A review of P. Hirsch, Globalization, Regionalization

A review of P. Hirsch, â€Å"Globalization, Regionalization and local voices: The Asian Development Bank and re-scaled politics of environment in the Mekong region† By catktd90 A review of P. Hirsch, â€Å"Globalization, Regionalization and local voices: The Asian Development Bank and re-scaled politics of environment in the Mekong region† This paper was written by Philip Hirsch who aims to examine about globalization, regionalization and its effect to local people in terms of resource and environment.This paper also considers some key issues of re-scaling resource and environmental olitics in the Mekong region, and the extent to which challenges have been recast from national to regional development agendas by illustrating case studies in Laos and Thailand (Hirsch, 2001). Throughout the paper, Hirsch illustrates an important aspect of globalization directly related to sustainability, shows a fundamental change in thinking and speaking among government official and loca l people, and shows an interesting politics of environment in Thailand, with its shifting alliances and ideas about relationship between people and nature.In recent years, globalization and egionalization has been widening all around the world. Although it has some positive points, it also brings to nation and local people some negative points. According to Michael, Globalization is manufactured as a discursive negation of the possibility if nations defining their own futures (McMichael, 1996). For Hirsch, he explores the changing resource and environmental politics of the Mekong Region in the context of regional integration, with a specific focus on the Asian Development Bank (ADS) and its Greater Mekong Sub region (GMS) programme.In the Mekong egion, Asian Development Bank force for regionalization through the specific projects it has supported that have impacted on local communities and ecosystems. Globalization and regionalization in the Mekong region are temporally and spatiall y differentiated. While Thailand has thus explicitly articulated both with globalization and ant globalization discourses, in the case of Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, it is difficult to separate the advent of globalization; Globalization has been witnesses not only the economic growth but also the financial crisis in Mekong region.However, hese countries have been influenced by development project which supported by ADB such as dam project etc. It is believed that Dam construction impacts on local communities' livelihood and ecosystem causing many problems to environment. For example, The Nam Theun-Hinboun Dam in Lao People's Democratic Republic (PRD) is one of ADB development project. It causes the insufficient water in dry season and flood in the rainy season as well as erosion of river banks in upstream and downstream.It also impacts on the local communities' livelihood such as fisheries, crops, etc. Warren claimed that from 30 to 90 per cent of fishery-related livelihood has been lost in the main impact areas (Warren, 1999). While there are number of some scientists still believe in the benefits of the dam in development process. It is clear that the local communities have to raise their voice to protect themselves from these attacks; however, it depends on countries politic.For example, in the case of Rasi Salai Dam on the Mun river in Thailand, the Dam completed in 1994 and effected livelihood and environment of a large areas. Because its serious effects, the local people established a protest villages. The protest Joined 16 other sets of villages with grievances throughout the Northeast to Join with the Assembly of the Poor in a national protest in Bangkok and finally, they were succeeded. But In the case of Laos or Vietnam, the people cannot do something like that because of their thinking and their countrys politic.It is obvious that economic growth always cause some consequences in livelihood or environment. In this situation, to adapt with globalizat ion and regionalization many countries build many infrastructure to develop their economy, emphasize large-scale planning. Finally, these things affect heir own country seriously in terms of environment and community's livelihood. Thus, it is expected that there will be a re-scale politics and environment not only in Mekong region but also in the world.In conclusion, globalization and regionalization is an ongoing process. Thus, this process needs more sustainable solutions for both the supporter (ADB and GMS) and the country which received financial for their economic development. One country should concern more about environmental problems when conducting any development project because a development projects need balance on economic, social, and environment aspect. In addition, a country should have their suitable policy on the road of development.REFERENCES Hirsch, P. (2001). â€Å"Globalization, Regionalization and local voices: The Asian Development Bank and re-scaled politic s of environment in the Mekong region†. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 22(3), 237-251. McMichael, P. (1996). Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams. London: Zed books. Warren, T. (1999). ‘A Monitoring study to assess the localized impacts created by the Theun- Hinboun hydro†scheme on fisheries and fish populations. Final report to the Theun- Hinboun Power Company.

Olga Semyonova’s Discovery of Peasantry Life Essay

Peasant life is known to be one of the lowest status situations in many parts of the world during the past. Many people are not give equal opportunities compared to those that have a higher status in life. Most often, they are treated like they are not people but slaves due to the lifestyle as well as the work they have. Most of the time, peasants rely on those that has a higher status of living to get work. Thus peasants are one of those unfortunate people who are present in the world. In the book written by Olga Semyonova Tian-Shanskaia and David L. Ransel, the life story of peasant life in Russia. In order to have an overview of the author’s desire to write this type of book, a short background of Olga Semyonova would be presented. Semyonova was born in the year 1863 into a very prominent and scientific family during those eras. The author was one of the daughters of Pytor Pertovich Semyonov who is a popular geographer, explorer and statistician. Through the explorations and attainments which were done by her father, he was acknowledged by the emperor and later added the name Tian-Shanskii. Semyonova’s father played a huge role in the life of peasants because he â€Å"designed the legislation for the emancipation of the Russian peasants for serfdom, a reform implemented in years 1861-1863. Throughout Semynova’s life, she was living in St. Petersburg and was traveling with her family abroad. More often than not, she spent her summers in Gremiachka which is her family’s estate located in Riazan Province. The location of their estate would later on be used to study the life of peasants. With the inheritance of her father’s attitude in exploration, Semyonova was able to do her own explorations regarding peasantry. (xix-xxi) Semyonova’s adult life was very tragic. Although she was very intelligent there was a point in her life that she shielded her self away from her social and intellectual life. She was offered by marriage by a young man who deeply fell in love with her. However, she declined the man. As a result, the young man decided to shot himself in the head and he eventually died. After such, she mostly spent her life living in their real estate which made her aware of the situations of the peasants around their area. (xix-xxi) During the nineteenth century Russian society was in crisis. For several people, the development of the country was slow in comparison to other countries such as Germany, France, England and the United States. These countries were the ones who educated the Russians which brought pressure to the country. In contrast, Russia was very far from these countries bases on their urbanization and industrialization. In addition, these countries have a much higher level of culture and general education. On the other hand, change was very rapid and people blamed the government with its persistence to catch up with the Western world. With the decision of the government, the Russian society was lead into a revolution. The Russians who were well educated were able to view the main sources of the said crisis. As these educated people said, the resolution of the rebellion depends on the actions and attitudes of the regular people such as the peasants who composed the eighty-five (85) percent of the Russian nation. Russian Peasants were the ones who dwell in the rural areas as well as those migrant workers or the industrial workers of the country in different parts of Russia. Peasants were also the ones who constitute the Russian armed forces. Thus, this made all the parties in Russia believe that they know the diverse situation in the villages. Therefore in their perspective, the armed forces have the right to speak for the whole Russian peasantry and all their concerns. However, all their assumptions are not true. Hence, the government was not able to address the problems which are faced by the peasants. In the whole book, the study which was utilized was made by Semyonov with the collaboration with another researcher named K. V. Nikolaevskii during the late 1890s. The study was done regarding the real situation of the peasants throughout those times in order to see the attitudes, aspirations and conditions of the peasants. In addition, the research regarding the lives of these people was regarding their customs, family life. However, there is a failed attempt to present the fluidity of peasantry life. During the time of Semyonova’s study of the peasantry life, she often noticed the she was similar to an outsider to the place. As evidence it was stated that, â€Å"She constituted her own identity as a person of Western scientific culture in opposition to the peasants she studied. According to her, the boundary between childhood and adulthood, so clearly demarcated in education society, collapsed in village society. Peasant children saw the world very much as did the adults† (xxi). Semyonova highlighted that such situations were possible due to the early exposure of children in the difficulties that is normally faced by adults. In addition, the view of point of peasants regarding â€Å"work, morality and property were likewise quite different from the perspective of Semyonova’s upbringing† (xii). Accordingly, there is a different treatment of women in the community in comparison to the treatment of women in the world known by Semyonova. In the book it is stated that, â€Å"†¦the treatment of women, whose lot as the brutalized work horses and chief preservers of social bonds in the family and community†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (xii). In the book, there are many social issues which were stressed by Semyonova. With all the studies observation and researches that she had done in the lives of Russian peasants, the author discovered many things that are very much different from her life while she was growing up. In order to fully represent the life of the peasants, Olga was able to coordinate with one of the peasants in order to properly present the whole community of peasants in general. The person interviewed was named Ivan. Similar to other peasants, the family of Ivan was working on a farm in order to live. As a matter of fact Ivan’s family had, â€Å"livestock at the time of Ivan’s birth included three horses (one of which was a yearling), fifteen sheep, one cow, a heifer, and a pig. Their hut, which was wooden, had three windows and an enclosed entryway (sentsa). Nearby were a workyard, a small granary, and a threshing barn. † In addition they family had the most important necessity for them to live, â€Å"Farm tools included two wagons, two wooden, wheelless plows, one harrow, two types of harnesses, two scythes, two rolls of sackcloth (veret’ia), a sleigh, an ax, two spades, and two flails† (Semyonova, 1). Thus without their farming tools they are not able to see that there are not able to provide for all the things that they need. In the life of Ivan, it was very obvious that culture, norms and economic status was very important. Through this, his upbringing and future is very much affected. In the third chapter which focuses on the issue of child birth. Semyonova highlights that a child if brought up in such type of environment could be affected while growing up. It was stated that, â€Å"their attitudes and behavior as conditioned by the promiscuous intimacy of peasant life† (22). She again states that children see things in a much matured way therefore she finds teenagers very promiscuous and sexual even in a young age. The author also made some comparisons regarding the â€Å"our children, that is the child or the educated urbanized people† (22) against those that live a peasant life. In addition, Seymonova highlights the difference between the lives of peasants in contrast of the urbanized people. Stating that to peasants, â€Å"Deceit to escape punishment was approved, as was the use of foul language or abuse of animals to vent frustration. Patriarchal authority was accepted implicitly; might makes right, and in a sense this brutal fact of life justified deceit and other means of avoidance to escape the dictates of authority and power† (22). With such lines, it is noticeable that the lives of well educated persons are very much different from those that live in peasantry whom have not experienced any education. In general, the life of peasants in Russia during the time of Seymonova does not have any type of opportunity to move forward from the difficulties that they are in. Only those that are privilege and rich are those that are given the right to be educated and move out from the situation they are in. In contrast, the situation of Russia in the current time is far more different from the past situation of peasants. It is not a secret that there are still poor people in Russia but due to various technologies and improvements in terms of laws and policies there are opportunities available for those that wanted to change their lives. Great schools are available and scholarship grants are offered for students who would like to create a change in their lives. Accordingly there are organizations that are very willing to help and provide trainings and assistance with regards to various subjects such are welfare, health services and the likes. Through this, the less fortunate people are educated with regards to their health and sexual relations. As stated by Seymonova, there are promiscuous actions which are made by young people thus; it could be assumed that early pregnancies and diseases are possibly taken a threat. In comparison to the current society of Russia, the awareness and education which are received by citizens protects them against possible sicknesses and threats that could lead to life threatening diseases. Thus, improvements of the benefits of the people have been done through out the years with the help of many changes in terms of government processes and activities. However, problems with regards to society cannot be fully addressed due to the lack of ability of the government to fully reach out to the people. As stated in the introductory pages of the book, that problems could only be resolved through the cooperation and desire of the poor to respond with the issues due to the high percentage rate of their constituents. Works Cited Semyonova Tian-Shanskaia, Olga and David L. Ransel. Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia. United States: Indiana University Press, 1993.

