America, Becoming A Country Through Invasions essays

America, Becoming A Country Through Invasions essays America, Becoming A Country Through Invasion Warpaths by Ian K. Steele, is the book I chose to read for my book report. Warpaths discusses the invasions of North America and the struggles that went on so that Europeans could gain control of the New Land. The book is broken into three main sections; Bases for Invasion, 1565-1684,Colonies and Tribes, 1687-1748, and finally Empires, Colonies, and Tribes, 1784-1765. In the course of my essay I will go through and discuss the strengths and weaknesses in each section. I will talk about the use of maps, illustrations and the references notes that are used through out the text. Ian K. Steele has the main objective in this book of creating a new image of how America was created. Steele takes an Ethno historic and military, perspective on the invasions of America. He presents a new and radical view of how things took place and the reasoning behind the events that took place. The lay out of the book is similar to that of a common textbook, which creates a strong structurally persuasive b ook. The multitude of sources used by Steele forms a feeling of security in the readers mind, as to the authenticity of his argument. Before even getting into Part 1 of the book, Steele, has a chapter on Arms in Arcadia, this chapter talks about the beginning of it all, he touches on Columbus, Cabot, and Cortezs roles in the new world. Also talking about the Countries that gave power to these mere men. Steele successfully creates and idea of what life was like for the early inhabitants of North America. Showing pictures of the distribution of tribes in and around the Florida area of America, and describing life styles, he creates an understanding for his readers. As Steele begins in Part 1, he speaks of the lifestyles that the Europeans have made for themselves in America by 1565. Clearly explaining the incorporation of natives styles o...

Temperance Movement and Document Essays

Temperance Movement and Document Essays Temperance Movement and Document Paper Temperance Movement and Document Paper The 18th Amendment 1. What is your first reaction to the 18th amendment? My first reaction to the 18th amendment was why do they have this in the first place? Why do they think alcohol is the reason for everything? 2. Do you think this amendment could be passed today? Why or why not? No, because they see what happened before. This time it wouldn’t be better at all. 3. Why do you think some Americans in 1918 might have wanted this amendment? Because they thought alcohol was the cause of the all the problems and corruption. Document A 1. (Sourcing) When was this document written? Was this before or after the passage of the 18th Amendment? This document was written on September 20, 1920. This was after the passage of the 18th Amendments. 2. Why might the National Temperance Council have met in 1920 (after the passage of the 18th Amendment) What do you predict they will say? I think they might talk about why they passed the 18th Amendment. 3. (Close Reading) What does the National Temperance Council claim is caused by alcohol? They claim that everything wrong with someone was caused by the alcohol. 4. (Context)Do you find these claims convincing? Do you think people at the time found these claims convincing? Explain. I don’t find these claims convincing. However, at the time people would find these claims convincing because they wouldn’t know anything else they would believe what the government is saying. Document B 1. (Sourcing) When was this document written? Was this before or after the passage of the 18th Amendment? This document was written on November 14, 1922. This was after the 18th Amendment. 2. (Close Reading) What is the â€Å" Hooch Murder Bill†? The â€Å"Hooch Murder Bill† states that if someone sells alcohol and the buyer dies they can be tried for murder. . (Context) Based on this document , who is the Anti-Saloon League blaming for the sale of alcohol during Prohibition? Who do you think they singled this group? The Anti-Saloon League is blaming foreigner. I think they are blaming them because alcohol is part of their culture, and they are not from America. Document C and D 1. (Sou rcing) When were these posters made? Was that before or after the passage of the 18th Amendment? These posters were made in 1913. These posters were before the passage of the 18th Amendment. Who published these posters? What was their perspective? Scientific Temperance Federation published these posters. Their perspective was alcohol was the cause of everything bad. 2. (Close reading) According to these posters, what are the two reasons why Prohibition is a good idea? According to these posters prohibition is a good idea was because it kills infants and it destroys a child’s birthright. 3. (Close Words) Look at the words used in Document C. These were considered â€Å"scientific† categories. What does that tell you about science at this time? By looking at these words in Document C, I can tell science at this time was only based on assumption. . (Context) Using these posters, explain some of the beliefs about children that were common in the early 20th century. Do you think these beliefs are silly or reasonable? Explain. I think these reason beliefs were silly, because they never proved that alcohol was the problems. They only made is through assumptions. They saw birth defects, poor work man ships, disabilities, memory lose etc. They saw alcohol was a cause and with that they passed the Amendment. They didn’t think the corruption was the cause of all the problems. |

The yellow wall paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The yellow wall paper - Essay Example She becomes obsessed with the rooms revolting yellow wallpaper. Throughout the general summary as well as the chapter explanations, the narrator suffered from temporary nervous depression. Out of this, the husband orders her to take a rest on what actually the narrator describes as the haunted house. For the sake of the two of them to stay there, the woman gives in despite her feeling uncomfortable. To wrap up the significance of the title, the yellow house built of yellow bricks (Gilman and Jean 50). The story has a variety of characters that help develop the story line. First, there is the narrator. Through the eyes of the omniscient narrator, who is the protagonist, her know it all helps the reader to unveil the rather knit up the story of the woman with complications and the ordeals of the family as well as the neighbors. She is imaginative and creative person as she lives to tell of the society’s view of women’s artistic skills and intellect as an anomaly, as misfits and ill as shown through the story. John is the other character, the narrator’s husband, who happens to be a physician. He totally differs on his wife’s intellect for his chauvinistic stance only propels him to believe what he can only see and touch. For example, his own creation of hypochondriac, as the disease for his woman tells it all. His busy schedule is what ignites her wife to stay alone and choose to write, an obsessive ritual centered on the yellow paper in their room (77). Jennie, John’s sister serves as the house help. Her duty also involve to check up the overgrowing zealous of John’s wife in writing. Her brother’s belief of a concrete view of the world binds her. The other main character is Weir Mitchell, the doctor who engineered the rest cure for John’s wife. These characters are real personnel’s as the author deviates from using fiction characters. The setting reflects the era when

Illegal Immigration in the United States Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Illegal Immigration in the United States - Essay Example In order to overcome the problem of illegal immigration and end the suffering that these people go through, it is crucial to come up with legal and lawful solutions that cater for the needs of both the citizens and the immigrants themselves. The biggest cause of illegal immigration into the country reflects at harsh legislation passed into law in the mid 1990s. This law changed the immigration policy by placing immigrants, regardless of their status, at the mercy of the government where they are eligible for mandatory detention without the possibility of presenting their cases to a judge in an attempt to be released from custody (National Immigration Forum). Aside from the provisions of the said law, chances of one being branded as an illegal immigrant are close to none as it is discriminative, and should be among the cases to be reformed in order to cut back on the number of illegal immigrants. This is does not mean that illegal immigration should be encouraged, but laws such as thi s are chief contributors to the case. Moreover, in order to counter the problem of illegal immigrants there exist a need for a strict rules that ensure legal immigration is followed and cuts back on incidences of illegalities. This is against all those people who campaign for lower regulations affecting immigration. To them, implementation of immigration policies should be legally binding and contractual arrangements between the local population and incoming immigrant. This is in an attempt to cut back on illegal immigration into the country and promote the law. In addition, the here exists the argument that having laws immigration curtails on the human right concerning mobility (Hall et al 201). Furthermore, rather than blocking immigration into the country as proposed by liberals, it is crucial to have a form of a framework that caters for the role that immigration plays for citizens. The opposition is based on then regularly increasing numbers of immigrants, both legal and illega l (Hall et al 202). In order to break the standoff between those that are for proper immigration laws and those against the whole concept of immigration, there exist a number of issues at hand. These include individual differences in terms of the immigration status of the person in question. In this case, the status of a single immigrant being illegal does not speak for all immigrants to be illegal. This significant misconception works as a hindrance towards legal immigration. There is also the issue of immigrants who work against fellow immigrants, also known as anti-immigrant immigrants. These are born from the misconception that the original immigrants are superior to those that come after them (Hall et al 202). In the process o curbing illegal immigration there are challenges that lies on the issue of law enforcement and what is expected to enforce federal law. Despite the problem caused by the mid 1990s law, strict laws should be enforced in order to deter and control the influ x of illegal immigrants in the country. These include the law that allows the attorney general to enter agreements with state officers, hence, in order to for the officers to work, as immigration officers or rather execute the functions of an immigration officer (Hawley 28). Through such laws, there has been a downward trend due to regular deportation exercises, and thus there should be more of such. In addition, raids conducted in areas

