Letter of complaint Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter of complaint - Article Example However, they did not arrive in time, causing a lot of inconvenience to me. Moreover, the fact that they arrived after a few days in a damaged condition has caused major doubts in my mind regarding your reputation as a leading furniture dealer. I hope you understand the gravity of the situation. I would be grateful if you would take up this matter seriously and resolve it. I had called your service many times to settle the matter amicably, but to no prevail so far. I am forced now to send you an official complaint. If you fail to take action on the basis of this complaint, I am afraid I will have to move to the next step and file a case for damages. I would like to pursue the good relationship with you and order more furniture from you in the future if you would maintain the trust I had in you so far. Otherwise, I will be left with no choice but to take a legal move against you. It is my personal interest to avoid such an incident if it would be possible at any cost. I hope you will understand my good intentions and resolve this issue without causing further damages to me.

Communication styles Essay Example for Free

Communication styles Essay The impact of communication in marriage cannot be overemphasized as it is the main method of solving any crisis or conflict arising. There are different communication styles that can be applied in a marriage, expressiveness, driving, and relativity or analytical are forms of communication that may be used in marriage. Expressers get excited personal, waste time with too many facts or even show emotion to their partners while those with driving communication styles become very decisive and offer strong view points. Those who are relative in the way they are communicating, like positive attention and may want their partners to be helpful. This group of persons however, shies off when real problems come in especially when it comes to handling the children. This communication style is used by young marriages where partners just about 25 years of age get married. Communications styles can also be described as passive, assertive or aggressive. Passive forms communication involves putting the tights of the other partner before yours i.e. minimizing your own self worth at the expense of the marriage. Being assertive means that one partner in the marriage stands up for his or her rights while maintaining respect for the other i. e. all the partners in the marriage are all equal. Aggressiveness is a communication style that ensures that a wife or a husband stands up for his pr her right and in the process violate the rights of the other. This style of communication is usually the worst and may lead to divorce in extreme cases. Marriage resiliency Marriage resiliency is the couple’s capacity to develop and cultivate strengths from each other for the common good of the marriage in order ton meet their challenges . Resiliency can be defined to describe the responsive capabilities, social dynamics that foster health development of the marriage. Resiliency starts from an individual capacity to a family and community level making sure that the marriage bounces back after experiencing non-normative and expected challenges. Family resilience is characterized by invariant approaches that are dimensioned to help families resist any form of disruption in the face of change and become adaptive when a crisis occurs. Immigration and marriage Marriages are usually negatively affected by immigration procedures. Different countries have different laws governing the marriage of its citizens to non-citizens. It is usually an impediment to couples’ relationships because certain laws may offer recognition to one of the partner and the other is left out. However, with the emergence of dual citizenship rights, the issue may in the near future become a thing of the past. ‘Till death do us part? ’ This figure of speech is common in all wedding ceremonies and the couple getting married solemnly swear to the congregation that they will remain together till death do them part. Most critics believe that as long as there are increased cultural differences, modernization of societies and increases in domestic violence, the metaphor no longer makes sense. Every man and woman believes that they can live happily with each other especially when it is based on the performance of the two during courtship. This is not usually the case because immediately after marriage, the two members start quarrelling over this or that. This is the major contributing factor to the family problems and other domestic issues that families experience these days. It has been said that the more society becomes complicated, the more marriages become complicated and finally the more families become complicated. It is however, recommended that a personal commitment to each other within the marriage become the kingpin of the relationship. Lessons learnt from writing on marriage It has been interesting while researching on this topic. It is one of the research works that not only serves as an academic tool but also provides a learning opportunity for a person like me. Marriage is part and parcel of life and majority of the young people would dream of having better lives in future through marriage. Most young people believe that to secure there future and their old age days, they need to have married properly and have children who will look after the in future. Going through the types of marriages, its integration to the family setting and the importance of knowing the exact roles of each partner in a marriage is particularly useful. The various rules and boundaries that must be set to ensure the sustainability and stability of a marriage gives one an overview of how it is possible to develop them in real life situations through the experiences of other people and such kind of research. Therefore, this is one of the rare opportunities in life where one gets to learn more about what directly affects him or her in life. Personally, I feel grateful for the work I have done on this subject and I feel obliged to tell others about the integration of marriage systems in our families to enable them form good families now and in the future Questions for further research Marriage as part of a family practice continues to be complex especially with the emergence of contradicting legislation and complex societies; there is need for further research on; the impacts of different types of marriages on the extended families, development of policies and laws, and the society in general . What are the solutions to these? And what could be the role of governments and learning institutions in maintaining and making sure that marriages serve the purposed they are intended to. Other issues of concern are the ability of people to adopt resilience as a way of recovering from married related violence such as divorce, is divorce the answer to breaking marriages? With advancement in technology including foster mothers, test tube babies and the like, what could be the implications of these in cultural marriages and societies? Conclusion Marriages are forming a family. Marriage roles, rules, resilience abilities, communication styles, and spouse differences are issues that can affect the formation, development and improvement. Good marriage values are important not only for family cohesion but also for societal cultural maintenance. Challenges regarding re-orientation of the marriages within a family are many and common in this modern society, the problem is the manner in which they are currently addressed. References Antonovsky, A. , Sourani, T (1988): Family sense of coherence and family adaptation.Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 79-92 Kaufman, J. , Ziegler, E. (1987): Do abused children become abusive parents? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 186-192 McCubbin, H. , Patterson, J. M. (1983): The family stress process; The Double Helix ABCX model of adjustment and adaptation, Social stress and the family: Advances in family stress theory and research New York pp. 7 -38. Nichols, M. , Schwartz, R. (2000): Family communications: Concepts and methods, 5th edition, Needham Heights press Rolland, J. S. , Weine, S. (2000): Kosovar Family Professional Educational Collaborative. AFTA Newsletter, 79, 34-43 Rutter, M. (1987): psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57, 316-330 Stacey, J. (1990): Brave new families: Stories of domestic upheaval in late 20th century America. New York: Basic Books. Walsh, F. , McGoldrick, M (1998): Families in later life: Challenge and opportunities. The expanded life cycle Needham Heights, MA: pp. 307-327 Walsh, F. , McGoldrick, M (1991): Living beyond loss: Death in the family. New York: Norton.

Strategic management defined as consisting of the analysis and decisions

Strategic management defined as consisting of the analysis and decisions INTRODUCTION Strategic management can be defined as consisting of the analysis, decisions and actions an organization undertakes in order to create and sustain competitive advantages. Key attributes of Strategic Management Directs the organization toward overall goals and objectives. Includes multiple stakeholders in decision making. Needs to incorporate short-term and long-term perspectives. Recognizes trade-offs between efficiency and effectiveness. Strategy can be developed at many levels in a multi-layered organisation there may be: Corporate level strategy Business level strategy Functional level strategy Corporate level strategy describes a corporations overall direction in terms of its general philosophy towards growth and the management of its various business units. Such strategies determine the type of a business a corporation wants to be in and what business units should acquired, modified and sold. This strategy addresses the question what business are we in? Devising a strategy for a multidivisional company like Sony involves at least four types of initiatives. Establishing investment priorities and steering corporate resources into the most attractive business units. Initiating actions to improve the combined performance of those business units that the corporation first got into. Finding ways to improve the synergy among related business units in order to increase performance. Decisions dealing with diversification. Business level strategy deals with decisions and actions pertaining to each business unit. The main objective of a business level strategy is to make the unit more competitive in market place. This level strategy addresses the question how do we compete? Although business level strategy is guided by upstream corporate level strategy business unit management must craft a strategy that is appropriate for its own operating situation. Miles and Snow(1984) identified four modes of strategic orientation: Defenders, Prospectors, Analysers and Reactors. These strategies can help explain why companies facing similar environmental threats or opportunities behave differently and why they continue to do so over a long period of time. In turn the different competitive or business strategies influence the down stream functional strategies. Functional level strategy pertains to the major functional operations within the business unit, including research and development, marketing, manufacturing, finance, and human resource productivity and addresses the question how do we support the business level competitive strategy? The three levels of strategy corporate, business and functional form a hierarchy of strategy within in a large multidivisional corporation. Different levels of strategy of Sony Sony Corporation was founded by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita in 1946, now having head quarters at Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Sony is one of the biggest electronics in the world with revenue 7.7 trillion yen. Sony are making products like Consumer professional electronic equipments, Communication information-related equipments, Semiconductor, Electronic devices components, Battery, Chemicals, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music, PlayStation and Blu-Ray devices. Sony Corporation as a giant organization has divided its organization into five main business units as Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, and Sony Financial. Sony Corporation has its own corporate strategy, and the each of its five business units having their own business strategy. Corporate Strategy Business level strategy Functional level strategy In Sony Group Corporate Strategy Update FY2008 FY2010 Sony has set out some goals and revealed about its corporate strategy. In particular, the company will focus on strengthening core businesses, enhancing network initiatives and leveraging international growth opportunities to build for the future and drive further growth and profits. Main considerations in the strategy of Sony are, Further strengthening the core business Network initiatives Capitalize on Growth in BRIC Countries and Other Emerging Markets Environmental Initiatives Financial Strategies for the Mid-Term A good strategy always leads an organization towards success and improvement, in the other way a bad or inefficient strategy always takes that organization into losses and bad reputation. As we know that Japanese are good at management and most of other countries are try to implement Japanese management techniques. The term is a Japanese word adopted into English referring to a philosophy or practices focusing on continuous improvement in manufacturing activities, business activities in general, and even life in general, depending on interpretation and usage. Sony Corporation was good at strategic plans by applying these management strategies. As we discussed earlier a bad or inefficient strategy leads the organization into bad reputation, in the case of Sony they are failed to implement an efficient strategy which Sonys net profit for the July-September quarter for 2006 falling 94% to 1.7 billion Yen, compared to 28.5 billion Yen for the same period last year. From there they are tr ying to implement better strategies and to regain their reputation and brand value and to regain their number one position in electronics industry. Portfolio approach to strategy Portfolio approach was one of the early approaches to chart strategy and allocate resources in multi-business organizations. As corporate strategists jumped on the diversification bandwagon they soon found a challenge in managing the resource needs diverse businesses and their strategic missions, particularly in times of limited resources. Responding to that challenge the Boston Consulting Group pioneered an approach called portfolio techniques that attempted to help managers balance the flow of cash resources among their various businesses while also identifying their basic strategic purpose within the overall portfolio. The top managers at larger farms need a method for spotting product lines that deserve more investment as well as lines that arent living up to expectations. So they conduct a portfolio analysis, in which they evaluate they evaluate their companys products and divisions to determine which are strongest and which are weakest. Much as securities analysts review their portfolios of stocks and bonds, deciding which to retain and which to discard. Strategic business unit (SBU) Strategic business units are the key business units within diversified firms. Each SBU has its own managers, resources, objectives, and competitors. A division, product line or a single product may define the boundaries of an SBU. Each SBU pursues its own distinct mission and often develops its own plans independently of other units in the organization. BCG matrix To evaluate each of their organizations SBUs, marketers need some type of portfolio performance framework. A widely used framework was developed by Boston Consulting Group. This market share/ market growth matrix places SBUs in a four quadrant chart that plots market share against market growth potential. The position of an SBU along the horizontal axis indicates its market share relative to those of competitors in the industry. Its position along the vertical axis indicates the annual growth rate of the market. After plotting all of a firms business units, planners divide them according to the matrixs four quadrants as shown in the figure. Stars represent High market share and High growth rate. These products or SBUs are high growth market leaders. Although they generate considerable income, they need inflows of even more cash to finance further growth. Cash cows command High market share in Low growth markets. Marketers for such an SBU want to maintain this status for as long as possible. The business produces string cash flows, but instead of investing heavily in the units own promotions and production capacity, the firm can use this cash to finance the growth of other SBUs with higher growth potentials. Question marks achieve Low market share in higher growth markets. Marketers must decide weather to continue supporting these products or SBUs, because question marks typically require considerably more cash than they generate. If a question mark cannot become a star, the firm should pull out of the market and target other markets with greater potential. Dogs manage only Low market share in Low growth markets. SBUs in this category promise poor future prospects, and marketers should withdraw from these businesses or SBUs as quickly as possible. In some cases these products can be sold to other firms where they are better fit.

