Teacher’s Day In India Essay Example for Free

Teacher’s Day In India Essay Since times immemorial, Indians have respected and idolized their teachers. Earlier, we used to call our teachers Guru and now its the contemporary Sir or Madam. Nevertheless, the role of teachers has remained the same. They were, are and will continue to be our guiding light, creating conditions conducive to our overall development. We will always be thankful to them for their constructive support. It is as an expression of this gratitude only that we celebrate Teachers Day in India. Teachers Day is a tribute to the hard work and devotion of the teachers all year long, to educate a child. In India, teacher’s day is celebrated on 5th of September every year. Indian Teacher’s Day is dedicated to Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who was a zealous advocate of education and one of the greatest scholars and teachers of all times, apart from being the first Vice President and the second President of India. As a mark of respect to this phenomenal teacher, his birthday came to be observed as Teacher’s Day in the country. On Teachers day, students across India dress up as their teachers and take lectures in classes that are assigned to the teachers they represent. Sometimes, teachers sit in their classes as students, trying to relive the time when they, themselves, were students. Also, functions are organized in schools on the special day, where students present dance performances, dramas, and various other programs to entertain their teachers. This day provides for a healthy interaction between teachers and students as well. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was one of the most distinguished diplomats, scholars and teachers of India, apart from being the first Vice President and the second President of the country. As a tribute to this great teacher, his birthday is observed as Teachers Day across India.

Native American Medicine Essay Example for Free

Native American Medicine Essay The medical cures and healing traditions used by the Native Americans are rather interesting and different compared to modern day Anglo Saxon cures. Native Americans, using their basis of ideas and beliefs, have developed a general idea of naturalistic cures and healing processes. Although the cures and healing processes are much different than Anglo Saxon ideas of curing and healing, the Native American processes tend to work well and even better than many Anglo Saxon cures. Native American medical and healing beliefs and processes are generally based on a more natural curing or purification process than the processes of modern day Anglo Saxons. Many Native American healing processes have been practiced for around 40,000 years. Different Native American healing traditions have appeared to share roots with different cultures, such as ancient Chinese traditions. Although many of the Native American healing traditions appear to share roots with ancient Chinese traditions, the greatest influence on Native American healing is the environment in which they have lived. The different plants and animals around them influenced their healing practices to be all natural. Another influence on their healing practices was other tribes. The migration of tribes around them allowed the tribes to share their knowledge of natural cures. Trade was also very helpful in Native American healing practices because many of the natural remedies required herbs from surrounding environments or long distances, and being able to trade with traveling tribes saved much travel time and risk. Although Native American healing practices have proven to be successful, a lot of their traditions have been lost. Many of the practices were driven underground and lost because they became banned or illegal in many parts of the United States. After 1978, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act was passed, and the Native Americans were once again allowed to practice their healing traditions. The long gap without practicing certain healing processes resulted in the loss of many of their practices, however. Even today, there are still difficulties with Native Americans being allowed to perform different ceremonies and rituals because the land serves other purposes. (www. cancer. org). Native Americans have successfully lived for many years by using their own idea of natural cures and purification. Native American healing is a broad term that includes different healing beliefs and practices of hundreds of indigenous tribes or North America. It combines religion, spirituality, herbal medicine uses, and purification rituals that are used to treat the indigenous people either medically, emotionally, or behaviorally. According to Lakota Sioux, the basis of natural beliefs and connections comes from the story of the white buffalo. The story begins with a woman appearing during the time of famine. She was wearing a white buffalo skin and carrying a sacred pipe. After appearing to the tribe, she explained to them that the wooden stem was for the trees and everything growing on earth. Her red bowl was to symbolize the flesh and blood of all people and the smoke was the breath of their prayers going to Wakan Tanka, the creator. The woman then presented the pipe ceremony to the tribe, which included offerings made to the four directions while drums were played and sacred songs were sung. The people then began to understand the connection between sky and earth and the unity of all life. Before leaving, the woman said she would return when the time was right and turned into a buffalo, changing colors several times. Finally, she became a white buffalo calf and disappeared. The people followed her teachings and were no longer hungry. Years later, a white buffalo calf, very rare, appeared and changed colors throughout its life. The calf is believed to be the woman. (www. native-americans-online. com). Through this story, many indigenous tribes have believed nature to be the cures and purifications needed for the soul to become whole. There are many types of Native American healing practices, and they are promoted to help with a variety of ills. Some of the most common aspects of Native American healing include the use of herbal remedies, purifying rituals, shamanism, and symbolic healing rituals to treat illnesses of both the body and spirit. Herbal remedies are used to treat many physical conditions. Practitioners use purifying rituals to cleanse the body and prepare the person for healing. Shamanism is based on the idea that spirits cause illness, and a Native American healer called a shaman focuses on using spiritual healing powers to treat people. Symbolic healing rituals, which can involve family and friends of the sick person, are used to invoke the spirits to help heal the sick person. (www. cancer. org). The Native American belief in spirituality caused the Native Americans to believe that diseases are caused by an object piercing the soul through sorcery. A disease can also be believed to be the complete absence of a free soul. Their naturalistic beliefs allowed them to believe that even diseases are considered natural occurrences, and because they occur naturally, they can be cured naturally as well. By using natural remedies, â€Å"medicine men† attempted to cure diseases that have invaded tribal villages. Natural remedies used by the medicine men included different concoctions of plants, fungi, or animals that could be eaten or rubbed on a certain area of the body to cure the illness. Before Europeans invaded Native American land, Native Americans had not had an extreme amount of experience in the treatment of disease. However, after the Europeans invaded their land, they (the Europeans) brought many diseases with them. Some of the deadly diseases included smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, typhoid, influenza, and pertussis or whooping cough. At the first sign of the diseases, the indigenous people continued trying their natural remedies, but after many failed attempts at curing the diseases, the people would often avoid the sick and leave them to die because they believed that evil spirits had taken over their soul. With the Europeans bringing many diseases to the indigenous land, the indigenous people believed the Europeans to be evil spirited and deadly. The many diseases brought by the Europeans caused a major Native American depopulation. In order to try to cure these diseases or other illnesses, Native Americans relied on the use of what they referred to as the â€Å"medicine man† or â€Å"healer†. The medicine man was very well educated on the surrounding nature and knew what natural remedy would cure the illness. Often times, the medicine man would have to travel to other lands in order to find a certain plant or a fungus that was needed in the remedy. Medicine men were very effective at curing illnesses because of the knowledge they had of nature. Not only did the Native Americans use natural remedies to cure illness, but they also used natural purification processes in order to purify or cleanse their soul in an emotional healing process. The purifying ritual is a ceremony known as a sweat lodge, where the indigenous people would sit in extreme temperatures and sweat out the evil in them which allowed them to be cleansed. To begin the sweat lodge process, one must offer a pouch of tobacco to the medicine man. The tobacco is used to represent the spirit of the person presenting it. By offering the tobacco to the medicine man, one is asking him to work on their behalf in the spiritual world. When presenting the tobacco, one would also bring forth their specific desire such as an alcohol or drug problem. The sweat lodge process begins with the passing of what are known as tobacco ties. Many tobacco ties are hung around inside the sweat lodge and each tobacco tie represents a prayer. The four sacred herbs, sage, sweet grass, cedar, and tobacco, are used in order to help purify the room and allow the spirits to work. Then rocks, primarily lava stones from volcanoes, are heated using a fire until they are white hot. Once the rocks are white hot, they are brought into the lodge in order to begin the sweating process. To keep the rocks hot, water is poured onto them making an immense amount of steam and heating the lodge. Now that the purification process has finally begun, everyone sits in a circle and goes around, one person at a time, offering prayers. After all prayers have been given, the medicine man blends them all together in a mystical process altering the state of mind to something beyond the physical form. This is where the real healing takes place. As the purification process comes to a conclusion, a new ceremony known as wopela begins. Wopela is simply giving thanks. All participants bring in gifts for the medicine man in order to thank him for leading them through the purification process. The medicine man begins a prayerful state and takes the prayer ties and sets them up in the north end of the center. This allows the prayers to be carried to the Great Spirit in a good way. The medicine man then blows out the candles the lodge becomes pitch dark. Another emotional healing strategy is the use of the medicine wheel. The medicine wheel was an important transformation in the process of Native American tribes realizing that they are much different from each other. Basically, the medicine wheel was a sheet decorated in special symbols, colors, or stones that allowed others know about the inhabitants of the tribe. One was placed in front of every tepee or hut to notify others of that individual’s strengths and weaknesses. By doing so, each individual had their own guidelines to follow for personal growth by realizing what one needed to learn and what one needed to teach. After many generations, the people began to lose the concept of blame and anger upon others. One tribe member from Arizona states â€Å"If I said to you, ‘Does anyone ever make you angry? ’ you would say yes. But in reality, this is totally impossible. You choose to be angry by the way you process the event. This is something you were taught to do as a child. If you could imagine not one person in all of New York City having the concept of anger, that’s what it was like during that time period of no wars before the white man came. †(www. native-americans-online. com). By placing a simple wheel outside their homes, the Native Americans began to learn to cope with their anger and not place blame upon others. This shows a strong cultural emotional healing process because it rid the tribes of anger and blame on others. Indigenous people also believed in psychiatric healing beliefs by altering their state of mind. They were able to alter their state of mind through events such as drumming and chanting rituals, Salish spirit dancing, and visual stimuli. All processes were used in order to calm down an individual. The drumming or chanting of rituals acted as a concentration device to its listeners. A constant beat or pattern would reduce the tendency of the mind to wander. It would also enter the brain wave patterns and sometimes the subjects’ brainwaves would change to match the frequency of the drumming or beating. As for the altered states produced in the Salish Spirit Dance, the sensory stimulation would release neuro-endocrine opiod agents that would produce a peak experience during that dance performance. It is quite obvious that the healing processes of the indigenous people vary greatly from the healing processes of modern day Anglo Saxons. For example, in seeking a cure, Anglo Saxons search for a man made discovery to lead to a cure where as the indigenous people rely on nature for their cures. Although the Anglo Saxon solutions are very effective, the natural remedies also work and are less harmful. All Anglo Saxon cures provide quick solutions but at the risk of side effects which are not present in natural remedies. One belief of the indigenous people was that the illness was caused by nature, so nature can cure the illness. Another difference in Anglo Saxon healing processes is emotional or psychiatric healing. Anglo Saxon traditions in emotional healing include the use of a therapist or other person to talk to in order to solve the problem. The indigenous people use a similar cure, except they seek a higher cure such as the sweat lodge in order to be in contact with the spirit world. Anglo Saxons also place blame and problems on others in an attempt to relieve themselves of the pressure or danger of events. The indigenous people however, do not like to place blame on others, but on themselves. The indigenous people begin looking for a cure inside oneself in order to fix the problem. Although many rituals and healing processes of the indigenous people are much different than the processes of the modern day Anglo Saxons, the processes of the indigenous people have proven to work effectively in curing the illness. Their belief in having a pure soul contributes to the rituals they perform in order to heal. Both Anglo Saxon and Native American healing processes have been proven effective, with the difference being the focus of the solution. Native American medical and healing beliefs and processes are generally based on a more natural curing or purification process than the processes of modern day Anglo Saxons. Sources Used http://muwww-new. marshall. edu/jrcp/VE13%20N1/jrcp%2013%201%20thomason. pdf http://www. native-americans-online. com/index. html http://www. cancer. org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/mindbodyandspirit/native-american-healing.

