Monday, September 30, 2019

Pit Bull Research Paper

Pit bulls are a Misunderstood Breed Pit bulls are the most misunderstood dog breeds in the world. When people hear the word pit bull they automatically think of dogs fighting and attacking. When people say â€Å"pit bull† they're usually referring to a range of breeds and, often, a mixed-breed dog. (Lawrence, C Louisville Magazine Feb 2007) People think they are a very dangerous breed of dog. Because of this, some areas do not allow pit bulls and breeds like them. Pit bulls are the leading culprit of dog bites in America, but on the other hand, they are the gentlest dogs people will ever meet.The National Canine Temperament Testing Association tested 122 breeds of dog and Pit bulls placed the 4th highest with a 95% passing rate. (http://atts. org Feb 2012) With this fact it can only be how the dog is raised. People who own Pit bulls should be obligated to train their dog well. With any dog you need to train it so the owner has the upper hand. Owners need to know that they have to be dominant and for their dog to be obedient towards their orders. The dog comes second to themselves. Pit bulls are one of the most gentle of the breeds.Pit bulls are notable therapy dogs who visit patients that are recovering from emotional trauma. Pit bulls are also used for their service in sniffing out drugs on the borders due to their sense of smell being stronger than any other breed. These dogs are great family dogs and were babysitters in the 19th and the early 20th centuries. American Pit Bull Terriers were introduced into the United States of America during World War I and World War II. The purpose of the creation of the Pit Bull was to deliver messages back and forth across the battlefield during battle.Pit Bulls were first bred to bait bulls as a sport back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well, but soon became used as house pets due to their friendliness towards people. They were also known as great babysitters because of their intuition to protect thei r loved ones. These facts in themselves should open up people’s eyes to the Pit Bull breed not being an aggressive breed simply because they history proves that they had become great pets. A known fact to share is that Theodore Roosevelt owned a pit bull while he was president and his dog was a great sidekick for him in office.His dog provided safety for him, and not just because their dog was fierce, it was because he knew that specific dog could defend, be trained well, and become obedient. Owning a pit bull in today’s society has one of two reactions, they are adored or they are terrifying. The myths and horror stories that people say are why many fear them. They do not have â€Å"lock jaw† like many seem to think. Lock jaw is when a dog bites down on something and can’t let go. A vast majority of the population is known to believe that they have a killer instinct that does not stop, which is entirely not true.One cannot believe everything one reads or hears. There are two sides to every story, yet in this case, there are two sides to every breed. Pit bulls are like any other dog, they have to be trained and if trained right, they can be great family pets. When a pit bull falls in the hands of a bad owner than that is when you may have a problem. It’s easiest to understand this way; Suppose a child has physically abusive parents, they’re either going to grow up believing that harming someone is the only way to teach a lesson, or become skittish towards unfamiliar surroundings.It’s very similar to a dog’s life. They’re known to be physically damaging because they, themselves are physically damaged, because they’re â€Å"tough. † It all makes sense if it’s looked at from every angle of perspectives. Training a dog is not an easy thing, but dogs need extensive training so there will be fewer incidents. It is the concept of nature versus nurture. To this day, there are no facts about this either but both sides have great points and there is no set truth – but everyone seems to have an opinion. â€Å"An unneutered male pit bull is 2. times more likely to bite then a neutered male. In addition, male pit bulls are 6. 2 times more likely to bite then female pit bills. † In a study evaluating canine temperament, 82% of dogs received a passing score, 86. 8% of those dogs where American pit bull terrier (1800PetMeds. com Feb. 2012). There are ways to avoid incidents when in contact with these animals. When approached by a pit bull always remain calm, approach the dog slowly from the side not from the back. Do not provoke the dog – always ask the owners to pet the dog first.If an aggressive dog approaches you do not panic, give the dog firm commands like sit, stay, and easy, then back away slowly. When owning a pit bull socialize the dog with people and other animals, get them familiar with animals and people including children. Isolated dogs can become vicious and dangerous so be cautious when in contact with a not so friendly dog. (Skloot, R Aug 2007 Prevention Vol. 59, Issue 8 Pgs. 196-198) Banning a breed, which the technical words are breed specific legislation, is not a good idea.Putting a ban on pit bulls is a less than great idea because people will continue to own pit bulls and hide them or even abandon their dog(s) and leave them to die. The irresponsible owners should deal with heavier fines and possibly jail time and this might scare these owners into training their pit bull properly. There is no proven fact that banning pit bulls will cut down on the number of bites. Not every bull type is a killer so banning bull types is not a good idea. There are many different bull types and it is hard to choose which ones are dangerous.Most cities do not allow â€Å"pit bull breeds,† but why is it that a dog with 10% pit bull in it and 90% Labrador in it should be banned? There are also many apartment complexes t hat do not allow pit bulls, or other certain breeds of dogs, this is dog discrimination. There are many stories of pit bull dogs doing great things but for some reason, the bad stories are the ones people remember. Dog lovers need to do more to help this breed work towards a better reputation. Dog discrimination is a real thing; People can search for it online.There have also been many cases where certain breeds, namely pit bulls, are not allowed at certain dog parks. This is not politically or socially right. Pit Bulls were born to be great helpers and family pets – they are loyal, independent, friendly and lovable pets. Any pit bull owner will explain how wonderful they are with children, other pets and just about anyone. A friend and current pit bull owner, Sandy Sweeney mentioned â€Å"My dog, Sargent, is my best friend. I feel safe when he is around and know that he would never hurt a soul.He is wonderful with my son and the most loyal animal. I would be the first perso n to tell anyone how awesome pit bulls are as pets. † (S. Sweeney, October 2012) There are numerous articles online as well stating that pit bulls are great dogs and there bad reputations need to change and are dishonest. Overall, there are many stories – good and bad – describing the temperament of pit bulls but at the same time, there are many stories – good and bad – describing dog stories as well. Although there are some facts that Pit Bulls re the leading cause of dog bites in America, no one can simply use that to say that Pit Bulls are bad dogs and deserve a bad reputation. It comes down to nature vs. nurture and if you raise and train a dog well, any breed, people will see an amazing, wonderful creature who is loyal and with a happy temperament. In conclusion the pit bull is a misunderstood, gentle giant that people need to take the time and get to know. The reason why this paper was written is so people have the knowledge when dealing with this type of dog.There are irresponsible dog owners out there that don’t care about the actions of their dog. This causes the dogs to have a reputation that no good pit bull owner wants their dog to have. As was stated before, banning pit bulls is a dangerous move to make because there will most likely be more animal cruelty acts upon these gentle beasts. References (http://atts. org Feb 2012) (Lawrence, C Louisville Magazine Feb 2007) From UOP (Skloot, R Aug 2007 Prevention Vol. 59, Issue 8 Pgs. 196-198) From UOP (S. Sweeney, October 2012) (1800PetMeds. com Feb. 2012)

Sunday, September 29, 2019

My favorite place Essay

Let’s walk through a 5-step process for building a paragraph. For each step there is an explanation and example. Our example paragraph will be about slave spirituals, the original songs that African Americans created during slavery. The model paragraph uses illustration (giving examples) to prove its point. Step 1. Decide on a controlling idea and create a topic sentence Paragraph development begins with the formulation of the controlling idea. This idea directs the paragraph’s development. Often, the controlling idea of a paragraph will appear in the form of a topic sentence. In some cases, you may need more than one sentence to express a paragraph’s controlling idea. Here is the controlling idea for our â€Å"model paragraph,† expressed in a topic sentence: Model controlling idea and topic sentence— Slave spirituals often had hidden double meanings. Step 2. Explain the controlling idea Paragraph development continues with an expression of the rationale or the explanation that the writer gives for how the reader should interpret the information presented in the idea statement or topic sentence of the paragraph. The writer explains his/her thinking about the main topic, idea, or focus of the paragraph. Here’s the sentence that would follow the controlling idea about slave spirituals: Model explanation—On one level, spirituals referenced heaven, Jesus, and the soul; but on another level, the songs spoke about slave resistance. Step 3. Give an example (or multiple examples) Paragraph development progresses with the expression of some type of support or evidence for the idea and the explanation that came before it. The example serves as a sign or representation of the relationship established in the idea and explanation portions of the paragraph. Here are two examples that we could use to illustrate the double meanings in slave spirituals Model example A—For example, according to Frederick Douglass, the song â€Å"O Canaan, Sweet Canaan† spoke of slaves’ longing for heaven, but it also expressed their desire to escape to the North. Careful listeners heard this  second meaning in the following lyrics: â€Å"I don’t expect to stay / Much longer here. / Run to Jesus, shun the danger. / I don’t expect to stay.† Model example B—Slaves even used songs like â€Å"Steal Away to Jesus (at midnight)† to announce to other slaves the time and place of secret, forbidden meetings. Step 4. Explain the example(s) The next movement in paragraph development is an explanation of each example and its relevance to the topic sentence and rationale that were stated at the beginning of the paragraph. This explanation shows readers why you chose to use this/or these particular examples as evidence to support the major claim, or focus, in your paragraph. Continue the pattern of giving examples and explaining them until all points/examples that the writer deems necessary have been made and explained. NONE of your examples should be left unexplained. You might be able to explain the relationship between the example and the topic sentence in the same sentence which introduced the example. More often, however, you will need to explain that relationship in a separate sentence. Look at these explanations for the two examples in the slave spirituals paragraph: Model explanation for example A—When slaves sang this song, they could have been speaking of their departure from this life and their arrival in heaven; however, they also could have been describing their plans to leave the South and run, not to Jesus, but to the North. Model explanation for example B—[The relationship between example B and the main idea of the paragraph’s controlling idea is clear enough without adding another sentence to explain it.] Step 5. Complete the paragraph’s idea or transition into the next paragraph The final movement in paragraph development involves tying up the loose ends of the paragraph and reminding the reader of the relevance of the information in this paragraph to the main or controlling idea of the paper. At this point, you can remind your reader about the relevance of the information that you just discussed in the paragraph. You might feel more comfortable, however, simply transitioning your reader to the next developm ent in the next paragraph. Here’s an example of a sentence that completes the slave spirituals paragraph: Model sentence for completing a paragraph—What whites heard as merely spiritual songs, slaves discerned as detailed messages. The hidden meanings in spirituals allowed slaves to sing what they could not say. Notice that the example and explanation steps of this 5-step process (steps 3 and 4) can be repeated as needed. The idea is that you continue to use this pattern until you have completely developed the main idea of the paragraph. Here is a look at the completed â€Å"model† paragraph: Slave spirituals often had hidden double meanings. On one level, spirituals referenced heaven, Jesus, and the soul, but on another level, the songs spoke about slave resistance. For example, according to Frederick Douglass, the song â€Å"O Canaan, Sweet Canaan† spoke of slaves’ longing for heaven, but it also expressed their desire to escape to the North. Careful listeners heard this second meaning in the following lyrics: â€Å"I don’t expect to stay / Much longer here. / Run to Jesus, shun the danger. / I don’t expect to stay.† When slaves sang this song, they could have been speaking of their departure from this life and their arrival in heaven; however, they also could have been describing their plans to leave the South and run, not to Jesus, but to the North. Slaves even used songs like â€Å"Steal Away to Jesus (at midnight)† to announce to other slaves the time and place of secret, forbidden meetings. What whites heard as merely spiri tual songs, slaves discerned as detailed messages. The hidden meanings in spirituals allowed slaves to sing what they could not say.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