Discrimination in the workforce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Discrimination in the workforce - Essay Example 35). In education, dissemination affects not only the staff, but also teacher-student relations and interaction. Dissemination can take the form of iintentionally harmful actions or prescribed action which limit equal opportunities or humiliate an employee. Also, Elkins (1963) and Sowell (1971) suppose that discrimination was influenced by the period of slavery and racial inequalities (Taylor 1998). Barbara Bergmann (1974) argues that dissemination is a result of the market structure which consists of skilled and non-skilled workforce. Unskilled and low-paid workforce is usually presented by black and minority employees (Taylor 1998). Discrimination and an increase in out-migration of whites from neighborhoods as larger numbers of blacks arrive are the major explanations for black-white segregation. Prejudices and discrimination is due to misunderstandings about the significance of a biological sense of "race" and racist ideas transmitted across generations and based on 'lower biolog ical quality' of African populations. The main cause of segregation and racism is the cultural superiority of "whites" based on their cultural heritage and absence of 'white' slavery. Most Africa-Americans are seen as "lower" class people in contras to "elite" class of whites (Harvey and Allard 2004). Discrimination in the workplace has deep roots. Dissemination by race was eliminated in 1863 by 13th Amendment which made slavery illegal. In 1868, 14th Amendment announced equal protection of all citizens in all states. During the first half of the XX century, black people and racial minorities experienced discriminated in wages and work conditions; they were deprived a chance to receive good education and compete with white majority (Harvey and Allard 2004). Till the middle of the XX century, women occupied clerical jobs and were not promoted to administrative positions. Actions against discrimination go back to 1941 when F. Roosevelt "encouraged minority employment by ordering defence contractors to cease discriminatory hiring" (Yates, n.d.). Further, the policy of anti-discrimination was developed by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 when he "put teeth into minority hiring rules for government contractors' (Yates, n.d.). The next amendments took place under the presidency of J. Kennedy who introduced Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) "establishing to investigate contractors' practices, impose sanctions, collect employment statistics, and ensure compliance with government regulations" (Yates, n.d.). Pre-war period (immigration act was introduced in 1924) was marked by racial prejudices and stereotyping against Asian Americans. The main areas of discrimination were family, religion, criminal justice, education and job opportunities. WWII - 1965 marked a new stage in workforce relations. During this period of time, many low class people entered educational established and found high paid jobs. In response to the growing demand for equal rights, Congress enacted major pieces of modern civil rights legislation during the 1960s that have taken the country an enormous step closer to realizing the promises of the first Reconstruction. These modern statutes, protect racial minorities against most forms of public and private discrimination in employment,