Changes to the Role of the Management Accountant

Changes to the Role of the Management Accountant Using appropriate academic literature, critically evaluate the argument that the role of the management accountant has changed in recent years from traditional accounting functions to that of a strategic planner and a business partner. Introduction When it comes to the change of management accounting or management accountant, several researchers and scholars have stated the similar view that people cannot describe the management accountants as the bean counter, the scorekeeper or the corporate cop in the contemporary age, their new role are performed as a strategic planner and a business partner within the organization. (Anastas, 1997; Bromwich, 1990; Burns et al., 1999; Byrne and Pierce, 2007; Johnson, Kaplan , 1987; Roslender and Hart, 2002) This essay is aiming to find out how the bean counter, the scorekeeper and the corporate cop become to the internal consultant, the strategic planner as a business partner. Before the main body of this essay, the writer makes a hypothesis that there is an inference procedure that causing the change of the management accountants role. It is widely appreciated that the business environment has greatly changed in the recent years. Thus that the traditional management accounting is not suitab le for the contemporary business, a new management accounting system was generated. Following that there are many new management accounting techniques are required, it directly change the task of management accountants. Finally all these process have caused the change of the role of the management accountant. In the following parts of this essay, the writer will analyze all the parts of this process respectively refer to the other scholars research findings, this is for examine and certify the hypothesis in the last paragraph. The changing business environment It is not deniable that the business environment has already dramatically changed during the last decades, which is toward a more competitive orientation. It includes many external and internal factors. In the general economic area, the globalization is integrating the world into a global market. It could lead it to an increasing competition. Companies have to pay more and more attention on the customer and market orientation. The development of technology is another factor both in the information system and the methods of production with the widespread use of enterprise resource planning systems (ERP). The change of organizational management structure could affect the business as an internal factor.(Burns et al., 1999) The development of digitisation could also change the business environment, for example e-mail has already replaced the traditional postage and fax to a great extent, which is benefit from the wide spread of the internet. It could reduce the cost and enhance the compa nies efficiency. The new technology could also be applied to the monitoring performance area. For instance, factories could profit from the use of beepers and mobile phones to monitor workers performance, while restaurants could benefit from the use of beepers in their operating system.(Zimmerman, 2009) There are also many other elements could cause the market condition changing, such as the commencement of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could decrease companies cost among Mexico, Canada and the United States. American and Canadian companies may set their factories in Mexico for the lower labour cost. The same situations have also emerged in China, Vietnam and some other developing countries.(Zimmerman, 2009) The new business environment also bring a huge revolution in the other fields, for example the demand of more quality control, customer-focused, the intellectual capital, automation, increasing overheads, decreasing direct labour cost and more emphasis on envir onmental and external issues. The drawbacks of traditional management accounting The traditional management accounting was driven by the external financial requirements but not the internal or actual need. For instance, it fails to compare the cost with the competitors, which is a fatal factor in the business competition. Tends to be too technical Many accountants focus on their contribution only in the financial numbers, but ignore the other useful information which the users may require. (Pierce and ODea, 2003) Most companies still use single overhead allocation base Time Limitation Pierce and ODea (2003) found that most managers complained that the traditional information system cannot provide timeliness information to the users. For example, some managers reflected that even though the financial information could cover almost all they needed, but they cannot use it timely cause the information lag. It could extremely influence their decision making process. Mainly focus on the internal performance of the organization but ignoring the other activities, such as external and social issues. Paying too much attention on the manufacturing but neglecting the high cost post-conversion activities. The change of management accounting A UK research project claimed that management accounting had not changed over six decades in Britain. (Burns et al., 1999) Despite there are some substantial improvement in the technological and environmental areas.(Johnson, Kaplan , 1987) Several studies revealed that the traditional management accounting system and techniques were still valuable and some new management accounting techniques were not widely used as expectation, such as activity-based costing (ABC) and strategic management accounting. (Burns et al., 1999) However, the advancement of information technology could enhance the management accounting into a higher level, which means that managers could have a direct and real time access to the information instead of waiting for the accountants sort it out.(Burns et al., 1999) It could make managers conducting the accountants task by themselves, for instance budgeting, analyze and calculation. (Burns et al., 1999) This change has brought a more significant effect on forecasting rather than budgeting.(Hope and Fraser, 1997) This means that managers could forecast by themselves, while budgeting was accountants traditional work. The commercial orientated gave the British managers a further view on the potential factors which could making profit in a long term.(Burns et al., 1999) It could be considered in the management strategy and interpreting by the non-financial terms.(Burns and Scapens, 1997) It implied that financial information could only provide limited picture, not the whole. Thus there are two possible solutions. The first one is that some new techniques could be used by management accountants to provide a comprehensive view, such as ABC system. Alternatively, the financial information could be kept in a simple way but could be interpreted in the wider background.(Burns et al., 1999) Based on the previous analysis, the form of management accounting has been changed, but there is no huge difference on the management accounting techniques. Strategic Management Accounting The strategic management accounting has already introduced in the accounting literature more than ten years. (Berverley R, 1996)It is defined as The provision and analysis of financial information on the firms product markets and competitors cost and cost structures and the monitoring of the enterprises strategies and those of its competitors in these markets over a number of periods (Bromwich, 1990) The Charted Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) also defined it as A form of management accounting which emphasis is placed on information which relates to factors external to the firm, as well as non-financial information and internally generated information. The majority of literature in the United Kingdom stress that the strategic management accounting extends the traditional management accounting from internal factors to the external competitors information.