Ben Wallace Biography

Ben Wallace Biography Free Online Research Papers â€Å"Subhuman conditions produce subhumans.† Richard Wright’s theme in Native Son says that if you grow up in a family or city that does not have a lot of success, you won’t be successful yourself. It relates to naturalism in a direct way. Naturalism says that your fate depends on your environment and your heredity. I do not believe this theory. There are many others who also don’t believe this theory. One person that disproves this theory is Ben Wallace. Growing up in Benton, Alabama, one of the smallest towns in the country was hard on Ben and his ten siblings. Having a single parent was even harder. Ben’s mother, Mama Sadie, was having a hard time coming up with food and a decent shelter for her family. She grew cotton in a small patch in the yard and also grew crops that would help feed the family. Because of the lack of money they had, Mama had to make clothes for the family. She was a hard worker that never gave up. Because of all the hard work their mother went through, Ben and his brothers tried to help out by working around their area. They helped nearby farmers complete chores on the farm to make some extra cash and help out the family. As he grew older, he learned that he had a new talent. Ben began to cut hair. His reputation grew and soon he started to cut the neighborhood kids’ hair for $3 each. He learned what it felt like to earn what you worked for. Ben Wallace worked hard at everything he did. In high school, he was All-State in baseball, football, basketball and track. Lots of things made Ben the person he was but most likely it was all the hard work he put into every thing he did. Though he did most of the work, people like Charles Oakley, former player who helped Ben get to college, helped. Ultimately, hard work and determination helped Ben reach the level that he dreamed to play at. He is now living the life of a superstar. From growing up in a small town with little money and ten siblings, to becoming a star athlete and earning $60 million for four years is a huge change. Ben Wallace is a prime example that subhuman conditions do not produce subhumans. I think that this theory is flawed and can be disproved by anyone willing to disprove it. I don’t believe that people are controlled by their environment or by their heredity. For example, if my parents were alcoholics and I saw the way they treated me when they were drunk, I would not want to be alcoholic so that I wouldn’t treat my children that way. The way Ben made it through a hard environment shows many others that it can be done. With hard work and determination, you can rise above anything that holds you down. Source Ben Wallace Biography. JockBio.Com. 13 Dec. 2007 . Research Papers on Ben Wallace BiographyThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceThe Relationship Between Delinquency and Drug Use19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraHip-Hop is ArtEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductGenetic EngineeringStandardized TestingPETSTEL analysis of India

How to Grow a Salt Crystal Garden

How to Grow a Salt Crystal Garden A salt crystal garden produces a tree of white or colored crystals. Learn how to grow a salt crystal garden using a paper towel or toilet paper tube and a salt crystal solution. Salt Crystal Garden Materials toilet paper tube or about 4 of a paper towel tube3 tablespoons household ammonia3 tablespoons iron(III) ferrocyanide solution1 tablespoon table salt The iron(III) ferrocyanide solution may be made by suspending the powdered chemical in water or you may use Prussian Blue artist pigment, diluted to produce a deep blue-colored liquid, or you can use Mrs. Stewarts Laundry Bluing (find online). Grow a Salt Crystal Garden Stir the salt crystal ingredients together in the bottom of a shallow dish.Set the paper tube in the center of the dish. If you like, you can cut the tube to resemble a tree. The salt crystals will be white, so if you want colored crystals, dot the paper tube with food coloring or color it with a water-soluble marker.Place the salt crystal garden somewhere it wont be bumped or disturbed. Over the course of a few hours, the liquid will move up the tube and start growing crystals. Crystals will continue to grow for a day or more or you can add more solution if you want to continue crystal growth for a week or two.

Fair Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fair Trade - Essay Example The minimum price is set such that it can never be below the current market price or level. Despite fair trade gaining momentum and increasing in the United Kingdom and the world over, the fair trade concept is generally unfair. Proponents of fair trade argue that the scheme is meant to help farmers to meet the average costs of production in developing nations. Through the fair trade scheme, farmers and workers are accorded better financing, premiums and a basic set price which is intended to cushion farmers when the world market price falls. All these factors lead to better financial stability for the producers. However, the concept of financial stability of fair trade farmers is very weak (Mohan, 2010). Farmers have to pay certification fees, application fees and renewal certification charges and in the end, these costs are too great for the farmers. A 2009 study undertaken by Saenz-Segura and Zuniga-Arias’ found out that the costs associated with fair trade consume more than a third of fair trade premiums received by farmers. As such, fair trade does not have a significant financial impact on the farmers or producers (Raluca, Giovannucci & Nunn, 2014). Additionally, the financial stability promise d by fair trade is often non-existent. Despite the fact that the minimum set price offers farmers some assurance, they are not assured of selling their products as fair trade. Therefore, farmers have to endure financial uncertainty just like all other farmers. Also, according to Sidwell (2008), only a fraction (10%) of the premiums reaches the farmer or worker. Fair trade is meant to improve the lives of farmers in developing countries. Thus, proponents state that fair trade helps to end poverty in poor countries. On the contrary, fair trade encourages and promotes poverty. A lot of farmers who have benefited from the fair trade scheme reside in Mexico,

