BUSINESS PLAN, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BUSINESS PLAN, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES - Essay Example To assist in achieving these goals and objectives, I need to prepare appropriate funds to financial higher education, as well as the proper state of mind, determination and enthusiasm to pursue this career. Part 1: Career Goals 1. Competencies: What are the competencies I need to develop? To prepare myself for the career, I need to develop competencies in the following areas: healthcare operations management; patient or consumer focus; political, legal and ethical concerns; financial and economic issues; and medical and physician relationships (Shewchuck, O’Connor and Fine, 2005). 2. How will I develop: What steps will I take to clarify my developmental needs? I should focus on prioritizing academic requirements to comply with the required degree for the career path I planned. I must incorporate professional experience in working in the public health environment to evaluate and appraise the requirements and resources and match my qualifications to the demands of the profession . 3.

PESTEL Viet Nam Analysis Essay Example for Free

PESTEL Viet Nam Analysis Essay A. Introduction of Viet Nam Vietnam is approximately 331688 km2 in area and occupied the eastern coast of the Southeast Asian peninsula. The northern part of the country part consists mostly of highlands and the Red River Delta. The south is divided into coastal lowlands and extensive forests. Because of differences in latitude and the marked variety of topographical relief, the climate tends to vary considerably from place to place. During the winter or dry season (November to April), the monsoon wind blowing from the northwest brings considerably moisture. Consequently the winter season in most parts of the country is dry. Major Vietnamese cities include Hanoi in the north, Da Nang in the mid coastal region, and Ho Chi Minh City (formally known as Saigon) to the south. Vietnam has considerable energy resources such as oil, gas and coal and its 41,000 km long waterways provide the basis for hydropower. The country is rich in minerals such as bauxite, iron ore, lead, gold, precious stones, tin, chromate, anthracite, granite, marble, clay, white sand and graphite. In addition, Vietnam has a considerable fresh and saltwater fauna, dense tropical forestry resources and it possesses great agricultural potential. The history of Vietnam, reference to the Geneva Accord signed in 1954. The accord ended French colonial rule, and the country was partitioned into the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh and the Republic of Vietnam in the South. The capitals were Hanoi for the North and Saigon for the South. Fights led by Ho Chi Minh to unite the country started in 1959 and lasted until 1975. Hanoi became the capital of the country whilst Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Following reunification, the Vietnamese government’s initial plan was to manage the economy via methods of central planning. Based on experiences gained during the 1976-1980 five years plan, subsequent central plans introduced more relaxed policies with respect to agricultural collectives, State Owned Enterprises and allowed more scope for private initiatives. These measures were instrumental in elevating poverty.  Growth rates during the early 80’s were higher than during the 1976-1980 five year pl an, however it became evident that further policy shift were necessary to enable the Vietnam economy to perform closer to its potential. Economic reform was the key point of discussion at the Sixth National Party Congress held in December 1986. The process then initiated of moving from a centrally planned economy to an open, socialist-oriented and multi-sector market economy known as Doi Moi (renovation). In 1992, the National Assembly revised the post-unification constitution to better reflect the aspirations articulated in the Doi Moi process. Economic performance since 1986 has justified the policy of relaxation of central control, the challenge faced by Vietnam has been the maintenance of rapid economic growth and integration into the global economy. B. â€Å"P.E.S.T.L.E† REPORT ON VIET NAM 1. Politics The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a single-party state. Its current state constitution, which replaced the 1975 constitution in April 1992, asserts the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in all organs of government, politics and society. In 2011, Viet Nam held the 11th Congress of Vietnam Communist Party, in which happened the Election of the Party Central Committee for the new term. Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong was elected to be the General Secretary. After the Congress, there happened the fist Congress of the Parliament, term 13th, in which Mr. Nguyen Sinh Hung was elected to be the President of the Parliament, Mr. Truong Tan Sang the President of the Country, and Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung was elected to continue the position of Prime Minister. This Congress also issued 4 degrees: first, approving the State Budget, second, agreeing on the program of building laws and ordinances in2012, third, beginning the study of the amendments and supplements of the 1992 Constitution and establ ishing the revised draft of the 1992 Constitution, and finally, the degree on the issuance of certain additional tax measures to remove difficulties for enterprises and individuals, contributing to economic development in 2011. In 2011, the disputes over the East Sea was the main cause of some changes in relations between Vietnam and some important countries in the world, especially the  Vietnam China and Viet Nam U.S. Tension in the East Sea has escalated due to Chinas provocative acts in May, 2011. Then happened many anti-Chinese protests in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh city. In this context, the relation between Viet Nam and the U.S was proclaimed to be elevated to strategic partnership.4 And late 2011, the tensions in the Vietnam-China relations down to the visit by the senior officials of the two countries. In terms of politically domestic policy, the government kept a political stability, and showed some positive signs. For example, the freedom of the press seemed to be extended. In addition, the government was also more aware of its limitations and of the policy mistakes. Concretely, at the Fourth Conference of the Party Central Committee (XI), Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong said: ―Besides the achievements, the Party building work still has many limitations and shortcomings, weaknesses, even spanning multiple defects; these limitations would reduce peoples trust in the Party; if not corrected, they will be the challenge for leadership of the Party and the survival of the regime. 2. Economy The year of 2011 was important for the economy of Viet Nam because this is the first year in the latest Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2011-2020), with the goal of becoming an industrialized and modern economy by 2020. This strategy goes on to identify the country’s key priorities to meet this ambitious target: stabilize the economy, build world-class infrastructure, create a skilled labor force, and strengthen market-based institutions. According to Vietnam Development Report (VDR) 2012, meeting these aspirations will not be easy. In fact, the country has experienced bouts of macroeconomic turbulence in recent years—double-digit inflation, depreciating currency, capital flight, and loss of international reserves—eroding investor confidence. Besides, rapid growth has revealed new structural problems. The quality and sustainability of growth remain a source of concern, given the resource-intensive pattern of growth, high levels of environmental degradation, lack of diversification and value addition in exports, and the declining contribution of productivity to growth. Vietnam’s competitiveness is under threat because the power  generation has not kept pace with demand, logistical costs and real estate prices have climbed, and skill shortages are becoming more widespread. And these difficulties strongly existed in 2011. Concretely, the inflation in 2011 was 18.13%; the growth of GDP has slowed (5,89%). Domestic and international gold price gap increased. The Corruption index 2011 from Transparency International ranked Viet Nam at the position 112. This shows that Viet Nam has been faced one of the most difficult challenges of economic development. In terms of financial, according to the document of World Bank, in 2011, foreign direct investment inflows (to Viet Nam) continued at a steady pace, although new commitments declined. International reserves increased in the first half of the year while the Vietnamese dong benefitted from a period of relative calm. In the last quarter of the year, however, exchange rate fluctuations increased due to volatility in gold prices, deepening uncertainties and the seasonal increase in demand for foreign currency as the year end approaches. With approximate 9 billion U.S. dollars, the amount of money coming from overseas Vietnamese was one of the biggest sources of foreign currency in 2011. This amount is equivalent to the amount of FDI. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japanese are the countries that contributed the biggest investment to Viet Nam in 2011. Hai Duong, Ho Chi Minh city, and Ha Noi are three places that has been most invested in recent time. The sectors that most attract the attention of foreign investors are processing industry, electricity supply, and accommodation and dining service. However, according to the analysis of a chief economist, Dr. Allan Pham, though facing the difficulties as mentioned above, the economy is coming to a better prospect in 2012, especially with a certain success in the fight against inflation of the country (the inflation has been trending down since the 4th quarter of 2011). Following is the figure of the selected macro indicators of the economy in recent years: Key Indicators 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 GDP growth (%) 8.5 6.2 5.3 6.78 5.8 6.0 CPI (%) 12.6 23 6.52 11.75 18.0 12-14 Trade deficit (USD) 12.5 17.8 12.2 12.4 12.1 13.3 Exports (USD) 48.4 62.5 56.6 71.6 80.2 86.5 Imports (USD) 60.8 80.3 68.8 84.0 92.4 99.8 FDI commitments (USD) 21.3 66.5 21.5 18.6 15.0 18.0 FDI disbursement (USD) 8.0 11.5 10.0 11.0 12.0 12.5 Credit growth (%) 54 21 37.7 27.6 15 18 SBV Base rate 8.2 8.5 8.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 Deposit rate (%) 7.0-8.0 7.0-8.5 9.5-10.5 10.0- 11.0 14 12.0 Lending rate (%) 10.0-12.0 10-12.5 10.5-12 13.0-13.5 18-20 14-16 USD/VND (bank rate) 16,016 17,468 18,600 19,500 21,500 22,500 Foreign Affairs At present, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 168 countries, and it has economic and trading relations with about 165 countries. Vietnam joined the United Nations in 1977. Vietnam became an official member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995, and has concluded a cooperation agreement with the European Community. Relationships with multi-national financial institutions such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been re-established. Viet Nam has been participating in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (â€Å"AFTA†) since 1996 and became a member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in 1998. Vietnam became an official member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 January 2007. In January 2008, the country started a two year term as an elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Vietnam signed the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United Sta tes in 2000. Besides aspects of international trade, the BTA covers a variety of other areas, including intellectual property rights, trade in services, development of investment relations, business  facilitation and the obligation to ensure transparency of laws and regulations. The BTA essentially constitutes a commitment by both countries to open their markets to each other. Intellectual Property In recent years, the Government has taken various measures to increase the legal protection of intellectual property and has created an environment of respect for intellectual property as compared to other neighboring countries. Intellectual property rights are protected by the Civil Code (1995 and 2005), the Law on Intellectual Property (2005) and a host of subordinate legislation. Vietnam is a long-time signatory to the Paris Convention, the Madrid Agreement on International Trademark Registration, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (â€Å"PCT†) and became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 1976. On 27 June 1997, Vietnam entered into an Agreement on copyrights with the US. According to the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, Vietnam is under the obligation to adhere to the Berne Convention. The National Office of Intellectual Property (â€Å"NOIP†) is the authority responsible for the registration of industrial property and for the resolutio n of disputes with regard to industrial property in the first instance. Foreign organizations and individuals seeking to register their industrial ownership should file their applications through an authorized agent, who will transfer their application to the NOIP. The Office of Copyright Protection under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism has also been established and is responsible for the protection of copyright. Works may be registered with the Office of Copyright Protection; however, registration is not a prerequisite for copyright protection. Currently, patents are protected for a period of 20 years. A certificate of utility solutions may be granted for 10 years. A certificate of industrial design is granted for 5 years and may be renewed every 5 years. However, the total effective period of a certificate cannot exceed 15 years. Certificates of trademarks are granted for 10 years with no restrictions on the number of renewals. Investment Guarantees The Government of Vietnam guarantees fair treatment for investors. Capital and other legal assets of investors will not be expropriated or confiscated by law or administrative measures and businesses with foreign-invested  capital will not be nationalized. Foreign investors are allowed to remit abroad investment capital and profits, loan principal and interest, and other legal proceeds and assets. Expatriates working for businesses with foreign-invested capital or for a business cooperation contract are permitted to remit their income abroad. The Vietnam government respects intellectual and industrial property rights and the interests of foreign investors relating to technology transfers into Vietnam. Economic Risks Global Finance Crisis is the hottest issues that people discuss most in this few years. The global financial crisis that started from the United States raises a very broad impact to Vietnam. Inflation Inflation has been in double digits since 2007 and peaking at 28% in August 2008. The fiscal deficit accounted for 4.5-5% GDP in 2008 while trade deficit reached US$17.5 billion (or over 20% of GDP), a level that signals vulnerability to a sudden drop in external demand (Figure 2). A high rate of investment combined with a sizeable fiscal deficit resulted in rapid growth in aggregate demand in the first half of 2008. Massive capital inflows generated asset price inflation, especially in real estate and land prices. Export Decline Vietnamese exports have suffered the strongest negative impact. With economic problems in the US, EU and Japan, which together account for more than 60% of Vietnamese exports, Vietnam saw a significant decline in export revenues. Vietnam’s export revenues fell 6.5% in November 2008 and a further 24% drop in January 2009 (year-on-year) (Figure 3). Orders for manufactured exports including garments, footwear and furniture dropped quickly, while seafood5 producers are also under pressure. The decline of orders has caused great difficulties for exporting companies, many of them are at risk of closing down.6 Vietnamese exports’ growth is forecasted to decline from 30% in 2008 to 13% in 2009. Unemployment Unemployment has worsened. At February 28, 2009, 66,700 workers (out of 45 million workers) lost their jobs in 2008 with national unemployment rate of 4.65%. Thus, it is estimated that over 80,000 workers lost their jobs  nationwide in 2008. The latest forecast of Vietnam Labor and Employment Agency estimates the figure to hit 400,000 nationwide in 2009. Job cuts are rising especially in big cities11 with industrial, processing and exporting zones. The situation may worsen in 2009 with an unemployment rate of 5% and at a projected economic growth of 6.5%. High unemployment has already affected domestic demand and consumers’ sentiment in Vietnam, which are bearish in recent months. 