Influence of War on Middle Eastern Society free essay sample

This paper discusses the domestic effects of war on three countries, Israel, Syria and Egypt. This paper contrasts and compares the effects of three different wars, on three different countries in the Middle East. The reasons for Egypt, Israel and Syrias decisions to go to war at different times in the last century are discussed, and then analyzed to show how this decision affected the political and economic futures of the individual countries, and the region as a whole. From the paper: The Yom Kippur War thus fundamentally changed Syrian society, militarizing its government, just as the Six-Day War divided and energized Israel and World War II wove the foundations of socialism into Egypt. That these changes depended upon the presence of war is not a definitive fact, but their essential contribution to the development of these nations cannot be ignored. This conclusion raises a troubling question, a sad and desperate query tinged with hope: must all change in the Middle East spring from the dark bosom of horrific war?

buy custom Incapacitating the Terrorist Networks essay

buy custom Incapacitating the Terrorist Networks essay There needs to be a long lasting solution to be issue of terrorism. The fact that these groups keep on uniting when they are disbanded calls for their incapacitation. The federal government and its allies are making attempts to deny the terrorists what they require to survive and operate overseas. The United States aims to uncover the terrorists hideouts away from the homeland. To achieve this, the government has made efforts to understand the trends, actions and events that take place on the land air, space and maritime (Bush, 2007, par. 14). This calls for the understanding of the daily occurrence of the activities. With such knowledge it becomes quite easy to identify any anomaly in the occurrence of events which could be indications of terrorist activities. This is made possible by the use of Intelligence led policing. Is it possible to incapacitate the al Qaeda? It should be noted that as much as Intelligence led policing might be good strategy to understanding anomaly occurrences in the society; it might at times be not quite effective in curbing the spread of terrorism. The reason for this stand is the dynamism displayed by the members of the al Qaida. Bush (2007) believes that terrorists are likely to change their tactics of waging terrorism (par. 15). This should not be taken for granted because as knowledge is being dispersed it becomes possible for terrorists to understand the security systems. Furthermore, it can be simple for the terrorists to strike individually. These are just some of the challenges which are being faced by the government. Still there are further worries about the ease with which some of the weapons can be devised. If we take the example of the improvised explosive devices (IED) the same which were disrupted in the 2006 U.K based plot to blow up some commercial airline (Bush p. 20). The terrorist do ot have to bother carrying around these weapons as they ca n be easily devised in the homeland. Is not possible to devise such weapons from the homeland hotels rooms? To answer that consider what Bush (2007) writes concerning their devising, given the ready availability of IED components and the relative technological ease with which they can be fashioned (Bush par. 20). This shows the vulnerability of to which the nation is exposed to. Are the arguments above meant to demean the efforts being out forth by the homeland security measures? The answer is no. Actually, according to Carafano (2007) there have been 19 attempted which have thwarted by homeland security (check in the index diagram II) (par. 3). The arguments above are meant, in fact, to strengthen the home land security system. If you consider Diagram 1 below, the homeland security system operates in four levels which keep on switching as explained above. The homeland security system should use these facts to make improvements in its operations. The department should engage more intelligence agents from outside America to enable it fight terrorism. The nations of the world should view terrorism as a common enemy of peace and therefore pool resources especially intelligence reports to enable the tracking down of the terrorists havens and also thwart any planned terrorist act. It will be of significant help if the government steps to the hideouts of the terrorist groups and uproot them. President Obama has taken initiatives to take the war to the safe havens of the terrorist. The president advocates for collaboration process to take place especially between the government of U.S. and Pakistan which is known to provide a safe haven for the terrorists (Eisenhower, 2009, par. 6). Eisenhower (2009) argues that the al Qaida leadership has crossed over from the Afghanistan to the remote parts of Pakistan. In these areas the group leeaders have been conducting training for new members and communicating with the rest of the group members (Eisenhower, 2009, par. 7). By uprooting these groups there will have no base to operate from hence they would have been incapacitated. The Obama administration are on the right track though there are regions which are providing or can easily provide safe havens for the al Qaida group. An example of such a region is Somali. This region does not have a stable government and of late there have been so many cases of high sea piracy originating from this region. The Somali pirates have caused a lot anxiety to the ship plying that route of the sea. Such a region a region can easily attract a group such as al Qaida to settle in the region and use piracy as a means of getting money in form of ransom to achieve its objectives. The U.S. should prompt the UN to stabilize the region to avoid another breeding region for the al Qaida. Bush (2007) makes very far sighted recommendation on the terrorism issues. He believes that there is a need for the Islamic nations to teach ideologies which promote peace. Structure should be put in place to ensure that the ideologies are taught. Spreading of hatred literature should be put to stop (Bush, 2007, par. 17). This will lead to a new blood generation which harbors no hatred. There is a need for solutions to found or developed for issues which draw some tension between the western world and the Islamic states. Such issues include the boundary issues between the Israel and its neighbors especially Palestine. The fight of terrorism is one which requires a pool of efforts from different regions. The U.S. through its homeland security has made much effort to ensure that terrorists do not infiltrate the homeland region. The terrorists are quite dynamic and as such the security the need for security needs to be tightened. Buy custom Incapacitating the Terrorist Networks essay

