Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Lessons From Lafarge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Exercises From Lafarge - Essay Example Targets of ISO 14001:2004 The interior destinations of the ISO 14001:2004 are give affirmation to the board to controlling authoritative procedures and exercises affecting the earth, and to guarantee the representatives that they are working in an ecologically mindful association. The outer destinations are guaranteeing outside partners like clients, network and administrative offices about the natural issues, complying with the ecological guidelines. Different targets incorporate supporting the organization’s cases and collaborations about its natural standards, systems and procedures. A structure for speaking to consistence by methods for suppliers’ explanation of similarity has likewise been an article (ISO 2012). Natural Performance Measurement The original of condition execution assessment (EPE) included organizations with receptive ecological arrangements. The emphasis was on the hazard the board and managing condition related expenses. The accessible natural exhi bition information was utilized for inner reason (Bennett et al. 1999, p.84). The second era condition execution assessment is set apart by the consideration of partner the board in the structure. Organizations moving to this stage center around site announcing. This stage is additionally impacted by the all out quality administration. This requires progressively definite information. The subsequent age concentrated on asset profitability with squander minimization (Bennett et al. 1999, pp.84-86). The proposed ISO 14031 can be displayed looking like precious stone. There are three significant features of condition execution assessment. The principal feature reflects heft of quantifiable exercises managing vitality, materials, emanations and squanders. The subsequent aspect is a west-east pivot which is mostly the item chain that incorporates the ecological effects of the provider. The diamond’s north south exercises have two destinations. The first is to survey the direct eco logical effects related with the maintainability of the organization’s exercises. The other is to evaluate the business side of the natural activities (Bennett et al. 1999, pp.87-90). In 2011, Lafarge stayed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). The gathering scored high in the natural detailing, atmosphere methodology, biodiversity and partner duty. This is assessed by Sustainability Asset Management for the DJSI (Lafarge, 2012). Ernst and Young inspected the Group's social and natural markers and affirmed its practices (Lafarge, 2012). Corporate Environmental Strategies Managers ought to consider company’s position as for both market and nonmarket factors while settling on an ecological technique. Market procedure utilizes natural issues for making an upper hand for the organization. This is accomplished through cost investment funds and expanded benefits. Nonmarket technique centers around the communications with partners like, controllers, nearby networks, and ecological premium gatherings. These methodologies consider making an incentive by improving in general execution and picture. Nonmarket methodologies may introduce upper hands by perceiving new open doors made by guideline or open estimation (Maxwell, J. et al. , 1997, pp.118-119). The proactive companies’ administrators perceived various upper hands emerging from their natural reaction. The responsive organizations couldn't relate their corporate natural mindfulness systems

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Research Proposal Assignment - A Stable Customer Service In Banking

Undertaking Title Effect of a steady Customer Service on Loyalty of Clients in the financial space Unique With banking being a piece of an innovation driven industry, banks working in this area separate themselves on different parameters like Customer Services, assortment of the items and so forth. It is the obligation of the banks to utilize these variables successfully to hold the customers for a period sufficiently long to assist it with covering the expense of getting the customers and an opportunity to strategically pitch its items to a bigger customer base. We wish to analyze if a solid client care truly increases the value of consumer loyalty and client steadfastness in any capacity. We wish to outline input of numerous customers utilizing diverse banking servicesindicating the various variables which have increased the value of them. The extent of this venture is extremely wide and would assist us with inspecting myriadaspects that include an incentive as far as consumer loyalty and client devotion. This investigation can additionally help the different financial organizations to comprehend what are the administrations that customers esteem the most and what are where in the administrations must be enlarged with the goal that they can accomplish the objective of improving consumer loyalty. Writing Review The astuteness of banking specialist co-ops to concentrate on the customers is one of the most testing situations looked by them toward the start of 21st century. There is a lack of research on the client care and fulfillment assessment in the financial field. Be that as it may, the each financial establishment collates information about consumer loyalty and they break down their information all alone for their particular firms. Consumer loyalty is taken as full wellbeing for the financial specialist organizations and incorporates an incentive for cash, satisfactory faithfulness, administration arrangement and relationship the executives. The forerunner to prosperity of the firm is taken from the contact focuses between the clients and the administration subjects of the financial foundations. Consumer loyalty is the primary fundamental of administrative choice taking over the globe throughout the previous 2 decades. There are striking business greatness instruments, for example, the Malcolm Baldrige Award and the European Foundation of Quality Management that focus on the significance of both assessing consumer loyalty and using sound assessment strategies for such work. Consumer loyalty has just accomplished an enormous exposure through the National Customer Satisfaction Indices structured from the information on Andersen et al. (1994). These files are utilized for concurrent taking note of in USA, Sweden and Denmark. From that point forward, the fixation on client satisfaction has moved from only a little assessment issue to a key should that effects firm intensity, Schneider and Bowen (1999a, 1999b). Client contacts are isolated into 3 gatherings closeness, correspondence time and data extravagance (Chase (1981) and Soteriou and Chase (1998)). The exploratory proof from the administration isolation has demonstrated that the client contact measurements might be used as forerunner of client reaction in answer to their watched administration quality levels from the celebrated 5 verticals of the ServQual model-compassion, dependability, physical assets, responsiveness and affirmation. A common bank may take its customers briskly as indicated by the money they store or acquire. Different banks have been utilizing control and security as issues for their exceptionally moderate and lamentable administrations. As of late, many assistance firms, for example, carriers and cheap food have indicated that client administrations could be a brisk and fun experience for the two clients and laborers without surrendering costs, control and benefits. Numerous banks have now executed these contemporary help benchmarks and began contrasting with non banking foundation with investigate about the best practice. For instance, BayBanks of Massachusetts has utilized the mail arranges firm L.L. Bean, well known for its great requests taking and administrations conveyance framework as its model for future. A major effect of this useful benchmark is the presentation of 24 hours client support focuses that answer the inquiries and issues and empower and give the banks item and administration. The middle empowers customers to have a financial records anyplace or get an overdraft at whenever. The ATM is reconstructed to act from only a money supplier to an alternate and simple record assistant. It could purchase and sell common reserve now. Seeing L.L. Bean, Bay Banks gave a 50 pages index to help customers learn and have more than 160 money related administrations from it. Seattles Seafirst Bank, advanced itself to a retailer from a retail bank and has contrasted and retailer having for best client administrations, for example, carriers and drive-through joints. Seeing these models, Seafirst structured a 5 minutes guarantee which said that-Waitingover five moment in line will make the bank give $5 inthe customers account. Also, when the customer grumbles of any issue, they get $5. The banks branches have official individuals to manage and welcome customers to the correct teller like the visitor connection official or secretary of five star inn. The greeter sees an outlet at the section of the banks. To center this administrations brain science, branch chief is appraised at a bargain just as on administrations objective. Getting or in any event, overshooting deal focus without getting customer fulfillment objective would not make branch supervisors to get the banks respected Gold Club award. Authorities from the CEO office are persuaded and requested to go to branch every now and again to see administrations and experience the activities by and by. To re-design and overhaul its branches to increase administrations, Seafirst got the administration of a known individual from the Godfathers Pizza chains. One advantage was building the teller see midriff high. It was presently increasingly open and individual when contrasted with the old piece that is undermining and manufactures a barricade between the clients and the tellers. Like Seafirst, Citicorp sees itself as to a lesser degree a bank and all the more a creation unit which makes crude material in the style of utilization structure, archive and client demand and the enormous item is a satisfied customer. Office, division, work area and other work station help as the machine and hardware of the records creation unit. In modifying the bank into an effective and great administrations center point, the CEO John Reed, engineer, utilized the taking in he gained from his visits to Cummins Engine, Ford Motor, Core Industries, General Electric and Exxon. The essential advance he reengineered was the reserved alcove activity that involves different tedious advances. Back workplaces of bank are mainstream for moderate administration that hinders bleeding edge activity and the last customer administrations. By utilizing the hypothesis of large scale manufacturing, normalization and smoothing out of steps, Citicorp needs to take out this significant detour. The ba nk contrasted itself and Chrysler in having its utilitarian office to work productively as group. Distinctive bank surrendering their old funds and controls picture have correspondingly had new help methodology and practice. Banco Frances made a data community or reference books in the hold up place where customers could go in numerous little and large pieces of information of significant information on administration, for example, the normal assets to end exchanges and the association's item and administration. Information on the bustling day or days of the branches are appeared to make the client need to forestall this period. In the ongoing part of Garanti Bankasi, telephone line only for customerservices was put. A customer could pickup the telephone and tell his protests, questions or challenges. This assistance was made to give the strong's guarantee to support and furthermore fill in as the clients possibly possibility if everything else doesn't work. In like manner, ASB Banks Limited made a telephone community to get, do and understand clients protest. It likewise contain s clients inputs programs where whomever the clients grumble to-staff representatives or chiefs would be responsible for getting the client answers about the working and whereabouts of their grievances. The banks clients administration focus has made 2 customer stream or line to give administration all the more productively. One is for credit and same item that need tweaked and individual assistance. The other line was for the monotonous and standard administrations like stores and withdrawals. By making 2 administrations condition that allude to 2 separate types of prerequisites, administrations are increased and secured. Bank Pertnian Malaysia has given the hypothesis of portable banking. For the straightforwardness and fun of customers remaining in longhouses on the stream bank of the Sarawak River, the banks have given gliding branch on pontoon which gives entire branches banks administration. To enlarge administrations, BPM has reengineered its ATMs to give money just as item cost and information on its item and administration as well. The Korean Technology Bank Corporations set up a Technology Finance server farm to give the various prerequisites of its clients, a considerable lot of whom are making joint endeavor abroad. The Center would have an enormous database of information inspected from various data from inner and outside source. By getting the databases, customer would have information on neighborhood data, specific innovation and other data connected to the mergers they are setting up. To help process and create money related foundation, for example, the Industrial Development Bank of In dia needs borrower to give credit applications structure in electric floppy plate. Many bank and money related organization have gained such a significant ground in enlarging and reengineering customer benefits that they themselves turned into the benchmark of other organization outside the bank parts. For instance, American Express-the Mastercards firm is a famous breaking point to duplicate when it is to improve a company's charging step. Amex's charging is considered the fastest and generally right in the globe in all enterprises. Xerox, the model for different quality waysutilised the Amex model in improving its charging framework. In China, the model for clients administrations and clients civility is alarmingly a bank: The Industrial and Commercial Bank. M