3. Socio-Culture 3.1 Education Viet Nams population enjoys a relatively high standard of education. In fact, Confucian ethics has strongly influenced upon Vietnamese’s viewpoint of social values, and education has always been considered as one of the best values that a person should desire to achieve. Nowadays, education has been still considered as one of the most important issues that the country has to pay great attention. Recently, at the 11th Party Congress, the government is determined to develop a national education policy as one of the priorities of the country. As a result, the country has gained big success in education. Concretely, according to the 2009 Census results, there are only nearly four million people who have never attended school (5.0% of the total population aged 5 years and over) and as compared with the 1999 Census this number has decreased 5% (6.9 million people, account for 10.0% of population aged 5 and over). This shows the significant progress of Vietnam’s education sect or in minimizing the number of people who never go to school. The official figures also point out that the literacy rate for the population aged 15 years and over increased by 3.7% (from 90.3% in 1999 to 94.0% in 2009). The female literacy rate increased 4.9%, while the male literacy rate increased 2.2%, significantly narrowing the literacy rate gap between men and women. Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City are three provinces having the highest literacy rate (97.9%) while Lai Chau has the lowest (59.4%). This data shows that the literacy rate was not only increased quite rapidly but also express successes of Vietnam’s gender equality work in the education sector.13 Certainly, besides such successes, Vietnamese education system also has faced many challenges,  including poor infrastructure, lack of equipment and teaching materials, low wages precipitating an acute shortage of skilled teachers and academic staff, a relatively poor linkage of higher education with research, production and employment, and some contradictions of the system. As the analysis of RFA, the situation of education in Viet Nam in 2011 had some notable points as following: There were three positive points of the education in Vietnam in 2011. The first point is the plan of reducing the load of textbooks from primary to secondary school of the Ministry of Education and Training. The second is the plan of achieving universal preschool education for children of 5 years old. In this plan, the Ministry of Education will build public kindergartens for children at age 5 in the mountainous areas; and the poor students will be exempt from tuition fees, with the plan of over 95% of children enroll in 2 sessions / day by 2015. And the third is the policy of training and vocational training in poor areas such as the Highlands. On the contrary, there were also many crucially negative points of the education in 2011. First of all, there was the imbalance in enrollment in universities and colleges between students with practical needs. The sectors of social sciences, agriculture, forestry and fishery were registered by only 2.5% of exam registration records (while Vie tnam has up to 70% of the population are farmers). And the sectors in demand such as business, tourism had to be encountered the difference between training and recruitment practices; and this leads to the fact that graduates get difficulty to find job. Secondly, teacher’s salary does not meet their living when inflation is high; and this leads to some problems: the teachers could not focus on their business as they had to find extra jobs, or to open extra classes. Thirdly, there has existed the problem of the degradation in social ethics of many students, due to lack of paying attention on humanity teaching, which can be proved by many cases of students committed violent guilty or crime. 3.2 Human Resource The national average population in 2011 estimated 87.84 million, up by 1.04% compared to 2010, including male population 43.47 million, (49.5%), and female population 44.37 million, (50.5%). Urban population is 26.88 million,  (30.6%); rural population is 60.96 million (69.4 %). According to the official report, the population structure by age in Vietnam is in a positive change. The population in the working age is 46,48 million, increased 0,12% compared to 2010. The proportion of workers in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries declined from 48.7% in 2010 to 48.0% in 2011; in industry and construction rose from 21.7% to 22.4%; and in the services maintained at 29.6%. The unemployment rate in the working age was 2.27% in 2011, of which the urban areas account for 3.6%, the rural areas 1.71%. This is the period of the country with advantages in labor force, also known as the demographic window period, which began in 2003 and may last from 30 to 50 years. This is considered as a bi g advantage for the industrialization and modernization of the country, if it takes advantage of the superiority Vietnamese on the labor force. 3.3 Traffic: Conditions And Problems Highway system The road system consists of over 200,000 km network including over 10,000 bridges. However road conditions are not ideal, less than half of the national highways have two lanes or more. In addition, road congestion is increasing in major cities. In recent years, the Government has mobilized a significantly large amount of capital to upgrade the highway system with financial support from international lending agencies. Railway The rail network consists of about 2,600 km of single–track line covering several routes. There are about 260 stations in the network. The longest and most important route is the Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City line, which stretches for 1,730 km. This line is now serviced by an express train, which makes the journey in approximately 29.5 hours. The lines connecting Vietnam to China were re-opened a few years ago. Inland Waterways Often overlooked by foreign investors, the inland waterway system offers a cheap and flexible mode of transport. Vietnam has more than 2,300 rivers and canals with total length of 198.000 km. Currently, the inland waterway has a system of over 61,000 km. The two major inland waterway systems serve as major transportation outlets. The first major inland waterway system is in  the Red River area in the north which stretches for approximately 2,500 km. Along this system there are five main ports, of which Hanoi is the largest. The second major inland waterway extends 4,500 km along the Mekong River and its tributaries in the South and boasts about 30 ports, including Ho Chi Minh City. The larger river vessels are tug-drawn barges. Official estimates put the fleet capacity at about 420,000 tons with speeds ranging from 2 to over 20 km an hour. Smaller, wooden barges are mostly privately owned. Ports Vietnam has eleven major seaports. Ho Chi Minh City serves most of the South and now boasts modern container loading facilities. Just a few hours’ drive from Hanoi, Hai Phong serves much of the North. Given the rapid rise in trade volume, increasing port capacity is a national priority. Airports and Civil Aviation There are three international airports: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang. Currently, the Government has significantly upgraded international airports to handle the increase in the volume of traffic associated with Vietnams invigorated economy. A new international terminal of the Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, capable of handling up to 10 million passengers a year was opened in December 2007. Noi Bai airport in Hanoi was upgraded, enlarged and completed for operation in 2002, construction of a second terminal is expected to start in October 2008 and completed in two years. Four new international airports are planned to be constructed in Phu Quoc, Dong Nai, Lao Cai and Quang Ninh provinces. Preparations for the new Long Thanh International Airport, 40 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai province is underway. The airport is scheduled to open in 2010 and by 2015 it will be further expanded to reach an annual transportation capacity of 80 to 100 million passengers, becoming one of the biggest airports in the region. In addition, there are 16 other domestic airports around the country. Culture and Social Vietnam is a country located in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a culturally rich country whose distinct history played a role in the development of the modern day state. Vietnamese practices of Confucianism and showing reverence towards ancestors are evidence of China’s historical influence on Vietnamese  society. Vietnam became an independent state in the tenth century but was colonized by the French in the mid 1800s. Vietnam gained independence in the mid twentieth century but still retains traces of French culture which are visible in the way people communicate verbally and nonverbally. Though Vietnam has struggled over the past century through colonial rule, the Vietnam War and recent economic upheavals, it is now rebuilding itself to be able to compete on a global scale. Having a comprehensive understanding of Vietnam’s unique cultural values and traditions can allow the company to develop strong and successful business relationships with Vietnamese counterparts. Language Vietnamese is the official language, although there are distinct northern, central and southern dialects and accents. It is a tonal language, with each syllable; there are six different tones that can be used, which change the definition and it often makes it difficult for foreigners to pick up the language. There are other languages spoken as well such as Chinese, Khmer, Cham and other languages spoken by tribes inhabiting the mountainous regions. Although there are some similarities to Southeast Asian languages, such as Chinese, Vietnamese is thought to be a separate language group, although a member of the Austro-Asiatic language family. In written form, Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet and accent marks to show tones. This system of writing called â€Å"quoc ngu†, was created by Catholic missionaries in the 17th century to translate the scriptures. Eventually this system, particularly after World War I, replaced one using Chinese characters (chu nom), which had been the u nofficial written form used for centuries. Non-verbal communication For certain feelings, Vietnamese people favor non-verbal communication. Vietnamese do not express feeling of thankfulness of apology in verbal communication, but non-verbal through silence or a smile. The proper respectful behavior is to avoid eye contact when talking to person who is not equal status or of the same gender. The smile is another non-verbal symbol conveying the feeling of respect in Vietnamese culture. It is used as an expression of apology, or as expression of embarrassment. For the Vietnamese a smile is a proper response in most situation in which verbal expression is not necessary, or appropriate. Confucianism The teachings of Confucius influence the Vietnamese describe the position of the individual in Vietnamese society. Confucian teachings emphasize the importance of relationships, responsibility and obligation. This philosophy is still a vital component of Vietnamese society and is prevalent in Vietnamese business culture in conserving the harmony of the collective good. The basic tenets are based upon five different relationships: Ruler and subject Husband and wife Parents and children Brothers and sisters Friends Hierarchy As like other group-oriented societies, Vietnam hierarchical structures are very much based upon age and status. This derives from Confucianism, which emphasizes social order. Everyone is seen as having a distinct place and role within the hierarchical structure, be it the family or workplace. An obvious example is seen in social situations where the oldest person in a group is greeted or served first. Within the family the head would be responsible for making decisions and approving marriages. Therefore companies that want to invest in Vietnam are made sense to give more authority to local managers to control the subordinates. The organization structure can be designed as hierarchical, with power derived from prestige, force, and inheritance. Collectivism Vietnam is a collectivist society in which the needs of the group are often placed over the individual. Family and community concerns will almost always come before business or individual needs. Family in particular plays an important role in Vietnamese society. You will notice that close ties between extended families and communities can have a major influence on individual behavior and oftentimes there are multiple generations living under one roof. For this reason, the company of the investor can pay more attention to their employees’ family members for example provide free medical