Parents and children Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Parents and children - Essay Example Parents bring children to the world, and they have responsibility to control children’s eating patterns. Thus, parents should educate their children having a proper eating practice as they are most influential people over their children’s health (Xinhua News Agency 1). First, parents have the resemble genes with children. Specifically, the bodies of babies are from their mothers. The most essential part is the face with its main components such as eyes, nose or mouth that are generally similar. It is an innate characteristic that no one could instead of. Besides, the eating habits might be alike. If children’s parents like eating pork, then it’s really possible that their children like that too. According to Parents’ Influence on Children’s Weight-Related Behaviors, Parents who consume fruits and vegetables have children that are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables, and parents who consume junk food will more likely have children who do the same (Xinhua News Agency 1). This implies that parents and children have comparable eating behaviors. Children get along with their parents every day, and they imitate and learn many things from parents. For instance, when parents are busy, and they don’t have time to coo k, they might buy junk food for themselves. Children will also eat junk food. If parents don’t limit times buying junk food to children, they will be used to eat them and lead to obesity. Second, parents are the most influential to children because children admire their parents. It was report that among the family members, over 80 percent of children consider their father or mother as the one that influences them most, with 43.1 percent choosing mother and 37.6 percent father (Xinhua News Agency 1).They thought parents know about many things that are from the world; they tell stories and buy gifts to them; they met many people. Besides, once they get fever, parents know which medicine they should eat. All of these behaviors are

Recess at school Essay Example for Free

Recess at school Essay Psychology helps marketers understand why and how consumers behave as they do. Psychological concepts such as motivation and personality; perception; learning; values, beliefs, and attitudes, and life styles are useful for interpreting buying process and directing marketing efforts. Motivation- is energizing force that stimulates behavior to satisfy a need. Personality- Refers to a person’s consistent behaviors or responses to recurring situations Perception- The process by which an individual selects, organizes and interprets information to create a meaningful picture of the world. Learning- refers to the behavior that results from (1) repeated experience, (2) reasoning. The way we perceive ourselves in relation to the rest of the world plays an important role in our choices behaviors and beliefs. Understanding social psychology can be useful for many reasons. First we can better understand how groups impact our choices and actions. Additionally, it also allows us to gain a greater appreciation for how our social perception affects our interactions with other people. Claustrophobia is an abnormal dread of being in closed or narrow spaces (Jeffrey, M. K., 2002). This paper will examine if the claustrophobia could have occurred through classical or operant condition or cognitive social learning. Most people who suffer from claustrophobia do not like being in tight, narrow places such as elevators or small rooms without any means of escape (Jeffrey, M. K., 2002). Studies show that most claustrophobic patients have had an experience when they were younger that have left an impression on them causing them to become claustrophobic when they became older. For example, an individual could have been trapped in an elevator for a period of time with no means of escape as a child. Individuals also have fears of being in small rooms with no means of escape and therefore do not like to close the doors to these rooms such as bathrooms (Jeffrey, M. K., 2002).

Discuss the themes addressed in Over the Wall and the devices used :: English Literature

