Economic Roles of a Business Essay

A business is an organisation that attempts to satisfy the needs and wants of a community by providing goods and services, however, a business does not exist only to serve the community, it also exists to maximise the financial investments of their owners. This is done through the social and economical role of a business. Economic roles are concerned with the financial impacts that the activities of a business have on various groups in the business environment. The economic roles are wealth creation, employment and innovation. Social roles are focused on the impacts of a business on the community. Social Roles are entrepreneurship, choice and quality of life. Economic roles are important for a business as they can increase the value and funds via wealth creation, employment and innovation. Wealth creation is done by increasing sales and developing strategies to promote brand awareness and sales. This will increase the value of the funds that owners have invested in the business. Businesses also generate increased wealth for the community. The profits generated are then taxed by the government in order to fund essential services such as improving educational, health and transport facilities. Employment is where the owners of a business will employ other people to perform various activities within the business. The goods and services that businesses provide to the community are formed using knowledge, skills and effort of human resources, because of this, employment is an important function in business. The third economic role, innovation can be defined as the process of improving the features of a product. It could also apply to the production process where improved methods of production are implemented. The new methods may make use of fewer resources and result in increased output, which would benefit the business in many ways. In the business environment, innovation is crucial for a business to maintain its competitive advantage over other businesses. The social roles of a business impact communities by improving their quality of life, choice in products and providing entrepreneurship. The quality of life of a community is improved through the variety of products and services provided by businesses. Organisations spend millions of dollars each year in business research and development to find ways to improve the quality of life. Many of the products that businesses provide are wants and not needs; they are often aimed at providing greater convenience for those with a busy lifestyle. An example of this is pre-prepared meals. Through the production of these products, the financial investments of the owner of the business are maximised. Most businesses operate in a competitive market; this means there is a large number of competitors offering similar goods and services. This provides a range of choice for the consumers. This choice encourages businesses to provide their products and services at the lowest possible prices, with the highest quality. Choice also encourages a business to be innovative and different from their competitors so that their product will be the one chosen by the consumer and profits can be made. An entrepreneur is an individual who has developed particular ideas and is willing to take a risk to execute these ideas through a business. They take risks by thinking up strategies for their ideas to be successful; this is why they pursue different goals as part of the operation of business. Through business entrepreneurs are given an opportunity to make their ideas a reality. The economic and social roles of a business, wealth creation, employment, innovation, quality of life, choice and entrepreneurship, are important to maximise the financial investments of the owners, without them, a business would not thrive or gain profits.

Foreign Aid as a tool for Foreign Policy

Foreign aid is defined as voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another country, at times as leverage to cohorts the receiving country do what the donor country wants. But it may be given as a signal of diplomatic approval, or to strengthen a military ally, to reward a government for behavior desired by the country giving the aid, to extend the donor's cultural influence, or to gain political strength here at home as abroad. According to the USAID website, foreign aid is given through eight different types of monetary assistance. These eight different forms of assistance are agriculture, democracy and governance, economic growth and trade, environment, education and training, global health, global partnerships, and humanitarian assistance. From 1980 to 2008, U. S. total foreign assistance has increased from 9. 69 billion to just over 49 billion in 2008. From the 49 billion spent in 2008 alone, close to 15. 5 billion was spent on military aid while the rest was divided between economic assistance in fields such as agriculture, international development, and other economic growth and trade programs. The largest recipients of the two foreign aid subdivisions, military and economic aid, went respectively to the regions of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. The country in the Middle East with the highest recipient of aid was Afghanistan, with close to 9 of the 49 billion dollars of aid in the 2008 year alone (USAID, 2013. ) As we can see a lot of our tax payer’s money goes abroad to countries many American cannot find on a world map, but we need to help these countries for the safety of our people, at least in the eyes of every politicians in office. American liberals, as described by Bob Burnett of the Huffington Post, fall between two primary types of camps that determine their views of U. S. Foreign Aid. Idealists and realist camps, focus on the need for international humanitarian aid which is similar to our own domestic welfare on a national level (Burnett, 2006. ) They tend to favor foreign aid as a means to educate and develop relationships through cooperation and financial funding. Other far left liberal groups discourage military spending while encouraging to increase social programs internationally. They believe that poverty stricken countries in need of assistance otherwise known as â€Å"Third World† countries are indebted to other countries which lead to their current status as reported on the Green Party Platform (GPP, 2000. ) As a primary focus to foreign aid and success to developing nations is the assistance to increase food production, availability to clean drinking water, reduction of infant mortality, and improvements toward health by means of the green revolution. Lastly, they utilize terms of humanitarian aid as to be consistent with their egalitarian values. In recent discussion to reform the current foreign aid policy, Democratic representative Howard Berman introduces a reform proposal â€Å"Global Partnership Act of 2012† to replace the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act. This policy would restore budget functions towards the USAID and develop new funding mechanisms focused on innovation, microenterprise development, and rapid humanitarian response, and reduce violence against women (Mungcal, 2012. In addition, this policy would focus on reduction of global poverty, accelerated economic growth, agricultural innovation, advancement in health, combating diseases, global education strategy, gender equality, assistance to persons that have been affected by conflict or disaster, and monitoring/investing towards sustaining upward success and control of financing through government regulations (HR, 2012. ) Thus, they create a more specific rational belief to solve foreign issues utilizing our government system to regulate. When observing the implementers of the USAID they have nearly 2,000 experienced employees (USAID, 2013. Other proposals by liberals represented by the Green Party express international solidarity maintaining peace and security through a global green deal. This particular deal will concentrate finances on universal education, food, sanitation and purified water, health care, and family services for every person on Earth. This particular proposal â€Å"Fund Global Basic Human Needs† would gain funding by retiring the military from our economy and closing all overseas military bases In addition, eliminate the CIA, NSA, and all other covert Warfare in order to reallocate funding towards aid. Lastly, this platform would eliminate debt from poverty stricken countries thus creating emphasizing their egalitarian beliefs (GPP, 2000. ) Another foreign aid announced by President Barack Obama is the Global Health Initiative that would continue to develop from the pre-existing program by President Bush, President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief. This continued improving program will expand to other countries instead of only Africa, it would encourage prevention, care, and treatment while strengthening government partnership and invest in research internationally to maximize outcomes (UNAIDS, 2009. In addition, they seek to reduce higher statistics of disease contraction and mortality of women and children while strengthening global health partnerships. Based upon the ideological spectrum of liberal beliefs, through their core value of rationalism they exhibit faith in human reason to solve complex problems that cause poverty in third world countries. By creating regulatio ns, education about health and finances, and encouraging progress towards mutual goals through the Global Partnership Act of 2012, liberals believe that underprivileged countries will progressively develop towards sustainability based upon human rationale. As an egalitarian belief, liberals from the Green Party believe and promote human equality by their party platform of universal health care for every person on the planet which indicates equal treatment by means of education, health, and services. They promote internationalism by means of equal treatments towards other countries and foreign aid reform of the PEPFAR towards all countries instead of the countries within the African continent. Moreover, liberals seek change as soon as possible which led to the speedy approval of PEPFAR and Africa’s request for assistance in regards to immediate medical attention and assistance. Therefore, the liberals utilize the government as a strong feature to decide and guide towards our faith in solving socioeconomic problems internationally while attempting to cultivate foreign governments with their ideology. Lastly, they value their belief of individual liberties and encourage the development of foreign countries so that their citizens will be treated fairly and just by their government. When approaching foreign aid as a contemporary American conservative, they utilize the term foreign policy as opposed to aid as a reference of government action rather than a community decision. They seem to favor foreign policy by means of military and health care; however, the primary goal is to develop relationships with foreign countries to prevent conflicts. Although they discuss creating trade agreements and forming partnerships, they seem to be strategizing in terms of security and protection for America. In regards to funding, conservatives don’t seem to favor the idea of increasing tax spending towards foreign aid and seek to reform due to their subjective views on failed results. Therefore, they view investment towards a flawed foreign policy will lead to more spending in military forces to protect America from unstable countries. Moreover, I feel that conservatives have a strong belief in nationalism and would want to share this system by encouraging other undeveloped countries to conform to our system. As a conservative perspective towards foreign aid, our government allocates tax payers funding towards the Millennium Challenge Corporation or MCC which would utilize a procedural form of selecting certain countries by means of performance while being evaluated by a board and executed by 300 employees (MCC, 2013. The criteria would be based upon whether or not they can compete with other countries in regards to Gross National Income of low or middle class sustaining, improving their quality and performance as a country, or graduating with a year If there are no signs of improvement or potential, they would not be eligible for the next year and be left to thei r own elements. The form of criteria emphasizes a value of elitism on the competitive national level. Basically, if a certain country is not deemed successful due to lack of intellect, strength of its citizens, or ability to overcome poverty then we decline assistance. In another perspective, we can view our system of criteria and success based on the survival of the fittest which is a value of inequality. In addition, the goals of the MCC are to leave the responsibility of the foreign government to facilitate their own success towards growth in health and agriculture, create partnerships, and property rights (MCC 2013. ) We basically leave their government in the faith of the invisible hand to guide their success rather than micro managing their success by means of government. Lastly we encourage property and individual right through the investment policy to reduce poverty. As discussed by James Roberts a researcher for International Trade and Economics, â€Å"MCC's selectivity and associated seal of approval creates powerful incentives for developing countries to uphold democratic and free-market principles, invest responsibly in their citizens, and transition their economies from developing to emerging markets† (Roberts, 2013. ) He encourages a core value of faith in non-human institutions by means of a free market rather than government controlled. In addition, the MCC encourages national accountability towards developing democratic reform and trade policies thus validating their values within nationalism. In a recent proposed foreign aid budget, Josh Riggin reports, â€Å"The long-term budget announced on Tuesday by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan would cut the budget for international affairs and foreign assistance by 29 percent in 2012 and 44 percent by 2016 while increasing the defense budget by 14 percent over the same timeframe† (Rogin, 2011. Basically, he would be increasing the current spending bill on defense of 22 billion to 583 billion for national defense and security while decreasing national affairs from 37 billion to 22 billion. This validates the characteristic of the need to increase spending on defense or authority and stability with conservatives. Moreover, the decrease in foreign aid would be left at the hands of faith in non-human institutions. In a report by U. S. World News, Evan Moore and Patrick Christy claim â€Å"Aid is hard power. It is a weapon the United States uses to strengthen allies [and partners] and, thus, ourselves. (Moore & Christy, 2013. ) In this statement, they value a sense of authority, stability, and order in regards to security with military. However, due to sequestration to cut foreign aid, conservatives believe that it will avoid assistance towards promoting national security and create instability in weak states as well as on a global level. Basically, foreign aid directed towards developing a country will hinder strategic investment with allies in military which is the primary goal. As a statement towards nationalism, Gary Connor publisher of Palestine. Herald-Press, he claims that the U. S spends billions of tax payers’ money every year on foreign aid while we continue to be underfunded on a national level primarily with disaster relief, education, and border security (Connor, 2013. ) His conservative belief opposes internationalism while focusing on America as the priority versus developing countries that may not be contributing to our society. In addition, he emphasizes a sense of elitism in the aspect of the funding that was gained by tax payers should be used towards the tax payers despite the harsh reality underdeveloped countries. As a primary characteristic of a conservative, their primary worries in regards to the foreign aid policy are the unintended consequences. As reported by Thomas Eddlem contributor to The New American publication, â€Å"US foreign aid programs often funded autocratic regimes that have committed human rights abuses and stand against democratic principles† (Eddlem, 2013. ) In other words, American funding towards foreign aid has become the financing for their government to oppress and control opposing voices. Another report claims American aid to Egypt purchases in the last 30 years towards their regime that performs torture and brutality. The challenge to foreign aid is whether or not we have implemented proper authorities to ensure foreign aid given by America’s tax payers are being utilized effectively. Due to the conservatives lack of confidence in the government’s ability to create progressive results using the tax payers money, conservatives state that â€Å"Billions of American dollars from faith-based and other charitable, academic, and humanitarian groups go to the needy overseas every year and have far better results than government ODA† (Roberts, 2013. Although conservatives may seem reluctant to push towards foreign aid, their support through religious charity groups emphasizes a faith in non-human institutions. Contemporary American moderates would approach foreign aid in a collaborative value between conservatives and liberals; however, they would primarily compromise their beliefs to coincide with the current status quo. They would probably continue keep a balance of spending to aid foreign countries by means of finances and health assistance, but to primarily remain conscious as to prevent from leaning towards focus on the government for all assistance and seeking private donations as well. In addition, they would probably continue the traditional USAID form of foreign aid and balance with the new updated approach of the MCC or to combine both of these programs. In recent alternative propositions by the Foreign Service Despatches and Periodic Reports on U. S. Foreign Policy by Dobransky, he considers multiple alternatives in the views of moderates. The first policy would be to maintain U. S. foreign aid by continuing to utilize USAID and the recent version MCC. In the perspective of Americans, both forms of aid have been approved and criticized openly by multiple parties; however, they are both still being utilized and approved by congress as the usual form of application (Dobransky, 2011. The second alternative would be to merge both programs of the USAID and MCC which would primarily cause shared mass information to the public and be able to whittle down flaws and target areas of success to increase efficacy. Moreover, there would be one organization as opposed to two leading groups that oppose each other’s’ views despite a common goal. A proposition brought on by the Green Party that would encourage a global deal to fund tow ards education, food, and other basic needs to every human on this planet by means of American tax payers. Sounds like a truly selfless proposal; however, the majority of Americans would not want to place all resources and hard earned money to the rest of the world. This would probably exhaust America’s budget and would be impossible to ensure that every single person is receiving the same exact treatment. In addition, America would not want to sacrifice closing overseas military bases which would place our country in a higher and much vulnerable state due to weak security. When evaluating the MCC policy, they emphasize a rich value in elitism by means of leaving these countries to their own device. If we are investing in these particular countries by means of our tax payer’s money, we would want to see positive results by means of guidance and American political perspective to decrease poverty and social ills rather than finance countries then leave them to figure out how to succeed. In addition, with the amount billions of dollars spent to aid other countries we can afford to increase representatives of the limited 300 employees of MCC in order to properly work side by side with invested countries. Politicians in America use Foreign Aid as a weapon to achieve what they want from other countries, but they do not really see the real problems that this help causes in poor countries, or at least they act as they do not see it. For example Foreign Aid causes major corruption and even more poverty. The governments in poor countries do not really care about the people and they are not design like the government in the United States. If we follow the history of Foreign Aid, we can see that every time we help a country, we always end up fighting that country at one point or another. Foreign Aid should be limited and the US should hold the countries that received aid accountable for how they use it. Millions of dollars are lost in fraudulent contracts and misuse by the receiving governments, we do not have a saying in how these governments can use our hard earn money. For the US government to continue having the approval of the people in foreign aid help, it needs to fix the requirements for who qualifies to receive foreign aid, and also when to use foreign aid as a tool for foreign policy.