treatment, childcare leave, family trips, etc. This can increase the employees’ loyalty to the company. Besides, in order to increase efficiency of Vietnamese employees, the company should assign tasks to them by group rather than individual. Religion Religion in Vietnam is closely related to the history of Vietnam and most importantly the culture of Vietnam. The earliest established religions in Vietnam were Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism (called the ‘triple religion’). These religions have been co-existing in the country for centuries and mixed well with the Vietnamese tradition of ancestor worship. This special mix explains why the Vietnamese people find it hard to say exactly which religion the belong to. They usually classify themselves as non-religious, despite visiting religious temples several times every year. At the year 2006, the major religious affiliations amongst Vietnam born people were Buddhism (58.6%), Catholics (22.1%), other (4.6%), and no religion (11.03%). From the data, we were found that Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism have greatly affected the Vietnamese’s behavior. The foreign investors should take note there are quite a large number of vegetarian in Vietnam, because of th e Buddhism religion. Food of Vietnamese Food is a very important part of Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese not only enjoy eating but believe eating good food can bring harmony and closeness to the family and relationships. The types of foods are chosen to bring luck and these vary from province to province. Buying daily for fresh food is essential for all Vietnamese cooking. In general, Vietnamese people are not as concerned about nutrition as Westerner. They are more concerned with the quality of the foods. Concepts of Time Like most Asians, the Vietnamese have a more extended concept of time than that of most Americans. The agrarian nature of their traditional society focuses on seasons rather than days or weeks. And this tradition is reinforced by the Confucian tradition of respect for earlier generations. Americans measure time by the clock, Vietnamese by the monsoon. Although this is changing somewhat, Vietnamese can still be expected to take a longer view of time and be suspicious of the need for urgency in making decisions  or culminating a business deal. Patience remains the ultimate Confucian virtue in personal life as well as in business. Personal Relationships In Vietnam, propriety and courtesy play a major role in personal relationships. Vietnamese are generally more interpersonally formal than are Americans. This formality decreases the uncertainty surrounding interpersonal contacts in Vietnamese society and is carried over into the business realm for the same reasons. During initial meetings with Vietnamese officials, you can expect little real business to be accomplished. The Vietnamese will concentrate on getting to know youyour background, your expertise, your character. In their high-context communication culture, they will depend heavily on non-verbal clues to assess meaning. By becoming acquainted and establishing a personal relationship with you, they are merely trying to understand you better. Vietnamese society is comprised of an interconnected network of personal relationships, all of which carry obligations on both sides. These mutual obligations are the underpinnings of social order in Vietnam, so they are taken very serious ly. Americans need to understand and be sensitive to the serious nature of what may seem to them to be casual business relations. Failure to do so could easily result in a loss of trust or credibility, with obvious implications for longer-term relationships. 4. Technology In terms of technology, Viet Nam is a rapidly developing country. The year 2011 was the beginning of the strategic plan of economic and social development, period 2011-2020, in which infrastructural building is considered as one of main targets. With this plan, the country has been building many expressways and will let the local transport network be eventually upgraded to meet the requirements of rural industrialization and modernization, and connect itself with the national system. In addition, the above plan also includes a project which will work to narrow its scientific and technological gap with the world in some key fields by 2020. To launch this project, the Government will give top priority to enhancing the competence of scientists and related managers while encouraging the organization of training courses partnered with foreign competent partners. According to the project, the Government will focus on scientific and technological renovation to sharpen the competitive edge of local products and assisting businesses to purchase patents in some prioritized areas: biotechnology, information technology, new materials technology Nano technology , manufacturing technology and automation. 5. Legislation The communist party-controlled government of Vietnam has ruled under four state constitutions. The first was promulgated in 1946, the second in 1959, the third in 1980, and the current in 1992 (amended in 2001). Significantly, each bore the mark of its time. On paper, all these constitutions seem to establish a solid democracy. In fact, the purpose of the 1946 constitution was essentially to provide the communist regime with freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. The second constitution was explicitly communist in character. Its preamble described the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a peoples democratic state led by the working class, and the document provided for a nominal separation of powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The 1980 Constitution concentrates power in a newly established Council of State much like the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, endowing it nominally with both legislative and executive powers. Many functions of the legi slature remain the same as under the 1959 document, but others have been transferred to the executive branch or assigned to both branches concurrently. The executive branch appears strengthened overall, having gained a second major executive body, the Council of State, and the importance of the National Assembly appears to have been reduced accordingly. The role of the Council of Ministers, while appearing on paper to have been subordinated to the new Council of State, in practice retained its former primacy. Having inherited the previous constitutions with substantial and basic changes, on the one hand, the 1992 Constitution continues reaffirming the basic principles in the constitutional history of Vietnam. First, it reiterates the target of socialist construction in Vietnam and the popular nature of the State. Second, the 1992 Constitution continues affirming the Communist Party of Vietnam’s leadership over the State and the society.  Third, it continues affirming the mechanism of State powers performed by the people through the National Assembly and the People’s Councils, the organization and operation of the State under the principle of concentrated powers; the concentration of State powers uniformly into the National Assembly with the division of responsibility among State bodies for the exercise of the legislative power, executive power and judicial power. On the other hand, the 1992 Constitution sees big changes: Vietnam decided to take economic renewal as the cent ral task, First, building the multi-sector and multi-ownership market economy along the socialist orientation. open-door policy and international economic integration. In reality, however, final authority on all matters rested with the Political Bureau; especially, the guarantees provided by the constitutions for freedom of speech, the press, and assembly has been never intended to be carried out. The constitutions eventually show its limitations since Vietnam has joined the stream of globalization, especially in the field of human rights and land-ownership law. In a report made public at the Conference on the Rule of law for human rights in the ASEAN region held by the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN (HRRCA) in Jakarta, Indonesia on 30 April 2011, Mr. Vo Van Ai, President of Que Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam and the Vietnam Committee for Human Rights called on Vietnam to urgently reform its legal system and bring domestic legislation into line with international human rights laws. Mr. Vo Van Ai declared: ―36 years after the end of the Vietnam War, the rule of law exists only in theory in Vietnam. The government has incorporated human rights into its 1992 Constitution. Yet it has also adopted a whole arsenal of Laws, Decrees, Ordinances and Decisions which restrict or even nullify the exercise of these rights, in total violation of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam adhered in 1982â€â€". At the beginning of the New Year 2012 (Jan 1, 2012), there happened The Tien Lang land withdrawal case: in Tien Lang district (on the outskirts of Haiphong, a port city east of Hanoi) a fish farmer, Doan Van Vuong, and his family had resisted a large force moving in to enforce an eviction order. With an improvised mine and muskets bought on the black market, they’d wounded two soldiers and four policemen, including the local police chief. Prime  Minister Nguyen Tan Dung himself had to meet the Haiphong City authorities to resolve the case; and finally came to the conclusion on Feb 2 that the Haiphong government was absolutely wrong in the case; and he ordered the Haiphong City authorities to review their wrong works as and repair the situation. This case is just one among so many cases that show matters association with the land law. And this shocked case has raised the question of reforming the land law, which has been ambiguously claimed by the constitution as ―land is possessed by the whole peopleâ€â€". Mr. Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, comments that ―it’s possible to see the recent incident at Tien Lang as a climactic demonstration of the faults in our Land Law and how it is implemented at the local level. A good farmer, pure, simple and hardworking, who’s driven to defend his right to his land with home-made weapons – what misery! Everybody believes that there’s such a thing as justice and that the law ensures it. Certainly that’s what the farmers who built the fish ponds at Tien Lang believed. They went to the court expecting fair play, but the simple truths they understood proved elusive. The hopelessness of their situati on drove them to take desperate measures. As mentioned above, the 11th Congress of Vietnam Communist Party held in 2011 issued four degrees; and one of them is beginning the study of the amendments and supplements of the 1992 Constitution and establishing the revised draft of the 1992 Constitution. This is urgent and necessary for the development of the country. 6. Environment Viet Nam is blessed by the nature, with a great ecological and hydrological diversity. The country is made up of equatorial lowlands, high, temperate plateaus and cooler mountainous areas. It lies in the inter-tropical zone and local conditions vary from frosty winters in the far northern hills to the year-round subequatorial warmth of the Mekong Delta. At sea level, the mean annual temperature is about 27 °C in the south, falling to about 21 °C in the far north. Geographically, it stretches over 1600km (1000mi) along the eastern coast of the Indochinese Peninsula; and has two main cultivated areas, that are the Red River Delta (15,000 sq km/5400 sq mi) in the north  and the Mekong Delta (60,000 sq km/23,400 sq mi) in the south. Vietnam also has diverse wildlife, with rare and precious fauna such as elephants, rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, black bear, snub-nosed monkey, crocodile and turtle. Forest area accounts for 2% of total forests in East Asia and Pacific. Fish catch is amon g the 10 highest countries in the world, with 1,451,800 tons per year. However, as the report of the World Bank on the environment in Viet Nam, ―Rapid economic growth in Vietnam over the last ten years, and its associated industrialization, urbanization, as well as increased exploitation of natural resources, has created significant pressures for the environment.â€â€"35 For example, the diverse wildlife is in precipitous decline because of the destruction of habitats, illegal hunting and pollution. In fact, Viet Nam Rhino was officially extinct in 2011. One of the most obvious examples for illustrating the environmental pollution is the phenomenon of getting narrowed of the lakes in Ha Noi. According to the Hanoi Construction Department, there are 111 ponds and lakes in Hanoi which cover a total area of 1165 hectares. The total area of lakes has decreased sharply during the urbanization, while a lot of them have disappeared. It is estimated that 80% of the lakesides have got polluted, 71% of lakes have suffered from pollution, 26% of the lakes still do not have embankments, while 8% of lakes have partial embankments. Environmentalists have called on to take urgent actions to protect the remaining lakes, or they would also disappear one day. Vietnam is among the countries that can be seriously affected by climate change. And the fact shows that the increasing deterioration of environmental conditions is emerging as a barrier to growth and development in recent years. In fact, according to the General Statistics Office, domestic natur al disasters occurred in 2011 has made 257 people dead and missing, 267 wounded; nearly 1.2 thousand houses collapsed and swept away; 391.8 thousand houses were submerged or damaged; more than 760 km of dykes, and the 680 km road motorized traffic bursts, landslides; 867 power poles broken or poured; nearly 54,000 hectares of rice and vegetables has been lost; more than 330,000 hectares of rice crops were flooded or damaged. Total value of damage caused by natural disasters in 2011 was estimated at over 10 trillion VND. Thus, this is really a big challenge of the country; and it needs a national and urgent action to prevent an ecological and hydrological catastrophe. C. BRIEF CONCLUSION With the aforementioned analysis of ―P.E.S.T.L.Eâ€â€", we see that in 2011, on the one hand, Viet Nam constantly attempted to keep its strategic plan of development, and also has obtained some important goals; on the other hand, the country had to face many difficulties and challenges which came both from outside and from inside. In my opinion, there are some main issues that the government should pay great attention in the coming years: reforming the education system, fighting against corruption (especially, promoting fiscal transparency and the public availability of economic data and information), reforming the state-owned sectors, amending laws, narrowing the gap between the Kinh, the Hoa and the ethnic minority groups, and improving environmental conditions.