The impact of globalization on corporate governance Assignment

The impact of globalization on corporate governance - Assignment Example So corporate governance has now emerged as global responsibility. The effect of global approach to regulate corporate governance is debatable. Criticisms are there that such regulations carry no meanings as big corporate houses have the power to manipulate even the international policies owing to their size and their influence in markets. In recent times agencies such as Organization for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD) and Indian Labor Organization (ILO) have prepared a set of guidelines so as to regulate corporate governance. The activities and behavior of business houses are checked upon mainly on issues like environmental protection, human rights, safety and corruption. In developing countries through effective corporate governance corporations can contribute largely in labor and environmental conditions of the country. Considering all these facts one can rate global approach to regulation highly important for corporate governance and the paper intends to addresses thi s issue through a series of case studies and analysis. Corporate governance helps companies and economies to bring in new investors and strengthen the foundation. It also makes a firm more competitive by improving its economic performance. Elimination of corruption and financial scandals is considered as the major objective of corporate governance.It has been widely accepted that a written code of conduct helps in improving corporate governance. United Kingdom has adopted such principles for governance in 2003 and has obtained amazing outcomes in 2005. These global rules include ability of mobilizing and monitoring of productive resources and their effective allocation. (Isaksson, 1999). Separate committees should be set up for nomination, compensation and auditing. Transparency of the annual reports and accounting matters is now compulsory as per guidelines. This are now regulated through actuarial information in UK (Regulatory Strategy: Our role and Approach, 2009). The board of directors’ decision making should only be in favor of fulfilling company’s interests. The conduct of the directors is very crucial and their decisions matter a lot, especially in turnaround situations. The investors also bear similar responsibilities more in the area of risk management and when voting for vital issues. There is a need for the companies to realize their social and environmental responsibilities (Bowes, 1999). The importance of this global approach for proper conduct is to such an extent that corporate social responsibility has taken the name of globalization of business and economies. National economies have become enormously inter dependant in the areas of trade and finance. In some cases there has also been integration of macroeconomic policies (Guillen, 1999).In Asian countries before such global approach there have reports against the companies for unfavorable working conditions and employment of child labor. For developing countries overlapping public and private sector have prevented good corporate gove rnance in the past (Kostyuk, Braendle & Apreda, 2007) Global agencies have worked quite hard in regulating

Friday, September 27, 2019

Is todays technology having a positive or a negative impact on the Essay

Is todays technology having a positive or a negative impact on the live performing arts How should those arts respond to the changes being brought about by technology - Essay Example Recorded music, followed by radio, television, audios and CDs began to replace live performances and attracted audiences. But, there lies a paradox in this since even though the rise of technology led to a diversion of audiences from a more art based industry to a more commercialized form, even to this day people enjoy live performances. It is true that that rapid growth of technology has had both positive and negative impacts on the industry of performing arts. It is not really clear as to whether these impacts are absolutely good or absolutely bad for the industry. Most of the organizers in today’s times feel that technology is one of the biggest competitors of live art performers. In order to attract potential audiences for live shows, organizers need to compete with almost 3000-5000 both print and visual commercial marketing messages that a typical American citizen comes across every single day. It is hard for the live performing organizations to reach out to the vast expanse of the audience in the way technology based performances such as audios and CDs do. Today, people have become self-oriented and need privatization, customization and easy access to almost everything. Live performances do not meet such demands. Live performances are bound by number of performances, timing of performances, artists performance and even travelling to the set venue and parking. In contrast to this technology such as iTunes or YouTube and even the humble recorded music allows easy access to music and other art forms to everyone and the young generation especially is attracted to such commercialized forms which allows all types of flexibility to the audience (Cameron, 2011). This is perhaps where both accessibility, convenience and financial aspects come in. When the audience can freely enjoy performances through the television, internet or watch videos, whenever they want, at whatever location while paying almost a negligible amount for this. In

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Administrative Agencies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Administrative Agencies - Essay Example It created a state of rivalry and conflict and paved the way towards torture, crimes, clashes, violence and wars. Subsequently, the wise and sage stratum of society felt the immediate need of rules and regulations in order to maintain peace and harmony in human societies. Social norms, values, law and order came into being, where different departments were established to make laws, implement these laws and announce punishment to those, which break the prevailing statutes of law and deviate from the right path determined and decided by the political authorities; consequently, the administrative agencies were got their decisive place in all human societies. Like all parts of the globe, administrative agencies were also established in the USA, which is certainly the outcome of the intellect and hard work made by the legislature of the country. Administrative agencies are created by the federal Constitution, the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, and local lawmaking bodies to manage crises, redress serious social problems, or oversee complex matters of governmental concern beyond the expertise of legislators. (Quoted in law.jrank.org) The administrative agencies have performed outstanding role in the USA in respect of the sustenance of a strong and powerful political system on the one hand, and an integrated and law-abiding social set up on the other. These agencies have rendered exemplary services for the rescue of the masses in crises, disasters, natural calamities and catastrophes of national and state scales. In general, Vago observes, administrative agencies were created to deal with a crisis or with emerging problems requiring supe rvision and flexible treatment. (2009, 130) But they have proved their worth in trade, commerce, communications, housing, travelling, teaching, nursing and even legislative and judicial services through administrators, councilors, mayors, governors, magistrates and police officials. From saving the lives during

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Sino Indian War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sino Indian War - Essay Example The war forges an abiding Indian apprehension of China that deeply colors India’s response to China’s activities throughout Indian Ocean littoral. The war entails a high degree of Indian cooperation with concealed Tibetan operations in America Central Intelligence Agency. Mao Zedong had the conviction that China’s foreign policy decision contravened with India that colluded with America to undermine China’s role in Tibet. Indian military pushed deep into Chinese territory. India progressively ratcheted down trade with trade to create compounding China logistic problems. The war left behind much causality on each side as China retained control of Aksai Chin region. Garver says that both scenarios take place in 1962 and involve battle for supremacy. Cuban Missile Crisis entails America and Russia clamor for super power in the nuclear missile crisis. Sino-Indian war entails India and China clamor for resources and expansion capabilities. Allison observes a correlation between Sino-Indian War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. India like America has always sought global great power status. Prior to the 21st century India has heightened its speed of development of a strong navy with global war-fighting capabilities. In the 1960s, America had well-established military intelligence that was able to capture nuclear installations with specialized U-2 Spy planes. Recently, India has managed to increase the joint exercises with strong*- naval countries such as United States, Russia, and France. It has also speed up the development and purchase of new naval equipment. Saalman asserts that China and India remained locked in an intractable security dilemmas such as the Sino-Indian border issue. Chinese and Indian interlocutors spent many hours debating on the border issue in the years following Sino-Indian border conflict in 1962. The border issue assumes a looming and lingering presence in Sino-Indian relations. The disparity between

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 19

Interview - Essay Example I then vowed to enter the industry through cartoonist as that was the best starting point. I can categorically state that my work is quite impressive having undergone serious positive changes. I appreciated the need to listen to criticism from friends, fans and family and work towards filling such gaps. Besides I familiarized myself with the industry and software based on self-study so as to gain skills required to become a successful artist by incorporating comments arising from every stakeholder . My art has been so impactful and inspirational based on the ideas and thoughts I raise. I have become known by the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC). Besides, I am always being invited by companies and Institutes to assist in project developments based on the uniqueness in how I organize my thoughts and ideas that have impacted making people to like my art. My styles are being imitated by various Companies within the industry based on negotiations and agreements. I am so delighted with my progress and subsequently I have been furthering my study in the past one year which has seen me take a break in the media industry so as to come back very vocal. I am inspired by the phrase, â€Å"It is never too late† that was clearly evident in WisdomSeven. This motivates me to see everything as possible and still have to dig deep through studies to attain necessary knowledge and skills required in the industry so as to be successful. Besides, studying makes one explore new things and expansion of mind. This further inspires me but my work will always circumvent around