Discuss the themes addressed in Over the Wall and the devices used to express and examine these themes The play ‘Over the Wall’ is very interesting and unique, in that instead of having names for each part, the parts are numbered from 1-9. This removes all pre-conceptions you may have had of the characters. The characters keep changing to different numbers throughout the play; this is to highlight the different types of people in society. Any number can play and the narration may be shared out. The play tells the story of an island community living on an island with a wall running straight down the middle of it. These people like to keep themselves to themselves and continue with life the way it always has been led. They have totally no interest in the wall and all of the questions that go with it. Except for the one! He is the one asking all of the questions and searching for the answers. This quest is not shared at all within the island community and everyone chooses to ignore this ‘nut’. They are all happy to carry on with their daily routines in their pointless lives and see him as an outsider. At the beginning of the play it sounds almost like a fairy tale, â€Å"there was once an island†. It then twists this idea by saying, ‘if you believe it’. However it quickly shows us the real point and meaning of the play. The narrator comments on many different social members in this play and in the first narrator speech he makes a disparaging remark towards the unemployed, â€Å"everyone had a day’s work (which in those times was considered a blessing)†. He also comments on people’s attitudes in general towards the young and the elderly, â€Å"the old were looked after, as long as they didn’t outstay their welcome.† The young also were â€Å"respected as individuals – within reason.† This is so true in modern day societies. The young are not respected because they are seen as immature and the elderly because they are boring and frustratingly slow. The narrator’s first speech ends with â€Å"for, while they were not exactly happy they were not exactly unhappy either.† I think this highlights the fact that people in society are happy with their daily life being very mediocre. We put up with this because we are afraid of change. We sit on the same seat on the bus every day; we have the same routine when we get back from work. There are so many examples of these day to day rituals because we are unimaginative. The characters in the play are stereotyped defined by their language. Discuss the themes addressed in Over the Wall and the devices used :: English Literature Discuss the themes addressed in Over the Wall and the devices used to express and examine these themes The play ‘Over the Wall’ is very interesting and unique, in that instead of having names for each part, the parts are numbered from 1-9. This removes all pre-conceptions you may have had of the characters. The characters keep changing to different numbers throughout the play; this is to highlight the different types of people in society. Any number can play and the narration may be shared out. The play tells the story of an island community living on an island with a wall running straight down the middle of it. These people like to keep themselves to themselves and continue with life the way it always has been led. They have totally no interest in the wall and all of the questions that go with it. Except for the one! He is the one asking all of the questions and searching for the answers. This quest is not shared at all within the island community and everyone chooses to ignore this ‘nut’. They are all happy to carry on with their daily routines in their pointless lives and see him as an outsider. At the beginning of the play it sounds almost like a fairy tale, â€Å"there was once an island†. It then twists this idea by saying, ‘if you believe it’. However it quickly shows us the real point and meaning of the play. The narrator comments on many different social members in this play and in the first narrator speech he makes a disparaging remark towards the unemployed, â€Å"everyone had a day’s work (which in those times was considered a blessing)†. He also comments on people’s attitudes in general towards the young and the elderly, â€Å"the old were looked after, as long as they didn’t outstay their welcome.† The young also were â€Å"respected as individuals – within reason.† This is so true in modern day societies. The young are not respected because they are seen as immature and the elderly because they are boring and frustratingly slow. The narrator’s first speech ends with â€Å"for, while they were not exactly happy they were not exactly unhappy either.† I think this highlights the fact that people in society are happy with their daily life being very mediocre. We put up with this because we are afraid of change. We sit on the same seat on the bus every day; we have the same routine when we get back from work. There are so many examples of these day to day rituals because we are unimaginative. The characters in the play are stereotyped defined by their language.

