but a chattel could belong to the owner of the land just as it could belong to someone else or the previous owner. Regarding subterranean zones, Gray and Gray (2009) state that English law recognises that the owner has the right to at least some of the land under the soil but the Latin maxims declaration that the owner owns everything to depths as far as the centre of the earth is a little misleading in modern property law. Bradbrook (1987 cited by Gray and Gray (2009) states that the land owners rights are unlikely to reach further than 200 metres beneath the surface of the land. Minerals and other inorganic substances that are found beneath the grounds of the owner belong to him11. However there are exceptions regarding coal12 that is yet to be worked on and petroleum13. They belong to the Coal Authority and the Crown respectively. The subterranean forms part of the owners and therefore it is possible to trespass on the owners land in the subterranean zone i. e. underground as far down as is regarded to be the owners land. Trespass may arise via entry to a cave under the owners land14 or by installing a sewer pipe15 under the owners land without authorisation from the owner of the land. Gray and Gray (2009) illustrated that the owner of the land has no absolute title to the water itself flowing through his land through a channel (i. e. river). The owner has the right to reasonably enjoy16 the flow of the water without diminishing17 the flow of the water or its purity to those further down the channel. The owner has the right to fish in the water flowing through his land as far as he can reach by normal casting or spinning18. The owner also has right to the fish once he kills and catches them and they become his absolute property19. Conclusion The Latin maxim of, he who owns the land owns everything reaching to the heavens and down to the centre of the earth does not hold true in modern property law. This notion was perhaps true when it was first realised dating back to the medieval times. However with the evolution of science and technology, much has become possible with items such as aircraft, hot air balloons and other things that would not be possible to use if all property stretched from the centre of the earth to the heavens; every aeroplane or helicopter would be trespassing. Hence as far as to what extent the concept of how far this Latin maxim is still valid in todays society is concerned. It does not hold true. In general, it is thought that the owners property extends to 200 metres below the surface of the ground and that it is unlikely to be higher than 200 metres above roof level. These measurements are not stipulated but it is a rough estimate as it gives the owner the right of space above and below his land from which he can fully benefit from the use his land and use it reasonably for enjoyment. It was also found that the owner of the land owns the land and the buildings upon it, the associated fixtures, minerals and other inorganic substances are said to be the fee simples, the right to enjoy reasonably any water passing through his land with causing the water any damage and the fish within the water become his absolute property. However it was also found that although chattels may be on the owners land he may not own them which may allow them to be recovered by the owner.

Particularities of Starting a Small Business Assignment

Particularities of Starting a Small Business - Assignment Example In addition, business financial statements are existent to assist the owners of businesses and decision makers and are the leading business planning function (Drucker 83). For a business to grow, the business financial statements should establish the finest forms of costs, benefits of every form of finance, available finance, the responsibility of financial markets in providing finance, and the risk connected to finance. These financial statements are employed to give insight into a business’ debts and asset at a given time. Apart from that, the information on the shareholder’s equity in the business is also incorporated. A balance sheet also indicates the abilities and strengths of a business. Moreover, the balance sheet evaluates the decrease or increase in the business value from time to time. The balance sheet appraises the asset and liability composition, the value of retained earnings, and the relative equity financing and proportion of debt (Drucker 84). Income statement provides information that concerns the business income earned in a given time. In addition, income statements illustrate the expenses of the business in acquiring the shareholder earnings and income per share. More often than not, income statements give a record of incomes after a year (Drucker 86). Every expense in the income statement should be equal to the business and its functions. Cash flow statements grant an evaluation of money movement in and out of business. Cash flow statements are essential in deciding whether or not a business has the adequate finance to handle expenses, acquire assets, and pay bills (Drucker 87). The cash flow statements entail information from financial activities, operating and investing. Various entrepreneurs find fault in building forecast with the perception that it takes too much time; time that could be used for business transactions instead of planning.  

Professional Code of Conduct Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Professional Code of Conduct Exercise - Essay Example Construction managers are called to avoid conflict of interest by shunning projects that compromise integrity and objectivity. CMAA code of ethics requires its members to bargain openly for fair compensation. The code provides that construction managers release truthful information and keep other information confidential. Construction managers are required not to discriminate potential clients. CMAA members are encouraged to strive for professional development and to uphold the integrity of their profession (Ghillyer 12). I agree with everything that is stated in the CMAA code of ethics. My agreement with this code is underpinned by its comprehensiveness. This is seen in the way its elements touch on the welfare of all the stakeholders including construction managers, the profession of construction, clients and the public at large. Additionally, this code of ethics is acceptable because it promotes a robust practice. Its emphasis on qualification, competence, and integrity underscores this robustness. CMAA code of ethics is designed in such a way that it can be domesticated into other fields and professions and this is another reason why I agree with it. For example, the principles of confidentiality, integrity, and fair competition can apply in business and medicine. This code of ethics also encourages professional development and as such, it promotes a self-reinforcing practice (Ghillyer 13). Accountability is one of the ethical considerations that can be added to CMAA code of ethics. This would encourage construction managers to ensure that they have enough justification for the decisions they make and the actions they take. Facilitation of evaluation is another ethical consideration that can be added into CMAA professional code of ethics. This would impress on construction managers to use their knowledge and experience in evaluating the quality of

Innovation Portfolio Report(Part2) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

Innovation Portfolio Report(Part2) - Coursework Example Now innovation is not only changing the appearance of things, its some thing deep inside the products, organizations and markets. This comparative study is aimed at reflecting innovation portfolio of modern business by discovering different facets of modern business including product management, implementing it as corporate philosophy and exercising the whole process in different geographical markets differently. Business world has evolved from the phase where breaking the mould philosophy was the extreme success of innovation. Innovativeness is boundary less and all business empires try to battle their product, marketing, and market place issues in their own way, i.e., their innovative ways. This report covers the whole discussion and research is in different parts of the text content. Step by step coverage goes in a logical manner i.e., innovation defined, modern philosophy of innovation, and different perspectives of innovation in business world with various variables. Next part of report is grouped in three portions; seemingly separate three parts but discussing the oneness of innovation in three ways for one Business Empire. These three steps are Product innovation, Organization innovation and Geographical or market place innovation. Product selected is Walkman, company is Sony and geographical place is USA. In short the report covers innovative spheres applied by one company in developing product, in organization and it marketing the same product in a different market place. Report, though reflects various innovative approaches, and reviews the whole process from 'Open Innovation' concept. "The creative act is not an act of creation in the sense of the Old Testament. It does not create something out of nothing; it uncovers, selects, re-shuffles, combines, synthesizes already existing facts, ideas, faculties, skills. The more familiar the parts, the more striking the new whole. Man's knowledge of the changes of the tides and the phases of the moon is as old as his observation that apples fall to earth in the ripeness of time. Yet the combination of these and other equally familiar data in Newton's theory of gravity changed mankind's outlook on the world". (Koestler - 1964): Task 1: Case Example: Product, Process or Strategic Innovation: Case Example: In March 2007, Sony extended the Video Walkman brand by launching its first digital, flash-based video Walkman, the NW-A800. Walkman is a very popular Sony brand used to market its portable audio players, and is synonymously used to refer to the original Walkman portable personal stereo player and as a generic term for similar devices from other manufacturers. The original Walkman introduced a change in music listening habits, allowing people to carry their own choice of music with them. The original Walkman was released in 1979 as the Walkman in Japan and Soundabout abroad. The device was created by audio division engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for Sony co-chairman Morita, who wanted to be able to listen to operas during his frequent transpacific plane trips. (Hormby) Morita hated the Walkman name so much that he asked it to be changed. But he was told by junior executives that a promotion campaign had