Monday, September 23, 2019

My Ethnic Group Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

My Ethnic Group - Assignment Example But one can see that the second or third generation of the Hispanics shows keen interest to socialize with other races. Besides, almost all the Hispanics show the keen interest of life in urban areas. One can see that culture is considered as most important in exile life. This is absolutely true about the Hispanic group from the Caribbean islands. We are Hispanics, basically from the city of Santiago, situated in the Dominican Republic. Our family consists of father (Victor), mother (Elida), elder brother (Jarion), younger brother (Victor Jr.) and myself. As we are away from our motherland, we used to keep close relation with each other. For instance, we were forced to move to Puerto Rico but close relationship with our family helped us to enjoy our life without further problems. Besides, shifting our family from Santiago did not affect the education of younger members of our family. One can see that immigration to a new nation helps the younger generation to grab new opportunities in life. For instance, our family decided to immigrate to America. So, we happened to reach Boston, Massachusetts. Besides, my family gave much more importance to education and career opportunities in America. Our family settled in South End, Massachusetts and I joined Charlestown High School. The scope of education and career opportunities for Hispanics in America is high. For instance, I graduated from Brighton High School and joined Massachusetts Bay Community College for higher studies. So, one can see that immigration helped our family a lot to grab opportunities in the American society. Apart from some initial adjustment problems, our family faced fewer problems related to prejudice, segregation or racism. As pointed out earlier, the multicultural characteristics of American society accepted us to its core. One can see that racial and ethnic diversity in American society is most helpful for immigrants from different parts of the world.

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Cooperate recruitment and selection policies Essay

Cooperate recruitment and selection policies - Essay Example The strategy behind recruitment is to come up with a group of competent, skilled and experienced individuals. Another important aim is to cut on personnel cost. Employing inappropriate individuals is costly to the organization. In an organization, recruitment policy helps to establish the possible outcome prior to a successful recruitment process. The process involves looking into the position to be filled and determining the appropriate candidate to fill it. This will require proper outlined job description and person specification. In addition, organizations goals are analyzed. Recruiting process involves the following; preparation, by carefully examining recruitment. Secondly, decision is made on who will conduct the process. Thirdly, the employee is sourced using various ways which include, advertising the job position, using consultants and even online through the internet. Fourthly, organizations need to accomplish legislative obligations, and finally application methods to be used are determined before hand. Recruitment and selection process involves several considerations, which include; Organization to conduct appropriate planning and estimation to come up with the duties, which the candidate appointed to fill a position, will be required to perform. Secondly, the organization will come up with a group of individuals for the vacant positions in the organization by conducting recruitment process of internal or external candidates. Thirdly, each individual fills application forms. The fourth step is whereby different selection methods are applied in order to identify appropriate candidates. These methods include conducting various tests, investigating ones background, and using set psychological exams. Fifthly, the selected candidates meet the organization manager who is responsible for that particular job. Finally, the manager and other members of the organization conduct selection interviews. The manager will

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Early Years Foundation Stage for Childminding Essay Example for Free

Early Years Foundation Stage for Childminding Essay The EYFS is set to ensure all children in early year’s settings including children with disabilities and special needs have the best possible start in life which they deserve. A child needs to not only have a safe, secure and happy childhood but also one which is rich in positive parenting and high quality learning. These will provide the foundations and tools a child needs to reach their full potential. The EYFS must be followed by all early years’ providers to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. The EYFS is set to help prepare children for school, physically and emotionally and set a foundation for a positive progress through school and life. Children develop at a raid rate between birth-5 years and experiences between this time have a dramatic impact on their future. Key Points of the Early Years Foundation stage †¢ Good quality and consistent care within all early years’ settings to ensure every single child makes good progress. †¢ A secure foundation through learning and development opportunities which are planned around the needs and interests of each individual child and are assessed and reviewed regularly †¢ Partnership working between practitioners and with parents and/or carers †¢ Equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported. EYFS requirements for learning and development †¢ All Early year providers must help children work towards the early learning goals, the knowledge, skills and understanding a child should have by the end of the academic year in which they turn five. †¢ Shape activities and experiences within the setting to enable every child to have the best chance of reaching these learning goals. †¢ Set in place assessment arrangements and requirements for measuring progress and for reporting to parents and/or carers. EYFS requirements for safeguarding and welfare Early years providers must set in place requirements to ensure a child’s safety and promote their welfare taking into account the following points. †¢ Every child is different and unique and children who are constantly learning will become more confident, independent, and grow in self-esteem. †¢ Positive relationships enable children to be strong and independent †¢ A nourishing environment which responds to a child’s individual needs will enable them to learn and develop well. This will also be the case through a good strong partnership between parent/care and care giver. †¢ Children learn and develop in different ways and at different speeds.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Ratio Analysis for Building Company