Friday, August 21, 2020

CREATIVE THINKING AND REFLECTIVE IMPULSIVE STYLE Assignment

CREATIVE THINKING AND REFLECTIVE IMPULSIVE STYLE Assignment CREATIVE THINKING AND REFLECTIVE IMPULSIVE STYLE â€" Assignment Example > Creative Thinking and Reflective StyleCreative Thinking and TheoriesCreative Thinking and Environment Whitelaw (2006) reported that the “cultural and socio-economic factors are examples of those that can affect a student’s learning”(p. 14). Feuerstein (2000) reported that there is a positive correlation between a parents’ socio-economic status and their involvement in schools. The level of a parent’s involvement in school activities has a positive impact on the student’s outlook towards school. However, teachers are less prone to harness the familial resource due to the teacher’s skepticism in the reliability and resourcefulness of their parent pool. (Epstein, 1985). [Peña (2000), Whenever parent participation is used they are usually excluded from the loop which has a direct bearing on their child’s education, but are relegated by teachers to more community oriented roles, not connected with curriculum. In certain circumstances parents can serve as viable entitie s from the domicile. Further, in some cultures, the typical teacher-parent relationship bodes well, as Mexican Americans are likely to be reluctant about making school visits. (Peña, 2000). The family environment is the primary setting for a childs growth; within this environment other types of development customarily takes place; family interactions usually precipitate various levels of intellectual stimulation and emotional security which enables creativity. (Harrington, Block Block, 1987). A stimulating family environment which presents the presence of assorted types of reading materials, coupled with the provision of cultural activities, appreciably assist in promoting creativity. (Simonton, 1984). Carl Rogers (1954) puts forth the argument that a positive family environment, can serve as a firm foundation for the spawning of creative work. The School Environment and the Teacher Enhancing Creativity: Feldman (2000) puts forth the argument that all of the associations which th e student has ( teachers, mentors, parents, peers, and cultural groups) may impact upon the level of a student’s creativity. [Reisman and Bach, (2002) amplify the point of Feldman by asserting that, while educational and social roles can directly affect a student’s creative abilities, they are not the sole determinant, a student can possess certain innate qualities which are not measured by traditional pedagogical means. As a consequence, educators may have no idea of a particular student’s creative scope, because it exists either beyond or outside of the educator’s purview. Creative thinking and age: In attempting to assess the relationship and the level thereof, between creative thinking and a student’s age, several researchers concerning themselves with this issue, have broken it down into two groups. In the first group, a number of the researchers assert that creativity initially appears in preschool students. Gardner (1982), attempted to show the presence of creativ ity at an early age. It was his contention that preschool students possess an expressive artistic creativity. Additionally, Gardner accepted the commonly held idea, that the development process in younger children followed a U- shaped pattern during the course of their development. He maintained the existence of high levels of creativity in preschool children. He goes on to suggest that the rigid perimeters of the traditional classroom, has a negative affect on the creative expansion of school age students. In keeping with his adherence of the U-shaped theory, Gardner offers the idea that the perimeters of the forced conformity has been internalized by preadolescence and there is an increase in creativity during this period of development, through adulthood. The second group of researchers Claxton et al. (2005) Ponomarev (2008) do not absolutely negate the onset of creativity in preschool students, however they suggested that an

CREATIVE THINKING AND REFLECTIVE IMPULSIVE STYLE Assignment

CREATIVE THINKING AND REFLECTIVE IMPULSIVE STYLE Assignment CREATIVE THINKING AND REFLECTIVE IMPULSIVE STYLE â€" Assignment Example > Creative Thinking and Reflective StyleCreative Thinking and TheoriesCreative Thinking and Environment Whitelaw (2006) reported that the “cultural and socio-economic factors are examples of those that can affect a student’s learning”(p. 14). Feuerstein (2000) reported that there is a positive correlation between a parents’ socio-economic status and their involvement in schools. The level of a parent’s involvement in school activities has a positive impact on the student’s outlook towards school. However, teachers are less prone to harness the familial resource due to the teacher’s skepticism in the reliability and resourcefulness of their parent pool. (Epstein, 1985). [Peña (2000), Whenever parent participation is used they are usually excluded from the loop which has a direct bearing on their child’s education, but are relegated by teachers to more community oriented roles, not connected with curriculum. In certain circumstances parents can serve as viable entitie s from the domicile. Further, in some cultures, the typical teacher-parent relationship bodes well, as Mexican Americans are likely to be reluctant about making school visits. (Peña, 2000). The family environment is the primary setting for a childs growth; within this environment other types of development customarily takes place; family interactions usually precipitate various levels of intellectual stimulation and emotional security which enables creativity. (Harrington, Block Block, 1987). A stimulating family environment which presents the presence of assorted types of reading materials, coupled with the provision of cultural activities, appreciably assist in promoting creativity. (Simonton, 1984). Carl Rogers (1954) puts forth the argument that a positive family environment, can serve as a firm foundation for the spawning of creative work. The School Environment and the Teacher Enhancing Creativity: Feldman (2000) puts forth the argument that all of the associations which th e student has ( teachers, mentors, parents, peers, and cultural groups) may impact upon the level of a student’s creativity. [Reisman and Bach, (2002) amplify the point of Feldman by asserting that, while educational and social roles can directly affect a student’s creative abilities, they are not the sole determinant, a student can possess certain innate qualities which are not measured by traditional pedagogical means. As a consequence, educators may have no idea of a particular student’s creative scope, because it exists either beyond or outside of the educator’s purview. Creative thinking and age: In attempting to assess the relationship and the level thereof, between creative thinking and a student’s age, several researchers concerning themselves with this issue, have broken it down into two groups. In the first group, a number of the researchers assert that creativity initially appears in preschool students. Gardner (1982), attempted to show the presence of creativ ity at an early age. It was his contention that preschool students possess an expressive artistic creativity. Additionally, Gardner accepted the commonly held idea, that the development process in younger children followed a U- shaped pattern during the course of their development. He maintained the existence of high levels of creativity in preschool children. He goes on to suggest that the rigid perimeters of the traditional classroom, has a negative affect on the creative expansion of school age students. In keeping with his adherence of the U-shaped theory, Gardner offers the idea that the perimeters of the forced conformity has been internalized by preadolescence and there is an increase in creativity during this period of development, through adulthood. The second group of researchers Claxton et al. (2005) Ponomarev (2008) do not absolutely negate the onset of creativity in preschool students, however they suggested that an