The Odyssey Essay example -- essays research papers fc

japanese-American During WWII By: Japanese immigrants and the following generations had to endure discrimination, racism, and prejudice from white Americans. They were first viewed as economic competition. The Japanese Americans were then forced into internment camps simply because of the whites fear and paranoia. The Japanese first began to immigrate to the United States in 1868. At first they came in small numbers. US Census records show only 55 in 1870 and 2,039 in 1890. After that, they came in much greater numbers, reaching 24,000 in 1900, 72,000 in 1910, and 111,000 in 1920.(Parrillo,287) Most settled in the western states.(Klimova,1) Many families in Japan followed the practice of primogeniture, which is when the eldest son inherits the entire estate. This was a â€Å"push† factor. Because of primogeniture, â€Å"second and third sons came to the United States to seek their fortunes.†(Parrillo,287) The promise of economic prosperity and the hope for a better lif e for their children were two â€Å"pull† factors. These foreign-born Japanese were known as Issei (first generation). They filled a variety of unskilled jobs in railroads, farming, fishing, and domestic services. (Klimova,1) The Japanese encountered hostility and discrimination from the start. In California, a conflict with organized labor was due to their growing numbers in small areas and racial visibility.(Parrillo,287) White workers perceived Japanese as economic competition. Their willingness to work for lower wages and under poor conditions brought on hostility from union members. The immigrants became victims of ethnoviolence. In 1890, Japanese cobblers were attacked by members of the shoe maker’s union, and Japanese restaurateurs were attacked by members of the union for cooks and waiters in 1892. It was very difficult to find steady employment; therefore, most of them entered agricultural work. They first worked as laborers, accumulated sufficient capitol, th en as tenant farmers or small landholders. Some became contract gardeners for whites.(Parrillo,287) The Japanese farmers were very knowledgeable of cultivation, which made them strong competitors against white farmers. More discrimination by the dominant group soon followed. â€Å"In 1913, the California legislator passed the first alien landholding law, prohibiting any person who was ineligible for citizenship from owning land in the state, and per... ...omic exploitation. After enduring such injustices and hardships, many are now enjoying the life the Issei dreamed of for their families. Bibliography Work Cited Parillo, Vincent N. Strangers to These Shors: Race and Ethnitc Relations in the United States. Needham Heights, : Massachuchetts: 2000, 287-289. Klimova, Tatiana A. â€Å"Internment of Japanese Americans: Military Necessity or Racial Prejudice.† Old Dominion University. 1-9 (5/2/00) Asia, Ask. â€Å"Linking The Past to Present: Asian Americans Then and Now.† The Asia Society 1996. 1-3 (5/1/00 Spickard, Paul R. Japanese Americans: The transformation and Formation of an Ethnic Group. New Yourk:1996,93-159 McWilliams, Carey. Prejudice Japanese Americans: Symbol of racial Intolerance. boston: 1945,106-190. Myer, Dillon S. â€Å"Joseph Yoshisuke Kurihara.† Upprinted Americans 1971. 1-5 (5/1/00) Asin, Stefanie.†Poignand Memories.† Houston Chronicle 7/31/95.1-3 5/2/00 Reaseach Center.†resea rch on 100th/442nd reginent conbat team.:NJAHS.1-2 5/2/00 Miyoshi, Nubu.:Idenity Crisis of the Sansei.†Sansei legacy project 3/13/98.1-21 5/1/00 Kiang, Peter.† Understanding the Perception of Asian Americans.† Asian Society1997.1-2 5/2/00 Word Count: 1862