HSBC Formerly Named The Hong Kong Banking Marketing Essay

HSBC Formerly Named The Hong Kong Banking Marketing Essay 1. Introduction HSBC formerly named the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited was established 1865. With assets of US $1,502 billion, HSBCs international network comprises over 9,500 offices in 76 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the America, the Middle East and Africa. This paper examines HSBCs International Business Strategy with particular emphasis on North America and the US. Firstly, the relevant literature on International Business is reviewed and a comparison between the literature and HSBC is presented. Secondly, HSBCs business environment is looked at; analysing such factors as industry competitiveness. Next, HSBCs International business strategy is critically evaluated and finally, a conclusion along with recommendations is provided. 2. Literature Review The rapid globalization of business in the last two decades has prompted an increasing number of firms to develop strategies to enter and expand into markets outside their locations (Osland et al. 2001:153). Reliability on solely domestic markets is therefore a reliable source for competitive advantage (Rugman Collinson, 2006). Firms must therefore develop strategies of Internationalisation in overseas markets. According to Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul (1975:306) the term international refers to the activities implemented abroad or attitude of the firm towards foreign activities. Relevant studies on the banking industry and HSBC will be examined below. According to Hoskisson et al., 2000; strategies are moderated by the characteristics of the particular context in which firms operate. In particular, institutions-the rules of the game-in the host economy also shape firm strategies such as foreign market entry (Peng, 2003; Wright et al., 2005). In a broad sense, macro-level institutions affect transaction costs (North, 1990). However, traditional transaction costs research (exemplified by Williamson, 1985) focuses on micro-analytical aspects such as opportunism and bounded rationality. This consequently raises questions on macro-level institutions, such as country-level legal and regulatory frameworks, influence transaction costs have been relatively unexplored, remaining largely as background. However, a new movement in research posits that institutions are far more than ancillary elements, and that institutions directly influence what resources a firm has at its disposal as it strives to develop and launch strategy. An analysis of theory developed specifically out of changes to global markets shows little development of the standard theories of market segmentation, differentiated pricing and appropriate distribution channels which underpinned local and domestic marketing theory. However, the literature over the past five years has shown a particular set of theoretical models specific to global marketing. Hollensen (2007) discusses the Uppsala International Model demonstrating a sequential pattern of entry into international markets with an increasing commitment to overseas markets as the international experience of the firm grows (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977). Hollensen (2007) contrasts this with a traditional approach of what is termed as the Penrosian tradition which is based on economy of scale and a cost-led approach working from the firms core competencies. Dunning (1998) suggests a similar Ownership-Location-internalisation (OLI) framework identifying an ownership advantage of establishing overseas production facilities, a locational advantage which builds a logistics network around the overseas production and, finally, an internalisation advantage where it must be economical for a firm to utilise the previous two advantages rather than sell them to a foreign firm (Hollensen 2007). Similarly, the standardisation-localisation model focuses on specific choices related to internatio nal market entry and the identification of risk mitigation factors salient to international marketing. Baker, M (1993) recognises the risk mitigation inherent in internationalisation, protecting the firm from adverse fluctuations in the national economic cycle. Hollensen (2007) concurs, outlining the ownership, operating and transfer risk in being attached purely to domestic markets. All of the literature is strong on identifying the risks of domestic-based marketing; however there is scant coverage of the specific risks of internationalisation. 2.1 The Strategy of International Business Firms operating in the global marketplace are required to balance concerns for globalisation (economic integration) with national responsiveness (Rugman Collinson, 2006). Globalisation is defined by Rugman Collinson (2006:454) as the production and distribution of products and services of a homogenous type and quality on a worldwide basis. National responsiveness is defined by Rugman Collinson (2006) as the ability to understand different customer requirements in different countries and responding to those local demands by providing the required products and services. Globalisation strategy advocates claim that human needs are homogeneous in every country supporting product standardisation within world markets (Levitt 1983 cited in Schlie and Yip, 2000). Some authors however argue that the globalisation strategy fails to address customer needs in national markets (Rugman Collinson, 2006). In order to analyse the distinction between integration and national responsiveness Figure 1 (Adapted from Bartlett and Ghoshal) will be used. Fig. 1 Source: Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989, in Rugman and Hodgetts, 2001, p.335. As highlighted above, quadrant 1 represents high economic integration and low national responsiveness. This is a global strategy used by firms to achieve economies of scale (Rugman Collinson, 2006). Quadrant 4 represents high national responsiveness but low economic integration. This is a national responsiveness strategy used to customize products/services to local demand(Rugman Hodgetts, 2001). Quadrant 3 meanwhile, represents both high economic integration and national responsiveness. Quadrant 3 is the most demanding of all and is also where many successful transnational firms operate (Rugman Collinson, 2006). Finally, quadrant 2 is where the need for national responsiveness and economic integration is low. The banking industry uses a combination of mergers, acquisitions, subsidy and Greenfield strategies. However, economic integration is counterbalanced by national responsiveness in terms of how each strategy is designed and implemented (Rugman Collinson, 2006) given that consumer needs may differ from region to region indicates that a product or service introduced in one part of the world is usually rejected by consumers in other parts of the world (Rugman Hodgetts, 2001). HSBC provides a good example in relation to the notions mentioned above. Although, HSBCs international network comprises over 9,500 offices in 76 countries, its entry into the US began as a weak and poor performer. Peek et al. (1999) found that US subsidiaries of foreign banks generally perform poorly due to acquisition of unsuccessful US banks in conjunction with the inability to improve performance sufficiently. Taking this into consideration, HSBC pursued a localisation strategy in different regions of the worl d which is similar to Barclays use of integration in tandem with national responsiveness. 3. The International Business Environment of HSBC In order to understand HSBCs International Strategy, the companys business environment is going to be examined using Porters five Forces because as Sandler (2007:3) points out many of the problems and opportunities affecting a single firm may be associated with broader based systemic issues impacting an entire industry. Secondly, HSBCs business environment is going to be studied using pestle analysis. 3.1 Porters Five Forces Theory Porters 5 Forces theory demonstrates the influences of the five competitive forces which are used to define the characteristics of the target market (Crum 1998, p.307). The main competitive forcers include Porters 5 Forces theory demonstrates the influences of the industry competitiveness (Rugman Collinson, 2006) (See Appendix 1). 3.1.1 Level of Competition (Rivalry) Competition in the banking industry is extremely fierce and HSBC is in strong competition with other major banks, such as Barclays and Lloyds TSB. In an environment of strong competition, banks will find themselves involved in intense price competition. HSBC can avoid price competition by differentiating themselves from the competition as expressed by Porter (1985). HSBC also has competition online debit, insurance and mortgage companies that offer competitive prices. 3.1.2 Threat of Substitutes The threat of substitutes for HSBC is low because money cannot be replaced. However HSBC do have enormous competition from other banks and mortgage lenders and if customers are not happy with the prices and services they are receiving from their bank, they can easily move to a competitor. 3.1.3 Threat of New Entrants The threat of new entrants is extremely high, and not only from banks. Companies such as Sainsburys and Virgin also sell financial products. Ind Bjerke (2007) believe that brand loyalty is an important marketing factor, and HSBC certainly has this advantage. Customers may want a personal service, so the threat of small bank operators whom offer an intimate experience may be favoured over a large bank, such as HSBC (McDonald 2007). HSBC have been operating for many years and therefore has a lot of knowledge and customers can trust them. A new entrant would not have this advantage; especially in many of the countries that HSBC operates such as China, where trust is imperative to the culture (Brett et al 2006). Bargaining Power of Buyers Bargaining power of buyers is extremely high as customers can switch to a rival company with lower rates and offers such as free mobile phone insurance. The customer has the choice of going to a wide array of high street branches and therefore has great power which can affect the market share of HSBC. HSBC need to ensure that they offer something more than the other competing banks, such as holiday insurance. 