Outline the key principles of Neoliberalism and its actual and prospective contribution to wealth and welfare in developing societies

Outline the key principles of Neoliberalism and its actual and prospective contribution to wealth and welfare in developing societies. Counter-revolution was seen as a new vision of growth when it first comes out. In the mid 80s, the development if counter revolution was supported by the Western media and government aid agencies, also by some very influential international organisation, e. g. the World Bank Counter revolutionaries see themselves a better interpretation than the development economics. The development economy identify the problem of the developing countries in various way, it imply dual economics, labour surplus, low level equilibrium trap, unbalance growth, vicious cycle of poverty, big push industrialisation, foreign exchange bottlenecks and unequal exchange rate. However, counter revolutionaries claim the orthodox economics was unrealistic because of it assumption on people behaviour and technology implication in the industry. Also, it's said to be irrelevant, since it's main concern is with the allocative efficiency of given resources. These weakness means the development economics cannot address the problem of the growth aspect, neither it could deal with the problems of poverty and the distribution of income. Some counter revolutionaries believe that, the 3rd world exists only as a kind of collective psychological delusion. It's important to see how the counter revolutionaries interpret their view to the 3rd world to understand its policy concept. And their views on 3rd world derive from its continuing political engagement with the struggle against socialism. They also stress that the 3rd world had a kind of 3rd worldism, which contains an anti-west attitude. They seen the west as exploiters who exploits the benefits from the already poor 3rd world, and in some cases, they are right, and these attitude and facts alleged crypto socialist policies of 3rd world government. Counter-revolution was an abrasive now approach. When looking at the policy of the counter-revolution, we ought to see how it views the 3rd world problem, and what solutions do can the counter-revolution offers. According to the counter revolutionaries, the main problem of the 3dr world countries is their over-extended public sector, which cause the problems limitation through government intervention and central planning. For an economics to be efficient, there needs to be the existence of the market and incentives. However, they are being filters through government policies and agencies. Also, counter revolutionaries seen physical investment is only one of the determinants for the growth in the development. Human development such as education and building of infrastructure are as important as physical investment, and it should not be place as a less important government objective than physical investment. The economics policies of government and the distortion they induce re now the major focus of the analysis of the development policy. The clear induction we can see here is that, unnecessary government intervention will endanger the benefits of the market, and the relatively unimportance of human development policy, which will hinder the process of development. These are the main components of the counter-revolution's new vision of growth. Why would be the public sector being the problem? We can see from an example. If there's a public electricity corporation which is making a loss, the government decide to make up the loss by subsidise it using the tax revenue, the end result will be little incentives for the management to minimise cost. Cost minimisation is essential for n efficient market and the process of cost minimising is difficult and time consuming, and it's unlikely to take place without some pressure or incentives. If the government removes that pressure, public enterprise tends to become complacent and high cost. As a monopoly, the public sector is said to be fail to respond adequately to consumers preferences by insulate itself from the consumer demand. Also, many 3rd leaders may wish to strengthen their political power by influencing the economic performance, thus the country's development prospect. This means that when an economic decision was made, it's on the benefit for the politicians, not to the economy. And these are the factor causes other problem in the 3rd world countries, such as problem on foreign trade and industry, distortion of key prices (e. g. exchange rate) in the economy, which in turns causes balance of payment problems. The other main issue arise for counter revolutionaries are the practice for trade and aid policy. There are a few anomalies highlighted by counter-revolution. Some counter revolutionaries' claims that official aid has a regressive impact on world income distribution. It's theoretically possible according to Bauer, ‘many tax payer in the donor cities are far poorer then many people in the 3rd world countries where, moreover, aid often benefits the prosperous rather than the needy. ‘ Sometime, the aid is aimed to relief poverty in the recipient country, but the recipient country may resist it since they feel such attempts infringe its sovereignty. E. g. , local farmers will suffer income lost if food aid was given to people free of charge, no one will spend money on the domestic food products. Thus, the donor's citizens could have been taxed for the benefits of an unfriendly state. These are the major anomalies concern the counter revolutionaries on the ground of aid giving. Also, when aid is given to a 3rd world country which already had a over extended public sector, the government will tends to use the aid to support that public sector, which they can still claims that the aid had been used on the development of the economy. In this case, aid has help to boom the unproductive public sector beyond what it would have been in the absence of aid. The counter-revolution views conclude that, aid should therefore be given to the private sector. One of the anomalies emphasized by the counter-revolution is that the giving of aid merely relief poverty in the 3rd world, it might even worsening it. In the opinion of the counter revolutionaries, aid should be abolished. However, for political reason, this is very unlikely will be the case. So counter revolutionaries advocates that, aid should be reduce in size, also, it should be use as reward for policy reforms. Policy reforms which shows development of the economy as well as living standard of the people and the moving towards socialism. The counter revolutionaries also have its view on trade. Counter-revolution has always opposed controls over foreign trade. At international level, the counter-revolution's opposition to ‘ management trade' has been expressed through its critics to the International Commodity Agreements (ICA). ICAs are internationally negotiated schemes of intervention in the markets for exports of primary products. Counter revolutionaries oppose ICA because of its failure to alleviate the poverty in the 3rd world countries. Little suggests that ‘ The increase political management of trade is unlikely to help the poor or the poorest states'. Counter revolutionaries suggest that the 3rd world countries are minimally involved with production for export because they tends to be remote, isolated and lacking the skills to forge the effective links with their surrounding society. However, in the reality, the arguments of the counter- revolutionaries do not entirely hold up. About the point of 3rd world countries lack of share in export, we can actually see that, in 1982, one third of the 3rd world countries had export that accounted for 20% or more of third domestic product. Further more, on average, 60% of the export of the 3rd world countries was of fuels, minerals or other primary commodities. And for the counter- revolutionaries' negative opinion on aids, in the case of India, Bangladesh and South Korea, aid merely creates what the counter- revolutionaries sees as dirigiste syndrome. When counter- revolution is implemented across Africa, it had failed in nearly all situations, per capita income down 10% over the period. They were not prepared for high-level market openness. In Philippines and Sri Lanka, there were mix results, but certainly not successful, causing economic growth fell, increase in poverty and unemployment. The most successful case of the counter-revolution policy is in South Korea, where it achieve falling inflation rate, GNP growth and income distribution improved, current account deficit narrowed and social welfare improved. But the success can be achieve only because they were not only looking at the macroeconomic in nature, but also consider social welfare. The unhelpfulness of the counter- revolution comes from its particularly strong preconception of the actions that need to be taken to promote development. That preconception is that development problems are problems of resources allocation. It has also been attacked for its simplistic accounts of the nature of ‘real' markets in many developing countries and for their one – dimensional accounts of what motivates apparently isolated economic actors. Some policies and theories do have some merits, but they need to be accompanying by other policy to make it effective.