Attention Deficit Disorder †Is It Myth or Reality? :: essays research papers fc

Attention Deficit Disorder is one of the more controversial topics for parents, educators and physicians in their efforts in identification and treatment of the disorder. Imagine your son or daughter being involved in this horrifying, grotesque, nightmarish hell. â€Å"On December 1, 1997, Michael Carneal, a fourteen-year old opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded, and one was paralyzed. Carneal was reportedly on Ritalin.† (Wiseman) â€Å"On March 24, 1998 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, eleven-year-old Andrew Golden and fourteen year old Mitchell Johnson shot fifteen people killing four students, one teacher, and wounding ten others. According to one report, the boys were believed to be on Ritalin.† (Wiseman) This is just a few of the numerous events that the one common denominator was the use of Ritalin or other mind-altering drugs. These drugs drive some of the children who take them to acts of violence, murder, and suicide. Bruce Wiseman is one of the many who believes that Attention Deficit Disorder is widely fraudulent labeling and drugging of our nation’s youth without proper identification and without trying other remedies or solutions. (Wiseman) We claim that we are a society of â€Å"Just Say No To Drugs.† Then why are there are approximately four million children on Ritalin today. (Connecting with Kids, Fox News 43, November 13, 2000) The World Health Organization and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) place Ritalin in the same category as cocaine, morphine and opium. These drugs are known to have the highest potential for abuse and are very addictive. Literature that is given to parents, does not address the abuse potential or actual abuse of methylphenidate, a generic for Ritalin. It is portrayed to be a mild substance that is not associated with abuse or serious side effects. In reality, there is scientific literature, which indicates that methylphenidate shares the same abuse potential as morphine, opium or cocaine. There are case reports that abuse can lead to tolerance and severe psychological dependence. (a 30 page report by the Drug Enforcement Agency in 1995 entitled, â€Å"Methyphenidate†) These reports are not taken seriously and in many cases not referenced at all. Therefore, the parents are not given the opportunity to make an intelligent decision based upon information mainly due to information that is very vague, general and possibly misguiding. There is no biologic, organic or scientific basis for Attention Deficit Disorder.

Maple Lodge Farms

Studying the Relevance of Larry Greiner’s Developmental Phases to the Future Stability of Maple Lodge Farms Maple Lodge Farms, a family-owned business awarded the prestige of being one of Canada’s 50 best managed companies, has attained success by employing a number of strategic organizational practices. Since the inception of Maple Lodge Farms, the founders’ commitment to providing various Canadian households with the highest quality chicken products has allowed it to become one of Canada’s leading poultry companies.Initially, the business owners’ main priority was to launch Maple Lodge Farms as a highly recognizable brand capable of sustaining a loyal customer base. This goal was largely achieved through a variety of measures the founders implemented throughout the organization’s existence. Recently, a few of the methods used to promote Maple Lodge Farms consist of using an integrated organizational structure, ensuring the safety of the pro ducts through technological innovations and limiting the company’s environmental imprint on society.In this research paper, I intend to analyze the current transitional stage of Maple Lodge Farms in Larry Greiner’s terms, evaluate the success of the organization’s human resources strategy – relating it to Larry Greiner’s developmental phases – and offer potential suggestions to boost its future growth. For the purpose of this analysis, a discussion of Larry Greiner’s article, Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow: A company’s past has clues for management, is necessary to provide insight into the growth phase Maple Lodge Farms is now in.Larry Greiner, a professor at the Harvard Business School, believes the natural progression of a company from its initial stages to a more sophisticated business model is a consequence of its organizational structure. In other words, an organization’s current managerial framework influences its upcoming management decisions – hence the title of Greiner’s paper. He states that the future health of a business is dependent upon the way it is managed – i. e. its management style – in addition to how it reacts to challenges presented to the established managerial setup. Companies fail to see that many clues to their future success lie within their own organizations and their evolving states of development. Moreover, the inability of management to understand its organization development problems can result in a company becoming â€Å"frozen† in its present stage of evolution or, ultimately, in failure, regardless of market opportunities† (Greiner, 1998). Moreover, Greiner contends that a business undergoes five known developmental phases – each characterized by both an evolutionary and revolutionary stage. â€Å"1.The term evolution is used to describe prolonged periods of growth where no major upheaval occurs in o rganization practices. 2. The term revolution is used to describe those periods of substantial turmoil in organization life. As a company progresses through developmental phases, each evolutionary period creates its own revolution† (Greiner, 1998). Therefore, a specific growth period is defined by a particular management style and a management crisis which results directly from it – i. e. the evolutionary and revolutionary aspects of each transitional phase respectively.Furthermore, the age and size of the organization, in addition to the growth rate of the industry, all play roles in the construction of a progression model that accurately describes a business. Greiner’s assumptions are relevant to Maple Lodge Farms because not only do they enable an understanding of the organization’s present state of development, but they also offer implications for the future stability of the business – essentially by indicating which management style a company s hould adopt as it grows and changes.Before I investigate the effectiveness of Maple Lodge Farms’ business plan – specifically its human resources approach – and forecast its growth capabilities, I must first identify the organization’s present developmental state. According to Greiner’s descriptions of the various stages a company undergoes, the history of Maple Lodge Farms shows that it is currently in the third phase of growth – specifically, the evolutionary part known as the delegation stage. The next era of growth evolves from the successful application of a decentralized organization structure. It exhibits these primary characteristics: 1. Much greater responsibility is given to the managers of plants and market territories. 2. Management often concentrates on making new acquisitions which can be lined up beside other decentralized units. 3. Communication from the top is infrequent, usually by correspondence, telephone, or brief visits to field locations† (Greiner, 1998).The owners’ dedication to providing superior customer service has guided every facet of the way their business has been managed. In pursuit of this goal, the company has successfully implemented a decentralized management structure. â€Å"We are there every step of the way – we have established a unique integrated development team that includes senior representation from Sales, Marketing, Research and Development, Quality Assurance, and Supply Chain to ensure superior quality and customer-focused service† (â€Å"Maple lodge farms†, 2011).This structural framework reflects Greiner’s organizational aspect of the delegation stage, as it offers managers greater responsibility in supervising the operations of their plants – fundamentally affording them the freedom to manage these plants as they see fit, with limited corporate intervention. The other traits Greiner prescribes to the delegation stage †“ besides the organizational arrangement –, confirms the notion that Maple Lodge Farms is in fact in this transitional phase. The delegation stage proves useful for gaining expansion through heightened motivation at lower levels. Decentralized managers with greater authority and incentive are able to penetrate larger markets, respond faster to customers, and develop new products† (Greiner, 1998). The organization’s foray into Halal poultry – especially with the prosperous Zabiha Halal line – not only demonstrates the effectiveness of the company’s branding system, but also that Maple Lodge Farms wants to breach the substantial Muslim market and thus attract a more ethnically diverse consumer base.Moreover, the organization’s successful promotions of its newer items – such as the pre-cooked refrigerated foods, the chicken bacon and other innovative manufactured products –, suggests that Maple Lodge Farms is attempting to cater to different preferences; the firm does this to capture a larger market segment, beyond what they have attained so far. Furthermore, the company’s latest acquisition of plants in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in addition to Ontario, is testament to their desire to infiltrate a broader market across provincial lines.This action implies that Maple Lodge Farms is not only expanding its product lines to suit differentiated customer tastes, but also enlarging the organization nationwide – a claim supported by its recent obtainment of plants in New Brunswick, as well as Ontario, and its intention of partnering with Nova Scotia and P. E. I. growers to build primary operations in Berwick, Nova Scotia (â€Å"Grand river foods,† 2011). Since the characteristics that Maple Lodge Farms possesses are outlined in Greiner’s delegation stage, it thereby affirms that the organization is currently in this part of its evolution.Although Maple Lodge Farms appears to be doing well in the delegation stage of Greiner’s model, I believe that the organization may be on the verge of entering the revolutionary component of the third growth phase – referred to as the control crisis. Essentially, this situation arises as a product of the management style introduced in the delegation stage – involving market expansion, decentralized organizational structure, delegative managerial style and so on.Moreover, the control crisis occurs when â€Å"top executives sense that they are losing control over a highly diversified field operation. Autonomous field managers prefer to run their own shows without coordinating plans, money, technology, and manpower with the rest of the organization† (Greiner, 1998). Though this scenario may not be representative of the company quite yet, Greiner insinuates that at the end of an evolutionary period, all companies must enter a revolutionary period; it is merely the path that all organizations must follow in their progression models.Therefore, it is more than likely that Maple Lodge Farms may soon be in a crisis control situation, as its lengthy evolutionary stage is poised to end. The firm should understand the pending reality of a control crisis and be willing to make changes regarding the managerial framework, so as to preserve the health of the company. In 2010, Maple Lodge Farms was given the honor of being named one of fifty organizations in Canada that earned the Best Managed Company award. The CEO of Maple Lodge Farms, Michael Burrows, attributes this success to the customer-oriented method the company whole-heartedly embraces. At Maple Lodge Farms, we speak with our customers on an ongoing basis to gain their insights and to identify the most significant opportunities that move us closer to realizing their success†¦Our sales team is actively engaged with our customers and in the marketplace as often as possible in order to remain abreast of new opportunities and challenges†Ã‚  (â€Å"Maple lodge farms,† 2011). Maple Lodge Farms has nurtured this customer service focus through the use of effective human resources management, which prioritizes the recruitment and training of individuals able to meet inflexible customer demands.Consider the organization’s venture into the untapped Halal foods market. The company’s interest in realizing potential gains from Muslim buyers compelled Maple Lodge Farms to first launch its Halal product line in the 1990s – which has since been perfected over the organization’s existence. In adherence with strict Islamic procedures, the company employs several Muslim individuals to handle the slaughter of its chickens. â€Å"We have a team of several Muslim Blessers and a dedicated Muslim Product Manager†¦under oath to perform the duties assigned to them with honesty and integrity.ISNA’s Halal auditor visits our plant on daily basis to ensure the Halal process is followed with consistency† (â€Å"Maple lodge farms†). Consequently, in order to meet the stringent requirements of the Muslim community, Maple Lodge Farms has recruited and/or trained personnel in a highly specified manner, so as to satisfy their particular consumer needs. Additionally, the human resources department of Maple Lodge Farms encourages management leaders to continuously undergo training programs in order to keep abreast of new managerial techniques.This increases the efficiency of how all the plants of the firm are run. Moreover, the company has regular employee performance appraisals in order to ensure the quality of services offered to consumers. Therefore, the organization’s emphasis on fostering an organizational culture premised upon customer satisfaction – achieved partly through human resources policies concerning recruitment and training – has allowed the company to achieve recognition for its entrepreneurial strides.The workp lace diversity amongst employees of Maple Lodge Farms – ensuing from the diversification of the firm’s product lines to accommodate Halal consumers – necessitates a form of diversity management and the implementation of employee diversity programs by the human resources department. Diversity management’s initiative is not simply to advocate tolerance; more significantly, its purpose is to combine the different perspectives of a multicultural organization’s staff and use them to improve the firm’s performance.My research indicates that while Maple Lodge Farms may have a rudimentary diversity management system in place, its human resources team should consider taking full advantage of the company’s diverse employee population. This involves: top management commitment, diversity training programs, inclusive/representative communications, activities celebrating diversity, support groups/mentor programs, diversity audits and management acc ountability.I believe establishing a comprehensive diversity management system will allow Maple Lodge Farms to become not only an inclusive firm but one that is more effective from a business standpoint. My analysis of Maple Lodge Farms shows that it has tremendous potential to grow as an organization. Firstly, the managerial team should consider altering its delegative style of management to one that involves coordination techniques. Since Maple Lodge Farms seems to be on the outset of a revolutionary period in Greiner’s growth model, a change in how the company manages itself is necessary. Those companies that move ahead find a new solution in the use of special coordination techniques† (Greiner, 1998). Establishing these modifications in the organizational structure and in the general way the firm is managed, will enable Maple Lodge Farms to progress into the coordination stage – the next phase of Greiner’s growth model – and maintain the company ’s steady evolution. â€Å"All of these new coordination systems prove useful in achieving growth through more efficient allocation of a company’s limited resources.They prompt field managers to look beyond the needs of their local units†¦they learn to justify their actions more carefully to a â€Å"watchdog† audience at headquarters† (Greiner, 1998). Furthermore, the aforementioned diversity management system is another change Maple Lodge Farms should make, as it will move the organization in a new direction – wherein the marketing strategy will be more wide-ranging and cognizant of the immense diversity in customer tastes.From a human resources perspective, Maple Lodge Farms has succeeded in aspects other companies have failed in; they have created an organizational culture that whole-heartedly advocates superior customer service policies. This is evidenced by the human resources policies emphasizing the recruitment and training of qualified individuals, who are able to meet the organization’s standards of customer service. The distinction of being one of Canada’s fifty best managed companies validates the human resources measures Maple Lodge Farms has undertaken to provide first-class products and the best customer service.If the firm were to establish a strategic plan to implement a coordination management style and a diversity management system, then Maple Lodge Farms would experience no difficulties in continuing its success as a company in the future. Works Cited 1. Grand river foods fresh poultry processing division sold to maple lodge farms. (2011, November 21). Canadian Poultry Magazine, Retrieved from http://www. canadianpoultrymag. com 2. Greiner, L.E. (1998). Evolution and revolution as organizations grow. Harvard Business Review, (Reprint 98308), 4-11. Retrieved from http://www. gertjanschop. com 3. Maple lodge farms amongst best managed companies. (2011, February 23). Brampton Guardian. Retri eved from http://www. bramptonguardian. com 4. Maple lodge farms ltd. : Zabiha halal. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. zabihahalal. com

