Non traditional threat to US Essay Example for Free

Non traditional threat to US Essay In my opinion the most pertinent Non-traditional threat to the US is the economy. It is the single most important, globalized, and un-accounted for problem in the US. The current problem is so bad that the US economy is days away from a (partial) default. This would be the first default since possibly the 1700s at the founding of the nation. The problem with this is the US green back is the reserve currency of the world (all or most investments are made in US dollars). If the US defaults it will cause a ripple effect that will make the 2008 global financial crisis look small in comparison to the lobal catastrophe that will occur. The reason most investments are in US dollars is because dollars have historically been the most stable currency in the modern age. The US defaulting on its debts has both internal and external effects. The total of US government debt is over $ 16. 9 trillion. (US Debt Clock) Of that debt, $ 4. 8 trillion is owned by governmental agencies. This includes agencies such as the social security (holds over $2. 5 trillion dollars). Of the public debt, foreign investors own $5. 7 trillion. Keep in mind this is Just the actual government debt; effects of a default would be uch bigger. The US reached its debt ceiling in 2012. The US constitution 14th Amendment, Section 4 directly forbids the government from defaulting on its debt. Thus to cope with the debt ceiling being reached the government has been taking extraordinary measures in order to pay their debts (for instance suspending investments on individual pension funds). When these measures are exhausted, the government will not bring on a global economic collapse as they default on all their bonds. They will Just be forced to balance the economy to match their spending with their collected revenue. This is a very different issue (still with its problems) to a full default. What is important is that a full default is likely to not happen. The brinksmanship between the rogue Republicans and the government would only threaten a technical default on the shortest-dated US government bonds, because their shorter lives mean their maturity date is nearer than the rest of the governments safe assets. The problem here, as ever, is not whether the federal government is able to repay the principle from these bonds, but the short-term methods used to make these repayments. The US treasury would still be seen as a safe investment, albeit in more economically uncertain times, and thus bonds would probably rise in price believe it or not, the US government 10-year bond decreased in price after news that the media reported a default was unlikely. Though we are quick to forget, there have been 17 government shutdowns between 1976-1996 and the debt ceiling is raised almost every year a full default never happens. This brinksmanship is historically common, and it is the media and politicians that fuel the political fire by indicating that this is the year where it will default.

Pepsi marketing plan and business strategy

Pepsi marketing plan and business strategy As a student of strategic marketing, we have asked to make a marketing plan for an organization along with its relation to overall business strategy. For this purpose we have chose PEPSI and we shall be discussing its operations in Pakistan, PEPSI has been market leader in beverage industry since its launch in Pakistan but bow a major threat is been faces by aggressive marketing strategies by Coke. In the below mentioned lines we shall be discussing the marketing strategies to overcome such challenges. Marketing Plan Business Strategy Marketing plan and business strategy are two different things, business strategy or organizational objectives give the direction that where this organization will be going and how we are going to do business, in this sense business objectives play the role of very fundamental principles upon which all the departments establish their operational guidelines. On the other hand marketing plan is the tool to achieve the business objectives, while business objective tells what we are going to do marketing plan tells how we are going to do that. This makes a clear relationship between marketing plan and business strategy, where business strategy plays the role of guiding arrows (Wison, Gilligan, 1999). Since there are different kinds of business strategies, three of them are more popular, cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Keeping this in mind there will be different marketing plans if different organizations within the same industry opt for different business strategies. Competitor form same industry may have different business strategy thus their marketing plan will differ. Where ever a marketing plan is made it should have a clear understanding and link with business strategy otherwise organization will be going in one direction and marketing department will be going in other direction resulting in complete failure (Aaker, 2008). Components of a Marketing Plan A good marketing plan can have several components, ranging from industry analysis to media plan; however it depends from industry to industry and product to product that what a marketing plan should include, it also depends on the problem at hand and urgency of the requirement. However below are few components that marketing should in normal circumstanced, addition and subtraction is dependent on the situation. Company Analysis Company analysis gives the information about the current situation of organization, it comments of strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats in front of the company, for this purpose SWOT analysis is always a good tool to work with, BCG Matrix is also and good tool to judge the performance of company. Going more deep marketing plan can also or marketing audit report to judge the current performance of marketing department and then also suggest the ways to improve it, there are many tools available to do so, details which is not required here. Industry Analysis Industry analysis provides the information about the overall industry environment, its dynamics and level of competition. To have this information PEST and Porters five forces model are widely used tools to get birds eye view about the industry. Customer Information This is a high importance, risky and tricky part, it gives basic information about customers, their liking disliking, values, decision making behaviors, demographics and consuming patterns of the product. All this information is later used in construction of marketing plan, and it is also the basic brick for the segmentation part, If we as marketer fail to know the customer properly, total marketing plan will lead to wrong decision making. Competitor Analysis This part also has a relatively high importance, gives the information about competitors, their strengths, weaknesses, competitive edge, business strategy, value proposition, positioning and product features, customers opinions about competitors and their marketing mix analysis. Having the correct information about competitor, which is not always an easy this to do, can give you a clear understanding of current market situation and also helps in making better strategically moves. Segmentation One of the most important and risky part of marketing plan is segmentation, after getting the customer analysis done via detailed marketing research, market is divided into heterogeneous segments, thats where company can make the mistake, since rest of the marketing mix is dependent of the segmentation, it has be to be done very carefully, any misinterpretation of the information can lead any component of the marketing mix towards wrong direction. 