American Superconductor Company Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

American Superconductor Company - Essay Example They also have to follow the guidelines given by Securities and Exchange Commission. Financial statements are used by all the stakeholders of the company. They are made to provide true and fair view of the financial health of the company. Hence if the statements do not give true and fair view of the financial health of the company statements have to be restated. In this project, restatement of financial statements of the company American Superconductor (AMSC) has been studied. American Superconductor deals in power generation systems. It develop system both mechanical and electrical equipments which are used in wind turbine system. They are also into the business of manufacturing power cables and system of voltage stabilization (American Superconductor-a, 2011). It is quoted in NASDAQ. The current share price is $7.78 (American Superconductor-b, 2011). Its last five years it had grew annually by 27.56% and the revenue grew by 40.22%. In terms of profitability currently its operating margin is 16.23% (American Superconductor-c, 2011). Most of its shares are held by Douglas. They hold about 10797500 shares. Many financial institutions like RCM Capital Management LLC, Columbia Partners LLC Investment Management etc also hold shares of American Superconductor (American Superconductor-d, 2011). The president and chief executive officer of American Superconductor is Dan McGahn (American Superconductor-e, 2011).... The main change which they want to implement is to record its transaction as per cash basis. Previously American Superconductor had recorded some receipts on the basis of receipts of shipments but the payments were still due on those transactions. They had a pile of pending money due from the customers. As a result they had a history of operating losses. Most of the shipments receipts were not ever paid. All these things were increasing the operating loss. This also resulted on incorrect disclosure of revenues. Hence it decided that after 31str of August. AMSC will not consider revenues from certain Chinese customers until they are paid. This excluded Sinovel from whom American Superconductor had not received any amount in the first quarter. As the amount of debtors was increasing, the company was falling short of liquid cash. The new projects were getting delayed because of unavalibility of liquid cash. The company was also suffering because of exchange rate. The company also has ma ny foreign buyers who made the payments at a later date due to which the company had also suffered loss because of exchange rate fluctuations. They had a plan of acquiring the company but because of not having enough funds, the plan was getting delayed. There was also a risk that if they failed to acquire the Switch their share price may decline and there goodwill will also be affected. Therefore they decide to restate the financial statements which will present true and fair view of their revenues, the actual revenues which they can use (Davens, 2011). Impact of Financial Restatement As we it is already discussed that when the financial statements does not give true and fair view of financial health of the company the financial statements need to be restated. The

Define the roles and application of management functions used by Research Paper

Define the roles and application of management functions used by today's healthcare managers - Research Paper Example Additionally, management organizes available resources that are essential in the provision of better health care (McConnell, 2006). Alternatively, there is the aspect of leading in making major decisions that affect both the staff and the patients in the health care sector. In other words, the management also pays a fundamental role of manipulating the behavior of the people. There are numerous ways in which the aforementioned functions apply to managing others. For example, planning helps the staff in setting priorities within a given time frame. These priorities help in meeting the set goals and objectives for the benefit of both the patients and staff. Additionally, in terms of organization, the functions enable the workers to work in teams for the benefit of completing several tasks at once (Seth, 2010). On other hand, in leading in decisions, the function is critical to motivate workers who are less productive in the company. Furthermore, it helps in the supervision of the workers during work to attain the expected goals. Similarly, it is imperative to observe that there are different roles of a health care manager and leader in the diversified health care industry. However, the most important function involves the organization of activities. This suggests that there is an organization of the planning and scheduling of goals in order to achieve desirable goals and objectives (McConnell, 2006). Organization also enables the manager to evaluate the performance of the both the workers and the progress of the home patients. This is through consultations and discussions that incorporate feedback and rapid response from the management. On that account, the most significant aspect related to health care management that I would gain by taking this class is the roles of organization and planning (Liebler & McConnell, 2011). This is because both roles work in harmony toward