Francis Bacon on Youth and Age

Francis Bacon on Youth and Age Francis Bacon  was a true Renaissance man- statesman, writer, and philosopher  of science. He is considered the first major English essayist. Professor Brian Vickers has pointed out that Bacon could vary the tempo of argument in order to highlight important aspects. In the essay Of Youth and Age, Vickers notes in the introduction to the Oxford Worlds Classics 1999 edition of The Essays Or Counsels, Civil and Moral  that Bacon uses a most effective variation in tempo, now slowing down, now speeding up, together with syntactical parallelism, in order to characterize the two opposed stages of life.   Of Youth and Age A man that is young in years may be old in ​hours, if he have lost no time. But that happeneth rarely. Generally, youth is like the first cogitations, not so wise as the second. For there is a youth in thoughts, as well as in ages. And yet the invention of young men is more lively than that of old, and imaginations stream into their minds better, and as it were more divinely. Natures that have much heat and great and violent desires and perturbations, are not ripe for action till they have passed the meridian of their years; as it was with Julius Caesar, and Septimius Severus. Of the latter of whom it is said, Juventutem egit erroribus, imo furoribus, plenum1. And yet he was the ablest emperor, almost, of all the list. But reposed natures may do well in youth. As it is seen in Augustus Caesar, Cosmus Duke of Florence, Gaston de Foix, and others. On the other side, heat and vivacity in age is an excellent composition for business. Young men are fitter to invent than to judge; f itter for execution than for counsel; and fitter for new projects than for settled business. For the experience of age, in things that fall within the compass of it, directeth them; but in new things, abuseth them. The errors of young men are the ruin of business; but the errors of aged men amount but to this, that more might have been done, or sooner. Young men, in the conduct and manage of actions, embrace more than they can hold; stir more than they can quiet; fly to the end, without consideration of the means and degrees; pursue some few principles which they have chanced upon absurdly; care not to innovate, which draws unknown inconveniences; use extreme remedies at first; and that which doubleth all errors, will not acknowledge or retract them; like an unready horse, that will neither stop nor turn. Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success. Certainly it is good to compound employments of both; for that will be good for the present, because the virtues of either age may correct the defects of both; and good for succession, that young men may be learners, while men in age are actors; and, lastly, good for extern accidents, because authority followeth old men, and favour and popularit y youth. But for the moral part, perhaps youth will have the pre-eminence, as age hath for the politic. A certain rabbin, upon the text, Your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, inferreth that young men are admitted nearer to God than old, because vision is a clearer revelation than a dream. And certainly, the more a man drinketh of the world, the more it intoxicateth; and age doth profit rather in the powers of understanding, than in the virtues of the will and affections. There be some have an over-early ripeness in their years, which fadeth betimes. These are, first, such as have brittle wits, the edge whereof is soon turned; such as was Hermogenes the rhetorician, whose books are exceeding subtle; who afterwards waxed stupid. A second sort is of those that have some natural dispositions which have better grace in youth than in age; such as is a fluent and luxuriant speech, which becomes youth well, but not age: so Tully saith of Hortensius, Idem manebat, neq ue idem decebat2. The third is of such as take too high a strain at the first, and are magnanimous more than tract of years can uphold. As was Scipio Africanus, of whom Livy saith in effect, Ultima primis cedebant3. 1 He passed a youth full of errors, yea of madnesses.2 He continued the same, when the same was not becoming.3 His last actions were not equal to his first.

Development of Perspective in the Renaissance essays

Development of Perspective in the Renaissance essays An understanding of this new interplay of technology and science helps us to understand the emerging interdependence between instrumentation and representation inherent in perspective. It has been shown that the origins of perspective are integrally linked with a redefinition of knowledge that began in the latter thirteenth century and continued on. The creation of perspective in relation to the importance of the developments during the Renaissance period has an enormous impact on the tools and methods that we still see today, in sciences and arts, to name just two areas. The effects of perspective were wide spread and allowed technology to advance at a much faster rate as understanding came more fully about the world around and this led to new links between observation and representation. But from what we know it wasnt until the 1550s that a treatise explained the why, how and wherefores of the origin and implementation of perspective. During the first half of the fifteenth century when Brunelleschi, Alberti and others were establishing its principles, nothing precise appears to have been written on its origins. A first mention occurred in Filaretes Treatise on Architecture (1464), who believed that Brunelleschis demonstration involved a mirror, but offered no clue why he began his studies. Manetti, in his Life Of Brunelleschi (1482-1489), implied that perspective arose from architectural interests but did not elaborate. Luca Pacioli, in his Summa (1494), mentioned the use of perspective in contemporary painting but was silent about the question of origins. The first half of the sixteenth century brought no serious change. Pelerin (1505), Pacioli (1509), Ringelbergius (1535) in their treatises on perspective referred mainly to an artistic context but made no mention of Brunelleschi, Alberti or Filarete. Thus we come to Vasaris Lives of the Artists (1550). He looked for the origins of perspective in pai...