Explication Emily Dickinson Essay

In the Poem ‘Because I Could Not Stop for Death† Emily Dickinson uses symbolism and allegory to portray a woman’s voyage to internal life. Emily’s main symbols in the poem are to hide the true meaning of the symbols. In the first stanza the first symbol is introduced in the lines â€Å"I could not stop for Death- He kindly stopped for me-.† I these lines Emily explains how busy the woman is and she can’t stop for death. Dickinson then says â€Å"He† who is death takes the time to do what she cannot and stops for her. In the next couple lines which are â€Å"The carriage held but just ourselves and immortality.† Dickinson is trying to acknowledge that now this woman is with death on her ride to immortality, The â€Å"Carriage† is a symbol for her voyage to eternity. In the second stanza Emily explains the woman’s slow ride. She expresses this in the line â€Å"We slowly drove He knew no haste.† Dickinson descri bes how death’s politeness makes the woman step back from everything keeping her busy. Dickinson shows this in the lines â€Å"And I had to put away my labor and my leisure too, for his civility.† In the third stanza Dickinson explains the woman passing the life as she knew it. Emily then speaks of children playing at recess and fields off grazing grain. â€Å"We passed the setting sun.† This is the line of her transfer from one world to another. The fourth stanza explains the woman transforming to immortality. â€Å"The dews drew quivering and chill.† This line describes the coldness of death. â€Å"For only gossamer, my gown my tippet only tulle.† Emily describes how the woman’s clothes change from beautiful fabric to the opposite. Now the woman is dead. In the Fifth stanza the woman is taken too her â€Å"Home† which is described as a grave. â€Å"We paused before a house that seemed a swelling in the ground.† The home is a hole in the ground. â€Å"The roof was scarcely visible the cornice in the ground.† Dickinson explains how the â€Å"roof† is barely visible. The last stanza is the woman talking.† Since then – ‘tis centuries and yet feels shorter. â€Å"The woman explains that all though she died a long time ago it feels as if it just happened. She remembers her feeling of when she first realized she was tooken by death. As you can see in Emily Dickinson’s poem â€Å"Because I Could Not Stop for Death† She uses allegory and symbolism. She uses these to explain the woman’s voyage to eternal life in death. She takes the voyage and breaks it up in the stanzas. Emily explains everything that happened without saying it. This is how she uses Symbolism and allegory, to give hints to the reader.

Modern marketing now juggles two competing philosophies. The first is Essay

Modern marketing now juggles two competing philosophies. The first is the transaction approach epitomised by the 'Four Ps' o - Essay Example The ancient marketing strategies include direct marketing, the use of free samples, media marketing, sales representatives and Corporate Social Responsibility. In words by O'guinn (2008) the ancient marketing strategies form the basis from which development of marketing is achieved. The above factors shape the two major philosophies of marketing. The two are different in terms of their approach to the consumers. The transactional approach detects its target market then strategically pleases this specific group of consumers while the relationship approach is a generalized approach to the market (Howard, 1997). The approach seeks to impress the entire market by creating stable market with the society. The approach to marketing uses the implementation of the 4p’s of marketing. They are the price, product, place and promotion (Plunket, 2008). The price refers to the pricing of the commodity at a price that is suitable to the consumer are also gather the required profit. The produc t refers to the quality of the product supplied to the market and its presentation to the market (O’guinn, 2008). The place refers to the most suitable location for the sale of their products depending on the nature of the population or a particular area. Promotion refers to the tools of advertising used by an organization. In words by Plunket (2008) this philosophy is a definition of a typical modern marketing strategy. The author further argues that the decisions to research on every marketing aspect before indulging into a market is very important if a marketing strategy is to effective (Tapp, 2008). Additionally, organization using this strategy only put into consideration the most suitable way to lure and please a specific target market. The relationship philosophy dwells on creating lasting relationships with an entire market (Tapp, 2008). Different from the other philosophy, this particular one does not have a specific target market. According to Howard (1997) in imple menting this approach an organization is usually advised to practice an effective Corporate Social Responsibility. This includes participating in charity events, organization social activities like sports day, offering of significant discounts on specific days like holidays and developing infrastructure of a particular region (Plunket, 2008). In an argument by O'guinn (2008) this approach acknowledges the characteristic of human nature. The author argues that, pleasing consumers through incentives may attract the to a business entity faster than using a strategic market approach (O'guinn, 2008). In this case, an organizations success in marketing is greatly dependable on how well it satisfies the appraisal need of human nature. In the modern corporate environment, organizations apply both theories depending on the product the company indulges in, the nature of the consumer market and the competitiveness of a market. It is for this reason that business entities have incorporated the use of decision making theories

Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing - Research Paper Example This shall be at the core of the analysis below. The companies’ approaches shall be evaluated on the basis of the four P’s of marketing (price, product, place and promotion). In addition to that, any differences in their domestic and international operations shall be under study. Domestically Internationally Practice/Example Rationale Practice/Example Rationale PRODUCT McDonald’s A wide array of fast foods and beverages. A one stop shop for all food and beverage needs. Sale of fast foods such as hamburger and pizza. Attract working class to the fast food industry. Starbucks Coffee and accompaniments only. New products, packaging i.e Blonde Roast Creating a niche market and specializing in a single product. Great service, top quality coffee, stylish packaging that lives up to the brands reputation. Developing brand association among consumers and nurturing habits. PLACE McDonald’s In all big cities via franchising. Targeting workers during or after work Big towns in developing countries. Targeting emerging classes in towns Starbucks Big cities, small towns through clustered outlets. Being the â€Å"third place† after home and work. Only in large towns in emerging markets Proximity to core consumers, the middle class PRICE McDonald’s Affordable rates. Attracting price sensitive buyers. Low cost coffee and pastries. Luring low and high end buyers. Starbucks Premium rates. Quality has no price. Relatively high prices. Attracting high end consumers. PROMOTION McDonald’s Advertising using mass media, billboards e.g. ‘I’m Lovin It’ ads Establishing a constant presence with loyal and budding customers Advertisements in mass media, billboards etc Creating brand awareness among new customers Starbucks Word of mouth and personalized service Quality self promotes. Unique customer Advertisements in mass media Introducing customers to a novel product. Since the start of the economic crisis, Starbucks has cl osed several stores at home (Gummesson, 2002). This needs to inform its operations abroad. Lowering prices is the best way to attract international consumers since they are using the product for the first time, and they are not ready to pay dearly for an experience they are unaware of. As regards promotion, both word of mouth promotion and mass media marketing have served Starbucks and Mc Donald’s well at home. However, the international market is totally different (Gummesson, 2002). They can not rely on the customers to spread the word on a product they do not know. Therefore, mass media market should be the first resort. Location or place has been a major determining factor of both companies success. At home, Mc Donald’s and Starbucks have used franchising and clustering to spread their branch footprint respectively. However, abroad franchising is the tried and proven alternative. Franchising allows for local entrepreneurs who know the market well to attend to the un ique needs of these consumers. Product is the reason the business exists in the first place. At home, both companies are best known for their coffee and related products. The operations in international markets, however, need to follow a different path (Gummesson, 2002). Several products should be launched at a go. This way, even customers who do not have a coffee drinking culture shall be welcome to the establishments. After all, the prime objective is to build a large customer base. After that has been achieved, maybe the companies can concentrate on their core

The Path to Be A Financial Planer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Path to Be A Financial Planer - Essay Example That is true, and I don’t want to be a corrupt official. Before I went to this school, I realized that I had to think of something good as I must decide to choose a major which is related with my future career. After much consideration and consultation with my parents, I finally chosen finance and investment. I decided to learn business not only because of my father who is my idol as a businessman, but also because I believe it can offer you higher salaries that could allow me to live a comfortable life. However, the question of choosing the major was still an issue to b resolved. The most conversant career that I know is the financial planner. In high school, my teacher Mrs. Fang in China informed us a lot of about our majors. Of course, I heard a lot about my profession which I am most interested in. She told us the major subject always provide you an opportunity to train as future professional financial planners in the after graduation. We can work at security companies, insurance companies, banks, investment advisory companies, asset management companies, futures companies, fund companies, and other financial enterprises as financial advisers, financial planners, industry analysts, account managers, counter staffs, and other positions in the company can operate within the financial planning process. Furthermore, my teacher told me that it is easy to find a job as a graduate who learns the finance major. Among them, I selected financial planner. However, it is still difficult for me to decide to be an entrepreneur or an employee. At the time I chose my major, I decided to study in America as it is easy to find a job. Then I successfully entered the university, and was admitted to the major I am now - finance and investment. However, the cost of learning in America shocked me. Calculating the cost of $477 per undergraduate credit hour, I would pay $ 14,306 just in tuition as a full time student,

Not sure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Not sure - Essay Example This entails display of excellent characters thus, promoting human virtues. Confucians have an optimistic view of humankind. They believe in the possibility of the ordinary man to become awe- inspiring and thus, man is teachable, perfectible, and improvable. This is achievable through personal as well as communal endeavors and is possible by self-creation and self-cultivation. Moreover, it focuses on cultivation of virtues such as ren, yi and li (Juergensmeyer, 70). Ren advocates for humaneness and altruism for people in the society, yi advocates for moral disposition to shun evil and righteousness while li advocates for the propriety and norms on human behavior in a society. On proper governance, it advices a person who wants to rule to first rule or govern himself before governing others (Haynes, 14). Therefore, for one to become a good leader, he should understand the principles and values for governing as this would provide him with the knowledge necessary for ruling others. Both Taoists and Confucians promote human virtues for honesty and naturalness for a successful life (Juergensmeyer, 70). They promote such values since they make life more comfortable and facilitate peaceful coexistence. However, Taoists disagree with the notion of governance through the establishment of laws and regulations. It sees the laws and regulations as a means of promoting rebellion and restricting the way man should live on earth (Haynes, 12). Conversely, Confucians accept the issue of governance, but on condition that the ruler first rules himself before ruling others. Taoists and Confucians have positive implications on human life and proper governance in that they facilitate the establishment of virtues and understanding the principles of proper governance. "Life and works of Confucius, by Prospero Intorcetta, 1687 Retrieved from Dec, 10, 2012 from http://members.tripod.com/~laotzu_2doagod.html Confucian temple in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China 2) Tariki refers to the power or authority of Amitabha Budha, which is other power. However, jiriki refers to self-power and ability of a person achieve liberation or reach enlightenment. It advocates for one to experience own truth and not rely on others’ experience for truth. The age of mappo refers to the age or period of degeneration of Buddha’s regulations and laws. It is believed to refer to the current or modern age in human history. Shinran Buddhism believes that recitation of Amitabha Buddha supports faith, as well as birth within paradise of Pure Land to attain enlightenment (Naberman, 113). It was among the largest schools of thoughts of Buddhism in Japan until the demise of the founder, Shinran. Pure Land of Honen Buddhism believes in tariki. According to the believers, repeated chanting the phrase namu amida butsu, otherwise regarded as Homage to Amitabha Buddha results in enlightenment (Naberman, 115). This enabled it become very popular within Japan. Nichiren Daishonin introdu ced Nichiren Budhism and entails mediation that employs a repeated phrase of mantra known as namu myo renge kyo. It is a form of salutation to Lotus Sutra for happiness, enlightenment, and

Financial Management Individual Work 2 Week 6 Essay

Financial Management Individual Work 2 Week 6 - Essay Example theory that explains that dividends at hand are preferred by investors to dividends retained in a company in which the dividend policy would have affected the value of the firm. The theory was put forward by John Lintner and Myron Gordon. They argued that investors perceive dividends at hand to be less risker than dividends of potential future capital gains. Stockholders therefore prefer actual dividends to retained earnings. Tax preference theory knows that there are two tax related reasons for believing that investors may prefer low dividend payout to higher dividend payout. The taxes on capital gains are only paid when the stock is sold but when it is held by a person; no capital gains will be due at any given point in time. a.3 The theories are one way traffic such that if the dividend irrelevance theory is right, then dividend payout has no significance hence the firm can follow any dividend payout. If the bird in the hand theory is relevant, the firm can set a high payout if it wants to maximize the stock price. If the tax preference is accurate, the firm can set a low payout if is to maximize the stock price. Therefore in general, the theories are in total war with one another. a.4. Regrettably, empirical tests of theories have not been in conclusion, so it is absolutely difficult to tell if investors prefer either dividends or capital gains. However, the firms’ managers’ can use the analyses to a reasonable and rational decision over dividend policy. b. 1.Different groups of stockholders choose different kinds of dividend payout policies for example pension funds which are tax bracket. This kind of group of stockholders might prefer high payout stocks. Investors can sell their stocks and incur some transaction costs hence forcing sales to be made in a down market. 2. Clienteles are in existence and the question that arises is whether there are more members of one clientele than the rest. There are relevant costs such as taxes and brokerage costs

Differences in Marketing products or Services to Organisations and Essay

Differences in Marketing products or Services to Organisations and Customers - Essay Example Marketing is the core of any business and the success or failure of marketing can affect the future of the organization. Different marketing strategies are used for different products and services. Moreover, marketing strategies used for marketing a product or service to a customer and to an organization is different as both an organization and a customer have basic differences in their buying habits. This paper briefly explains the basic differences in marketing a product or service to a customer and an organization. Organizations purchase and use goods for further production, operations, or resale whereas the customers always buy finished goods for their personal use. In other words, organizations always look for the utility of the product or service they purchased for making the profit whereas customers always look for quality, reliability and cheaper price of the product. Advertisements and sales promotion techniques can usually attract more customers whereas such things alone may not convince organizations. For example, a tire manufacturing organization purchases rubber for making tires. So they will be keen in getting rubber for the cheaper price and in better quality rather than the attractiveness of the branding or packaging of it. On the hand, a customer who purchases a tire will definitely be attracted by the brand value and attractive packaging.