2nd step in after segmentation is segment selection and making of marketing strategy, there are different approaches towards selection of selection, one, more or all segments can be selected for the target, and different marketing mix are made for each segment. Marketing Mix Product This includes the product description, its working, its brand name and positioning, its value proposition, how it is better than competitors product, and what advantages it gives to customer for increasing their value for money. What image we want to produce regarding product in customers mind. This may also include its packaging information and various packaging options can be given in this part. Price This part deals with the pricing of the product, how we are going to price that product, what is the relationship of price with overall positioning, how is price is going to be perceived, what are the discount offering and how we are going to bundle the price, these are questions that may be answered in this section. Place This deals with channel of distribution, what channel is to be acquired, how we are going to handle intermediaries, what role whole seller and retailer will be playing the distribution of the product, where we are going open outlets, what is the criteria of outlet selection, what convenience we are going to give to customer and how we are going to make the availability of the product. Promotion This part deals with actually promoting the product, this should discuss the sales promotion offers, long term or short term promotional strategies, integrated marketing communication strategies, media selection and its relationship with target market. Reach and effectiveness of each medium selected. A brief media plan can also accompany this section. Marketing Plan and Risks There are several risk that one can face while constructing the marketing plan, one of the risk is lack of required information, we need information from within company, we need information from industry and most importantly we need information from our competitors, this amount of information is not readily available, some time it is really hard to get secondary data, while have not sufficient information it is risky to make critical decision and that puts the entire marketing plan on stake. One another aspect of risk is the correctness and validity of information, secondary data is a good source but at the same time it is a risky proposition to make your decision on the basis of the information which is doubted to be valid. The above mentioned both risk deals with industry information as well as competitor information. One another risk is also there which is lack of understanding of information, that mainly deals with the customer analysis part and affects the segmentation that in result affects the entire marketing mix, misunderstanding the research or taking the research into wrong direction are main reasons with this. The final risk is the lack of managements consent on the marketing plan, in some cases marketing department works in on direction and entire company works in other direction, this risk also deals with non-compliance of marketing plan with business objectives. Marketing Plan-PEPSI PEPSI has been the market leader in cola industry in Pakistan, here their business strategy is low cost leadership, below presented marketing plan is made keeping in mind the business strategy. Company Analysis PEPSI has been the market leader in beverage industry in Pakistan; it has gained this position by leveraging first movers advantage and then maintained this position with its aggressive marketing and channel management techniques. Its strengths are a well established brand name, a well managed distribution channel, and strong financial backing. Its weakness are inability to cope with local beverage producers as they take them lightly and now they are becoming a threat, more over cokes aggressive marketing is also a threat to PEPSI. Industry Analysis Beverage industry in Pakistan has been a highly competitive industry since the emergence of other player like Coke and some local manufacturers. With almost zero switching cost, relatively very low differentiation in taste and wide variety of available substitutes makes the cola customer very difficult to make brand loyal. Increasing advertising and operational cost along with every day increasing power of retailer making the competition more intense where price and brand is not the only factor which can give them the success. Now the power rests with customer and retailer as there are many substitutes available to cola drink, not only direct substitutes but also indirect substitutes are also available when come to satisfaction of thrust. Customer Analysis Since company has been on mass marketing strategy then everybody is a prospect customer, everybody who gets thirsty is a customer of PEPSI, cola drinks are kind of product which is presented with food and to guests, so the main purpose is not satisfying the thrust but having a little bit more luxury in drinking. Keeping this thing in mind we come to know that cola customer will be using this product on some special occasions like family get together, or having food or presenting it to guests. So at while drinks are not presented in original bottle customer will be less brand concisions. Pakistani market is always been price sensitive, so is the case with cola. However it is highly affected by the availability factor. Competitor Analysis This is highly competitive market, with more substitutes and zero switching costs. During the last decade Coke has been a tough competitor for PEPSI, with its aggressive marketing campaigns, increasing and aggressive channel of distribution and a good positioning coke is emerging a well established widely accepted and preferred brand especially in metropolitan cities. Another emerging competitor is a local producer which is not really a