Best Writing Apps and Tools of 2018 - Freewrite Store

Best Writing Apps and Tools of 2018 - Freewrite Store Writing Software that Will Blow Your Mind Today’s guest post is by  Matt Grant.  Matt is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor.  His  work has appeared in  Literary Hub,  Book Riot,  HuffPost, and  BookBrowse.  Find Matt  online, or follow him on  Twitter  and  Facebook. Writing Software that Will Blow Your Mind As writers, we know that our craft takes time and energy. The last thing we need is to get bogged down in the process itself. Beyond the basic story, we’re often also struggling to keep track of character details, side plots, and random flashes of inspiration for parts of the story we’re not even working on yet. We need a solid place to keep all of this information in one, easily accessible place. Thankfully, gone are the days where you sat down at a typewriter and wrote everything in one long document. Yet one of the most frustrating things in our technological age is to be plugging away on a work in progress, only to get sidelined by bad or sluggish software. Below is a list of some of the best planning, writing and editing software available today with amazing features you didn’t know you needed. And the best part is, many of them are free. Planning: Scapple Scapple, by the folks at Literature and Latte, is a basic mind-mapping tool. It’s super simple and easy to use. All you do is make notes and connect them to one another by dragging and dropping them onto one another. Notes can be customized by color and size, although these options are limited. This can actually be a good thing, though, since you can’t waste too much time worrying about making your map look pretty. Scapple makes brainstorming not only easy, but fun. It’s like having an endless amount of paper at your disposal. Running out of room? No problem, you can easily zoom out of your working area and start a new map or connection in another area. yWriter – FREE! (Windows Only) yWriter is a free word processor for Windows PCs. Built by a writer for writers, the program breaks up your novel into scenes or chapters, making it easier for you to keep track of what goes where. You can create character cards and tags, and add a lot of helpful customizable notes to your scenes, such as the time of day it takes place and how long the scene is supposed to last. Due to its simplicity, I wouldn’t recommend yWriter for writing a full novel, although it has been done. There are much more advanced programs for that. yWriter is better for planning out your story scene by scene. But if you’re on a budget, yWriter will get the job done! Writing: Scrivener I’ve been using Scrivener for several years now, and it’s hands-down the best thing that could have happened to my writing. Scrivener is one of most popular writing tools available today. It’s so much more than just a word processor – it’s a novel-generating machine. Similar to yWriter, Scrivener allows you to break up your project into different parts, but it’s not just confined to chapters or scenes. You can have a flashback, a brief exchange between characters, or an entire short story in one document. These can be edited separately, allowing you to focus on just one small part of your work, or in â€Å"Scrivenings Mode,† which links together a series of scenes, like a whole first act. There are tons of easy-to-use, customizable features like split-screen, a digital note card outliner, a binder, and my personal favorite, compose mode.    If it all seems overwhelming, you don’t have to use all of the features. With Scrivener, you can find what works for you. It’s also cheap – at less than $50, Scrivener is an absolute steal. Sprinter – FREE! If you like â€Å"word sprints† – quick, 15-minute bursts of writing – consider giving Sprinter a try. Sprinter is an uncomplicated, distraction-free web-based writing program with a timer. You simply start writing, and the timer on the right side of the page begins its countdown. Need more than 15 minutes? No problem, set the timer for as long as you wish. You can also make a word count goal. Sprinter is great for brainstorming, flash fiction, writing prompts, and more. If you need to save your work for later, create a Postbox account and sync to Dropbox, Google Drive, and Evernote. Ulysses (Mac only) Similar to Scrivener, Ulysses is a customizable writing tool with lots of great features. You can organize your writing by project or subject, attach files, set writing goals, and add links and images to your text with ease. Ulysses utilizes a clear, clean, and beautiful interface. The editor allows you to choose your own colors, outlines, and more.  Ã‚   One of the greatest benefits of Ulysses is its synchronization capabilities. The program syncs seamlessly with iCloud and works on iOS as well, so you can write anywhere you are, on any device. It also integrates with Dropbox, making it easy to collaborate with others. iaWriter (Mac and Android only – FREE on Android!) iaWriter earns its place on this list because it’s a clear and clean plain-text editor with some of the most important features of the others, but at a much lower price. iaWriter might not be as versatile as Ulysses and Scrivener, but it works on the same principles. One of the coolest features that set iaWriter apart is Focus Mode, which dims everything except the current sentence you’re working on. You’re sure to have better and stronger sentences after using it. Syntax Control makes Focus Mode even better by highlighting your sentence’s grammatical structure. With the latest version of iaWriter, you can even add pictures and tables to content blocks, in case you’re working on something other than a straightforward novel. Editing: Hemingway Editor – FREE! If you haven’t been using this free online editing software that highlights your sentence structure and syntax, you’ve been missing out. Simply copy and paste your text into the Hemingway Editor’s interface, and it will show you what needs to be fixed. Things like overly complex structures, use of passive voice, and readability all become instantly highlighted and color-coded, allowing you to see all problems at a glance. You can even format your text into headings, subheadings, and add quotes and links. There’s a paid desktop version that works offline as well. Grammarly – FREE! Grammarly is a neat little browser extension that does essentially the same thing the Hemingway Editor does, but in real time. It will highlight spelling and grammar errors and suggest fixes. Grammarly also sends weekly emails summarizing your editing stats. You can opt out of if this feature if you wish. The greatest thing about this free plugin is that it works on most websites and text boxes, including Gmail and social media sites. Use it, and you’ll never accidentally send an unedited tweet again! When it comes to your writing projects, don’t settle for just a straightforward word processor anymore. With so much technology at your fingertips, there are thousands of writing tools and apps available that can make your writing time more productive and enjoyable than ever. Yet each program is as unique and different as every writer. Remember that not every program is going to fit your particular needs and style. If you’re spending money, take time to choose a program that will work for you. Most of these programs offer trial versions, so spend time learning them and working out their features before you pay. Just don’t take too long – your work in progress still needs your attention as well! What writing software do you swear by? Do you have any programs that you love and would recommend to others? Let us know in the comments!    Matt Grant  loves to write about writing, business, and all forms of popular  culture – books, film, and television. Matt started writing DVD reviews for  Pop Matters  in 2012, and in 2016, he followed through on a life-long dream by launching a part-time writing business at  www.mattgrantwriter.com. Since then, Matt’s work has appeared in  Literary Hub,  Book Riot,  HuffPost, and  BookBrowse,  and he has several ongoing clients.  His first personal essay,  Swimming Lessons,  is being published in LongReads at the end of August. Matt is also currently hard at work on his first novel, a comedic take on fantasy tropes for young adults. When not writing or reading, Matt works in youth development as an after-school program director  for one of the largest middle schools in Manhattan. Matt lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Katelyn. You can find him online at  www.mattgrantwriter.com, on  Twitter  @mattgrantwriter, and on Facebook  @mattgra ntwriter. Best Writing Apps and Tools of 2018 - Freewrite Store Writing Software that Will Blow Your Mind Today’s guest post is by  Matt Grant.  Matt is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor.  His  work has appeared in  Literary Hub,  Book Riot,  HuffPost, and  BookBrowse.  Find Matt  online, or follow him on  Twitter  and  Facebook. Writing Software that Will Blow Your Mind As writers, we know that our craft takes time and energy. The last thing we need is to get bogged down in the process itself. Beyond the basic story, we’re often also struggling to keep track of character details, side plots, and random flashes of inspiration for parts of the story we’re not even working on yet. We need a solid place to keep all of this information in one, easily accessible place. Thankfully, gone are the days where you sat down at a typewriter and wrote everything in one long document. Yet one of the most frustrating things in our technological age is to be plugging away on a work in progress, only to get sidelined by bad or sluggish software. Below is a list of some of the best planning, writing and editing software available today with amazing features you didn’t know you needed. And the best part is, many of them are free. Planning: Scapple Scapple, by the folks at Literature and Latte, is a basic mind-mapping tool. It’s super simple and easy to use. All you do is make notes and connect them to one another by dragging and dropping them onto one another. Notes can be customized by color and size, although these options are limited. This can actually be a good thing, though, since you can’t waste too much time worrying about making your map look pretty. Scapple makes brainstorming not only easy, but fun. It’s like having an endless amount of paper at your disposal. Running out of room? No problem, you can easily zoom out of your working area and start a new map or connection in another area. yWriter – FREE! (Windows Only) yWriter is a free word processor for Windows PCs. Built by a writer for writers, the program breaks up your novel into scenes or chapters, making it easier for you to keep track of what goes where. You can create character cards and tags, and add a lot of helpful customizable notes to your scenes, such as the time of day it takes place and how long the scene is supposed to last. Due to its simplicity, I wouldn’t recommend yWriter for writing a full novel, although it has been done. There are much more advanced programs for that. yWriter is better for planning out your story scene by scene. But if you’re on a budget, yWriter will get the job done! Writing: Scrivener I’ve been using Scrivener for several years now, and it’s hands-down the best thing that could have happened to my writing. Scrivener is one of most popular writing tools available today. It’s so much more than just a word processor – it’s a novel-generating machine. Similar to yWriter, Scrivener allows you to break up your project into different parts, but it’s not just confined to chapters or scenes. You can have a flashback, a brief exchange between characters, or an entire short story in one document. These can be edited separately, allowing you to focus on just one small part of your work, or in â€Å"Scrivenings Mode,† which links together a series of scenes, like a whole first act. There are tons of easy-to-use, customizable features like split-screen, a digital note card outliner, a binder, and my personal favorite, compose mode.    If it all seems overwhelming, you don’t have to use all of the features. With Scrivener, you can find what works for you. It’s also cheap – at less than $50, Scrivener is an absolute steal. Sprinter – FREE! If you like â€Å"word sprints† – quick, 15-minute bursts of writing – consider giving Sprinter a try. Sprinter is an uncomplicated, distraction-free web-based writing program with a timer. You simply start writing, and the timer on the right side of the page begins its countdown. Need more than 15 minutes? No problem, set the timer for as long as you wish. You can also make a word count goal. Sprinter is great for brainstorming, flash fiction, writing prompts, and more. If you need to save your work for later, create a Postbox account and sync to Dropbox, Google Drive, and Evernote. Ulysses (Mac only) Similar to Scrivener, Ulysses is a customizable writing tool with lots of great features. You can organize your writing by project or subject, attach files, set writing goals, and add links and images to your text with ease. Ulysses utilizes a clear, clean, and beautiful interface. The editor allows you to choose your own colors, outlines, and more.  Ã‚   One of the greatest benefits of Ulysses is its synchronization capabilities. The program syncs seamlessly with iCloud and works on iOS as well, so you can write anywhere you are, on any device. It also integrates with Dropbox, making it easy to collaborate with others. iaWriter (Mac and Android only – FREE on Android!) iaWriter earns its place on this list because it’s a clear and clean plain-text editor with some of the most important features of the others, but at a much lower price. iaWriter might not be as versatile as Ulysses and Scrivener, but it works on the same principles. One of the coolest features that set iaWriter apart is Focus Mode, which dims everything except the current sentence you’re working on. You’re sure to have better and stronger sentences after using it. Syntax Control makes Focus Mode even better by highlighting your sentence’s grammatical structure. With the latest version of iaWriter, you can even add pictures and tables to content blocks, in case you’re working on something other than a straightforward novel. Editing: Hemingway Editor – FREE! If you haven’t been using this free online editing software that highlights your sentence structure and syntax, you’ve been missing out. Simply copy and paste your text into the Hemingway Editor’s interface, and it will show you what needs to be fixed. Things like overly complex structures, use of passive voice, and readability all become instantly highlighted and color-coded, allowing you to see all problems at a glance. You can even format your text into headings, subheadings, and add quotes and links. There’s a paid desktop version that works offline as well. Grammarly – FREE! Grammarly is a neat little browser extension that does essentially the same thing the Hemingway Editor does, but in real time. It will highlight spelling and grammar errors and suggest fixes. Grammarly also sends weekly emails summarizing your editing stats. You can opt out of if this feature if you wish. The greatest thing about this free plugin is that it works on most websites and text boxes, including Gmail and social media sites. Use it, and you’ll never accidentally send an unedited tweet again! When it comes to your writing projects, don’t settle for just a straightforward word processor anymore. With so much technology at your fingertips, there are thousands of writing tools and apps available that can make your writing time more productive and enjoyable than ever. Yet each program is as unique and different as every writer. Remember that not every program is going to fit your particular needs and style. If you’re spending money, take time to choose a program that will work for you. Most of these programs offer trial versions, so spend time learning them and working out their features before you pay. Just don’t take too long – your work in progress still needs your attention as well! What writing software do you swear by? Do you have any programs that you love and would recommend to others? Let us know in the comments!    Matt Grant  loves to write about writing, business, and all forms of popular  culture – books, film, and television. Matt started writing DVD reviews for  Pop Matters  in 2012, and in 2016, he followed through on a life-long dream by launching a part-time writing business at  www.mattgrantwriter.com. Since then, Matt’s work has appeared in  Literary Hub,  Book Riot,  HuffPost, and  BookBrowse,  and he has several ongoing clients.  His first personal essay,  Swimming Lessons,  is being published in LongReads at the end of August. Matt is also currently hard at work on his first novel, a comedic take on fantasy tropes for young adults. When not writing or reading, Matt works in youth development as an after-school program director  for one of the largest middle schools in Manhattan. Matt lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Katelyn. You can find him online at  www.mattgrantwriter.com, on  Twitter  @mattgrantwriter, and on Facebook  @mattgra ntwriter.