Caribbean culture Essay

Creolisation is a top element of the Caribbean culture. It is a word derived from the word Creole; it however is not meant to just describe the Creole culture. It is a broad anthropological term used to describe the coming together of different cultural traits especially of the West Indies to form a new trait. This occurs when two or more languages are combined to give one unique language. In essence, Creolisation refers to the blending of diverse cultures to give one unique culture. The adaptability of Creolisation by the Caribbean culture in this age of globalization is a good thing for the Caribbean economy but may be injurious to the culture of the Caribbean peoples. Because the people of the caribbeans will be speaking a common, creolized language it will be relatively easy for the member states of the Caribbean region to communicate with each other. Creolisation of their cultures will enhance further understanding among the creolized states of the Caribbean. ( Ancelet et al, 2001) Nearly all the states of the Caribbean have â€Å"creolized† cultures. From the Jamaicans, the Cajuns, the Bahamas, British Guyana etc. Their various cultures have been creolized. They all speak the language of their colonial masters in the pidgin form and have adopted certain cultures form their colonial masters. Like the drinking of processed liquor, smoking of cigarettes etc. These imperialist cultures have made several African countries’ economies to suffer. Country like Nigeria which used to eat the type of the imperial master’s food, his wine and wear his clothes spent fortunes of its country earnings to fund the importation of these items. This led to a plunge in the fortunes of this country. The Caribbean however are people that are very proud of their heritage. They designed their own music form (e. g. reggae) have their own drinks- which are largely influenced by the culture of their forefathers. Their food has however been creolized as it is influenced by imperialist cultures. Though it is still very much part of their own creation. In creolising, care must be taken not to change an existing culture completely. This fear is as captured by Appiah as thus: â€Å"Nevertheless, contemporary multiculturalists are right in thinking that a decent education will teach children about the various social identities around them. First, because each child has to negotiate the creation of his or her own individual identity, using these collective identities as one (but only one) of the resources; second, so that all can be prepared to deal with one another respectfully in a common civic life. Much of current multicultural education seems to me to have these reasonable aims: let us call this weak version â€Å"liberal multiculturalism† (1997). † From Appiah’s documentation, creolisation has been viewed from these perspectives: a. creolisation as the major social and cultural fact about Caribbean life (what matters will of course be the social process but it may prove illuminating to proceed via linguistics) and b. Arnold’s accounts of i. Western culture as an amalgam of Hellenism and Hebraism, and ii. the English race as an amalgam of Celtic, German and Norman â€Å"bloods†. Considering the errors that are often linked with cultural talk, the creole context, and an Arnoldian perspective on the West or simply on England, both reveal that a culture lives, changes, innovates, is in a process of continuous evolution. Where alternatives are to hand, this often means selection, not simply preserving and reproducing. It is not therefore a complete or necessarily coherent bundle to which we may add Gellner’s point about the multiplicity of nearly all cultures: the official first eleven has a fall-back for other occasions, scriptural Islam versus the dervishes. The Creole context makes it plain that there is nothing genetic in operation. More importantly, that context gives no one reason to think a culture will continue in the same old way. As noted already, we find proper examples in Trinidad or now in St Lucia. Alleyne was sad to see that a form of Twi-Asante is â€Å"dying† (Alleyne, 1988) in Jamaica. There is reason for the Caribbean to regret that they no longer speak like Chaucer, or Arnold. One may regret death, but that does not entail that one would endorse immortality — we must move to a view that puts life and death in their place and accepts both. Or to return to less exalted matters, it may be pleasant to discover†retention† but it is not what makes or breaks a culture. â€Å"Transculturation† (Bolland, 2001) can be endorsed with out it. without it. Economic integration will automatically come in with the achievement of cultural integration. This will provide for a bigger, more cohesive, stronger and unity front for which the Caribbean states can push for economic and political relevance in the world order. It is good to note however that there is a significant level of creoliastion in the Caribbean. They all speak an almost similar language; pidgin English, have similar music etc. however a lot can still be done in the creolisation of the in the Caribbean. Major impediments to a successful creolisation in the Caribbean are the influence of colonialists. Different states of the Caribbean had different colonialists who set then in captivity, freed them and are now coming back in the name of neo-imperialism. The different states of the Caribbean speak the languages of their colonialists-maybe in the pidgin form. A perfect example of creolisation is with the Cajun language, which is a mixture of French and English and also African languages. Language is in general evaluatively neutral. As Macaulay pointed out long ago, there is no intrinsic basis in the language to prefer Latin to Chinook as a component of elite education. If one thinks of culture by reference to conventions like language, there is scarcely any scope for evaluatively ranking exemplars, but if one focuses on the way culture operates as â€Å"an engineering program for producing persons† (Nerlich, 1989) then there is no more reason not to discriminate among them than there is not to distinguish a saint or an ordinary decent person from the likes of Pinochet or Burmese generals. â€Å"Moral† equality among persons is no bar to moral discriminations. Of course creolisation doesn’t provide us with a recipe. There is still much difference of opinion on what has actually happened in the case of prototypical creoles and pidgins. But one lesson I would wish to draw from recent debates is that what is salient for ordinary usage (once upon a time, foreign-born, now whatever it is) or for some theoretical perspective (e. g. , origin in a colonial slave plantation) does not uniquely characterise the outcomes of contact situations. There are a host of types of language contact bringing with them a host of outcomes, perhaps depending on particular social or historical configurations. Mufwene has enunciated his idealised and apparently deterministic version of this idea in relation to creoles, immigrant workers’ varieties, etc. by saying that â€Å"in all these cases of language contact we still deal with the same equation for restructuring; only the value of some variables keep changing† (Mufwene, 1997). Taking this in conjunction with the fact he has particularly stressed, that the categories we rely on have been taken from the contingencies of the social reality, not from theory, we find that what structurally or in some other respect are very similar situations become classified differently. The terminology remains affected by the connotations attached to terms by metropolitan non-specialist users. So, speaking of American or Australian English, Mufwene remarks â€Å"there are other good socio-historical reasons why these varieties have not been called creoles: they developed in settings in which descendants of non-Europeans have been in the minority; and they have not been disowned by Europeans and descendants thereof† (Mufwene, 1997). References 1. Appiah, K. A. (1997). The Multiculturalist Misunderstanding, New York Review of Books, October 9, 2006 2. E. P. Brandon, (2001). Creolisation, syncretism, and multiculturalism