Processed Food as a Cause of Obesity and Chronic Illnesses Assignment

Processed Food as a Cause of Obesity and Chronic Illnesses - Assignment Example This essay "Processed Food as a Cause of Obesity and Chronic Illnesses" outlines the health's risks connected with the consumption of the processed food and the ways how to prevent it. Most processed foods contain a high level of modified diet products such as soybean and canola. Processed foods such as potato chips and cookies are characterised by high amounts of calories. This is because most processing procedures remove the amount water in these foods to reduce transportation costs and increase the shelf-life. Consumption of such foods leads to increased intake of the calories with a corresponding decrease in nutritional gain. Sugar sweetened soft drinks are a prominent source of calorie intake in children leading to obesity in the young generation. Ultra-processed foods lack the healthy fats, minerals, vitamins, insoluble fibre and phyto-chemicals that guard the human body against cancer and heart diseases. Fresh fruits and vegetables have a lower concentration of sugar and requi re less insulin release for their digestion compared to processed foods. High consumption of processed products may alter or completely destroy the taste buds making a person develop a tendency of getting used to strong tastes. This makes them increase the consumption of foods rich sugar and salt content. According to Ludwig (2011:1352-53), an effective plan than can reverse obesity and related trends in the prevalence of chronic diseases is, â€Å"adoption of a collective strategy that includes individual, industrial, governmental, community participation...†.

Topic to be selected from a list Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Topic to be selected from a list - Essay Example The government of United Kingdom introduced a scheme known as Sure Start in 1989 to ensure that children receive the best possible start in life (Thompson, 2010). This initiative was led by Gordon Brown, who was the chancellor of Exchequer during that time (Thompson, 2010). The goal of this program was to provide a good start to the children, so that they can build upon it in the future. The support is provided in terms of ensuring good education beginning from the early years; providing facilities for childcare; ensuring good health care and ensuring family support for children’s well-being (Roberts, 2000). Additionally, the project also has the larger goal of community development so that children can have a head start to in their adult life as a result of spending their childhood with a robust and healthy community (Roberts, 2000). This study takes a closer look at the contribution of Sure Start to the lives of children and families in the UK. It also attempts to assess the impact, the challenges and the future outlook related to this program. The study starts by documenting the origins and functioning of this scheme and then moves on the various contributions that it has made to the lives of children and families. Then, it also takes a look at both the local and national assessment of the scheme, the view of researchers and its future outlook. The performance of Sure Start has been under the scrutiny in recent times and scholars as well as the media have been debating on the effectiveness of this program. Hence, it is necessary to understand the ways in which this program may have had an impact on both The research is undertaken through a literature survey and review of available research and literature on the topic of project Sure Start. As such, numerous journal articles, books, newspaper articles, and authentic websites were perused and

The Impact of Employee Participation for Transparency in the Hiring Assignment

The Impact of Employee Participation for Transparency in the Hiring and Promotion Process of Public Agencies - Assignment Example This research will begin with the statement that the problem is that many public agencies are not being transparent in their hiring and promotion practices, and they are not seeking out adequate levels of employee participation throughout the process. The process of hiring and promoting employees is certainly an exercise that takes place almost daily in large institutions, companies, and organization of various sorts. Without transparency and a level of employee participation throughout the process, however, it is often difficult to get rank and file staff members to truly commit and buy into the true vision of the organization. Oddly enough, this is a problem that continues to persist despite numerous attempts to rectify the situation and create more transparency and opportunities for participation on the part of everyone in the organization. Much work still needs to be done in order to shore up the hiring and promotion process, particularly in public service agencies, in order to r educe incidences of hiring and promotion the wrong individual for important positions within the organization. Judging from the fact that the degree of inefficiency continues to persist, not necessarily because of an absence of a sound recruitment strategy, but as a result of the failure of existing strategies, the simple indication that it sends is that it is important to change the processes and methods involved in tackling the situation. The major problem, therefore, has to do with the failed attempt to identify the right approach or method in tackling recruitment in various organizations, most commonly as a result of a lack of transparency throughout the hiring and promotion process.

Processed Food as a Cause of Obesity and Chronic Illnesses Assignment

Processed Food as a Cause of Obesity and Chronic Illnesses - Assignment Example This essay "Processed Food as a Cause of Obesity and Chronic Illnesses" outlines the health's risks connected with the consumption of the processed food and the ways how to prevent it. Most processed foods contain a high level of modified diet products such as soybean and canola. Processed foods such as potato chips and cookies are characterised by high amounts of calories. This is because most processing procedures remove the amount water in these foods to reduce transportation costs and increase the shelf-life. Consumption of such foods leads to increased intake of the calories with a corresponding decrease in nutritional gain. Sugar sweetened soft drinks are a prominent source of calorie intake in children leading to obesity in the young generation. Ultra-processed foods lack the healthy fats, minerals, vitamins, insoluble fibre and phyto-chemicals that guard the human body against cancer and heart diseases. Fresh fruits and vegetables have a lower concentration of sugar and requi re less insulin release for their digestion compared to processed foods. High consumption of processed products may alter or completely destroy the taste buds making a person develop a tendency of getting used to strong tastes. This makes them increase the consumption of foods rich sugar and salt content. According to Ludwig (2011:1352-53), an effective plan than can reverse obesity and related trends in the prevalence of chronic diseases is, â€Å"adoption of a collective strategy that includes individual, industrial, governmental, community participation...†.