Sunday, May 24, 2020

A Comparative Study Of The Banks In Nepal - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3601 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? A well-structured financial sector is of special importance for the economic growth in both developed and developing countries. The commercial banking sector should be well organized and efficient for the growth of an emerging economy. Commercial Banks which forms one of the backbones of the financial sector are the intermediary link in facilitating the flow of funds from the savers to investors. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "A Comparative Study Of The Banks In Nepal" essay for you Create order By providing a means of mobilizing domestic savings and proficiently channeling them into productive investments, they lower the cost of capital to investors and accelerate the economic growth of a nation. No underdeveloped country can well progress without setting up a sound system of commercial banking system.[1] Nepal is an agrarian based economy with a GDP of $ 33.26 billion[5]. Nepalese banking industry has considerable changes over past decades because of liberalization, deregulation, improving information technology and globalization. The financial sector liberalization resulted in the entry of new firms in the market, which also added more pressure on competitiveness of individual banks; deregulation widened the scope of activities and expanded the banking activities; advancement in technology resulted into new methods to perform banking activities. Furthermore, the banks, these days, are entering into non-banking markets while other financial institutions are entering into the banking markets that have conventionally been served by the banks. These changes have altered the structure and market behavior of Nepalese banking industry. Currently there are 26 commercial banks out of which 6 are joint venture banks, 63 development banks and 77 financial institutions in Nepal. At present there is only one international bank operating in Nepal which is Standard Chartered Bank Limited. It started operation in Nepal since 1987 as a joint-venture operation and today it is a part of Standard Chartered Group having an ownership of 75% in the company and 25% shares owned by the Nepalese public. Nepal after its commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO) during its accession in 2004, has allowed foreign banks to make their foray in Nepal to do only wholesale banking  from Jan. 1, 2010. Initially before the agreement with WTO (GATS), the Central Bank regulation allowed foreign shareholders to acquire maximum of 51% shares. Later the regulation changed which allowed foreign ownership of 75% and the recent regulation of 2010 allows 100% foreign ownership (i.e. allows a local entity to be a branch of a foreign company) in the banking industry. Entering of foreign firms is likely to generate benefits to financial sector as well as the economy as a whole (Chau HB, 2003). The effects can be seen mainly through an increase in efficiency and technological advancements as mentioned above. Over the past decade, the Nepalese banking industry has been doing well and has a number of new firms entering into the market. However, there is only one foreign bank and 6 joint-venture banks in the banking sector, though the government has liberalized the financial sector and allowed foreign banks to have 100% foreign ownership. With limited number of foreign banks in Nepal, it is still unclear whether entering of foreign banks, including joint venture, helps to improve overall performance of banking sector as well as to spillover some benefit to domestic banks in Nepal. Objectives To answer the key question above, there are two objectives of the research paper. To measure and analyze the performance of three types of banks namely domestic bank, joint-venture bank, and foreign bank and to explain the variation in performances of these banks. To identify whether the entry of foreign banks, including joint venture, banks would be beneficial for domestic banks which still dominate the financial market in Nepal. 1.3. Scope and limitations of the Study This study will only focus on three types of banks, i.e. domestic bank, joint-venture bank, and foreign bank, and it will offer an insight on the advantages of foreign banks in Nepal. Furthermore it will provide the reasons pertaining to variations in performance of the banks. The main limitation in this study is that there is only one foreign bank in Nepal till date, so the interpretation of the performance of the foreign bank in Nepal could be restricted to some degree. 1.4. Research Methodology This section develops research methodology to reach the objectives of the study. The banking sector in Nepal will be divided into three groups, namely foreign owned banks; joint-venture banks, and domestic banks. For this research, foreign-owned banks will be classified as those which have started a branch or subsidiary in the host country where the share of foreign bank ranges from 51% to 100% while joint venture banks will be classified as those in which foreign investors own the total equity of 50% or less and domestics banks are those which are purely owned by the Nepalese. The foreign owned banks are separated from joint-venture banks in this study because these two types of banks tend to have different operational management, resulting in their different performance. The research methodology is composed of both quantitative and qualitative analysis. First, the qualitative approach is applied to examine the structure and development of financial sector in Nepal during 2000-2010. The financial policy, especially competition-restriction regulation in Nepalese banking sector is also reviewed, mainly through official documents from central bank and international organization. Then the quantitative approach is developed to measure the performance and efficiency of banking sectors in Nepal. This is done by conducting various financial indicators of three types of banks in Nepal namely foreign bank, joint venture banks and domestic banks. Comparison of the indicators among these three types of banks over the past decades will provide the clear analysis of different performance between foreign-owned and domestic banks. The indicators can be grouped into four aspects, namely profitability; operational costs; staff productivity; risk prevention. Table 1 shows financial indicators that will be conducted according these four aspects. Table: 1    Indicators Rational Profitability Profitability à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Profit Margin (Net Profit/Total Income) Profit margin is very useful when comparing  companies in similar industries. A higher profit margin indicates a more profitable company that  has better control over  its costs compared to  its competitors. Profit margin is  displayed as a percentage; a 20% profit margin, for example, means the company has a net income of $0.20 for each dollar of sales. Profitability à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Return on Asset (Net Profit/Total asset) ROA figure gives investors an idea  of how effectively the company is converting the money  it has  to invest into net income. The higher the ROA number, the better, because the company is earning more money on less investment. For example, if one company has a net income of $1 million  and total  assets of $5 million, its ROA is 20%; however, if another company earns the same amount but has total assets of $10 million,  it has  an ROA of 10%. Based on this example, the first company  is better at converting its investment into profit. Profitability à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Return On Equity (Net Profit/Equity) The amount of net income  returned  as a percentage  of shareholders equity.  Return on equity  measures a corporations profitability  by revealing how much  profit a company generates  with the money shareholders have invested.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Higher The ROE better the company. Profitability à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Interest Rate Spread (Interest Earning Ratio-Interest Expense Ratio) The difference between the average yields a financial institution receives from loans and other interest-accruing activities and the average rate it pays on deposits and borrowings. The greater the spread, the more profitable the financial institution is likely to be; the lower the spread, the less profitable the institution is likely to be. Risk prevention Risk Prevention à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Capital to Risk Weighted Assets (CRAR) Total Capital/ (RWAs) This ratio is used to protect depositors and promote the stability and efficiency of financial systems around the world. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Core CRAR = Tier I Capital / RWAs Tier one capital is that which can absorb losses without a bank being required to cease trading. This measures the capital standard of the bank à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Adjusted CRAR = (Total Capital Net NPAs)/(RWAs Net NPAs) This relates to the bankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ability to sustain the losses due to risk exposures is the bankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s capital. The intermediation activity exposes the bank to a variety of risks. Staff productivity Staff Productivity à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Profit per employee (Net Profit/ No. of Employee) This helps to measure how productive the employees are in the bank by calculating profit generated by every employee. Higher the figure better for the company. à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ·Net Income per employee (Net Total Income/ Number of Employees) This also helps to measure income generated by every employee in the company Operational costs Overhead Expense à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Overhead expense/total income The accurate accounting and allocation of over-head expenses are very important factors in calculating the true cost of the company Operating Expense Ratio à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ · Operating Expense/ Net Income The Operating Expense Ratio is usually viewed as a measurement of management efficiency.   This is because management usually has greater control over operating expenses than they do over revenues. In addition to analyzing different performance between foreign-owned and domestic banks, this study further analyze whether entering of foreign banks helps to improve efficiency of domestic bank. This is done by (1) Structured interviews with managers of central bank and commercial banks. Specifically, the interview will provide detailed analysis on which factors do help to improve performance of domestic banking sector in Nepal; could foreign-owned banks influence performance of domestic banks; and which channels do foreign-owned banks influence domestic banks, and (2) by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Granger causality testà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? between domestic bank performance and foreign bank performance. This will be done on profitability, staff productivity and operational costs. 1.5. Organization of the study There will be five chapters in the study. Chapter 1 provides introduction, objective, scope and limitation, and methodology of the study. Chapter 2 reviews relevant theoretical and empirical literature on foreign bank penetration and domestic bank performance in both developed and developing countries to lay the groundwork for developing analytical framework and methodology in examining the impacts of foreign bank penetration on domestic bank performance in Nepal. Chapter 3 examines the structure and development of financial sector in Nepal as well as financial policy over the past decades. The results of banking performance are shown in this chapter. Chapter 4 discusses the impacts of foreign banks to domestic banks, both qualitative and quantitative. Chapter 5 provides conclusion and policy inferences. Chapter 2 Literature Review This section reviews relevant theoretical and empirical literature on foreign bank penetration and domestic bank performance in both developed and developing countries. This is done in order to lay the groundwork for developing analytical framework and methodology in examining the impacts of foreign bank penetration on domestic bank performance in Nepal. Penetration of foreign bank can come in different forms, such as branch offices, subsidiaries, joint ventures, or strategic partnerships. Branch offices, for instance, are an integral part of the parent company, that is, they have no capital of their own. Subsidiaries, however, are their own corporate entities, which are fully owned by the parent company. Similarly, joint ventures are separate corporate entities owned jointly by more than one parent company. Finally, foreign banks may establish a strategic partnership by buying a majority stake of an already existing domestic bank. Weller Scher (1999) The main difference between the various operational forms of foreign banks is their regulatory treatment. The regulatory treatment of the banks differs amongst domestic banks, joint-venture banks and foreign owned banks. Although there are different forms of foreign bank penetration, foreign owned banks are defined as those in which foreign investors own more than 50% of the total equity. Okuda and Rungsomboon, (2004). Decree on Foreign Banks, Phillip Fox 2006, distinguished foreign banks as Foreign Bank Branches (FBB), Foreign Invested Banks (FIB) and Joint Venture Banks (JVB). FBB is a dependent subsidiary of a foreign bank, for which the foreign bank has provided written guarantee that it will be responsible for all obligations and undertakings under FBB. A 100% FIB is established as a separate legal entity with capital being contributed from only foreign entities. Amongst the foreign investors, there must be a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“parent bankà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and it must hold more than 50% charter capital. A JVB is established as a separate legal entity, with capital being contributed from one or more foreign banks and domestic banks. Capital is not divided into shares. In JVBs, the capital contribution rate by the foreign bank(s) is capped at 50% of the capital of the bank. The regulations and supervision of financial sector in a host country are crucial in affecting the penetration of foreign banks. Over the past decade, most of the banks throughout the world have started standardizing their policies relating to financial sector according to Basel committee (Basel II Basel III)[7] Although Basel system has been introduced and regulations and supervision of banking sectors began to be standardized, regulations relating to competition within the banking sector, which influence the penetration of foreign bank and market structure of banking sector, vary significantly across countries and regions. According to Barth, Caprio and Levin (2001), there are three key aspects of the regulations relating to competition within the banking sector, namely 1) Limitations on Foreign Ownership of Domestic Banks determine (whether there are any limitations placed on the ownership of domestic banks by foreign banks); (2) Limitations on Foreign Bank Entry determine (whether there are any limitations placed on the ability of foreign banks to enter the domestic banking industry) and (3) Entry into Banking Requirement determine (whether there are specific legal submissions required to obtain a license to operate as a bank). The restrictions on overall bank activities and ownership vary from country to country. The research on Regulation and Supervision of Banks around the World by Barth, Caprio and Levine (2001) mentions that there are two measures of the size of a countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s banking industry. First measure is total bank assets as a percentage of GDP and the other is the number of banks per 100.000 people. . Both these measures show substantial variation across countries. Countries like Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, and United Kingdom have very high total bank assets as a percentage of GDP whereas United States and Asian countries are much lower. However the number of banks per 100,000 people is not much different in the countries mentioned above. The following Table shows the differences in restriction on banking system in some countries.[8] Countries Percent of total bank assets government owned Percent of total bank assets foreign owned Overall bank activities and ownership restrictiveness Professional Supervisor per bank Bangladesh 70 6 3.0 8 India 80 0 2.5 5.5 Nepal 20 35 2.0 4 Sri Lanka 55    1.8                   Cambodia 16 71 3.5    Indonesia 44 7 3.5 3 Malaysia 0 18 2.5 4.7 Philippines 12 13 1.8 7 Thailand 31 7 2.3 10 Singapore 0 50 2.0 1                New Zealand 0 99 1.0 0.6 Australia 0 17 2.0 2                United States 0    1.3 0.7                Germany 42 4 1.3 1 United Kingdom 0    1.3 0.7 Belgium       2.3 0.7 Switzerland 15 9 1.3    The table clearly shows that the countries in ASEAN region have higher restrictions on banking activities and ownership in comparison to countries like New Zealand and United States. The regulations are different in each country and do not match even if the countries are in the same region. But Professional supervision per bank is lower in developed countries like United States, New Zealand, United Kingdom whereas developing counties have higher no. of supervision per bank. According to the research the highest restrictions on overall bank activities and ownership are imposed by countries like Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and lowest restrictions by New Zealand then Germany, Austria and United Kingdom. In countries like New Zealand and United states the government ownership of banks is zero percent whereas India, Bangladesh has very high percent of government-owned banks. Although the regulations on banking competition vary, over the last decades, restrictions on foreign bank penetration have been relaxed as part of financial reform and foreign bank penetration increased substantially in many countries. This could be because the host country expects the positive impacts of increased foreign bank penetration in the host countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s banking system. Trade agreements have also played a major role in liberalization of market entry for foreign banks as financial services are required for international trade, production and investments. Governments usually support flow of foreign investment and this has been evident especially after various financial crises. Many countries in Southeast Asia started liberalizing foreign investment after the Asian financial crisis. The Asian crisis appeared to have catalyzed the liberalization of FDI restrictions in the banking sector across several ASEAN countries. Chau H.B (2003) A number of empirical studies analyze the impacts of foreign bank entry on domestic financial sector in a host country. The impacts can be grouped into three aspects. Firstly, foreign banks promote efficiency (competition and new technology) in domestic financial sector. A larger foreign bank presence can improve the competitiveness of the banking sector. Greater competition is advantageous for many reasons: to enhance the efficiency of financial services; to stimulate innovation; and to contribute to stability. It can also widen access of qualified borrowers to financing, which may increase aggregate lending and so enhance growth. A competitive and well-organized banking system can also improve the effectiveness of monetary policy transmission by tightening the link between policy rates and deposit/lending rates. (BIS paper No. 23) Foreign banks also help in availability of funds and acquisition of consumer-marketing skills. Chau (2003) In addition, foreign bank entry introduces new technology; financial services and advanced management skills, which existing domestic banks lack. The new technology and skills introduced by foreign banks include new financial products, advanced IT technology, and sophisticated bank management techniques. These are expected to contribute to lower operational expenses, amplified profitability, and better bank risk management. Forced by market competition, domestic banks may emulate the new financial products and management skills. Okuda Rungsomboon (2004). The presence of foreign bank also improves the corporate governance structure of the domestic banks. This includes breaking down the family-controlled structure and improving the decision making process. Chau H.B (2003) Unite and Sullivan (2001) has found that increase in foreign bank entry narrows the interest rate spreads and also reduces operating expenses. Foreign banks induces domestic banks to be more efficient, the increased competition forces domestic banks to take in less creditworthy customers and foreign participation induces domestic banks to spend more on improving their operations. However, Okuda Rungsomboon (2004) found that the entry of foreign banks is expected to negatively affect the operations of domestic banks but overall performance is likely to progress in the long run. Secondly, the entry of foreign banks is associated with reallocation of loans. Findings suggest that foreign banks improves credit access for many credit-worthy firms but some firms with positive net present value without opaque information will have difficulty obtaining loans. More developed countries, such as the U.S., Japan, and those in the European community, argue that Less Developed countries should allow foreign banks to enter into their economies. By increasing competition, foreign bank entry may boost the supply of credit and improve efficiency. Gormley (2006) Foreign banks are comparatively less likely to lend to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“soft informationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? firms, and more likely to lend to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“hard informationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? firms. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Soft informationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? refers to information that cannot be easily publicly verified by a third party. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Hard informationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? on the other hand refers to credible and publicly verifiable information, such as a foreign firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s authentically audited balance sheets, or government guarantees. Mian(2003.) The loan portfolio of foreign banks consists of only credible clients which mean that the chances of default are very less. The domestic banks will be compelled to give loans to non-credible clients because the credible clients will be mostly handled by foreign banks. This will have greater chances of loan defaults for domestic banks. Thirdly, foreign banks are geographically spread relative to domestic banks; therefore they are less affected by adverse shocks in the domestic country. Both foreign and private domestic banks have similar low probabilities of being assisted by the government in times of difficulty but foreign banks are considerably more likely of being bailed out by their parent bank. For example, if the local subsidiary in a developing country of a foreign bank runs into trouble, it may get an injection of new capital from its parent bank to bail it out. This access to liquidity directs to a lesser deposit cost for foreign banks. Furthermore, foreign banks have access to advanced technology, outside resources and expertise which facilitates them in providing better service than the domestic banks. However, there might be some drawbacks that make the foreign banks perform worse than domestic banks in the host country. Firstly, a large foreign banking existence could mean that information available to host country supervisors can be reduced and the decision-making and risk management shifts to the parent bank. The delisting of the equity of local partner on the local exchange removes an important source of market intelligence for the foreign bank. In addition, if the integrated firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ equities are delisted in the local market, host country controllers can also lose access to key foreign bank decision-makers. Secondly, a country might be more exposed to shocks due to foreign banks presence. External events which affect the parent bank will affect the branches or subsidiaries. The factors that determine exposure to such external shocks, whether it is greater with onshore foreign banking as compared to traditional cross-border bank lending, and the propositions for regulatory and supervisory policy also demand further investigation. Lastly Accounting Standards could also be a problem for foreign banks unlike the domestic banks which have clear set of accounting standards set within its organization. There is a need for transparent and reliable accounting and financial reporting but for foreign banks; usually parent banks and their foreign subsidiaries often have different accounting standards, which can lead to discrepant financial balances, even when they are based on the same financial information. This might lead to complexity in comparison between international financial statements which could raise doubt in the reliability of banks financial statements. Differences may occur in different tax treatment, deferred taxes, valuation and accounting of repos, amortization of goodwill, treatment of past due loans and from provision and inflationary accounting adjustments. Moreno and Villar (2005)