The Concepts of Communities of Practice, Practice Based Networks, Open Essay

The Concepts of Communities of Practice, Practice Based Networks, Open Innovation and Social Capital - Essay Example Today, the terms of organizational development have been differentiated. Innovation and learning have become key elements of organizational performance. In the past, innovation and learning were promoted using standardized policies, such as research and development, training programs and so on. Currently, the development of innovation and learning within organizations is mostly based on social networking. At the same time, concepts like communities of practice and social capital have been used for reflecting the key role of social networks in enabling organizations to learn and innovate. The above two concepts, the ‘communities of practice’ and the ‘social capital’ are compared in this paper. Their similarities and differences are presented and evaluated, using relevant literature. Moreover, the challenges that an organization is likely to face when participating in social networks are analytically discussed. It is revealed that social networking in critical for organizational success under the terms that it is aligned with the organizational ethics and culture. 2. â€Å"Communities of practice† versus â€Å"social capital† Communities of practice can be used along with other concepts, such as the ‘social capital’ concept, for highlighting the importance of social networking in promoting innovation and learning within organizations. However, the two concepts may be differentiated, as of their requirements or their priorities. This fact is made clearer by comparing the elements of ‘communities of practice’, as described above, with the elements of ‘social capital’. The first of the above concepts, the ‘communities of practice’ is based on the view that ‘learning starts with engagement in social practice and that this practice is the fundamental construct by which individuals learn’ (Wenger 1998, in Langer 2005, p.77). In the context of the above framework, th e achievement of organization’s goals is based on the initiatives of teams that have ‘a shared way of pursuing interest’ (Langer 2005, p.77). On the other hand, the term ‘social capital’ is used for reflecting two different functions: the promotion of specific social structures and ‘the facilitation of certain actions of the actors’ (Coleman, 1988, p.98). The term ‘actors’, as used above, implies both individuals and organizations (Coleman 1988). From another point of view, social capital can be characterized as ‘an asset that emanates from participation in social relations’ (Nielsen 2003, p.2). In other words, social capital can be a quite wide concept, reflecting all activities of individuals, as members of a particular organization. However, in the context of social capital individuals, as actors, are not necessarily members of a team, as in the case of the communities of practice, a fact that offers them a h igher flexibility in acting as they wish. Moreover, in accordance with Al-Ali (2003), employees tend ‘to form informal communities or networks all the time’ (Al-Ali 2003, p.91). These networks are used for the development of various organizational tasks, more or less important. This means that the control of organization over the rules and the form of communities of practice may be difficult, especially if they are used for supporting temporary organizational needs (Al-Ali 2003). Such problem does not appear in the