The Impact of Employee Participation for Transparency in the Hiring Assignment

The Impact of Employee Participation for Transparency in the Hiring and Promotion Process of Public Agencies - Assignment Example This research will begin with the statement that the problem is that many public agencies are not being transparent in their hiring and promotion practices, and they are not seeking out adequate levels of employee participation throughout the process. The process of hiring and promoting employees is certainly an exercise that takes place almost daily in large institutions, companies, and organization of various sorts. Without transparency and a level of employee participation throughout the process, however, it is often difficult to get rank and file staff members to truly commit and buy into the true vision of the organization. Oddly enough, this is a problem that continues to persist despite numerous attempts to rectify the situation and create more transparency and opportunities for participation on the part of everyone in the organization. Much work still needs to be done in order to shore up the hiring and promotion process, particularly in public service agencies, in order to r educe incidences of hiring and promotion the wrong individual for important positions within the organization. Judging from the fact that the degree of inefficiency continues to persist, not necessarily because of an absence of a sound recruitment strategy, but as a result of the failure of existing strategies, the simple indication that it sends is that it is important to change the processes and methods involved in tackling the situation. The major problem, therefore, has to do with the failed attempt to identify the right approach or method in tackling recruitment in various organizations, most commonly as a result of a lack of transparency throughout the hiring and promotion process.

Causes and Effects of Smoking Essay Example for Free

Causes and Effects of Smoking Essay Causes and Effects of Smoking There are millions of people around the world who smoke daily. They inhale the toxins into their bodies, which can harm them internally. Although you may not be a smoker, there are still chances that you are inhaling the toxins of the cigarrete as well. Thousands of people die a year from smoking; more than car accidents and other sunstance abuse. Smoking can lead to many health problems. People who smoke are at high risks of problems with their heart, lung and respiratory system, ertain types of cancers, premature death, and other health problems. There are several different types of harmful chemicals in tabacco smoke. Out of the 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and ammonia. While there are several different types of chemicals, out of the 250, there are approximately 70 chemicals that can cause cancer. Some of the cancer-causing chemicals are arsenic, beryllium, nickel, vinyl chloride, as well as other chemicals. The types of cancers that smoking can lead to are lung, mouth, esophagus, kidney, stomach, and throat cancer. The more that a person smokes, the higher at risk they are of conceiving these types of cancer; mainly lung cancer. Approximately 90% of people who are diagnosed with lung cancer are caused by smoking. If no one smoked, lung cancer would be a very rare illness. However, for someone who may have quit smoking, it will take approximately 15 years for their lungs to become the same as non-smokers. Smoking can also lead to various types of diseases. One disease that is very common is heart disease. Heart disease is not Just one condition, but it is a group of conditions. The heart has many root causes such as coronary artery disease. If plaque builds up in the arteries, then the blood will not be able to reach the heart. Your heart is a muscle with blood constantly moving in and out. The blood keeps your heart to work properly. But, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stress, and smoking can lead into coronary artery disease. Other types of diseases that are caused by smoking are Alzheimers disease, bronchitis, emphysema, and several others. Although people do not smoke, they still somehow are diagnosed with cancer or diseases from smoking. How is this exactly? Well, people who dont smoke can still inhale the toxins from cigarettes of people who smoke around them, or in their environment. Second-hand smoking is also known as environmental tobacco smoke or passive smoking. It is the combination of sidestream smoke (the smoke given off by a burning tobacco product) and mainstream smoke (the smoke exhaled by a smoker) Inhaling the moke given off by the cigarette can lead to lung cancer in a non-smoking adult. There are thousands of people who are non-smokers, which die each year from lung cancer. This is because they were exposed to second-hand smoking. Second-hand smoke causes disease and premature death in non-smoking adults and children. Women who are pregnant and exposed to second-hand smoking can give birth to a baby with a low birth weight. While adults can get lung cancer and other diseases, children can also be exposed to second-hand smoking. Children who are exposed to ronchitis, and asthma. It can slow the growth of the childs lungs and cause them to be breathless. In conclusion, smoking can lead to several health problems. Several of these health problems can lead to other types of diseases and cancers, as well as death. Pregnant women and children exposed to second-hand smoking can ruin their health. Smoking affects us and the world because it is one of the leading causes of death. Inhaling the toxins destroys our bodies, and there are more and more people every year who die from these toxins.