Ratio Analysis for Building Company Title: Ratio analysis for Bellway Company About Bellway plc The Bellway Group is one of the largest housebuilders in the U.K. It was established in 1946 by John T.Bells and his two sons[1].The Group’s operations are spread throughout the country. The key activities of the Group include: land acquisition, finance, planning, architecture, design, build management, marketing and customer service. Bellway builds low-cost homes and apartment blocks on disused or abandoned sites. Position and Strategy Bellway sells around 6,000 houses every year and has till date provided more than 100,000 homes. The houses are designed, built and marketed by local teams operating from regional offices. These offices are managed and staffed by local people. The company employs about 2,000 people with varying expertise. Corporate Social Responsibility The Group has adopted five principles in their day-to-day operations to minimise the environmental effects of the building process and create sustainable communities: â€Å"Protection of the environment Prudent use of natural resources Creating environments that have the potential to add to economic growth and employment opportunities Social considerations that recognise the needs for a changing and advancing population The creation of communities that will endure and where people will aspire to live† Source: Bellway p.l.c. Annual Report Accounts 2007 The Group reports on these five principles in its Annual Report. Performance Overview of Bellway Group The housing industry has been facing challenging market conditions since the last few months. However the Chairman of the Group has made the following statement in the Annual Report of the Group for the year ended 31 July 2007. â€Å"Bellway has, yet again, produced a very good set of results for the year ended 31 July. The Group continues to deliver organic growth in volumes and earnings despite the challenging market conditions experienced by the housing industry over the last twelve months.† The present paper attempts to examine the reality of the statement by doing a ratio analysis to assess the financial health of the Group based on its Annual Reports for the year ended 31 July 2007. Performance Overview The key highlights of performance in the year ended July 2007 over the previous year are given in the table[2] below: In the next section a detailed analysis of the financial performance and health of the Group has been examined on the basis of: Performance Ratios Working Capital Efficiency Ratios Investment Ratios Financial Status Ratios PERFORMANCE RATIOS Return on capital employed (ROCE) Profit before Tax and Interest Payable = x 100 Total Assets less Current Liabilities * This is taken as equal to operating profit plus interest income The ROCE of the Group is around 22% in the year ended 2007. Despite a 6.5% increase in the Profit before Tax and Interest Payable in 2007, the ROCE stands at the same figure as in 2006. This only indicates that the net assets have also increased in the same proportion as profits. However, there has been no improvement in the efficiency in employing theses net assets to generate profits. Moreover, ROCE for the Group is lower than five year average ROCE achieved by builders over UK which stands at 25–30%[3]. Thus, the efficiency in employing net assets to generate profits for the Group is lower than the Industry average. Asset turnover Sales Turnover = Total Assets less Current Liabilities The asset turnover ratio of 1.165 indicates that a sale of  £1.165 is generated from each  £ invested in assets by the Group. This ratio has increased by around 3.6% in 2007 over 2006 which is a good sign. The increase is primarily due to an increase in total assets and also a corresponding increase in the sales turnover. Net profit margin Profit before Tax and Interest Payable = x 100 Sales turnover *This is taken as equal to operating profit plus interest income Despite the increase in profit before interest and taxes and also sales turnover, there is a slight decline in the net profit margin from 19.5% in the year ended 2006 to 19.1% in the year ended 2007. The decline indicates that proportionate increase in cost of operations has been higher than the increase in sales. Thus, there has been a decline in the efficiency of sales to generate profits. Gross profit margin Gross Profit = x 100 Sales turnover There has been a decrease in the gross profit margin of the Group by 0.6% despite the increase in sales revenue. The decline in the gross profit margin has been due to a larger increase in cost of sales as compared to corresponding increase in sales. Sales revenue has increased by 9.2% over 2006. The corresponding increase in cost of sales has been 9.9%. The decline in the gross profit margin also explains to certain extent the decline in net profit margin. WORKING CAPITAL EFFICIENCY RATIOS Inventories (or stock) turnover Stocks and Work in Progress = x 365 Purchases (or Cost of Sales) The housebuilding industry by its very nature has slow moving stock / inventory. In 2007, as compared to 2006, there has been a decline in the number of days the stock takes to be converted into sales. The stock is getting converted into sales in 538.65 days in 2007 as compared to 552.16 days. This is an improvement of around 2.4% over 2006. Trade receivables (or trade debtors) turnover Trade Debtors = x 365 Sales Turnover * All sales are assumed to be on credit Though it takes less than 1 week to collect receivables, the increase in the time taken to receive payments from customers must be examined carefully before it gets out of hands. An increasing ratio also indicates that the company is taking more time for collecting its payments. Thus, each  £1 of its sales revenue stays tied up in trade receivables for a longer period. Trade payables (or trade creditors) turnover Trade Creditors = x 365 Cost of Sales ** All purchases are assumed to be on credit There has been a decline in the average settlement period for trade creditors by almost 17%. This is not a good sign as trade credit is a type of free finance available to a company. A declining ratio indicates that suppliers in the year ended 2007 gave a lower credit period to the Group as compared to the previous year. This becomes a bigger cause of concern as the Stock Turnover ratio for the Group stands at a high figure. It may also have adverse implications for the Group’s liquidity position. INVESTMENT RATIOS Earnings per share (EPS) Profit before Ordinary Dividend = No. of Ordinary Shares in issue EPS reflects upon share performance. Thus EPS trend of the Group highlights the investment potential of its shares. It also highlights the possibility that the company will pay a dividend[8]. There has been a 6.2% growth in the diluted EPS of the Group in the year ended 2007 as compared to 2006. This indicates that the potential of the shares of the Group is growing. This increase in EPS is primarily due to an increase in the profits with no corresponding increase in tax rates. Price earnings ratio(PE) Market Value per Share = Earning per share In general, if the PE ratio of a company is high it implies that investors are optimistic about the company’s future and are expectinghigher earningsgrowthin the future compared to companies with alower PE. However, the ratio can only be interpreted appropriately when compared to historical PE ratio or industry benchmarks. Group’s historical PE ratio The PE ratio for the Group has been constant over the previous two years. The ratio needs to be examined in light of the deteriorating industry scenario over the last two months. The PE ratio calculated above may not hold true today and would have declined substantially. This is because housebuilding is a cyclical business where earnings fall exponentially as sales prices decline. Recent times have seen a substantial decline in sale prices. If the PE is calculated at the share price of 713.5p[9] as on 25 April 2008, assuming earnings to be constant at 31 July 2007 level, it will be only 4.9. Thus, actual PE will be lower. Industry average The following diagram[10] highlights the PE ratios of 8 leading housebuilders in UK as on 21 July 2007. The diagram clearly indicates that Bellway is towards the lower end of the selected companies in the industry UK with regard to its PE ratio Dividend yield Latest Annual Dividends = x 100 Current market share price The dividend yield at the current price as on 25 April 2008 = (43.125 / 713.5) % = 6% However, the market price of shares for the Group is much lower than it was a year ago. Historically, the dividend yield has been as indicated in the table below: Dividend cover Profit on ordinary activities after taxation = Ordinary Dividend The dividend cover has fallen despite the fact that the profits have increased. A declining trend makes dividend less secure. However it is not a cause of concern for the Group as the dividend cover is much better than many other companies in the industry. For example, housebuilder Persimmon has cover of 2.69[11]. Thus, if the Group has a cover of more than 3, it could maintain its payout more than thrice over. Return on equity (ROE) Profit on ordinary activities after taxation = x 100 Equity shareholders’ funds The Group shows a decline in this ratio in 2007 over 2006. The decline may be primarily due to increase in equity shareholders’ funds. FINANCIAL STATUS RATIOS Working capital ratio (WCR) Current Assets = Current liabilities The accepted norm for the WCR ratio is that current assets should be double the current liabilities. However, the norm varies with industry. In the case of the Group the ratio has declined but it is higher than the accepted norm. However, a closer analysis indicates that the Group faces a liquidity crisis. A close examination of the current assets indicates that inventories constitute more than 95% of the current assets. This, added to a high stock turnover ratio, will not let the Group meet its current obligations. A clearer picture of the liquidity is provided by the Quick Asset ratio. Quick assets ratio (QAR) Current Assets Stocks = Current liabilities The norm for this ratio is 1: 1. However, it again varies from business to business. The ratio is far below the norm. In other words, the Group has no way of covering up its current obligations. This is a cause of concern and can lead to survival problems also if the condition persists. Gearing Long-term Debt + Preference Shares = Total Assets less Current Liabilities *These include preference shares of  £20,000,000 in both the years The gearing or dependence on debt has decreased by about 7% for the Group. Thus, there has been a decline in the Group’s risk as lesser amount is committed for periodic interest and repayment commitments. This is especially welcome in the time of deteriorating housing market conditions. Interest cover Profit before Tax and Interest Payable = Interest payable Despite the decline in gearing, the Group’s interest cover for the year ended 31 July 2007 also shows a slight decline. The decrease in interest cover from last year is due to a higher increase in net interest payable than increase in profit before tax and interest. Conclusion: To conclude it can be said that Bellway has performed well in the year ended July 2007 over 2006 in terms of profitability as well as increased sales. However, it faces a major short-term liquidity crisis. This is a cause of concern as the UKs housebuilding industry, in general, is expected to be facing more difficult times ahead due to credit crunch and declining consumer demand. References: Atrill Peter McLaney Eddie, Financial Accounting for Decision Makers, 5th ed. 2008 , FT Prentice Hall Barker Review Interim Report, The Housebuilding Industry, accessed from http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/2/9/barkerreview_interim_chapters4to6.pdf Bellway p.l.c. Annual Report Accounts 2007 Elliott B. and J. Elliott, Financial Accounting and Reporting, 11th ed. 2007, FT Prentice Hall HIFIC Barnard Report, Future Trends in Timber Construction and Implications for HIE Region, accessed from www.forestryscotland.com/pages/download2.asp?file=attachments/HIFIC_Forres%2007_Barnard.pdf Steed, Alison, Five ‘safe’ shares for hard times, The Sunday Times 20 April, 2008 Team Limited, The Cartel- Like Industry, accessed from http://www.teamlimited.co.uk/Assets/pdf/Building-Barriers.pdf Yahoo finance, accessed from http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=BWY.L Hemscott website accessed from www.hemscott.com Brief: 209439Page 1 of 13 [1] Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=BWY.L [2] Source: Bellway p.l.c. Annual Report Accounts 2007 [3] HIFIC Barnard Report, Future Trends in Timber Construction and Implications for HIE Region, accessed from www.forestryscotland.com/pages/download2.asp?file=attachments/HIFIC_Forres 07_Barnard.pdf [4] Ideally average stock and work in progress figures should be taken for calculating the ratio as they give more accurate ratios as average inventory accounts for any seasonality effects on the ratio. However, in the case of house building industry seasonality effect is not there. Moreover due to non-availability of 2005 figures, end of the year figures are used. . [5] Ideally average trade debtors figures should be taken for calculating the ratio as they give more accurate ratios. However, due to non-availability of 2005 figures, end of the year figures are used.. Trade receivables do not include other receivables not arising from sales (Refer Note 13 of Bellway Annual Report pp 68) [6] Ideally average trade creditors’ figures should be taken for calculating the ratio as they give more accurate ratios. However, due to non-availability of 2005 figures, end of the year figures are used. Trade payables do not include other payables not arising from purchases (Refer Note 15 of Bellway Annual Report pp 69) [7] Diluted EPS is based on the total outstanding shares after all Options and awards have been exercised. [8] EPS only indicates the possibility of a dividend. However, dividend decision is a corporate decision and there is no rule of thumb regarding its size and frequency. [9] http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=BWY.L [10] Based on PE ratios published on 21 July 2007 by www.hemscott.com [11] Steed, Alison, The Sunday Times, 20 April 2008

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Was the War of 1812 Pointless? :: American America History

Was the War of 1812 Pointless? The War of 1812 proved to be the most serious challenge to face the United States since the country's birth. This 'Second war of Independence' perhaps changed American history as we know it though. This essay will discuss the causes for this war assessing whether there actually were valid reasons for the United States and Britain going to war or whether the whole 1812 war was just born out of "pointless aggression" The war of 1812 was a very unnecessary war. It broke out just as one of its chief causes (The Orders in Council) was removed and its greatest battle (New Orleans) was fought just after peace was signed. The war was unnecessary from a British point of view but for the Americans it was inescapable. The Royal Navy had kidnapped 3,800 American sailors and pressed them into service. The Orders In Council had deprived the United States of a profitable trade with France and can be seen as having ruthlessly subordinated American economic interests to the political interests of the British Empire. American farmers also blamed the orders, perhaps unfairly, for a fall in agricultural prices that produced a depression in the West in the years immediately before the war. On the frontier it was universally believed that Indian restlessness war stirred up by British agents although really American oppression has to be seen as a big cause of this too. America's war with Britain seemed inevitable although the Americans did everything they decently could to avoid it, although there seemed to be endless provocation by Britain, for example in 1807 when a British frigate, the leopard opened fire on an American frigate the Chesapeake. The choice before America, Jefferson the former president and his successor Madison agreed was war or submission - to fight or to undo one of the main achievements of the revolution and accept total defeat in international affairs to England. As John Quincy Adams put it "It was not a matter of dollars and cents, no alternative was left but war or the abandonment of our right as an independent nation" The offences committed against the United States were the major provocation's for the war, reasons other then vindication can be regarded as rationalisation. There was an obvious anger for what British had done to America and many Americans merely wanted revenge but the war was fought for much more then that.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Dreams in Invisible Man Essay -- Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