Barriers To Sustainable Tourism Developments Tourism Essay

Barriers To Sustainable Tourism Developments Tourism Essay Introduction Tourism is highly known as one of the worlds fastest growing industries and become the major contributor to the countrys economic growth in terms foreign exchange earnings and creates job opportunities in both large and small communities. Hence, the increasing economic importance of tourism has captured the attention and interest in most developing countries. However, people have not been thinking about the range of impacts resulted from tourism which is broad and could even negatively impact on the destination community. The uncontrolled rapid growth of tourism can poses a significant threat towards the environment and social community in other words tourism can result serious environmental and social-cultural problems. Therefore, in a way to controlled and minimize the negative impacts of tourism, sustainable tourism development need to be achieved. Sustainable tourism today become highly important in the tourism industry and it is important to encourage more people to travel green and to ensure that the tourism is environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable. Many destinations have also recognized the importance of achieving sustainable tourism development. However, for many developing countries worldwide sustainable tourism has not properly been translated into wide practice and there can be economic, social, and physical barriers that tend to pose great hindrances to sustainable development. In order to determine how the tourism industry can move towards sustainability, it is important to examine the barriers that hinder sustainable tourism, and then develop strategies to reduce the barriers. Thus, aim of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the barriers of implementing sustainability initiatives and achieving sustainable tourism development particularly in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia. 2.0 Literature Review on Sustainable Tourism Tourism is a significant global industry with a huge impact towards the environment. Tourism is also the worlds largest industry, with total receipts from the international tourism equaling US $682 billion (WTO, 2006). The tourism industry also employs an estimated of 10 percent of the global workforce and capital formation. Due to this significance of this industry and that environmental degradation has impacted most tourism destinations; the need to implement more sustainable practices has come to forefront of global issues (Graci, 2004). The need to plan for tourism in a sustainable manner is evident through the developments that have occurred worldwide since the United Nations Conference on Environment Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In the conference, tourism was identified as one of the five main industries in need for achieving sustainable development (Theobald 1998, Budeanu 1999, Pryce 2001). The World Tourism Organization, World Travel and Tourism Council, and the Earth Council published Agenda 21 for the travel and tourism industry in 1995, which this document aimed to establish systems and procedure to incorporate sustainable development considerations into the decision making process of tourism activities. It also highly emphasized the importance of partnership between tourism industry and government and demonstrated the benefits of making the whole industry sustainable, not only just the niche ecotourism sector (Pryce, 2001). The idea of sustainable tourism has its roots in the concept of sustainable development, defined by the Brundtland Commission as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). Other effective adoption or concept of ecologically sustainable tourism, defined by the World Tourism Organization (2002) is: Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of present generation tourists and host communities while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future. It is highly emphasizes the management of all resources in such as a way that economic, social, and aesthetic needs are fulfilled while maintaining the cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support systems. (WTO, 2002) This clearly means that sustainable tourism activities is aim to ensure that development will maximize enjoyment and create positive experience for tourists and communities, at the same time minimizing the negative impacts upon the destination site; the environment, community and local population. Therefore the sustainable implementation of sustainable development requires the duties of the tourism industry, environmental supporters and community or the three cycles which need to be interrelated. The latter should be based on three main principles of sustainable development (WTO 1993, Mowforth and Munt 1998): Ecological sustainability which demonstrates that development is compatible with the maintenance of essential ecological processes, biological diversity and resources. Social and cultural sustainability suggests that development increases peoples control over their lives and it is compatible with the culture and values of people affected by it which maintains and strengthens the community identity. Economic sustainability ensures that development is economically efficient and that resources are being managed properly in order to support the future generations. Further explanations by World Tourism Organization (2002) the need for achieving several objectives for ensuring sustainable tourism, which are involve the protection and conservation of resource include natural, historical, and cultural for future generations, whilst at the same time ensuring long term economic viability for businesses, and providing socio-cultural benefits to the wider society. Tourism development is also being planned and managed so that it does not negatively impact on the environment and cultural society, the overall environmental quality of tourism is maintained and improved as well. 3.0 Sustainable Tourism in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia Gili Trawangan is known as the largest island located amongst the Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok in Indonesia. The island is also known as a sun, sand and sea destination. It is approximately three by two kilometers and low-lying with a small hill to the south, rising to 72 meters above sea level (Hampton 1998). Gili Trawangan is considered as the most developed of all three Gili islands, which the other two islands Gili Air and Gili Meno are being the newly developed. There are several expatriates lives and work on the island as well and the majority of land on the island is used for tourism and the rest is coconut plantation and some small field of agricultural crops and livestock. Tourism is regarded as the major economic activity on the island with more than 80 percent of families is employed by tourism. However, Gili Trawangan is not highly developed tourism destination in terms of mass tourism, infrastructure, and services, and the island has limited resources of fresh wa ter. In terms of sustainable tourism, there have been some initiatives for developing sustainable tourism in Gili Trawangan. However, the initiatives have been faced with a slow implementation and have not been completely adopted in practice. The main of the initiatives developed by the dive operators on the island is known as the Gili Trawangan Eco-trust. This Gili Eco-trust was being set up in order to protect and conserve the coral reefs around the island against destructive fishing practices. While the main purpose of this organization is to manage the collection of a dive tax which guest are charged about US$3 per diver and US$1 per snorkeler. The dive tax is then used to pay the local fisherman to stop damaging the reefs and the funds are also used for beach cleaning, rubbish management and monitoring (Lombok Network 2009). 