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Mt St Helens 1980 Eruption

At 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980, the volcano located in southern Washington called Mt. St. Helens erupted. Despite the many warning signs, many were taken by surprise by the blast. The Mt. St. Helens eruption was the worst volcanic disaster in U.S. history, causing the deaths of 57 people and approximately 7,000 large animals. Â   A Long History of Eruptions Mt. St. Helens is a composite volcano within the Cascade Range in what is now southern Washington, approximately 50 miles northwest of Portland, Oregon. Though Mt. St. Helens is approximately 40,000-years old, it is considered a relatively young, active volcano. Mt. St. Helens historically has had four extended periods of volcanic activity (each lasting hundreds of years), interspersed with dormant periods (often lasting thousands of years). The volcano is currently in one of its active periods. Native Americans living in the area have long known that this was not an ordinary mountain, but one that had fiery potential. Even the name, Louwala-Clough, a Native American name for the volcano, means smoking mountain. Mt. St. Helens Discovered by Europeans The volcano was first discovered by Europeans when British Commander George Vancouver of the H.M.S.Discovery spotted Mt. St. Helens from the deck of his ship while he was exploring the northern Pacific Coast from 1792 to 1794. Commander Vancouver named the mountain after his fellow countryman, Alleyne Fitzherbert, the Baron St. Helens, who was serving as the British ambassador to Spain. Piecing together eyewitness descriptions and geologic evidence, it is believed that Mt. St. Helens erupted somewhere between 1600 and 1700, again in 1800, and then quite frequently during the 26-year span of 1831 to 1857. After 1857, the volcano grew quiet. Most people who viewed the 9,677-foot tall mountain during the 20th century, saw a picturesque backdrop rather than a potentially deadly volcano. Thus, not fearing an eruption, many people built houses around the base of the volcano. Warning Signs On March 20, 1980, a 4.1 magnitude earthquake struck underneath Mt. St. Helens. This was the first warning sign that the volcano had reawakened. Scientists flocked to the area. On March 27, a small explosion blew a 250-foot hole in the mountain and released a plume of ash. This caused fears of injuries from rockslides so the entire area was evacuated. Similar eruptions to the one on March 27 continued for the next month. Though some pressure was being released, large amounts were still building. In April, a large bulge was noticed on the north face of the volcano. The bulge grew quickly, pushing outward about five feet a day. Though the bulge had reached a mile in length by the end of April, the plentiful plumes of smoke and seismic activity had begun to dissipate. As April drew to a close, officials were finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the evacuation orders and road closures due to pressures from homeowners and the media as well as from stretched budget issues. Mt. St. Helens Erupts At 8:32 a.m. on May 18, 1980, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake struck under Mt. St. Helens. Within ten seconds, the bulge and surrounding area fell away in a gigantic, rock avalanche. The avalanche created a gap in the mountain, allowing the release of pent-up pressure that erupted laterally in a huge blast of pumice and ash. The noise from the blast was heard as far away as Montana and California; however, those close to Mt. St. Helens reported hearing nothing. The avalanche, huge to begin with, quickly grew in size as it crashed down the mountain, traveling around 70 to 150 miles per hour and destroying everything in its path. The blast of pumice and ash traveled northward at 300 miles per hour and was a raging hot 660Â ° F (350Â ° C). The blast killed everything in a 200-square mile area. Within ten minutes, the plume of ash had reached 10 miles high. The eruption lasted nine hours. Death and Damage For the scientists and others who were caught in the area, there was no way to outrun either the avalanche or the blast. Fifty-seven people were killed. It is estimated that about 7,000 large animals such as deer, elk, and bears were killed and thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of small animals died from the volcanic eruption. Mt. St. Helens had been surrounded by a lush forest of coniferous trees and numerous clear lakes before the blast. The eruption felled entire forests, leaving only burned tree trunks all flattened in the same direction. The amount of timber destroyed was enough to build about 300,000 two-bedroom homes. A river of mud traveled down the mountain, caused by melted snow and released groundwater, destroying approximately 200 houses, clogging up shipping channels in the Columbia River, and contaminating the beautiful lakes and creeks in the area. Mt. St. Helens is now only 8,363-feet tall, 1,314-feet shorter than it was before the explosion. Though this explosion was devastating, it will certainly not be the last eruption from this very active volcano.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Career Development The Career Opportunity - 955 Words