As the world becomes increasingly polarised where social issues Essay

As the world becomes increasingly polarised where social issues seemingly get lost, how can we encourage future technology and design to engage and augment our future - Essay Example This paper will explore the issue in depth and highlight the application of technology to ceramic design. After the Second World War, the globe experienced a social and economic recession that instilled hopelessness in majority of them. However, modernism emerged, promising to present the glob with hope despite the hardships. The ideologies that defined modernism seemed to be promising a palpable pattern of social responsibility. In the opinion of many, modernism had the capacity to induce change in the living conditions of the people. Therefore, embracing modernism translated to changes in different sectors. In the years that followed, the globe saw technological innovations in agriculture, economy, medicine, and media. In agriculture, technology has registered numerous changes. High levels of mechanization have increased the rates of production in agriculture. As expected, mechanization and forms of technology in agriculture have served to provide enough for the growing population. Sadly though, there are two sides of the inside story (Lee, 2008:61). Whereas some nations have more than they need, the developing world has to rely on support from the developed world. Reports indicate that Europe and America waste food products that could suffice to feed the entire developing world. While some wastage occurs unavoidably during production, a high percentage of wasted agricultural products occur deliberately accounting for about 60 %. The current trends in agricultural production reveal that the developing world only gets wealthier while third world countries remain in ardent poverty. In order to address the challenges of some nations, biotechnology seemed to provide a solution through the development of genetically modified organisms. At first, this technology presented a viable solution to pests, diseases and unfavorable climatic conditions because genetic engineering provided crops with the capacity to withstand all these.

Feedback and its importance Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Feedback and its importance - Coursework Example Positive feedback encourages the speaker whereas negative feedback results in demoralizing the speaker. Different Types of Feedback There are four basic types of feedback, which include effective feedback, evaluative feedback, descriptive feedback, and motivational feedback. Let us discuss all of them in some detail. Effective Feedback A person giving effective feedback focuses one aspect of message at a time rather than giving the feedback for the whole message. Effective feedback makes the speaker improve their statement based on the feedback that they receive from the audience. This type of feedback is widely used in the presentations given by the students in universities. Evaluative Feedback This type of feedback is based on some set standards. The goal of giving evaluative feedback is to make the speaker know whether his or her actions or message match the standards or not. Evaluative feedback is also used in universities to measure the performance of the students. Descriptive F eedback Descriptive feedback is deeply associated with the performance of a person. Descriptive feedback makes a person know where he actually stands and what action he needs to take in order to improve the work. Descriptive feedback is used in all fields of life with the sole purpose to bring improvement in the actions. Motivational Feedback This type of feedback is used to motivate or encourage the other person.

Enzyme Catalysis Essay Example for Free

Enzyme Catalysis Essay Enzymes catalyze nearly all biochemical reactions in living cells (Hein, Best, Pattison, and Arena, 2005). As a catalyst, they regulate the chemical reactions by lowering the needed activation energy (Sackheim and Lehman, 1998). Catalysts facilitate chemical reaction but are not consumed, thus, can be used all over again. This function of enzymes is directly dependent on their three-dimensional structures and on the variables that affect their stereochemistry. It was believed that all enzymes are protein in nature but several findings showed that certain ribonucleic acids (RNAs) have enzymatic function (Hein et. al. , 2005). A typical organism has a thousand of biological simple or conjugated enzymes. A simple enzyme is made up of amino acid units while a conjugated one has both protein and non-protein parts that are called apoenzyme and coenzyme respectively (Hein et. al. , 2005). The substrate or substance by which the enzyme will act upon binds at the enzyme’s active site. This active site is about 1-5% of the total surface area of the enzyme (Hein et. al. , 2005). Catalysis follows that is usually describe as formation of enzyme (E) and substrate (S) complex, then, E-S complex decomposes to yield the product and the enzyme. Enzyme-catalyzed reactions are affected by several factors. This may be due to the variables effect on the stereochemistry of the enzyme and kinetics consideration. For instance, temperature affects the rate of all chemical reactions. The higher the temperature, the faster the chemical reaction takes place. However, enzymes coagulate in higher temperatures while lower temperatures results to low reaction rate. Thus, a particular enzyme best functions at its optimum temperature (Sacheim and Lehman, 1998). Concentration on the other hand, favors faster rate of chemical reaction. An increase in substrate concentration, hence, leads to a faster reaction until to the point wherein the enzyme is saturated by substrate. Moreover, every enzyme has an optimum pH range where it can function best (Sackheim and Lehman, 1998). Slight pH changes affect the polarity of the amino acid backbone of the enzyme resulting to changes in its catalytic function. In this simulation experiment, the catalytic capability of a hypothetical enzyme at different environmental conditions was investigated. The effect of temperature, pH, and substrate concentration on its optimal catalytic function were taken into consideration. In addition, the optimal temperature and optimal pH of the hypothetical enzyme were also determined. Moreover, the relationship between the enzyme concentration and the reaction rate was also explored. Procedure The spectrophotometer equipment was used in the simulation experiment in order to measure the amount of the product formed by the enzymatic reaction. The spectrophotometer is equipped with wavelength of light adjustment within 300-700 nanometre range, and percent transmittance (T) or absorption (A) of light by the sample. In addition, six different substrates labeled from A to F and six different enzymes also labeled from A to F were provided. The wavelength setting for each substrate was indicated on the vial and the clock above the substrate vials were used in setting the wavelength selector and in taking the time of the reaction respectively. Temperature, pH scale, a pipette, and a cleaning button were also made available. The substrate A and the enzyme A were used all throughout the simulation experiment. Optimal PH Five milliliter of enzyme A was added to 25 mL of substrate A and the spectrophotometer was set at 430 nanometer wavelength. This was done for every sample for 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 pH values. The absorption for each sample was measured within one minute and 25Â ° temperature. Then, the graphical representation of data was made by plotting pH values against absorption values. Optimal Temperature Five millilitre of enzyme A was added to 25 mL of substrate A. This was done for 10Â °, 20Â °, 30Â °, 40Â °, 50Â °, 60Â °, 70Â °, and 80Â ° temperature values. The spectrophotometer was set at 430 nanometre wavelength and each sample was maintained with pH 8 value. Also, one minute absorption reading was allotted for every sample. Then, the temperature values were plotted against absorption values. Reaction Rate At this part of the simulation experiment, two mixtures of substrate A were prepared. The first sample was prepared by adding 5 mL of enzyme A into 25 mL of substrate A while the other sample was made by adding 25 mL of subtrate A with 15 mL of enzyme A. The spectrophotometer was set at 430 nanometre wavelength and the absorption reading for each sample was done for every 10 seconds within 2 minutes. The pH of each sample was maintained at pH 8 value. Finally, the graphical representation of time and absorption was made for each sample.