Race and Health Essay example -- Ethnicity Income Health Essays

Race and Health When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans a couple months ago the citizens of this country were bombarded with questions on race playing a responsibility of the survivors that were stranded for days to soon be plucked from their rooftops. These people who were living paycheck to paycheck did not have the same resources of the wealthy. They most likely had no insurance, no stable extended family that could lend them a house to stay or even a job to return to after the storm. The majority of New Orleans is African American and also in poverty and although it has been an uncomfortable subject to discuss it seems that if these people would have had the help to flee the city or been able to afford transportation to escape their health conditions might not have been so dire.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Behind it all there lays health, race and income. The person who earns the most, wins right? Socioeconomic status determines our place in life and if the rules are not broken, the path is fairly predictable. The factor of money seems to not only promote a better education, but also better-quality health care, neighborhoods and sanitation. To better determine how health, race and income are correlated I analyzed these three concepts. The independent variable used was combined race/ethnicity records. The dependent was their overall health conditions. Finally, I used income as a control variable to judge how much of a factor income plays on physical conditions. II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Measurement ...

Comparison Of Napoleon And Hitler Essay

The world as we know it has seen the likes of the most feared and infamous dictators and military geniuses. Some of these people have even shaped the way the world is today and their influences are still felt. Among such dictators are Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf Hitler, leaders of France and Germany respectively at two different periods. Adolf Hitler’s reign of power begins in 1933 when he is appointed Chancellor of Germany and his reign ends with his suicidal death on April 30 1945. Napoleon Bonaparte’s reign of military power begins in 1783 until he resigns in 1814, yet he has a slight military rebirth after that but it only lasts for a very short time. Both leaders’ careers are filled with massive successes yet they are also littered with massive defeats that truly change the way the world is today. Although these leaders can be considered geniuses, it does not mean they are perfect and not susceptible to the pull of human nature. Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte are two of the foremost military strategists and totalitarian leaders yet both had lapses in their judgment, both exhibit episodes of cowardice and both fail in their battles with Russia, ultimately ending their reigns. Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte both have several lapses in judgment on the battlefield, and in the planning rooms, during their reigns. While these lapses in judgment immediately may not result in the defeat of an army, when they are added together the results can and often were disastrous. Though Hitler had a strong army that could fight well, the mismanagement of that army and the people around it eventually lead to his personal demise as well as his army’s demise. Napoleon too is responsible for making several irresponsible and debilitating decisions during his reign. The Rhineland, a buffer zone between France and Germany that was formed at the end of World War I in the treaty of Versailles, is a very sensitive area that cannot be occupied by any German military forces. When Adolf Hitler announces to his political party and advisors that he wants to occupy this area, they are incredibly shocked and disappointed at their leader, as this would bring massive retaliations from the French and its allies. Amazingly enough, Hitler gambles on this decision and wins, as the French are initially shocked and eventually just let it go, giving Germany a front in which to attack France from. This action is discussed by all of the leagues and officials at this time and it still is accepted and Germany receives no penalty for occupying the Rhineland. If there had been opposition stemming from this incident though, the Germans would surely have been destroyed, as their army is not even close to being prepared for a major battle. The second decision that Hitler puts into effect is the occupation of Czechoslovakia, an occupation that sends to the rest of Europe the message that Hitler is hungry for land. Most states do not voice their opinion at this stage of Hitler’s reign though, and the one of the only areas that at least thinks about stopping Hitler is France. Hitler’s decisions continue to upset France and throw the balance of European power into a chaotic state. First the Rhineland is occupied by Germany, and now Czechoslovakia is taken by force; these tactics taken by Germany make France decide that the next detrimental decision made by Hitler should have a detrimental effect on his own forces, an effect that will be delivered personally by the French forces. The third decision that Hitler executes improperly is the invasion of Poland at the precursor of World War Two. With Germany simply ignoring the previous alliance with Poland it makes it very hard for Hitler to convince other nations and people to trust him. He also makes it seem that he is only running military maneuvers in the area, which is another example of how other political leaders can distrust him. Because of these decisions, Italy will not fight on Germany’s side and Germany’s unwillingness to back from Poland prompts France and Britain to prematurely enter into direct conflict with Germany, a conflict that Hitler does not believe will take place. Although the Germans easily win the Polish War, it sets an ominous tone for the events to come. Perhaps one of the biggest lapses in judgment that Hitler makes during World War II is the Battle of Britain. Operation Sea Lion definitely is not a success for Germany as they lose their battle as well as fully bring Britain into the war. The people of the beleaguered Great Britain, which is under constant attack at all times, are drawn together to fully strengthen the war cause. If there was ever any doubt about why Hitler and Germany should be  stopped it is pushed away and full on hatred for Germany forms. Germany’s Luftwaffe loses quite heavily as its planes and equipment simply is not up to the English advances in technology, such as radar. The Battle of Britain is an unnecessary and disastrous venture for the Germans and they are faced with heavy losses and morale issues, as Berlin is counter attacked by British warplanes with relative success. Another small defeats adding up to a huge failure in the long wrong include losing the campaign in North Africa, and leaving forces in the area for quite some time while the rest of the war continues. These supplies could have been used for other campaigns occurring at the time and the tanks that are being utilized in North Africa can also be used in the defence of Germany when Allied forces invade it. Napoleon Bonaparte too is susceptible to making bad decisions. While his early military career is littered with amazing and wild successes, his first campaign in the East is a miserable failure. While the initial invasion is a success, the British forces catch most of France’s navy anchored and destroy it, thus leaving much of France’s army stranded in Egypt, Napoleon included. With plague and the constant destruction of French forces, Napoleon knows that the campaign is doomed to failure and leaves his men to die in Egypt while he makes his way towards France once again. The way Napoleon and his soldiers conduct themselves in their occupied Spain is also quite disturbing. After taking over Spain there are continual attempts by the people to overtake their new French government. Napoleon does not take kindly to such actions and begins the slaughtering and torture of his enemies. Napoleon and his men before simply did not practice this type of warfare and now getting into this type of war is definitely the wrong thing to do. There is no definite winner or loser in Spain as Napoleon simply keeps it occupied with soldiers for five years. The most incredible lapse of judgment of both Hitler and Napoleon occurs when they both decide that they want to conquer Russia. Hitler and Bonaparte both failed in Russia thus ending their full-fledged military advancement. The  Russian campaign is considered a huge failure asked for by Hitler and Napoleon. Each leader’s decision for invading Russia is very different with Hitler invading for lebensraum (space for living) and Napoleon invading to somewhat defend France with Russian forces on France’s borders. While both reasons can be seen as rational to a totalitarian leader, neither leader could decide just what to do while inside of the Red country. Although both campaigns lasted much longer than expected, with Hitler and his advisors expecting Operation Barbarossa (the German codename for the invasion) to be a success in eight to ten weeks and Napoleon prophesized his battles would be complete within twenty days. While both can be reasonable estimates while simply looking at the equipment, training, and manpower involved, the leaders of both campaigns do not factor in human resistance, weather, and simply sheer luck. Both campaigns immediately take the same face from the get go, with both forces finding very slim lines of defence to stop them. While Hitler simply engages and destroys the forthcoming Russian defence, Napoleon is faced with a much more daunting situation as the Russian forces employ a strong scorched earth policy, leaving nothing behind for Napoleon’s forces to use for the remainder of the campaign. Because of this policy Napoleon and his forces dwindle on a massive scale, as soldiers fall out from exhaustion, sickness, and desertion at a staggering rate of five thousand per day. After two months, and before Napoleon’s forces could fight a single major battle, one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers are out of action. One of the most disabling situations that occur in Germany’s quest for Russian supremacy is the continual confusion and debate occurring between Hitler and his cabinet, something that many believe cannot happen in a totalitarian regime. Hitler continually intervened on his advisor’s decisions and made all final decisions on his own, something that is very dangerous when you consider Hitler’s mental stability. In Russia he changes his mind several times before settling for Leningrad as the primary objective and Moscow as the secondary objective in Barbarossa, much to the chagrin of his advisors. In what could be one of the unlikely and unusual decisions of the campaign, Hitler decides to merely surround Leningrad  instead of taking it by force, something that could be accomplished within weeks. Instead of actually taking Leningrad, Hitler then decides that Moscow is the primary objective after all and sends a bulk of his forces towards it. The first of Germanyâ €™s weather problems occurs in the taking of Moscow as heavy rainfall hinders the German offensive. An additional major mistake that can be attributed to Napoleon’s downfall in Russia is the fact that great portions of his fighting forces are not even French. Due to this situation most of these soldiers simply left because they did not have a personal attachment to the cause. The fight was being fought simply for the fulfillment of their leaders’ alliance with Napoleon. Hitler could not crush the Russian cities while he had the chance and Napoleon waited too long to retreat. This fact coupled with Russia’s troops fighting in a religious manner results in a downshift in Russian morale. Although Napoleon successfully takes Moscow he accomplishes it in a ridiculous manner. He does not fight the strategic battle style that he is greatly known for and simply throws throngs of his soldiers at the inspired Russians and although his forces do win the battle it does not come with massive personnel and morale losses. The scorched earth policy being employed by the Russian forces definitely takes a dramatic increase when the French forces take Moscow. When Napoleon and his forces enter Moscow they find it mainly abandoned and by the end of the night it begins to burn with fire, fire lit by the Russians themselves. French forces cannot stay in Moscow and use its shelter, food, and water resulting in a losing situation for France. The scorched earth policy also takes a very crucial part in Russia’s victory in Operation Barbarossa as Stalin implores his soldiers and citizens to employ such a tactic that would deprive the oncoming Germans of important supplies. This can lead one to believe that the Russian campaign is won on the basis of nationalism and the idea of helping your fellow citizen the same that you help yourself, a very basic and fundamental communist belief. While all of the other factors involved in taking Russia are very important and crucial, by far the most important of them is the Russian winters that decimated both offensive forces. The winter to Napoleon means the end of his campaign in Russia, and the end of his military supremacy. The Tsar of Russia uses the winter as a great defensive tool as he knows that the French forces cannot take a winter battle and he is definitely correct. The French forces disembark from Moscow in the fall and three weeks later the harsh Russian winter arrives. The temperatures quickly fell and so too did the number of soldiers. The French simply cannot survive with starvation, fatigue, and the extreme cold constantly hounding them. With few French soldiers behind him, Napoleon finally returns to the French capital faced with the daunting task of rationalizing his disgusting defeat. The few Russian winters that Germany has to deal with are among the worst the world has ever seen. In the December 1941 to March 1942 portion of the campaign Germany suffers heavy losses and cannot take Moscow, Hitler’s prime directive and the German forces now have to halt their offensive. In the winter the German forces take a huge blow as the Russians accomplish counter offensive attacks. These attacks are highly successful due to the failing equipment of the Germans coupled with the lack of personal equipment such as jackets and proper footwear coupled with Hitler forcing the soldiers to not retreat and make the soldiers fight as long as they can. The German military commander resigns during this time due to Hitler being overbearing and Hitler takes full command of the forces. Finally realizing his forces are being decimated on a massive scale, Hitler calls for full withdrawal in January, a task that is much easier said than done. Oddly enough, Hitler actually gains more support from his soldiers and the citizens at home because of his actions. Again, though, Hitler begins the spring and summer offensive with relative success and then begins to lose it again. The Russian front is much too large for Germany and its now dwindling supply of soldiers and forces are being spread much too thin. The country is simply much too large to be taken for Germany and Hitler soon begins realizing this. Russia forces Germany  into a war of attrition that is simply cannot compete with and Hitler must withdraw all offensive troops except ones stationed at Stalingrad and other very important points. Eventually, during the following winter the Germans are once again decimated by Russian forces and are forced to evacuate from Stalingrad after many requests to Hitler. Although Hitler makes many plans and tries to implement them with relative success, the German withdrawal takes place between 1943-1944. The German forces are finally removed from the Russian territory with a resounding sense of success emanating from the allies. The defeat of Germany in Russia very greatly depletes the Germans of supplies and forces the Germans to now fight on many fronts while throwing the German military strategists into a state of confusion. Further bombing runs by England begin to eliminate most of the raw materials processing plants employed by the Germans. The invasion of Normandy is carried out by the Allied forces with success and the liberation of Germany begins, and all simply because the taking of Russia is not accomplished. While both Hitler and Napoleon are widely considered military geniuses their lack of effective judgment, courage, and success in Russia equaled a long and tiring end to their military careers.