   There are many types of dreams and many interpretations of those dreams. Dreams of power... of glory... of the past and the present... but none are as vivid as those that are found in Ralph Ellison's novel, Invisible Man. The dreams start occurring in the very beginning of Invisible Man. In the infamous "Reefer Dream", IM talks about a dream he had after he used narcotics. In this bizarre dream, IM hears a speech on "the blackness of black", is assaulted by the son of a former slave, and is run over by a speeding machine. All of this occurs while listening to "What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue?"(pgs 9-12). This is one of the most significant dreams in the book. In another important dream, IM's deceased grandfather gives him a letter that says," To Whom It May Concern, Keep this Nigger-Boy Running (Ellison 33)." At the time IM had no insight to its meaning, but this dream would constantly be used as a reference throughout the story. Trueblood has a dream about his home, Mobile, Alabama, that directly affects IM's future. At the same time, Trueblood was having sex ...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Anti-hero on Clockwork Orange and the film Unforgiven

The Idea of an antithesis to an anti-hero began its first appear in literature as early as in the Greek novel Don Quixote, but the bloom of a modern time anti-hero can be traced back to the period of Romanticism. Through the view of an anti-hero, we are ultimately challenged to look at ourselves and our contemporary world and recognize the complexity of human condition.In Clockwork Orange and Unforgiving, the dichotomies relationship between two protagonists Alex and Will Mummy has demonstrated our deeper understanding of the notion of an anti-hero. Alex represents the common men chained by society and their own insignificance and shaped by his world. In abstract, he is Just a representation of his world; the â€Å"†¦ Slot machines†¦ † At the train station symbolizes the corruption of contemporary morals and that Alex is Just another reflection of this world. Similarly, the subverted motif of milk in the text exposes a dual Image of Innocence and transgression.Far fr om being symbols of purity and nurture, â€Å"Innocent milk† which Alex drinks portrays the child-Like act contaminated as an instrument to heighten their inclination for â€Å"ultra violence†, furthering the idea hat Alex is a product of his environment. In other words, Alex is the inevitable socially and environmentally influenced personality of our nature and our world. Also, Alex shows common traits of anti-hero, the absolute lack of masculinity and heroism through his acts of violence and impotency.His vandalism In the train â€Å"†¦ To pass the three minute ride†¦ † Suggests that violence Is a source of entertainment and amusement In the matters of something as simple and common as time. Even though his brutality and ignorance are immature and despicable, it is also that sense of free rein to his violent impulses which makes him human. When violence is used against him and makes him â€Å"good†, it implies that that goodness is inauthentic and only driven by deterministic mechanism.Therefore, Alex illustrates that true goodness comes from within and evil is necessary in being a complete human being. On the other hand, Will Mummy depicts a starkly opposite anti-heroic qualities to Alex but an anti-hero that Is far Innately human condition. The literal metaphor of Will Mummy rolling in mud emphasizes everything he sacrificed to become a decent paternal figure. Likewise, he recognizes and accepts his past morally baseless man that killed †¦ Everything that walks or crawls at one time or another. † , and thus indicating he is debased of any pretension.The close shot of Will rejecting a â€Å"free one† represents his self-actualization which pervades the film until Will divorces his quest. Throughout the film, his Incessant allusion to his wife as the reason for his arc of change highlights that we as humans are complex, more confusing and more relating by our nature. Moreover, the old western setting in unforgiving effectively lends itself to the anti-hero. In such harsh and desolate environment, Will's financial hardship leads IM to be morally ambiguous to survive and allows him to commit villainous acts for good reason.In addition, the sense of lawlessness In the Old West empowers the significant role of the sheriff as the absolute personification of law. Similar to Will ruthless enforcements. Not only that, Little Bill's dramatic foil highlights the utilization of violence in Will's morally ambiguous quest. Through Will, we can identify the scarred humanity innately progressing through the world. In the comparison of Alex and Will Mummy, amalgamation of good and evil, use of violence and ironic moral ambiguity could be understood as a full-value representative of an anti-hero.It is clear that in spite of differences in background and social frailties, both protagonists employ violence in defense of individuality or to survive. The dark side of Will's nature resurfaces at the en d revealing his failure to remain a noble man, and Alex is deprived of the possibility to choose which signifies free will and existence of the self. Moreover, the visual depiction of Will and Ale's anti-heroism motivates us to reflect more on our self-actualization and positions us to hate and feel moral ambiguity bout the character and towards the character.They are portrayed to have flaws but held fast to their true nature, and thus show the real human nature. To conclude, the two dichotomous characters are Juxtaposed and combined to represent two anti- heroes that we can realistically and sympathetically relate to in spite of their undesirable true nature, furthering that they are necessary and fundamental part of human nature. Therefore, the realistic traits of an anti-hero exemplify the complex human nature and ultimately connect us to their lack of conventional greatness and our own world and humanity.

Monday, September 16, 2019

4ps of Ryanair Budget Airline

Ryanair was the first budget airline in Europe, modeled after the successful U. S. low cost carrier, Southwest Airlines. Ryanair is one of the oldest and most successful low-cost airlines in Europe, the third largest airline in Europe in terms of number of passenger and the largest in the world in terms of international passengers’ numbers. For this article, I had provided the 4 Ps, which is Product, Price, Place, and Promotion for Ryanair. PRODUCT Ryanair was a brand for the budget airline.It also can define as a product because when people want to buy the airline ticket in cheaper price, they will automatically think about Ryanair. Transportation is the main product for Ryanair. It provides services of travel from one location to another location with comfortable environment and shortest duration as well. Moreover, passengers feel convenient to make booking through the internet or phone call at any time. Besides, food and beverage is another product of Ryanair.Ryanair offer the food and beverage to passengers throughout the flight who purchase on board programmed. At the same time, Ryanair also provide the services which are serve food and drinks to passengers or fulfill the passengers’ requirement if available. Ryanair not only offer the transportation and food and service to passengers, it also offer the experience to passengers which is sold the cheaper ticket to passenger to enjoy or getting experience to flight.PRICE Ryanair offer the lowest cost of fares than other competitors in aviation industry because Ryanair stand at the position that the price is the key element of its brand and the price is more important than the product itself to the passengers, so within the low price as the long term strategy, Ryanair use different pricing, which means that off- peak travelling and booking in advance can make a ticket cheaper compare with normal day.In the same time, Ryanair are discriminate massively, safe in the knowledge that nobody can buy u p loads of cheap tickets and flog them to people who would otherwise only qualify for the wallet-draining latecomers specials. On the other hand, Ryanair will continue to lower the fares and increase the percentage of seat for which it only charge for taxes and landing fees. For the boarding pass, passengers are required to print out their own boarding pass since the checking in services at the airport has been discontinued.Therefore, for passengers who arrive at airport without a pre-printed online will have to pay â‚ ¬40 for their boarding pass to be re-issued. The Ryanair has also replaced the free online check- in with a â‚ ¬5 online check- in fee which is charged per person, per flight. PLACE Ryanair emphasize that booking seat is only possible in website or â€Å"Ryanair direct† call- centre, no other possibilities are officially offered.The Ryanair has started the website in the year of 2000, the number of passenger who made online booking had been increased trem endously because of the lower flight prices are selling direct to the passenger and the cost imposed by travel agents are excluding. Besides, the airport also located at strategic place where passengers’ can take the transport from town area to airport directly which included coach, limousine and etc. PROMOTION The advertising that is made by Ryanair about charging passengers ? to use the toilet on their flights is actually to gain the media and public attention. Ryanair often use their advertising to make direct comparison and attack their competitor by comparing price. In one case, the Sabena sued the Ryanair because one of the advertisement that advertise by Ryanair are misleading and offensive, so that, the Ryanair was discontinued the advertisement and also publish the apology on their website. In the same time, Ryanair used the apologized for futher advertising to gain people attention.Because of this case, through the website, more and more people know Ryanair and Ryan air had come out more and more promotion to attract people, such as ? 8 seats for travel during September and October, including some taxes and charges. It is very worth for passengers because the price is very cheaper. Besides that, through the seasonality, Ryanair running a promotion which is current 30% off fares UK promotion runs from 22 – 25 January 2010 for flights departing from 5 February – 25 March 2010 to certain country.This message had been updated or post in the Ryanair website and it also become a headline of the newspaper. The passengers who want to make a book have to book at least 14 days in advance via Ryanair website or by phone call. At the same time, in order to pay the lowest quoted fare, the passengers need to pay by master card or prepaid debit card to avoid the ? 5 per person per flight admin fee, and the passengers can take one piece of hand luggage which lowers than 7 Kg.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Participatory Notes Essay

Participatory Notes commonly know as P-Notes or PNs are instruments issued by registered foreign institutional investors (FII) to overseas investors, who wish to invest in the Indian stock markets without registering themselves with the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India – SEBI. SEBI permitted foreign institutional investors to register and participate in the Indian stock market in 1992. Investing through P-Notes is very simple and hence very popular amongst foreign institutional investors. Contents 1 Working 2 Need 3 Participatory Notes Crisis of 2007 4 Trends in PN 5 References Working Participatory notes are instruments used for making investments in the stock markets. However, they are not used within the country. They are used outside India for making investments in shares listed in that country. That is why they are also called offshore derivative instruments. In the Indian context, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and their sub-accounts mostly use these instruments for facilitating the participation of their overseas clients, who are not interested in participating directly in the Indian stock market. For example, Indian-based brokerages buy India-based securities and then issue participatory notes to foreign investors. Any dividends or capital gains collected from the underlying securities go back to the investors. Need Anonymity: Any entity investing in participatory notes is not required to register with SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), whereas all FIIs have to compulsorily get registered. It enables large hedge funds to carry out their operations without disclosing their identity. Ease of Trading: Trading through participatory notes is easy because participatory notes are like contract notes transferable by endorsement and delivery. Tax Saving: Some of the entities route their investment through participatory notes to take advantage of the tax laws of certain preferred countries. Money Laundering: PNs are becoming a favourite with a host of Indian money launderers who use them to first take funds out of country through hawala and then get it back using PNs.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