4.0 Barriers to sustainable tourism in Gili Trawangan The Eco-trust is one of the initiatives developed by the dive operators on the Gili Trawangan Island for developing sustainable tourism. However they have encountered various barriers to sustainable tourism development in the area that has led to frustration on the island. Based on the research study which was conducted by Sonya Graci in the article, Accomodating Green: Examining Barriers to Sustainable Tourism Development (2004), number of barriers was documented in this research consisting of five main barriers to implementing and achieving sustainable tourism initiatives in the destination. The first barrier is the inadequate resources associated with high cost, lack of information, skills, knowledge, expertise, time and the reluctance to get assistance from outside consultants. The numerous ideas for initiatives such giving payments to fisherman to stop their illegal fishing can be a problem for the Island since they dont have enough resources and many of these plans could fail. Another example such as that the Gili Trawangan Eco-trust also attempted to implement a waste management collection system by building of a landfill with areas to separate and organize recyclables. Yet, again with lack of resources the landfill development would failed. Besides, a number of business owners and the local government also have indentified that the inadequate of resources was the biggest barrier as it is realized on the island without any proper systems in place, the environment will degrade even further and this will eventually affect the tourism on Gili Trawangan. Thus, the destination needs the ability to implement those systems with the necessary funds and knowledge to develop feasible systems. The second barrier being emphasized is the lack of momentum to take action concerning to the sustainability initiatives by business owners; restaurants, accommodations, dive operators, and bars. There was a belief by a number of business owners that current practices were lack, yet, there was a lack of momentum to move forward and implement sustainable initiatives. There are several business owners who did not want to take responsibility in managing the implementation of the initiatives especially involving time and money, and they also had complaints about the management of the environment, such only one business owner in conjunction with the local government to manage the eco tax funds to pay the fisherman. Thus, this is a practice that was not look upon favorably as a sustainable solution by many of the business owners and no other solutions were put forward. The third barrier is related to the corporate culture of the island which comprised of the attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values of the organization. The isolation of environmental issues from other aspects of the organization or destination, and the bureaucracy that exists within each of organization are barriers that have affected the implementation of sustainable tourism initiatives in the island. The corporate culture in the Island is one of the employees and local which are resistant to change though they realized the benefits associated with sustainable tourism initiatives such as reducing health problems in the community which arises from the lack of garbage collection. Generally this is because of the lack of education that the local people discouraged to participate in the sustainable tourism development. Another barrier to sustainable tourism development in the destination is related to government bureaucracy and corruption which usually arises in many developing coun tries. The provincial and national governments have consistently collected taxes from the Island without any investment in infrastructure or development of policy in the area. Moreover, in 1998 the provincial government of Western Nusa Dua developed the Gili Mantra Marine National Park strategy. However the marine park strategies were never implemented, but then it was the Gili Trawangan Eco-trust who implemented initiatives to stop illegal fishing to protect the reefs. Lastly, infrastructure or physical attributes such location and age of facilities are another barriers faced in the destination at the same time this closely related to the problem of having lack of resources on the Island to purchase new technologies. Despite if initiatives such as solar power or a sewage treatment plant were installed, it would be difficult to fix or adapt to the technologies due to the isolation of the Island. The Island also may have an issue on having no enough space or room for businesses to install composters to dispose organic waste. 5.0 Recommendation After indentifying the various barriers of implementing and achieving sustainable tourism in Gili Trawangan, Indonesia, there could be some strategies or solutions to overcome the stated barriers which contribute to the development of sustainable tourism in Island of Gili Trawangan. The strategies can include the alternatives of composting, employing financial mechanism such as tourist taxes and developing a multi-stakeholder island committee to manage the development and implementation of sustainable tourism initiatives in the destination. Extensive consultation with the locals and all stakeholders on the Island who involves could be performed as well which this allows to motivate and support the implementation of sustainable initiatives in the area. Whereas, the inadequate of resources on the island particularly for financial resources should likely be obtained from outside or non-local interests since it might be difficult for local people in the destination to play a leading role as entrepreneurs in the tourism industry. Local government should also support for educational programs and tourism training on the island to improve the knowledge and skills of the people and therefore it will encourage them to participate in the development of sustainable tourism. 6.0 Conclusion Achieving sustainable tourism development is highly important to the island of Gili Trawangan in Indonesia, in which it will help in protecting and conserving the local resources while minimizing the negative impacts of tourism and benefiting the island communities. However, despite the efforts from a number of local businesses, various barriers exist and affect the implementation of achieving sustainability initiatives in the tourism industry in the destination. Yet, a cohesive and inclusive strategy still can be developed to move this tourist destination towards sustainability.