Does It Pay Off

Compare/ assess HSBC and Citi-corps IT strategies. Do they invest in IT primarily as a way of cutting costs and improving their operational efficiencies, or do they invest strategically with a view to entrench their competitive positions? As noted in the conclusion of the article written by the Asia Case Research Center and the University of Hong Kong HCBC and Citigroup have both developed into global financial institutions.Both organizations have heavily invested in Information Technology and, as is self-reported in both companies’ financial statements, both are committed to using IT to gain a competitive advantage. That is where the similarities end. When we examine the details it is obvious that although both firms have heavily invested in IT advancements the types of projects and overall approach are very different. Let us first look at HSBC. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation was founded by Thomas Southerland in 1865 with branches in London Shanghai, and San F rancisco.By the year 2007 the company had grown to have 9500 offices, 200,000 shareholders, 310,000 employees and over 125 million customers spanning 76 countries. HSBC built their business based on the philosophy of managing for value from 1998 through 2003 with the objective of providing a satisfactory return on shareholder capital. One of the primary ways HSBC attempted to accomplish this strategy was through its approach to leveraging technology.An example of the company’s technology strategy is found in a statement which was part of the company’s 1996 annual report. In this report the company described its IT policy as a strategy based on harnessing the power of new technology to provide new and better services for their customers while simultaneously improving the banks operational efficiencies. Then stated the challenge they saw as a global financial services organization factored highly around their ability to link different parts of the group more closely toge ther.As one progress’s further into the details of HSBC’s information technology approach numerous examples of this 1996 strategy are apparent in the organizations approach to the use of information technology. HSBC’s history appears dotted with instances of the development of ground breaking Independent systems, outsourcing to save costs, and acquisitions of emerging technologies. Despite the hefty price tag the company remained focused on providing innovate value added products and services to both current and prospective customers. Outsourcing is one key to the operational efficiency approach mentioned in its 1996 annual report.HSBC opened its first offshore processing center in China in 1996 and by 2007 had more than 18,000 employees across Asia spanning ten (10) Asian countries. HSBC estimated that by transferring its back office processing to India and China it saved the organization approximately 30 million U. S dollars annually. Further savings were real ized in 2003 when the bank merged and consolidated HSBC and HSBC Finance’s technology service teams later leading to the offshoring of the HSBC Group Service Center creating another 67 million in annual savings.In total HSBC claims that offshoring provides the bank an estimated cost savings of over 100 million U. S dollars annually. Meanwhile HSBC took on more IT staff to support service improvement projects and online banking. Heavily investing in platforms and applications designed to extend or streamline the online process HSBC fully embraced ecommerce. Beginning in 1998 with their successful Y2K testing and implementation HSBC heavily invested in the internet as a means of reaching new customers and deepening current customer relationships.Some of the projects were internally innovated however, most were a product of strategic acquisitions and/or partnerships with other organizations HSBC is very focused on innovation the company has used its innovative focus to successfu lly leverage the power of the internet to reach customers around the world. To create the world’s most inclusive efficient internet portal the company has worked with several different organizations that could assist in furthering its digital capabilities Some examples of these partnerships are:.Working with Compaq to design an internet payment gateway, partnering with HTK to enable merchants to set up online store fronts, working with MasterCard to develop and launch Asia’s first electronic wallet, cooperating with IBM to develop multichannel banking services, teaming up with Sky digital satellite to launch the UK’s first television banking system, and finally a joint venture with Merrill Lynch to introduce online brokerage services. At the same time the bank was partnering with multiple organizations developing several technology offerings things were also being innovated internally.HSBC developed and delivered many value added products and services like launc hing mobile banking and secure net payments for merchants in 1999, the creation of Ibusinesscorporation. com and HSBC. com. HSBC. com which was designed to create a common presentation of all HSBC’s services at any time anywhere to any of its customers was the crown jewel of the technology strategy. Overall the company dedicated a large percentage of its IT budget time and focus on the development, expansion, functionality and inclusiveness of creating a comprehensive online presence.HSBC spent 164 million dollars on the website hsbc. com in 2001 alone. The internet strategy seemed to pay off for HSBC creating large gains in number of customers and transactions. Overall gains were seen in commercial and consumer banking with increases in customer numbers in both divisions. Overall the bank saw its customer number increase 24% with online transactions increasing a whopping 116%. however this massive push online left the company with 26 websites and over 1. 1 billion dollars in expenses.In contrast to the HSBC’s strategies for utilization of IT recourses Citicorp followed the diversified financial services model built on the belief that different financial service products should be conglomerated to balance earnings and to create less earnings volatility. The company believed it was more cost effective to cross sell financial products in one go than to sell them separately. Different than the wide corporate structure found within HSBC Citicorp only consists of three major business groups all primarily supported by standard corporate infrastructure. While both banks focused on lobal growth HSBC focused on innovation and leveraging the internet to reach current and potential customers Citi corps approach was that of growth, commonality, and local control. Unlike HSBC, Citigroup took an integrated approach to its IT governance worldwide. By using a combination of packaged and customized software to develop group wide platforms Citigroup enhanced the s trength of its extensive international branch network to facilitate knowledge exchange across borders. Since IT projects at Citi were often initiated with a local business unit typically they were designed with local solutions in mind.The only truly global requirement placed on the innovating branch were that the local system be capable of effectively and efficiently being linked with Citi groups existing system and that security arrangements could be made. The key for Citi was the consistent platform and the ability to share knowledge across space not necessarily that it was internet driven and deployable to the whole world. Also in stark contrast to the HSBC strategy of cost savings through outsourcing, Citigroup pursued IT outsourcing only in a very limited way and not for strategic initiatives.While HSBC was building strategic initiatives with numerous external companies Citigroup