American International Competitiveness

Since the beginning of the 1970s, the United States has experienced a virtual trade revolution. Trade has increased much faster than the economy as a whole. Both imports and exports expanded during the past 15 years. In the late 1970s, imports started outstripping exports by historically large margins. A merchandise trade deficit has been present every year since 1976. Moreover, this deficit has increased dramatically in the 1980s. What economic changes underlie the shift in U. S. competitiveness evidenced by the recent trade deficits?While economists who have addressed this question have employed different approaches, most have examined changes in macroeconomic variables to see if they generated the economic pressures that led to the recent trade deficits. Economists who have employed this approach have generally concluded that macroeconomic changes probably are the cause of the recent deficits. Although macroeconomic theory suggests that trade deficits may be associated with a wide variety of factors, two events in the late 1970s and early 1980s have received particular attention: the rise in U. S.aggregate demand relative to foreign aggregate demand and the increase in U. S. interest rates relative to foreign interest rates. Both may have been spurred by the U. S. government's budget deficit. The excess of spending over income provided a powerful expansionary fiscal policy while higher interest rates had to be used to attract foreign and domestic investors to finance the growth in debt. A relative increase in aggregate demand, whatever its source, is expected to lead to a trade deficit because a country's demand for imports is positively associated with the level of its aggregate demand.In this instance, the theory predicts that U. S. demand for imports will rise relative to foreign demand for U. S. exports as U. S. aggregate demand grows relative to foreign aggregate demand. A relative increase in U. S. interest rates can also lead to trade deficits by incr easing foreign demand for U. S. financial assets. The link between financial flows that respond to interest rate changes and trade deficits is evident in standard balance of payments accounting relationships.The accounting relationships used in defining trade deficits require that a nation's current account (comprised of the merchandise trade balance, the balance of trade on services, and net unilateral transfers) equals in size, but with opposite sign, the capital account. In other words, if there are capital inflows, then there must be a trade deficit. Given this accounting relationship, the inflow of foreign capital that is attracted by relatively high U. S. interest rates must lead to a trade deficit to satisfy the fundamental accounting identities that underlie balance of payments accounting (McCulloch, 1978).While explanations of recent trade deficits that are based on fundamental macroeconomic relationships are attractive to economists, many commentators have advanced alterna tive explanations that are rooted in microeconomic relationships. These commentators believe that the microeconomic characteristics have changed in ways that explain the relatively sudden substantial increases in imports and net imports. In addition, public opinion, for one reason or another, has not fully accepted the power of the macroeconomic explanations for the trade deficits.We shall therefore investigate these explanations that have been offered by various sources. The logical connections between these microeconomic changes and trade deficits have not been clearly drawn. In particular, supporters of these microeconomic-based hypotheses have ignored the fact that (absent macroeconomic adjustments) changes in the exchange rate could compensate for shifts in microeconomic relationships, leaving trade flows in balance (Tarr, 1985). While the link between alleged microeconomic changes and trade deficits is unclear, empirical analysis of the microeconomic explanations can still be very useful.Specifically, if we find that the alleged microeconomic changes in the structure of trade have not occurred, then we will be in a position to reject the microeconomic explanations directly. For advocates of the microeconomic explanations, this approach may be more convincing than one that evaluates the microeconomic explanations indirectly through the use of general equilibrium or macroeconomic models. The microeconomic explanations have focused on identifying three types of microeconomic changes. First, there may be technological changes that alter trade flows.For example, changes in an industry's technology may alter factor intensities so that particular inputs are less important to successful international competition. Second, policy changes may alter trade flows through their effect on the openness of U. S. or other economies or through their effect on the relative cost structure of U. S. manufacturers. Changes in tariff, quotas, or government subsidies clearly can h ave this effect, but other government policies may also be important. Third, the availability of needed inputs may change so that the competitive position of U.S. firms is altered. For example, when abundant mineral resources continue to be key for production, the U. S. position will change as the United States exhausts its relative supply of these needed resources. According to some commentators, any or all of these types of microeconomic changes might lead to growth in the manufacturing trade deficit. As a result, they have received substantial public attention. If changes in microeconomic factors are the source of recent trade deficits, we should observe a recent and major shift in the pattern of U. S.trade, since some industries will be more sensitive to changes in particular microeconomic factors than other industries or experience bigger changes in these factors. For instance, if relative U. S. wage rates have become more important in international competition, we should obser ve a particularly large rise in net imports in industries that employ relatively large amounts of high-cost labor or have experienced particularly large increases in labor costs. In contrast, if macroeconomic variables underlie the recent deficits, this type of structural shift in trade flows is less likely to be present (Drucker, 1985).As a result, we can reject many of the microeconomic explanations of recent trade deficits that have been advanced if we observe that economic relationships that traditionally have advantaged some industries over others in international trade have been stable and that key industry characteristics, such as labor intensity, have also been stable. In the case of U. S. wage rates, if the relationship between wage rates and imports has not changed over time, and U. S. wage rates relative to those in other countries have not changed significantly, then wage rates are unlikely to have contributed to the increased trade deficit.Of course, if we do find that the alleged microeconomic changes have occurred, the growth in the trade deficit can not be attributed to them unless logical causal relationships can be identified that are consistent with international trade accounting identities. Factors associated with U. S. competitiveness in trade appear to have been relatively stable throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Manufacturing operations located in the States retain their traditional competitive advantage in production that requires sophisticated know-how and continue to experience a competitive disadvantage in production that uses unskilled labour intensively.Moreover, it appears that, to the extent change has occurred, these relationships have strengthened over time (Marston 1986). Yet, as others have pointed out, the competitive performance of many U. S. industries appears to have declined (Landau and Rosenberg, 1986). Can these two observations be consistent? The competitive performance of U. S. industries can decline because of c hanges that do not affect the relationships between trade flows and the industry characteristics. First, the characteristics of particular industries, such as their factor intensities, may have changed so that net imports increased.The higher unionization is associated with more imports, thus if unionization increased and this relationship remained stable, then unionization could be one cause of increased imports. Shifts in the relative competitiveness of an individual industry may reflect adjustments in the characteristics of the industry, within the context of stable comparative advantage relationships. For example, if strong R&D efforts are associated with strong exports, but industries reduce their R&D expenditures, export performance would be expected to decline even though the relationship between exports and R&D was stable.Put slightly differently, when relative factor abundancies are stable, changes in industrial input requirements will be reflected in shifts in the trade ba lance of particular U. S. industries. The rankings of industries with respect to their trade flows have been quite stable. While there have been some shifts in position during the last decade, statistical tests indicate that the shifting has not been substantial. The rank order of manufacturing industries by the level of net imports in 1975 is highly correlated with the rank order that existed in 1984.Industry characteristics available in time series have also been quite stable. The values for industry characteristics in 1975 are highly correlated with their values in 1981. Moreover, the changes in mean values for these variables are relatively small, especially for the variables that are most directly related to the seven proposed explanations of the trade deficits that we analyze. The variables available in time series include the primary variables used in traditional trade models. Simple macroeconomic relationships suggest that the rise in the trade deficit is likely to be associ ated with changes in macroeconomic variables.If this is true, then one would expect that many industries experienced a rise in their trade deficits (Benvignati, 1985). Consistent with this prediction, nearly all U. S. industries experienced declining international competitiveness to some degree between 1981 and 1984. In addition to this general confirmation of the macroeconomic explanations for trade deficits, there is direct support for the view that recent inflows of foreign capital, attracted by relatively high U. S. interest rates, and increases in U. S.aggregate demand relative to foreign aggregate demand are responsible for recent trade deficits. Specifically, exchange rates rose during the period studied and this led to an increase in net imports, as the macroeconomic theory of international financial flows predicts. Also there appears to be a positive association between recent increases in relative U. S. aggregate demand and net imports, as the aggregate demand theory sugge sts. According to the macroeconomic theory of international financial flows, higher U. S. interest rates will attract foreign capital. Since U. S.financial assets are denominated in dollars, this will lead to an increase in the demand for dollars. Because increases in the value of the dollar make U. S. goods more expensive relative to foreign goods, there will be a reduction in the international competitiveness of U. S. manufacturers. This decrease in competitiveness is expected to be reflected in higher net imports, causing the trade deficit to equal the surplus on the capital account. There is empirical support for this argument. U. S. industries appear to have been under severe competitive pressure because of the relatively high value of the dollar.For example, in the automobile industry, it has been argued that about $700 of the roughly $2,000 cost disadvantage of U. S. automobile manufacturers in 1983 was due to the unusually high exchange rate (Detroit Battle, 1983). Similarly , in steel, machine tools, textiles, and many other industries, analysts have pointed to exchange rates as an important source of the U. S. competitive disadvantage. As a result, it is not too surprising that the increase in the value of the dollar between 1980 and 1985 was associated with a decline in the U. S. trade balance.While the adverse effect of the increased value of the dollar on the competitive position of U. S. industries seems to have been quite widespread, the effect has been larger in some industries than others. In particular, it appears likely that the effect will be largest for products where the demand for U. S. exports and imports was quite elastic, since these products are most sensitive to changes in relative prices. For example, estimates of price elasticities by Baldwin (1976) indicate that these elasticities are particularly large (between 3. 20 and 4.4) in the case of metal working machinery and office/computing machines. According to macroeconomic theory, imports are likely to vary positively with the level of aggregate demand, other things being equal. Specifically, as U. S. incomes rise, the U. S. demand for imports is likely to rise. Moreover, if U. S. incomes rise relative to foreign incomes, the U. S. demand for imports should rise relative to the foreign demand for U. S. exports. As a result, macroeconomic theory predicts that, during these periods, U. S. demand for imports will rise relative to foreign demand for U. S.exports and growing trade deficits are more likely. At the end of 1982, the U. S. balance of payments deficit appears to have been reduced by aggregate demand effects, since the U. S. demand was falling relative to foreign demand. However, in 1983 and 1984 the U. S. economy grew relative to the economies of its trading partners (Economic Report of the President 1986). The relatively strong U. S. recovery and the general worldwide recession were associated with a sharp rise in the U. S. trade deficit (Economic Rep ort of the President 1985). There is no conflict between the observation that U.S. trade deficits have risen and the finding that U. S. comparative advantage relationships have been relatively stable over the last decade. Evidently, there have been shifts in macroeconomic variables that have increased the level of imports in most industries, without shifting trade patterns across industries significantly. While other types of changes, such as shifts in omitted microeconomic variables or changes in the magnitudes of included variables, would also make the two observations consistent, these alternative explanations are not nearly as important.Moreover, simple macroeconomic theories and available empirical evidence suggest strongly that macroeconomic forces underlie the growth of recent trade deficits. Changes in most microeconomic variables have either been gradual or narrowly focused. As a result, they are unlikely to generate the large trade deficits that are observed. Only the chan ges in international capital flows (with associated changes in exchange rates) and, for part of the period, changes in the relative levels of aggregate demand, have been large enough and sharp enough to explain the sudden rise in net imports. The growth of direct foreign investment by U.S. firms during the last decade reflects, in part, the exploitation of their advanced technological and organizational know-how. This