Frankenstein and Blade Runner Essay

The texts, Frankenstein and Blade Runner reflect changing contextual values; however the treatment of content remains the same. Mary Shelley’s didactic Frankenstein published in 1818 centres on scientific advancement of the Industrial Revolution, as presented through a consolidation of Gothic and Romantic elements in response to the shifting paradigms of the Enlightenment Age. Similarly, Blade Runner directed by Ridley Scott in 1982, transforms the notions of Frankenstein to position its postmodern audience to consider the negative ramifications of the Cold War and the rise of capitalism. These contextual ideas will be explored through the thematic concerns pertaining specifically to the destructive potential of abusing scientific power, the flawed responsibility of man as creator and the nature of humanity. Indeed, Blade Runner is a realisation of the sublime warnings highlighted by Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1818. Destructive potential of abusing scientific power Frankenstein highlights the destructive potential of abusing science through overpowering human morality and provoking irresponsibility. The 18th Century Age of Enlightenment was a social movement where logic and reason was advocated as the primary source of authority, characterised by scientific advancements such as Galvani’s concept of electricity as a reanimating force and theorists such as Erasmus Darwin. Hence, Walton’s metaphor, influenced by Age of Enlightenment, â€Å"What may not be expected in a country of eternal light? † is mantric for both Walton and Frankenstein who display a â€Å"thirst for knowledge† in their respective scientific quests. The metaphor and symbol of â€Å"eternal light† represents the mysteries the pair wish to uncover and accompanied with rhetorical question it reflects the optimism of society embracing the Age of Enlightenment. However, the irrevocable consequences of abusing scientific power is highlighted when Frankenstein says, â€Å"â€Å"All my speculations and hopes are as nothing, and like the archangel who aspired to omnipotence, I am chained to an eternal hell. † as he is tormented by the â€Å"filthy daemon† he creates; a monster â€Å"even Dante could not have conceived. The allusions to John Milton’s Paradise Lost and Dante Alighieri’s Inferno through metaphor and simile emphasises the destructive potential of abusing scientific power as Frankenstein’s environment decays into hell. This caution of the destructive potential of abusing science is realised in Blade Runner through Scott’s mise-en-scene of the dystopian urban wasteland of 2019 Los Angeles, emphasising the destruction of the natural environment as a result of the Cold War’s nuclear threat and rise of consumerism. In the opening sequence, the slow-panning panorama shot, under chiaroscuro lighting, captures a hellish megalopolis with huge smokestacks spewing fire into the atmosphere and large pagan corporate edifices towering over the city. This disorienting imagery is coalesced with violent, non-diegetic sounds and visuals of constant rain, symbolizing concerns of acidic rain and the burning of the environment. Hence, Scott’s utilization of futuristic â€Å"film noir† cinematography establishes a grim, claustrophobic environment that is completely devoid of the natural world. By depicting such dystopia and understanding contextual concerns such as the capitalist deregulation and the ‘trickle down’ theory of Reagan’s era, Scott applies Shelley’s â€Å"Promethean† motif to caution viewers about the potential environmental dangers of abusing modern technology and nuclear warfare, which were widespread social concerns at the time due to the climax of the Cold War. Flawed responsibility of men as creator Frankenstein highlights how unrestrained science undermines man’s responsibility as creator. Shelley’s era was a time of religious revival where philosophers such as Kierkegaard asserted spirituality was more than â€Å"objective appearance† and demanded engagement. In both texts, several biblical allusions are made to the image of man usurping the title of â€Å"creator† and creation becoming the forsaken â€Å"fallen angel. † Hence Victor’s Godly damnation reflects man as illegitimate to play the role of God: â€Å"Wretched devil! You reproach me with your creation; come on, then, may I extinguish the spark which I so negligently bestowed. Through the emotive biblical language and poetic allusion to â€Å"Milton’s Paradise Lost†, Shelley evokes the retelling of Satan’s fall from grace, where the monster’s likeness to the â€Å"fallen angel,† exacerbates the notion that man, corrupted by the moral insensitivity of science, is flawed as creator. Moreover, the â€Å"spark† alludes to the â€Å"eternal light† which irresponsibly leads to the immoral creation of a monster that is both extravagant and aberrant. This is illustrated by the graphic imagery of the monster’s impurity such as â€Å"skin arely covered† and â€Å"yellow eye† alongside the creature’s painful personal recollections through direct use of the first person, â€Å"I was a poor, helpless, miserable wretch. I knew, and could distinguish, nothing; but feeling pain invade me on all sides. † Hence, Shelley highlights to readers in the Enlightenment period that innate selfishness of men corrupts the moral grounding of scientific pursuit rendering man as illegitimate to play the role of God. The issue of mankind as selfish creators, disengaged from institutionalized structures such as Christendom, is extended in Blade Runner in the â€Å"meeting of the maker’ scene. Tyrell ruthlessly exploits his economic power by separating himself from the decaying dystopia of Los Angeles. Tyrell’s fundamentally flawed intentions are personified in the Tyrell Corporation’s edifice of a Grandiose, Mayan style pyramid physically exerting a powerful dominance over the city. It is presented through an upward panning low angle shot, spliced with close up shots to reinforce the dominance of consumerist progress in dystopia. The pyramid’s historical association with Egyptian royalty links them with the divine, typifying Tyrell’s ‘God-like’ role as creator. This is reinforced in Tyrell’s costuming of white clothing amidst long shots of a candle-lit church atmosphere, typifying his glorified religious status. Moreover the low-angle shots of the ‘artificial owl’ with dark shadows emphasises the extent to which the natural environment has been artificially remodeled due to the rise of consumerism in the 1980s. Hence, the dehumanised portray of Victor Frankenstein and Tyrell demonstrates that despite differering contexts, science leads to an abandonment of moral responsibility and man is flawed as creator. What constitutes humanity in an individual Frankenstein highlights the true nature of humanity as influenced by the 18th Century Romantic Movement. The 18th Century Romantic Movement was a social reaction against the 18th Century Age of Enlightenment, characterised by stressing the beauty of the natural world and emotional feeling. The natural world’s splendour is highlighted as Frankenstein flees to Mont Blanc for conciliatory peace away from his torment. â€Å"The unstained snowy mountain-top, the glittering pinnacle †¦ the eagle soaring amidst the clouds. † The Romantic and emotive language, imagery and allusion to Edmund Burke’s On the Sublime and the Beautiful portrays the beauty of the natural world, free from destructive science. Further humanity’s emotions are romanticised through the benevolent portrayal of the Monster. â€Å"No father had watched my infant days; no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses†¦ What was I? † Through the combination of emotive language, a personal tone created through the personal pronoun â€Å"I† and a rhetorical question to question what constitutes humanity within a being, Shelley transcends the Gothic stereotype typically bestowed upon a monster to emphasise the monster’s human longings for parental love and companionship. Hence, as the Romantic Movement and its fascination with the sublimity of nature, was being overcome by the strict rationality of the Age of Enlightenment, Shelley foreworns of the destruction of the magnificence of humanity, both in the natural world and in human emotions, as a result of rampant science and irresponsibility. Similarly, the â€Å"more human than human† portrayal of Roy in Blade Runner also highlights our mistreatment of scientific creations as artificial commodities, blurring the distinction between humans and products of artificial intelligence. In the final scene, Scott uses a close-up shot at Roy’s nailed hands, literally portraying him as a Christ-like figure, as he is enslaved and morally detached from humanity from the goals of â€Å"commerce†. The condescending aphorism in Tyrell’s comment at Roy’s desperate cry for life, â€Å"the light that burns half as long, burns twice as bright† alludes to the â€Å"eternal light† in Frankenstein’s Age of Reason and its effects on humanity’s disregard for the human consequences of its actions. Hence Roy asserts â€Å"I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe†, which reflects about his personal, human pain and suffering as a result of the commoditised world. Furthermore, a close up of Roy, alongside the pure white background creates a cathartic moment as Roy becomes ‘the fallen angel’, magnanimously giving life to Deckard and instilling human qualities within him. It is through illustrating Roy’s sensitivity that Scott ‘appropriates’ Shelley’s dilemma of what constitutes humanity within any being, questioning the morality of the technology-dependent audience of the 1980s; as they take scientific creations for granted. Hence after suffering and succumbing to brutal dehumanisation, both Replicant and Beast have emotively evoked pathos and senses of profound solemnity. Ultimately, both Frankenstein and Blade Runner are products of their cultural milieu and forewarn us of the destructive potential of abusing science, illegitimately playing the role of God and the values of humanity that degrade our morality and responsibility. More subliminally, however, each text embodies the moral limitations of being human through the oppressive nature of scientific and technological advancement.

This is a pro and con essay about weather there should be gun control in the united States

This is a pro and con essay about weather there should be gun control in the united States No Longer NeededAudience- The English 101 teachers and anyone who supports the use of guns.As life began humans only knew two things, they must survive and mate. In the survival category fell gathering food and protecting themselves from other creatures. As humans began to develop, weapons were invented. For example, first there were spears, then bows and arrows, and eventually guns. Guns became a necessity to hunt for food and to protect themselves from other, harmful people. This was the case when the United States of America was formed. Since then, over 200 years ago, the military has become very powerful and the need to hunt has been eliminated by ranches and slaughterhouses. For this reason, and many others, the question to ask is why guns should be illegal for the public to use and possess in the United States.As guns become more common in the household, they because more available to kids.Kids with gunsIn today's society kids have to go to school scared, no knowing if they wil l be shot by a crazy classmate. Over the past ten years there has been a huge rise in school shootings. Something else very alarming is each year more than 35,000 people are killed by guns (Gun Control par. 2). Attacks made with a gun are five times more likely to result in death than similar attacks that are made with a knife (Gun Control par. 2) and in 1997 guns were used in approximately 70 percent of the murders in the United States (Gun Control par. 2).The statistics about un violence are alarming, even with these outrageous statistics, supporters of the right to bear guns always turn to the second amendment of the constitution. It states "A will-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state,