major threat for PEPSI but yes it has all the capabilities required to become and major competitor, its brand name is Gourmet Cola, a private brand of a local bakery chain, this chain is getting being widely accepted in metropolitan and its growing like anything Segment Selections Apparently there are not much difference in the customer of cola, the same taste is accepted everywhere in the some variation, there is a minor segment which is diet conscious and want a zero calorie cola drink. If we talk about the segment selection then company should go for and its has been going for mass marking, standard marketing mix for everyone, for diet conscious customers diet Pepsi should be introduced. Right now we shall be talking about standard cola drink and its marketing. Marketing Mix Product The product is a standard cola drink, that satisfies the need of thrust and more it works a drink to be presented with the food and on get together occasions. It is positioned as a drink which relates to personal achievement, its focus will be I being the personal achievement. It will be positioned as drink of youth, the drink of successful youth. The element of excitement and emotions will be included in the positioning. It will be presented in various packaging, for example pet bottle, half letter, one litter and 2.5 litters, this packing variation will increase and help its use on various occasions. Price Since it has been a high price competitive industry, price of PEPSI will be kept at par of the industry, some discounts will be introduced in the bulk buying and on one litter and more packaging. Since colas are affected with the push of retailer, good dealer and retailer margins will be given to retailer and distributer, so that they can make sure the availability and push the product, since brand loyal is low in this product, retailer push is always required and helpful in getting the desired results. Channel of Distribution This part is one of the most important parts of the entire marketing plan. Here in Pakistan retailer has the power in the channel more than any other industry, colas has more substitutes, low brand loyalty and zero switching cost, customer will drink whatever cola brand is available on the retail shop, that scenario gives more power to retailer. So we shall be focusing in the improving our strength in retail channel, building the relationships with retailers, making sure the availability and leveraging the exclusivity on retail shops, and giving them more commission so that they can maintain the exclusivity and push the product to customer, once retailer push and exclusivity is achieved there will be no problem with customer to buy the product. Promotion This is another high importance component of marketing plan; more focus will be given on this part as well. PEPSI will focus on building brand and up to some extent brand loyalty among youth by focusing on its positioning and also by maintaining brand recall. More sales promotions will be offered during local occasions like EID etc. followed and good spend on the media especially during the promotional period. Mitigation Strategy There are few elements in plan that are of high risk, one the positioning factor that needs to be handled in a careful manner, the individual success positioning can turn back, on the other hand Cokes positioning is we the family and get together, if positioning can is not handled properly its can be a disaster. The second risky elements is the increasing power of retailers, we are at the same time exploiting the retailer power but on the other hand giving more power to them by adopting push strategy, if more and more power is given to retailer then in the end they will be able to blackmail us on their own conditions. To handle this risk brand should be build so strong that it can generate pull. Plans Relation with Strategic Objective Business strategy is cost leadership, since PEPSI is a market leader is has to maintain its position and at the same time they want to reduce costs. Now if we look at the marketing plan it focuses on the push strategy, building relationships with retailers, giving them incentives for push and winning exclusivity on the retail out lets, if this plan is executed well we can reduce out marketing cost without compromising or even increasing on sales and market share. This plan also suggest that PEPSI should get exclusivity on the large cash and carry retail stores like, METRO, MACRO Hyperstar where customers buy in large quantities, if they are able to do so their marketing cost will decrease and sales will increase noticeably. One can argue that plan also supports the brand building which is an expensive thing to do, I would answer that brand building and getting mindshare is something unavoidable, this is not a luxury spending of marketing budgets but it is in return creates the pull for the brand and pays in the longer run. Agreement and Plan Tracking The success of the plan depends on the total consolidated effort by the entire company that is why managements approval and consent will be required to get whole organization on board. This plan will be presented to all stake holder and if management approves then all other departments will be working on the same direction, for example if management want to cut cost then they are do so with a better management of supply chain, similarly other departments will have their roles to play in achievement of strategic objectives. Success of the plan will be tracked at every execution step with continuously monitoring, on the brand side studies will be conducted to monitor the achievement of brand related targets like top of the mind brand recall, retailer relationship management will be monitored that ho successful we have been bringing retailers on boards and winning exclusivity. A relationship of these tracking studies with overall market share and sales will be established that will determine the success of this plan, if problem found and targets are not achieved then strategy will be review and necessary actions will be taken to improve the performance. Conclusion Making a strategic plan is a tricky this, challenge is to keep the department on the track provided the top management while producing the workable and successful solution, at the same time direction of the other stake holders is also required to be in the same direction. While every care is taken even then there are chance that plan is based on some misunderstanding of information required or required information is also not provided, these are the greatest challenges that a strategic marketer has to face. For getting the plan worked a continuous monitoring is required on its execution part. Some very good strategies tend to fail while in execution, that is another care that a strategic marketer has to be careful about.