Mcdonald’s Green Marketing Strategy

How McDonald’s Change Their Customer Perspective and Increase Their Sales with Green Marketing The green issue has became a global issue since year 1990s, peak in year 2000s. In business, it can drive people perspective to choose which brand was good or bad. McDonald’s probably is one of the company that realize this issue is very important for their business in this century. McDonald’s is the biggest fast food chain in the world with more than 32,000 outlets in 117 countries. The company has employed more than 1. 7 million people. Last year, they’ve made 1. 2 bn out from 6. 1 bn.For years, many critics came up against McDonald’s about how bad they treat world environment and questioning how far they care about people healths, especially on obesity. The most famous â€Å"attack† to this fast food company probably was a documentary film that tells a people who eat Mcdonald’s meals for a month would hasten his death. McDonald’s al so considered to have responbility of 28% waste package (littering) in UK. Public suggested the company to more persuade their customers not to do littering. And also, public critics McDonald’s happy meal which caused early obesity to child.Those critics had succeed to change people perspective, in year 2000, their income declined with some outlets shut as their new record. Started in 2000s, McDonald’s is fighting back, massively and quietly counter the critics with green marketing. It is not only to increase the company sales, but more important to change the way customers think about McDonald’s, their perspective. But how they do it? McDonald’s is not sustainable company from the beginning, they has core DNA to create delicious food, fatty foods, and sugary foods.They must be careful to take an action, the green strategy not only have to change customers willing to buy, but also it could reduce cost and generate more valuable profit. McDonald’s i s aiming to blow up their green with five criteria, there are nutrition and well-being, sustainable supply chain, environmental responbility, employee experience, and community. They started to create a new logo –switching their traditional red background with the deep green one- to promote a eco-friendlier image.McDonald’s has done a lot of things in order to prove their environmental responbility to their customers, especially by reduce the energy they used. In Germany, at less 100 McDonald’s restaurant would use the green logo by the end of year 2009. And also, some restaurant in Great Britain and France would too. They started to use eco-friendly package – 80 percent of their package was made of renewable resources-. They change white napkins with plain brown, which saves 1. 3 million dollars annualy, while reducing energy, woods and water use.In France, some restaurants has made an innovation to use eco-friendly sofware that can reduce electricity us age by 11%. In Sweden, they use CO2 detector in their restaurants to adjust ventilation, which is reduce the usage of electricity by 15% anually. Various anti-littering campaign is spread to many countries, such as Portugal, UK, France, Switzerland, Australia, and others countries. From their menu, they change a bit in the name of their customer health, they reduce French fries size, adding fruits to its food, bring more healthier salad, less sugar drinks and foods, even low fat foods.Moreover, in Germany, there are some restaurants that provide no burgers and sells salad at just 7 euros, they can choose 5 traditional salads and mix it. Another weapons is sells coffee –sustainbly grown coffee and organic milk- with brand McCafe, while they offering low-calorie foods in the other sides. This strategy was made a significant growth, in Germany there are currently 1386 reaturants with 737 integrated McCafe inside, encouraged by a worlwide revenues of 23. 5 billions dollars.They a lso made a contribution to the local communities, all supply of each restaurants is provided by the local farmers in that city, except their global sponsor drinks, Coca-Cola. They also prove that they care about woman livings, 28. 1% of worldwide top management (VP and Ups) are women, while 50% Company Owned Restaurant Managers are women too. The last but not least, more than 30 countries recognises McDonald’s as great place to work. All of green things above was successfully delivered to customers by various medias, it proved by the increasing growth 13% sales in year 2011 from year 2008.And also, the legendary Big Mac sales rose 10 percent last year, helping keep the company stock price to nearly $100 a share. In the other hand, the advertising budget has been estimated to exceed $2 billion. It shows that McDonald’s has successfully came back to winning by counter critics with the right strategic green marketing. They do the strategy without change the â€Å"fastfoo d† image, but they do with showing their will and contribution to the environment. Finally, it can change human perspective and willing to buy with the increasing sales as the success parameter.Sources Birkner, Christine. 2012. McDonald’s Scores Itself on Sustainability: Will Consumers Be ‘Lovin’ It’?. http://www. marketingpower. com/ResourceLibrary/Documents/newsletters/mne/2012/1/mne_mcdonalds_sustainability. pdf. September 3rd 2012. O Brien, Keith. 2012. How McDonald’s Came Back Bigger Than Ever. http://www. nytimes. com/2012/05/06/magazine/how-mcdonalds-came-back-bigger-than-ever. html? _r=1pagewanted=all&&pagewanted=all. September 3rd 2012 Environmental Leader. 2012.McDonald’s Counters Criticism With Green Marketing Effort. http://www. environmentalleader. com/2009/05/19/mcdonalds-serves-up-green-practices/. September 3rd 2012. Salisbury, Peter. 2011. Behind the Brand: McDonald’s. http://www. theecologist. org/green_green_li ving/behind_the_label/941743/behind_the_brand_mcdonalds. html. September 3rd 2012 Laura, Nerdy. 2011. McDonald’s going green – I’m lovin’ it. †¦?. http://businessnerds. wordpress. com/2011/05/29/mcdonald%E2%80%99s-going-green-%E2%80%93-i%E2%80%99m-lovin%E2%80%99-it/. September 3rd 2012.