(Berverley R, 1996)Comparing with the traditional management accounting, it has more external, forward-looking and longer -term orientated and the strategically driven.(Roslender and Hart, 2002) There are three main characteristics of the strategic management accounting were summarized, which are the collection of competitor information, exploitation of cost reduction opportunities and the matching of accounting emphasis with strategic position.(Berverley R, 1996) Some scholars describe the strategic management accounting as a specific form of approach to the provision of accounting information to management'(Roslender and Hart, 2002) The new requirements to management accountants As the previous analysis, the traditional management accounting techniques is still essential skills that management accountants should grasp. However, in the contemporary age, there are several new tasks that management accountants should perform. Before 1980s, the majority of the managers expected the management accountants roles performed as a service staff who can provide the satisfying such managers information.(Hopper, 1980) The requirements to management accountants are not only about becoming an expert in the financial matters, but also having a broad view in business and good teamwork capability with their collegues.(Burns et al., 1999) Pierce and Bernard (2003) have concluded that the management accountants should have the knowledge and skills in three domains. Firstly, they have to be the master of the essential technical knowledge which could make them have the ability to modify information. Secondly, they also need to learn the other business knowledge, such as IT, marketing. Lastly, a well developed interpersonal relationship skills is necessary by the reason that the accountants have increasing number of cooperation with other staff within the organization. Anastas (1997) has also stated that management accountan ts have to handle the new information technology software, achieving an average understanding of the business and fluently express their idea both in writing and speaking in order to interact with their colleagues. Anastas (1997) stressed that to achieve the success in the role of internal consultants; management accountants must improve their interpersonal skills and the knowledge of productivity and administration. The strategic management accounting provides management accountants an opportunity to get a position in the decision making team.(Roslender and Hart, 2002) The strategic management accounting requires management accountants having techniques, such as competitor position analysis, target costing and life cycle costing.(Roslender and Hart, 2002) The role of the management accountant in organisations Management accountants role in an organization has been considerably changed in recent years.(Anastas, 1997; Burns et al., 1999; Byrne and Pierce, 2007; Johnson, Kaplan , 1987; Pierce and ODea, 2003; Zimmerman, 2009) Several literature have stated the same views. In the past, when people were thinking of management accountant, they always associated it with some words, such as the scorekeepers, the bean counters and the corporate cops.(Byrne and Pierce, 2007; Zimmerman, 2009) This is because management accountants were not the decision-makers or decision participants; they always played the role as assistants or financial information providers to the real or actual managers in the decision making process. But in 1999, the situation has changed. Increasing managerial accountants began to help their companies to analyze the business as an interior consultant. With the development of the technology, they do not need to use the majority of their working time for preparing the financial r eports. They therefore have more and more time to explain or translate the accounting information to the people who need to use these within the organization as a member of the decision making team. Siegel (1999) remarked that the role of management accountants has evolved from serving internal customers into being a business partner. Some accountants even changed their title from corporate controllers to business analysts (Burns et al., 1999) A key role of the management accountant is that interpreting the financial information to a more readily comprehensible perception to the internal and external users.(Burns et al., 1999) As it was depicted Information technology is pushing management accountants and financial managers up the ladder as they become advisors or internal consultants to other manager in the company who have access to software manage cost and budgets.(Anastas, 1997) Pierce and ODea (2003) have interviewed many managers with an opened question that sharing their views of the future role of the management accountants. Their responses were highly consistent that management accountants role will be the business partner. Management accountants should interact with management within several aspects, including the raise of their physical location, the requirement of their team work capability and the understanding of business. There will be fewer management accountants but they will be at the higher level of management in the organization as a member of the cross-functional team share their view in the decision making process.(Anastas, 1997) The evolution of the information technology liberated management accountants from the bean counter, corporate cop to a higher level role internal consultant or strategist who make the recommendation to guide the decision making process (Anastas, 1997) CONCLUSION The analysis in the main body reflects the consistency with the hypothesis in the introduction section, but not completely same. To start with, the business environment is changing as the assumption. The business environment is changed to a more competitive, customer-oriented due to the globalization, digitisation and some other changed business conditions. In addition the writer analyzes the disadvantages of the traditional management accounting, which is not applicable for the present system and fulfil the requirements in the new business environment. Following that the analysis of the change of the management accounting shows that although there is a new business environment, but the basic management accounting techniques is still required, it is still necessary. But due to the development of the business, the requirements of the management accountants are not only demand the accountants have the traditional and basic management accounting techniques, but also some new task of the understanding of knowledge in the other business area and a good interpersonal skills for the increasing teamwork opportunities. Hence, the role of the management accountants has been changed from the financial information provider (the basic role) to the internal consultant in the organizations as a business partner. The strategic management accounting system could provide management accountants a higher level to perform their new role to satisfy the new requirements. As Burns (1999) founded that although the role of the management accountants is changed, but they still have to use the traditional management accounting system, some people called it antique.