Impact of Online Learning on the Education System

Impact of Online Learning on the Education System Topic Area Education for all Can online learning replace our current model of education? Introduction We live in a world where access to most resources (thanks to the internet) are just a click away. The only resource that seems to be struggling to reach to the majority of the world through this method is schooling or education. Is it possible for education to remove the walls around our schools? Can our current model of education be replaced by online learning? Global How has online learning affected our world? Online learning has been out there since search giants like Google, Yahoo and Bing were set up. The only difference between now and then is that earlier it was difficult to prove that you had knowledge about a subject because there was very little proof of what you knew unless you could demonstrate it. Earlier all organizations mandated proper certification or documents of qualifications. Its only now that online learning offers proper certification. And in accordance to that online learning is slowly getting accepted in companies and organizations with the proof of the certificate(s) achieved by doing so. Online learning offers courses on everything from counting on your fingers to university level Astrophysics. As of 2013, the number of people in Colleges 183 million Secondary School 568.5 million Primary School 713.6 million Total number of students 1.436 billion (20.5% of the total population in 2013) The laws that govern population growth entail that these numbers would have grown in the past 4 years and would be approximately 1.501 billion people (20.5% of 7.461 billion {total population}). According to EdSurge the number of learners on the big 3 online learning sites (edX, Coursera and Udacity) were a stunning 24 million. United States of America Several universities like Harvard even encourage their students to view video lectures so they can use the time for the lecture for doing something else and when they are free they can simply view the lecture. According to Udacity CEO, Sebastian Thrun, some 4 million registered users worldwide, and about 60,000 working on nanodegrees at anyone one time. In several schools in USA, the teachers use Khan Academy to aid/conduct their daily classes. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has put almost all of its courses online on MIT OpenCourseWare for all student regardless of their nationality, or the college/university they attend. This really helps students a lot since most of the material for math and science is almost the same as their universities/schools/colleges. India In countries like India where students are pushed to their mental and physical limits to achieve grades that yield are a 100 percent average or the equivalent, these certificates show another stairway to success to these students. Students now turn to websites like edX, Coursera, Udacity and Khan Academy to learn whatever they need to or in several cases want to. This also allows the students to excel in their studies, and get better career opportunities in their future, as online learning shows an effort to learn beyond what is expected of a student. The Rajasthan state government is going to add Khan Academy lessons as part of their day to day school curriculum to provide their students with a platform with universally accepted teaching-learning models and techniques. But due to other problems like poverty and availability of electricity (which I will address later) it is difficult to switch over to online education. China In China the number of universities and colleges offering online learning platforms has skyrocketed in the past years. 30 out 110 of Chinas well-known universities have an online learning platform. Chinas ministry of education has been encouraging a lot of students to take online courses, however no university is allowed to give out degrees. Another advantage to online learning is that you can view videos/lectures as many times as you need to. You can ask for help on forums on many online learning sites. Online learning also offers a lot of different perspective and immense exposure. Google was one of the first multi-national organisations to employ people not based on their qualifications or proof of knowledge/learning rather based on their skills and experience. There is an option for the learner to avail for the Honour Code Certificate but courses offering these certificates are extremely few and when a learner presents an honour code certificate as part of their CV or rà ©sumà ©, they are looked at with suspicion as the terms of the honour code are literally honouring your word. The reason honour code certificates and statements of achievement (based on the honour code) were stopped is because of misuse of the fact that there was no way to verify (branching out to Verified Certificates) that the person doing the course is the person whose name is on the certificate. On the other hand, verified certificates use a government issued ID to function and the name on the certificate has to match the one on the ID. This reduces chances of someone else doing your work for you. A problem with certification for online learning and online courses is that almost all the verified certificates on the most online learning platforms are now paid and the se prices are very high. A lot of the paid/verified certificates on edX are for $50 and quite a few of them are for a hundred dollars. As a matter of fact, Udacity has a minute number of free courses and all other courses on Udacity are paid. This makes it difficult for a learner to get these certificates because of the cost of these certificates. This reduces the number of learners completing the course, contary to what is said by edX when a user enrols into a course Its a proven motivator to complete the course. These prices can create a barbed-wire around the school we are trying to render wall-less. Another fact worth considering is, that in a lot of countries schooling/college is expensive and using free, online resources can help you save all that money. For the world as one, I think the developed countries (like the United States) should start by using online education to enhance and ultimately replace their current models of education. By doing so, they would set an example and would encourage other countries to be like them. National Is replacing the current model of education with online learning feasible in my country? According to the Indian Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment 27.5% of Indias population is below the poverty line, which is roughly 367.48 million people (Population of India à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ 1,336,286,256 * 27.5/100 = 367478720). I believe, asking students/people who are underprivileged to learn using online resources, is inappropriate because having an internet connection is expensive and without one online learning is impossible. So its almost like saying the water is free but the way to get to the water is paid (and expensive). So I do not think it is feasible to replace my countrys current model of education with online learning. Local Is replacing the current model of education with online learning feasible for the students in my school/community? According to a survey I conducted among my friends on my social networking circles (Link to responses available in the bibliography below) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ 98.3% of the people use the internet for learning something, studying and/or work. Most people use the internet for 5-8 hours a day. 22.4% of the people use google and/or other search engines to learn what they want to. 5.1% also use Khan Academy and use search engines. 