Planning in Organisation for Creative Workforce Essay

Planning in Organisation for Creative Workforce - Essay Example This suggests that most of the organisations fail to utilise its workforce due to lack of planning leading to employee dissatisfaction. An employee who does not find any motivation into the job he performs, learns nothing out of the routine work, is not rewarded for any outstanding performance, and sees no challenge in his job is less likely to be motivated to work enthusiastically and perform at his best. Bramham (1987) propounds the most important aim of human resource planning in an organisation to foresee future need for employees not only in quantitative terms but also in qualitative manner such as the skills, calibre, performance and attitude required for particular types of jobs. Dessler (1999, p2) says that human resource management is all about devising policies and strategies for the employees working in the organisation. It includes selecting, training, evaluating, appreciating and providing convenient working environment for the employees. It shows that planning for creative workforce is very crucial for the survival and success of an organisation. The organisations use planning to select the kind of personnel it needs, motivate them and retain them towards future enhancement of organisational objectives. The organisations plan to realise organisational needs for workforce in future and take calculated steps to retain its employee through various means. In fact, human resource planning does not only enable an organisation to retain its employees but also to 'treasure' them so that they can gain more creative and efficient workforce. The use of planning by organisation to gain more creative workforce... Planning is the most important aspect of organisational management. Workforce planning is the key to acquire the kind of people the organisation needs and to retain them through various motivating factors such as salary, promotion, job security, learning opportunities, performance appraisals etc. It shows the criticality of organisational planning concerning human resource. Every organisation needs to plan in a proactive manner the labour needs that will arise in future. It will ensure that the organisation strives to attain the employees with suitable skills and attitude to train them for upcoming change. In this way, the organisation will have the 'right team' prepared for challenges when the time actually comes. Mullins (1996) maintains that human resource planning if done in an efficacious manner can enable the organisation to take imperative steps for the enhancement of employee productivity level at the right possible time. It assists the organisation in meeting all the necessary human resource requirements from hiring to firing in a systematic way. This reflects that human resource planning makes an organisation realise the factors undermining the productivity and calibre of its employees keeping them from achieving organisational objectives before it becomes too late. Most of the organisations do not actually plan to acquire highly qualified and skilled labour force, but most often to retain the employees on whom the organisation has already exerted substantial money and time. It mirrors that organisation will risk the creativity of its workforce if it does not properly plan for the development of its employees. Mathis (1997, p314) suggests that, â€Å"development can be thought of bringing about capacities that go beyond those required by the current job†¦As such, it benefits both the organisation and the individual’s career†.