Emotional, Behavioral, and Psychological Disturbances in Neglected Chil

Every year millions of children are abused and neglected worldwide. Child abuse is a global concern. It has severe outcomes on the children who are victims, and often the effects are long-lasting. Child abuse is a highly under-reported crime although of those reported, neglect accounts for the majority of child abuse cases (Pala, ÃÅ"nalacak, & ÃÅ"nlà ¼oÄŸlu, 2011). Neglect in children often has more dire consequences than other types of child abuse (DePanfilis, Children’s Bureau, & Office on Child Abuse & Neglect, 2006). One consequence especially prevalent in neglected children is insecure or lack of attachment to a primary caregiver. John Bowlby’s research has shown the evolutionary importance of infant attachments, further research shows that infant attachment styles carry over into adulthood (Levine & Heller, 2011). Neglected children showed disturbed attachments that manifest into developmental delays and behavioral problems. Through treatment neglected childr en aim to learn how to create secure attachments (Hardy, 2007). Defining neglect Numerous teachers, family doctors, social workers, among other professionals will be faced with child abuse and have the responsibility of reporting mistreatment. Therefore, it is important for these specialists to be able to recognize signs of child abuse and neglect (Pala, et al, 2011). The World Health Organization Consultation on Child Abuse Prevention currently recognizes four types of child abuse: physical, sexual, emotional, and neglect. Dr. Bengà ¼ Pala and his colleagues found that neglect accounted for up to 71% of the child abuse cases in 2008 around the world. They defined neglect as a parent or caregiver’s precedence of failure to provide for the development and welfare of the child ... ...on regulation and emotional stability (Hardy, 2007). From 2000 to 2004, 7.6 out of every 1,000 children were reported as being neglected. The Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect found that less than a third of child maltreatment is reported. The signs of neglect can often be subtle and hard for other adults to recognize; this attributes to the underreporting of neglect cases (DePanfilis, et al., 2006). Due to the fact that child abuse distresses millions of children every year and millions more suffer silently, it is important to improve research on the dilemma. Several studies acknowledge that there is an absence of research on attachment theory in neglected children (Venet et al.) It is imperative that research on attachment disorders drastically advance so that effective treatments can be developed allowing neglected children to heal.

The History of Alcatraz Essay -- American America History

The History of Alcatraz INTRODUCTION Alcatraz is an island that is 22 acres and according to geologists it is a drowned mountain peak and is made up of mostly rock and dirt. The island itself is a part of a cluster of islands that are in the San Francisco Bay area. The island's name came from a Spanish explorer, Lt. Juan Manual de Ayala, and the ship's pilot, Jose de Canizarer, on August 12, 1775. He called it La Isla de los Alcatraces, in English is Island of the Pelicans. Alcatraz is just the singular form of Alcatraces. The owners of the island have changed three times in its history. First Spain owned it until 1822, then Mexico won its independence and claimed ownership and finally in 1846 Mexico/California went to war and it then became the property of the United States. On the day of November 6, 1850, President Millard Filmore agreed to make Alcatraz official government property. It was to be turned into a fortification to protect the city from hostile vessels and the reason for putting it there was because it was on an island in the middle of the bay- very strategic. There would be two batteries on both ends of the island along with a two-story brick wall that would enclose all of it. Inside there would be soldiers' barracks, guard houses, powder magazines, and warehouses that would be the backbone of Alcatraz. The official day of opening of Alcatraz was in December of 1859 and it had two purposes, one of fortification and another of a prison. The prison was there for military members that committed various crimes. The prison had about 15 - 50 prisoners there, but they were not all military, some were local citizens and politicians who committed crimes of varying degrees. The idea of having a prison on an is... ...aying that any land that was in surplus would be theirs. Then the City of San Francisco wanted the island so they could destroy what was one their and start commercial development. However, that did not happen because there were to many protestors about saving Alcatraz. Then there was of period of 4 or 5 years of many proposals about what to do but in 1972 it was decided to turn it into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Alcatraz was now open to the public and today you can go down and get on a tour to see where some of the U.S. most famous criminals stayed. BIBLIOGRAPHY http://www.geocities.com/~marguerite_b/ http://alcatraz.san-francisco.ca.us/ http://www.sf50.com/alcatraz/ http://library.thinkquest.org/21109/alcatraz/index.htm "Alcatraz." The World Book Encyclopedia. 94 ed. 1994. "Alcatraz." Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th edition. 1985.