3.1.5 Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining power of suppliers with regards to HSBC is twofold. Firstly HSBC rely on its customers (suppliers) to bring in its product (money), therefore the bargaining power of suppliers is very high. Secondly, the suppliers are not a threat to HSBC because it is unlikely that they will open their own bank, so the bargaining power of suppliers here is very low. Table 1. Summary of Porters Five Forces Analysis Force Intensity Level of Competition High Threat of substitutes High Threats of New Entrants Low Bargaining power of buyers Very High Bargaining power of suppliers High Pestle Analysis Political Obtaining funding from the money markets has become more costly for HSBC as a result of uncertainty in financial markets and shortage of funds caused by the global credit crisis (BBC 2008). Because HSBC has branches all over the world, they must comply with changes in legislation with regards to their countries of ownership. An example of this was in 2006 when Vietnamese regulations proposed to increase the foreign ownership cap from 10 per cent. As a result of this new regulation, HSBCs FDI rose by 55 per cent (HSBC 2007). HSBC are also affected by political instability. This occurred in Thailand in 2006 when the political crisis had a negative impact on consumption patterns and the number of people taking out loans dropped, oil prices and interest rates increased. Due to all these issues, HSBC only reported a 4% growth in the Thai economy, far less than the other Asian banks (HSBC 2006). Other wars and conflicts in HSBC operating countries will have a direct negative impact on the company. 3.2.2 Economic The credit crunch has seen many major banks tighten their lending criteria in order to reduce the number of credit write-offs. Barclays recently wrote off  £1.67billion, Lloyds TSB  £1.26billion and HSBC  £943million (Hosking 2008). HSBCs profit before tax in 2007 was  £4,081million, and the bank reported a strong start to 2008 despite the global financial crisis. In the first quarter of 2008, HSBCs profit was ahead of the equivalent period last year (HSBC 2008). Compared to other major banks, including Barclays and Lloyds TSB, HSBC is doing well in the face of the crisis. Changes in foreign exchange rates affect HSBC and new frameworks, similar to one introduced in 2007 by the International Monetary Fund causes instability for HSBC (BBC 2007). Consumer perceptions at the emerging economic downturn has people concerned about their spending patterns and less likely to take out loans and spend what they have. Many banks have been withdrawing mortgage offers, however HSBC are now offering competitive rates (Budworth 2008). Due to their differentiation strategy, consumers are attracted to their mortgages. Social A report published in the Independent newspaper highlighted the fact that the number of people going to University increases each year, hence people are becoming better educated (Hilpern 2008). The range of services that HSBC offers to university students has increased over the years, however there have been recent campaigns against HSBC from Student Unions with regards to interest free overdrafts students receive upon leaving University (Coughlan 2007). Housing trends greatly affect HSBC and the current economic crisis has meant that major banks, including Barclays and Lloyds TSB have been urged to cut interest rates (Murchie 2008). Technological The Internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed the way businesses operate (Pieter 2007). People now have access to their finances easily, in any location and for 24 hours. There is vast room for improvement of M-Banking (mobile banking). People are so dependent upon mobile phones and have easier access to their mobile than a computer. The GLT (Global Technology Centre) within HSBC are responsible for new technological advances and operate throughout Europe, Asia and Africa. Environmental With growing environmental pressures, HSBC has become the worlds first major bank to become carbon neutral. HSBCs commitment to change ensures that they provide environmentally responsible advice to lenders and have become involved in a variety of initiatives, including the introduction of renewable energy technology, water and waste reduction programmes and employee engagement (HSBC 2007). Consumers have the option to go green with HSBC and reduce the impact on the environment by saving paper and energy. Customers will receive email statements instead of paper statements, there are no cheque or paying-in books and the customer will be contacted by telephone instead of post (HSBC 2008). Legal HSBC must comply with a wide array of laws and regulations, including consumer protection. Consumer complaints have been paramount in the media lately regarding high bank charges for overdraft limits. The High Court has now ruled that bank charges are to be assessed under consumer protection law. It is now up to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to decide the fairness of bank charges. Because of this new legislation, consumers have received millions of pounds back from these charges (Pollock 2008). HSBC has to comply with data security measures set by the Financial Services Authority after HSBC admitted to losing a disk that contained the personal details of 370,000 customers in March 2008 (Booth et al 2008). 4. EVALUATION OF HSBCS INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STRATEGY 4.1 HSBCs Entry into North America HSBC began its growth in North America by acquiring failed and weak banks. In effect, shareholders lacking a comparative advantage relative to HSBC, with respect to owning and governing given banks or branches (Lichtenberg and Siegel, 1987), sold them to HSBC. Generally, growth through acquisition is difficult to execute as it is vulnerable to problems of over-reach due to managerial hubris (Roll, 1986; Baradwaj et al., 1992 Seth et al., 2000). One cannot arrive at strong conclusions from studies of the profitability of subsidiaries. Banks transfer profit across borders (Demirgà ¼Ãƒ §-Kunt Huizinga, 2001), and foreign banks may prefer to book some business from their headquarters (Peek Rosengren, 2000). One may surmise that HSBC initially chose to acquire weak banks as much out of necessity as design. For any given size, a profitable bank will cost more than an unprofitable one, so in order to achieve diversification goals, HSBC needed to acquire large banks. Now that HSBC is one of the worlds largest banks, whether one measures by market capitalization or total assets, it has more flexibility. Banking concentration is apparent in many developed countries (Marquez Molyneux, 2002). In response, policymakers within these countries have restricted banks from further domestic mergers and acquisitions. Some recent failed attempts in Canada are a case in point (Tickell, 2000). Growth opportunities therefore arise through cross border growth. Interestingly, each of the owners of the largest subsidiaries of foreign banks in the US is disproportionately often the largest bank in its home country (Tschoegl, 2002 2004). Strategy viability assessment is the classic area of determining how a foreign firm competes against local facing lower cultural issues (Zaheer, 1995). One issue then is whether having operations in contiguous countries represents a competitive advantage. Tschoegl (1987) Dufey Yeung (1993) have argued that, where markets are well developed and competitive, there is no reason to expect foreign banks to be better than local banks at retail banking. At the same time th ere is evidence for the existence of a liability of foreignness vis-à  -vis the foreign banks host-country competitors (Parkhe Miller, 2002). Of course, there is also evidence that suggests that, the liability is minimal (Nachum, 2003) or wanes over time (Zaheer Moskowitz, 1996). However, these last two studies examine the liability in the context of corporate and wholesale banking markets. The liability may be more salient in the retail markets, where national differences between the home and host market are likely to be more profound. Claessens et al. (2001), Demirgà ¼Ãƒ §-Kunt Huizinga (1999) found that foreign banks tend to have higher margins and profits than domestic banks in developing countries, but that the opposite holds in industrial countries. Similarly, Dopico Wilcox (2002) found that foreign banks have a greater share in under-banked markets and a smaller presence in mature markets. This implies there must not be a high expectancy for coss-border mergers in commercial banking within developed regions. One can specu late that on the production side, differences in products across markets and privacy laws appear to be limiting parents ability to consolidate processing. As far as depositors are concerned, there seems to be little value to having an account with a bank that operates in other countries, especially now that travelers can draw cash from networked ATMs. HSBC has a service for wealthy individuals-HSBC Premier-that provides cross border advantages as transfer of an individuals credit rating when they relocate, and some other services. However, these facilities are not available to ordinary accounts. The literature on trade flows is instructive here; the evidence on NAFTA has shown that borders have a substantial damping effect on trade flows (McCallum, 1995). In North America, HSBC is even poorly positioned to take advantage of cross-border retail banking that is currently drawing attention: remittance flows from Mexican workers in the US. Although HSBC now has a strong presence in Mexi co, it has almost no offices in California or other US states with large populations of Mexican immigrants. By contrast, Bank of America, the largest bank in California and in many other US states in 2002, bought a 25 percent stake in Santander-Serfin, Santanders subsidiary, which has amalgamated Mexicos oldest and third largest bank. If there is reason to believe that, HSBC benefits from cross-border demand or production effects, what is left as a source of advantage? One candidate is what Kindleberger (1969) called surplus managerial resources. When a bank such as HSBC can no longer grow at home, it may find itself with a management team that is underemployed in terms of the demands on its time. The bank may then choose to grow abroad when it can combine these surplus resources with what Berger et al. (2000) call a global advantage. As Nachum et al. (2001) point out, the competitiveness of firms depends on the kind of assets that firms can transfer internally from country to country, but are difficult to transfer from one firm to another, even within a country. Still, it is, extremely difficult to measure an intangible asset as subtle and hard to define as better management (Denrell, 2004), especially when, recent events have shown, stock market performance or accounting measures are of doubtful reliability. 