A Critical Evaluation of a Screening Event (The Kurdish Winter) Essay

A Critical Evaluation of a Screening Event (The Kurdish Winter) - Essay Example Nonetheless, this paper presents a critical evaluation of a screening event involving the documentary â€Å"The Kurdish Winter.† The documentary â€Å"The Kurdish Winter,† bears the story of the Kurdish people. These are considered to be the largest nation in the world, but without a state of their own (Gendercide n.d). Documentaries are one of the major ways of revisiting genocide and its effects, in an effort to prevent such future occurrences (Wilson & Crowder-Taraborrelli 2012). In the 1980’s, and years before, the Kurdish people suffered continuous genocides in Iraq. This therefore, had a negative impact on their life and heritage (Ibrahim & Gurbey 2000). Nonetheless, this documentary aims at collecting evidence from the Kurds that are alive today, and lived in the 1970’s. This will eventually help in shaping the truth about the Kurdish genocide, as witnesses testify in the documentary. Although the Kurdish people during that period suffered a lot of atrocities, the media publicised the events that unfolded, but the world closed its eyes and ears to the situation and cries of the Kur dish people. Being the director of the documentary, I had the responsibility of ensuring that the filming process was successful, and making sure that the content of the documentary was on point and convincing. For filming, I travelled to various parts of the world, identifying the key people that I would include in the documentary. The conditions for these people was that they had to be Kurdish, and must have been alive when the genocides occurred, as well as been affected in one way or another by the detrimental events that made up the genocide. I gained diverse insights into the situation of the Kurdish people from different parties, including political prisoners, politicians, leaders of different calibre, as well as the common Kurdish people that were victims of the genocide. As the director of the documentary, I shared the pains of these people, since I was

A comparitive Study of Clinton's and George Bush's Economic Policies Essay

A comparitive Study of Clinton's and George Bush's Economic Policies - Essay Example Bush supporters argue that Clinton inherited a booming economy on the upswing from the previous Reagan/Bush presidencies then ran it into the ground for which George W. now takes the blame. Many Clinton backers disagree taking the position that the current Bush administration has instituted a faith-based economic policy; that Armageddon will happen soon so it doesn’t matter how the country’s economy is managed. To give total credit or blame to one person for every aspect of the nation’s economic condition is hardly a credible stance. However, this paper will compare the two presidents’ economic policies as they relate directly to the end result in similar categories as a means to compare their successes and failures on an even playing field. To that end, this discussion provides an extensive view of the economy over the previous 12 years spotlighting on percentage changes of several economic indicators rather than total number. The steady creation of employment opportunities is one of the most telling signs of a country’s economic condition. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of jobs increased 2.38 percent per year under Clinton, but it has decreased 0.17 percent per year in the years Bush has held office (Atkinson & Hutto, 2004). The Bush administration claimed that the economy was on a downturn following the Clinton presidency then was further hindered by the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Bush sold the idea of tax cuts to the public predicting that this step would help to stimulate the economy by creating 3.7 million jobs in 2003, but produced only 1.7 million, fewer than the number of births in the country that year (Council of Economic Advisors, 2003). By contrast, 22 million jobs were created during the eight years Clinton was in office. The tax cut concept was not based on sound, objective economic analysis, rather it was an ideology borrowed from the equally failed

US Policy towards Pakistan Thesis Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

US Policy towards Pakistan - Thesis Proposal Example Hussain (2002, 7) states that it is the Taliban militants control this region. The problem has also become a regional concern. The violence and lawlessness in this region has spilled over to Afghanistan. Indeed, a report by Leonard Barry (2009) finds that the greatest challenge to long-term security within Afghanistan is the insurgents’ sanctuary within FATA of Pakistan. Eur (2203) argues that Pakistan has long meddled with internal affairs of Afghanistan, which has made the relationship between the 2 potentially explosive. The status of the region has drawn interest from various stakeholders, among them United states and NATO, following increased cross-border operations carried out by extremists groups against the United stated and NATO troops in Afghanistan ( Nelson 2010, 1-10). From an international point of view, the problem is also becoming a threat to international peace and order. Consequently, it is essential to study the larger problem because of some factors. First, it is because of the unique problem it poses to the regional as well as international security. Secondly, since this region is lawless, ungoverned, and potential power vacuum has been created, it is necessary in order to evaluate whether Pakistan is a failed state. This is because the problem has been exploited by militia, Taliban commanders, drug traffickers and terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda to establish and exercise a lot of control and create a haven for their activities. Accordingly, according to a report to the congress.

Tax systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Tax systems - Essay Example Indirect taxation leads to income effect. Income effect occurs when people find that they have surplus money and therefore their demand for goods and services increase. In case of no tax levied people after earning certain amount of income will start preferring leisure over work. Since indirect taxation increases the prices of goods and services people will have to work harder to keep up their standard of living and will have to earn more income to buy the same â€Å"basket† of goods that they were buying before and this will lead to more working hours in the economy. In this case, increase in taxation would result in increase in incentives for people to work hard and to expend more effort.ii) Regressive Taxation system is one where rich people pay lesser proportion of their income as tax than the poorer people. For example, a flat tax of $5 would make a higher proportion for someone earning $100/month than someone earning $200/month. For someone earning $100/month it would be 5%, whereas for the other guy it would be 2.5%. This kind of tax system is normally regressive and usually indirect taxation is regressive. On the other hand progressive system is one where rich people pay higher tax than the poor people. Income tax is usually progressive as it takes into account the income of people. Regressive taxation can be an incentive for people to work hard and earn more money, whereas as progressive systems can be a disincentiveSince regressive system leads to same amount of tax in absolute terms for both rich and poor., any additional work or money earned by poor people would reduce their proportion of income as tax. This makes people work harder to nullify the effects of regressive tax. For example, if someone is earning $100 and he knows that he will have to pay $5 in taxes every time irrespective of his income. He would try to increase his income to $105 to nullify the effects of the tax. This increase in income for $100 to $105 will increase his dispos able income after tax from $95 to $100. The person by earning more would be $5 richer. Hence, regressive tax system encourages increase in effort. People work harder to increase their disposable income to improve their standard of living. Progressive system can be a disincentive to work harder. Since, progressive tax increases with the additional income earned, many people would be put off from working harder as they will think that any increase in

Connecting idea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Connecting idea - Essay Example For instance, in the lives of Muslims, the use of the veil and hijab among women, has changed from time to time as they tried to survive in their communities. Along with this change was also the obvious adaptation in the commonly used English language. Such changes in the use of the veil and hijab as well as the English language will be discussed in more detail in the following paragraphs. In our world today, it is not uncommon to hear Muslim women being terrorized by non-Muslims saying that they are terrorists. For example, in the speech of Hafsah Badru Amirah, president of Muslim Students Society in Nigeria during the World Hijab Day in February, she reminded her audience that one of the reasons for the celebration is in remembrance of a Muslim woman stabbed to death in a German court for no other reason than wearing a hijab (Amirah). Hebah and Sarah, sisters from a Muslim family who migrated to America from Egypt, tell about their experiences about using the veil and hijab. They share about how people have always been fascinated by their way of dressing and how they have been threatened by strangers simply by the way they looked. For the non-Muslim who feels threatened by the presence of a Muslim woman wearing a hijab, it should be understood that such fear is also felt by the woman inside the strange costume. Nevertheless, that is not always the case so Muslims no w have differing opinions about their traditional clothing. For Hebah and Sarah, it is not a statement of their religion but it is their desire to obey Allah that they use hijab even in the face of dangers. However, in a world where they feel their sexuality is abused in a male-dominated workplace like in the case of Hebah, she feels the need to use the hijab as her way of saying, â€Å"I am a respectable woman† (Ali). Although there are Muslim women like Hebah and Sarah who would rather suffer the consequences of using

Quality Assurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Quality Assurance - Essay Example Therefore, it is in the interest of a firm to ensure the goods that are produced are of high quality and are appealing to the market as a whole. In making this a reality, the firms have to indulge various aspects which include strategic planning, data collection and effective communication; both inside and outside the firm. The Core Concepts of Quality and Total Quality There are various concepts that are used by firms and businesses to improve the quality of production. When these concepts are implemented the firm gains by giving satisfactory results to customers. The first concept in TQM is developing customer focus (Rawlins, 2008:12). Customers create the main demand for the products and services that are offered, and will have direct impact on the performance of a business. Therefore, as a measure in a firm, it should structure the best ways of creating an impressive reception from the customers. This can be done by ensuring the products that are produced according to customersâ €™ needs. Production in a firm involves transforming raw materials to finished goods, which are used by the clients. Therefore, a business has to ensure it is centred on the production process, which will generate finished goods. This is a concept that involves structured processes that are repetitive. As such, a firm should have a developed way of ensuring these steps are followed to the latter, in ensuring the products are available at the right time (Rawlins, 2008:15). In implementing such procedures, the firm is likely to reflect satisfactory results in terms of production of products and services. 2.0 Total Quality Application to the Organisation in RWDI Formation of an integrated system is a concept in TQM, which explains the connection of all the functional parts in an organisation. While some organisations use the vertical integration of management, other firms embrace the horizontal structure of management. All these activities are vital in coming up with the end produc ts. Therefore, a well arranged structure will accrue the best results in a firm, depending on their effectiveness and efficiency. Therefore, a business has to involve both minute processes and the other large process to record the desired results. Many firms apply the aspect of continuous improvement, especially in performance. This is done in many ways where the products and services of a firm or organisation have to keep improving. In many instances, organisations direct their focus on improving the quality and effectiveness of products and services. With a constant improvement in the products and services, it is guaranteed that the organisation will attract a larger number of customers. As such, it increases the demand for the products of the firm, which in turn increases the performance of the firm. 3.0 Problem Hard and soft problems RWDI has been 3experrincingh a number of problems in regard to its performance. Its performance has been dwindling with time, which has lowered its reception in the market. However, there are two types of the problems that affect the firm. These are soft issues and hard issues where some are measured while others are not measured. To begin with, the firm experiences hard problems which occur from submerging profit levels. This is reflected from the low performance and appeal to the market. Apparently, the costs incurred in the firm are increasing day in and day out, which