Essay --

In the The Forgotten Plague: Opium and Narcotics in Korea under Japanese Rule, 1910-1945, John M. Jennings argues that opium and narcotics trafficking played a significant part in Korea under Japanese colonial rule from 1910-1944, and that the subject of opium in Korea under Japanese colonial rule is not fully examined by historians. Jennings bases this connection between the opium and narcotics trade and the Japanese on three factors: the spread of drug addiction in Korea during Japanese colonial rule, Korea's rise in production and exportation of narcotics throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and the political immunity of Korean drug traffickers in China. In the first part of the article, Jennings emphasizes how Korea was forced to deal with a major domestic drug addiction problem under Japanese colonial rule. The article highlights how opium first arrived in Korea from China, and that opium smoking has long been a widespread habit in Korean society. By I905 there were so many opium addicts in Korea that the Japanese Residency General had to force the Korean Government to stop the problem. This resulted in harsh laws condemning opium smoking, the importation and sale, as well as opium paraphernalia (Jennings 797). The article does a good job of emphasizing to the reader that these new laws were ineffective because opium smoking endured throughout the early stages of the Japanese colonial period. Jennings references how in 1912 the Japanese government was required to enforce a new law in which Korean opium smokers were punished under the same level of severity as if under Japanese law to discourage the widespread usage of opium (Jen nings 797). According to Jennings, Korean addicts were only permitted to continue smoking if the end... ...elf states many times in the article that he wishes to shed much needed light on an ignored aspect of imperial Japan's actions in Korea. This article contributes to the wider literature because it introduces the reader to the effects of Japanese colonialism in Korea through the analysis of primary source documents, first hand experiences, and expert opinion. My experience has shown that little is mentioned in textbooks and resources to cover the topic of Korea under Japanese colonialism other than the dates of annexation and the date of emancipation. This is a very good article for readers and scholars to compare with Western imperialism material. Furthermore, the Japanese occupation of Korea from 1910 to 1945 went through several overlapping phases, this article touches on many of those political, social, and economic changes occurring in Korea during this period.

Globalization of multinational activities: meaning and debate Essay

There are many definition of the globalization. For example, the International Monetary fund consider globalization of multinational activities as â€Å"the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services, free international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology†. (Dowling 2005) There is one more definition given by the International forum on Globalization. According to it globalization is â€Å"the present worldwide drive toward a globalized economic system dominated by supranational corporate trade and banking institutions that are not accountable to democratic processes or national governments†. (Wright 2001) But first of all globalization promotes cultural diversity and division of labor. Immanuel Wallerstein stresses that globalization of business can’t be understood separately from historical events. Lots of definition ensue the debates concerning roles of governments, companies and individuals in increasing national welfare in the context of globalization. Globalization of multinational activities has not only economic aspect but also political, cultural and technological, because they are closely connected with each other. It means that changes in one aspect are followed by changes in others. These aspects of globalization are considered key points to people’s quality of life and social benefits. (Debrah 2004) The economic aspect of impact involves trade, migration and investment opportunities. Globalization of international trade suggests more available access to goods and services which were never seen before. Due to this process people are able nowadays to buy a wide range of services and goods. International investments take place through foreign direct investments. It means that multinational organizations invest directly the assets in foreign companies or investments take place by purchasing and selling the financial assets of other foreign companies. Due to globalization independent migration suggests that individuals can find employment in spheres where the companies have labor shortages. But free migration is criticized, because it can lead to destruction of native industry and loss of jobs. International investments are also criticized, because if to accept such financial scheme the country can loose economic sovereignty and â€Å"may be forced to set policies that are contrary to its citizen’s interests or desires†. What is more important is that international companies investing in country or company can receive too much economic and political power. It is admitted by critics that migration is like exploitation of workers from other countries. (Baolian 2004) The political impact of globalization is creation of international rules and institution to deal with trade, human rights and international environment. New global institutions for regulating multinational activities are World Trade Organization, Euro currency and North American Free Trade Agreement, etc. central question is if government can control the economic activity of world companies. Globalization is also characterized by cultural global ties i. e. new ideas and concepts about trade and media throughout the world. However global cultural ties are not always favorable as they may cause constrains for companies. One more point about globalization of business is the significant change of technologies, transport and communication. Nowadays transportation costs have been reduced significantly because of technological advances which make foreign markets freer for trade. It was counted that billions of dollars in different kinds of assets and/or currencies are exchanged every day with the help of electronic means. It is seen that globalization spreads the developing and appearing of new multinational activities es. (Baolian 2004) Globalization: impact on multinational activities Globalization is sometimes described as the main cause of disturbances and changes in the world. Actually the term â€Å"globalization† is the shelter for collective effect and the changes. Globalization is the total changes taken place in the factories or storefronts which are seen in the spheres of economy, multinational activities and lifestyles. It is a matter of fact that this process was caused by four significant forms of capital flows throughout the global economy and multinational activities’ spheres. It is necessary to mention these four important capital flows: 1. Human capital involving the processes of immigration, emigration, migration and/deportation. 2. Financial capital including debts, equity, aids, credits, lending. 3. Resource capital means resources of energy, lumber, different minerals resources and metals. 