Can Business Ethics Be Taught?

Business Ethics can be defined as the study and evaluation of decision making by businesses according to moral concepts and judgments. Ethical issues range from a company’s obligation to be honest with its customers to a company’s responsibility to preserve the environment and protect employee rights. Ethics includes the need to produce a reasonable profit for the company’s shareholders with honesty in business practices, safety in the workplace, and larger environmental and social issues. Business ethics calls for an awareness of social responsibility and this includes addressing social problems such as poverty, crime, environmental protection, equal rights, public health, and improving education. Can business ethics be taught? This is a question where there is no absolute answer yes or no. But I believe the ethics and business ethical examples should be and have to be taught in business school. First, it is important to help graduates understand other people's value systems and expectations of them, to be able to engage and discuss this side of things in a decision making process (especially if other people's expectations have become rules or laws, as with accounting and disclosure requirements, rules against conflicts of interest, etc). Second, it's important to help graduates realize the horrible consequences (especially for others) of some seemingly harmless selfish acts. We certainly shouldn't delude ourselves that a required course in grad school is going to make bad people into good people, or mean people into kind people. Nor should we be sanctimonious about it and feel that offering a course on ethics somehow makes us (the instructors or administrators) â€Å"good people. † But the first approach above will make it easier for the graduate to interact with others in the workplace, and to avoid oblivious violations of industry regulations. And the second approach above might actually change the way some people behave, at least a little, by instilling a greater awareness of how their decisions affect or harm others. However, most people would agree with that ethics is very difficult to be taught especially when the financial reward to do unethical behavior is greater than doing the right thing. The strong ethical behavior will not prevent another melt down that was witnessed on Wall Street. Too many times, the issue is all about money. How much can I get in the short term, can I get out before the long term risk hits, and can I retire before with the money I made. This type of mentality forces high risk taking to get the greatest return in a short time. For any company, this will eventually hit the bottom line. The company may even see bankruptcy. The Board of Directors has a major responsibility to the shareholders. That is to develop strategic plans to ensure growth, but to ensure longevity of the company to survive the long haul. Not quick profits and get out. The shareholders need to also control the Board of Directors to ensure that Board of Directors financial gains are measured appropriately and to ensure longevity of the company. But what happens only a small minority shareholders have enough stocks to make decisions. The rest are just along for the ride. What is needed besides ethics, is being held accountable for the actions taken, and ensure that all actions are not in the gray area white and black are no longer seen. We have been read and seen too many unethical issues happened, such as Enron Corporation, Andersen, Bernard Madoff Fraud etc†¦ Also so many unethical things in China, Sanlu infant milk powder issue which has killed so many babies, a big number of corruption issues about high position officials, which we can often read news from medias. But if some shareholders or anyone can stand up and say something in the beginning before the things went too wrong, it probably would prevent some corruption or fraud, to some degree. People who don’t believe the ethics can be taught have their concerns. â€Å"It's unrealistic to expect people's behavior is going to change because they sit in classes,† says Marshall Goldsmith, an executive coach based in San Diego and an adjunct lecturer at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. â€Å"Is there any proof in any executive education †¦ hat anyone who went to any course ever changed any behavior as measured by anyone else over any period of time? Not that I know of. † Mr. Goldsmith and others concede that new emphases on ethics in business schools send a message to future managers that ethics are important, even in the corner office. But, they caution, expectations for a big impact from these programs are pie-in-the-sky thinking. â€Å"No one is going to come out of those courses as a different person,† Mr. Bruhn says. â€Å"The thing those courses are going to do is create awareness. They're not going to change behavior because ethics is learned by modeling, not by reading a bunch of books over a weekend. † There is another main problem is the patterns of moral behavior are formed long before students are able to study in the business schools. An analysis shows that the key period for shaping a person's moral character falls between the ages of 2 and 10. When we reach business schools we normally are more then 22, it's kind of too late. The students are already all formed their own moral thinking, behavior and ethical habit. Ethics should be learned since we start knowing and sensing this world, and be taught by our parents, seniors, teachers in kindergarten, in primary schools, by the environment we grow. It is about a whole education system for a country. Especially for the education of our young next generations, we have to put more emphasis into subject of moral virtues. Ethics should be a basic issues in any organizations and be taught in all levels of education. Over all, to some extent, yes, ethics can be taught in a classroom, if the schools, teachers, professor and the students adopt a practical approach, in preference to a philosophical one.

Supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Supply chain management - Essay Example Maintaining an effective and critical supply chain has become critical today. Global disruptions and market changes have instilled a sense of fear in businesses as maintaining strong customer relationships and effective cost cutting has become necessary (Sapient, 2002). Many firms started outsourcing key business process as a means to have better control over the supply chain. This could not resolve the problem and on the contrary it added to business and communication complexity. This increases the dependence on business partners (Sapient, 2002). Supply chains today face innumerable barriers like multiple tiers, many suppliers, varied transportation modes and numerous outsourcing partners, according to the report by Sapient. Uncertainties arise as multiple players with diverse technological backgrounds and systems join hands to integrate supply chain activities (Lippert & Forman, 2006). Supply chain uncertainties can also disturb the other planned processes to accommodate delayed assembly or delay may occur if a suitable resource cannot be found (Koh & Tan, 2005). Despite the use of various strategic planning models, uncertainties have been identified in the system. Uncertainties should not be underestimated as its impact can lead to faulty planni ng. It could also prevent the company from taking advantage of the opportunities that higher levels of uncertainty provide. It thus becomes imperative to understand the various view points underpinning the theory of uncertainty in supply chain. Uncertainty has been defined by Ambrose, Marshall and Lynch (2006) as the absence of the information that the organization needs in order to operate effectively while Koh and Tan (2005) define it as any unpredictable event that occurs during the production process that cannot be planned for. It is a disturbance and creates nervousness. They further clarify that regardless of the way

Different leadership styles within football management and why there Essay

Different leadership styles within football management and why there successfull (Managing organizations) - Essay Example Heller believes that self mastery, through reflection and introspection is the key in sport management. Following this line of thought, Heathfield (2004) defined leadership as the ability to conduct the affairs of others, an organisation or a business, to have people work under your control and to provide direction, to guide others, to administer and organise work processes and systems and to handle problems. When seen from this perspective, a football manager would be seen as someone whose duty is to provide the atmosphere, guidance, inspiration and every other thing a team of players need to be successful. This is aptly conveyed in McCarra (2004) statement "Leadership, on and off the pitch, can make the difference between ignominy and victory" McCarra argued that leadership and management is a very crucial aspect of whatever business or organization, because in the long run, successful business or organizations are those that are well led. Unfortunately, in Heller's views, the link between management and football has always been undervalued. He explained that in the search for effective leadership knowledge, academicians and researchers have searched deep into the histories of warfare and the military, when more could be learn from football managements. This is obviously, because in football management, effective and successful football managers are easily discerned, in sharp contrast to what obtains in the business world where politics, perception, bureaucracy and all that, usually overshadows performance and effectiveness of successful leaders. Analysis of football team management is a useful and convenient method for isolating the general principles of successful management. Information about what goes on inside football clubs is readily accessible and because of its immense popularity, football attracts permanent media attention. This makes analysing the secrets of their success easier and more productive than a similar study of a blue-chip company, where the inner workings are often shrouded in mystery (Using football, 2003). Obviously, this is because there is no hiding or pretensions in football management, a successful manager is easily distinguished by consistently winning trophies and achieving respectable feats against odds, while an ineffective manager is also easily distinguished for poor performances and in the inability to maximise the available human resources. In the course of this paper, we shall be taking a look at some of the numerous leadership styles and traits that have been exhibited by several football managers, with a view to analyzing the efficiency of such styles as measured by the success attributed to such leaders, and the weakness, shortcomings and limitations of these leadership styles. This will be done through a review of the various literatures; articles, reports and journals, available on the topic. Literature Review Analysing management styles and football, Heller (2005) opined that in every sense what determines a great leader is the success recorded. He argued that success with leadership in football and sports generally, clearly demonstrates that leadership is based on what he called five inward strengths and five

Article Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Review - Article Example The previous three models of strategic change were based on the preferred methods indicating how companies can bring about fundamental changes in their work in the best manner. The first model emphasized almost exclusively over the senior management for the planning and implementation of change. This planning oriented model had several issues in the implementation phase of the planned change, such as time, speed, resources, etc. which were often found to be inadequate in comparison with the previously considered options during the planning phase. Also, the middle managers were often not committed to the planned change since they were not involved in the planning process and thereby, have difficulties in understanding the proposed plan. Though, these middle rank managers have important information and ideas to contribute to the planning of the desired change. Hence, the second model was developed that focused on the implementation phase by including the middle managers in the formulat ion of strategic change plans, where detailed execution schemes were also discussed and developed. However, the organizations still experienced a number of implementation issues such as inadequate progress, broad systemic issues (norms, culture, policies, rewards, management styles, etc.), unexpected delays and organizational resistance. Thus, the third model came into existence focusing on the readiness for change but still there were problems like broad scale resistance, time limits, and emergence of new problems not been anticipated before during the planning phase. The unusual aspect of this model had been the involvement of employees, customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders in the implementation process. Due to the drawbacks of the previous three models, the fourth model of strategic change that is called ‘the learning organization’ is under development right now. This new model engages everyone, involved in origination, in the identification and resolution of the problems, all of the time. Summary of the Author’s Conclusions and/or Recommendations The plans developed under the learning organization model are not just the concepts of top management but are also completely shared and supported by the people involved in the development of these plans. The learning organization model improvises change by means of small rewards, experiments and institutionalization of success across the organization instead of just executing plans by the numbers. The true form of the change is gradually revealed by the creative and spontaneous actions of the people across the organization. Accomplishments and successes are bolstered and institutionalized with the passing time, which changes or augments the formal structures, systems, and procedures of the organization. This model selects the action, reflects and modifies the course as it goes that improves the speed and effectiveness of the implementation of the planned change. However, there is a danger that this model will lead to its own quick fix solutions in a box and that this model will be recognized as the ultimate solution for the problems like surprise and stagnancy. Thus, this new model recognizes that any specific plan or program can be unsuccessful. Even