took on projects like the 750 million dollar project in the 90’s to integrate the banks 60,0 00 personal computer and 2,000 LAN’s worldwide into a common global network and system infrastructure. The power of its integrated technology platform would later be demonstrated by the rapid integration of the 750 branch CitiFinancial system By 2000 Citigroup had leveraged its strong common technology platform and its international branch presence to launch its own online presence, Citi on the net.Directly related to their standard technology and growth platforms by the end of the year 2000 Citigroup had over 800 million online accounts in an effort to deliver convenience and value to its clients. Citigroup created new internet units including e-commerce, e-business, and e-capital markets to empower the existing business lines while simultaneously creating an internet operating group to drive the corporate internet strategy and again use it to coordinate efforts across divisions. By 2002 Citi on the net had been replaced by â€Å"my citi. om† providing the platform ne cessary to allow the bank the ability to make online banking available in over 90 countries ultimately leading to processing over 39 million transactions around the world in rout to being named â€Å"best of the web 2003† The banking giants internally driven internet strategy seemed to culminate with the launch of Citibank direct in 2006 and nearly 10 billion dollars in deposits. Overall in my perception of the IT strategies of both Citi and HSBC their direction of IT investment does not appear to fit into one black or white strategy however appears more likely to exist on a continuum.I believe there are examples of both HSBC and CITI investing in IT as a way of cutting costs and improving their operational efficiencies. With HSBC one example of this is outsourcing. With regard to Citi one example is the focus on standard systems providing local solutions. Additionally, I believe both organizations also used technology effectively as strategies to entrench their competitive p ositions. HSBC as a platform to cost effectively expand its global reach without the costly build-out of constructing an extensive global brick and mortar branch network through the use of the internet.In contrast, for CITI to be able to provide local solutions by leveraging its global knowledge, services, and offerings to provide value added products and services to current and prospective clients. In closing not addressed directly in the article but appears to be relevant as I look at the different IT approaches taken by both Citi and HSBC is where they started. Both companies come from different backgrounds created in different environments for the purpose of serving different clients.Although eventually their worlds collided their roots seems quite different. I can’t help but wonder, to what degree were the different approach to types and amounts of investment in IT between the two global banking giants has to be attributed to (1) Different business strategy’s with each company recognizing its own path of least resistance to accomplish their organizations goals. (2) The best way to leverage the current asset base of each individual organization. 2. In your assessment, which one of the companies do you think was cleverer in its IT investments?Both organizations appear to have shown the ability to differentiate one’s organization through the use of technology when technology that can complement their overall business strategy comes available. For Citibank this availability arose through an increase in recourses by the organization; conversely, for HSBC through technological advancements made in the market place. My perception is that both companies utilized IT investments like a vehicle, to get from where they were to where they wanted to be.The numbers provided in the back of this report show the companies are strikingly similar in many ways despite their very different beginnings and historical decisions regarding investment in IT. Fiv e factors compared n the report are compiled below that both demonstrate their striking similarity but also provide clues to who at least for now is winning the battle for global banking clients. Category(2006)| Citi-Bank| HSBC| Leader| #of Employees| 325,000| 312,000| Citi-Bank| IT expenditures| 3762| 4810| Citibank| Net-Profit| 21538| 16358| Citi-Bank| Total Assets| 1,884,318| 1,712,627| Citi-Bank|Market Capitalization| 269. 1| 212| Citi-Bank| | ROA| 1. 14%| 0. 96%| By doing some basic calculations using the numbers above it is easy to see that as of the time of this report the company with the best history of performance was clearly Citi-Bank. Although total assets and number of employees are strikingly similar the difference in the organizations is clearly found in three areas. Net profit, IT expenditure’s, and market capitalization. ROA for HSBC is . 96% which signifies it is destroying shareholder capital by losing 4 cents for every dollar invested.Conversely, Citi-Bank with an ROA of 1. 14% is creating value by transforming every 1$ invested in the company into 1. 14 cents providing a 14% return annually. Another metric not common in finance but appears pertinent here would be an employee to IT expenditure’s ratio where HSBC spent $15,416. 67 per employee and Citi-Bank spent $11,575. 38. The second ratio that appears to point to an adjusted IT strategy for HSBC is a total asset to IT expenditure ratio in which again HSBC spends 28% of its total assets on. IT where Citibank again has a better ratio at 20% of its total assets.Neither of these last two ratios is very common but both appear to be where HSBC could attempt to close the Gap in financial performance between the two companies. Finally of note needs to be the difference in market cap Assuming both companies have a fairly equal amount of issued common equity the fact that Citi-Banks market cap is 57 billion dollars higher that HSBC demonstrates to me that when the marginal investor c ompares the perceived future performance comparing both companies current business plan investors believe with more confidence that Citi-Bank will generate I higher return on investment and stronger cash flows than will HSBC.Despite HSBC’s efforts to cut costs be on the forefront of banking innovation Citicorp clearly was able to leverage its vast global network of fixed assets in a standardized approach more successfully than HSBC was able to leverage the internet to increase its profitability through global expansion. In closing I again wonder if part of the increased performance Citicorp sees beyond that which is seen by HSBC is related to cultural bias Simple current consumer preference in the majority of the cultures in which both firms operate.In conclusion, the writer would like to briefly mention potential factors that came to mind while reading this article. Thinking outside the numbers part of me believes that although trends are less prevalent than they have been f or generations past, several groups of people, are particularly fond of being able to bank at a physical location. Some don’t believe in banking at all. Like the trail that amazon is blazing in the online retail market place online banking platforms are different than most people are used to.Change is often strange and sometimes difficult but if HSBC’s IT strategy is ever to pay off it must hope like amazon that as time passes if more people become comfortable with the idea of online banking their model may thrive. However, until that time unless it were to drastically change its business model and begin to invest in a global network of physical bank branches HSBC’s best strategy may be to stay the course of investing in driving customers more towards the feeling of convenience than perceived safety.