Career Development A responsible professional will always be prepared for the next career opportunity. I have always made it a priority to keep my resume updated and to stay proactive in considering my next career move. New experiences, education, achievements, and networking relationships present opportunities for resume improvement. Staying current on external job listings and networking internally are two ways to ensure that I do not miss out on an opportunity. In addition, interview practice is invaluable in improving body language and in anticipating and preparing for difficult questions. In my experience, the prepared candidate will always have an edge. The Job Search The job search was helpful in confirming my current career strategy and brainstorming new approaches after I graduate. First, I found the suggestion of setting a specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and trackable (S.M.A.R.T) goal to be extremely helpful. One of the challenges that I face is that Eugene, OR, is not a large city and the healthcare opportunities are limited. I already work for Peacehealth, the largest healthcare organization in Eugene. For this reason, I need to be patient and careful in my job search since our family is planning on staying here. My current S.M.A.R.T goal is to find an operations manager, program manager, director, or administrator opportunity at Peacehealth that challenges me with more responsibility, pays at least $10k more per year, and offers continuedShow MoreRelatedErfa1044 Words   |  5 PagesThe Journal of Nepalese Business Studies Vol. I No. 1 Dec. 2004 Human Resource Management: Career Development Dhruba Kumar Budhathoki* ABSTRACT This paper mainly emphasizes on career development which is gaining much importance in recent times in order to retain skilled, competent and result oriented people in the organization. This paper invites special attention in this area of organizations. 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Increase Productivity Promote Career Development Performance Facilitate development meeting with all employees on the team Assist employees in achieving their goals Give employees the opportunity to evaluate and plan their employment future and develop their skills Establish a positive work environment with a team building forum Employees can better understand the intent of actions with high trust Allows team members the opportunity to learn about and understand each other toRead MoreHr Practice At Publix : Career Growth And Development843 Words   |  4 PagesHR practice at Publix Career growth and development is one of the strategies that Publix uses to achieve employee retention in the organization. According to Branham (2012) employees are more likely to stay longer in an organization where there are prospects for career growth as opposed to where they feel they cannot grow in their career. 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The career center will consist of self-appraisal, career information, career counseling services, career training facilities, and career placement follow up services. The center will reach this by setting in motion of cyclical process of planning, development, implementation, and improvement. With the help of the center the disabled will be able to reachRead MoreEmployee Training and Career Development1260 Words   |  6 PagesEmployee Training and Career Development Paper HRM/300 Patricia Meunier Muenks Employee Training and Career Development Paper Employee training and development is the key to the success of an organization. It is the role of the Human Resource department to provide employees with the information and tools needed for training and development, and to ensure the success of organizational development. Training and development of employee is benefits the organization by ensuring the organizationRead More The Work-Meaning Connection Essay examples1646 Words   |  7 Pagesreexamining their careers in light of the growing realization that work should be more than a job. Instead of listening to internal signals, many individuals make choices about work and careers on the basis of external criteria such as income potential, status, and the opinions of others. Although they may achieve success in these careers, they may be unhappy and dissatisfied because their work is not aligned with who they are—their core self (Clark 1999-2000). Others may select careers based on their

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Organizational Systems for Continuous Improvement

Questions: 1.Discuss How Organisational Systems and Procedures can Support Effective Continuous Improvement.2.Discuss How Continuous Improvement Systems and Processes relate to Other Business systems and Requirements including knowledge management, quality, performance management and sustainability.3.Think about a job that you had in the past or that you currently have. How would you measure productivity in that job?4.Reflect on a Past work Experience and Describe an Instance where Continuous Improvement was applied Answers: 1.Organizational Systems and Procedures can support effective continuous Improvement In business organizations, different types of organizational systems and procedures are used for organizing information. The knowledge based organizational systems are used to organize materials that are used for the purpose of retrieval and for managing collection. Further in this report, we will discuss how organizational systems and procedures supports effective continuous improvement. 2.Organizational Systems support continuous improvement at workplace There are wide variety of organization systems available that helpful to support continuous improvement at workplace. That organizational systems and procedures are discussed as below: Hierarchical System This organizational system is helpful in large business organizations where employees and owners have too much work to do. By using this organizational system, workers work under guidance of supervisor and owner handles other business activities. Under this systems, different skilled employees are hired by management to handle different business tasks and every team is supervised by supervisor. This is an effective way to improve workplaces (Ashe-Edmunds, 2017). Divisional Systems A business organization that has multiple products or businesses that implement divisional organizational systems. In this way, each division might operate by using its own marketing and production functions and each division will be responsible for its own work. This is an effective way to improve workplaces environment. By Department Besides above discussed organizational systems, an organizational procedure can also be created that should be based on different functions within a company. These functions will include marketing, office administration, finance and human resources etc. Examples of how organizational systems can be applied for continuous improvement at workplace. As we have discussed above, different organizational systems can be applied for continuous improvement at workplace. Now, in this segment of report we will emphasize on examples of each organizational system to understand that how it can be applied at workplaces (Thinkperform.com.au, 2017). In case of hierarchical Systems, if an employee has charge of marketing, then that employee will also responsible for creating and managing budget of department and also overseeing staff members such as webmasters and graphic designers (Schron.com, 2017). In case of divisional systems, an organization handles different businesses. Adidas Company provides different sportswear for every sport such as cricket, hockey etc. Relation of Continuous Improvement Systems and Processes to business systems and requirements The above discussed organizational systems are not only helpful for continuous improvement systems but also helpful to manage knowledge management, quality, performance management and sustainability in a way that these systems provide a strategic way to manage all business tasks and operations appropriately by dividing them into employees according to their knowledge and skills under an effective leadership. By doing this, knowledge and performance of employees can be judged and quality and sustainability of their work can be estimated easily (Referenceforbusiness.com, 2017). 3.How I measure productivity of my Job? Currently, I am working as a Web Programmer in a company and I am satisfied with this job. It is a productive job because due to this job, I am not only earning good amount but also getting so much knowledge in my field. We work on a project in team and every team member is responsible for his/her task. We have a good team leader who guides to achieve project goals successfully and within time. Due to usage of continuous improving system at our workplace, every employee is handling his responsibility properly and providing desired results. It improves productivity of work (Carr, 2017). 4.Past Work Experience where Continuous Improvement was applied? At my previous workplace, flat organizational system were used for continuous improvement, but it was a loose organizational structure and here responsibility of most areas was handled by owner or different employees. Under this structure, there was lack of supervisor and manager who could guide employees to work effectively. Therefore, it was not a good way for continuous improvement at workplaces. Therefore, organization was shifted to another organizational system i.e. hierarchical system for better performance of employees and for improving workplaces environment. This was a major change that have done at my previous organization and various positive changes are encountered (Managementhelp.org, 2017). References Ashe-Edmunds, S. Ashe-Edmunds, S. (2017). What Are Organizational Systems? | eHow. eHow. Retrieved 10 March 2017, from https://www.ehow.com/info_8403547_organizational-systems.html BusinessDictionary.com. (2017). Developing Organizational Systems for Better Efficiency. (2017). Retrieved 10 March 2017, from https://www.businessdictionary.com/article/473/developing-organizational-systems-for-better-efficiency/ Thinkperform.com.au.(2017). Organisational Success the Continuous Improvement Process. (2017). Retrieved 10 March 2017, from https://www.thinkperform.com.au/continuousimprovement/ Referenceforbusiness.com. (2017). Continuous Improvement - strategy, organization, levels, system, business, system, History of continuous improvement. Retrieved 10 March 2017, from https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Comp-De/Continuous-Improvement.html A Framework for Organizational Knowledge Systems. (2016). International Journal Of Business And Administrative Studies, 2(6). https://dx.doi.org/10.20469/ijbas.2.10004-6 Carr, C. (2017). How Continuous Improvement can Benefit Your Business | Kanbanize Blog. Kanbanize Blog. Retrieved 10 March 2017, from https://kanbanize.com/blog/how-continuous-improvement-can-benefit-your-business/ Managementhelp.org.(2017). Thinking About Organizations as Systems. Retrieved 10 March 2017, from https://managementhelp.org/organizations/systems.htm Smallbusiness.chron.com. (2017). Different Types of Organizational Structure. Retrieved 10 March 2017, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/different-types-organizational-structure-723.html

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Who or what do you consider to be most responsible for the tragic outcome of Romeo and Juliet Essay Example