Equality And Diversity Policy And Practices Business Essay

Equality And Diversity Policy And Practices Business Essay ABSTRACT Recently, there has been an increase in workforce diversity and all organisations most especially the ones in the Western world strive to remain competitive in the labour market by extending their operations to the developing world as a result of globalisation. This study aims to examine the international transfer of global diversity policies and practices to local context like Nigeria. The findings demonstrate the importance of flexible management practices for Multinational corporations in transferring their policies across borders. This study reveals some approaches to management of a diverse and equal workforce as well as its barriers. Keywords: Global Diversity, equality, Workforce Diversity, Nigeria, Culture. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 CHAPTER ONE: 7 1.1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY 7 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 8 1.4: SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 9 1.5: OUTLINE OF RESEARCH 10 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 11 2.1: INTRODUCTION 11 2.2: WORKFORCE DIVERSITY 11 2.3: EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE NIGERIAN CONTEXT 14 2.4: GLOBAL DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT 16 2.5: BUSINESS CASE FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY 19 2.6: BARRIERS TO DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT 21 2.6.1: DISCRIMINATION 21 2.6.2: STEROTYPES AND PREJUDICE 21 2.6.3: HARRASSMENT 22 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 24 3.1: THE PHILOSOPHICAL POSITION OF THIS RESEARCH 24 3.2: RESEARCH DESIGN 25 3.3: STUDY LOCATION 25 3.4: RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS 26 3.5: SAMPLING DESIGN 26 3.6: SAMPLE POPULATION AND SAMPLE SIZE 26 3.8: ETHICAL CONSIDERATION 27 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 28 4.1: INTRODUCTION 28 4.2: DIVERSITY STRUCTURE OF THE COMPANY 28 4.3: INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER OF DIVERSITY POLICIES TO A LOCAL CONTEXT 29 4.4: DIVERSITY AT WORK 32 4.5: PROGRAMMES AND INITIATIVE THAT MAKES THE TRANSFER OF GLOBAL POLICIES WORKS. 34 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 38 5.1: INTRODUCTION 38 5.2: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 38 5.3: RECOMMENDATIONS 39 5.4: LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 39 5.5: CONCLUSION 40 40 BIBLIOGRAPHY 41 APPENDICES..47 CHAPTER ONE: 1.1: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY The management of diversity has become significant in recent years in the research area in order to certify the total involvement of women, ethnic minorities, disabled people and other less privileged people (Lepaka and Shaw 2008; Nishii and Ozbilgin 2007). Diversity management came into existence in the late 1980s in the USA as a likely criterion for tackling the issues of inequality and diversity at workplace and this has been adopted by so many countries around the world (Kelly and Dobbin 1998).Comprehensively, researches have been carried out on the management of diversity locally (Verbeek, 2011; Ocholla, 2002), but this is not enough to understand the interests of diversity management globally and the way their cross-national activities are managed and directed (Ozbilgin,2005). Cox (2001) defined diversity as the existence of differences in social and cultural identities with in employees working together in an organisation. An al-encompassing definition of diversity may consist of economic status, physique, educational background, norms, culture, sexual orientation, economic status, duration of time spent with a firm and personality (Carr, 1993; Triandis 1994); Thus, accepting and appreciating the differences in people at workplace with the above features is what diverse workforce is. Recently, Companies across the globe have put alot more into diversity management programs so as to achieve results that include making the most use of talents, and giving the best they can give to demographically diverse customers (Horwitz, 2005). Organizations have recognized that the level to which these specific workforce alterations are successfully and proficiently controlled will influence organizational role and competitiveness (Von Bergen et al 2005). There is no doubt in recent years, globalisation has brought and is still bringing about the amalgamation of the world market. The Multinational companies are beginn ing to spread their tentacles wide and large across the globe and this has over the years brought about the need for organisations to be able to manage people coming from different cultures, background and also being able to adapt to such new environments from the parent company. This research will be contributing to the very few researches that have been done on the management of diversity globally by examining some of the strategies used by the MNCs and how best they are able to adapt and transfer their diversity and equality practices across the different jurisdictions they operate especially in the African sub-region. The case study company is a MNC with subsidiaries around the world including Nigeria which has over 250 ethnic groups. 1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This study will look into the equality and diversity policy and practices in organisations and its basic objectives includes: To identify and examine how global diversity policies and practices works in local context. To examine the barriers that has inhibited the employment, development, retention and promotion of diverse workforce in the organisation. To examine some of the initiatives and programmes used in ensuring the success of international transfer of diversity policies to a local context. 1.3: RESEARCH QUESTIONS The main question of this research is how global equality and diversity policies are being translated and implemented in local contexts like Nigeria. Other research questions are: What are the difficulties encountered in introducing and implementing global diversity policies locally? What are the barriers that have inhibited the employment, development, retention and promotion of diverse workforce in organisations? What are the major factors influencing diversity initiatives at work? 1.4: SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY This study is of great importance because, in as much as diversity and equality issues have been well researched in the western and developed countries, very limited work has been carried out in the African sub-region (Nyambegera, 2002). Hence, this study will contribute to further understanding in the topical area of equality and diversity management within the African context and why it is important for MNCs to acknowledge the effects of local and contextual issues such as culture, beliefs, perceptions etc could have on the effectiveness of their global equality and diversity policies. As mentioned earlier, diversity management have been researched but most of the researches have not taken into consideration global diversity management. Therefore, this project would make an important contribution to the few existing literatures in understanding the concepts of global diversity management and the international transfer of diversity policies to local contexts. Nevertheless, given tha t Nigeria is a developing country, this research would also help in understanding how MNCs operating in developing countries like Nigeria deal with and manage a diverse workforce. 1.5: OUTLINE OF RESEARCH This research is presented in five parts. Firstly, is the introduction to the concept of the research topic. Secondly, the key literature of the research topic is discussed. The literature helped the research to think about significant issues to pay attention to when rounding up the pragmatic part of the research study. The third part shows and discussed the method of analysing and collecting data which includes the use of semi structured interviews. Having chosen to use qualitative research method is important because, it brings out some interesting and amazing findings which will be discussed in the fourth part of this research work. The findings of this research suggests that, the successful transfer of MNCs policies and practices is dependent on how they are able to understand the beliefs, norms and culture of the any country they are planning to transfer their diversity policies to and make necessary amendments to suits the proposed subsidiary countrys way of life. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1: INTRODUCTION This chapter will review the past literatures on equality policy and practices and the international transfer of management of diversity policies in multinational corporations (MNCs). Thus, various themes like gender inequality in Nigeria, the management of workforce diversity, equality and diversity policy, culture, global diversity management would be examined. 