5. HSBCs International Business Strategy HSBC, a growth oriented company from earliest days decided to launch concrete strategies to attain market leadership in all sectors operated in. Though the company was amongst the leading players in areas such as consumer finance, personal financial services, commercial and corporate banking, it also wanted to establish its presence in areas such as investment banking, mortgage, insurance and credit card business. To strengthen its product portfolio and geographical reach, HSBC embarked on an aggressive acquisition strategy. The focus was on areas where it was either weak or did not have a presence. Simultaneously, the company launched an aggressive branding exercise to complement its growth strategy. The geographical reach of the bank could be estimated by its presence in the form of the subsidiaries and franchises. It can be said that HSBC uses the multinational strategy since it operates in a range of markets. According to Prahalad and Doz (1987), the prime consideration here is t he extent of pressures for global integration and extent of pressures for local responsiveness. In addition, Schlie and Yip (2000:343) argue, the key in global strategy is to find the best balance between local adaptation and global standardisation. In order to achieve the benefits of globalisation, businesses need to recognise when industry conditions provide the opportunity to use global strategy levers (Yip, 1992). Authors Morrison and Roth, Rugman Verbeke (see Schlie Yip, 2000) maintain that Regional Strategies offer such an optimal balance. In order to analyse the globalisation drivers of HSBC, the Yip Framework drivers for internationalisation was adapted from Yip, 1992. According to Campbell (2002), Yip identified four drivers (See Appendix 2) which determines the nature and extent of globalisation in an industry. Table 2. Globalisation drivers of HSBC Market Globalisation Drivers Global customers Global distribution channels Presence in lead countries Common customer needs Cost Globalisation Drivers Global scale economies Difference in exchange rates High product development costs Rapid change in Technology Government Globalisation Drivers Common marketing regulations Government owned customers (Subsidies) Host government concerns (Policies) Competitive Globalisation Drivers Competitors globalised Competitors from different continents 6. Strategies and Performances of Principal competitors 6.1 Branding and Diversification Brand development creates an identity for businesses which creates a competitive edge depending on its effectiveness (Montoya, 2002). The groups chairman stated commitment to making HSBC one of the worlds leading brands for customer experience (HSBC, 2007). In 1998, the Group adopted the HSBC brand and the hexagon symbol as a unified brand in all the markets where it operated which emphasized its global reach. HSBC adopted taglines such as Your world of financial services in 1999 to enable customer awareness on the range of financial services available for each customer. HSBC ensures that its understanding of varied markets and cultures are integrated into its brand through the tagline The worlds local bank developed in 2002. Similarly its competitors, Barclays uses a branding strategy which promises to deliver value through financial expertise the fluent in finance strapline (Brand republic, 2004) and Lloyds TSB on the other hand, develops a global strategy through the development of a strong brand image by reducing local customization and selectively satisfying common customer demands across markets (Osono et al., 2008:28). Diversification Strategy is the launching of new, retail-focused services, Link with enabling competitive advantage (Hitt, et. al., 2006), Although HSBCs core brand is strong, customer recognition may have saturated, therefore integrating both fresh brands into subsidiaries in tandem enables its growth through Merger and acquisitions providing a competitive advantage, enabling HSBC to play a central role in two of Europes biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals i.e. Mittal Steels hostile bid for Frances Arcelor and German utility company Eons offering for Spanish rival Endesa (Digital look.com 2009). 6.2 Technology use and strategy Through advances in technology, HSBC presents customers with a broad spectrum of financial services including personal financial services and investment banking, amongst others, to create competitive advantage through strategic alignment (competitive potential) (Venkatraman et. al., 1993). Similarly, Barclays and Lloyds TSB use strategic alignment (Service level) to ensure the effective use of IT resources and be responsive to the growing and fast-changing demands of the end-user population (Cio.co.uk, 2010). 6.3 Performance Evaluation It is argued that positive relationships between marketing spend, market share and marketing activities have an incremental impact on market share however this does not apply to the big four banks (Digital look.com, 2009). The graph below demonstrates decline of share prices for RBS and Lloyds in the last two years. Both banks have lost between 75% and 85% of its values in comparison to the past 2 years. Fig2: Market Shares Trends of the Top Major Banks In summary, the results demonstrate varied results for UK banks in 2009. HSBC for example, report significant improvements whereas others such as Barclays and Lloyds TSB demonstrate decline due to the impact of the global financial crisis. In addition, according to Digital look.com (2009), HSBCs success attaining the top of investors is as a result of the following: Largest bank in the UK with a well-capitalised balance sheet. Solid defensive stock with a stable and resilient earnings track record. Well-placed to benefit from the continued economic growth in emerging markets. Currently trading on attractive valuations with a forward P/E of 11.6 times and a dividend yield of 3.4%. HSBC demonstrates a lack of focus and development with regards to investment banking which has prevented HSBC becoming a major player in investment banking. Focus and development is essential for performance improvement due to continuous sub-prime mortgage fallout and credit tightness influences on the retail banking sector (Digital look.com, 2009). The last three years demonstrate the emergence of HSBC as an investment banking brand. 7. CONCLUSION The findings indicate that HSBC dominates the banking industry with record profits, however the bank has reported increasing debts and this will not be helped by the current credit crisis in the US and the UK. As consumers become increasingly aware of the rising cost of living they are likely to shop around for the best interest rates and they are likely to find this on the internet with online mortgage and debt companies. Although the introduction of online banking has proved popular among HSBC customers, the company should ensure that extra security measures are in place that will guarantee maximum security of consumer data. As HSBC is a multinational company and therefore people trust the brand and confidence that their finances are being well maintained, there are development opportunities for the future in destinations, such as Afghanistan and Brazil. 8. RECOMMENDATIONS In order to rectify the shortcomings in its international strategy, the author of this report recommends that consideration be given to the following: HSBC should seek to identify optimal investment packages and strategies HSBC should expand its products and services to suit the various markets and the times. HSBC should focus on driving growth of brands and improving performance by ensuring that their strategies create value and growth. HSBC can stay ahead in competition by offering better services for its customers such as exceptional customer service, environmentally friendly policies including the HSBC Communities Policy which aids developing countries. BIBLIOGRAPHY Amel, D., Barnes, C., Panetta, F., Salleo, C. (2004). Consolidation and efficiency in the financial sector: A review of the international evidence, Journal of Banking and Finance, Vol. 28, No. 10, pp. 2493-2519. Anand J, Delios A. 2002. Absolute and relative resources as determinants of international acquisitions. Strategic Management Journal 23(2): 119-134. Barney JB. 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management 17: 99-120 Baradwaj, B.G., Dubofsky, D., Fraser, D.R. (1992). Bidder Returns in Interstate and Intrastate Bank Acquisitions, Journal of Financial Services Research, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 261-73 Berger, A., DeYoung, R., Genay, H.Udell, G. (2000). Globalization of financial institutions: Evidence from cross-border banking performance, Brookings-Wharton Papers on Financial Service, Vol. 3 Brand Republic, 2004. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/214994/sutherland-plays-wise-man-cynic-oldman-barclays/ [Accessed 4 April 2010]. Buckley PJ, Casson MC. 1976. The Future of the Multinational Enterprise. Macmillan: London, UK. Buckley PJ, Casson MC. 1998. Analyzing foreign market entry strategies: extending the internalization approach. Journal of International Business Studies 29: 539-562 Campbell, D., Stonehouse, G., Houston, B. 2002. Business strategy: an introduction CIO.CO.UK, 2010. HSBC: CIO 100. The UKs largest users of IT. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.cio.co.uk/cio100/hsbc/4141/ [Accessed 4 April 2010]. Demirgà ¼Ãƒ §-Kunt, A.,Huizinga, H. (1999). Determinants of Commercial Bank Interest Margins and Profitability: Some International Evide