A Pro Stance for Vaccines Essay Example for Free

A Pro Stance for Vaccines Essay The topic of laws mandating vaccinations is a much debated issue. A large number of parents argue they should not be forced to vaccinate their children in order for them to attend public school and daycare. One reason for the controversy of their use is the increased number of children with autism, which some reports have indicated is a possible side effect of vaccines. Information regarding potential negative side effects of vaccines is abundant although not always accurate; however, the decreased incidence in vaccine preventable diseases illustrates their continued necessity. In the United States many of the diseases vaccinated for are nearly absent in communities now. Some diseases may even be eradicated completely by the use of immunizations, as with the case of smallpox in 1977. (Kee, Hayes, McCuistion, 2012, p. 502) A low incidence in many of the vaccine-prevented diseases can lead some to a false sense of security against the risk of contracting such diseases. It is important for the general population to continue receiving vaccinations. An article in The New England Journal of Medicine points out High vaccine coverage, particularly at the community level, is extremely important for children who cannot be vaccinated, including children who have medical contraindications to vaccination and those who are too young to be vaccinated. These groups are often more susceptible to the complications of infectious diseases than the general population of children and depend on the protection provided by the vaccination of children in their environs. Many parents think there is no longer a risk of their child contracting the disease or even becoming exposed to them at all. The refusal of a few to vaccine may not have much of an impact on society, however, the refusal of many to not vaccinate in a community can have disastrous consequences. If the immunization level of a population drops too low, there can be an outbreak of the disease, and the vaccinated population may not be high enough to cover all of the individuals who refused vaccination. This is clearly evidenced by a measles outbreak documented in 2008. The New England Journal of Medicine discussed this measles outbreak in a 2009 article, Between January 1, 2008, and April 25, 2008, there were five measles  outbreaks and a total of 64 cases reported. All but one of the persons with measles were either unvaccinated or did not have evidence of immunization. Of the 21 cases among children and adolescents in the vaccine-eligible age group (16 months to 19 years) with a known reason for nonvaccination, 14, or 67%, had obtained a nonmedical exemption and all of the 10 school-age children had obtained a nonmedical exemption. Thirteen cases occurred in children too young to be vaccinated, and in more than a third of the cases (18 of 44) occurring in a known transmission setting the disease was acquired in a health care facility. (Omer, Salmon, Orenstein, deHArt Halsey) Children are not the only population in need of vaccination. Many adults either never got their immunizations as a child, never received their boosters, or they received them so long ago that they are no longer effective as contracting the disease. The National Network for Immunization Information reports in the United States, up to 60,000 adults die from vaccine-preventable diseases or their complications. These diseases include influenza, pneumococcal disease, and tetanus among others. This statistic alone shows a need for more immunizations, not less. The reports indicating negative side effects of the vaccines, especially the possible link to autism is just another reason many feel immunizations are an unnecessary risk. References: Ram Koppaka, MD, PhD (2011) Ten Great Public Health Achievements United States, 20012010 Retrieved from Mobidity and Mortality Weekly Report website: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6019a5.htm May 20, 2011 / 60(19);619-623 (2008). Adult Immunizations. Retrieved from National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). website: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/peds.2010-1722Tv1 Kee, J., Hayes, E., McCuistion, L. (2012) Pharmacology: A Nursing Process Approach 7th Edition. St. Louis, MI: Elsevier Saunders, 503-510.