2.2: WORKFORCE DIVERSITY Broadly, Diversity management is defined as the logical, methodical and strategic obligations and responsibilities by the companies to recruits retain and promote workers from different backgrounds, beliefs and norms (Ongori and Angolla, 2007). It is argued that companies that encourage workforce diversity certainly will be successful within the international labour market (Jain and Verma, 1996). The importance attached to the management of diversity has been as a result of the increase in openness to national borders as well as the free movement of capital and labour across national borders which could result in companies having some of the most productive employees (Carrel et al, 2000). For an organisation to diversify, the work environment must be able to condone and allow employees to exhibit and make use of their potentials without been subdued by either nationality, gender, race, personality, religion, economic class, culture and other elements that are extraneous to performanc e(Bryan, 1999 as cited in Ongori and Angolla, 2007). Triandis et al (1994) define diversity as any traits or elements which might or may possibly direct an individuals perception that another individual is distinct from them or what gives an individual the notion that the other individual is different from him or her. This definition of diversity seems to portray a deeper insight to what diversity is and it can be described as what an individual thinks differentiates them from another individual. With present changes happening around the globe, the increase in globalisation and the management of workforce diversity as a means to expand organisational efficiency cannot be underestimated (Ongori and Angolla, 2007). Gender can be described as what differentiates individuals sexually. Over the years, it has been seen that women are more disadvantaged in the labour market. Due to negative stereotyping (Loden and Rosener, 1991). Disability on the other hand is defined as a physical or mental deficiency which has a significant and a lasting unfavourable impact on an individuals competency perform everyday undertakings unexceptionally(Disability Discrimination Act 1995).Most of the physically and mentally fit people have little or no intimate interaction and communication with the disabled people, then there is a possibility then for the non disabled individuals in their growing up to have little or no contact with disabled people which serves as an important barrier to equal employment opportunity for the disabled (French,1996; Reynolds et al, 2001).Further to this, age discrimination has also been a major factor preventing the majority of employees from accessing top managerial positions (Oswick and Rosenthal, 2001; Kirton and Greene, 2010).Many top managers have been removed one way or the other from top and high paid positions in organisations as a result of their age as they are normally perceived to have less capabilities and skills to function well in such organisations (Kirton and Greene, 2010). For instance, the criteria employers use in their recruitment and promotional processes are normally discriminatory against either old employees or even the younger ones (Perry and Parlamis, 2006; Kirton and Greene, 2010). Further to this, the sexual orientation of employees could also be problematic not only for management but also some employees as well. Many lesbian and Gay people nowadays tend to hide their identity in order to avoid discrimination because companies are frequently harsh and unreceptive towards the lesbian and gay men (Oerton, 1996; Mills, 1989). Cockburn (1991), proposed the equality for lesbians and gay men as the most challenged and argued equality scheme and assignment as a result of the insufficiency of harmony over the ethical value of the gay rights scheme. In addition, it is still popularly assumed that individuals can decide to choose to be heterosexual or lesbian or gay; while one cannot choose in respect to gender, disability, age and ethnicity. Race and Ethnicity heave also been an issue for managers of diversity. Taking the UK employment patterns as an examples, in 2006, the unemployment rate for black minority ethnic men was 11% and that of the white was 5% which makes the rate of the black and minority ethnics group unemployment 2times higher than their white counterpart while the rate of unemployment for black and minority ethnic women was 9% and there counterpart was 4% which makes it 2times higher as well (ECO, 2006). Hence, the rate of women`s unemployment generally in all the ethnic groups experience quite a low unemployment rates than the men. With the recent trend, it can be said that the rate of unemployment as a well as wage gap between men and women in labour market has reduced but absolutely not wiped out (Kirton and Greene, 2010). For employers both in public and private companies to be able to manage a diverse workforce, it is of necessity to be able to understand, envisage and deal with the fascinating features of a diverse workforce. Although, many companies have adopted diversity, some others still regard it as only a matter of conforming to legal prerequisite. Effective diversity management has historically been used to provide a legally defensive position; that is, a firm with a diverse workforce could argue that they were not guilty of discrimination because of the prima facie case based on their workforce demographics representing the demographics of the local community (Ongori and Angolla 2007; p, 73) Lederach (1995) defined culture as the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing and responding to social realities around them. This definition of culture describes it as a general way by which people in an environment think or perceives things. Hence, culture has impacts on the way persons interconnect and act as it indicates a set of norms including thought patterns, motives, self-image impulsive reactions or feelings (Muir, 2007). 2.3: EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE NIGERIAN CONTEXT Nigeria is the single largest geographical unit in West Africa with several ethnic groups of about 250 with considerable differences in the norms and values of each major tribe. Gender is a significant part of diversity because, women make up half of the worlds population of which Nigeria is no excerption with half of its population being women even though the majority of these women in question live below the poverty margin and owns little or no education, capital base. (Izugbara and Ukwayi, 2002). There has been little or no research on equality and diversity in companies in Nigeria (Omair 2008, Jamali et al 2005). Nigeria has listed inspiring steps with sense to reducing gender-based violence, sexism and beautifying womens rights apart from many well-intentioned efforts to fill the space between female and male accomplishments in the area of education, economic activity and political participation. Indeed, Nigeria is still undergoing a difficult political and economic transition a fter several years of military rule. The problems include pervasive poverty and widespread unemployment; deterioration of government institutions and inadequate capacity at all levels of government to deliver critical services effectively; sporadic violence between ethnic groups; a legacy of widespread corruption; little growth in the non-oil private economy and limited self-empowerment among local communities. Yet, Nigeria remains a society rich in cultural linguistic, religious, ethnic and political diversity (Obayelu and Ogunlade 2006; p.2). Nigeria accounts for considerable gender inequalities in female labour market involvement, human capital, remuneration and health with pointers for women being profiled as significantly below those for men (Fajana, 2010) Women have the probability to be less buoyant than men and have lesser choices to riggle out of poverty (IMF,2004). Because women possess little formal education than the men they are likely to be inconsistently restrained to lower return and low output or efficiency employment in the informal economy. Subsequently, their capability to break away from poverty through employment is restricted as well. The table below gives an empirical evidence of the huge sexual differences in employment status in Nigeria (Fajana, 2010). Figure 1: Gender Labour Force Rate Source: Compilation based on data from World Bank Development Indicators This graph above shows the huge difference in gender employment in Nigeria between 1991 and 2008 which is obvious that, men in Nigeria are more employed than women. However, the main cause of the problem of inequality and a high rate of unemployment in the labour market is the inability of graduates and skilful individuals to secure decent jobs after studying. Thus, in a country like Nigeria where there exist huge inequalities in gender employment rate, it is a major factor which MNCs transferring their equality and diversity policies to Nigeria to be able to take a good look at and find ways which the situation of the countrys inequality rate would not affect their international standard in negative ways. 2.4: GLOBAL DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT Over the past few years, the word managing diversity or diversity management has been a popular term and matters concerning management of diversity have also gained attention as a result of the diverse workforce and also the rise and increase in globalisation which has increased the mobility of the global workforce (Konrad, 2003). Such a global diverse workforce has culminated in the emergence of regulations and organisational wide policies to try and manage diversity in a way that will be beneficial to the organisations and the society as a whole (European Commission 2003). Seymen (2006) refers to diversity as a situation where differences exists in the background of various employees in an organisation irrespective of their demographic characteristics which includes, gender, age, sexual orientation, sex, ethnicity, educational background, and physique .Workforce diversity has no singular or a general definition, rather still, it has been debated or contended to be a multifaceted and byzantine term that is conceding a notion , idea and belief which conjure diverse views and opinions in various companies and culture (Omanovic 2002, Cassell, 2001). Ozbilgin and Tatli(2008) defined global diversity management as the setting up, organising, managing and putting into practice of management strategies, procedures and development programs for the purpose of accepting varied sets of working in multinational corporations. The definition above may be described as putting together and management of HR policies and practices as well as initiatives that is acceptable across the Headquarter of MNCs and its subsidiaries. Global diversity management has to do with the management of the transfer of employment practices from a parent company to her subsidiaries overseas. Historically, the transfer of management practices from the developed to the developing countries is the mode of operation of the MNCs (Azolukwam and Perkins, 2009). However, the increase in globalisation and also the concerns of growing demographic diversity have enhanced the need for understanding heterogeneity in organisations. Diversity management is a rebranded name given to one time equality policy and practices in organisations in Britain (Kirton and Greene, 2010). They further argued that, matters relating to orthodox equal opportunities such as gender or sex discrimination cannot be separated from the explicit issues such as individual or cultural discrepancies within diversity management. In other to give an overview of what diversity management is, diversity itself should be known. Consequently, Tatli, (2011) suggested that, managing diversity and equal opportunities are complementary rather than conflicting; this means that, the management of diversity and equal opportunities combines in such a way that they both enhance each others qualities other than conflicting. Wrench (2005) also stated