4. Power capital suggests security forces, armed forces and different alliances and unions among countries (Wright 2001) It was mentioned that most difficulties and stresses confronted in the general affairs of multinational activities and interactions between them can be revealed in the four mentioned capital flows. It means that globalization has great influence on these flows and is able to direct them. Globalization also affects telecommunication and travel modes and they have become cheaper. As the result they have become accessible to more people, domestic and international companies. As for cultural and political friction they â€Å"can thus be explained as arising from the difference in opinion between two or more parties about the origination, treatment, timing, ownership or value of one or more of the capital flows†. (Wright 2001) The impact of globalization is constant and inevitable. And the process of globalization was inevitable. And there appears a question: why? The main reasons of such globalization influence in the word are: advantages of low labor costs need of vertical and horizontal division of labor, great number of untapped markets, and legislation in foreign countries. It is seen that the mentioned points provide international companies with lots of profitable opportunities. It is a common knowledge that globalization of multinational activities is first of all significant expansion of regional and international markets, international laws, cultures and values. It is possible to say that globalization describes the expansion of politics from narrower area (local, regional, national) to broader horizon of international area and thus the whole planet. It is obvious that the impact of globalization is really great and considerable. Due to the globalization processes occurring in the world international and domestic markets become now standardized, mostly because they are interacting, influencing and in such a way combining with ex-rivals from different parts of the world. (Sparrow 2004) Globalization is positive, because there is an increasing competitiveness of multinational activities. Nowadays the national markets are too saturated and companies need new flied of action on a larger scale. The next fact is that globalization of business aims at gaining economies of large scale. It means that investments, administration, production of goods and services, marketing and advertising will be equally distributed among many countries. As the result the expansion costs will be significantly reduced. The last point witness for globalization is that nowadays consumers have globalized preferences and product markets have to correspond. It means that international markets have to be also global. (Sparrow 2004) Globalization of multinational activities and economy was enabled by the series of factors. Highly developed technology gives the possibility for computing power to reduce the costs of transactions and information gathering. This push is intensified by the Internet, because it is global and rather cheap. Modern communications provide the access to available information in the whole world. The importance of communication and Internet has significantly increased, because they are useful for people’s communication. It is a matter of fact that the barriers to international trade and business are falling and becoming more standardized. The important forces were GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) and WTO (World Trade Organization). Due to globalization many countries deliberately reduced their trade barriers, removed barriers to direct foreign investments, and liberalized trade control. Governments of many countries believe that such measures will promote and assist national welfare, economic growth and developing of multinational activities. It is necessary to notice international finances and rapid capital flows. Nowadays technology developments assist banks and other financial establishments in funding foreign expansion, setting new affiliated offices and providing investment opportunities in the whole world. (Dowling 2004) The possibilities of the globalization are: 1. To set economies of large scale, because Internet and communications are global by nature and they are cheaper than other media. 2. Multinational activities are more credible and people believe if it is successful in many countries, its quality is good as well. 3. It is easier and quicker to introduce new production line with global international brand. The main strategies of international globalization are to consolidate comparative advantage, to develop honest competency, to develop global way of thinking, to globalize competency of international companies and to integrate countries. But it is known that the demand of globalization is to think globally, but to act locally. It is a matter of fact that international organizations used to deal with restricted markets and it is hard for them to deal with new global perspectives. New global economy tries to get rid of static organization and to change them by new organization more suited for new globalized economy and new globalized world. (Sparrow 2004) â€Å"Over the course of the past decade, in many countries (especially in the developed world), savers have increasingly diversified their portfolios to include foreign financial assets (foreign bonds, equities, loans), while borrowers increasingly turn to foreign sources of funds, along with domestic ones. While flows of this kind to developing countries also rose sharply in the 1990s, they have been much more volatile than either trade or FDI flows, and have also been restricted to a narrower range of ’emerging market’ countries. † (Sparrow 2004) It is a matter of fact that the number of international transactions dramatically increased during last decades. Economies of many countries became internationalized as their GNP increased due to international exchange of goods and services. It was mentioned that â€Å"increasing economic integration among nations, some scholars argue, has dramatically reduced the barriers between national economies, undermining the autonomy of national governments†. (Dowling 2004) The positive and negative sides of globalization Globalisation has caused many problems for business executives and the government. However, many people support this process. The supporters of globalisation state that globalisation is inevitable and can’t be stopped anyhow. They even argue that globalization can make the world rich. Speaking about four factors of production (labour, land, entrepreneur and capital) we can’t but mention that in the process of globalisation two or three factors must cross the borders. If a company invests in another country, it will receive dividends from that country. There is a flow of these factors of production through multinational corporations. Modern companies try to respond to the emerging open market opportunities, and for the aim of winning better market share and higher profits, have to pay their attention to the globalization and the need for creating large multinational corporations. A bright example of such changes may be represented by the German Hoechst chemical company, which at the beginning of the year 2000, admitting the rapidly changing positions on the chemical market and understanding the new accents on the global cooperation and production, decided to take this step and create a new structure. Through the 