Case Study Of The Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam Environmental Sciences Essay

Case Study Of The Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam Environmental Sciences Essay The construction of Akosombo dam on the Volta river basin in Ghana created Volta Lake the largest man-made lake by surface area in the World. The purpose of this study was to examine the benefit and consequences of the dam on social, environmental and health issues. Critical analyses of primary literature over five decades were reviewed and some management solutions were outlined. The Akosombo hydroelectric project (HEP) contributed to accelerating of Ghanas economic development through industrial and mining sectors as well as for providing cheap electricity for domestic and commercial consumer. Fishing, transportation and tourism were positive benefit from the dam. However, negative impacts like the resettlement of 80 000 people, increase in health problem like the high rate of HIV, socio economic deprivation and injustice and destruction of the ecosystem. The greatest challenge facing Akosombo is management and lack of research on the aquatic systems at the basin. Key recommendatio n includes environmental compensatory approach and research into environmental flows of the Volta River. Ultimately, it is important for future HEP in Ghana be precede and adheres to EIA reports and involves stakeholders from planning to post construction stage to maximize overall development benefits, encompassing economic, social, and environmental impacts INTRODUCTION Hydro-electric power is an important source of energy for many countries especially in the tropical countries without advance technological development. In 2007, 3.2 % of global energy consumption and 20% of electricity generated came from hydropower (IEA, 2010). In many countries especially in Central America and Sub-Sahara Africa over half of all electricity generated comes from HEP (Anderson et al. 2006a and Gyau-Boakye 2001). The major advantages of HEP which makes it a preferred renewable energy sources are cost, zero air pollution, longer life span of plant, the low level of expertise for running and maintenance of HEP and lack of post production storage problems. Perhaps the biggest advantage hydropower enjoys over other sources is the fact that the cost per unit of electricity generated from hydro is cheaper than any other source. Globally, the trend of newly constructed hydropower has shifted from the temperate region to the tropical regions in the last two decades (Pringle et al., 2000). Dams construction is expected to double in developing countries due to expanding human populations, increasing rural electrification, and growing demands for electricity in the developing countries (Anderson et al. 2006a). Although the bulk of hydrodams constructed recently have been in the developing countries with China leading the number of newly constructed dams, the recent announcement of a major dam to be constructed in Alaska indicate the pull of hydro even as undaming of major rivers is taking place. It is projected that hydropower production would grow by nearly 60% in 2050 if the current rate of construction is maintained.(dams.org, 2010) Despite the numerous advantages, hydro-electric power (HEP) causes more ecological damage than all the rest of the renewable energy put together. The damage done to the natural flow system of rivers and associated impact on the ecosystem are documented in many studies (Anderson et al., 2006b; Pingle et al., 2000; Craig, 2000). They include natural flow alteration of a river, destruction of hydrologic connectivity, impeding the migration of fish and other aquatic biota effects. Asides the ecological impact, there is also the issue of social impact on the communities which includes changes in the landscape leading to flooding, displacement of local residents, increase in health risk factors as a result of the dam and reported deaths from dam failures. The Volta River Basin is located in West Africa and covers an estimated area of 400,000 km2 and is spread over six West African riparian countries (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Cote dIvoire and Mali). There are a number of dams located within the Basin of which three large ones, Akosombo, Bagre and Kompienga, are solely for hydropower purposes. The Akosombo dam, which was constructed from 1962 to 1966 in Ghana, is by far the most significant structure built in the basin since the resulting lake is the one of the largest man-made lake in the world (Barry et al., 2005) and covers 4% of the surface area in Ghana however, the actual reservoir only has a surface area of about 8500 km2, an average depth of about 18.8m and a shoreline of about 5,500 km (Barry et al., 2005). The formation of the lake led to the generation of economic activities like transportation, fishing and tourism along the lake (Kumi, 1973). Although the primary purpose of the Akosombo hydrodam was to supply electricity for Volta Aluminum Smelting Company (VALCO) located 80km from the dam at Tema, Ghana, it contributed to accelerating of Ghanas economic development through industrial and mining sectors after its construction as well as for domestic and commercial consumers. Currently the dam supplies around 85% of Ghanas electricity need providing an average annual output of 6100 GWh. Despite the benefit of the dam to the country the long term environmental and social cost has been staggering. This paper seeks to review the impact of hydrodams in the Volta Basin with primary focus on the Akosombo dam. The aim of this study explores the biodiversity challenges facing the basin as a result of the HEP construction and review the impact on the social and the ecological aspects of the basin. Primary literature would be used to assess how the dam has positively or negatively affected the socio-environment aspects [the ecosystem (physical components, the biological community and water quality), social, health and economic impacts] of the basin. The study would focus specifically on the Akosombo but inference would be drawn from other dams across the basin in the analysis. Based on the study, outlined recommendations and solutions would be made for existing and future dams that might be constructed on the Volta River THE AKOSOMBO HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT The Volta Basin lies within latitudes 5 °.30 N and 14 °.30 N and longitudes 2 °.00 E and 5 °.30W. It is located in West Africa with six riparian countries (Ghana (42%) and Burkina Faso (43%) and the remaining 15% in Mali, Cà ´te dIvoire, Togo, and Benin) with Ghana occupying the downstream of the basin (figure 1). The building of the Akosombo dam follows almost a period of two decades of planning which began in 1947 when the first feasibility studies were conducted on the potential for volta river as a hydropower source. The bulk of the funding for the project estimated $ 260 million. was secured by Kaiser Aluminum from a US bank under persuasion from President Eisenhower in face saving from public relation disaster (GW 2010) The HEP was directly linked to efforts made to develop the huge Ghanas integrated bauxite to aluminium industry. The actual construction of the dam took place within1962-1972 under the management of the Volta River Authority (VRA) who were legally manda ted by the Act 46 to be caretakers of all Volta River related activities in Ghana. The Volta River Authority (VRA), a government owned utility, is largely responsible for electricity generation and transmission in Ghana. There were three phases of the project, phase one was the installation of 588MW unit of electricity which was completed in 1966m. The second phase involved an addition of 304MW electricity which resulted in total of 912 MW at the Akosombo dam. The last phase of the project was the setting up of a smaller HEP dam, 21km downstream, at Kpong. In terms of dam classification, the Akosombo dam is often classified as large dam whiles that of Kpong is classified as small hydro dam. Today a total of 1072MW of electricity is generated by the Akosombo HEP (VRA, 2010). The first phase of the projected resulted in the creation of Lake Volta (man-made lake) which is the most significant water body in the Volta basin. The lake covers an estimated area of 8500 km2, a length of 400 km and a shoreline of 5500km (Gyau-Boakye 2001) but rather shallow with a maximum depth of 113m. It receives flows from three rivers Oti, Black Volta and White Volta and discharges into the lower Volta river and then the Atlantic Ocean. The maximum capacity is around 150,000 million m3 of water at its peak of 278 feet. (VRA 2010) The main objective of HEP production is to make VALCO energy sufficient so that its activity which is mainly aluminum smelting would be proceed without interruption. The other objectives were to supply electricity for both domestic and industrial use and also export to the basin sharing countries (Benin and Togo). The Volta River Authority (VRA) a government owned entity was established in 1961 under the Volta River Development Act 46 and tasked with the management, maintenance and sustainability of the Volta River and HEP production. The act also gave the VRA the responsibility to generate and transmit electricity as well as safe-guarding the health and socio-economic well being of the inhabitants of the communities alongside the lake. Prior to the flooding stage of the dam, the VRA had to relocate people inhabiting traditional, administrative and all other lands that were to be inundated. BENEFITS OF HYDROPOWER FOR GHANA The construction of the Akosombo HEP and the creation of the Volta Lake have provided several positive benefits. The Akosombo HEP provides over 85% of all electricity generated in Ghana (Winston et al., 2006). The electricity generated has encouraged economic and industrial development in Ghana. Prior to the construction of the Akosombo HEP, Ghanas total power usage was around 70MW and this was isolated with individual standalone power supply system which was owned by industrial establishment such as the mines, factories and other major institutions (Aryeetey, 2005).and assess to electricity was restricted to less than 3% of the population. Today an estimated 60% of the population has access to electricity including 20% of the rural communities (ECG, 2008). Over two-thirds of all the electricity generated goes to industries and commercial entities; this led to rapid expansion and immigration of industries into Ghana from other West African countries to take advantage of the cheap ele ctricity available from the HEP. As a result Ghanas economy is twice the average of the West African sub region (IMF, 2010). In years of drought where HEP energy generation has been poor, unemployment rate rises exponential