Examining roles and responsibilities Human Resources in BMW

Examining roles and responsibilities Human Resources in BMW Human resource management (HRM) is the function to meet the current and future resource challenges of the information society. In words of Taylor Human resource management is the range of people management functions, process and activities which involve more than one national context. It is the policies and practices involved in carrying out the people or human resource aspects of management position, including recruitment, screening, training, rewarding and appraisal. The concept of Human resource management in BMW cars is different as it concern with the change in perception of management and staff. They demand the intelligent graduated employees which can think differently and flexibly to change and compete with the other companies with their human resources. Human resource management includes that the people at work should think differently with innovation and creativity and with team work. HRM is the very important for the success of any firm in business because it places the ma nagement and the workforce with all the strategies. It not only makes the people at work but also maintains the relationships and culture among the staff. HRM has the applications at every level in the organisation and the proper role is to think before doing and the create mind set of workforce. HRM also solve the problems and conflicts between the managers and employees as they have to report everything to the HRM department in the organisation. INTRODUCTION OF HRM IN BMW BMW is the basically German company with vast experience in the field of cars and was introduced in 1981. This company spends more money on its human inputs to add value and also its complex contribution of human resources creates its competitive advantage. BMWs specialized staff which are able to offer superior quality of product and services in the market with the customer experience. Human resources plays important role in the BMW even in the time of recession as they have invest on the human inputs. But this depends on the financial condition and capabilities of the market as they had invested in training development and recruitment of the new management teams in their organisation. Earlier BMW was not giving importance to its customer services and its staff only focusing on its products and places for its expansion but later on they realise that human resources and their management is important for success in the market and competition. In BMW the goal of human resources is to c hange and improve their markets by using the new methods of production and materials and organise them into the excellent way of customer servicing. As always in BMW the goal of human resource management is to add more value and improve the ratio of cost in the added value of its car products. The main goal of HRM in BMW is to make people more productive and creative for the long term standing with them and when the management staff will be more productive then the jobs get more skilled. In recession also this company had constantly invested in the human resources and its development. HUMAN RESOURCE STRATEGIES IN BMW BMW is company which carries out very well planned strategies in its organisation. In this organisation the human resource strategy is applying to the whole organisation and BMW is improving its products and making a proper customer satisfaction by applying this strategy. This strategy is plays a very vital role in the BMW organisation and its employees. It helps them to innovate and create new products and services to their customers and making its products available and delivered in all areas where they are expanding their activities. Earlier BMW was making their products wrongly and not understanding the capabilities and needs of its customers as they were not giving importance to its human resources so after sometime they realise the exact meaning and importance of its resources so now they can focus more on markets and its customers. BMW is now making its organisation and its employees flexible so that they can change according to the technology and the needs of its customers in the market. Human resource strategies help them to take the proper care of people issue for the long term by providing best quality products and services, making long term commitments and needs for the future. The aim of BMW in this strategy is not to give them low cost products. Their main aim is to provide the high capable workforce and making its products unique in the competitive market. BMW is concerned with its managers and the staff to make them more innovative and developing their skills so that they can achieve a high task goals and objectives. The following are the Human resource strategies of BMW: Recruitment and Selection: The selection of the candidates is the first task and strategy of BMW. This is the most important element of the BMWs human resource management. In this they have to select the candidate who can match up the requirements of the job role. This includes the person who can identify the market conditions, attract customers to sell their products. The first process in this process is to analyse the role and then they develop the persons specification of that job satisfaction and then he going to identify the market condition to attract customers and then screening of applications. In screening of applications they short list the selected candidate whether to select or reject. After this they conduct interviews, assessments and tests of the candidate to decide select or reject. When candidate pass this interview then they check the references in the resume of the candidate and after above all they offer the person to work in the organisation. BMW is following a v ery good selection technique with their clear specifications and procedures in a long term. They judge the candidate according to the suitability of the role which provides them necessary benefits. Suitability of the role in the job includes the knowledge, skills, experience and personal attributes of the person which help him to perform according to the specifications of the job. All this process of selection and recruitment is properly planned in an organised way considering their future needs. Attracting the customers which is a part of selection process plays an important role as it does not include selling their products but also includes advertising the brand BMW in the newspapers, magazines, internet, television etc. and making awareness of the luxurious comforts and safety of the products of BMW. It includes the heavy expenditure in advertising the brand but they need to be more careful in spending on advertising anyways this strategy for marketing their employment. Screening: in this step of recruitment and selection of BMW human resource management the candidate have to fill the application form which shows the subjective quality of the person for the role and also helps in improving the quality of the process and increase the consistency. In application form the person has to fill up his bio data and other questions which show the difference of higher and low level of performers. Interviewing: Interviewing person who had applied for the role is very important otherwise they cant judge the mental and physical capabilities of the candidate. This process is conducted by the line managers of the BMW. In this interview they have long discussions, questions about the previous experience, favourites. This is the most commonly used technique in every multinational organisation which helps the interviewer to make a judgement about the candidate specialization for the job. They can judge whether the person can satisfy the job or not? The questions in this interview are properly listed to get specific information about a standard of judgement or criticism and the candidate get a score against the answers he had provided in this interview. Testing: Another process followed by the BMW human resource department is testing the ability and personality of the candidate. In the ability test they test or measure the aptitudes like knowledge, vocabulary, typing speed, awareness about the products and accuracy of the candidate. On the other hand are the personality tests which show the personal characteristics, attitude, behaviour and values of the candidate. In this they also test the individual beliefs and the capability that how they deal with problems in selling the products or their convincing and marketing power in the organisation. In this process of testing the candidates in BMW the ability tests are more consistent and free from errors than the personality tests. Checking References: After testing the candidate then the manager or the interviewer has to check the references of the educational qualifications, eligibility, work experience, licences and the special check on the criminal records and health problems. After checking the references they give the offer letter whether it conditional or unconditional. Training and Development Once candidate pass the above steps of recruitment and selection then he has to undergo from the training of the role offers to him. This training process is essential to improve the performance of the job which helps to develop their personal and professional characteristics of candidate. This training involves coaching and development of the professional skills which are more efficient and effective in learning and development of the individuals. The different types of training are informal training, on the job or off the job training, product and skills training, behavioural development and technical training. They give the training to their employees for how to develop different styles of learning, materials, design of the products, and also look after their personality types. In this training also involves use of heavy and expensive equipment and machines and provide stipend in between their training. This training on machines and equipment improves their performance of the job. BMW teach their employees the easy and small steps first and cover their health and security issues and make their employees proud to be a part of this organisation. In this training the line managers face the major challenges to develop the confidence, personality and skills to solve and find the solutions to the problems in the organisation. Managers want their trainees to be creative, innovative, productive and sufficient to operate at tactical and strategic level in the company. They trained them to seek the responsibilities of the task given to them and never be step back in any problems. After the trainee complete the process of his training and development of the specific role given to him then the line managers give them a pat on their back and recognise them for their successful completion so that they motivate in performing their tasks well on the job. In conclusion we can see that there is an increase in proportion for training at both individual and group level at a great value to the companies like BMW by means they can provide satisfaction to the customers about their products. Even the training also undertaken by BMW in the time of recession as they were pressed against by their competitors. The BMW group has opened a training academy near Reading with more than 30 workshops and 20 training rooms which recruit the skilled workers. BMW is planning to increase the number of workers to 2000 in their dealerships to increase their growth in the UK. BMW is training their trainee practically and theoretically by the Trainee Promotion Programme (TPP) and PC programmes with the benefits of pay like bonuses on Christmas, New Year etc. with free meals. They are providing the best training programmes with the best facilities to their trainees to make them more confident and motivate them to improve their performance of work. Performance Management In BMW the performance of the managers and staff is initially important to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation. Performance management is the essential and organised process that carries the success and helps in developing the capabilities and performance of the individual or work team. The strategy of human resource management is to develop the managers or leaders in the organisation who can help their employees or subordinates to make their performance effective and efficient. The managers are the only ones who can manage the performance of the workers by understanding and knowing what the employees expect from them and engage them in each and every activity and ask them for feedback which can improve their quality of performance in the organisation. The BWM human resource management is working more on this performance by enhancing them to learn their goals and objectives and they recognise that there is a greater need for the management to apply these performance tools in the company through which they can develop their reviews, skills and framework. In this management the employees are sharing their views and ideas with their leaders and managers so that they can find better ways measuring and improving the performance. The performance management of the BMW shows that how BMW is working its functions effectively in the environment. The performance of this company shows how they are executing their plans, goals, objectives and what will be the outcome of their performance? The purpose of the BMW management team is to achieve the better results by managing the performance and maintain the standards of performance of their work team. The main goal of the line managers is to create or develop a relationship or culture between them and their workforce to seek the responsibility for the consistent improvement in the performance and skills of their business procedures and processes. There are certain principles which BMW follows in performance man agement i.e. line manager transfer their corporate goals in into their human resource department at individual and group level, clarifying the goals to their workers, understanding and sharing the problems and finding solution to improve the performance, continuous feedback, encourage their subordinates for open and honest communication, mutual respect and transparency between them. These all basic principles implemented properly by this company HR team and it surely helps them in improving their performance management. In this we can conclude that performance management is to support by the managers to their workforce to improve their performance, skills, knowledge and experience while doing their job. Employee Relations: In modern times relation with employees is essentially important and as a part of human resource strategy. Involvement and participation of both employee and managers in the organisation shows how strong is the relation between them and the difficulty of maintaining this relation for long time. In BMW the managers are constantly involving with their employees in several practices which directly improve their relations and performance in the organisation. The main task of managers is to maintain the employee relations so they can generate more commitments for their work and contribute to their operation effectively. The manager of the BMW focuses mainly on the engagements and commitments of their workers to maintain their employee relations. There are many benefits which BMW provides to its employees when they join the company like medical insurances, annual bonuses, dental and vision insurance, holiday pay, vacation pay, life term insurances which include accidental and death insuran ce, medical expenses, disability insurance according to long and short term which will be fully paid, personal day pay, sick leave, free education training and development. These all benefits which BMW provides to its employees play a crucial role in maintaining the relation with employees. These benefits also help the organisation to improve the performance and contribution of employees in the production of work. The chief executives of BMW are rising the salary and bonuses of their staff twice to the workers working in other companies. BMW is the only major and first company who had make the bonuses of assembly workers same as of the top managers in the organisation. BMW is showing a great contribution to improve the relations with the employees so that they work with dedication and hard work which increases the sales and production of the company. The spokesman of BMW in his interview said that they are creating transparent and regular relations with their employees so that there should be no gap between the managers and workers. They are giving bonuses to the superiors and subordinates depend on the companys profit, sales and performance of each employee. BMW is also sharing profits with their line and top managers which is good in business to deal at the time of recession. During the time of recession the profit sharing motivates and encourages worker which is a good way for the BMW to make their workers employed. There are certain factors which BMW has adopted to improve its relation with employees: Downward communication: The first factor that maintains the employee relation is the downward communication from managers to its subordinates. In this the managers should educate and trained their staff towards their role in the organisation which shows leadership in which employee has to follow his manager for executing the tasks and responsibilities. Upward problem solving and finding solution: Another factor for improving the relations is not only from managers to subordinates. It also from subordinates to its superiors in which the subordinates participate in the decision making process and support its managers in solving the problems by creating new ideas, opinions and find solution instantly. This motivates them to maintain cooperative relations by different suggestions, schemes and surveys etc. Task Participation: another category of improving the relations of employees with their managers is the participation and involvement of both of them in task or responsibility given to them. This also involves the job redesign in which they have to extend the task undertaken in work. This task participation involves financial, consultation and representative participation and involvement. Manager and employee are expected to play an important role in the development and maintenance of the tasks in the job. They need to follow the new techniques and strategies to complete and achieve their goals, objectives and tasks of the organisation and share the commitment between them. PERSONAL MANAGEMENT: Another important strategy of human resource management in BMW is the personal management. BMW HRM staff is managing the employees in achieving the goals and objectives. In this personal management system the managers manages the education, qualification, training and experience of the employees. This is the process of directing the employees in achieving the long term and short term goals make them flexible enough to deal with any changes in the situation with intelligence and open frame of mind. Personal management includes the following Team Building: team building also an important task in personal management system in the organisation. The managers have to build the teams according to the experience and qualification of the workforce. The manager has to maintain the understanding between the team and give them edge in the corporate staff. Effective Meetings: this effective meeting means that the managers have to conduct the interview for the staff and the committee in which they have to focuses on the agenda of meetings, goals and objectives to achieve to be planned and prepared. Discussions and participations of the right people involved in these meetings. While arranging these meetings the personal management has to decide the time, place and venue of conducting these meetings. Time management: the time management is the most essential point of the personal management. They have to manage the time to prepare and plan to complete their tasks and responsibilities to achieve the goals of the organisations. They have to maintain a balance between their personal and professional lives. Decision Making: decision making in the management helps to solve the problems to reach their goals and objectives and provide them alternatives for executing their plans. In this managers gives right to their subordinates to participate in decision making process and support their superiors which helps in maintaining the understanding and cooperation between them. EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING BMW human resource team make up the mind of the individuals to make their decisions effective. The effective decision making is dependent upon the HR team performance. The team performance shows the quality of decisions taken to make the products and services better and new which makes the customers attract to buy their products. Now days the faculty members in the BMW is helping the new fresher and graduates to make right decisions by improving their capabilities and confidence while working in the organisation. Decisions can be small scale or on large scale. Both types of decisions are taken in BMW and by the human resource management team as it is the most important part of their strategies and they have to mainly consider the quality of decisions. The small scale decisions are mainly on the location, time and venue of the next meeting which involves resources such as time and energy. The large scale decisions also involves lot of time and energy but decision may be on the designi ng a project and deciding the alternatives. These decisions are decided by the HR team in BMW which can make the decision effective and efficient for the success of the organisation. The HR team in this organisation consider the three main important things which help them to make their decisions effective and correct. Firstly, they have to consider the environment for taking the decisions. In this they have to see the communication between the managers and the working team so that they can improve the quality and remove the conflicts between them. Secondly, is the method or ways of decision making by SWOT analysis and the last is the tools which BMW is using for the effective decision making. Recommendations In terms of strengths and opportunities in the way of BMW instead of this there are also weaknesses and threats which the company has to overcome with the performance of the HRM team. As we know that BMW is having competition in the market so they should not make the prices of their products so high. They should decrease the prices of their products and services otherwise their sales will slow down in the market. As we know that there is economic recession, increase in the price of fuel, globalization of markets and more automobiles companies are expanding in this period so it will be problem for the BMW if they increase their prices and customer will look for the other competitive alternative in the market which will slow down the business sales and performance of the employees. The management team should take some effective decisions considering all the threats and weaknesses mind. The BMW should design new products keeping in mind the pollution. Now days the customers are becoming more aware and knowledgeable about the products so the HR team should develop some strategies to deal with it and should make sure that customer should not loose any interest in buying their products.

King Lear: Egg-as-crown Metonymy Essay -- Shakespeare Literature

In metonymy†¦ the literal term for one thing is applied to another with which it has become closely associated because of a recurrent relationship in common experience. Thus â€Å"the crown† or the scepter can be used to stand in for a king. (Abrams’ Glossary of Literary Terms, 98) In the play King Lear by William Shakespeare, the Fool compares King Lear’s Crown to an egg. Shakespeare’s use of metonymy to replace the crown with an egg implies that Lear’s kingship is fragile and brittle, on the verge of breaking at any moment. We find through the narrative of the play that this is indeed true; King Lear’s kingdom crumbles due to his foolish mistakes. King Lear’s first mistake of laziness and selfishness leads to the banishment of Cordelia and Kent. The revelation of his mistakes leads to madness and eventually his death. The egg-crown metonymy here is effective. Both the egg and the crown represent something precious and delicate, making the two interchangeable. King Lear is the figurehead of his kingdom with his power and command drawn from his crown. His crown is also a symbol for his kingdom which is essential to his ego and can be supported with the scene where he asks his daughters to tell him how much they love him. â€Å"Which of you shall we say doth love us most, /That we our largest bounty may extend /Where nature doth with merit challenge.† (I, i, 53-55) King Lear demands a public display of affection from his daughters because it demonstrates his dominance. The betrayal of Goneril and Regan destroys King Lear’s ability to command, as competition between the two sisters’ shatters his kingdom like an egg. Lear’s relationship to his crown can be compared to a hen and her egg; both mean the world to their owners, and bot... ..."When thou clovest thy / crown i' the middle and gavest away both parts, thou [†¦] hadst little wit in / bald crown," (I.iv.14). Metonymy of egg-crown in King Lear is effective, the fragility and cracking of an egg is examined and compared to the crown, kingdom, and kingship. An egg is naturally fragile and in King Lear, so is the crown. King Lear’s laziness leads to a series of events that ultimately causes the kingdom to collapse, similar to an egg with the slightest crack. Works Cited Essay/term paper: king lear: lear the tragic hero. (2010, 11). Retrieved from http://www.dreamessays.com/customessays/King%20Lear/2755.htm King lear symbolism, imagery & allegory. (2010, 11). Retrieved from http://www.shmoop.com/king-lear/symbolism-imagery.html Shakespeare, William. King Lear. New Revised Edition. New York, NY: Penguin, 1987. Print.