Sub‐Saharan Africa poor development record over the last thirty years

Sub†Saharan Africa poor development record over the last thirty years Introduction Africa is one of the continents lagging behind in all sorts of developments for a long time. As a result, it has had continuous dependence on other continents for several items. Most of the industrial commodities used in Africa are imported.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Sub†Saharan Africa poor development record over the last thirty years specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More That way, it continues to enrich other continents by adding into their foreign exchange. Over the last thirty years, the Sub Saharan Africa has recorded a very poor development, making its people to continue languishing in poverty. Compared to other continents, its economic performance is comparatively poor. The development record The poor development record can clearly be seen in its per capita Gross Domestic Product of the 1980s, which declined by 1.3 percent per annum coming five percentage points below the average of all inc ome developing countries (Collier and Gunning, 1999, p. 64). The decline has since continued to increase from the 1980s up to now. Between 1990 and 1994, the economic growth slowed down a great deal, whereby the per capita GDP decline accelerated to 1.8 percent and with time went up to 6.2 per cent (Collier and Gunning, 1999, p. 64). From the 1980s, it has declined by almost 1 percent annually making the countries poorer than they were in the 1980s. That has made it the lowest income region in the whole world. Reasons for poor development Lack of social capital is one of the reasons that have led to the poor economic growth. The community and the government through institutions that facilitate private property can generate social capital (Collier and Gunning, 1999, p. 65). The government plays the greatest role in determining the rate of development of a particular country. By imposing taxation on different areas of production or businesses, it only means one thing, and that is, man y people who would be willing to invest in certain areas will be cut off.. There are those who may go ahead but they end up realizing very little growth. When transaction costs are high, the level of economic development will slow down. This part of Africa has greatly been affected by civil wars. With wars, little developments can take place since insecurity will make people fear to make any form of investments in the affected areas. People will fear and run for their lives to different neighboring countries and this is what has happened in this region.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More That also affects the neighboring countries, as they have to put up with the increasing number of refugees from the affected areas. Today, most African countries are still facing wars and after the war, it takes a long time to rebuild the economy again (Crafts 1999, p. 20). Over the l ast three decades, there have been low levels of investments in the Sub Saharan Africa and the region is not in good capacity to import the capital goods and technology that are needed to accelerate structural change. Therefore, there is need for increase in support that the African countries get from multilateral organizations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. This is because it is not easy to attain good economic growth from other sources like the Foreign Direct Investments. The slow economic growth could also have been greatly influenced by the region’s adverse climatic conditions, which results to poor health and thus reduces life expectancy (Collier and Gunning, 1999, p. 8). Most parts of this region are tropical which greatly affects the economy. This is because most of the people are affected by tropical diseases like malaria. The disease is said to be one of the leading causes of death in the tropical region of the world and the governments of t hose countries have to spend a lot in trying to curb it (Collier and Gunning, 1999, p. 7). The harsh weather conditions result to leached soils, which are of poor quality and unreliable rainfall thus making most of the region semi arid. All that affects agricultural activities and this greatly affects the economic development of the countries that lie in this region since they mainly depend on agriculture. When they are deprived of their major economic activity, poverty ensues and with it, positive economic growth cannot be recorded. In general, Africa is also said to be the leading continent in the rate of HIV and AIDS infections. It has recorded the highest number of deaths related to the dangerous disease and as a result, the continent has lost a lot of skilled labor (Sender, 1999, p.91). People who could bring about good economic growth perish with the disease and this greatly affects the given countries. The governments of such countries have had to spend a lot of money in taki ng care of the infected and the affected, for instance, they have to buy ARVs, which help to prolong the lives of the infected. Additionally, the government has the task of taking care of the orphaned children. That huge amount of finance spent in all that could have otherwise been used on development projects that could bring about positive economic growth.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Sub†Saharan Africa poor development record over the last thirty years specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Most of the African poor people are greatly affected by economic and health related factors, natural disasters, and conflict shocks, which continue to keep them in poverty (World Bank 201, p. 2). The World Bank looks forward to enabling the African countries to provide better health care and make use of irrigation together with other water management ways to help them deal with the effects of climatic change. Global warming , which is the main cause of climatic change, has led to raised temperatures, prolonged seasons of drought and decline in rainfall. All these make it hard for Sub-Saharan African countries to sustain their agricultural activities resulting to poverty and hence poor economic growth. This part of the African continent is made up of developing countries which face are technologically challenged (Commission on Growth and Development 2008, p.3). Most of them still lag behind in innovation and the creation of new technology; they just absorb and adapt technologies that already exist elsewhere in the world. For example, African countries started using computers a few years ago long after that innovation whereas in the western world, use of computers had become the norm of the day. This means that that they have taken long to develop economically as progress in technology is highly important in determining economic growth. Failures of the Sub Saharan Africa Corruption is another major probl em that has dragged behind Africans. For economic growth to prevail there must be openness in carrying out operations. Most African countries have however failed in fighting corruption (Collier and Gunning, 1999, p. 69). Africa is said to be the leading continent in the levels of the vice. Therefore, it is very hard to attain economic growth and development as embezzlement has already become deeply rooted in most African countries due to corruption. This happens when for instance money is set aside for developments such as roads construction but is not utilized for such purposes but for personal gain by corrupt leaders. This explains the reason as to why there is a very wide gap between the poor and the rich in this region. Some people are too rich because of acquiring property through the wrong means while others are too poor.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As said earlier, agriculture is the main economic activity in most of the African countries as many of the people depend on it for survival. The sector is very crucial, as it is a great source of foreign exchange in the region; 70 percent of the Africans depend on it and half of all employed women are in the sector (Sender, 1999, p. 97). This shows how important the sector is to the continent but things would be better if the African governments took measures to promote the farmers. Some Africans practice cash crop farming but the efforts of such people are greatly undermined by the fact that, they are made to remit a certain amount of money as agricultural taxation (Collier and Gunning, 1999, p. 66). For a country to reap economic gains, it must have good infrastructure. Definitely, anything that has been produced needs to be transported to the market. For this to happen, there has to be a good transport and communication network not only in the urban centers but also deep in the r ural areas. This is where most of the African governments have failed in (Collier and Gunning, 1999, p 66). The rural areas where agricultural products come from are hardly accessible as there are no enough roads and those that are available are in very bad conditions. The situation becomes worse when it rains, as most of the roads are very rough. As a result, great losses are encountered in the transportation process of agricultural perishable goods. It is estimated that in the Sub Saharan Africa, agriculture accounts for between 30 and 55 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (Sender, 1999, p. 96). Although the rural areas of the African region may be very rich in agricultural soils that may end up not contributing the right percentage to their economic growth as most of the produce, fail to get to the required market at the appropriate time. Therefore, the people and the governments need to cooperate in order to build social interaction and that will definitely lead to economic g ains. This can be achieved through building trust, which lowers the transaction costs (Collier and Gunning, 1999, p. 19). There is a growing rate of unemployment in most parts of this region. The governments of the African countries have failed in provision of employment, as most of the people remain jobless. As a result, many people are not able to place food on the table and they continue to live in poverty. Research shows that by the year 1996, only 1 percent of the African population consisted of civil servants which is lower compared to other developing countries whereby 3 percent and above of the population are civil servants. Those who are lucky to get civil employment may not be so happy as well, for they receive little wages, which is not good enough to lead a comfortable life. Most of the African nations have more ethnic diversity than other poor countries in the world and this makes it more difficult for them to have or develop an interconnected economy (Collier and Gunni ng, 1999, p. 67). The governments of the Sub Saharan African countries have not done much in fighting ethnicity. People continue to term themselves different from one another and this breeds nepotism and discrimination, which causes many conflicts. People of different ethnic groups have different beliefs and ways of life. What one group does and terms as very good may not be allowed by another group. When such differences occur, cooperation is not very easy and thus developments cannot be arrived at with much ease. The Sub Saharan Africa successes Sometimes back, there was a very high rate of infant mortality in the region. Most of the deaths occurred in children under five years because of the diseases that affect them while at that age. These diseases include measles, tuberculosis, and whooping cough among others. With continued improved medical care, the number of deaths in small children has greatly been reduced as they are immunized against most of the diseases in the first yea r of their lives. The number of children who die at infancy has drastically reduced (Sender, 1999, p. 90). There have been increased medical facilities that facilitate the provision of better health care and in addition to that, there has been improved nutrition adding to the advantage. As a result, there has been increased life expectancy even in the poor countries (Crafts, 1999, p. 21). Credit should also be given to these countries for promoting literacy to its people. It is no longer the time when women were to stay at home and raise children. Fifty years ago, women in Africa were very unlikely ever to attend school and over 90 percent of the adult females were illiterate (Sender, 1999, p. 92). Most of the countries in this region have done a lot to ensure that the girl child is protected, and gets the required education. The World Bank is in the process of making sure that the economy of African countries improves (World Bank 201, p. 1). This will see majority of people access employment and hence improving their living standards. Many of the poor people live and work in the rural areas but perhaps that may change in future as more people are now migrating to the urban centers in search of better lives. This has created a pool of people who are unemployed and many ends up indulging in criminal activities and prostitution for survival. Conclusion The Sub Saharan Africa has had poor development for a long time. It is considered the last in all development records compared to other regions in the world. The region’s tropical climate, which causes tropical diseases and harsh weather for agriculture, is one of the reasons associated with its failures. To add to that, the governments of countries in this region have failed in several ways and this has led to a decline in the economic development of the region. They have failed to provide good infrastructure, fight corruption, and have not been able to scrap taxation that is imposed on different areas of investment. Though these governments have failed in one way or another, they have also had their successes. They have been able to provide better health care and education to their citizens. Reference List Collier, P., and Gunning, J. (1999). Explaining African Economic Performance. Journal of Economic Literature, 37, 64-11. Collier, P., and Gunning, J. (1999). Why has Africa grown slowly? Journal of Economic perspectives, 13, 3-22. Commission on Growth and Development. (2008). The Growth Report, Washington DC: World Bank. Web. Crafts, N. (1999). Economic growth in the twentieth century. Oxford review of economic policy, 15, 18-31. Sender, J. (1999). African’s performance: Limitations of the current consensus. Journal of Economic perspectives, 13, 89-114. World Bank. (2011). Africas Future, World Bank: Washington DC. Available from  http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,contentMDK:22846778~pagePK:146736~piPK:226340~theSitePK:258644,00.html

Global business managers should consider and deal with the knowledge Essay

Global business managers should consider and deal with the knowledge management challenges in a holistic manner taking into a - Essay Example â€Å"There are various ways used in gathering and dispensing of information and this is done in various departments† (Adas 2010, p. 30). They include human resource department, marketing department or information technology department. Data can be gathered from secondary and primary sources. There are many research secondary sources that provide information needed by a company. Trade magazines, newspapers articles, libraries, government agencies and the internet can be used as secondary sources. Primary sources involve collection of information through ways such as observation, networking, interviewing, focus groups or experimentation. Questionnaires are also used for collecting data. Observation is the simplest method. Networking is a more of an informal method to gather primary data from experts (Anderson 2006, p. 35). Business managers use knowledge for organization objectives like sharing intelligence, improving the performance of a company, for competition or innovation. Knowledge transfer is either through training, peer discussions and mentoring programs. For example, a company solves the problem of culture barrier by teaching different cultures of people to its employees. Learning different cultures of people help in understanding them well and hence avoid work conflicts (Anderson 2009, p. 56). Offering training to employees is important because it improves working efficiency. Dealing with Knowledge Management Challenges Global business managers should deal with the knowledge management challenges in a holistic manner in order to achieve their business goals. There are various knowledge management challenges that need to be solved in order to achieve goals. Information collected is sometimes not accurate and this affects decision making in a company. Global business managers should deal with this problem of data inaccuracy by validating the information presented to them. There is another problem of data misinterpretation (Allen 2011, p.98) Infor mation gathered should be interpreted the way it is. Data biasness results in making the wrong conclusion. Data collectors and researchers in a company should be very careful in recording the information given (Bartlett 2002, p. 34). They are not supposed to record mistakes or include information that is not provided by the respondent. Another transnational strategy of managing information is by having a good system of storing information. FedEx is a company known to have a good paperless system of storing data of its employees. They have programs called PRISM HIRS which records any information pertaining to a worker. This programs record jobs posting, applicants and training information (Birkinshaw 2001, p. 23). It is important to maintain this strategy because information can never be lost. Information stored in files is mostly misplaced. The information stored in this system can be accessed any time. Importance of International Knowledge Management International knowledge managem ent is important for global business managers because they will get and share knowledge concerning global markets. This is explained in the Theory & practice of knowledge management. There will be sharing of explicit knowledge from the international world. This is the transnational strategy used by global firms. This is important because the global environment is complex and need to be studied well. There are