attesting to a positive externality of the Akosombo dam. The creation of the Volta Lake led to increase in fishing stock thereby making fishing a lucrative business to the inhabitants along the lake. Similarly, farming activities also intensified along the 5500 km shoreline especially locations downstream of the lake as a result of water availability for the purposes of irrigation and more importantly alluvium sediment deposition which is very fertile and has high content of organic matter. Also the navigation on the Volta river has changed significantly serving as a mean for transportation for goods and people across the lake where road are poor or unavailable. To the inhabitants creation of the transportation route on the lake which stretches from south to north has been one of the important benefits to the communities. The direct tourism impact resulting from the lake includes opening up part of hitherto inaccessible attractions (because of the location of the dam, the sight of the lake the environment, etc.) to both local and internati onal travelers. The lake and its designated national park Digya located at the west shore of Lake Volta and the resort island have provided a popular holiday destination. CONSEQUENCES OF AKOSOMBO HYDROPOWER Like all hydropower dams constructed the Akosombo HEP have had a social, environmental and physical impact on the communities upstream, downstream, the project site and even beyond the extent of the dam. On the social front the most prominent problem that is directly linked to the HEP is the displacement of 80,000 people across 700 villages in low lying areas and resettle them into 52 new villages (Kalitsi,2000). The lost of the original communities resulted in many socio-physiological problems in the communities including high death rate among the aged, breakdown of cultural practices and breakdown of traditional law and order (Gyau-Boakye, 2001). The higher death rate is attributed to the grieving for the lost land syndrome (Okoh, 1986). The Volta lake creation leads to a loss of 3.6% of the total land surface of Ghana including forest land to the reservoir.(Fobil et al. 2001) The lost land lead to decline in the primary economic activities of crop and livestock farming for most of the communities both downstream and upstream of the dam. As a result of less arable land to farm the men switch to fishing while most of the women (a taboo for women to fish in Ghana) were involved in pr ostitution as a profession to satisfy the male workers whom were building the dam. (Suave et al. 2002) In terms of the standards of living the inhabitant of the project site Akosombo enjoy the best living condition not only in the entire Volta basin but better than the major urban centers in Ghana. Surprisingly, the upstream communities and downstream communities are among the poorest in the country lacking access to basic necessities like hospital, roads, proper sanitation and water facilities. Perhaps the most ironic social injustice to the communities upstream and downstream is that it took three decades to be connected to the national electricity grids. The HEP have increased the health related issues among the communities living around lake except in the town of Akosombo (Zakhary, 1997). Sam (1993), in his survey concluded increases in diseases such as schistosomiasis (bilharzia), malaria, onchocerciasis are directly due to Akosombo HEP. This is dues to the presence of aquatic weeds and increase in the population of water-born vectors like mosquitoes, black fly and snails.(Gyau-Boakye, 2001) Specifically, Urinary schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) has seen the increase of the incidence from 2% to 32% at Mepe,( downstream) and 0.5% to 27.4% at Adawso/ Okradjei, (upstream) along the lake (Zakhary,1997). Malaria has increased by an average of 10% both upstream and downstream since the construction of the dam. The fly, Simulium damnosum which cause Onchocerciasis (river blindness) also increased downstream in Kpong between 1970 to 1980 due to the new breading grounds created by the Akosombo dam, however the fly was not found again after compl etion of the smaller dam in Kpong in 1982 (Gyau-Boakye, 2001). As stated earlier The period between after the construction of the dam (1970-1980) coincide with the worst economic period in Ghana and the associated political uncertainty forcing the migration of the young women whom were inducted into prostitution during the dam construction to the various neighboring countries. Sauve ´ et al 2002 concluded that the high HIV prevalence rate (14.1% compare to 3% for the country) in Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo districts located west and south of the Akosombo dam to a greater extent, a consequence of construction of the Akosombo dam in the 1960s prompted economically driven migration, specially to Cà ´te dIvoire, where many migrants became infected with HIV. This is surprising and rather peculiar to find a prevalence of HIV in semi-urban area that is much higher than those found in the countrys major cities. (Sauve ´ et al 2002). In terms of the physical geomorphology, the dam have created physical environmental problem. The most obvious is the increase in seismic activities around the dam since the construction of the lake. 4 major earthquakes of magnitude 5 or higher have been recorded in the area. Since there is no geological fault zone present in the lake, it is believe the earthquakes are due to the overloading of the geological bedrock underlying the lake with which is triggering the active Akwapim fault (Gyau-Boakye, 2001). Kumi (1973) concluded that the earthquakes might be due to readjustment associated with the lake in-filling. Another physical observation is that, sediments load have decrease by about 60mg/l downstream of the dam as a result of the impoundment (Barry, 2005). The lack of sediment has lead to the erosion of the coastline in the neighboring Togo and Benin at a rate of 10-15m/y (Gyau-Boakye, 2001). Another evidence of change is that the morphology of the delta have shifted 12 km eastwa rd from the original lower Volta entre point to the sea leading to coastal erosion at Ada.(Arp and Baumgaertel, 2005). In accordance with the behavior of tropical dam microclimate the temperature and rainfall in the south eastern part of Ghana is higher than the average in other parts of the basin and this is squarely attributed to the Akosombo HEP (Kumi, 1973, Rosenberg et al., 1990 .Opoku-Ankomah and Amisah 1998). The Akosombo HEP impact on the ecosystem unlike social and health issues have not been fully investigated and well. Fish and other aquatic biota are very sensitive to the hydropower operation due to the ability of the dam to alter and or blocking the migration resulting in genetic disconnect between species population (Baxter, 1977 and Pringle et al., 2000). The first compressive study sixteen (16) months after the construction of the dam by Petr (1967) showed that relative abundance of fish in the Lake were compared with those obtained from fish landings on the Black Volta and from the Niger river survey (Petr 1967). However the study did indicate an increase in plankton feeders, shell fish, Tilapia and a decrease Mormydiad and Alestes along the north-south axis of the river (Petr 1967). In 2000, about 87,500 metric tons of fish catch were recorded from the lake representing 98 % of the inland fresh water fish in Ghana (Braimah, 2001).Current fish estimated yield are 42-52 kg/ha/yea r based on catch statistics with Tilapia dominating the catch. However, the current trend of removal of standing timber in the forest which became part of the lake, in conjunction with overfishing, has negatively impacted the fish stocks especially in shell fish. Recent studies involving 165 fish sample covering 9 species in both the Akosombo and Kpong dam with Lake Bosomtwe (a pristine lake in Ghana) for mercury concentration showed levels below World Health Organization limit of 0.5 ÃŽÂ ¼g gà ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢1.suggesting no mercury in the HEP lakes mercury (Agorku et.al. 2009). Unlike newer dams constructed with EIA both the Akosombo and the Kpong dams do not have any fish ladders available for fish migration. In terms of the damage done to the ecosystem are unique and site-specific but generally the impacts invariably affect biota and biodiversity (Anderson 2006a). The Akosombo HEP is ranked in the top ten in terms of both social and environmental damage index (dams.2010). Flooding in the downstream communities is an annual event. The Afraim plain is a low lying rich farm land area suffers annually from the flow of the spillway river. A river flow is highly circumvented leading break in river connectivity. Although not unique to Akosombo, studies have shown that the large-scale impoundment may eliminate unique wildlife habitats and affect populations of endangered species. The Dibgya National Park close to the lake is a wildlife refuge site and it would be interesting to know how the lakes have affected wildlife in the park. Contrary to popular belief that HEP are emission free, scientific fact indicates that large dam projects and their reservoirs produces very significant greenhouse gas es (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide ) from the rotting of organic matter. The advocacy group International Rivers (formerly known as International Rivers Network concluded from their study Figure 2 that tropical dams in some case might be dirtier then fossil fuel in terms of GHG emission (IR, 2008) .Takeuchi (1997) concluded from his global survey of dams that the damage done to the ecosystem and electricity generated from Akosombo is very disproportionate. These impacts include loss of the actual wetlands as they are modified to suit particular irrigation practices and associated losses in biodiversity. (Takeuchi (1997) CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE AKOSOMBO DAM50 YEARS LATER The Akosombo dam in 50 year of operation has been the cornerstone of Ghanas economic and industrial development. Likewise the HEP has cause and continues to remind us daily of the socio-environmental negative impact of living with dam. The original goal of the project in addition to the generation of electric power for industry urban and rural household was to provide opportunities for large-scale irrigation, modernization of agriculture, promotion of factories and industries, and the establishment of tourist facilities. Fifty (50) years later, it appears that the need at the time for the country to have a cheap source of electricity did have overriding priority over other considerations (Arp and Baumgaertel, 2005). The generation of electricity as stated earlier lead to the positive economic and industrial development along the eastern coast