Who or what do you consider to be most responsible for the tragic outcome of Romeo and Juliet? Essay For this essay I am going to consider who or what is most responsible for the tragic outcome of romeo and juliet. There are many people who could be held responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet these include Friar Laurence, the Capulet family, the Montague family, Paris or even Romeo or Juliet themselves. Out of all the characters in the play I consider Friar Laurence or Juliets Nurse to be most responsible for the death of Romeo and Juliet, whereas I also consider fate to be a very important factor of the tragedy. This play is a romantic tragedy. This means that from the beginning you know that the play is going to include romance and tragedy. Shakespeare was influenced by what was going on at the time when he wrote the play. For example the role of men and women in the house. Men overpowered women telling them what to do and what to believe. The family names were based on the families who were partly responsible for the civil strife in Italy. They were called the Montecchi family and the Capelletti family. So when the story of Romeo and Juliet was written and two families who contribute to a tragic outcome are needed this context was used but changed to Montague and Capulet. We will write a custom essay sample on Who or what do you consider to be most responsible for the tragic outcome of Romeo and Juliet? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Who or what do you consider to be most responsible for the tragic outcome of Romeo and Juliet? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Who or what do you consider to be most responsible for the tragic outcome of Romeo and Juliet? specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The character who I would say is least responsible is Mercutio. He could be held responsible because if he had not duelled with Tybalt he would not have been killed. This led to Romeo killing Tybalt and being banished. Mercutio started by laughing at Tybalt, which angers him. When Romeo enters the scene Tybalt insults him by calling him a villain No better term than this thou art a villain. This means that Tybalt is calling Romeo a peasant, which is a great insult to a man of noble birth like Romeo. Tybalt challenges Romeo to a duel, when he refuses Mercutio takes up the challenge. If he had not done this then Romeo would not have been banished. Tybalt, you rat catcher, will you walk? Here Mercutio is asking Tybalt if he will fight with him. Calling him a rat catcher is referring to Tybalt being the Prince of Cats, in this fight Tybalt kills Mercutio. O Romeo, Romeo! Brave Mercutio is dead. Benvolio tells Romeo that Mercutio is dead. When Tybalt returns Romeo kills him. This gets Romeo banished. There are other characters that have added to this tragic ending more than Mercutio. The next characters that I will be looking at are Old Montague and Lady Montague. They did not take part in the action of the play but if they had not been feuding with the Capulets then Romeo and Juliet could have married without having to do it in secret. Old Montague is still eager to draw his sword and fight the Capulets. Thou villian Capulet! Hold me not; let me go. He wants to fight with Old Capulet but Lady Montague will not let him. Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a foe. She wants to keep them from duelling and so stopping the families from making peace. If they had not been feuding and wanting to fight with the Capulets then the families could have been happy. I feel that although Juliet was one of the characters who ended with a tragic death she was partly responsible herself. She made many mistakes, which led to her death. The first of these is at the party where she meets Romeo for the first time. They flirt together and kiss Romeo says Then move not, while my prayers effect I take. This tells her what he is about to do to her, she does not pull away but instead she kisses him back. Another instance where she performs an action, which leads, towards her death is in the orchard. She exchanges promises of love and marriage to Romeo. If that thy bent of love be honourable, Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow. Here she says that if his love to her is good and true then they should marry and tell her the next day when and where. Soon after Juliet marries Romeo in secret. You do not see them get married but when the Friar says Come, come with me, and we will make short work, For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone, Till holy church incorporate two in one. He is telling them to go with him where he will marry them quickly. When she refuses to marry Paris is another important thing which leads towards her death He shall not make me there a joyful bride! From hearing this her Father forces her in to marrying Paris or he threatens to disown her. The nurse tells her to forget Romeo and Juliet is alone. The main thing that went towards her death was when she took the sleeping potion. Heres drink I drink to thee! The potion made her sleep for forty-two hours, everybody would think she was dead and she would run off to be with Romeo. If she had not done these things she would have lived, married to Paris but alive. She shouldnt have deceived and disobeyed her parents and she was too hasty in rushing in to marriage. I would say that Romeo is as much to blame as Juliet is. He goes to the Capulet party when he is not invited the servant say If you be not of the house of Montagues Romeo is a Montague but he goes along to the party anyway. If he had not gone then he would not have met Juliet in the first place and so would not have led to their deaths. After he met Juliet he fell in love very quickly and acted too hastily. If he had been able to control his anger when Tybalt killed Mercutio he would not have been banished for killing Tybalt. Either thou, or I, or both must go with him. Here Romeo tells Tybalt that one of them or both of them must go with Mercutio to the grave. If he had not killed Tybalt Romeo and Juliet could have carried on their secret relationship much easier. He acted very violently. He acted very hastily which meant that he did not get all of the facts before he rushed back to Verona when Balthasar told him that Juliet was dead. He rushed to an apothecary who gave him a poison to kill himself when he sees Juliet dead. To Juliets grave, for there I must use thee. This tells us that he is going to Juliets grave to use the poison and kill himself. If he had not rushed off the second letter which Friar Laurence sent him would have reached him and he would have known the truth about Juliet. He should have thought more carefully and they might have ended up happy together. I feel that the Capulet family contributes to the tragic ending of the play more than the Montague family because if they had not pressured Juliet in to marrying Paris then she would not have taken the potion that resulted in her death. Juliet says Ill to the friar to know his remedy: If all else fail, myself have power to die. There she says that if the friar has no way of stopping the marriage she would kill herself. Capulet is so anxious to find Juliet a good husband that he does not stop to ask her what she wants. O Thursday let it be o Thursday tell her, She shall be married to this noble earl. Capulet decided when and to whom Juliet would be married. When she did not want to marry Paris because she was already married to Romeo he threatened to disown her. They also contributed to keeping the feud going like the Montague family. They were too hard on Juliet when she said that she did not want to marry Paris. Fate plays quite a part in this play there are many references to it including the scene before Romeo departs to Mantua. Juliet says O God! I have an ill-divining soul: Me thinks I see thee, now thou art so low, As one dead in the bottom of a tomb: Either my eyesight fails, or thou lookst pale. Juliet has a vision of Romeo dead in a tomb in fact the next time she sees him he is dead in a tomb. In Act three Scene three Friar Laurence says Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable. to Romeo. This means, cheer up cheer up for miserable people will die. This is a reference to fate because Romeo and Juliet both died when they were miserable. Lady Montague also dies at the end of the play when she is miserable about Romeo being banished. If fate has put in an appearance then there is no way of stopping what happens. There are two people who I consider to be most responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. These are Juliets nurse and Friar Laurence. Friar Laurence started by secretly marrying Romeo and Juliet. He thought that it might help to end the feud when the families found out. In one respect Ill thy assistant be, For this alliance may so happy prove To turn your households rancour to pure love. He always looked for the brighter side of things; he should have had a second thought that the feud between the families was so ancient and brutal that could the alliance of Romeo and Juliet really help to end the feud? In fact the only thing which ended the feud was the death of their children. The friar also gave Juliet the sleeping potion as part of his badly thought out plan. He acted irresponsibly and lied to everybody about Juliets death. If he had not run off when he heard a noise from within the tomb he could have stopped Juliet from killing herself. Come, go, good Juliet I dare no longer stay. He did not want to be blamed for the deaths of Romeo and Paris and be questioned about why Juliet was alive. The Nurse encouraged Juliet in her romantic ideas. She carried messages and helped the star crossed lovers to meet and get married secretly. She went behind her employers backs; they should have been able to trust her after fourteen years of service. When Juliet was being forced in to marrying Paris the nurse changed her views and advised Juliet to marry Paris. I think it best you married with the county. Juliet then feels alone and turns to the friar and his terrible plan. So from this I think that Mercutio is least responsible for the deaths of Romeo and Juliet and Friar Laurence most responsible although every character has a part in the tragic ending. Mercutio duelled with Tybalt, which resulted in Romeo being banished but the friars terrible plan actually resulted in the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. I consider Friar Laurence to be most responsible for the tragic outcome of Romeo and Juliet

Sunday, March 8, 2020

A biography on Albert Einstein

A biography on Albert Einstein Of all the scientists to emerge from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there is onewhose name is known by almost all living people. While most of these do not understandthis man's work, everyone knows that its impact on the world of science is astonishing. Yes,many have heard of Albert Einstein's General Theory of relativity, but few know about theintriguing life that led this scientist to discover what some have called, 'The greatest singleachievement of human thought.'Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1874. Before his first birthday, his familyhad moved to Munich where young Albert's father, Hermann Einstein, and uncle set up asmall electro-chemical business. He was fortunate to have an excellent family with which heheld a strong relationship. Albert's mother, Pauline Einstein, had an intense passion formusic and literature, and it was she that first introduced her son to the violin in which hefound much joy and relaxation.English: Albert Einstein Franà §ais : po rtrait d'Al...Also, he was very close with his younger sister, Maja, andthey could often be found in the lakes that were scattered about the countryside nearMunich.As a child, Einstein's sense of curiosity had already begun to stir. A favorite toy of his washis father's compass, and he often marvelled at his uncle's explanations of algebra. Althoughyoung Albert was intrigued by certain mysteries of science, he was considered a slowlearner. His failure to become fluent in German until the age of nine even led some teachersto believe he was disabled.Einstein's post-basic education began at the Luitpold Gymnasium when he was ten. It washere that he first encountered the German spirit through the school's strict disciplinarypolicy. His disapproval of this method of teaching led to his reputation as a rebel.

Friday, February 21, 2020

The Analysis of SONY Corporation Research Paper

The Analysis of SONY Corporation - Research Paper Example The parent company and the electronic business unit of the Sony Group are SONY Corporation. The company is majorly operating in the entertainment and electronic products segment. The success and expansion in terms of market share have made the company one of the comprehensive companies in the entertainment sector. The Japanese based company focuses on products such as TV, computers, audio, gaming devices, movies and music. The company over the years has been witnessed to develop its in-house standards for various storage techniques and new recording measures. The company did not adopt any of the standards that were set forth by other manufacturers or other organizations. The company either individually or in collaboration with other partners has developed many new forms of recording formats such as a blue-ray disc, floppy disc and compact disc. The company has a wide range of products that it offers to the global markets and it has incorporated the best of technologies in its devices so that the company is at par with the competition. The company has established its position as the highest revenue generation company in Japan. In the year 2013, the overall revenue that was generated by the company was over  ¥6.493 trillion and it maintains positive cash flow in the system. The major objective of the corporate social responsibility activities of the company is to enhance its corporate value that it performs through sound practices in its business operations and innovation. The CSR activities of the company highlight the innovation through its services and products that excites as well as inspires, extending support so as to develop a sustainable as well as better society, and providing assistance to those communities in which they operate. The company believes that the activities that they perform enhance their corporate value and at the same time is beneficial for the society (Sony Corporation, 2014). The expectations of the society of the company constantly emerge with the product line diversification of customer lifestyles and markets, and also along with the changing concerns of the stakeholders in the industry.