1.7% use Khan Academy and similar websites for studying. 6.9% do the points mentioned above and also use edX, Coursera and similar platforms for studying. 3.4% use Khan Academy and edX/Coursera and other platforms for studying. 11.9% use the internet for college/university work and use all of uses mentioned above. 49.2% use all/some of the tools mentioned above and also work. Keeping the above points in mind I believe that my friends circle can depend on the internet for schooling/education or can use the internet to enhance this essential process. Personal As an individual I believe I can switch over to the Internet for my education as I have no problems with Internet access, and the colleges/universities I am considering for my further education accept and even encourage online learning and certification, which again is not a problem with me. I find that I can fit into that group of people who can and should turn to online learning. I find that using E-Books and E-Lectures is more convenient and environmentally friendly (using E-Books rather than books). I can also get my hands on to material that sometimes teachers in class might not be able to cover. I think that replacing the current model of education with online education is possible for me, although I might require a teacher to guide me at times. Personal Response My research and essay were partly inspired by Salman Khans (educationist) Ted Talk (in 2011) and I had turned to online resources for learning. Salman Khan tells us how the traditional academic model is not cut out for the extremes of the Bell Curve the students who find a topic/subject easy, and the ones who dont, but the system is rather suited for the average student. He says that, just like in Music or Martial Arts, you only move onto a further skill once youve mastered the basic. But as all of us know, most of our schools cannot compensate for the students who lag behind in a subject/concept and the class simply has to move on. He uses the cheese-block analogy and demonstrates to us how minor gaps in our knowledge can make the cookie crumble (the cheese in this case!). So I see myself working on Khan academy to do the best I can and learn all I can because according to Sal Khan You only need to know one thing You can learn anything. This will help me and can also inspire othe r people to be like me. Possible Future Scenarios The world needs to realise that traditional schools and curricula will not be able to cope with our rapidly changing world. Getting the world to accept online resources as instead of/to enhance our education, we need a little amount struggle to overcome the natural resistance to change that we have, monetary funding and support from governments of the world (in terms of providing cheap internet access and pushing learners to use online resources). After taking these steps the world would slowly but surely be a better place. The world can simply ignore the fact that online education holds the key to our future and would not embrace online learning, which would cause problems several other problems (like availability of space for schools, teachers and staff required to run the school and availability of books etc). It would also cause a rise in illiteracy and poverty (since it would restrict learning and schooling to schools and colleges only). Taking into account my research, I think that this scenario is not very likely to occur. The world can realise this fact now and can help our future generations to focus on keeping up high in the sky rather than getting out of problems like illiteracy and poverty. Considering what I learnt through the course of my research, this scenario is very likely to occur. The world can move toward Scenario 2 but might not be able to make enough progress due to problems like poverty, illiteracy and lack of access to the internet. This would cause these problems to grow further. This scenario is highly likely to occur. __________________________________________________________________ Bibliography https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=number+of+students+in+the+worldhttps://www.edsurge.com/news/2015-09-08-udacity-coursera-and-edx-now-claim-over-24-million-students https://support.edx.org/hc/en-us/articles/215167977-Does-edX-offer-free-certificates https://www.google.co.in/about/careers/how-we-hire/http://www.tatatrusts.org/article/inside/rajasthan-tata-trusts-elearning-mouh http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2015/9/3/cameo-cheating-method-mooc/ https://edx.readthedocs.io/projects/open-edx-building-and-running-a-course/en/named-release-birch/running_course/discussions.html http://socialjustice.nic.in/UserView/index?mid=76672 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_India https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_fipGX3VASNtGMSbY4uyMGgTY1QlpVwhH1pFuAGmT80/edit?usp=sharing (Responses for survey) http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ http://www.ted.com/talks/salman_khan_let_s_use_video_to_reinvent_education?language=en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MTRxRO5SRA http://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/1966969/more-online-education-start-ups-china-expected-close-down-2016 https://internationaleducation.gov.au/News/Latest-News/Pages/Online-education-in-China.aspx https://internationaleducation.gov.au/News/Latest-News/Pages/Online-education-in-China.aspx http://www.whatsonweibo.com/10-hottest-chinese-online-education-companies-2016/ http://www.ted.com/talks/sal_khan_let_s_teach_for_mastery_not_test_scores/transcript?language=en https://www.khanacademy.org/youcanlearnanything#

Canadas Diverse History :: Canadian Canada History

Canada's Diverse History This essay analyzes the diversity of Canada's history, geography, climate, economy, cultures and government. Did you know it is the largest country in the world now that U.S.S.R broke up. Specifically, Canada is 9,922,330 square km. Did you know that Canada used to be named "Kanata"? Yes, Kanata is an Indian word meaning village. It was not until July 1,1867 that Kanata was renamed Canada. Canada was originally discovered by Jacques Cartier an explorer from France who sailed down the St.Lawrence in 1534. Cartier we believe was the first to set foot on Canadian soil. He marked his presence with a flag claiming it his land. Over the years, Canada has developed into the home of the largest free-standing structure in the world. Canada,(a great tourist attraction)is also home of the largest water fall in the world. Our farmland unlike a lot of others has a variety of climate. The warmer summer climate ranges from +10 - +30 and the cooler climate ranges from anywhere to -10 - -30. Despite the changes in temperature, Canada's precipitation is very light. Our home is enclosed by the United States of south, the Pacific ocean and Alaska on the west side, the Atlantic ocean on the east side and the Arctic up north. One of the dominant reasons Canada is so well populated is due to the fact of our financial status. At this present time, the economy is not doing too well, but who's is? Canada is highly industrialised by manufacturing Automobiles, food, liquor and tobacco. We as a Unified country accept other cultures and religions. Canada has about every nationality possible and together they form a great home. Despite the many cultures, Canada's main languages are english and french. Canada is a democracy. This means the government is elected by all t ople.