Comparing Frost’s Mending Wall and Rosenblatt’s A Game of Catch :: comparison compare contrast essays

Robert Frost’s   Mending Wall   and Roger Rosenblatt’s A Game of Catch Humans have an uncanny ability to place themselves at a comfortable distance from each other and call it a â€Å"mutual understanding,† a â€Å"friendship,† or even â€Å"true love,† but it is all lies. The essence of man’s mystery is somewhat of a paradox. He yearns to become more familiar with those around him, yet he is unwilling to allow this to happen.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The power of "Mending Wall," one of Frost's most often quoted poems, rests upon an opposition. Its two famous lines contradict each other. The poem upholds that:   Something there is that doesn't love a wall.   But it also asserts that: Good fences make good neighbors.   The contradiction is reasonable, for two different types of people utter the conflicting remarks and both are right. Man cannot live without walls, boundaries, limits and especially self-limitations; yet he resents all fetters and is happy at the destruction of any barrier. In "Mending Wall" the boundary line is useless:   There where it is we do not need the wall.   And, to stress the point, the speaker facetiously adds:   He is all pine and I am apple orchard.   My apple trees will never get across   And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.   One may find far-reaching connotations in this poem. As well as that it states one of the greatest difficulties of our time: whether national walls should be made stronger for our safety, or whether they should be let down, since they impede our progress toward understanding and eventual common humanity.   "Mending Wall" can also be considered a symbolic poem. In the voices of the two men the younger, capricious, "modern" speaker and the old-fashioned farmer who replies with his one dogged sentence, his inherited aphorism. Some may hear the opposition of two forces: the zeal of revolt, which challenges tradition, and the spirit of restraint, which insists that customs must be upheld, built up and continually rebuilt, as a matter of principle.   The poet himself looks down upon such symbolic analysis. He denies that the poem says anything more than it seems to say. The dispute is the heart of the poem. It answers itself in the paradox of people, in neighbors and competitors, in the antagonistic nature of man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Roger Rosenblatt’s essay, â€Å"A Game of

Essay --

The Irises Plant is a bush with hundreds of flower’s on it. Currently the plant is dying because the Irise plant needs at least half a day of sun and well drained soil without both the plant will not bloom, that’s why they are mostly planted in the summer. Usually this plant when bloomed attracts a wide variety of animals and insects such as Verba bud moths, white flies, iris weevil, Thirps, slugs, snail, aphids, and nematodes may also be troublesome to the iris plant. There are three inner petals called standards, and three outer petals called falls which make up the irises plant. There are three hundred species of this plant and they come in all different colors and sizes, and some colors they come in are pink, orange, yellow, blue, purple, white as well as multi-color. The most common irises is the bearded German iris. Even though â€Å"The Extinction of Experience†, â€Å"Where have all the Animals Gone?† are referring mostly to animals, plants and ani mals are both apart of nature. Without plants some animals could not survive because they feed off of them. All of the stories are similar in a way because each one of the main characters are forcing themselves to face or confront something that is personally affecting them. For instance â€Å"I’ve always enjoyed my visits to our cities’ old public zoos. It was there harsh Juxtapositions, I think, the very characteristic that make them so sad, so unconscionable to some, that made them so compelling to me.† (Siebert 16). This quote expresses how the way they had these animals in cages was so unnatural because these different creatures would never be by each other in a natural habitat peacefully it would be chaos. This was compelling to Siebert because he knew this would never happen outside of... ...an never replace.† (Pyle 261). This quote to me is explaining how people find animals fascinating as far as the unknown about animals life’s even though we can see whales and fish we will never get to experience their lives and things that they go through on a daily basis. We could never live in their habitat and that unknown about not only there lives but the lives and habitats of other animals keeps us imagining what it would be like. That is what keeps us as humans interested and fascinated with animals. The overall concept of these three stories are focusing on animals, nature and how if we continue to take animals out of there natural habitats it may continue to cause animals to be extinct because they animals are not adapting. So if we do not face this problem head on we not only will face local extinction but they have a chance to face global eradication.

Movie Analysis: A Walk to Remember Essay

A Walk To Remember is a romantic movie based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks. It is a 2002 Warner Bros film which starred the 90s pop singer Mandy Moore as the demure, religious, and bookish Jamie Sullivan and punk rock musician Shane West as the popular but rebellious Landon Carter. Directed by Adam Shankman, the story is set in the small town of Beaufort, North Carolina. Landon and his entourage of hooligans have an initiation ritual which, as usual, involved some defiance of authority. One night, after drinking, Landon and his clique trespassed in a cement factory and decided to jump into a pond only in their underwear. While doing their inanities, one of their friends got hurt from jumping off from the cement apparatus. They panicked and got the attention of the security guard so they decided to run away. All of them were able to escape except Landon and his friend who was still unconsciously lying beside the pond. Because he’s still a minor, he’s punishment was doing after-school community service and participating in a school play. Joining the school play got him involved with Jamie Sullivan, the reverend’s daughter who had nothing in common with him. Jamie was dedicated in everything she does and excelled in school. Because of her Baptist upbringing, she often wears the same old and loose sweater and that created an impression of â€Å"oddity† from others. This usual faà §ade of hers made Landon cold and distant from her. At first, he was only using Jamie to help him memorize the lines in the play. But as he spent more time with her, he discovered the real Jamie and realized that she’s far from the person he thought she was. In the final act of the play, he got astounded by Jamie’s beauty as she sang Only Hope with her melodic voice. It was the first time she ever saw Jamie all made up. He got carried away and kissed Jamie even though it was not part of the script. After the play, he tried to be closer to her and to make up for all the offensive things he said and did. But Jamie just kept pushing him away. Not until Langdon’s friends publicly humiliated Jamie in school by placing a picture of her head in body of an indecently dressed woman. This embarrassed Jamie so much. Though he knew it would ruin his relationship  with his friends, Landon took Jamie’s side and defended her. He then gained Jamie’s trust again and Jamie did not avoid him anymore. Landon continued to do special things for Jamie by taking her to a date, buying a new sweater for her, and taking her to special places. Not long after, he started to develop strong feelings for her, something he did not expect to do. But a heart-breaking secret becomes known that puts their relationship to the test, Jamie confessed to Langdon that she had leukemia and had stopped responding to treatments. Despite of this, Langdon still held on with her. He was there when she needed him the most and fulfilled the most important wish in her wish list – to get married in the church where her deceased mother also got married. The actors Shane West and Mandy Moore have chemistry with each other. Both have portrayed their characters well. Mandy Moore’s voice was an asset in the movie. The part where he sang the Only Hope was the most unforgettable and amazing part she did. She’s also the voice behind most of the soundtracks the movie used such us Cry, Lighthouse, and Someday We’ll Know. The musical directors have chosen songs that perfectly fit the scenes in the movie. An example was the part where Landon danced along with her mother and the song was â€Å"Mother, we just can’t get enough† by the New Radicals. The songs are also remarkable that whenever the song Cry is heard, people who have watched would always associate it with the movie. Other soundtracks were also recorded by the Switchfoot band. Another positive thing about the movie is that it did not end with Jamie on the death bed. It just showed Landon watching the sunset smiling and still believing that Jamie is still with him. Like the air, he couldn’t see her, but he could feel her. That created an optimistic ending for the movie. The movie fits all ages. Though it is a romantic film, it is wholesome. Jamie and Landon did not go beyond kissing. It also teaches the audience the true essence of faith, forgiveness, and love. Faith was manifested by Jamie and her father who did not lose their trust in God despite Jamie having leukemia. Forgiveness was also shown when Shane pardoned his friends who  hurt and despised him and his father who left him for another woman. And love was omnipresent all throughout the movie. The reality of death was not a hindrance for Jamie and Landon’s love for each other; it wasn’t a reason to lose their faith in God. Indeed, love never fails. Over all, it’s a must-see movie. It’s a movie for those who wants to know what love is, who wants to be in love, and who are already in love and wants to stay in it. It’s a timeless movie that would surely make one’s heart melt in awe.