IT Business Outsourcing Essay

IT Business Outsourcing involves contracting of specific processes as well as tasks of IT business to a third party or who can provide the service (Gewirtz, 2007). These days a lot of variation can be seen in the business environment, the reason for which is the impact of external factors like changes in the preference of customer. These changes have increased the business pressures in order of performance improvement and competition. Business firms, now days are really facing a lot of pressure to continue reviewing their performance in order to cope up with the current market. Innovation and creativity are the two things which are really very important and highly stress on the improvement of the market position. Hence, to cope with this complex environment, IT business process outsourcing has been as one of the solution in order to improve performance. Outsourcing a process to any proficient company which have ample amount of professional awareness as well as experience can improve the operational efficiency of the business. However all these are based on the amount pf professionalism shown by the company. However, such improvements depend on the levels of professionalism displayed by the third party entity. This means the major emphasis should be given to the level of expertise, time and finances. A third part must have all these qualities to apply as an outsourcer. Problem statement Essential requirement for a business when deciding for outsourcing is adequate information on the assessment of risk otherwise this feature has the ability to hamper your brand image (Sullivan, 2006). Outsourcing should be a result of the organizations decision making capability. Different viewpoints should be taken into consideration with all the important entities like major as well as minor stake holders. External as well as internal environment should also be taken into consideration. Decision should be made on such criteria where you are confirm that the outsourcer have adequate amount of highly professional employee strength and support structures. The objective of this problem study is to find out various variables that a business organization must have to consider when deciding for outsourcing like what are the various risk associated with the business, what type of change management is needed and who all are included in the decision making process, etc. In order to take the correct decision, few objectives are needed to be prepared for better management. Following are some important objectives which should be adopted by every organization thinking for outsourcing. 1. First objective which is very essential is to find out all the most important variables which a business should consider while deciding about the outsourcing of their information processes. It is very important there are lots of factors which can affect the business while outsourcing like finance, employees, amount of profit, geographical location etc. Hence, the main task is to identify the main factors that a business organization should consider. 2. Second objective is to verify if the assessment of risk is making impact on the procedure of decision making when looking for outsourcing the information process. This is very important as without risk assessment, how to know what are the different risks associated with the outsourcing business (Harris, 2008). It gives a clear idea that these are the risk and in order to go for outsourcing you need to cope up with all these. 3. Third thing which is needed to be kept in mind is to verify if the requirement for change management extensively effect the decision about the outsourcing of information processes (Mead, 2005). Change management is basically an organized approach to deal with various changes, from the point of view of organization as well as individual. 4. Fourth objective is to evaluate all the entities required for decision making by a business. These entities are mainly the stakeholders in the organization. It’s very important to involve only those stakeholders who are needed for decision making. Purpose Statement At the time of deciding whether to outsource or not, one thing you should always keep in mind that is do whatever you can do yourself and outsource the remaining. There are many processes that are executed in a company, all of which are not equally important. Except the core process, all other processes are not so relevant. They are just acceptable. Outsourcing IT business process should essentially be the decision of business firm and not an individual’s decision like the top management only. Around 20 industries are taken as the number of participants to complete this survey and the location for study is south East Asia, basically India and Philippines. First necessary step for an organization is to decide whether the outsourcing decision will fit their organizational model and if yes, then why. Even though functioning in same line of business, one company can have ample reason for outsourcing while on the same line; another one can found that reasoning not worth. Making decision is not a very hard process, however, determining whether to outsource or not, what process to be outsourced and what are the objective to be accomplished are some of the important factors to be taken seriously. First variable to be analyzed is the understanding of the core-competencies of the organization because this understanding will help decide what to make and what to buy or outsource. To analyze the quantitative side, all related costs should be evaluated that arise from different task like production, goods delivery or the in-house service. As outsourcing relates to future costs, investigation must be done comparing all the future costs. Now, to analyze the qualitative factor, some issues that should be kept in mind are: Is there some cultural match among company and the outsourcer, can you be willing to share data openly, reliability of the outsourcer, who among both of you has better skills and practices, technology is largely known or not and how hard is this to recruit for the function? One more important thing is that the outsourced process should be core to outsourcer. Outsourcing should provide benefits like cost reduction, flexibility, targeted expertise, benchmark quality and efficiency profits. If these variables are not resulting in positive, then the outsourcer is not the correct one. As outsourcing is very critical for growth of a firm, thus a strong evaluation panel should be setup which should consist of most competent and appreciated employees who will help in deciding on the outsourcing and outsourcer (Wijers,  2009). Decision for outsourcing is entirely dependent on a formula called QCDV which stand for the quality, expenditure or cost involved, delivery at right time, and at last value. in fact, quality as well as the delivery is the most important component for deciding outsourcing as they openly influence your customer as well as businesses reputation and hence sales. In addition, the panel should also judge current regulations, governing bodies and standards of the firm which is associated with the production as well as completion of task in timely manner, that are associated with producing a product or completing a task in a timely manner. The main aspect for evaluation must be the financial saving which outsourcing should provide to the firm. Outsourcing’s main objective should be to save capital. The outsourcer must recognize the firm’s expectations in terms of cost reduction as well as overall performance. Hence, the panel should develop an analysis standard on cost/performance which the outsourcer should have to go through each quarter. This will allow the company to check how much capital as well as expenses are used in the process and if the process is saving money or not.

George VI Essay

A conscientious and dedicated man, he worked hard to adapt to the role into which he was suddenly thrown. Reserved by nature, and of deep religious belief, he was helped in his work by his wife. He had married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923. King George VI paid State Visits to France in 1938, and to Canada and the United States in 1939 (he was the first British monarch to enter the United States). His greatest achievements came during the Second World War, when he remained for most of the time at Buckingham Palace (the Palace was bombed nine times during the war). He and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, visited severely bombed areas in the East End of London and elsewhere in the country, gained him great popularity. The King developed a close working relationship with his wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, as most of Europe fell to Nazi Germany. Recognising the total nature of modern warfare, in 1940 the King instituted the George Cross and George Medal, to be awarded for acts of bravery by citizens. In 1942, the George Cross was awarded to the island and people of Malta in recognition of the heroism with which they had resisted the enemy siege. Having served in the Navy during the First World War, including the Battle of Jutland, the King was anxious to visit his troops whenever possible. He went to France in 1939 to inspect the British Expeditionary Force, and to North Africa in 1943 after the victory of El Alamein. In June 1944, the King visited his Army on the Normandy beaches 10 days after D-Day, and later that year he visited troops in Italy and the Low Countries. On VE (Victory in Europe) Day, 8 May 1945, Buckingham Palace was a focal point of the celebrations. The war had immeasurably strengthened the link between the King and his people. In 1947, the King undertook a major tour of South Africa, accompanied by the Queen and their daughters, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret – the first time a monarch had undertaken a tour with his family. When India and Pakistan became independent in 1947, George ceased to be Emperor of India. Changes in the Commonwealth meant that its tie was no longer based on common allegiance to the Crown, but upon recognition of the Sovereign as Head of the Commonwealth. These changes in the Commonwealth relationship and the social reforms of the post-war Labour government occurred against the background of Britain’s weak post-war economic position and the beginning of the Cold War, which meant that the privations of war were extended well into the post-war period. By 1948, it seemed that Britain had overcome the worst hardships of the post-war years, but the strain of the Second World War and the tensions of the post-war period had taken their toll on the King’s health. The King failed to recover from a lung operation, and died in his sleep on 6 February 1952 at Sandringham; he was aged 56. After lying in state at Westminster Hall, the King’s funeral was held at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, where he lies buried. At the King’s funeral, attached to the Government’s wreath was a card on which Churchill had written the phrase inscribed on the Victoria Cross – ‘For Valour’.