2001 and 2002 it has sold twelve of its businesses in Germany for being no more profitable, and has bought four new pharmaceutical firms outside Europe. Hoechst in Europe was the pioneer of such drastic changes in the multinational management trends. Though the Hoechst’s labor force in Germany was decreased almost twice, it became possible to increase the sales over the US continent from 6 to 33 percent of the market share by the end of 2002. These actions could be viewed as an example of new innovative approach to the company’s management. On the other hand, and as Mockler (2002) puts it, ‘such actions were contributing to unrest and uncertainty in Europe’. (p. 12) The topic of multinational management should be discussed though the real life examples and it would be appropriate to note a company which was able to master the issues of multinational management. The talk will be about GE, a company which is now one of the most advanced and highly innovative corporations in relation to management approaches and structures. Its ex-CEO Jack Welch is known all over the world for having put the quality of the company management, and thus the quality of its operations to another, much higher level. Understanding the huge perspective of the global company through the period of Welch’s being GE’s CEO he has implemented one of the most prominent and successful management systems in the world. His main idea was to work though the principle of ‘creative destruction’, which was later used by other multinational companies. (Rugman & Verbeke 2003, p. 29) ‘The objective of the GE’s management strategy was to stretch the potential of the firm, even though this firm was very large. To fulfill these tasks it was necessary to apply the abilities of defining strategic guidelines which channel and stimulate innovative and entrepreneurial actions without inhibiting often unstructured individual initiative’. (Mockler 2002, p. 15) GE has become the multinational company with the ability to adapt to the changes and to implement the latest innovations into its operations. Welch understood the necessity of these innovations, and meeting these challenges, the company turned them into its assets. GE is one of the brightest examples of the multinational companies, which were able to adapt to the rapidly changing technologies and management theories. As the core problem of the multinational corporations is to work through different cultures and traditions, which is almost impossible at times, the role of management must not be underestimated in relation to such global structures. Management provides such company with clear structure, understanding of problems and challenges and gives the clear picture of its market position. GE made it possible for each worker to understand his role in contributing into the general process of management. Namely management has made this company one of the most successful in the recent years. The opponents of globalization argue that globalisation does not bring back more returns as the returns that go out. They argue that for example, a company likes British Telkom, which went abroad because of internal problems with its multinational business. However, these examples can’t spoil positive judgment about globalization. We have many examples of companies that were on the virtue of collapsing but now they are performing very well after going international. Why do others think that globalisation is not useful? In this article â€Å"Will globalisation make you happy† Wright R. (2000) argued that globalisation makes human beings happy but unfortunately they are pursuing things such as power and money which does not bring everlasting happiness. He asks the question, â€Å"does money bring happiness? †. Wright writes that survey carried out in many countries, both rich and poor and confirms that poor relationships are the source of unhappiness and there is no happiness in richness. In the same survey, it was found that a nation is fairly comfortable with a standard of living that is lower than what the average human being thinks. Changing of Employee relations Also a lot of needs appear concerning the changing of employee behaviour in order to provide effective employee relations. There a lot of important work to be implemented by managers and employees itself. (Harris et al) Most people work and live in familiar environment, in the surroundings we were brought up or places similar to this. Accordingly, people that we meet, work with and entertain, are similar to us, due to the fact that they have the same ethnic context, similar viewpoints and religion, the same framework of values, and the same language, that we speak. (Harris et al) Effective changes of behavior starts with detailed interpreting the terms under which the individual is involved into behavior that needs to be changed. It is necessary to understand his motivation in these or that circumstances. Understanding these aspects will make the process of motivating the person easier and predictable. For instance, many supervising managers suppose that speaking foreign languages during working process is the evidence of employee’s laziness, disrespect and desire to detract from the work. But in fact many employees use another language while attempting to perform some information related to their work more accurately. Sometimes it may be the evidence of stress or tiredness, or just an attempt to make the process of communication faster. (Harris et al) One important aspect of making successful cross-cultural interrelations is to be considered. Building up mutual understanding and successful communication demands self-assessment. Each employee should clearly understand and evaluate the styles he or she uses in various situations, and to what degree. (Harris et al) Ability to appreciate other people is significant for successful cross-cultural communication and cooperation. Each person should be aware that it is important to find time to pay attention to other people, to understand and evaluate their style and behavior. For instance, within a definite firm, manager staff members may represent a wide range or personal styles: â€Å"with regard to completing reports, one team leader may require pages of details, and the other leader wants only bullet points of information†. (Harris et al, p. 89) As regards to such peculiarities, cultural and language differences do not matter. Professional manager should realize that the problems of cross-cultural relations affect many spheres of business and economy, for instance, marketing, both domestic and international. It is necessary to take into consideration that, for instance, USA culture consists not only of native culture. Foreign culture of the state is made up not only by foreign citizens. American citizens now may have foreign origin, for instance, Indian, Chinese, Canadian, Australian or Russian. That is why understanding foreign cultures is important for the workers in any sphere, even if they deal with domestic consumers and companies. For those who have business relations with foreign customers of companies such skill is compulsory. The process of globalization and changing conditions of the world market made all spheres of business and finance a cross-cultural phenomenon, which demands that managers on all levels must be aware of cultural differences and means of establishing successful relations to succeed in the market. (Harris et al)