of Ghana. Analysis of the project goal and the implementation of the original blue print indicated that the VRA woefully mismanage the dams activities starting from the original resettlement scheme to their inability to meet the electricity need of the country. The resettlement of the communities and the compensation promised to the inhabitants were not fully paid, farming lan ds were insufficient for the villages while a lot of communities downstream whom were not accounted for were ultimately affected by the dam. According to the available data (ECG 2010) and personal observation the VRA after 50 years of operation have failed to meet its goal of providing electricity to the citizenry especially the social injustice that the majority of the affected people by the project were not connected to the national grid until recently .This undoubtedly showed that the authorities neglected the majority of the people affected by the dam to the benefited of the urban dwellers (Girmay, 2002). To their credit VRA undertook some activities towards the fulfillment of non-generation goals like the creation of the Akosombo Textiles Company, Kpong Farms Limited, the Akosombo Hotel Limited and Volta Lake Transport Company Limited (VLTC) to boast jobs and economic activity within the region. The downside to these projects is that inhabitants did not have the specialized ski lls and education levels required to take advantage of working in textiles industries or operating advanced machinery in the 1960s. The VRA irrigation and modernization of agriculture programs collapsed after at the implementation stage. Such program would have been more beneficial to the communities living along the dam since prior to the construction of the dam the majority of the people were into farming. The Akosombo dam and many others constructed in the developing countries before the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment were without any environmental impact assessment (EIA) plan. In 1974, Ghana was the first country in Africa to establish an environmental governing body to deal with all environmental issues under one agency known as Environmental Protection Council (Appiah-Opoku, 2001). Ironically, the Kpong dam whose construction began in 1976 did not have EIA in place. In order to combat some of the negative environmental impacts of the project the VRA introduce numerous cut and fix approaches. These programs include afforestation program along the banks of the lakes, weed controlling measures to control bilharzia., dredging activities at Volta estuary and the creation of Resettlement Trust Fund for remediation some of the socio-economic impact mitigation (Girmay, 2002, Fobil et.al. 2003,). The success of these programs is difficult to measure since most of them we re subjective in nature. The VRA did have some environmental management programs and policies but they suffered from implementation and enforcement (Girmay, 2002). The question often asked in the view of the social and environmental damage done by the HEP is if this cost is justifiable. To address these issue in the context of Akosombo HEP present a dilemma. Ghana until recently discovery of oil along it shore did not have any fossil fuel or expertise in nuclear energy to produce electricity from these sources. Hence, the HEP project was the lifeline in meeting part of its energy demand. As stated earlier studies have shown that the amount of greenhouse gasses produces by hydropower is lower than the corresponding fossil electricity (Anderson 2006a). Although critics point to the fact that Ghanas overreliance on HEP have hamper the development of alternative renewable energy sources which have affected the country in times of drought. The supply of cheap electricity to neighboring countries like Togo and Benin mitigate their coastline erosion by the project. Ultimately, the amount of electricity produced from the Akosombo/Kpong HEP and the social and environmental damage to the basin is not acceptable. The major destruction of the ecosystem habitats and the negative health and social impact on the upstream/downstream communities is much bigger than comparable dams elsewhere. For example Japan produces 2300MW of electricity from HEP and the damage is a tenth of what occurs in Akosombo (Takeuchi, 1997). Although the HEP have been helpful to the country economically, with proper management and sustainable planning; the level of success would have been higher and the environmental impact greatly reduced. With benefit of time the original proposal should have been implemented and enforced effectively. This would have reversed the trend today which has led to the communities upstream and downstream been among the poorest in the country. RECOMMENDATIONS The positive impacts and the negative effects of the Akosombo have been highlighted in this paper. In view of the negative socio-environmental factors like downstream flooding, resettlement of communities, ecosystem destruction among others it is important strategies are put in place to mitigates these effects and protects the ecosystem from current and future HEP. One way of mitigating the environmental and social cost is through environmental compensatory project approach or offsets. For example, the recent plan of the Brazilian government to build a third world largest dam requires the company who wins for the bid to pay an excess of $800 million to offset environmental damage and relocation. Also in India there is a legal requirement that forests flooded by reservoirs must be replanted elsewhere. Introducing such concepts in the planning stages of the dam would really help ensure that significant and unavoidable adverse environmental impacts are counterbalanced by a positive environmental gain, with an inspirational goal of achieving a net environmental benefit. This approach must be fused with properly developed policies for resettlement and compensation prior to the construction of dam so that all stakeholders know the detail and what to expect or contribute toward the compensated package in cash and in kind. The resettlement costs must c over all inundated properties as well as emotional and psychological cost which is often ignored. The package aside covering individual cost could also be extended to cover basic facilities and infrastructure development such as roads, health centers, schools, potable water, etc. On the other hand environmental damage could always be factored into the price of electricity through ecological tax in order to reflect the true cost of power. This tax revenue could go into a standing trust fund which would be essential to sustain the programs needed to ensure the effective mitigation and compensation of environmental effects of the hydro development. To protect the integrity of the lake, measures should be taken to check deforestation by protecting the original forests. Additional compensatory measures may include either trust fund established through grants from developers (for example Harvey Basin Restoration Trust, Australia) or trust funds that manage parts of the revenue stream and for environmental purposes. This latter model was proposed for the planned Nam Theun II dam in Laos, with the intention of creating and managing a National Park in the catchment. The plan has the potential to benefit both forest ecosystems and the lifespan of the dam through reduce d sedimentation. This approach could certainly benefit Ghanas fight against deforestation. In the planning stages of a dam construction, is very important project teams realize the need to maintain adequate water flows and other habitat conditions to sustain river health and associated ecosystem services in river reaches located downstream of dams. When ecosystem services valued by local communities are fully considered and integrated along with all other management objectives, the prospects for optimizing both dam- and ecosystem-related objectives would be greatly enhanced. Project teams can help avoid the loss of ecosystem services by considering environmental flow needs at the very earliest stages of hydropower dam as part of the EIA development. The specification and provision of environmental flows is key to sustainable hydropower development and water management (Scudder, 2005). When environmental flow needs are assessed scientifically, water managers and hydropower dam planners and operators will understand the extent to which historical water flow patterns can be a ltered by hydropower operations without compromising a rivers health and associated social benefits. Active and early engagement of relevant water managers and dam planners, scientists, and other stakeholders in the planning process will help build a strong and influential constituency and foster a coordinated and consistent vision for the protection and management of a river. (Pingle et al., 2000; Craig, 2000, Anderson et al., 2006a, b Raschid-Sally et.al 2008) With proper input from stakeholders and attention to the needs and values of diverse interests, a tradeoff analysis can be undertaken to explore the optimal balancing of interests (Raschid-Sally et.al 2008) One current approach the VRA and other operator of dams on the Volta basin is the management of flood to limit its impact. New Dams and even old ones must can be designed or altered for multiple purposes such as flood control and HEP generation. By storing some portion of floodwaters on the floodplain instead of a reservoir, the total volume of necessary flood storage space in the reservoir can be reduced. By protecting or reactivating downstream floodplain areas or allowing agricultural areas to be flooded occasionally, the flood storage requirement in the upstream reservoir can often be reduced substantially. The excess water can be reallocated for hydropower use, water supply, or improved environmental flows downstream of the dam. Reflooding of natural floodplains can bring substantial ecological benefits, such as providing additional spawning and feeding opportunities for fish and enabling the floodwaters to fertilize and moisten floodplain areas used for agriculture or grazing.( Craig, 2000) Likewise , the coordinated operations of cascades of dams: on the Volta river can maximize power generation at upstream dams to enable lower dams to serve more of a re-regulating function, thereby minimizing flow alterations in the downstream river. Currently this approach is been developed by the transboundary water management Volta Basin Authority (VBA) and it is hope the implementation of such approach would be beneficial to the basin communities. The VBA IWMR policies would be the key to protecting the ecosystem in the basin. In terms of operational mode management The VRA can increase its generation of electricity from its Thermal plant in Aboase to ease the pressure on operating