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Physical and Chemical Structure of Penamecillin Essay

Physical and Chemical Structure of Penamecillin - Essay Example CAS name for penamecillin is (2s, 5r, 6r)-3, hydroxymethyl (2s,5r,6r)-3,3-dimethyl-7-oxo-6-(2-phenylacetamido)-4-thia-1-azabicyclo(3.2.0)heptane-2-carboxylate , 3-dimethyl-7-oxo-6-[(phenylacetyl) amino]-4-thia-1-azabicyclo [3.2.0] heptane-2-carboxylic acid (acetyloxy) methyl ester. Furthermore, the CAS registry number for penamecillin is 983-85-7, and the compound InChIKey, is NLOOMWLTUVBWAW-UHFFFAOYSA-N (PubMed, ch 1). Â  Penamecillin has a molecular weight of 406.45278 g/mol with a molecular formula of C19H22N2O6. It is a monoclinic crystalline compound (PubChem, ch 4). The compound has a density of 1.376g/cm3, a boiling point of 648.774Â °c at 760 mmHg, with a melting point range of 105.5 Â °c to 111 Â °c, and a refractive index of 1.609 (Gibaldi And Schwartz, 362 ). It is moderately soluble in water but insoluble in petroleum ether. However, penamecillin is very soluble in methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and benzene. It is also readily soluble in dimethylsulfoxide, chloroform, acetone, trichloromethane, and ether. Furthermore, it is an unstructured crystalline white powder with the precise optical rotation of +269 deg, at 20 deg C/D methanol. It also possesses a flash point of 346.2Â °C, with an inflammable limit of 364Â °C when it is a settled powder, and 442Â °C when it is in form of spun powder. Furthermore, it has a slight characteristic odor, and its decomposition temperature is > 105 Â °C. In terms of stability and reactivity, penamecillin is stable at ambient temperatures and should be kept away from heat or ignition sources. It is also a readily biodegradable compound even though it is not a bioaccumulation or eco-toxicity compound (PubChem, ch 4). Â  

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Conflict In Death Of A Salesman English Literature Essay

Conflict In Death Of A Salesman English Literature Essay Conflict is an essential element in all pieces of literature. In Arthur Millers Death of a Salesman, every character in the play deals with conflict at one point or another. However, Willy Loman is confronted with a large amount of conflicts throughout the play. None of Willys conflicts, Willy versus Biff, Willy versus himself, and Willy versus society, are resolved by the end of the play. Willy faces a father-son conflict with Biff throughout the play. When Biff returns home, Willy senses it as a failure. He returns home to find out who he is. Willy desperately wants Biff to succeed in every way possible. However, Willy and Biff have conflicting views of what the American Dream is. Willy believes that selling is the greatest job a man can have. On the contrary, Biff feels that the best job a man can have is working outdoors with his hands. When these two dreams collide, Willy becomes frustrated because he believes he is correct and his way is the only way. This contrast between their beliefs builds up throughout the play up to their final argument near the close of Act II. Biff is the only Loman that is able to see past Willys illusions about life. Will you take that phony dream and burn it before something happens? (133) He is the only one able to see reality. Willy is in a dream world where he believes he is on the verge of success whereas Biff is able to see the ha rsh reality and recognizes that both he and his father are failures. Young Biff had the same beliefs and views as his father, but after discovering his fathers infidelity, these beliefs changed. He realized he didnt want to become like his father and changed his beliefs. By the end of the play, Willys conflict is not resolved. He had all the wrong dreams. (138) Willy and Biffs beliefs are still opposite of each others. Although Biff has found out who he is, it is not the person his father had hoped for. He is not the leader of men and successful salesman his father wanted him to be, he is an ordinary man who plans to go out West. As Willy faced continuing conflict with his son, he also endured conflicts with himself. Willy faces conflicts with his inner self throughout the play. Willy refuses to accept who he is and his self pride is too important to him. Willy Loman refuses to admit that he is an ordinary man. He must be the successful American businessman that is a leader among men. He is in a dream world where he is on the verge of success. Throughout the play, he is at odds with who he perceives himself to be and who he is in reality. He seems to ignore the talent and appreciation he has for carpentry. He believes that if he purses carpentry, he would be beneath himself. Willy struggles with the fact that he will never be able to achieve his perception of who he wants to be. This conflict goes on until his death. He continues to believe he can be on top of the world, but in reality, he is a normal human being. Willy has a strong sense of self pride in him, one that may be too strong. He is afraid to show a lack of it to Charley or his family. When Willy meets Charley at his office in Act II, he offers him a job to help him. However, Willy is too proud of himself and will not work for Charley. He still believes he can survive without Charleys job offer. He doesnt understand that reality that he is a failure. He also considers himself superior to Charley. He believes Charley is not well-liked and is not the ideal character one should be. He knows that accepting a job offer from someone below him would be an insult to his self pride. Willy is also afraid to admit he is done and can not survive anymore to his family. I cant throw myself on my sons. (84) He is also afraid to show any weakness to his sons. Willy dies a man extremely proud of himself. However, he still has not faced the reality of who he truly is. He did not admit he needed help like an ordinary man would, a man just like him. As Willys conflict with himself grew, so did his conflict with his society. Willy is in conflict with society like the majority of American men in the last century. Willy struggles with his selling as he ages. The young Willy was able to make sales easily, but now he is older, and has more difficulty selling. Willy is constantly trying to find the key to success in selling. He constantly worries about other peoples perception of him and blames his lack of success on his physical traits such as his weight and clothing. Willy believes these are the reasons why he has difficulty selling, while in reality, it is the fact that he does not see himself and the world as they really are. When he first started selling, buyers may have been interested in charismatic salesman. However, as time changed, the business world looked for knowledgeable salesman to promote products. Willy is always worried about his appearance up to his death and still has difficulty understanding why he is never accepted as a talented businessman. When Willy talks to Howard about possibly stay ing in New York to sell, Willy feels like he is being thrown away by society. A man is not a piece of fruit! (82) Willy claims a man is not an orange where you eat the orange and throw away the peal. He is referring to himself when he says this. Willy has worked for this business for 34 years and after all his work for the company, he is worth nothing to it. In society, a man is often measured by his income and skills that can be used in society. However, Willy lacks both of these and society deems him as useless. Therefore, Howard fires him from a business standpoint. Willys conflict with society is not resolved. At his funeral, no one comes except for his family and Charley and Bernard. Society found him useless and threw him away. None of Willy Lomans conflicts with Biff, himself, and society are resolved by the end of the play. In his conflict with Biff, he is never able to nurture Biff into the man he wanted him to become. In his conflict with himself, he is never able to see the reality. Finally, in his conflict with society, he is a victim of Americas capitalistic and materialistic environment. However, the main cause of all his conflicts is his inability to see the reality in life. Perhaps that is why he was unable to solve any of his conflicts. However, Willy Loman was a troubled man from the beginning of the play to his death. He was much more than a man who had plenty of conflicts, he was a man who attempted to live the American Dream, but ultimately, his conflicts stopped him.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Child Abuse and Neglect :: Violence Against Children

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The safety and security of home are comforts we all wish for no matter what age we are. Though some of us get our wish roughly six million children don’t(United States Department of Health). Children who are battered and bruised, beaten, and in some causes sexually assaulted are constantly looking for an escape from the torture brought upon them by their own parents. These children average in age only four years old (Jones, Smothers F8 ) endure more pain at their young age than most of us face in a life time. The crime hurts children physically, emotionally and in most cases the pain goes on for a life time. The memories of climbing into bed with your parents are replaced with memories such as your father’s hand lashing your back for absolutely nothing because he is not in the right mind caused by all the alcohol. Making matters worse is that these children are too afraid to tell the world of the anguish and continue a life of hiding bruises and making excuses. As for t he children who are brave enough to tell, they get it no better if not worse. They are recklessly thrown into foster home after foster home. They face such hard ships as limited space with an enormous amount of children. Throughout all this, they never learn the true meaning of family. Why is there a lack of effort put into this crime? One is left to guess for the reasons are far too hard to comprehend. With so much drama and war around the world, Americans would like to convey an image of security and safety, once doing so we tend to black out the horrible acts of abuse occurring against our own children, causing child abuse to be a very neglected crime. â€Å"Having children makes you no more a parent, than having a piano makes you a pianist.†(Levin, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/michael_levine.html) With that being said the United States continues to give parental right to drunks and abusers without realizing the ripple affect it has on all of us. These children whose minds are being wasted not by lack of effort but by lack of parenting and lack of care from the government, have the ability to grow and become future leaders, heroes, and peace makers of our world. Why not take the extra effort in making sure that our future is being looked out for in our present? Child Abuse and Neglect :: Violence Against Children   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The safety and security of home are comforts we all wish for no matter what age we are. Though some of us get our wish roughly six million children don’t(United States Department of Health). Children who are battered and bruised, beaten, and in some causes sexually assaulted are constantly looking for an escape from the torture brought upon them by their own parents. These children average in age only four years old (Jones, Smothers F8 ) endure more pain at their young age than most of us face in a life time. The crime hurts children physically, emotionally and in most cases the pain goes on for a life time. The memories of climbing into bed with your parents are replaced with memories such as your father’s hand lashing your back for absolutely nothing because he is not in the right mind caused by all the alcohol. Making matters worse is that these children are too afraid to tell the world of the anguish and continue a life of hiding bruises and making excuses. As for t he children who are brave enough to tell, they get it no better if not worse. They are recklessly thrown into foster home after foster home. They face such hard ships as limited space with an enormous amount of children. Throughout all this, they never learn the true meaning of family. Why is there a lack of effort put into this crime? One is left to guess for the reasons are far too hard to comprehend. With so much drama and war around the world, Americans would like to convey an image of security and safety, once doing so we tend to black out the horrible acts of abuse occurring against our own children, causing child abuse to be a very neglected crime. â€Å"Having children makes you no more a parent, than having a piano makes you a pianist.†(Levin, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/michael_levine.html) With that being said the United States continues to give parental right to drunks and abusers without realizing the ripple affect it has on all of us. These children whose minds are being wasted not by lack of effort but by lack of parenting and lack of care from the government, have the ability to grow and become future leaders, heroes, and peace makers of our world. Why not take the extra effort in making sure that our future is being looked out for in our present?