stability in the fundamental comparative advantage relationships is inconsistent with widely held views linking microeconomic changes to the growth in the trade deficit during the 1980s. Macroeconomic models provide explanations that are much more consistent with empirical observations. We conclude, as have macroeconomists, that changes in macroeconomic factors, rather than any of the many microeconomic explanations that have been advanced, underlie recent U.S. trade deficits. The comparative advantage structure that determines a country's trade patterns changes only s lowly. For the United States, comparative advantage forces have meant, and still mean, that the country is a net importer of commodities that are efficiently produced with relatively large amounts of unskilled labour and a net exporter of commodities that require the relatively intensive use of skilled labour. These basic relationships have not changed significantly during the 1970s or early 1980s.Similarly, the United States continues to be disadvantaged in industries that are energy-intensive, use depleting natural resources, or are heavily unionized. Higher minimum efficient scale requirements and higher R&D intensity continue to be associated with both higher imports and higher exports. Only weak relationships exist between capital intensity or industry concentration and the strength of the U. S. trade position. The relationships between industry characteristics and trade flows are evident despite the presence of tariff and nontariff barriers and other government trade policies. Moreover, the effects of trade policies appear to be weak relative to the economic forces that result from differences in comparative advantage. Nonetheless, trade policies do have identifiable effects. As one would expect, U. S. tariff and nontariff barriers are associated with lower net import levels. However, the statistical findings for foreign trade barriers are less clear. We attribute this to the fact that U. S. exporters face different trade barriers in different countries. It may be the case that strong U. S.exports continue in many countries although these exports face substantial barriers in other countries. In addition, foreign trade barriers and industrial targeting efforts may arise as a reaction to U. S. export successes, yet not be strong enough to make a substantial reduction in U. S. exports in foreign markets generally. Analyses of U. S. imports and exports test the competitiveness of the States as a geographical unit. However, these analyses do not capture fully the competitiveness of U. S. -controlled firms, since many U. S.firms are multinationals. To measure the competitiveness of U. S. -controlled firms, output manufactured abroad using U. S. know-how must be considered (Marston, 1986). Similarly, U. S. output must be adjusted for output produced by foreign-controlled multinationals in the United States. To a large extent, the additional perspective offered by the analysis of the adjusted trade flow data simply confirms the findings based on the unadjusted data. The United States remains relatively strong in the same industries where it was strong in the previous decade.However, when the trade flow data are adjusted to reflect the presence of multinational corporations, some structural changes in trade patterns become evident. Basically, these changes evidence a strengthening of the relationships that have traditionally shaped U. S. trade flows. Apparently U. S. firms have increasingly exploited their more mobile competitive strengths b y investing abroad. There is some evidence that this effort has been undertaken to overcome historical comparative disadvantages associated with producing in the States.Most notably, there is some evidence that this foreign investment is increasingly prominent in industries that are heavily unionized. Together, the analyses of adjusted and unadjusted trade flow data indicate that U. S. firms are not losing their relative competitive strengths. The adjusted data suggest that some changes are occurring in international direct investment, but these changes have not been echoed in changes in the composition of U. S. net imports. The gradual nature of any changes that are occurring highlights the basic stability of the structure of U. S. trade flows.The structural stability that we observe is consistent with the view that shifts in microeconomic relationships are not an important source of recent trade deficits. Absent evidence of changes, there is no reason to believe that these potenti al microeconomic issues contend with macroeconomic factors as the real explanations for the large observed increases in the U. S. trade deficit. Turning to the first two microeconomic explanations (high labor cost explanation and union work rule explanation), traditional relationships between labor market variables and trade patterns still hold.The United States continues to be at a comparative disadvantage in labor-intensive industries. To the extent there has been change, it has been gradual and statistically insignificant. Moreover, the United States appears to be doing well, and has slightly improved its performance, in high-wage industries. Evidently, the advantage continues in industries where human capital is important. While union activities have affected the structure of U. S. manufacturing industries, this impact has been different from that suggested in the second explanation.No change in the relationship between unionization and U. S. trade flows has taken place. However , various studies do suggest that multinational corporations in unionized industries have shifted larger and larger shares of their output overseas. Apparently, this direct investment has added to U. S. -controlled output, rather than entirely substituting for exports from unionized industries located in the States. The third and fourth explanations (foreign government trade practices explanation and OPEC cartel explanation) involve actions taken by foreign governments.Foreign governments do not appear to have uniformly targeted â€Å"U. S. industries†Ã¢â‚¬â€œthat is, industries where the United States has had a competitive advantage. While foreign government interventions are evident, these efforts vary from country to country and do not appear to have a significant effect on overall U. S. trade patterns. This does not mean that particular foreign tariffs, nontariff barriers, or targeting subsidies could not disrupt natural trade flows. However, it does mean that currently t hese effects are limited among our major trading partners (Maskus 1981).Actions by foreign governments that may have supported OPEC's efforts to raise energy prices did not significantly alter the structure of U. S. manufacturing trade, as the fourth proposition contends. The increases in world energy prices during the 1970s were dramatic and clearly had a significant effect on the overall balance of payments. However, only when trade flows are adjusted to recognize the presence of multinationals is there a significant change in the comparative advantage structure across manufacturing industries. Turning to the fifth microeconomic explanation (declining R&D explanation), U. S.firms have not lost their comparative advantage in R&D-intensive products. While U. S. imports of high-technology products have increased over time, so have exports. Moreover, the overall structural relationships that determine U. S. comparative advantages with respect to R&D do not appear to have changed signi ficantly. To the extent change is evident; it appears that the growth of U. S. multinational firms has allowed them to exploit their comparative advantages in high technology through their foreign affiliates. The remaining explanations (inadequate investment explanation and antitrust explanation) involve policies of the U.S. government. According to these two explanations, high taxes on capital formation and overly aggressive antitrust enforcement efforts have undermined the competitiveness of U. S. firms. The notion that relatively high taxes on capital, and resulting lower U. S. investment rates, have led to a growing U. S. disadvantage in capital-intensive industries is not confirmed by the statistical tests. While some earlier studies using 1958 to 1976 data found that the United States had a growing comparative disadvantage in capital-intensive industries, this trend did not continue in the late 1970s and early 1980s (Maskus 1981).The United States was a strong exporter in indu stries where economies of scale (MES) are important. Moreover, we did not find substantial advantages of concentration beyond the levels associated with these plant- level scale economies. There also was no sign of significant changes in the comparative advantage relationships with respect to scalerelated or concentration-related variables. Conclusion Given the stability of U. S. comparative advantage relationships over time, why has the U. S. trade deficit increased by so much?For some industries, the rise in net imports may simply reflect the fact that the characteristics of the industry have changed, so U. S. firms no longer have a comparative advantage. In particular, when the know-how needed to produce a commodity becomes standardized and cheap labour becomes a relatively more important input, we should expect that U. S. manufacturers will lose share to foreign manufacturers. As is suggested by simple macroeconomic models, much of the rise in net imports appears to be attributa ble to macroeconomic forces that have more than offset the advantages that U.S. firms have traditionally had in some industries. In fact, most industries have experienced increased levels of imports, suggesting that economy-wide changes underlie the problem. Examination of macroeconomic variables that could produce this type of shift in trade flows confirms that the rise in interest rates with the associated increase in the value of the dollar and, during some recent periods, the relatively rapid growth of U. S. aggregate demand appear to have stimulated net imports generally.Generally, there has been relatively little shifting in either comparative advantage relationships or in industry characteristics that affect imports and exports. Indeed, the growth in direct foreign investment, which appears to support the most dramatic changes that have occurred, has been associated with the exploitation of traditional U. S. advantages. Moreover, the shift in the overall position of the Unite d States relative to its trading partners has been fairly general, which is consistent with the argument that individual microeconomic explanations are unlikely to explain much of the recent rise in U.S. trade deficits. Given this finding, it is probable that the U. S. recent loss in competitive position is largely attributable to macroeconomic forces. In particular, it appears likely that changes in relative interest rates and levels of aggregate demand best explain most of the recent increases in the U. S. trade deficit. Both of these may be related to large increases in the government's budget deficit. The rise in trade deficits during the 1970s and 1980s led to substantial concern about the competitiveness of U. S. firms.Many of the microeconomic explanations that have been advanced to explain the recent deficits do not appear to be supported by available empirical evidence. Because these microeconomic explanations do not explain the recent trade deficits, policy prescriptions b ased on shifting microeconomic variables are a poor bet to change trade flows fundamentally. In particular, wage restrictions, trade restrictions, subsidization programs, and policies that promote market concentration are unlikely to alter the trade deficit substantially. Indeed, efforts to implement these policies are likely to hurt U. S.competitiveness, as interest groups attach riders to legislation that promotes their special interests at the expense of the broader economy. Focusing the public debate on microeconomic factors rather than macroeconomic factors seems to be, at best, ill-advised. It tends to distract the public from the real, difficult issues of government deficits, international investment, and economic growth. More likely, it provides a convenient cloak in which to wrap the costly protections so fervently sought by special interest groups that ultimately increase costs, retard productivity growth, and harm consumers.Since the strategic use of trade policies can di sadvantage one country at the expense of another, it is better to view findings as indicating that care must be taken in responding to recent trade deficits. Specifically, policy makers must be careful that they are not so caught up in the dramatic deficits that they accede to special interest groups that have inappropriately linked their troubles to those of the economy as a whole (Krugman, 1986). History provides very little reason to believe that such objectivity is possible in trade policy. Failure to exercise caution has its risks.Not only can the improper protectionist policies cause sizeable immediate losses, but they may also lead to longer term losses as well. For example, it may be short-sighted to impose import restraints on products that are key inputs into subsequent production activities, since this can have adverse effects on domestic producers that use these inputs. Indeed, protectionist policies of this type may have long-run adverse effects on the protected industr y, since potential customers may choose to locate abroad and, as a result, not be well-positioned to purchase the input from U. S.suppliers even after protection is no longer necessary. In addition, poorly designed protectionist efforts can trigger trade wars, as foreign governments retaliate to unjustifiable U. S. trade restraints. Indeed, the threat of spiraling beggar-thy-neighbor policies continues to be a key reason for supporting free trade, even in a world that offers strategic opportunities. Reference: â€Å"Detroit Battle: The Cost Gap,† New York Times, May 28, 1983, pp. 35, 37. Baldwin R. , U. S. Tariff Policy: Formation and Effects,† study prepared for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U. S.Department of Labor, June 1976. Benvignati A. , â€Å"The Commodity Composition of U. S. Intra-firm Exports,† FTC, unpublished, 1985. Drucker P. , â€Å"Where Union Flexibility's Now a Must,† Wall Street Journal, September 23, 1985, p. 30. Economic R eport of the President, U. S. Council of Economic Advisers. Washington, D. C. : U. S. Government Printing Office, annual editions from 1972 to 1987. Landau R. , and N. Rosenberg (eds. ), The Positive Sum Strategy, Washington, D. C. : National Academy Press, 1986. Landau R. , and N. Rosenberg (eds. ), The Positive Sum Strategy, Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press, 1986. Marston R. , â€Å"Assessing Japanese Competitiveness,† NBER Reporter, Winter 1986/ 1987, pp. 12-16. Maskus K. , The Changing Structure of Comparative Advantage in American Manufacturing, Ann Arbor, Mich. : UMI Research Press, 1981. McCulloch R. , â€Å"Research and Development as a Determinant of U. S. International Competitiveness,† Harvard Economic Research Discussion Paper 609, March 1978. Tarr D. , â€Å"Trade Deficits, Trade Policy and the Value of the Dollar,† paper for conference, Trade Policy: Free or Fair? , November 19, 1985.