The Effects of Colonization on the Native Americans Essay examples --

The Effects of Colonization on the Native Americans Native Americans had inherited the land now called America and eventually their lives were destroyed due to European Colonization. When the Europeans arrived and settled, they changed the Native American way of life for the worst. These changes were caused by a number of factors including disease, loss of land, attempts to export religion, and laws, which violated Native American culture. Native Americans never came in contact with diseases that developed in the Old World because they were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe when ocean levels rose following the end of the last Ice Age. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria were unknown to the Native Americans until the Europeans brought these diseases over time to them. This triggered the largest population decline in all recorded history. Fifty percent of the Native American population had died of disease within twenty years. Soon after, Native Americans began to question their religion and doubted the ability of shamen to heal. This was the first step towards the destruction of Native cultures. The Native Americans had never experienced anything like these deadly diseases before and they came to believe that Europeans had the power to kill or give life. Many Native groups, because they were nomadic, didn't see land as belonging to one person. The idea that someone could come in, claim a piece of land and ban them f...

Environmental Scanning Essay

The environment is responsible for more company changes that the general public often realizes. The future of a company depends on the reaction that the company has to environmental changes. By not adapting to the changes, companies could ultimately end up failing. Recognizing that the environment is changing, businesses need to be able to adapt their products to keep up with new opportunities and balance a strategic fit between the environment and the company (Wheelen and Hunger, 2010). Toyota: A Responsibility to the Environment. Toyota led the revolution on economically friendly vehicles when the Toyota Prius was introduced in the United States in January 2009 (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). The Prius is the first in a long line of cars since 2009 to be marketing towards not producing dangerous emissions harmful to the environment. Toyota recognized the need for more energy efficient cars to reduce and adapted to meet the need. This quick move resulted in Toyota standing out as a leader within the automobile industry. In 2011, Toyota introduced the Fifth Toyota Environmental Action Plan. This action plan sets the precedence for standards for 2020 through 2030. The three themes throughout the action plan is construction of a low-carbon society, construction of a recycling-based society, and the construction of a society that coexists with nature and environmental conservation (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). Toyota is committed to developing the next generation of vehicles that rely on clean energy such as electricity rather than fuel. Toyota also will ensure market acceptance of these new vehicles by having these vehicles stand out with different characteristics that customers will want to have (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). Toyota is seeking to stimulate the hybrid vehicle market by introducing new models and expanding the hybrid vehicle market field (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). Toyota is also working with consumers directly by implementing initiatives by promoting eco-driving as well as providing traffic-flow improvement using current IT & ITS technologies (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). By asserting Toyota as an industry leader in hybrid vehicle technology, Toyota has a competitive advantage. Making the action plan public information as well as focusing all future technology around this plan, Toyota is displaying dedication to the environment as well as dedication to what customers want. By making these goals public, Toyota has a responsibility to ensure the effectiveness of their plan. Toyota will measure the effectiveness of the action plan by working with the REACH Regulation to ensure the goals they set forth are being met (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). The REACH Regulation focuses on minimizing the impact of chemical substances on the environment as well as people and provide corporations with insight on responsibly managing the use of chemical substances (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). Toyota also plans on working with government agencies to ensure that environmental goals are being met (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). In 2008, Toyota began the process of registering products either directly or indirectly used in the manufacturing of their vehicles (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). In 2009, Toyota announced that only 15 supplies used in vehicle manufacturing were substances of high concern, and began to change these products for products that match REACH regulation (â€Å"The fifth toyota,† 2011). By working closely with REACH and other government agencies, Toyota is able to keep constant measure of their success in their environmentally based action plan. Florida Power and Light: Clean Energy for a Clean Future Florida Power and Light is committed to changing based on environmental needs. No longer is it possible for electric companies to operate with fossil fuels alone. Florida Power and Light uses a mix of fuels at their power plants in order to generate clean energy (â€Å"Our commitment to,† 2014). Due to this mix of fuels, Florida Power and Light is recognized as a clean energy company with one of the lowest emission rates (the emission rate is currently 35% better than the industry average) and obtains most energy from clean-burning natural gas (â€Å"Our commitment to,† 2014). This year, Florida Power and Light began operation at three emissions-free solar energy facilities in Florida (INSERT). By using clean energy, Florida Power and Light is number two in the country for energy efficiency and offers one of the lowest energy charges in the state to their customers (â€Å"Our commitment to,† 2014). Florida Power and Light is committed to being held accountable as a leader in energy efficiency. By working closely with the U. S. Department of Energy, Florida Power and Light can stay up to date on how to follow their current plan on power plant modernization process. Florida Power and Energy also updates the Florida Public Service Commission on a regular basis to ensure they are complying with the standards for clean energy (â€Å"Our commitment to,† 2014). The parent company of Florida Power and Light, Nextera Energy, makes their governing documents, policies and procedures public knowledge and files in compliance with government agencies to ensure that they are meeting the environmental needs necessary (â€Å"Our commitment to,† 2014). Since the U. S. Department of Energy must oversee all power plants in the United States, Florida Power and Light will have to successfully maintain effective clean energy to not only operate within standards, but to continue to be a leader in the field of power and energy. Performing an environmental scan is important to companies due to constant change. The environment is in a constant state of change. If companies do not recognize this change, they will fail to adapt to the needs of the current economic conditions. By failing to change, companies run the risk of becoming obsolete in the new environment and are no longer able to operate. By performing environmental scans, companies can gage where changes need to be made and how to be leaders in their field on how to successfully execute making the necessary changes in order to remain relevant. References The fifth toyota environmental action plan (fy2011-fy2015). (2011). Retrieved from http://www. toyota-global. com/sustainability/environmental_responsibility/action_plan/fifth_plan4. html Our commitment to the environment. (2014). Retrieved from http://www. fpl. com/environment/commitment. shtml Wheelen, T. L. , & Hunger, J. D. (2010). Concepts in strategic management and business policy: Achieving sustainability (12th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Overview of Beer Industry in America - Beer Industry overview as well as how Anheuser-Busch and others have stayed on top.