that, diversity management is utilised amen ably to conceal so many issues. He further explained that, it should not be allowed to become a Trojan horse that ease or simplify the attenuating of profits which have already been achieved in the procedure of anti discrimination or those that are still crucial for the future. Lauring (2012) argues that global diversity management in multinational corporations has been confirmed a challenging issue as a result of recurrent failures in the making and growth of such programmes. However, he argues that, what differentiates the management of diversity globally from locally is basically because of the enigma of global integration and local responsiveness. Supporting Laurings argument, the successful transfer of policies across border to a local context is totally dependent on how it is been handled in the subsidiary Company and the failure of the MNCs to have a deep insight of how the subsidiary country operates including their ways and beliefs of doing things before formulating or transferring their policies affects the success rate of transferring policies. Noon (2007), argues, that Diversity management is basically an idea that disregarded the significance of equal opportunities and covers up the importance of ethnicity in organisations. On the other hand, (Syed and Ozbilgin, 2009) argues that, they do not as a matter of fact agree with Noons argument and thereby, pointed out that the idea must be ascertain and espy both in the local and international context before its ability and strength can be enhanced and developed. Dass Parker (1999) argue that the difficulty faced by a company in terms of diversity management will be determined by their methods or attitudes they take. However, At the level of international management pressures, as well as urgency of diversity management, interventions vary more extensively than at the level of domestic operations (Tatli Ozbilgin 2008; p.18). An organisations subsidiary must be very distinctive in other to be able handle the domestic markets especially in terms of practices, norms and business cultures that differs from that of the parent country (Lauring, 2012).Though, nearly all multinational corporations strive to convey the well established management procedures that initially allowed the corporation to spread out of its local market to its overseas affiliates (Barkinshaw and Hood, 1998). The successful outcome of these practices in the parent company does not make such practices and policies successful in the subsidiaries overseas, as a result of the distinctions in culture and environment affecting the management situation (Dimitratos et al, 2010). Sippola and Smale (2007) advocates that the transfer of diversity management practices which has more to do with culture, to overseas subsidiary company is possible but could be quite difficult. Nevertheless, Parent companies may also be less dedicated to ensuring homogeneity in diversity management if legal or cultural differences can be used as an excuse for more dilute diversity management approaches(Lauring 2012,p.3).He further stated that, in the case of international unification of diversity management, management practices would be developed in the parent company, but when exported to an overseas subsidiary, they become exposed to different circumstances that may not be in accordance with the genuine notion or intention. Looking at workforce diversity from a business panorama, it is argued that, the proficiency and the capability of a company to endure imminent tasks and encounters is doubled when there is better workforce diversity in particular when there is variation in emp loyees skills, cultural facet, experiences, values (Thornhill et al, 2000).As a matter of fact, managing a global workforce efficiently is regarded has been essential and vital in acquiring benefits for business and in maintaining competitive advantage globally (Florkowski 1996). Pragmatic evidence from a survey carried out by (Dunavant and Heiss, 2005) showed that 100% of those organisations see global diversity as a significant matter. The term global diversity has gained attention as a result of the increase in both national laws and international policies which is made for the purpose of eliminating discrimination and also as a related increase in the rate of important lawsuits against global organisations (Nishii and Ozbilgin,2007) in spite of that, since the types or categories of discrimination that are termed illegal throughout countries and there seems to be broad differences across countries in the way laws and policies concerning the equal opportunities are put in place and unravelled (Ozbilgin,2002).Furthermore, Nishii and Ozbilgin (2007) gave an example of a country like Japan where 99% of the entire population are of the same ethnic groups and hence, given a laid down goals for the firms is basically absurd and unreasonable . 2.5: BUSINESS CASE FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY Before organisations can come to an agreement of operating a diverse workforce, they would be doing it to expect a positive impact on their organisational standard. However, some of the benefits enjoyed by organisations with diverse workforce include a high rate of accomplishment in their transactions with international and domestic ethnic societies as well as a fair circulation of economic opportunity. That is, when a company operates on a diverse workforce, they tend to have different people from difference ethnic groups, different cultures and experience making it much easier for the company to have a good economic transaction with other countries (Blake, 1991; Cox and Blake, 1991). An organisation that is culturally diverse has the tendency of been more competent and effective in networking, easily acting together and job performance than a non diverse workforce (Watson et al, 1993). However, managing and having a diverse workforce can be of significance to the organisations for having access to authority in perspective of demographic changes in workforce and human rights legislation. Thus, employing disabled people, people of different race, background, sexual orientation, ethnic minorities and other disadvantaged group helps organisations to benefit from this position in the labour market and diversified market sections (Mueller, 1998; Fleury 1999). The increased mobility and interaction of people from diverse backgrounds as a result of improved economic and political systems and the recognition of human rights by all nations has put most organizations under pressure to embrace diversity at the work place (Ongori and Angolla,2007; p, 74).Matters relating to diversity will be more significant in a situation where effective and efficient communication, interface and dealings with people is the key method to business accomplishment as the economies keep moving from the manufacturing to service economies (Wentling and Palma-Rivas, 2000). Additionally, the management of a diverse workforce helps in dealing with the issue of gender inequality, discrimination as well as the concerns for women mostly balancing their domestic and occupational role together without having to forgo one for another. Managing a diverse workforce helps management to easily understand customers needs even from an entirely different culture or background from where the company is situated. Race matching can also be linked to the management of diversity in organisations. Race matching is where organisations specifically employ certain ethnicities or race just to attract those customers who are similar to them which could increase business for the company. For example, Tesco or Sainsbury employing black store managers in a branch located in a predominantly black community so as to get more black customers through the door as they will feel more comfortable and relate to them better and this can be a strategy for having competitive advantage. Nevertheless, there are some barriers which hinder the effective management. 2.6: BARRIERS TO DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT As there exists benefits for managing a diverse workforce in organisations, so also there are still certain barriers that need to be tackled before an organisation can successfully manage a diverse workforce. Some of the basic and important barriers are: 2.6.1: DISCRIMINATION Discrimination is defined as the unjust and prejudicial treatment of individuals on the grounds of what differentiates those individuals (Halle, 2008).Previous researches conducted on discrimination shows that women in companies are faced with more barriers in getting to the top position in the organisation than men (Auster; 1988; Fernandez 1998). Even though, there has been laws enacted by the government in various countries against discrimination, there still exists discrimination in the workplace (Wentling and Palma Rivas 1997). 2.6.2: STEROTYPES AND PREJUDICE Stereotype is defined as a fixed and distorted generalisation made about all members of a particular group (Loden and Rosener p.58 1991) while prejudice can be defined as the bias to have a negative judgement regarding individuals who are different from other people in terms of either gender, race, ethnic, physical characteristics and capabilities (Morrison 1992). (Henderson, 1994; p.133) also defined prejudice as a conclusion drawn without adequate knowledge or evidence. Researchers like catalyst (1990), Baskerville and Tuckers (1991) found out that stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination were some of the basic barriers encountered by women in getting to the top and this can be traced to one of the contemporary terms in labour market which is the glass ceiling and sticky floor. Glass ceiling can be described as some of the insubstantial, impalpable and imaginary barriers that counteract and preclude some categories of people from growing and getting higher than a particular level at work while the sticky floor refers to the way that some groups remain permanently on the bottom rung of the organisation ladder and remain fixed in low paid and undervalued jobs (Johnstone (2002) p.4). 2.6.3: HARRASSMENT An explanatory definition of harassment is; any offensive conduct or remarks made to an individual as a result of their ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, age, capability or gender (Poole, 1997). The Blacks Law Dictionary (Black, 1990 p, 1375) defines sexual harassment as a type of employment discrimination, includes sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nat