Coach Carter Assignment

Coach Carter Management Assignment In the movie, Coach Carter, it is seen that the coaching style of Carter differs from most. In order to be eligible to play for the Richmond basketball team, the players must follow a strict regime outlined in a contract that they are to sign. Some of the rules are that each team member must maintain a 2. 3 GPA, be seated in front of all their classes, and wear a shirt and tie. As it is obvious, most coaches do not have such set of rules. Most coaches only require that the players show up for practice and that’s it.Looking closely at his method of coaching, there are both positive and negative aspects that surround it. Firstly, his rule of ‘all students must be seated in front of the class’ is perceived as a positive aspect. In the movie, it was said that Richmond had a very low success rate. Only 50% of students graduate from Richmond, and the majority of those were girls. This shows that the other half either stay back, or donà ¢â‚¬â„¢t pursue a higher education. With this rule enforced among the players, this will enable them to focus more in class as they will be closer to the teacher allowing them to understand what is going on in class.This will ultimately benefit them as they will be able to graduate and not be part of the 50% who stay back. Carter also required that the players maintain an average of 2. 3. This can be seen as both a positive and negative aspect. Carter made this rule because this is the average required for students to be admitted to college/university. In Carter’s eyes, these players are talented basketball players and if they are able to maintain that average, they will get certainly get into a college where they are offered a basketball scholarship. This shows the advantageous aspect of this rule.However, the negative aspect is that there are those who joined just to simply play basketball. As such, they will not like these rules. In the movie, it is seen that Richmond is a very violent area filled with gangs. If the players are not allowed to play basketball because they do not follow these sets of rules, they will not have a hobby and may potentially be involved in gangs. This is seen in the movie where the parents complained to Carter, stating that the only reason their son isn’t involved in gangs is that because they have a hobby such as basketball.One of the management theories seen by Coach Carter is the ‘Administrative Principles’ by Henri Fayol. This is seen through his applications of division of labour, discipline, and unity of direction. Division of Labour is seen where he decides who is the point guard for the team, and who should be the person who takes the three pointers. For example, Carter made Timo Cruz the person in charge of taking three point shots because that was his specialty. This coincides with one of the principles from the theory of ‘Scientific Management’ which says that managers should care fully select workers with the right abilities for the jobs.Discipline was evident during the court scene where a trial was held in regards to Carter cancelling Richmond’s basketball games because the players did not meet his expectations, i. e. GPA is lower than 2. 3. Carter said that if the students are unable to follow a simple contract that they agreed to, how would this make them be responsible people in the real word? As such, his use of making all members sticking to the agreements they signed taught them discipline. The principle of ‘Unity of direction’ was evident in the final basketball game.Carter would tell the team a certain plan, and all the players did what they had to do to execute the plan. A principle of ‘Bureaucratic Organization’, by Max Weber, was seen as well by Carter. Carter followed the principle of impersonality. The principle of impersonality states that the rules and procedures practiced should be the same for all. For exam ple, when a member is late for practice, they are to do pushups and suicides etc. When his own son came late, he made his son do the same and did not excuse him just because of their father-son relationship. This shows that Carter is equitable towards all.In my opinion, Carter is a good manager because not only did he make Richmond one of the most successful basketball team but does things that benefits the students on the team as well. Firstly, is because of the expectations that he sets out for each student. In order to continue playing for the school basketball team, they must sign a contract promising to achieve basic academic standards. This makes him a good manager because not only does he want the team to win their basketball games, but he cares for each and every individual member by making sure that they have the marks required for further education.Secondly, is that he is not afraid to take action. Sometimes, when things go wrong in a team, the manager/coach just let it sl ide because he/her is afraid of ruining the relationship between them and the team. As seen in the movie, Carter announced a lockout for the Richmond basketball team when he notices that the some of the students did not meet the 2. 3 average. This means that they were not allowed to access the gym for practice, or participate in any games. The reason he did this is because again, he wants the students to put effort into school in hope of a better life portraying that he cares for students on the team.Lastly, is that he promotes a good sense of teamwork. This ties in with the last example about the lockout. There were people on the team who met the 2. 3 GPA but there were some who didn’t. Instead of just banning those who did not meet the standards, he banned the whole team from playing. He wanted every member to support one another and succeed as a whole. Overall, Carter is a great coach because not only did he turn Richmond into a successful basketball team, but cared for ea ch and every member by ensuring that they have the marks needed for higher education etc.If I was the coach, I would mainly use principles from Henri Fayol and ‘The Hawthorne Studies and Human Relations’. Division of Labour, unity of direction, and equity would be found in my style of coaching. I would divide the work up by ability. For example, in basketball, if I was the coach I would make a person who is small but have good shooting skills be responsible for taking three point shots. By telling them that this is their job, this person would not drive into the key and go for a layup because they are small and would possibly be blocked. This job would be saved for a bigger person.As such, if each member played their assigned role, there would be no weakness as they will not conflict with other’s jobs that are not their forte. The idea of unity of direction where the leader makes a single plan and all members execute that plan is in my opinion, very effective. Th is is because I, as the coach, would want what is best for the team. With this mentality, I would devise a plan that is most effective. If the coach doesn’t come up with a plan, someone on the team might have their own ambitions, and do their own thing such as taking tricky shots to impress the crowd.This might result in a loss. I also believe in equity where managers should be kind and fair. This is because if coaches are nice to their players, this would achieve more productivity. The ‘Hawthorne Studies and Human Relations’ showed that people’s feelings, attitudes and relationships with coworkers affect their work and that those who are nicer to their employees will allow them to accomplish more work. As such, if I were a coach, I would use a mix of Henri Fayol and ‘The Hawthorne Studies and Human Relations’ theory.

Why was Malthus wrong about Japan?