Cultural analysis of Inda Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cultural analysis of Inda - Research Paper Example It climate varies from the temperate in north to tropical monsoon in south. Its topography includes the â€Å"upland plain in the south, flat and rolling plain along the Ganges, Himalayas in north and deserts in west† (Vohra, 2001). Extended families in India are experiencing challenges due to modernization and a high cost of living that encourages individuals to keep small families. Others believe that rights of an individual should supersede family matters. As result, people live in small nuclear families. However, extended families are found in rural India where people still uphold their traditions. They consist of father, mother, children, grand parents, uncles, aunts, niece, nephew and other family members (Khasgiwala, 1993). Parents’ roles include advising the young ones on various matters like religion and education. They also ensure their children access services like education, health, recreational and better financial security. They also act as teachers and disciplinarian at home. Lastly, parents are viewed as political advocates of their children. They usually advocate for a good aboard that would safeguard the future of their children (Khasgiwala, 1993). Parents organize majority of marriages in India. The dowry was initially viewed as a gift to the parents for taking care of the partner (Nagaswami, 2002). However, dowry is currently a tool to enhance family social lives. However, modern Indians look for their own partners, court them and eventually marry them. Males and female complement one another in the Indian society. Traditionally, women were supposed to bear children and educate them about cultural practices. They were also supposed to maintain their families and homes. Men were the sole bread breadwinners and providers of the family. However, these roles are changing because employed Indian women are able to provide for their families just like their male counterparts (Singh, 2008). It is crucial to note that more than 62.8% of

Choose what u want Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Choose what u want - Research Paper Example The problem of poverty differs among countries. When visiting countries like India where people sometimes have nothing to eat, no possessions the level of poverty can be defined as critical and regrettably it has become a cultural feature. The level of poverty in United States is not so dramatic and can be categorized as relative. There are many factors that make contribution to that problem both social and economic ones. When discussing social classes and overall mobility level it is vitally important to take into consideration the phenomena of poverty. Americans tend to be proud of the economic system and they believe it is capable to provide every opportunity in pursuit of prosperity and good life in general. But nevertheless poverty seem so be persistent in different parts of the country. A lot of anti-poverty programs and efforts have been applied in the last five decades and they have made some progress but the problem is far from being totally eliminated. There has been a wide spread opinion that poor people are to blame themselves for the situation they faced and they are more likely to display self-defeating behavior instead of taking serious steps. The poor can be characterized as fatalists that engage themselves into the poverty culture where nothing can be done and this vicious circle absorbs people generation after generation. But still this perception of poverty is just a stereotype as most poor people are eager to work hard and make a living, the only thing they need is a given chance and helping hand. This help should be provided on all the stages of people’s lives beginning from the support of the child being born within poor conditions and all the way to retirement. The main aim is to ensure people with security and reduce the fear of being left behind (Vallas, 2014). Recently professionals in sociological sciences have concentrated their attention on additional causes of

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African American Cultural Practice - Research Paper Example Therefore, it was not illegal to practice racism. Racism against African Americans remained institutionalized in America throughout 17th and 18th centuries, notes Nedoma (56). The success of the Civil War and the abolition of slavery were seen by blacks as the turning point in their lives. This is because they believed that the abolition of slavery and the end of the Civil War would mark the beginning of a new chapter in their life (Williams 68). However, the hopes that American Americans that racism would end did not materialize. In fact, reports indicate that the end of Civil War and slavery only ushered in the beginning of a new form of racism. Since then, the social and racial identity of African Americans has been constantly and systematically under attack because of their blackness as will be demonstrated in this document. Sociologists argue that the social identity of an individual has a direct link to racial and cultural identity, which gives the individual a sense of purpose in life (Bobo and Fox 321). It is not uncommon to find people of different races across the globe enjoy being associated with their races. For instance, the Greeks, Swedes, Italians, Spaniards, French and Germans have recognizable cultures that are directly linked to their racial and social identities. In fact, they cherish and embrace the identities wherever they go. Some of the cultural identities they are linked to include food, religion, and all manner of good things. In fact, in most cases, their cultural practices are portrayed on a positive note. However, a very different story is usually told when it comes to people of color, African Americans, in particular. In this regard, societies where racism is highly prevalent such as the United States tend to associate African Americans with negative things. African Americans ar e portrayed as if they are non-Americans merely because of the color of their skin. Bobo and Fox observe that in a

Developing a Health Policy Campaign Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Developing a Health Policy Campaign - Coursework Example Every time an individual consumes excess calories that what the body requires, obesity sets in. No one admires to be obese. People with obesity have high probabilities of suffering from heart diseases as well as other dangerous diseases. But what exactly causes obesity? Besides hereditary factors, overeating plays a key role in causing obesity. Similarly consumption of foods that have high fat content and decreased physical activity, are also prime causes of this condition. In US, children obesity cases pose a great challenge. Studies have shown that at least one third of children in America including adolescents are facing obesity. Statistics have shown that obesity is on a rapid increase, â€Å"Over the past 30 years, the prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled for children 2 to 5 years of age and youth 12 to 19 years of age, and it has quadrupled for children 6 to 11 years old.† (AHA conference proceedings 2014, 1) We have had highly effective programs advocating for the issues of obesity in children, these programs have proved very effective in a number of ways. In the literature review in the advocacy program by the nurses, the following approaches which made it effective (Progress in Preventing Childhood Obesity, 2006). These skills that nurses employed to prevent obesity were good, they put in place a number critical issues. They considered prevention levels that were good enough for the child, and the family among other important considerations. The obesity prevention strategy was taken to be a health tool. There were advocacy skills involved in planning and strategizing on preventive measures within the community and the entire population. (Online journal of issues in nursing, 2009) In overall, many of the advocacy programs that were initiated were effective because of willing of partners that were interested in the issues of child obesity. Various local, national, regional and international bodies are trying their best to combat