Nationalism Essay -- Patriotism Pride Essays

Nationalism I'm sure everyone remembers the Gulf War a few years ago. This war lasted for several months and drew everyone to the television and to newspapers to find out what was happening now to all the Americans over seas. Many people found their loved ones leaving. They were in the military and were called to defend their country. This is a sign of nationalism in itself, however, something that was closer to home for me was a tiny yellow ribbon. These yellow ribbons were seen everywhere. They were placed on tree trunks, on peoples front doors, pinned on to peoples clothing, and displayed on peoples cars. These yellow ribbons were a sign to let those people in the Gulf know they were loved and missed and that we were praying for their safe return. This is nationalism. We had all those people over in the Gulf in our thoughts even those we did not know. Nationalism or patriotism can be defined as a sense of belonging or a sense of pride to one's nation among a group of people. Nationalism includes feeling of loyalty to their nation, pride and a desire for independence. Nationalism can be experienced under a state which is a political unit that has essential elements such as people, land, government or independence or among a nation which is people sharing a common identity such as the Palestinians and the old Soviet Union. Nationalism has many different aspects to it, common bonds, and different symbols to represent it. Nationalism has not always existed. Years ago loyalty was to a tribe or ruler. Since then, the idea of loyalty has switched and the focus is now on a broader picture. There are four common bonds to nationalism. The first common bond is common territory. You tend to feel a close bond with people fr... ...and Ghana. The British went into India, the gem of Asia, and dominated their markets. The British took from the Indians and sold their goods for more money. The last consequence of nationalism are Wars of National Liberation. These wars have gone on for many years, and have caused many people to loose their lives for their country. The bonds of nationalism may, in fact, "bond" us together as a nation. The symbols of nationalism may allow us to occasionally think of nationalism. We may be able to think of the consequences, but we may not feel that these consequences are very important or ever occur. The fact is that all of these consequences, symbols, and bonds, reflect who we are as people. People die to defend other people of their nation. They fight to keep us safe and united. We need to keep things such as yellow ribbons and think about what we are all about.

Inventing Your Own Technology :: Writing Nature Writers Education Essays

Inventing Your Own Technology When college students are asked to write a term paper or an essay they can either get out their pen/pencil and paper or boot up their computer and write/type away. I never realized what a convenience it is to be able to have these simple an complex technologies at my fingertips until I took Writing, Style and Technology. That was when my paper writing philosophy was broken. My teacher gave us a plot twist on our fist writing assignment like â€Å"boys vs. girls† on Survivor. I had to â€Å"write† about twenty words without using a pen, pencil, paper or computer. Instead I as required to use only â€Å"natural† materials in the environment. When I first heard of the project I had a number of ideas running through my head. Could I use food to write on or with? Could I carve into rock or wood? I went to work the next day and asked some coworkers for ideas and heard pretty much the same responses. Besides them saying this is the weirdest assignment they have ever heard of, I got â€Å"use your blood†, which I quickly explained that blood was not an option because our teacher had outlawed it. Then their ideas stopped and I was on my own. I then decided I would use the bark off some logs in our backyard. My problem was that I could not get a piece big enough to write on. My last resort was to cut down the tree in the back yard and get a piece of wood from it. My husband was totally against that idea and said there had to be a happy medium somewhere. So I decided that I would use some lumber we have in the garage for household projects as my new ‘paper.’ Now I had to come up with somethi ng to write with. I decided to burn a stick and use the ash as my new pencil. I wrote down my ‘Old West Chores’. On it I have. Milk the cow Gather eggs Gather wood Hunt dinner Clean outhouse Plow fields Clean stables Go to general store There are already a number of problems with my project.

Debate Topic: Cosmetic Surgeries Should Be Banned (for)