Paul Rand Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Paul Rand - Research Paper Example Paul Rand’s life began in 1914 in Brooklyn. He was raised up in a firm Orthodox Jewish environment. Orthodox rules condemn the establishing of images for worship such as idols, but at a tender age, Rand would contravene such laws by extracting and placing photos of celebrities and supermodels aired in the media in his father’s grocery warehouse. He joined the Pratt Institute, previously known as the Parsons School of design, as well as the Art Students League. In the Art League, he became one of the pioneers of the Swiss Style of graphic design.2 Having a strong background in designing stock portraits and images for many magazine and newspaper companies, coupled with the thought that his Jewish name might drag his career backwards in a white domineering society, he renamed himself Paul Rand. These two four letter words served as his lifelong corporate identity. In his early twenties, Rand piled a large Portfolio. He was being assigned jobs that made him famous both at home and abroad. During this period of time, he began setting page layouts for the famous Apparel Arts magazine. His designs on the exterior layout of the Direction Magazine became astounding, attracting readership. In 1940, he came up with a barbed wire cover design, which depicts the magazine as both a war-tone token and a crucifix. This was his tactic of testing with high art themes.3 Rand was gifted in converting the mundane into creative and astonishing layouts. This earned him a contract in the Esquire-Coronet magazine as an art director. At first, he failed to take up the job, but later reconsidered the offer, making him the head of Esquire Magazine when he was as young as 23. In late 1930s, Rand commenced his occupation of designing logos and corporate brand identities. In 1938, he established a new trade name for both Wallace Puppets and Esquire. At the turn of 1940, Rand climbed the job ladder to become the Art Director with William H. Weintraub Advertising firm.4 During his

Organization Policy and Stategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organization Policy and Stategy - Case Study Example Retail sales, which were important in developing countries such as those in Asia, were less cyclical (Ghemawat 3). Asia was the growing market and its buyer power was weak because it had few cement manufacturers, high population densities and less cyclical demand. The industry was characterized by high barriers to entry in the form of high capital and energy-intensity requirements, cyclic demand and the maturity of the industry i.e. no major innovations had been recorded in the last 20 years (Ghemawat 2). About the competition within the industry we are informed that though there were six major international players, given their geographic diversification, they tended to be outperformed in any given year by competitors focused solely on local markets that happened to be "booming" (Ghemawat 3). Industry rivalry was not that intense. As for threat of substitutes, this only applies for the developed markets (Western Europe and North America) where due to the weather they prefer using wood or steel. But this would not be a big factor considering that the projected growth in these regions is at the lowest, close to 1% which is why the international players were eyeing the emerging markets. By the year 2000, CEMEX had become the third largest cement company in the world being led by the scion of the founder, Lorenzo Zambrano (Ghemawat 5). Initially, to reduce risk related to the cyclic core business, the firm began diversifying horizontally but after much thought they returned to their core competency area to seek growth through strategic acquisitions. This strategy saw the company grow to have the largest market share in Mexico before it began to spread globally. With this growth strategy, CEMEX moved from the United States to Spain to Latin America then to Asia and other regions. By December 1999 the firm had a presence in 15 countries. Still seeking greater international presence CEMEX dedicated US$1.175 billion

The Federal Law in the United Arab Emirates Essay

The Federal Law in the United Arab Emirates - Essay Example These federal rules are made to ensure that all people of the federation abide by the standards set and deemed appropriate for public good and national betterment in all terms by the officiating bodies of the seven Emirates through their officials. This paper will discuss within its context the creation of the UAE federation, the constitution, the federal laws and the creation of federal business laws that already exist within UAE. Key words: federal state, federal law, constitution, business law Federal Law in the United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates: Starting Point The UAE is a federation of seven Emirates comprising Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. It was formed on the 2nd of December 1971 (Latham & Watkins LLP, 2011, p. 1). The UAE federal constitution was adopted and accepted in 1996. It ensures the allocation of powers between the federal government and the government of each Emirate. It is one of the largerst countries in t he Gulf with a land area that extends to 83,000 square kilometers and a population of 2.6 million (Gulf Law, 2011). Ethnicities that comprise the total population of the United Arab Emirates are: Indians with a total census of 1.75 million, Pakistani with 1.25 million counts, Bangladeshi at a rate of 500,000, other inhabitants of Asian origin amount to one million according to the census, European and African comprising 500,000, while the population of Emirati amounts to 890,000. Majority of the people in UAE are Muslims at the rate of 96% compared to the Hindu and Christian sects present in the country. The official language is Arabic though English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali are also used widely (U. S. Department of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, 2011). The Government There is still an independent type of governance in each Emirate since the UAE is a loose federation of seven Emirates with its own ruler in each of them. Under the provisional constitution of 1971, each Emirate c ontrols its own activities and reserves considerable powers including control over mineral rights, such as oil and gas, as well as revenues. But over time the federal powers have developed slowly and the constitution has established set of rules under the creation of President as the chief of state and Vice President as second of rule, each having a fixed term of 5 year service. Other members of the government includes: a Council of Ministers, led by a Prime Minister as the head of the government; a supreme council of rulers; and a Federal National Council of 40 members wherein 20 members are appointed by the Emirate rulers and other half of 20 members are elected through an electorate by the rulers of each emirate (U.S. Department of State, Bureau on Near Eastern Affairs, 2011). Within a remarkably short span of time since the creation of the federation, the United Arab Emirates managed to create a stable country with a booming economy based on free trade. Today the economic status of UAE has earned it a reputation as one of the leading economic icons in the Middle East. This is one of the main reasons why lots of people and business builders and investors thrive to work or build businesses within boundaries of the Federation. The reputation of the Emirates as a free trade area was enhanced with rapidly developing free zones and the oil

Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity Essay Example for Free

Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity Essay Education and experience in the secular set-up or the what we call here as Athens wisdom believes differently from the biblical standpoint in whatever aspect of life. Psychology in general, though embraces somewhat a neutral position according to some proponents, is not able to do justice to a balanced view of human behavior and most if not all of the individual’s activities. Indeed, Author Dr. Entwistle (2004) argues about the general tendency to dichotomize or what he said as â€Å"to buy into the dichotomy between the ‘sacred’ and the ‘secular’ which is what seeing Jerusalem and Athens as â€Å"mutually exclusive categories. † From the outset I would like to say my piece regarding the point where Dr. Entwistle is coming from without sounding arrogant in the same vein. He has mentioned a lot about presupposition while at the same time sounds like he doesn’t anything about presuppositions. When he separated â€Å"Jerusalem† and the â€Å"Church† in his book, I immediately detected his lack of background in the realm of biblical theology. At the heart of Christianity or the Church that Dr. Entwistle is referring to, there is no such dichotomy. The Church in every dimension of it (or Christianity as we aptly put it) does not do any separation unless what Christ has separated. Meaning, our premise or presupposition starts with the fact that the Church and Christian spirituality or faith if one would put it simply, stands on the Judaeo-Christian context not a choice between â€Å"Jerusalem† or â€Å"Church. † The fundamental difference lies in the great divide between Christianity and Athens or secular wisdom. It is only between the secular wisdom and biblical knowledge does the Bible place a dichotomy. Let me state what led me to this view: it is because, theologically speaking, biblical authors explicitly wrote in their letters from the Old to the New Testament Scriptures that God has His own laws and statutes through which life in general must be regulated. The same knowledge explicitly and implicitly runs through the fabric of the whole Scripture (Old New), which means that the presuppositions of all of the Biblical authors, all fall into one primary presupposition: that there is one God, and that this One God has revealed Himself through His laws and statutes. Without the laws of God, man alone, with all of his learning, if they are all apart from the revelation of God, is mere natural or secular. This is the reason that every man ought to know these laws or statutes or biblical principles and only then can he apply these into all aspects of his secular life. This could have been what Dr. Entwistle intended to mean. One cannot come from the opposite side as what Dr. Entwistle had done instead as he hinged the argument from secular to the theological; though he tried to get his ideas from the likes of great men like Dr. A. W. Tozer and others. All those people’s arguments come from biblical presupposition: they have thorough knowledge of the Scriptures that they applied to various realms of life which in turn caused them to spur their readers to do the same. Trying to oppose the standpoint of apologist Tertullian, Dr. Entwistle seemingly misunderstands all of their positions, thus complicating what could have been an uncomplicated and unified stream of thought. The main contributing factors that led me to this viewpoint are my personal study of the Bible, and some works (massive) of Biblical scholars. The following discussion of renewing the mind then is a by-product of my own presupposition derived from the influence of these Biblical Scholars which include contemporary theologians like Dr. Vincent Cheung, Dr. Philip Johnson, and the father of Presuppositional apologetics Cornelius Van Til, to name a few. This thorough discussion of counsel of the wicked (representing secular or Athens wisdom) and the discriminative counsel which embraces all of Judaeo- Christian principles (as all contained in the Bible) captures best the essence of faith-spirituality molded from this basic presupposition. The dichotomy is between what the Bible says all throughout as the Wicked or ungodly counsel versus that of Godly wisdom. Dr. Entwistle unintentionally pursued a trichotomous delineation of Judeao-Christian theological thinking from secular. This is not proper. Discussion Christians know that a big portion of God’s work in their lives is concentrated on renewal of the mind. Our born again experience signaled the beginning of a new life for us rather than, as have been used by many figuratively, the end of our life’s quest for truth. It is the start of an individual’s real life in that it is the time when a person experiences the quickening work of God through His Spirit (Ephesians 2:1-7). Let’s think for a while our past life as portrayed to us in the Bible: 1. ) We were once dead spiritually – in trespasses and sins; 2. ) We once walked (lived our lives) according to the course of this world; 3. ) We once lived our lives (knowingly or unknowingly) controlled by Satan; 4. ) We once behaved in a way that in everything we do, we only fulfill our desires and what – in our minds – looked good and pleasant. Now, knowing that we are naturally (without the saving power of God) unresponsive to God and fully responsive to the things that are not of God, we recognize our great need to be renewed or our minds oriented to the things of God – things that really matter to Him and in this life (Romans 12:1-2). I. Discriminative Counsel. 1. ) Biblical/Godly Counsel – Its Necessity. There is a trend being proliferated in the area of guidance or direction in one’s life. The premise, if looked at the surface, seems to be sound and Biblical. It is somehow taken from the Bible. They are from the book of Proverbs. â€Å"Where there is no counsel, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. † – Proverbs 11:14. â€Å"Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established. †Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Proverbs 15:22. These verses, however, when balanced with other portions of the Scripture, do not say that believers should heed suggestions from others without discrimination. Let’s take for example Psalms 1:1-6. â€Å"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, or sin- ners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. † It says here that the â€Å"blessed man† is he whose delight is in â€Å"the law of the Lord. † He meditates on it â€Å"day and night† (v. 2). What the Bible calls as â€Å"blessed† are not those who just swallow every information or trends who happen to be around. The blessed man’s â€Å"delight† is in the law of the Lord, and his pleasure to God’s law/word is made evident in his â€Å"meditating† on it â€Å"day and night. † â€Å"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night. † – Psalms 1:1-2. On the other hand, this is also a warning. A warning to those who are not careful and would let down their guard with regards to their upholding the habit of meditating or checking everything with the teachings of the Scriptures. When someone starts to entertain the seemingly harmless conventional â€Å"advices† of the world without allowing the Bible (God’s Word) to filter those opinions/suggestions, the lurking danger sets in and the undiscerning is on his way to the wrong direction for he has already given thought to â€Å"ungodly counsel. † He entertained and has given a benefit of the doubt to counsel other than God’s counsel. This is a classic case of God’s word versus Satan’s lies. The enemy succeeded in tempting the first couple – Adam and Eve. â€Å"Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. † – Genesis 2:15-17. Going back to our immediate text in Psalms 1:1, let’s try to divide its wordings in three divisions and see what does it say? It says: â€Å"Blessed is the man who does not (1) walk in the counsel of the wicked (2) stand in the way of sinners (3) sit in the seat of mockers. These three expressions are actually three stages of wickedness, or three steps towards spiritual deterioration. They illustrate the progressive stages of wickedness into which one who strays from God enters. According to the Word of God, this is what will happen to people who stray from the sound teachings of the Scriptures – they will go from bad to worse. And note that, with each stage, the ungodly (anybody who ventures on this path is called â€Å"ungodly†) becomes more resolute and his hostility against the counsel of the inspired scriptures and righteousness intensifies (Cheung, 2007).