The Inuit People Essays - Indigenous Peoples Of North America

The Inuit People Essays - Indigenous Peoples Of North America The Inuit People Inuit: A People Preserved By Ice Thousands of years ago, during the last ice age, mile-thick glaciers covered a vast portion of North America, and the Asian continent was joined to North America by a land bridge. The Arctic areas of Alaska, Beringia, and Siberia were free of ice. Vast herds of caribou, muskoxen, and bison migrated to these plains. Following them were the nomadic Asian ancestors of today's Inuit and Indians. The doorway to Asia closed about three or four thousand years later as the glaciers receded and melted. These people: the Inuit (meaning the people), adapted to their harsh tundra environment and developed a culture that remained untainted for a long time. The Inuit people relied solely on hunting for their existence. With summers barely lasting two months, agriculture was non-existent. Animals such as caribou and seal were vital. Groups of hunters would stalk and kill many caribou with fragile bows made of driftwood, and their bounty was split evenly amongst the tribe. Bone spears were fashioned to hunt seals which provided food, oil, clothes, and tents. The seal skins were also used to construct kayaks and other boats that the Inuit would use to travel and to hunt whales. One advantage of the sterile cold of the arctic was that it kept these people free of disease (until they met the white man.) Inuit tribes consisted of two to ten loosely joined families. There was no one central leader in the group: all decisions were made by the community as a whole. Nor was there any definite set of laws; the Inuit, though usually cheery and optimistic, were prone to uncontrolled bursts of rage. Murder was common amongst them and it went unpunished unless an individual's murders occured too often. At that point, that person was deemed unstable, and the community appointed a man to terminate him/her. In their society, the duties of men and women were strictly separated. The males would hunt, fish and construct the tools used by the family. Women, however, were responsible for cleaning the animal skins, cooking, sewing the clothes ( a woman's sewing ability was equally as attractive to a man as her beauty was), and raising the children. Male children were preferred because they could care for their parents in their old age; female children when often strangled soon after birth. Although today Christianity has breached some of the southernmost tribes, the vast majority practice a form of animism. Their rituals are based mainly on the hunt and the handling of slain animals. Magic talismans and charms are believed to control spirits, and shamans are consulted in the case of injury or illness. There are traces of beliefs in an afterlife or reincarnation, but they are very minor. The Inuit people, like many other tribal minorities, are greatly stereotyped and misunderstood by the common man. For example: the Inuit word igloo means house and can refer to the cabins made of sod that most Inuit occupy. Also, the word Eskimo is a misnomer meaning "eaters of raw flesh" given to the Inuit by the Algonquin Indians. This is a simple culture that remained undisturbed until whales became a precious commodity. Their isolation is slowly coming to an end as western civilization puts them into government housing and snowmobiles are increasing as a means of transportation. They are beautifully eccentric, and we must work to preserve their culture. References: "Seasons of the Eskimo: A Vanishing Way of Life" by Fred Bruemmer; Microsoft Encarta96 Encyclopedia; Microsoft Bookshelf.

Gender of Nouns in Spanish

Gender of Nouns in Spanish Just as maleness or femaleness is an inherent characteristic of most animals, so is gender an inherent characteristic of nouns in Spanish. With only a few exceptions, mostly those of occupations such as dentista, the gender of nouns doesnt change with the context, and a nouns gender determines the form of many adjectives that describe it. Key Takeaways: Spanish Noun Gender Nouns in Spanish can be classified as masculine or feminine. Adjectives and articles referring to a particular noun must have the same gender as the noun.Most nouns keep their gender regardless of the context in which they are used, so there are some masculine nouns that are used for things we may think of as feminine and vice versa.Although there are exceptions, nearly all nouns ending in -o are masculine and most nouns ending in -a are feminine. Grammatical Gender Not Tied to Biological Gender Although Spanish nouns are classified as either feminine or masculine, remember that there can be feminine nouns that describe things we think of as masculine, and vice versa. For example, una jirafa, which is feminine in form, refers to a giraffe whether its male or female, and persona (a feminine noun meaning person) can refer to men as well as women. For some, it might be easier to think of masculine and feminine as simply two classifications rather than giving them a sexual identity. Unlike German and some other Indo-European languages, Spanish has no neuter nouns, although there are uses for the gender as explained below The basic rule is that masculine nouns go with masculine adjectives and articles, and feminine nouns go with feminine adjectives and articles. (In English, the articles are a, an and the. Also note that in Spanish many adjectives dont have separate masculine and feminine forms.) And if you use a pronoun to refer to a masculine noun, you use a masculine pronoun; feminine pronouns refer to feminine nouns. Nouns and adjectives that end in -o (or -os for plurals) generally are masculine, and nouns and adjectives that end in -a (or -as for plurals) generally are feminine, although there are exceptions. For example, cada dà ­a means each day. Dà ­a (day) is a masculine noun; cada (each) can be either feminine or masculine. Since you cant always tell by looking at a noun or knowing its meaning whether its masculine or feminine, most dictionaries use notations (f or m) to indicate the gender. And its common in vocabulary lists to precede words with an el for masculine words and a la for feminine words. (El and la both mean the.) Here are examples that show some of the ways a nouns gender affects the usage of other words. the man: el hombre (masculine article, masculine noun)the woman: la mujer (feminine article, feminine noun)a man: un hombre (masculine article, masculine noun)a woman: una mujer (feminine article, feminine noun)the men: los hombres (masculine article, masculine noun)the women: las mujeres (feminine article, feminine noun)the fat man: el hombre gordo (masculine adjective, masculine noun)the fat woman: la mujer gorda (feminine adjective, feminine noun)some men: unos hombres (masculine determiner, masculine noun)some women: unas mujeres (feminine determiner, feminine noun)He is fat: Él es gordo. (masculine pronoun, masculine adjective)She is fat: Ella es gorda. (feminine pronoun, feminine adjective) If you have two or more nouns that are being described by a single adjective, and they are of mixed genders, the masculine adjective is used. El carro es caro, the car is expensive (masculine noun and adjective).La bicicleta es cara, the bicycle is expensive (feminine noun and adjective).El carro y la bicicleta son caros, the car and the bicycle are expensive (masculine and feminine nouns described by a masculine adjective). Using the Neuter Gender Although Spanish has a neuter gender, it isnt used for words listed in the dictionary as nouns.The neuter is used in two circumstances: A handful of neuter pronouns such as ello are used under limited circumstances as the equivalent of it, this, or that. Such pronouns dont refer to things whose names have gender, however, but rather to concepts or ideas.The neuter definite article lo can be placed before an adjective to create a phrase that functions as a neuter abstract noun. For example, lo difà ­cil can mean the difficult thing or that which is difficult.