Siddhartha Gautama :: essays research papers

Siddhartha Gautama Siddhartha Gautama was born about 563 BC in what is now modern Nepal. His father, Suddhodana, was the ruler of the Sakya people and Siddhartha grew up living the extravagant life on a young prince. According to custom, he married at the young age of sixteen to a girl named Yasodhara. His father had ordered that he live a life of total seclusion, but one day Siddhartha ventured out into the world and was confronted with the reality of the inevitable suffering of life. The next day, at the age of twenty-nine, he left his kingdom and new-born son to lead an modest life and determine a way to relieve universal suffering. For six years, Siddhartha meditated under a bodhi tree. But he was never fully satisfied. One day he was offered a bowl of rice from a young girl and he accepted it. In that moment, he realized that physical hardships were not the means to freedom. From then on, he encouraged people not to use extremes in their life. He called this The Middle Way. That night Siddhartha sat under the bodhi tree, and meditated till dawn. He cleared his mind of all worldly things and claimed to get enlightenment at the age of thirty-five, thus earning the title Buddha, or "Enlightened One." For the remainder of his eighty years, the Buddha preached the dharma in an effort to help other people reach enlightenment. When Siddhartha is a Brahmin, he believes in the existence of many gods, and performs sacrifices to them. After a while he realizes this is meaningless and decides to leave his family and community and become a Samana. As a Samana, he tries to destroy himself in may ways. He feels if he kills himself, with its passions and emotions, he will find the great secret. Siddhartha doesn't spend much time as Buddha, although he has an important revelation. He discovers he can't find peace by learning from a master. He finds the only way to have peace with the world is by finding it for himself. When Siddhartha leaves Buddha, he is enthralled with the world. He starts paying more attention to the world because he knows he must get experience for himself. As he walks he comes upon a town. He stays and becomes a merchant. At first he looks at his actions as a game. After a while he becomes more serious. He starts drinking and gambling and becomes lazy. Siddhartha sees this and decides to leave the town.He wanders through a forest and comes upon a

Rethinking Project Management Essay

The systemic models show behaviour arising from the complex interactions of the various parts of the project; they demonstrate how behaviour arises that would not be predicted from an analysis of the individual parts of the project and thus show how the traditional decomposition models in some circumstances can be inadequate. The project behaviour shown in this body of work is complex and non-intuitive. It shows causal feed-back, leading to nonlinear behaviour, and produces e? ects which can sometimes manifest themselves after signi? cant time-delays; and the behaviour of such systems is di? cult for the human brain to predict and understand intuitively. Furthermore, the models di? er from the bodies of knowledge in their empha- is on ‘‘soft’’ factors; the factors within the feedback loops are not only hard ‘‘concrete’’ factors: ‘‘soft’’ variables are often important links in the chains of causality and are thus critical in determining the project behaviour; such variables might include morale, schedule pressure, client changing his mind and so on; in addition, there is a recognition that the models need to incorporate not only ‘‘real’’ data but management perceptions of data. ‘‘Systemic’’ models have been used to explain failures occurring in projects which might have been well-managed by traditional project-management methods. The failures analysed by these methods are in complex projects subject to uncertainty. Conventional techniques are designed for projects with large numbers of elements, but the assumed structures are subject to very limited types of interdependence, and conventional methods are even more unsuited to projects under high uncertainty. It is when uncertainty a? ects a traditionally-managed project that is structurally complex that the systemic e? ects discussed above start to occur. But the systemic models demonstrated an important aspect: it is management actions to accelerate perturbed projects which particularly exacerbate the feedback; when the project is heavily time-constrained, so the project manager feels forced to take acceleration actions, and this produces the problems from feedback. Thus we have identi? ed the three compounding factors which come together in complex structures of positive feedback to cause extreme over-runs when projects are managed conventionally: structural complexity, uncertainty and a tight time-constraint. Recognition of the problems inherent in conventional prescriptive procedures has led to the development of contrasting project management methodologies. While being within a strategic framework, these methodologies are usually identi? ed by words such as ‘‘lean’’ or ‘‘agile’’, and are particularly prevalent in the software industry [55] (perhaps due to the particular goal-uncertainties of such projects). These methods contradict the underlying emphases of conventional approaches: the project emerges rather than being entirely pre-planned; the management style is much more co-operative, recognising that the Plan prepared pre-project is fallible and incomplete, and there is acceptance that the plan cannot be fully prepared because of the in? uence of the external environment. The systemic modelling work analysed the reasons for project over-runs for many seriously over-run project, giving explanations in terms of positive feedback, often exacerbated by management actions, and importantly including both ‘‘hard’’ and ‘‘soft’’ factors in the causal analysis; the analysis shows that conventional methods can be inappropriate and potentially disadvantageous for projects that are structurally complex, uncertain, and heavily time-limited. Projects which exhibit these three characteristics would appear to lend themselves less to conventional methods and newer methods might be more appropriate, such as ‘‘agile’’/’’lean’’ methods often called ‘‘agile’’ or ‘‘lean’’. However, the thesis of Williams [54] is not that we should simply ignore conventional project 684 S. Cicmil et al. / International Journal of Project Management 24 (2006) 675–686 management methods and move to these opposing techniques. Rather, with the understanding gained from this analysis of the systemic modelling work, we need to move our discourse to take account of the e? ects encompassed in this work; then we need to categorise projects according to the dimensions which give projects a propensity for the type of systemic e? ects, so that an appropriate management style can be speci? d, in particular an appropriate balance between conventiona l methods as espoused in the bodies of knowledge and these contrasting methods. This work suggests that once a project is subject to disruptions and delays dynamics then the traditional project management tools are probably inappropriate for managing the project. The use of traditional tools is likely to unintentionally exacerbate the undesirable consequences and lead to greater overruns than need be the case. Even the nature of the agenda at project progress meetings needs to have a di? erent focus and emphasis. Awareness of the potential consequences of mitigation becomes important as possible traditionally ‘obvious’ actions are proposed. 