Overview of Beer Industry in America - Beer Industry overview as well as how Anheuser-Busch and others have stayed on top. Beer has been made, dating back to 10, 000 B.C., monks of the middle ages were thought to be the keepers of the Bible and a basic form of beer. Before Louis Pasteur, only wild air born yeast was used. But Americans needed more. Thomas Jefferson, a revolutionary thinker of America's past thought a Beer Industry would be very influential on our economy and its growth. New Amsterdam (New York City) is where the original public brewery was located. During the Prohibition Era (1920) there were places to get beer but it was usually very week. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the man who eventually sought to get this law appealed. (www.beerinsitute.com; www.beerindustry.com; www.beerinfo.com)Here is where today's leaders were born (Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Adolph Coors). Companies came fast, 756 companies were recorded only 2 years after this law was appealed. The beer industry went through a series of changes up until Jimmy Carter legalized Home Brewing.English: Anheuser-Busch plant, St. Louis, MO USA(www.beerinfo.com) Microbreweries (less than 15,000 barrels) became very prosperous and positive for our economy. The market size of the beer industry is incredible. (The wholesale volume in the beer industry is approximately $13.7 billion. The industry employs almost 40,000 people. In 1998 there were 1,698 businesses which were comprised of 39,500 employees. The average worker is paid about $18.27 an hour. As you can see, this is a very large industry which provides many jobs to the American workforce. National market consists of ten major competitors. The Competitors in this market are Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Stroh, G. Heileman, Adolph Coors, Pabst, Genesee, C. Schmidt, Falstaff, and Pittsburgh. (www.dted.state.mn.us/PDFs/beer.pdf)A company has many issues to look at; marketing the beer, giving back to the community, and waste researches are a few examples. Marketing is extremely costly in this industry and takes an enormous...

Measuring Quality of Life Based on Geography

Measuring Quality of Life Based on Geography Perhaps the most important aspect of living that we sometimes take for granted is the quality of life that we receive by living and working where we do. For instance, the ability for you to peruse these words through the use of a computer is something that might be censored in some Middle Eastern countries and China. Even our capability to walk safely down a street is something that some countries (and even some cities in the United States) may lack. Identifying areas with the highest quality of life offers an important view of cities and ​countries while providing information for those hoping to relocate. Measuring  Quality of Life By Geography One way of looking at a places quality of life is by the amount of output it produces each year. This is especially handy in the case of a country considering many countries have varying degrees of production, differing resources, and distinctive conflicts and problems within them. The major way of measuring a countrys output per year is by looking at the countrys gross domestic product, or GDP. The GDP is the amount of goods and services produced within a country annually and is typically a good indication of the amount of money flowing in and out of the country. When we divide a countrys total GDP by its total population, we get GDP per capita which reflects what each individual of that country takes home (on average) per year. The idea is that the more money we have the better off we are. Top 5 Countries with the Largest GDPs The following are the top five countries with the largest GDPs in 2010 according to the World Bank: 1) United States: $14,582,400,000,0002) China: $5,878,629,000,0003) Japan: $5,497,813,000,0004) Germany: $3,309,669,000,0005) France: $2,560,002,000,000 Countries with Highest-Ranked GDP Per Capita The five highest-ranked countries in terms of GDP per capita in 2010 according to the World Bank: 1) Monaco: $186,1752) Liechtenstein: $134,3923) Luxembourg: $108,7474) Norway: $84,8805) Switzerland: $67,236 It seems that small developed countries are ranked the highest in terms of per capita income. This is a good indicator to see what the average salary is of a country but can be a bit misleading since these small countries are also some of the richest and, therefore, must be the most well off. Since this indicator can be a bit distorted due to the population size, there exist other factors which further inform quality of life. Human Poverty Index Another metric for looking at how well-off a countrys people are is to take into consideration the Human Poverty Index (HPI) of the country. The HPI for developing countries represents quality of life by formulating the probability of not surviving to age 40, the adult literacy rate, and the average amount of the countrys population who have little to no access to clean drinking water. While the outlook for this metric is seemingly dismal, it does provide important clues as to what countries are better off. There is a second HPI that is used mostly for those countries that are considered developed. The United States, Sweden, and Japan are good examples. The aspects that are formulated for this HPI are the probability of not surviving to age 60, the number of adults lacking functional literacy skills, the percentage of ​the  population with income below the poverty line, and the rate of unemployment lasting longer than 12 months. Other Measures and Indicators of Quality of Life A well-known survey that attracts a lot of international attention is the Mercer Quality of Living Survey. The annual list places New York City with a baseline score of 100 to act as the median for all other cities to compare with. The rankings consider many different aspects from cleanliness and safety to culture and infrastructure. The list is a very valuable resource for ambitious companies looking to set up an office internationally, and also for employers to decide on how much to pay at certain offices. Recently, Mercer began to factor in environmental friendliness into their equation for cities with the highest qualities of life as a means of better qualifying what makes a great city. There exist a few unusual indicators for measuring quality of life as well. For example, the king of Bhutan in the 1970s (Jigme Singye Wangchuck) decided to overhaul the Bhutanese economy by having each member of the country strive for happiness as opposed to money. He felt that GDP was rarely a good indicator of happiness as the indicator fails to take into account environmental and ecological improvements and their effects, yet includes defense expenditures that rarely benefit a countrys happiness. He developed an indicator called Gross National Happiness (GNH), which is somewhat difficult to measure. For instance, while GDP is an easy tally of goods and services sold within a country, GNH doesnt have much for quantitative measures. However, scholars have tried their best to make some sort of quantitative measurement and have found a countrys GNH to be a function of the well-being of a human in economic, environmental, political, social, workplace, physical, and mental terms. These terms, when aggregated and analyzed, can define how happy a nation is. There are also a number of other ways to quantify ones quality of life. A second alternative is the genuine progress indicator (GPI) which is similar to GDP but instead looks to see if a countrys growth has actually made people better off in that nation. For instance, if the financial costs of crimes, environmental degradation, and natural resource losses are higher than the financial gains made through production, then the countrys growth is uneconomic. One statistician who has created a way to analyze trends in data and growth is the Swedish academic Hans Rosling. His creation, Gapminder Foundation, has compiled plenty of useful data for the public to access, and even a visualizer, which allows for a user to look at trends over time. It is a great tool for anyone interested in growth or health statistics.