Sample Q

Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1) When backed by buying power, wants become A) self-esteem needs B) physical needs C) demands D) exchanges E) social needs 2) When dealing with a(n) managers must decide whether to invest in it in an attempt to build it into a star or cash cow or whether to phase it out. A) cash cow B) cat C) exclamation mark D) dog E) question mark 3) Because of increasing Americans will demand higher quality products, books, magazines, travel, personal computers, and Internet services.A) levels of education B) family size C) numbers of nontraditional females D) ethnic diversity E) social class awareness 4) Causal research Is used to A) test hypotheses about cause-and-effect relationships B) gather preliminary information that will help define problems C) uncover information in an unstructured way D) quantify observations that produce insights unobtainable through other forms of research E) describe marketing prob lems or situations 5) Donna wants to buy a new coat. During the stage of her purchase process she will ask her friends to recommend a store and/or a style of coat.She will search the newspaper for coat sales, and she will visit nearby stores to see what is available in her price range. A) product evaluation B) information search C) purchase decision D) need recognition E) alternative evaluation 6) When Burger King targets children, teens, adults, and seniors with deferent ads and media, it is practicing segmentation. A) behavioral 8) lifestyle C) age and life-cycle D) user status.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Advertising and Promotion in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Advertising and Promotion in Business - Essay Example Marketing Communications creates and oversees interfaces with press/news, e.g., calendars press meetings, deals with a publication logbook to arrange situations, and so on. Marketing Promotion then again is the improvement of particular advancements to offer items, hold customers, and get new customers. Marketing Promotion processes make the special battles and advertising to achieve the business sector, customers and channels. They create the crusades and security, whether standard mail, daily paper advertisement, and so on. Marketing Promotion processes work with all different processes of Marketing, Sales and Offer, Brand Management, Market Research and Advertising Management to plan marketing advancements and advertising, to focus exchange show interest and vicinity, to help item presentations, and so forth. One of the key parts of these processes is to position the item in the business, particularly versus aggressive items (Process Type Marketing Communications & Promotion, n.d.). EACA: The European Association of Communication Agencies; the mission of EACA is to symbolize the media and full administration advertising organizations and organization affiliation all around the Europe. The primary intention is to advertise successful and genuine advertising, exclusive expectations and expert advertising and consciousness of advertising in free economy market. It additionally helps to energize the nearby relationship and co-operation among media, offices and promoter. PMC: The Promotional Marketing Council; the principle targets of PMC are to serve deals advancement industry in their improvement all around Europe, help to keep up the expert picture for the business, it likewise support to advertise quality by giving yearly container European honors to industry and additionally supports the organizations for cross-outskirt notice and special action to the deals and comprehension the need of diverse

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Compare and Contrast the Relative Contribution of India and South East Essay

Compare and Contrast the Relative Contribution of India and South East Asia to China's Medical Tradition - Essay Example The above view can be made clear through the following fact: Chinese medical tradition has been divided into two, major, parts: ‘the Confucian school of thought and the Daoist context’ (Elm and Willich 2009, p.77). The differences between these two frameworks have been significant, a problem that influenced the development of the country’s medical tradition. Apart from the local culture and scientific development, the Chinese medical tradition has been influenced by the culture and the trends of the South East region and India. The level at which South East Asia and India affected the Chinese medical tradition is difficult to be precisely identified mostly because the views included in the literature published on this issue lead to different assumptions. In any case, it is clear that South East Asia and India influenced the Chinese medical tradition, a fact reflected in the incorporation of many substances, through India and South Eat Asia, in the country’s medical tradition. The specific issue is set under examination in this paper. Emphasis is given on the ways that various medical substances entered China through India and the South East Asia. Particular reference is made to tobacco and opium, two medical substances that have highly affected the Chinese medical tradition, as verified through the studies developed in this field. 2. China’s medical tradition as influenced by India and South East Asia 2.1 The influence of India and South East Asia on China medical tradition The medical tradition of China has been highly differentiated from those of the West; the country’s medical tradition presents also significant references to the similar frameworks of other countries in the South East region. Reference should be made, for example, to the study of Selin (1997). In accordance with the above researcher, food therapy has been a common element of medical traditions in Europe, India and Near East (Selin 1997, p.676). It is noted that in China, food therapy has been related to ‘the yinyang philosophy and the Five Phases theory’ (Selin 1997, p.676). In this context, the medical history of China has been strongly related to philosophy, a trend, which is not, developed in India and the other South East Asia countries. In accordance with a report published by the World Health Organization in 2003, the Chinese medical system has a history of around 5000 years and it is highly based on the use of plants (Singh 2011); in fact, in China more than 7000 species of plants have been identified; most of these are key elements of the country’s medical system (Singh 2011). In the study of Arnold (2000) reference is made to the contribution of India in the development of medicine and other scientific sectors of China, as also in other regions of the South East Asia. It is explained that due to the long presence of British in India, the country’s technology and scientific knowledge was benefi ted, a fact that also influenced neighboring countries, such as China (Arnold 2000). Leslie (1976) notes that the revival of traditional medical system is highly promoted in China today, a trend, which is not reported in other countries of the Near East and the South East Asia, apart from India. From this point of view, the Chinese medical history can be considered as strongly related