Debate Topic: Cosmetic Surgeries Should Be Banned (For) 1. Cosmetic surgery can be psychologically damaging The compulsion to change one's body is often a symptom of a mental instability. It should be treated as a problem, not by surgery. Research indicating that breast augmentation patients are four times more likely to commit suicide compared to other plastic surgery patients raises questions about the mental health of women who choose implants. There are also studies that show negative psychological effects on patients after their surgery has been completed.For example, a recent analysis 37 studies on patients' psychological and psychosocial functions before and after cosmetic surgery . They found several predictors of poor outcomes, especially for those who hold unrealistic expectations or have a history of depression and anxiety. The researchers found that patients who are dissatisfied with surgery may request repeat procedures or experience depression and adjustment problems, s ocial isolation, family problems, self-destructive behaviors and anger towards the surgeon and his or her staff. 2.The dangers involved in elective surgery are not worth the risk The risks can’t be justified. These risks apply both to the surgery itself, and to the long term. For example, leaking silicone breast implants have been a widespread problem and can lead to death. Silicone gel can leak from the implant into healthy breast tissue and go other parts of your body, such as the lungs and lymph nodes, where it could be impossible to remove. Studies published in 2001 by scientists at the National Cancer Institute raised questions about the long-term safety of breast implants.One study found that women who had breast implants for at least eight years were twice as likely to die from brain cancer, three times as likely to die from lung cancer or other respiratory diseases, and four times as likely to commit suicide, compared to other plastic surgery patients. A second study found that women with breast implants for at least eight years were 21% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer compared to other women their age.There is also the risk that the person having the surgery will be dissatisfied with the results, and they may repeat the procedures, causing bigger health problems. 3. Cosmetic surgery is unfair, for only those who can afford it have access to it Only those that can pay for it get it. The most popular surgeries include breast augmentation, liposuction, nasal surgery, eyelid surgery and abdominoplasty. The surgeries cost from ? 2,000 to ? 6,000, which is about $25,000 to $75,000. So if it has the advantages the opposition claims, the rich will look good, and the poor will not. . An outright ban would be easier than the partial bans that have been enacted in some places The state of Queensland in Australia has a ban on teenagers having plastic surgery.This prevents anyone under 18 having cosmetic surgery unless it is to correct deformities o r disfiguring injuries. Cosmetic surgery is already to some extent regulated. As such it would not be difficult to expand these regulating bodies to be making sure that cosmetic surgery is only performed when as in Queensland it is to correct deformities and disfiguring injuries. . The availability of cosmetic surgery increases pressures on women that they must look beautiful. Researchers report that women’s magazines have ten and one-half times more ads and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines do, and over three-quarters of the covers of women’s magazines include at least one message about how to change a woman’s bodily appearance—by diet, exercise or cosmetic surgery. These views about appearance are damaging because it leads to seriously unhealthy lifestyles that women think they need to look beautiful.For example, in 2003, Teen magazine reported that 35 per cent of girls 6 to 12 years old have been on at least one diet, and that 50 to 70 per cent of normal weight girls believe they are overweight. Cosmetic surgery sends the message that the prejudices some have about appearance are valid. Conclusion: In conclusion, I think that cosmetic surgeries should be banned, but it could be used to correct deformities and disfiguring injuries.

Discovery and Hypothesis-based Science Approach Essay

The article, taken from the New York Times on March 03, 2009, tackles about the possible reasons for an increase in land fires in Indonesia. It was a claim that tried to defy the common thinking that drought is usually the cause of these fires, and showed several evidences to prove it. Upon reading the whole article and the study itself, one can easily conclude that the scientists used the discovery approach. The researchers began collecting data for the sole reason of gaining a better understanding on the possible causes of land fires. They did not formulate a hypothesis prior to data collection, nor did they think of draught as being the plausible cause. As a matter of fact, their first interpretation of their data is that low levels of rainfall correlates with increase chances of having wild fires. However, the results also show other significant data, on which the scientists draw their new conclusions from. It is then hypothesis based on the experiment already made. The researchers, in order to obtain just results, studied previous reports and cases of fires from the 1960’s to 2006. Aside from obtaining the obvious results regarding the low amount of rainfall, they found out a big difference on fire outbreak on Sumatra and Kalimantan – that even though these islands experience the same amount of rainfall, fires became common in Kalimantan only during the 1980s. Further data led to the researchers to hypothesize that the increase of population during the 1980s posed a great threat to the environment, for the government started to switch to large agri-business, which tends to abuse the land and cause accidental fires. Although the experiment did not use any control groups, I think that their case does not require one at all. The only possible question is whether the data they obtained were as accurate as possible. They mentioned that data obtained after the 1990’s were from fire-monitoring satellites, but those from the 1960s to the 1980s were merely from visibility records from airports. These can then be causes of discrepancies, since the method for data collection is not the same for all. Further more, what may be a fire signal for a fire-monitoring satellite may not be as such in the view from an airport. Aside from these, the report and the scientific approach seemed to be done well. They were able to obtain results that would significantly change man’s outlook on the environment. Article 2. Theory and Experiment Meet, and a New Form of Boron Is Found In this article, published in the New York Times last February 4, 2009, a great discovery was mentioned and brought up to the world. It is the isolated or creation of a new kind of boron. This element, as the article explains, have been studied by many scientist for around 200 years. Several boron compounds have come into existence, but it was only in 1909 where an almost pure, about 99%, boron was isolated. This then triggered the continuing study to locate other kinds of boron, such as what was done with carbon and hydrogen. In 2004, two researchers were able to produce a new kind of boron, one that is very stable and almost as hard as a diamond. It was done on super high pressure, and is very heat resistant and remains its hardness even after removing the pressure. Although the facts seem to state that this is a discovery science, the presence of the history and previous studies suggest this to be a hypothesis-based approach. They knew before hand that it is possible for boron to undergo different forms, and that the first three was not as stable as it should be. With this under their belt, they proceeded into testing new variables that would create the super-stable boron. And by altering the pressure, they were able to do that. The experiment was simply straight forward, done independently by the researchers only with no sponsors or any product endorsement. It was a simply experiment backed up by hypothetical information and theory from previous studies. The experiment was valid, since the product was also tested via several laboratory procedures to confirm its identity as boron. Computer-based crystallography analysis was also done to corroborate the stability of the element. As far as the experimental method and the results, the researchers were able to do a perfectly valid scientific experiment. Article 3. From Tons of Manure, a Growth Industry This final article, also from the New York Times newspaper, was published on March 1, 2009. It is about how two researchers were able to convert their farm cow manure into something more efficient and useful. The whole project took about 8 years, and a $72,000 grant from the Agricultural Business Cluster for the Cowpots to be born. These are flower seeding pots made directly from the manure of cows. Today, the industry has bloomed to its fullest, being able to produce several pots and attaining the interest of many costumers. As suggested by the facts and figures above, the researchers used a hypothesis-based scientific approach in this project. The mere fact that a grant was given means that a proposal was submitted to the grantor. It is then possible that within this proposal, the proponents of the project already outlined their possible hypothesis and even the methodology to attain answers to their problem. It is then a pre-planned idea, which began with a question and a hypothesis. Although the paper did not specify the exact procedure undertaken by the researchers in creating the Cowpots, the process seemed to be a combination of trial and error testing on the product’s ability to grow plants. It is then possible that a company, particularly those that are from or connected in any way to the Agricultural Business Cluster, could benefit from the project itself. But nothing was explicitly said on the paper. In addition to this, the study also used control groups, particularly in testing their pots. They mentioned of side-by-side comparison with normal seeding pots. These are entirely valid, and are in fact a great way to test the effectiveness of their product. Works Cited All articles were obtained from the New York Times Newspapers dated March 03, 2009, February 4, 2009 and March 1, 2009.