Is Latin language affect us today in United States Research Paper

Is Latin language affect us today in United States - Research Paper Example Latin has had an important influence in the configuration of English at all stages of its insular development more so in the United States. It continues to be studied across Europe and especially among Americans. Latin is a medieval language that was prominently used during the periods of Roman Empire. The language has however survived particularly through numerous literary works of Roman scholars and philosophers (McGraw, 2012). It has widely estimated that only 20 to 30 percent comprises words of Old English while the rest have been borrowed from various languages among them Latin language. From this findings the influence of Latin in English, is thought to be lexical in nature that mainly center on words that have Latin roots. But as much as the language is impacting the citizens of United States, critics have it that the language is long dead and has no significant influence on the lives of the citizens in the United States and has its mentioning only in the scientific words and among denominations of Roman origin. Generally being the only surviving language of Italic language family .Latin remains a significant piece of linguistic puzzle among the United States. According to Draper and Hicks (2006), Latin is currently the fourth most spoken language among high school students in the United States, ahead of such modern languages as Italian and Japanese, this is a clear indication that the language is gaining popularity especially among the youths. This is particularly evidenced by the fact that most organizations, universities and institutions all over the United States have Latin mottos, even today. For example, Harvard’s motto simply states â€Å"Veritas† which means the truth, Yale’s motto is â€Å"Lux et Veritas† meaning light and truth. On the other hand, Princeton’s motto is a Latin phrase â€Å"Dei sub numine viget† which translates as â€Å"Under Gods power she flourishes. The motto of the US

Read the instruction (Different hobbies) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Read the instruction (Different hobbies) - Essay Example I enjoyed purchasing a parrot and then setting it free from the cage. As I grew up, I developed a hobby of planting trees. This was also a good hobby. I planted at least one tree every week in my surroundings. Another very good hobby that I have is reading books. I love reading books of all genres including fiction stories, poetry, novels, and dramas. I like reading children’s literature as well as adult literature. I believe that reading a variety of literature diversifies the reader’s opinion and broadens his vision. One bad hobby that I have had for a long time is playing video games. I have spent a lot of time aimlessly playing computer games. Undoubtedly, it might be a good idea if played for a short while, but not when one spends hours playing them. As I gained more education, I developed a hobby of teaching. I fancy the idea of being a teacher because it is one of the most respectable professions. A pedagogue teaches hundreds of students every year, which serves as a way to broaden his social network. The teacher remains updated on the latest discoveries in knowledge, and knowledge is power. Through this reflection, I have reached the conclusion that most of my hobbies are good and only a few can be classified as