Saturday, January 11, 2020

The Character of Cities

In this course we have learned that a city’s character is â€Å"a legacy for seeing, interpreting, exploiting, and transforming its social, cultural and political opportunities as a physical community. † How is it possible for a city like Boston to have character? Well, the institutional and cultural continuity along with the resistance and reconstruction of culture has allowed the character of Boston to be defined simply by the underlying idea of conflict. Through J Anthony Lukas’ Common Ground and Richard Broadman’s Mission Hill and the Miracle of Boston, we can see that the catalyst for this sense of conflict has been social dissentions between classes and races. These dissentions are clearly detailed through both the Urban Renewal plans of Mission Hill in the 1960s and 1970s and the school busing case of 1974. When looking at the character of Boston one must understand the amount of controversy our city has encountered as well as the way they have identified and resolved these crisis’s. Through this deduction along with my own personal experience of living in Boston a step towards finding a distinct character of Boston may be possible. When analyzing conflict as the character of Boston, you will find that conflict is triadic not dyadic. This means that there are three parties involved instead of just two parties. This is important when looking at the two issues of urban renewal and busing. The concept of conflict includes established insiders with many options, struggling insiders with some options and ascendant outsiders with few or no options. When comparing this information to both urban renewal cases and the busing you will see that Boston does in fact have three parties for each of its conflicts. The politicians play the role of the established insiders; the white race plays the role as the struggling insiders and the minorities especially the African-Americans play the role of the ascendant outsiders. An alliance between the established insiders and the ascendant outsiders caused the isolation of the struggling insiders and this provides us with the busing case of 1974. When these groups form alliances or make certain deals the health of the city especially Boston may be disturbed. Boston has always been an ambivalent city when it comes to looking at new issues. This ambivalence has caused much friction and has brought much confusion and anger to the citizens of the city of Boston. For example, In Richard Broadman’s Mission Hill Miracle of Boston, you see a detailed look at the urban renewal plans for Mission Hill in the 1970s. Could it be possible that Mission Hill would end up like the West End? There was no chance that Mission Hill would end up like the West End because of the interaction and care the citizens of the Hill had for its neighborhood. Many of the people of Boston especially the Irish-Catholics had been oppressed for so long, for example the slogan, â€Å"Irish need not apply! † However when James Michael Curley came to office as mayor of Boston he gave the citizens of Boston a new hope. The conflict during his reign existed between the Yankees and the Irish. The Yankees owned the city while the Irish ran the city politically. The variance of the Yankee world of Harvard University, the Back Bay and Beacon Hill from the lives of a typical Irish Mission Hill citizen was pretty substantial. With the reign of Curley a sense of confidence in the Irish-Catholic community existed long after his term in office. Even though Curley was not reelected the atmosphere that he created in Boston lingered on and trickled down throughout the next two decades. From Mission Hill once being â€Å"an industrial neighborhood part of thriving industrial city,† is now today â€Å"an area torn by racial conflict with many burned and abandoned houses and factories with large open spaces where homes once stood. † From this 1974 quote you can get a sense of the aftermath of the urban renewal and flight of the African-American population into the projects. When the Urban Renewal Act was first presented, the citizens of the Hill were adamant about their disdain for the Act. There is â€Å"no way are they gonna take any property on Mission Hill because if they take one street then it was the beginning of the end; Mission Hill would no longer be. † The sense of community in Mission Hill was fantastic. The sense of togetherness and fight was combined and created into a massive force of angered citizens. The Urban Renewal Act was halted when the families of Mission Hill marched on the State House coming in droves of people. But the conflict between the citizens and the politicians would take a new turn when Harvard University and the hospitals would enter into the battle. New conflict, new problems. The idea of â€Å"who cares about the people only the land is important† was very evident. Before in 1941 when the first small projects were built, an affordable, easy cost of living was accessible. The difference between these projects and the ones built later in the 1950s was that you had voters and political pull actually living in these projects. So the projects were kept safe, new and beautiful. However, when the political pull was lost and the projects lost its importance blacks were forced to live there. Whites felt that Blacks were forced on them because of the Urban Renewal plan. Before this the Blacks and the Whites never really crossed paths and never had much conflict. And Harvard’s involvement had been trying to buy out the Mission Hill area since 1960. They have tried to buy it out piece by piece like a puzzle. The citizens of the Hill feel that â€Å"they are letting the neighborhood go to the dogs. † This conflict has been such a problem that some people believed in the 1970s that Mission Hill might one day not exist because of the growth of the hospitals. Boston according to J Anthony Lukas is the â€Å"cradle of liberty, no city in the nation can boast so many revolutionary events. †(Lukas, 315) When talking about conflict and the city of Boston the most recent case would be the school busing case of 1974. There is no bigger case concerning the desegregation of schools in the city of Boston. The reaction from the citizens of the city especially the citizens of South Boston and Charlestown have made Boston famous for its volatile reaction. In June of 1974 Judge Arthur Garrity found the city of Boston guilty of de facto segregation of the public school system. In that, he tried to get the school committee to adopt a plan for integration but they refused. He was forced along with the state Department of Education to devise a plan that would integrate the Boston public schools. This plan entailed busing black students to nearby white schools in order for the black students to receive an equal opportunity of education. When these black students arrived to class on September 12, 1974 they were greeted with stoned buses, people shouting racial profanities at them, and people hurling eggs and rotten tomatoes. A typical day according to Phyllis Ellison, a black student who attended South Boston High School, included â€Å"between 10 to 15 fights! † â€Å"Teachers were almost afraid to say the wrong thing, because they knew that it would excite the whole class. † On December 11, 1974 tension ran high and escalated further. A black student at South Boston High stabbed a white classmate. This created such problems that black students had to hide in the principle’s office in order to stay free from any violent behavior towards them. Parents were forced to come pick their children up; some even carried their children out. The scene in the schools was out of control. J Anthony Lukas explains how school would be canceled at least once or twice a week because tension was too high. Lisa McGoff Collins explains, â€Å"I missed so many days of my junior year from walkouts and sit-ins and boycotts, I’m surprised I got promoted. † In Common Ground, we are introduced to three very different families. Through Lukas’ extensive interviews with the black family, the Twymons, the white middle class family, the Divers and the working Irish class family, the McGoffs we are invited into the world of the desegregation case of 1974. Lukas is able to present the ideas of the city of Boston (the school committee and the politicians) as well as the ideas of the three families from three very different lenses. Lukas’ book provides us with a valuable insight into the American urban experience, as it makes clear that urban communities stem from the perceptions and fears of every type of urban resident. It is evident that the residents of South Boston fall into this category. Many students as well as their parents spent that first day of school out on the street pelting the buses with whatever objects they could find. A boycott of the schools led to a 20 percent attendance record throughout that fall. South Boston residents were angered by the way this was being forced onto them. South Boston was a safe, industrious neighborhood that was being used to bear the brunt of the busing problems. â€Å"Why should a kid from across town be forced to wear another school’s colors on the gridiron? † This sense of competition and loyalty to your hometown was ever present and strong. People felt that Garrity being a WASP was getting his ultimate revenge on the Irish of Boston, â€Å"busing would fix them. To understand what busing did to South Boston one must look at the numbers. In the decade before busing only 3 black students had been enrolled in South Boston High School. By 1986, South Boston High still had the highest percentage of white students but it was down to about 30 percent. This is a great variance from the early 1970s. South Boston was changing and the city of Boston was changing. What has busing done to the city of Boston? It has given the city a better understanding of how to live with various ethnic races. Also, it has woken the city up and gotten rid of the fright that many people lived with in Boston. The fright of the other races and the possibilities of what these â€Å"races† could do to us. As the population grew and the sense of loyalty to your hometown outgrew busing became more accepted. In a way the people of Boston have learned from this social experiment. I believe that in trying to desegregate the schools and using busing as a tool, that we have brought education in Boston to an ultimate low. However, the diversity and experiences kids are introduced to may someday help in their own personal lives. Personally, coming from a prestigious school which is now addressing its own racial quota problems; I am glad I was introduced to many ethnic people. It was not only the minorities that enriched my life but it was the other white kids from Southie and Charlestown that I became intrigued by. I was interested in how a kid like me (that looked like me and had the same interests) acted even though he or she was from a different part of Boston. In some instances I had more in common with the black kid from Mattapan than the white kid from South Boston. The issue of what type of education you want your child to be exposed to the central theme here. Do you want the prestigious scholastic education of a Boston Latin or do you want the diversity of a Snowden or South Boston High. Boston has done a pretty good job at identifying important issues for the city to deal with but the decisions they have made concerning the urban renewal and bussing have left many people wondering what is going on with the city. Maybe these instances where city officials and politicians mess up help build the â€Å"character† of the city. What type of a city is Boston? That is a question that has many answers. Is it the Athens of America or the home of Yankee conservatives who want to stamp out diversity? In an overview one can see that Boston has built its reputation through the conflict that it has encountered. Whether the city has addressed these issues with the right answers or not it has made Boston a better place to be because it has already experienced so many things. From early revolutionary leaders to the fairly recent quota case at Boston Latin, Boston had seen its share of social dissention. Boston has resolved conflicts between different groups very professionally and orderly. In the past thirty years since the busing case not many cases of racial problems have surfaced. I think Boston provides the country with a very detailed and specific look at its issues. It seems that all sides of the issue are looked at very carefully before a decision is made. Through the urban renewal case and the busing case of 1974 one can see that when finding a distinct characteristic one would find conflict to be it. This sense of conflict surrounds every issue and blankets the ideas expressed in the movie, Mission Hill Miracle of Boston and the book Common Ground.