How to Improve Vocabulary Acquisition

How to Improve Vocabulary Acquisition The process of learning the words of a language  is referred to as vocabulary acquisition.  As discussed below, the ways in which young children acquire the vocabulary of a native language differ from the ways in which older children and adults acquire the vocabulary of a second language.   Means of Language Acquisition Language AcquisitionActive Vocabulary and Passive VocabularyAnnotationContext CluesEnglish as a Second Language (ESL)Lexical CompetenceLexiconListening and SpeechOvergeneralizationPoverty of the StimulusReading and WritingWorld Knowledge The Rate of New-Word Learning in Children ​[T]he rate of new-word learning is not constant but ever increasing. Thus between the ages of 1 and 2 years, most children will learn less than one word a day (Fenson et al., 1994), whilst a 17-year-old will learn about 10,000 new words per year, mostly from reading (Nagy and Herman, 1987). The theoretical implication is that there is no need to posit a qualitative change in learning or a specialized word-learning system to account for the remarkable rate at which young children learn words; one could even argue that, given the number of new words to which they are exposed daily, infants word learning is remarkably slow. (Ben Ambridge and Elena V. M. Lieven, Child Language Acquisition: Contrasting Theoretical Approaches. Cambridge University Press, 2011) The Vocabulary Spurt ​At some point, most children manifest a vocabulary spurt, where the rate of acquisition of new words increases suddenly and markedly. From then until about six years old, the average rate of acquisition is estimated to be five or more words a day. Many of the new words are verbs and adjectives, which gradually come to assume a larger proportion of the childs vocabulary. The vocabulary acquired during this period partly reflects frequency and relevance to the childs environment. Basic level terms are acquired first (DOG before ANIMAL or SPANIEL), possibly reflecting a bias towards such terms in child-directed speech. . .Children appear to need minimal exposure to a new word form (sometimes just a single occurrence) before they assign some kind of meaning to it; this process of rapid mapping appears to help them to consolidate the form in their memory. In the early states, mapping is exclusively from form to meaning; but it later also takes place from meaning to form, as childr en coin words to fill gaps in their vocabulary (spooning my coffee; cookerman for a chef). (John Field, Psycholinguistics: The Key Concepts. Routledge, 2004) Teaching and Learning Vocabulary ​If vocabulary acquisition is largely sequential in nature, it would appear possible to identify that sequence and to ensure that children at a given vocabulary level have an opportunity to encounter words they are likely to be learning next, within a context that uses the majority of the words that they have already learned. (Andrew Biemiller, Teaching Vocabulary: Early, Direct, and Sequential. Essential Readings on Vocabulary Instruction, ed. by Michael F. Graves. International Reading Association, 2009)Although additional research is sorely needed, research points us in the direction of natural interactions as the source of vocabulary learning. Whether through free play between peers . . . or an adult introducing literacy terms (e.g., sentence, word), as children engage in play with literacy tools, the likelihood that vocabulary will stick is heightened when childrens engagement and motivation for learning new words is high. Embedding new words in activities that children w ant to do recreates the conditions by which vocabulary learning takes place in the crib. (Justin Harris, Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Lessons From the Crib to the Classroom: How Children Really Learn Vocabulary. Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Volume 3, ed. by Susan B. Neuman and David K. Dickinson. Guilford Press, 2011) Second-Language Learners and Vocabulary Acquisition The mechanics of vocabulary learning are still something of a mystery, but one thing we can be sure of is that words are not instantaneously acquired, at least not for adult second language learners. Rather, they are gradually learned over a period of time from numerous exposures. This incremental nature of  vocabulary acquisition  manifests itself in a number of ways. . . . Being able to understand a word is known as  receptive knowledge  and is normally connected with listening and reading. If we are able to produce a word of our own accord when speaking or writing, then that is considered  productive knowledge  (passive/active  are alternative terms). . . .[F]raming mastery of a word only in terms of receptive versus productive knowledge is far too crude. . . . Nation (1990, p.31) proposes the following list of the different kinds of knowledge that a person must master in order to know a word. - the meaning(s) of the word- the written form of the word- the spoken form of the word- the grammatical behavior of the word- the collocations of the word- the register of the word- the associations of the word- the frequency of the word These are known as types of word knowledge, and most or all of them are necessary to be able to use a word in the wide variety of language situations one comes across. (Norbert Schmitt,  Vocabulary in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, 2000)Several of our own studies . . . have explored the use of annotations in second-language multimedia environments for reading and listening comprehension. These studies investigated how the availability of visual and verbal annotations for vocabulary items in the text facilitates vocabulary acquisition as well as the comprehension of a foreign language literary text. We found that especially the availability of picture annotations facilitated vocabulary acquisition, and that vocabulary words learned with picture annotations were better retained than those learned with textual annotations (Chun Plass, 1996a). Our research showed in addition that incidental vocabulary acquisition and text comprehension was best for words where learners looked up both picture and text annotations (Plass et al., 1998). (Jan L. Plass and Linda C. Jones, Multimedia Learning in Second Language Acquisition. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning, ed. by Richard E. Mayer. Cambridge University Press, 2005) There is a quantitative and qualitative dimension to vocabulary acquisition. On the one hand we can ask How many words do learners know? while on the other we can enquire What do the learners know about the words they know? Curtis (1987) refers to this important distinction as the breadth and depth of a persons lexicon. The focus of much vocabulary research has been on breadth, possibly because this is easier to measure. Arguably, however, it is more important to investigate how learners knowledge of words they already partly know gradually deepens. (Rod Ellis, Factors in the Incidental Acquisition of Second Language Vocabulary From Oral Input. Learning a Second Language Through Interaction, ed. by Rod Ellis. John Benjamins, 1999)