Enterprise knowledge management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Enterprise knowledge management - Essay Example discussions on theories pertinent to the progress of a company or organization in the business realm (even lay persons think of business success in this way) is always equated to the continued accumulation of wealth or profit in terms of monetary returns or other similar concrete and measurable outputs. There is, indeed, nothing wrong with the old, traditional conception of business success. But what is made crystal-clear is the fact that such measure is not enough to gauge real capital of companies or organizations at play in our era – the era of knowledge. James Brian Quinn, Philip Anderson and Sydney Finkelstein in their article Managing Professional Intellect: Making the Most of the Best have explicitly stated that â€Å"intellectual assets, unlike physical increase in value and use. Properly stimulated knowledge and intellect grow exponentially when shared.†1 And this claim properly presents the notion that the call and demand of the time among and between companies and organizations is to continuously destroy all boundaries and hindrances of knowledge via sharing of knowledge from within and from without. But what does it entail? Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton in their article The Balance Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action have highlighted the stark reality that if companies in the contemporary period want to be competitive, aggressive and progressive they should learn to project not only within short term perspectives but that they should also be able to come up with a viable and workable long term plans. The idea of having long term plans and projections entail the presupposition of having human resources being thrust in the center as the main and focal point in business environment, in the connection and collaboration of organizational and structural systems moving towards the establishment of a harmonious and friendly yet very, very competitive ambiance in the business world. However, if one is going to be honest to one’s self one

Relationship Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Relationship Management - Essay Example This revolution led to the renovation of a marketplace into marketspace, where businesses and communications were carried on not physically but virtually. But still many marketspaces faced a lot of problems in the field of virtual customer relationship management or CRM. Building relations with clients or suppliers virtually is very tough due to the trust factor, i.e. it is very hard for people (clients, suppliers, dealers, or people related to the e-business or marketspace) to trust somebody that they have never ever met. This used to be a very serious issue because this was one of the largest disadvantages that the e-commerce industry had faced, not only a disadvantage but slowly and slowly this became a setback for the industry. But eventually just as any problem that technology has faced in the previous centuries, this disadvantage for this industry is gradually being removed and more and more reliable ways to deal with the e-commerce industry are being fabricated. The term e-commerce had been originated in the late 1970’s. At that time the term e-commerce was introduced only for online transfer transactions such as data transfers, purchase orders, funds transfers and codes transfers; that is, all the data transfer that was related to business and was done electronically was termed as e-commerce. (e-commerce land, 2007) E-commerce has surpassed itself from just being a technology, instead e-commerce or e-business is a whole new revolution in the marketing, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and management industry. (CRM, better management.com) Since the beginning, e-businesses have proven to be a much better way to stay in contact with the consumers and to have a better approach towards the markets via creating virtual marketspaces and eliminating the geographical boundaries. These fresh techniques (e-business & marketspace) grew at a lightning pace because of their geographically

Discussion 6 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion 6 - Assignment Example From this point, I would say I am superstitions about a number of things, especially those that have to do with the Christian religion. For example, I belief that people die because of the sinful nature of humankind: as the bible says that the wages of sin is death. This is contrary to science, which gives reasons like old age and diseases as the natural cause of death. I also believe that the universe was architecturally structured and created (by God) though science says that the universe came about through evolution. I also believe that the world will come to an end all people will be judged though science denies this. The argument on the existence of God is a very dicey. This is perhaps because of the divergent debate around the existence of God. But the personality of God, just as science are both not conclusive and totally convincing. This is because in the case of science, not every phenomenon of the universe has been proven by science. This is why we have metaphysics. The personality of God is also too abstract to believe. But drawing a line, it would be said that both instances exist as science has never convinced the world of the genesis of the universe. Though science talks about evolution, the question will continue to be that â€Å"who created that first particle that started expanding and why has the human race not changed to something else if we evolved from apes. Why have apes not also turned into humans after a long time. So there is an unseen part of the existence of the world and that is God. Indeed, to belong to a religion is a good action to take. This is because all religions have a very high level of preaching and teaching that highlights on good and harmonious living. If indeed all persons were to stay by the core principles of religion, it is very likely that the world would be a peaceful place to live. But more importantly, he time should come when the debate will not be

How convincing is Marxs critique of capitalism Essay

How convincing is Marxs critique of capitalism - Essay Example The debate between these two intellectual groups is as interesting as it is engaging. In this paper, I tried to highlight the insights of Marx’s criticism of capitalism and also tried to reflect some counter criticisms of Marx’s arguments. My interest is however the political grounds of Marx attack on capitalism. Thus I started by exploring the foundational concepts that Marx (state and class) based all his arguments, the dynamics of class relations in this state (alienation, exploitation and imperialism) before finally connecting these concepts with the democracy argument. The concepts of class and state are at the heart of Marx’s criticism of capitalism. Marx used the two concepts to explain the fabrics of the capitalist society. Marx threw light on classification of the society he studied. He wrote: â€Å"Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, however, this distinctive feature; it has simplified the class antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other: bourgeoisie and proletariat†. Marx identified two distinct classes, the bourgeoisie and proletariat, sharply differentiated by their position in the mode of production. The bourgeoisie is the capital owner (owner of property and means of production) while the proletariat is a class of those who work for capital owners and their labour is controlled by same. On the state, Milliband deduced, from Marx’s works, two views of the state. The first, he called primary view of the state, is rooted â€Å"in the famous aphorism of the Communist Manifesto: The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the common affair of the whole bourgeoisie† and political power is â€Å"merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another.† The secondary view, according

How does today's film in the U.S influence people perception of Research Proposal

How does today's film in the U.S influence people perception of Chinese culture (Please try to focus on a specific film genres) - Research Proposal Example Xie (9) has carried out a number of research projects on the influence of media on Asian stereotyping giving particular focus and emphasis on how the Chinese culture is portrayed in films in the United States of America (USA). In the research projects conducted, various issues were pointed out and they included; discrimination and racism. The goal of this research as the ones conducted byXie (7) is to identify how a majority of films in the United States of America (USA) miss represent the chines culture. The research shall focus on how Chinese men are represented by films in the USA, how Chinese women are represented by films in the USA, the level of violence associated to them as well as the morals and ethics about the Chinese culture that are miss represented or represented accordingly in the films. For example, a majority of the female chines characters are portrayed in many of the films in USA as being highly sexually seductive individuals and they are trained from a tender age to use this seductive technique to kill men. A majority of the films portray Chinese people as highly trained in elements of martial arts, these is evident in films where Chinese actors Jackie Chan and Jet Li are anchored, this exhibits fraudulent behavior (Chan, 3). Other films portray the Chinese as highly intelligent individuals, mostly appearing in films as computer wizards and sharp when it comes to solving puzzles and mathematical queries (Chan51)Not forgetting about the ethics and morals, some films portray chines girls as immoral, being used for sexual activities especially in the USA as illegal immigrants, other films portray the Chinese people as good and calm with high consideration of the four elements of nature i.e. land, water, and air (Stein, 7). With critical analysis of data intended to be collected, this research will help give a clear picture of what the Chinese culture is really about and whether what we see

Discussion 6 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion 6 - Assignment Example From this point, I would say I am superstitions about a number of things, especially those that have to do with the Christian religion. For example, I belief that people die because of the sinful nature of humankind: as the bible says that the wages of sin is death. This is contrary to science, which gives reasons like old age and diseases as the natural cause of death. I also believe that the universe was architecturally structured and created (by God) though science says that the universe came about through evolution. I also believe that the world will come to an end all people will be judged though science denies this. The argument on the existence of God is a very dicey. This is perhaps because of the divergent debate around the existence of God. But the personality of God, just as science are both not conclusive and totally convincing. This is because in the case of science, not every phenomenon of the universe has been proven by science. This is why we have metaphysics. The personality of God is also too abstract to believe. But drawing a line, it would be said that both instances exist as science has never convinced the world of the genesis of the universe. Though science talks about evolution, the question will continue to be that â€Å"who created that first particle that started expanding and why has the human race not changed to something else if we evolved from apes. Why have apes not also turned into humans after a long time. So there is an unseen part of the existence of the world and that is God. Indeed, to belong to a religion is a good action to take. This is because all religions have a very high level of preaching and teaching that highlights on good and harmonious living. If indeed all persons were to stay by the core principles of religion, it is very likely that the world would be a peaceful place to live. But more importantly, he time should come when the debate will not be

How does today's film in the U.S influence people perception of Research Proposal