Sports Biomechanics and Functional Anatomy

Sports Biomechanics and Functional Anatomy Introduction: Biomechanics is the sport science field that applies the laws of mechanics and physics to human performance, in order to gain a greater understanding of performance in athletic events through modelling, simulation and measurement (Wood, 2009). According to Mcginnis, (2004), Biomechanics is useful to sports and can identify what forces may have caused an injury, how to prevent the injury from recurring and what exercises may assist for injury rehabilitation. It can be used for alternations in technique, equipment or training to prevent or rehabilitate injury. The general role of Biomechanics is to understand the mechanical cause-effect relationships that determine the motions of living organisms. In relation to sport, Biomechanics contributes to the description, explanation, and prediction of the mechanical aspects of human exercise, sport and play. Sports biomechanics offers methods by which the very fast actions which occur in sport can be recorded and analysed in detail. An importa nt application of sports biomechanics with any sport is the definition and understanding of skills. This can help in the coaching process and as a result enhance the learning and performance of those skills (Reilly and Williams, 2003). When looking at golf it is clear to see a lot of skill is involved during the swing. Hung and Jani, (2004) stated that the golf swing is one of the most complex biomechanical motions a human can make in sport. The aim of the golfer must be to make a consistent strike of the ball to propel it in the desired direction for a given distance. Furthermore the hip plays an important role in the golf swing. The Hip joint: The hip joint is one of the largest and most stable joints in the body. It is a ball and socket joint that consists of the head of the femur connecting with the acetabulum of the pelvic girdle. The pelvic girdle, including the hip joint plays an important role in the supporting the weight of the body while offering mobility by increasing the range of motion in the lower extremity. The acetabulum is the concave surface of the ball and socket joint, facing anteriorly, laterally and inferiorly. Furthermore the spherical head of the femur fits snugly into the acetabular cavity, giving the joint both congruency and a large surface. Both the femoral head and the acetabulum have large amounts of spongy trabecular bone that facilitates the distribution of the forces absorbed by the hip joint (Floyd and Thompson, 2001; Nordin and Frankel 2001; Uys, 2004). Ligaments of the hip: According to Callaghan et al, (2006) several strong ligaments reinforce the capsule of the hip joint. These include the iliofermoral ligament, the pubofemoral ligament and the ischiofemoral ligament. The iliofemoral ligament is the strongest ligament in the body and helps to prevent extension of the femur when the body is standing erect. It is a Y-shaped band of very strong fibres that connects the lower front iliac spine of the coxal bone to a bony line (intertrochanteric line) extending between the greater and lesser trochanters of the femur. However the pubofemoral ligament extends between the upper portion of the pubis and the iliofemoral ligament. Its fibres also blend with the fibres of the joint capsule of the hip joint. The ischiofemoral ligament is made up of a band of strong fibres that originate on the ischium just behind the acetabulum. These fibres blend with the fibres of the joint capsule of the hip. (Pickering, 2009) Muscles of the Hip: The muscles of the hip joint are those muscles that cause movement in the hip. Most modern anatomists define 17 of these muscles, although some additional muscles may sometimes be considered (Mind Body Motion, 2007). These are often divided into several groups. These muscles control the movements of the hips. According to Ãâ€"zkaya et al, (1999) the psoas, iliacus, rectus femoris, pectineus and tensor fascia latae are the primary hip flexors. These are also used to carry out activities such as running, walking and kicking. The gluteus maximus and the hamstring muscles are hip extensors. The gluteus medius and gluteus minimus are hip abductor muscles providing for the inward rotation of the femur. The gluteus medius is also the primary muscle group stabilizing the pelvis in the frontal plane. The adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor magus and gracilis muscles are the hip adductors and also provide for the outward rotation of the femur. Movement of the hips: The hip joint allows for the greatest range of movement as it has the capacity to move in three planes, about three axes. It also has a great deal of mobility, which allows normal locomotion in the performance of daily activities. Kolt and Mackler, (2003), state that the hip joint has three degrees of freedom of motion which include flexion-extension in the sagittal plane, abduction-adduction in the frontal plane (figure 3.2) and external-internal rotation in the transverse plane. Golf The modern golf swing has evolved with this use of technology, both in equipment and analysis; as well as the physical training the golfers now go through. The golf swing is a very complex body motion, involving a large range of movement of the upper limbs that act as a link between the golf club and the body, with the lower limbs acting as the main movement promoting areas. Limitations in the body in terms of flexibility, muscular strength, endurance, or power can create faults in the swing from a biomechanical perspective. As a result, most of the successful golfers in the world