International marketing management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

International marketing management - Essay Example Marketing has shifted from the traditional product centred view to a service centred view. It has further evolved into creating a new experience for the customer by providing unique values. Marketers, therefore segment, penetrate and promote goods with the objective of attracting customers (Vargo and Lusch 2004). Marketing mix as under 4 Ps does not attract a customer any longer as it is product oriented. Therefore relationship marketing has become more important because it moves marketing from transactional to relationship-based exchange. Relationship marketing brings about a new integration into the marketing dimension. With advances made in technology global trade has changed. The customer that was passive in the past has become interactive, becoming connected replacing his isolation and changed into informed from being unaware. Earlier in the seventies and eighties a large parts of the world were controlled economies, especially those of China and India.

BUSINESS PROPOSAL FOR LEXILIAP FASHION BOUTIQUE Research Paper

BUSINESS PROPOSAL FOR LEXILIAP FASHION BOUTIQUE - Research Paper Example This proposal therefore illustrates the various economic factors that will influence the operations of Lexiliap Fashion Boutique. This report lays particular emphasis on the economic dynamics of the proposed fashion boutique by including assumptions about the elasticity of demand and the market structure in the operational environment. Revenue To begin, revenue is an important factor for the success of Lexiliap Fashion Boutique. Capozzi (2013) highlights the importance of looking at the revenue prospects of a fashion boutique by recognizing the challenges of setting up and deriving gains from one. Fashion boutiques present a challenge to owners because they should find a balance between attracting and retaining customers on one hand whereas striving to achieving or even surpassing the set revenue limits (Gerring, 2007). The fashion boutique intends to use multifaceted promotional campaign to ensure that it drives sales volumes that will surely lead to increased volumes. In particular , the boutique will have an active online presence that will make sure that many clients are targeted and are aware of the enterprise’s products (Ferguson, 2008). Market segmentation strategies will be used to ensure that promotions are custom made to target the youth, women, men and children separately. The shop will also offer competitive pricing so that customers from competing firms are attracted. Determining the Profit-Maximizing Quantity The boutique will deal with different fashion items and accessories. As such, the challenge is to constitute a viable and standard profit maximizing quantity for each of the items. Since items like jewelry and clothing may have defects especially when volume purchases are used to source for the products, the proposed structure relies on this conditionality to propose a standard quantity to be ascertained. Given a unit cost of 10 USD, each product’s price; is it a dress, pant, bangle or ring will be compared against the unit cost value. Taking into consideration that the more items are sold, the higher the revenue; the report then sets the revenue threshold at 100USD meaning ten unit items. As a result, the more valued the item in the boutique, the lower will be its profit maximizing quantity. The projected dollar value for the business is shown in Appendix 1. Profit Maximization Profit maximization is at the core of any enterprise’s operations (Mankiw, 2011). The proposed Fashion Boutique will ensure that there is value for customers on one hand, and value to the owner on the other. To be able to strike this delicate balance between satisfying the needs of the customer whilst maximizing the profits needed for business growth. The marginal cost and marginal revenue concept can be applied to illustrate the technique that will be used to ensure profit maximization. This will be done mainly in the area of stocking for some commodities. Given that fashion industry is dynamic, it is important to stock the current trends for profit maximization (Boyes & Melvin, 2011). As a result, the boutique will review fast moving products and stock them in large number to derive more gains from the sales volumes resulting from the trending items. This is in accordance with the concept that marginal revenue should always be equal to marginal cost for profit maximization (Taylor, 2006). Subsequently, the boutique will require market information on the trending products. This can be obtained from relevant agencies, the media and other