How does today's film in the U.S influence people perception of Chinese culture (Please try to focus on a specific film genres) - Research Proposal Example Xie (9) has carried out a number of research projects on the influence of media on Asian stereotyping giving particular focus and emphasis on how the Chinese culture is portrayed in films in the United States of America (USA). In the research projects conducted, various issues were pointed out and they included; discrimination and racism. The goal of this research as the ones conducted byXie (7) is to identify how a majority of films in the United States of America (USA) miss represent the chines culture. The research shall focus on how Chinese men are represented by films in the USA, how Chinese women are represented by films in the USA, the level of violence associated to them as well as the morals and ethics about the Chinese culture that are miss represented or represented accordingly in the films. For example, a majority of the female chines characters are portrayed in many of the films in USA as being highly sexually seductive individuals and they are trained from a tender age to use this seductive technique to kill men. A majority of the films portray Chinese people as highly trained in elements of martial arts, these is evident in films where Chinese actors Jackie Chan and Jet Li are anchored, this exhibits fraudulent behavior (Chan, 3). Other films portray the Chinese as highly intelligent individuals, mostly appearing in films as computer wizards and sharp when it comes to solving puzzles and mathematical queries (Chan51)Not forgetting about the ethics and morals, some films portray chines girls as immoral, being used for sexual activities especially in the USA as illegal immigrants, other films portray the Chinese people as good and calm with high consideration of the four elements of nature i.e. land, water, and air (Stein, 7). With critical analysis of data intended to be collected, this research will help give a clear picture of what the Chinese culture is really about and whether what we see

Biblical Worldview Essay Example for Free

Biblical Worldview Essay Introduction In Romans we learn so many aspects of Christian’s life. It tells us how we as Christian’s should view the natural world, our identity and our relationship with others, our culture, and civilization. There is so much more we could learn from this book. In Romans 1-8 we will find that the information in it is so much that we will not get the full meaning of all the things it is saying unless we look deeper into it. Romans 1-8 takes us from our total inability to walk in good works, to God’s faithfulness in justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying us by our faith through God’s grace. The Natural World We all know that God through his own words formed the natural world. God spoke the universe and everything that existence in it. As Christian’s we should know this because as believers, we believe the bible is a revelation of God and that it is not just a book written by human hands. Paul writes in Romans 1:20-21 â€Å"For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by things that made, even in his eternal power and God head, so that they are without excuse, 21- because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened†. God made everything and he is showing those that disrespect him in his face with their sin himself so that when they know that there is a God and he created everything. Human Identity Our human Identity of who we as a mankind is that we all were made in God’s image. God created us equally, but he also gives us the free will to choose to serve him or not. In Psalm 8:5 it says â€Å"For you have made him a little lower than the angels; and you have crowned him with glory and honor.† And in Genesis 2:15 â€Å"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.† We have many things that are wrong with us that we can’t fix, so we need Jesus to justify, sanctify, and glorify us. We need all three those that we can be connected to Christ, live life, server  him and when we die we will get to enjoy eternal heaven with him, and have everlasting life. Human Relationship In Romans 12:8 it says â€Å"he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he shows mercy, with cheerfulness.† What that verse is saying to all Christians is that our ethic is based all on love. We as humans know that relationships very confusing and are hardest part of life. We all have a sin against own bodies and souls, but it is a sin that is against others who were created in God’s image. If you are going to steal from your neighbor you might as well steal from God. We were all created in his image and we need to love and respect others just like we would God. Culture Paul says in Romans 11 that God will save some in Israel because most of them were elect by the Patriarchs. Romans 12 says as Christians we are to live as a living sacrifice to Christ, while doing all these thing in love and showing our love to others through service. We as believers are to be humble and serve others with joy, as believers we are to work with others to Christ’s redemptive work. Christ is merciful, righteous, sovereign, and just God. He wants us to love another like he loves the world. Conclusion â€Å"No power in the sky above or in the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord Romans 8:39.† It’s so refreshing to know that I can always count on God to love me. Even when I’m unable to love myself God will. It is a wonderful feeling to know that I can have a relationship with God, where and whatever I do, or say or think will never make him not love me. God will always love and be with me no matter what. God wants us to live for him. He also wants us to lead others to him. References New King James Version Bible (NJKB)