today, are relatively fit, flexible and strong compared to in the older generation of golfers. Improved technology in gyms has given golfers the opportunity to strengthen specific and key muscles used in the swing. Hip rotation is very important to the effectiveness of the golf swing. According to Hill, (2007), it holds the key to a powerful swing. To increase power and ball-striking ability the hips need to rotate properly during the swing. According to Atherton,(2009), most amateur golfers rotate their hips too far during the backswing, which makes it difficult for them to get their hips to open up to the target at impact, a key component of a successful swing. However, the increased risk of hip injury is a relatively recent hazard for golfers, arising from the greater rotation favoured by the modern golf swing. This adaptation of this technique itself reduced the incidence of low-back injury among golfers. The downswing begins with a forward movement of the hips that, with good golfers, actually begins approximately 0.1 seconds before the club head reaches the limit of the back swing. This moving forward of the hips rotates the whole upper body and moves both levers through the first part of the downswing (Hay, 1993). The forces responsible for this forward movement of the hips and the lesser forces exerted by the same hip and leg muscles later in the downswing have been estimated to account for 2.5 hp of the total 3-4 hp generated in a good drive. Thus it can readily be seen that the muscles of the hips and legs constitute the main source. A series of EMG studies have described the role of the hip muscles during the golf swing (Thain and Alistair, 2002). A study by Tsai et al, (2004), showed that hip abduction strength was significantly higher in better golfers. In addition it stated all the hip movements tended to be stronger in the best golfers who had the lowest handicaps and longest driving distances. In one study performed by the University of Umea in which the muscle activities in 13 male professionals while performing a golf swing were analysed using dynamic surface electromyography (EMG) and the muscle activities were measured in percent of maximum manual muscle testing (MMT) of each muscle. During the forward swing, gluteus maximus, expressed the highest muscle activity during a complete golf swing (84%). This indicates that especially the trailing side, gluteus maximus, is an important hip stabiliser as the golfer shifts the weight to the target side and the golf club begins to accelerate (Grinell, 1999). In golf the hip is especially exposed to high-velocity internal rotation on the downswing, requiring a great deal of eccentric gluteus muscle control. Set-up, ball positon, alignment and posture are essential for a good swing. However according Shamus, ( 2001), the most common characteristic of an improper setup position is failing to use a hip-hinge motion to obtain the primary spine angle. Furthermore evolved technology has made it easier for golfers and coaches to analyse the golf swing and correct mistakes made by the golfer. Technology advances: (ASTAR and Powerstool) The Astar digital video technology is the latest, highly sophisticated software that evaluates and analyses recorded golf swings. This means that golf instructors can literally capture and illustrate every aspect of a students swing to determine and remedy any problem areas. It automatically creates a video file of the entire desire motion (for a golf swing from address to follow-through). Astar includes all necessary functionality to analyze technical performance, hence improve the golf swing by this method of analysis. By using the very latest A Star professional software, golf swings can be analysed from many different angles and a plan can be put in place for the improvement of any golf swing (ASTAR, 2006). The powerstool is another example of advanced technology used to improve the golf swing. It mimics the perfect golf swing as close as possible enabling the golfer to get inot the most efficent position (Strachan, 2009).The powerstool makes sure the golfer achieves the right amount of hip turn and shoulder turn. This helps to reduce tension and strain that is common with over turning. Technology in footwear and insoles has also developed throughout the years making golf shoes more comfortable and blister free. It has also been proven that specific golf shoes reduce injuries of the lower extremities. In addition, according to Light, (2008), the use of custom foot orthoses to change the mechanics of foot function may improve hip extension and create prolonged relief of low back pain symptoms. As a result, they provide a viable alternative to surgery to treat hip and back painmaking it pain free for golfers. Orthoses are also helpful for supporting the arch of the foot, offloading specific pressure points in the foot, and cushioning the heel. Furthermore it was claimed that orthoses could be a non-invasive approach to improving biomechanics and possibly pain. ECCO golf, (2009) states that their golf shoes use a double-layer inlay sole that ingeniously absorbs heel force, reducing the impact felt by your knees, hip and back. That same heel force is also used to power an air-circulation system that ensures a fresh, dry and cool environment for your feet making it comfortable for the golfer. In conclusion, it is clear to see that technology is evolving a rapid rate with new advances in biomechanical parameters. Advances in analysis and equipment has been proven to improve general performance of all sports and even holds an important role in reducing injury and the rehabilitation of injury.