What Is Pre-AP How Are Pre-AP Classes Different

What Is Pre-AP How Are Pre-AP Classes Different SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips What is a pre-AP class? Has your school started to offer pre-AP classes or are you wondering if they should? Have you heard about the College Board’s new official pre-AP classes and aren’t sure what they are? This guide is here to answer all your pre-AP questions. We’ll explain what pre-AP is, how official pre-AP classes differ from unofficial pre-AP classes, important changes coming to pre-AP, and what subjects the official pre-AP classes will cover. What Is Pre-AP? What is a pre-AP class? Pre-AP classes are a fairly new term for classes that are meant to prepare high school students for AP classes (college-level classes taken in high school) as well as college classes themselves.Pre-AP classes are typically taken by high school freshman, but some courses are also meant for sophomores. Can any school decide it wants to have pre-AP and just assign the title to some of its classes? Yes, but not for much longer.The College Board has recently announced that it will launch an official pre-AP program in the fall of 2018 (learn more about the official pre-AP classes in the â€Å"What Official Pre-AP Classes Are Available?† section further down).Beginning in the fall of 2022, all classes that are labelled as â€Å"pre-AP† must be submitted to the College Board and have their curriculum approved in order to be called pre-AP. Official pre-AP classes must also be available to all students in a grade, not just honors or advanced students. Currently, however, there are both official and unofficial pre-AP classes, and although both are meant to prepare students for future college classes, the two types are actually quite different from each other. Unofficial Pre-AP Classes Until 2022, any school can give certain classes the â€Å"pre-AP† title without having to follow the curriculum or rules of official pre-AP classes.Unofficial pre-AP classes are usually similar to honors classes. They are more challenging than regular-level classes and will likely have more homework and more rigorous tests to help you prepare for the advanced level of AP classes.You may need to have certain grades or pass a test to be accepted into an unofficial pre-AP class. Official Pre-AP Classes Official pre-AP classes are those that have had their curriculum approved by the College Board. Beginning in 2022, they will be the only pre-AP classes allowed. The College Board created pre-AP classes as a way to introduce all high school students to the skills and resources they'll be using in college classes. Unlike regular AP classes, which are often only for advanced students, official pre-AP classes must be open access, which means students at all learning levels must be able to take them. Pre-AP classes are meant to be the standard curriculum for a course, not an honors or advanced program.If your school has an official pre-AP course, then all students must be enrolled in it. Schools can’t exclude anyone from a pre-AP class based on his or her grades or aptitude for the subject. It's possible for a school to have an honors pre-AP class, but only if they also have a regular-level pre-AP class in the same subject as well.This could mean that, instead of having regular and honors biology, a school would just have pre-AP biology and honors pre-AP biology. When a class is an official pre-AP class, that doesn't necessarily mean it's an advanced class or more difficult than regular classes. Pre-AP just means the class has more of a focuson preparing you for future college classes. You'll still be studying the same major topics in a pre-AP class that you would in a regular class, but the way the lessons are taught and how you are assessed will be slightly different and more similar to a college class. This may mean you'll analyze more texts similar to those studied in college classes, practice critical thinking skills, and learn specific lessons that are part of the pre-AP program. Since these are skills all students should be learning, pre-AP classes aren't meant for just advanced students. How Does Pre-AP Differ From Regular Advanced Placement? Because the names are so similar, it’s easy to confuse pre-AP and regular AP classes. However, they’re quite different from each other, and the three major differences are discussed below. #1:You Can’t Get College Credit for Pre-AP Classes AP classes are taught at the same level as college classes; therefore, passing one means you can pass its college counterpart. This is why many colleges give college credit for passing AP classes. Pre-AP classes are still taught at the high school level, so although they can be more difficult than regular high school classes, you won’t get college credit for them since they aren’t as difficult as regular college classes. #2: There Is No Final AP Exam to Pass in a Pre-AP Class For most students, the most important part of every AP class they take is the final AP class in the spring. These exams, which are scored from 1 to 5, are important for showing colleges how well you understood the material and possibly getting college credit. Pre-AP classes don’t have final AP exams like that. Just like a regular class you’ll probably end the year with a final exam or project, but there’s no official pre-AP exam you need to take or pass. #3:Pre-AP Classes May or May Not Give Your Transcript a Boost Some students and parents get confused as to how important college think pre-AP classes are. Does a pre-AP class look as good as an AP class on your high school transcript? No, since, as mentioned above, AP classes are significantly more difficult than pre-AP classes. Currently, many colleges will view a pre-AP class on a high school transcript the same way they view an honors class. However, once official pre-AP classes become more widespread, colleges will likely stop viewing pre-AP classes as honors or advanced classes since official pre-AP classes are meant to be taught to students of all abilities. An honors pre-AP class will likely be viewed the same as a regular honors class. What Official Pre-AP Classes Are Available? Beginning in fall 2018, five official pre-AP classes will launch in schools. These classes are all official pre-AP classes and will follow curriculum designed by the College Board. The five classes are all meant for 9th graders, but more pre-AP classes, including some for students in other grades, are expecting in coming years. Many of them include more of an emphasis on critical reading and analysis skills than regular classes typically would. Below are the five official pre-AP classes, each with a short description. You can find out more about the pre-AP classes on the College Board’s pre-AP website. Pre-AP Algebra 1: Focuses primarily on linear relationships as well as other building blocks of math. There will be an emphasis on using math skills to solve real-world problems as well as being able to support or refute mathematical arguments. Pre-AP Biology: Gives students a foundation on basic biological concepts, both macro and micro. Students will read higher-level biology texts and learn analytical reading and writing skills useful for upper-level and college science classes. Pre-AP English 1: Teaches students close reading skills, analytical writing, and language skills while reading a variety of complex texts similar to what you'd read in intro-level college English classes. Pre-AP World History and Geography: Focuses on how history and geography are related, the importance of evaluating evidence from historical texts, and how to explain historical relationships. There's an emphasis on identifying and analyzing relationships between historical figures and events, as well as incorporating evidence into written and oral arguments. Pre-AP Visual and Performing Arts: There are four specific courses in this group: pre-AP Dance, pre-AP Music, pre-AP Theater, and pre-AP Visual Arts. Compared to many regular classes, these pre-AP classes focus more on analysis and interpretation of important works, peer-to-peer dialogue, experimentation, and reflective writing to prepare students for college-level classes in these subjects. Conclusion: What Is Pre-AP? Pre-AP classes used to be a title used by schools to designate honors classes or other rigorous classes designed to prepare students for AP classes in future years. Beginning in fall of 2018, the College Board will launch five official pre-AP classes. These classes are open-access, which means students of all abilities must be allowed to take the class. Instead of being honors classes, official pre-AP classes are meant to be the standard class in a school to teach a subject.Unlike regular AP classes, you can’t get college credit for pre-AP classes, and there is no final AP exam to take at the end of the year. What's Next? Want to learn more about Advanced Placement classes?Check out our introductory guide to AP classes and tests to learn everything you need to know! Does your school offer AP and IB? Are you curious about the differences between the two? Take a look at this article to learn whether AP or IB will be a better fit for your needs. If you're taking the SAT or ACT soon, you'll want to be well prepared. Check out our ultimate study guide for the SAT and ultimate study guide for the ACT for everything you need to score high! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Shipping Operations Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Shipping Operations Strategy - Essay Example The growth in the LNG trade is expected to continue for some time. This, as a number of new sources is being exploited, or is in the process of being exploited. This has resulted in an increase in the demand for LNG carriers and an increase in activities in various ship yards around the world. While research suggests an increase in business for firms in the supply chain, there are a number of ships that were idle throughout 2008 to 2010. This has been so, even with the substantial increase in importation in Japan, Korea and Spain. However, while their imports are increasing, those of North America and Europe have not shown any significant changes. LNG is required for heating and cooking purposes. In some countries it is used to generate electricity. It is also said to emit less carbon dioxide than other fossil fuel such as coal and oil. This makes it a popular commodity in most countries. According to Jensen (2004, p5) prior to the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) technolog y, its use was limited to areas that could be served by pipelines. However, the development of LNG along with improvements in technology and cost has changed all of that and so gas is rapidly becoming an internationally traded commodity. LNG is condensed natural gas. The volume of which has been reduced by a factor of 600 for storage and transportation (Audun Brands?ter 2010). It is transported by LNG carriers that are capable of safely transporting LNG from liquefaction plants to LNG terminals for storage and re-gasification. Some carriers are specially equipped to allow for the capability of re-gasification on board the vessel. Introduction A number of factors have to be considered in making the decision of whether to buy 6 LNG Tankers. These are technical as well as commercial considerations, which demand an understanding of the product and the market. LNG Carriers form the link between the liquefaction plan and the LNG terminal and so it forms an important part of the supply cha in (GIIGNL Technical Study Group n.d.). Supplies of LNG are imported primarily from countries such as Algeria, Trinidad, Venezuela, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Oman and Australia. These represent areas where large discoveries have been made. Some LNG is also produced in Alaska. LNG is a viable export commodity for these countries because they cannot use all the natural gas that they produce. (DOM n.d.) Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas which has been converted to liquid to facilitate its storage and transportation. According to MAGALOG (2008) LNG is a space efficient way to store and transport natural gas when pipelines are not a feasible solution. This conversion is, however, of a temporary nature and involves a number of processes. After the gas is extracted, it is taken to a plant for processing, where it is purified by removing water, oil, mud and gases including CO2 and H2S, thereby allowing for its condensation. The gas is condensed into a liquid at close to atmospheric p ressure by cooling it to approximately -162oC (-260oF). The LNG is then stored into tanks, after which, it is loaded onto ships. LNG consists mainly of

CASE review Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Review - Case Study Example manufacture of its furniture seeking to reduce costs at through relations with suppliers in cost-efficient labour countries and sourcing different parts from different countries. The other way in which IKEA was very involved in furniture manufacture is through IKEA’s engineers determining the kind of materials to use ensuring high quality yet at the lowest cost. Selection and manufacture of the best furniture were achieved through the internal competition of IKEA’s ten designers and freelancers allowing IKEA to have the best designs in the market. Flat Packaging is the other important point for IKEA in several aspects including reduced costs in shipping and labour and allowed IKEA to meet consumer need for low-cost furniture augmenting its market share and providing more success in both domestic and international markets. Another important factor for IKEA’s success is bright and inviting large (15000-35000 square feet) showrooms with huge price tags on the furniture and model rooms for the consumers increasing visibility. Listening to customer complaints allowed IKEA to overcome challenges in the American market through the incorporation of designs and product specification including measurement in inches and augmenting product size to fit American tastes and preferences. Having a self-service ethos through self-assembling of furniture, well explained pricing and specification in stores, and self-service strollers are well envisaged in IKEA’s business allowing for low-cost production and supply. Johnson developed original ideas for the success of J.C. Penny but demonstrated a lack of foresight and thinking in terms of operations, finance, and logistics that could have been the cause of his failures. He brought new designs and strategies that could have been more successful through the â€Å"Fair and Square† strategy if he envisioned its development with better thinking on operationalizing the plans without much impact and changes to the loyal customer