Effect of Country Development on Technology

Effect of Country Development on Technology Introduction Technology is becoming increasingly very important to the success of all business firms, and to the national economic growth. The process of globalization is driven by technology development and the ability of corporations to uplift the use of technology effectively and rapidly. The technological gap between developed countries and emerging nations has narrowed but still remains huge. The first step to narrowing the gap is for emerging nations to absorb technology successfully. The rapid economic growth achieved by the newly industrialized economies has generated a vast amount of research on the mechanism behind the economic take off. According to F. Montes-Negret (2008), progress in developing countries reflects the absorption of pre-existing technologies not at the frontier inventions. In general terms, catch up refers to the ability of a country to reduce the gap in productivity and income with respect to the leading international countries (Fagerberg-Godinho,2005). Perez (1988) views catching up as a question of relative speed in a race along a fixed track, according to him, technology is understood to be a unidirectional process. Furthermore, he observes that every country is a beginner in terms of the newly emerging techno-economic paradigm, which implies the possibility of being a latecomer. Research has shown that in the catching-up process, the late-comer does not simply follow the path of a technological development of the advanced countries. Instead, they would rather skip some stages or even create their own individual ways which are different from the developed countries. By doing this, it may result in the developing countries becoming latecomers in technology advancing. For the country to have growth in economy and industrial development, it needs to have an absorptive capacity and ability to tap in the worlds technology pool. Cohen and Levinthal (2000) explains absorptive capacity as the ability to assess the value of external knowledge and technology and to make necessary investments and changes to absorb and apply these changes in a productive manner. The development of new-to-the world knowledge can be considered to be innovative which can be a costly learning activity that a country can employ in order to catch up with others through technology absorption. Innovation and technology absorption are two distinct processes, that is, innovation promotes absorptive capacity because the generation of human capital and new ideas, and the associated knowledge spillover effects, help build absorptive capacity. RD is a key input into innovation and is also an input into absorption capacity. Absorption of technology is considered a necessary step to promote the development of human capital and the productive base, paving the way for innovations at the global knowledge frontier. Research and development (RD), patents, trade, and foreign direct investment are major channels of technological absorption, allowing diffusion of new ideas and manufacturing best practices among countries and firms. R D is a key input into innovation and is considered to be a very important key in the absorption of technology (Cohen and Levinthal). Rogers (2003) defines examples of technology absorption as the adoption of new product and manufacturing processes developed in other countries; upgrading of an old product or process, licensing technology, improving organizational efficiency and achieving quality certification. This paper will discuss how properly designed economic policies can significantly influence the degree to which a country absorbs new technology, that is, it will discuss the pre requisites for technology catch ups. The need for a stable and conducive policy framework and a business-friendly investment climate is what makes the countrys ability to absorb technology and knowledge, and this depends on its organization and the skills of its workforce. Further more the paper will discuss the channels that developing countries can use to catch up with other developed countries through technology absorption such as trade flows, foreign direct investment (FDI), RD and patents. Literature Review The very rich literature on catch-up through technology is full of countries that in the past decades have managed catch up with the developed countries, others that have succeeded ahead and several that have fallen behind in technology and failed to be par with the developed world (Abramovitz, 1986). More research has identified a series of factors that have affected the sources of catch-up. One of the elements is regard to the presence of learning and capabilities in the domestic firms (Bell and Pavitt, 1993, Kim, 1997; 1999, Lall, 2001, Kim and Nelson, 2000, Lee, 2005). Catch-up countries should try to adopt the Schumpeterian view of the process of innovation, according to which economic agents are likely to innovate as a reaction to unexpected changes within the economic environment (Schumpeter, 1947). From the early traditional literature that emphasized how it was possible to close the gap though transfer of technology and the imitation of easily available technology, the liter ature on competences has forcefully moved to show the central role of the process of capability accumulation by domestic firms and the need of various types of capabilities for catch up: absorptive capabilities, innovation capabilities and complementary assets in order to adopt, adapt and modify technologies developed elsewhere or eventually generate new ones. Actually, the most current research has shown that any process of development and growth implies some kind of innovation, and that sequences of steps in the capability building process are necessary for development. The literature has also stressed the role of social capabilities (Abramovitz 1986) and the broad institutions of a country, including the research infrastructure (Mazzoleni and Nelson,2006) and financial institutions (Gerschenkron, 1962). In the catching up in income per capita or productivity public policy has often played a major role in different ways and forms in several countries such as Japan (Johnson,1982), Korea (Kim 1997), Taiwan (Wade, 1990) and Brazil (Mani, 2004). Also the upgrading of the level of human capital has proven a key element for catching up (Fagerberg and Godinho,2004 and Bernardes and Albuquerque, 2003). The literature further shows how technology in growth is the missing link between the developed and the less developed countries. There is a possibility of a catch-up scenario in the event that less developed countries are able to access and employ developed technology. In other words, less developed countries would grow at a higher rate until at such time that the differences between developed and less developed countries are negligible. This can be shown by the experience of East Asian countries (World Bank, 1993). Catching up is usually assumed to be dependent on the level of human capital and knowledge. Capital is a necessary tool for the economic success in the world today, because the countires need the capacity to mobilize knowledge and to use it to the fullest. A study by the World bank (2009) indicates that countries in the Sub Sahara of Africa (SSA) must harness both more capital and more knowledge. These African countries needs to invest heavily in physical infrastructure and productive capacity. However, maximizing productivity and achieving competitiveness will depend upon success in augmenting human capital and raising its quality. This has been shown by Namibia as it was ranked the second and fifth respectively in terms of technological sophistication and prevalence of foreign technology licensing in the competitiveness report. However, firm level absorption of this technology remains low as the country was ranked 15th. From this case we can learn that the use of technology require s skilled labor force. As earlier pointed out, investment in human capital remains a critical issue for Namibia and other developing countries. The use of technology requires supporting infrastructure such as good telecommunication and energy in particular. (?) Nations such as Australia, Chile, Malaysia, and Spain have responded by developing cross-sectoral policy frameworks to promote science, technology, and innovation. Within Sub-Saharan Africa, Mozambique, Rwanda, and South Africa have led the way with similar cross-cutting strategies. Other SSA countries that have produced national science and technology policies since 2000 include Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (Mouton 2008). Better education system can assist the developing countries in †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Pre Requisites for technology catch up Technology absorption is often regarded as a pre requisite for breaking up a high cost economy and creating an economic competitive market internationally. The initial gap for countries which are trying to catch up with technology should not be too wide for them to be able to absorb knowledge from technological leaders. Moreover, late comers must have, or create, sufficient absorption capabilities. In this context, sufficient absorption capabilities are described as having qualified researchers who are able to understand external knowledge spillovers and recognize their value in operation. Developing countries need a strong human capital base that will be able to understand the new innovative systems that have been put in place by the advanced countries, hence they need well developed scientific, engineering and technical skills. Cohen and Levinthal (1990 pg .129) suggest that accumulated knowledge increases both the ability to put new ideas into practice. If the stock of knowledge i s increased, in general, additional learning will be facilitated. The growth of knowledge adds value to the countrys ability to adapt to new ideas thus becoming fast in catching up with technology. Technological progress depends on more than being exposed to foreign technologies. How fast it spreads within a country is at least as important and depends on the domestic technological absorptive capacity, the quality of technological literacy of the population and the quality of the business climate. Although major centers and leading firms may be relatively advanced, the rural population and the majority of firms do not exploit the best technologies, often because the necessary infrastructure and human competencies are not available. This may lead to some lags in technology catch up