Today Japan is a highly developed first world country with a vast population and a booming economy. The demographic history of Japan and how it reached this renowned economic status has been the focus of much theorising and has engaged the minds of many demographers, economists and historians for centuries. Japan is unique in the way its population has changed and its economy has developed without the stimulus of overseas markets. It does not boast the best physical landscape, being 85 percent mountainous, and it is not well endowed in terms of resources. Despite these negative attributes however, Japan has developed, and to such an extent it can now boast one of the worlds leading economies. Indeed Japan was the only country outside the western world to have developed at a similar rate. In the 18th century a Swedish doctor, P. Thunberg commented on Japan, ‘Of all the countries that inhabit the three largest parts of the globe, the Japanese deserved to be ranked first, and to be compared with the Europeans. ‘ (Modern Japan, P. Duus. ) It stands to reason therefore that Japan's history merits such a wealth of discussion amongst academics. Part of Japan's success as a country has to be attributed to its longstanding political regime. For centuries Japan was an empire ruled by an emperor based at Kyoto. From the 12th century however Japan was governed by Shogun (military leaders) who oversaw the day-to-day life of the Japanese people. The emperor, in effect, was under house arrest, taking a submissive role being more of a spiritual leader to the people. The year 1600 saw an important event for the political governing of Japan. It was in this year that a battle (Sekigahara) established the supremacy of the Tokugawa family as ruling shoguns. From 1600 to 1868 this family ruled and these 268 years of Japan's history became known as the Tokugawa period. It is this period that is of fascination to many demographers as during this time Japan experienced stagnation in its population but it also seemed to be the onset of its economic success. From the early 18th century to the Meiji restoration in 1868 Japan's population stayed at around 33 million. It is this 150-year period of stagnation that is of interest to studiers of the demographic history of Japan. There is also much discussion as to whether the population as it was, was inextricably linked to economic growth or vice versa. Searches for explanation of population trends date back centuries. One of the earliest and probably the most famous explanation of observed population figures in the world in general, was put forward by the Rev. Thomas R. Malthus in the 18th century. In 1798 Malthus's ‘Essay on Population' was published, in which he wrote at length on past, present and future population trends of mankind. His most famous stance on population levels was that ‘population, when unchecked increases in geometrical ratio; subsistence only in an arithmetical ratio. (Malthusian Population Theory, McCleary. ) He believed that mans (sic) power to produce population is greater than his power to produce subsistence, thus meaning that that the population of a country was constantly held in check by misery and vice. From this a simple model is produced illustrating the point that if populations increases; food prices will increase; real income will decrease; and thus mortality will increase (figure 1. ) The ultimate check according to his works was the want of food, but this was never an immediate check except in the case of actual famines. The constant checks can be classified into two sets, preventative and positive. Positive checks are multifarious and include such components as exposure to the elements, epidemics, war, plagues, famines and extreme poverty. The preventative checks can be further sub-classified into vice and non-vice. According to Malthus however, there is only one preventative check that can be classified as vice and this is moral restraint. The consideration of moral restraint was a latter thought from Malthus, added to his ‘essay' in 1803. From this a more optimistic model of possibility was constructed (Fig 2. ) The two checks vary inversely from one another and can be in operation with varying affect according to the society in which there are operational. The situation as it was in Japan must have had some constituent that caused the observed trends in population. If Malthus's theory is believed to have been operational in Japan then some sort of check was holding the population at its stagnated rate. Japan, unlike Europe at the time was a closed system. Emigration was unheard of and likewise nobody entered the country. Internal migration was also low, although would not have affected population figures. This was mainly due the Tokugawa establishing a period of isolation, cutting Japan off from the rest of the trading world. In terms of Japans population this meant that migration was not responsible for the stagnation, therefore according to Malthus it must be due to high mortality rates and/or moral restraint alone. Malthus travelled to various European countries to study their population trends in order to supplement the work in his first essay. He did not however make it as far as Asia, but did manage to comment on Japan and China in his work. He tended to make generalisations about Japan based on his thoughts about China, believing that in both of these countries moral restraint was not practiced, as it was only adapted to Western Europe. His work led him to believe that in Japan and China marriage was universal and occurred at a very young age. Taking this into account, Malthus attributed positive checks on population to the cause of the stagnation the Tokugawa period. Included in the positive checks Malthus believed occurred in Japan was the act of infanticide or ‘mabiki', literally meaning ‘thinning out. ‘ Again he depicted Japan as being similar to China, but whether he was wrongly casting aspersions about Japan or whether infanticide was one of the components accountable for the population trends is another area that has been widely debated. Many people in this field of work since Malthus have devised various explanations as to the cause of Japans stagnation, and many have been curious as to whether Malthus was right about Japan. In order to deem Malthus right or wrong on this topic information on fertility and mortality levels as well as the marriage system and evidence of infanticide is needed. Early studiers of Japan's history found a way of gathering such information. During the Tokugawa period a registration system, known as Shumon Aratame Cho, was devised (mainly for tax reasons) that recorded births, deaths and other such information for villages in Japan. By studying, what were tantamount to an early form of census, family reconstitution is possible and a better idea of the overall demographic change at that time in Japan is given. Generations of population historians have performed village studies and different generations have varying ideas about the trend in population. The first generation of population historians believed Malthusian checks to be in action in Japan. Subsequent work has questioned this conclusion and many other avenues of thought have been opened up. Levels of fertility are related to marital patterns. This is an area that Malthus had decidedly definite views on in Japan. A control on marriage may have been responsible for the stagnation experienced between 1700 and 1850. This kind of population control may have been conducted in Japan in order to yield positive benefits from lower fertility levels, managed food prices and improved real incomes. Malthus believed that nuptuality in China and Japan was universal and occurred at a young age. He did not believe that controls on marriage could occur in Japan as outside Western Europe h thought that ‘the passion between the sexes is necessary' and cannot be overcome (Malthusian Population Theory, McCleary. From studies of nuptuality records (including components such as age at marrying and proportion of people ever married) it is shown that marriage was universal in Japan but was not at such an early age as it was in China. If nuptuality levels for Japan are compared with England and China for the same time period, then Japan falls somewhere in the middle (see fig 3. ) Universal marrying would suggest high levels of fertility but as discussed this was not the case in Tokugawa Japan. The issue of marrying at a later age can account for low levels of fertility, and possible reduced fecundability in women. Other factors can be attributed to fertility levels and many studies have been carried out in this area. T. C Smith, part of a later generation of population historians, conducted a study of a village which he named ‘Nakahara,' to give an overall general pattern of what was occurring in Japan at this time. Smith looked at fertility levels of the village and constructed fertility curves to examine the possibility of infanticide. The curves showed low levels of fertility, and were convex suggesting that there was an absence of birth control in the village. This adheres loosely to the standard levels of fertility at the time; although the figures in question were lower (fertility levels were naturally low in Tokugawa Japan, lower than pre-industrial Europe. ) Smith believed that the low levels of fertility were due not only to factors such spacing and lactational amenorrhea, as put forward by some of his contemporaries (e. g. Cornell), but also to the practice of infanticide. If Smith's study is consistent with the rest of Japan, then Malthus's theory would be true. However fertility curves alone do not prove beyond doubt that infanticide was occurring. L. Cornell believed the reasons for the low levels of fertility could be explained by factors other than infanticide. She believed the low level of fertility in general in Japan was a result of cultural rather than structural patterns. One of the main reasons put forward for this was the long lactation periods of Japanese mothers. It is biologically proven that the longer the lactation period after birth the harder it is for a couple to conceive their next child. This, Cornell attributes to the observed low fertility levels. Another reason put forward is migration patterns of males in villages at that time, causing a reduction in fecundability. Migration to castle towns, where employment had a large pulling power, was seasonal in villages and as a result of long periods of migration, fecundability decreased and fertility was kept at a low level. Cornell believed that these factors not deliberate controls on family size by the practice of infanticide as other academics believed, caused low levels of fertility in Japan. This was brought about by controls on society by over-riding cultural trends. Smith however, had evidence other than fertility curves to support his claim about infanticide. He studied the sex bias in families in Nakahara to add weight to his argument. He believed that the sex of the next child in a family was enforced by infanticide. Assumptions are easily made that this practice accords with the widely heard of folklore that males were the preferred sex in Japanese households, therefore one would expect the sex ratio to be male biased. However Smith found from his studies that the sex of the next child was not biased to males. He tabulated the evidence, which showed that in a family with predominantly male children, the next child was more likely to be female, and in families that had equal number of male and female children, the next child was most likely to be a male. The opposite was true in families with predominantly female children. However sex selectiveness was not found in other studies, for example in a study by Hayami, there was no evidence of sex selectiveness in families. Smith used this evidence to suggest that infanticide was a means of family limitation in Japan. Another piece evidence he found for the practice of infanticide was that small landholders had fewer children than large landholders, suggesting that family limitation was practiced as a long-term plan, so as to not put financial on the existing family and to maintain living standards. This idea has been rejected however by other authors such as Hanley and Yamamura who believed that infanticide was not only practised by peasants and poor families, but also by the rich who chose to limit their family in order to husband assets. Many authors speculate that infanticide was also practiced to limit the number of male heirs in a family and lessen the competition for family headship. On the matter of infanticide in Japan, contrasting ideas make it difficult to conclude if Malthus was correct in his assumption. However what can be concluded is that villages would have undoubtedly varied in their practices and beliefs. From a persons study of one village it would be wrong to conclude that infanticide was or was not practised in general in Japan. What would be a fair assumption would be to say that infanticide probably was operational in some areas and not in others. However it seems unlikely that infanticide alone, occurring in some areas would lead to the stagnated population that occurred in Japan at this time. Other checks on population must now be looked at to prove or disprove Malthus's theory. It is a given that fertility levels were low in Tokugawa Japan, so according to Malthus mortality must be a contributing factor of the population stagnation. From the Shumon Aratame Cho it is difficult to gain an idea of mortality levels, especially infant mortality. It has been estimated (Cornell) that by as late as 1926 a quarter of all deaths in Japan were infants. In the early Tokugawa period death rates were high and fluctuating. The life expectancy at birth at this time was in the low thirties. Epidemics as a constant check, proposed by Malthus, occurred regularly in Japan; however by about the 16th century the population was large enough to support such disasters. There were also some wide spread famines, particularly bad ones occurring in the 1730's, 1780's and the 1830's, which obviously would have made a dent in population figures. However there is a tendency for populations to recover quickly from famines, and many people would have simply moved away from the area. These two Malthusian checks seem not to have had a large impact on death rates, suggesting Malthus was wrong about Japan in this case in point. Death rates not associated with widespread disasters, must also be take into account. Mortality levels were generally higher in the cities, of which there were about 200 at this time, than in the countryside. An increase in the number of people living in cities could account for a high national mortality level; however improvements in the standard of living meant that death rates actually decreased in these areas. It seems that in this period of Japan's history contrasting factors were at work keeping the death rates at a constant level. Warfare decreased at the beginning of the Tokugawa period, lowering death rates; but epidemics were introduced, increasing the rates. Similarly death rates increased slightly as cities grew, but the improvements of living standards combated this increase. Malthus was correct in the sense that checks on population were occurring in Tokugawa Japan, however he did not account for the fact that Japan with a completely different culture and set of traditions from Europe, would have had different ‘checks' on the population working in opposition to the ones he proposed. A picture is now appearing of life in Tokugawa Japan. Fertility levels were low; mortality levels were high and fluctuating at the start of this period but then decreased towards the end. These two demographic variables can account in part for the population remaining constant for so many years, but it is not exactly in accordance with what Malthus thought about Japan. In reality Japan was much more akin to England in terms of its demography than China. Malthus was wrong in this case as well. He presumed Japan to be dissimilar to European countries and because of its locality in relation to China, to be much more alike it neighbouring country. Malthus had some general thoughts on population, not specific to Japan, but which are also wrong in Japans case. Malthus believed that ‘man (sic) does not like hard work', and this is why subsistence cannot take keep pace with population. This would ultimately lead to a positive check on population, which Malthus did believe was occurring in Japan. From the time of the Tokugawa period to present day, the people of Japan have shown to have been hardworking, which is represented in the level of their economic success today. From the 17th century agriculture was the main employment sector in Japan. During this century agriculture took off at a vast rate and began to keep pace with the growing number of mouths. As the population slowed and productivity continued to increase, the per capita food supply also increased. Small-scale cultivators dominated the agricultural economy in Tokugawa Japan, but this was only the starting point of the economic transitional change in Japan. By the late Tokugawa period, ‘proto-industrialsation', a term referring to the production of goods for distant markets was underway. New technologies spread and output of products such as soy sauce, bean paste and vegetable oil was a substantial proportion of all non-agricultural output. Proto-industialisation was concentrated in rural areas, which meant migration to large cities slowed, which in turn would have affected mortality rates, as mortality was consistently higher in these areas. In this case Malthus was also wrong in his assumptions about Japan. The population did not grow in a geometric ratio whilst the subsistence only grew in an arithmetical ratio. In fact quite the opposite occurred during the Tokugawa period in Japan. Overall it seems Malthus was wrong in most of his assumptions about Japan, such as universally low ages of marriage, moral restraint not being practised and widespread infanticide. However he did touch upon factors that operated in Japan as they did in many other countries at that time, such as family limitation and preventative checks affecting population numbers. In fact given the very little first hand knowledge Malthus actually knew about Japan, the only way his speculations could have been correct would have been purely by chance, which as highlighted is the not the case. Malthus was incorrect in his assumptions about the extent to which population-influencing factors occurred in Japan. Never the less he gave many population historians a foothold to further investigate the demographics of historic Japan.