7. Conclusions, implications and the way forward Our aim in this paper has been to discuss critically the nature of knowledge that could be created about the actuality of projects and how it contributes to our understanding of project environments, to improvements in practice, and to educational and developmental e? orts. We attempted to shed some light on the assumptions behind theoretical and methodological approaches to researching the actuality of projects and project management that, in our view, can be helpful in broadening the boundaries of the project management body of thought and contributing to more satisfactory processes and outcomes of contemporary projects. Researching the actuality of projects, as presented in this article, draws on: – a combination of practical philosophical considerations and concrete empirical analyses towards understanding human action, and for that matter, managerial action in the concrete situation and – requires a theoretical shift from more common normative rational approaches to individual and project performance towards a more developmental one which focuses on practical action, lived experience, quality of social interaction and communicative relating, operations of power in context, identity, and the relationship between agency and structure in project environments. The research presented in this paper as exemplars of actuality research provide some compelling and interesting insights into the actuality of managing projects addressing on-going gaps in our knowledge of how to e? ectively manage complex undertakings. Cicmil and Marshall develop an empirically grounded understanding of project complexity that incorporates processes of communicative and power relating among project actors dealing with ambiguity and equivocality related to project performance criteria (success/failure) over time that is in constant ? ux. Cicmil and Hodgson’s work casts light on the traditional foundations of project management practitioner development and demonstrates the need for developing both instrumental and value rationality as the basis for project management practice. The research by Thomas and Buckle questions the underlying assumptions embedded in traditional project management discourse and explores the impact of these embedded assumptions on the practice and practical discourse of practitioners. The Strathclyde research team’s work on understanding complex project failures contributes signi? cantly to our understanding of the complex interactions between the actuality of projects and the unintentional consequences of applying traditional ‘‘best practice’’ control oriented project management to complete projects under extreme time pressures. All of these research studies make signi? cant contributions to an understanding of the actuality of projects and provide insights into how project management practitioner development needs to change to address these project realities. Methodological issues (epistemology, ontology, and representation) are also of dominant concern in these studies. The argument is that theory and empirical research must proceed simultaneously on micro and macro levels of analysis and within both objective and subjective methodological traditions, focusing on action which is habituated, practical, tacit, dispositional, and at the same time structured. From this perspective, it is important not only to explore or explain what is but also to examine why it is as it is and what activities are encouraged or discouraged by this focus, and how it comes to be. The recommended methodological approaches are capable of addressing a much wider range of mportant project issues such as: the social responsibility of management, ethical conduct, bounded rationality, anxiety, emotions, the operation of dominant discourses, power/knowledge relationship, culture, and identity. Despite this, we do not promote ‘actuality research’ as a comp eting or privileged stream of thought to the more mainstream ones. We argue for it as an alternative lens through which new insights into projects and project management practice can be generated. One of the key assertions is that the understanding which drives much of project management literature does not satisfactorily explain the richness of what actually occurs in project environments. http://www.uwe.ac.uk/bbs/trr/Is7-cont.htm

Race, Class, and Gender in the United States Essay

Rothenberg paints an oppressive picture for women, the financially oppressed and minority members of society. The author presents compelling essays of race, gender and class which examine the social construct of each issue. Race has been defined as the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. This has produced the view that Euro-Americans’ social, cultural, and economic advantaged position must be maintained at the expense of others as the normal life. The influential power of race, gender and class are explained and illustrated through the collection of essays. The dynamics of power are divided based on different social classifications. Concrete Responses The essays included present a compelling but biased study within the context of class, race and gender. History shows racism has been clearly practiced in the past; however much has been done to correct the unbridgeable and immutable differences in race, gender and class status in the United States. Rothenberg emphasizes, in the collection of essays, past views of Euro-Americans’ superiority in intelligence and abilities over darker skinned races. Throughout the history of the United States, discrimination against race and gender has been documented thus creating various classes according to race and gender. Racism has been defined as â€Å"a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race† (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010). While discrimination is described as being â€Å"the process by which two stimuli differing in some aspect are responded to differently† (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010). Discrimination encompasses a much larger circumference than racism. People v. Hall, 1854, Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857, and Bradwell v. Illinois, 1873 created a class difference in the ruling of each case between Euro-American males, Indians, Negroes, Chinese and women (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 495). Skin color differences have been thought to explain intellectual, physical and artistic differences, thus justifying varying treatment between racially different individuals (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 17). A person of property was considered of superior intelligence and character (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 8). The claim that race is a social construction takes issue with the once popular belief that people were born into different races with innate, biologically based differences in intellect, temperament, and character (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 10). Michael Omi and Howard Winant maintain that â€Å"Race is more a political categorization that a biological or scientific category† (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 10). Racial distinctions can be correlated with economic and political changes in the society of the United States. In California, 1854, the state Supreme Court ruled in the case, People v. Hall that Chinese Americans should be barred from testifying against whites as Indians and Negroes had previously been barred with a California statue. The judges â€Å"marked [Chinese-Americans] as inferior, and †¦ are incapable of progress or intellectual development beyond a certain point† (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 495). Orientals and Hispanics were regarded to be naturally suited to perform brutal, sometimes crippling, farm labor which whites were physically unsuited to perform. In 1857, the United States Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford stated that â€Å"Negroes were never considered a part of the people of the United States (Rothenberg, 2010, 495). Gender refers to the particular set of socially constructed meanings associated with each sex (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, 2010). Men and women have been portrayed as polar opposites with different abilities. The notion of difference itself is constructed and suggests that the claim that women and men are naturally and profoundly different reflects a political and social decision rather than a distinction given in nature. In 1873, the Supreme Court ruled in Bradwell v. Illinois that women could not practice law and added further degradation arguing â€Å"that women belong in the â€Å"domestic sphere†Ã¢â‚¬  (Rothenberg, 2010, 495). Every society has different options on what constitutes a woman’s gender role verses a man’s role. While Roe v. Wade, 1973, is considered a significant stride forward in women’s rights, the after effects of the abortion rights given have for open debate on the benefits this case has brought to the women’s movement. Spiritually, man and wife should be as one flesh (Genesis 2:24) and a helpmate to each other (Genesis 2:18), not in competition with each other for power. In the past, attitudes against races and gender other than Euro-American males have restricted the right to vote, own property, and even extended to the forced evacuation of Japanese-Americans into relocation camps. Clearly, discrimination has existed in this country; however, â€Å"the twentieth century has seen the growth of large and diverse movements for race and gender justice† (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 497). However, Rothenberg’s emphasis on race and gender portray differences as unbridgeable and immutable, regardless of any social programs or education. Reflection Rothenberg’s collection of essays is informative of historical discrimination and the opinions of a number of authors; however, there are two sides to every story. Rothenberg has presented only one side of the race, class, and gender issues in an angry fashion. All evil has not been created by Euro-Americans. Pem Davidson Buck states that northern Whites looked down their noses at the Irish in the same manner they looked at free Blacks (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 35). This created a â€Å"psychological wage† (Buck as quoted by Rothenberg, 2010, p. 35), instead of monetary gain, such as the employee of the month or assigned parking places (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 35). Calvinism taught being poor was a punishment from God while success was a sign of being righteous with God. This further created differences in class among the American society, including discrimination of women, people of color, and homophobia. Differences between rich and poor, white and black, men and women are socially constructed as innate differences among people. Then they are used to rationalize or justify the unequal distribution of wealth and power that results from economic decisions made to perpetuate privilege. The status of various occupations and class positions they imply often changes depending on whether the occupation is predominately female or male. This particular discrimination also led to more domestication of women. Status began to be calculated if a woman could â€Å"stay home† (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 36). If a woman was forced into the labor force, the family didn’t meet the cultural requirements for white privilege (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 36). The categories of gender, race and class reflect culturally constructed differences that maintain the prevailing distribution of power and privilege in a society. Constructed differences are altered in relation to social, political and economic changes. The argument seems to fluxuate between racism and culturism. If cultural status is lost due to a woman working, that has very little to do with to which race she belongs. As stated in Buck’s essay (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 36), native men redefined themselves by† their class position as skilled mechanics working for better wages under better conditions† (p. 36) due to the ownership of their trade tools and their hard work ethic (Rothenberg, 2010, p. 36). Again this is cultural rather than racial. Any craftsmen, no matter what color his skin, can buy the tools of his trade to better his position. Rothenberg tends to be angry at this country’s struggles against racism, class and gender. She has collected many angry essays to support her racial and feminist opinions but has not shown more than a minimal reference to how far this country has progressed for all races and genders to be â€Å"We the People of the United States† (U. S. Constitution, 1776) forming a more perfect Union under God. Action This book has given me much food for thought. During the reading of this book, I have been more consciously aware of the different races and cultures in my workplace. While I don’t agree with Rothenberg’s apparent view that racial and gender discrimination continues in our society today as it has throughout our country’s history, I do see a tendency towards a reverse discrimination. Since my husband joined corporate America almost two years ago, I’ve watched him miss promotions, even though he is very productive and conscientious in his work, so that a minority, usually a woman, could have the position, even though her employee record is full of criticism of her work ethic. White males continue to be punished today for the actions and attitudes of their forefathers even though most do not hold those same discriminatory beliefs. While I am not unconscious of race, I do not identify an individual as part of a particular race in my first impression or description of them. As I have illustrated with my students, no two people whether light or dark skinned are the same color. The biggest wish I have for my students is for them to be able to unzip their skin so that color is not visible to each other at all. As future medical assistants, surgical technicians, pharmacy technicians and nursing assistants, these students need to see past race, gender and even class. As a teacher, I strive not to make decisions based on race or gender. Class is not an issue for me in the class room since all students dress in scrubs according to school dress code. Lao Tzu said, â€Å"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime†(n. d. ). I am a firm believer that regardless of race, gender or class that our country was founded to give everyone an equal opportunity to pursue life, liberty and happiness with hard work and education. If I can give my students a sense of work ethic along with the academic and technical skills they need, I will have given them the tools to succeed financially and in their chosen professions. References Discrimination. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved August 13, 2010, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/discrimination gender. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved August 13, 2010, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/gender Lao Tzu. (n. d. ). BrainyQuote. com. Retrieved August 13, 2010, from BrainyQuote. com Web site: http://www. brainyquote. com/quotes/quotes/l/laotzu121559. html Mount, Steve. (2001)†The Constitution of the United States,† Preamble. USConstitution. net. U. S. Constitution online. Retrieved August 12, 2010 from http://www. usconstitution. net/const. html racism. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved August 8, 2010, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/racism Rothenberg, P. (2010), Race, Class, and Gender in the United States. New York: Worth Publishers.