for developing countries. Nelson and Rosenberg (2003) explains the importance of the link between science and technology as this is one of the important tools for technology catch up. The technological progress requires the mobilisation, co-ordination and integration of many different types of knowledge, and thus involves different types of knowledge producing organizations like firms, research institutes, and universities. Research organizations should be able to communicate to each other about technology innovations that are occurring within their countries. This will enhance knowledge diffusion. With respect to the co-ordination and integration of knowledge across the research sector, communication or even interaction is needed. This can be accomplished by co-operation, strategic alliances, clusters, and networks, all of which install channels along which knowledge can be communicated. If communication exists within countries, the developing countries may be able to learn this as a good tool for success in technology absorption. Knowledge is no longer the disciplinary monopoly of a few institutions of higher learning; rather, it is becoming the product of problem-solving endeavors conducted within a shifting network of often informal professional interactions (Gibbons and others 1994; Gibbons 1998). The technological progress in developing countries is mainly a process of adopting and adapting to pre-existing technologies, hence developing countries perform relatively little when it comes to research. For the developing countries, technological progress mainly occurs through the adoption and adaptation of already existing technologies. The rapid increase in technological achievement owes much too increased linkages between developing and developed countries. Globalization in the form of imports of advanced products, and the transfer of business process technology through foreign investment and increased linkages with emigrant populations have increased the exposure of developing countries to more sophisticated technologies. Technology absorption needs stable and conducive policy framework hence policy makers should ensure that openness is maintained, they need to concentrate on strengthening domestic competencies, promoting the dissemination of technology and reinforcing the local business environment in order to avoid the constrain on technological progress in developing countries. Patents as indicators of Technology absorption SUMMARY Catching up does not necessarily need to be viewed in a linear and unidirectional way. As long as technology is understood as a cumulative unidirectional process, development will be seen as a race along a fixed track, where catching up will be merely a question of relative speed. Speed is no doubt a relevant aspect, but history is full of examples of how successful overtaking has been primarily based on running in a new direction.xiv Indeed, in new fields such as biotechnology, the developing countries are making efforts to move to the scientific frontiers but they plan to apply the acquired knowledge in developing products that are more relevant to local needs. [T]he larger the technological and, therefore, the productivity gap between the leader and the follower, the stronger the followers potential for growth in productivity; and, other things being equal, the faster one expects the followers growth rate to be. Followers tend to catch up faster if they are initially backward.xv The explanation for this paradoxical suggestion has to do with the level of technology embodied in a countrys capital stock. Developing countries with the relevant human capital base are always presented with new windows of opportunity for entering new technological systems. But doing so requires other skills such as the capacity to monitor international trends, formulate long-term strategies and determine the locational as well as infrastructure advantages of the country. Most African countries, for example, do not have the capacity or the requisite institutional arrangements for monitoring technological advantages. Planning efforts are usually of a short-term nature and therefore unable to accommodate technological requirements for long-term growth. In more recent years, most countries have been forced to adopt short-term planning strategies to enable them to implement macro-economic stabilisation programmes. However, the challenge now is to put in place longterm structural adjustment programmes which are based on industrial transformation. Technological catch-up may also involve the use of advanced technologies to deliver new products and services that do not necessarily compete with those developed in the industrialised countries. Many of the products of biotechnology, for example, may be relevant to certain locales and of little interest to the major firms. Their technological requirements, however, may be just as high as those for the products of the leading firms. The paper has shown that there are three points of entry into the game of technological competition. The first relates to the accumulation of basic technological competence in society. This is related to human capital formation. A country without the requisite technical competence is unlikely to make sustained advances in technological development. The second issue is the ability of a country to make an early entry into a particular technological system. This step can only be achieved where the first one has been accomplished. The last issue is the potent ial for a country to occupy particular technological niches as part of a strategy for industrial learning. With the widening range of technological trajectories and systems, the opportunities for the developing adopting any of the three strategies or combinations thereof are relatively high. To achieve improvement of production technology, i.e. technological progress, on a large scale, relatively more scientists and engineers must be engaged in research directly integrated in production of goods and services as opposed to the university and public research sector. Notwithstanding that universities and public research institutes play an important role in developing new products and processes, the majority of research is done by firms (Nelson and Rosenberg (1993)). For new products or processes developed by universities or research and development (RD) institutes, both domestic and foreign, to be implemented in firms roduction processes, the innovation must be adapted to firms specific organizational structure and production processes. This implies that firms understand the innovation and are able to revise it. Firms will have to do research themselves (Cohen and Levinthal (1989)) and might even have to repeat parts of the original research process, since they have only pa rtial knowledge about the innovation. This has important implications for the organisation of RD personnel: they should be employed in production as well. More RD personnel in production of goods and services will increase the possibilities for absorption and diffusion in this sector. because a weakening economic performance that threatens a return to the economic conditions of the 1990s would be a great human tragedy. But maintaining the current momentum, and accelerating growth wherever possible, requires measures that will substantially enhance economic competitiveness and nurture expansion of new tradable activities. To realize these objectives, The key to economic success in a globalized world lies increasingly in how effectively a country can assimilate the available knowledge and build comparative advantage in selected areas with good growth prospects, and in how it can enlarge the comparative advantage by pushing the frontiers of technology through innovation. The global knowledge economy has drawn attention to the value of â€Å"national innovation systems in the competition among nations (Nelson 1993; Porter 1990; Stern, Porter, and Furman 2000; Thurow 1999; World Bank 1999). Institutions that generate skills and knowledge, such as universities and rese arch institutes, are essential components of a national innovation system (NIS). In essence, an NIS is a melding of institutional capacities, coordination mechanisms, communication networks, and policy incentives that fosters innovation-led gains in economic productivity. In this web of institutional relationships, innovation can arise at any point. During the past decade, most African countries have pursued national economic growth strategies within the framework of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). Until recently, many PRSPs have been oriented toward attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, an internationally accepted set of performance targets spanning poverty alleviation, agriculture, and access to basic services. Concern with explicit growth promotion efforts as the means for sustainable poverty reduction is a relatively recent—but readily accepted—shift of strategic approach (Commission for Africa 2005). Bibliography Nelson, R. and E. Phelps (1966), Investment in humans, technology diffusion and economic growth, American Economic Review 56, 1/2, 69-75. Harding, T. and J. Rattsà ¸ (2008), Looking abroad to understand productivity growth: the world technology frontier and industrial sector productivity in South Africa, mimeo, Department of Economics, NTNU. Cohen, W.M. and Levinthal, D.A. (1989), Innovation and Learning: The Two Faces of RD,The Economic Journal, 99, pp. S.569-596. Cohen, W.M. and Levinthal, D.A. (1990), Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective on Learning and Innovation in Administrative Science Quarterly, No. 35, pp. 128-152 Nelson, R.R. and Rosenberg, N. (1993), Technical Innovation and National Systems, in Nelson, R.R. (ed.), National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Study, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 3-21 Nelson, R.R. and Winter, S.G. (1982), An Evolutionary Theory for Economic Change, Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. Calestous Juma and Norman Clark; Technological Catch-Up: Opportunities and Challenges for Developing Countries, 2002, London , Print Publishers Hiroyuki Oba and Hrushikash Panda; Industrial developmeny and Technology absorption in the Indian Steel Industry, 2005, allied Publisher, New Delhi The World Bank, 2009, Accelerating catch-up, Tertiary Education for Growth in Sub Saharan Africa, Washington D.C J.Ratlso, Puzzles of Convergence and Catching Up;Regional Income growth in Norway, Department of economics , Norwegian university of Science and Technology