Relationship between top management and human resource management

Relationship between top management and human resource management Human Resource is used to describe individuals in the workforce of an organization, even if it is also applied in labor economics, for instance, industries and even entire nations. Human resources is also the name of the function in a body with overall responsibility for implementing strategies and policies on people management Human resource management involves the development of a perfect blend between tradition and administrative functions well-being of all employees in an organization. Retention of employees is directly proportional to how employees are treated, in exchange for their know-how and experience. The reason top manager care little about human resource department Top managers care little about human resource compared to production, marketing, finance, and engineering. There are some reasons. Marketing department is the process by which companies create customer interest in goods or services. It generates the strategy behind the sales techniques, business communication and business developments. It is an integrated process by which organizations build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and themselves. Marketing is used to identify the customer, to satisfy the customer, and to keep the customer. With the customer at the center of its activities, it can be concluded that marketing management is a key component of business management. The adoption of marketing strategies requires companies to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and desires of their customers how to stay profitable. However human resource is not relative customer. It is relation between manager and workforce or worker, which clearly shows that human resource, has got to care much of the companys employees as well as its employees attitude towards the customers, which means that the employees have to be well trained. The finance department of a business takes responsibility for organizing the financial and accounting affairs including the preparation and presentation of appropriate accounts, and the provision of financial information for managers. The main areas covered by the financial department include book keeping procedure, creating a balance sheet and profit and loss account, providing management information, management of wages and raising of finance. The foundation of every production department is to create goods or services. Basically, production included the physical assembly of goods, however, production can also include data-based goods such as websites, analysis services and order processing services. The main function of the production department is to produce a product or service that creates profit and revenue for the company. Every production and operations department must function as self-evaluating entity that monitors the quality, quantity, and cost of goods produced. Forecasting, scheduling, purchasing, design, maintenance, people management, flow analysis, reporting, assembly and testing are the common task functions in a production and operation department. Production and operations departments typically function as a fulfillment entity that ensures the timely delivery of the output from production to customers. Critical path analysis, stock control analysis, utilization analysis, capacity analysis, just-in-time a nalysis of inputs, quality metrics analysis and break-even analysis are included in standard analysis functions in a production department. Most probably it is because human resource is harder to manage since it involves managing people in the company. Other departments like marketing, finance, production and engineering are aimed to increase the profit whereas for human resource, it is to manage the employees, to hire, to train or even to fire. Main difficulties would be things like turnover or quitting without informing and etc, since when such things occur, it is not something that manager can solve in a day. For example, when the employees just quit without informing earlier, it is not that simple to get another employees to replace. Even if employees are found to replace, it takes time to train them. Therefore, human resource is more troublesome to manage compared other department, thats why top managers care little about human resource. And also, human resource department, in order to achieve the organizational objectives of the organization for talent acquisition, development cooperation, while maintaining their a bility to establish a system to unleash it as a process can be, which means that it is less productive compared to other departments. Solution to change top manager perception in human resource department There are some ways to change top managers perception in the human resource department Human resource department can help the production department recruitment the labors Human resource department is not a significant revenue generating department but it can help the production department with the recruitment of labors, especially the technicians. When it comes to hiring workers, they should consider about workers abilities and skills that they are capable of. Human resource department can help company save cost Human resource department does not control and manage the cash flow of the firm, but human resource department can help company to save cost. Human resource department helps the company to reduce the cost. For example, through lay off unnecessary people in the company or reduce the number of employees, providing multi-tasks for the employees, reducing reward such as annual leave and bonus of year, save cost in stationary by sharing with colleagues, save training cost of employees by providing job training. If the costs are saved in such a way in Human resource department, the company will have more money liquid to run the business. Payroll can manage by technology Payroll can be managed by technology however; the experience cannot be substituted by technology. Normally human resource is a challenging department in the company, with the facts that the department carries the responsibilities for interview, promotion to employee, labor law knowledge, and psychological knowledge to take care the employees problem such as what employees need and want, which has to be coached by the human resource department. If one of the employees in the company is not satisfy with the company, employee will eventually resign and this will affect the turnover, especially the marketing employees. The employees working under marketing are more likely to be pressured compared to employees working under other departments. It is because if there is a decrease in the company sales, they might face layoff from the company, and this is why technology cannot substitute in the human resource line. Human resource department is not a payroll department only The top human resource department is not a payroll department; many special jobs which can only be handled by human resource department cannot be substituted by other departments. Training, interviewing, recruiting the right person and so on and so forth is very important. It is because if human resource department recruit the wrong person and place him or her in the wrong position can make be an issue in the company. And if human resource department cannot train the employees well, they wouldnt be able to feel or really not able to improve any longer in the company. Planning a mentoring program One of the best ways to overcome human resources issues is to launch a mentoring program for diversity. This could entail involving different departmental managers in a mentoring program to coach and provide feedback to employees who are different from themselves. For the program to run successfully, it is wise to provide practical training for these managers or seek help from consultants and experts in this field. Usually, such a program will encourage members of the organization to make their views known and to learn to resolve conflicts because of their diversity. More importantly, the purpose of a Diversity Mentoring Program seeks to encourage members to go beyond their own cultural frame of reference to recognize and fully exploit the productivity potential inherent in a diverse population. Human resources managers can conveniently employee relations between ministries and the scope has for the lower-rung of communication with employees at different levels. The field is a derivative of system theory and organizational psychology. Human resources have won a number of interpretations related in time, she continues to defend the need to ensure the well-being of employees. Every organization now has an exclusive human resources department to interact with representatives of all factors of production. The department is responsible for the development and application of current research on advanced strategic while engaging end and staff training. Question 2 1.0 Introduction In this assignment we went to get the application form from other company, and we have using the Focus Point Holding Berhad to explain about their job discretion and some of the information which they have in their application form. Furthermore we have used the application form to analyze all the application form data and their company job description. After we analyzed all the reliable data obtained from Focus Point Holding Berhads application form and we have think of better way to improve the job description for their company, at the same time we have used other competitor companys job description for comparison. We used it to compare with Focus Point Holding Berhad and adopt the strength of other companies to overcome the problem of insufficient information in the job description of Focus Point. Besides we also used internet sources to gain more ideas on how to improve the job description of Focus Point Holding Berhad. Moreover, from the application form that we get, it enable us to know what are the basic elements that application form should have and easily detect the defects and the weaknesses of the form. We have improved and overcome all these weaknesses for the application form obtain from Focus Point Holding Berhad. At the end after we analyzed the application form we knew that there are reasons for the company to list down the element such as previous job references, salary needs, family background and etc. 2.0 Body of Contents 2.1 Types of Information The job application form of Focus Point Holding Berhad contained position applied for, personal particulars, family particulars, education background, employment history, reference and others. 2.2 The Mistakes and the Ways of Improve 2.2.1 Personal Particulars In this section, there are two elements that needed to improve. There is no emergency call available in the form. Focus Point has left out this important section. Every company should demands the extra call which able to directly contact with their family members or relatives. This is to prevent when the company encounter the employee accident occurrence or emergency situation and then doesnt know do a contact with who. As for the health status showed at the form is difficult to measure, because they might not understand about the meaning of poor, average and good of the health status. Therefore, Focus Point should put in specific choices or just put a column over there to let them fill up what disease that they have. 2.2.2 Education Background For this section, there is containing one of the columns like Name of School/ College/ University, but never mentioned that the applicant should write down the result of the applicant as well because it can save the time for Focus Point to check out the result of the applicant and also they have to add one more subtitle, which is Other Education, because some of the applicants might have some training on the other place. Other than that, in the column of Specialization, Focus Point did not indicate what it is because there is already has a column called Course Taking and it able to show what the applicants specialized on. Furthermore, the column of the Years, the applicant might not know that is the first year that they began their study life or the year of graduation. 2.2.3 Employment History In the column of Total Salary, those applicants might do not know whether the salary is based on day, week or month because different job has different way to pays salary. Thus they have to indicate clearly. In additional, the space Reason of Leaving is too small, there is not enough for those applicants. Therefore, they should expand it. 2.2.4 Reference For this section, Focus Point provided only two columns and state that the applicant has to provide at least two references. If the applicant wants to provide three references, then there is no space for them. Hence, Focus Point should state the sentence provide two references instead of at least two, or else they should give one more blank. 2.2.5 Others In the question of asking applicant does he or her needs hostel? Focus Point should put the location of the hostel as well. 2.2.6 Extra Requirements Just because of Focus Point has provided part time job, then they be supposed to add the info of Days and Hours Available, in order to arrange well for the employees. Furthermore, they should ask a question, which is Why you want to apply this job? in order to further understand what the applicants think, thus this is one of the ways able to get closer with employee. 2.3 Job Description of Focus Point Holding Berhad This is the job description of the Focus Point Holding Berhad and the position is Branch Manager. Branch Manager Responsibilities: To lead the team to achieve the sales target To be responsible and run the outlet business operations To do daily and monthly planning and management work To monitor and liaise with the supplier or HQ(headquarters) in ordering stocks To handle and solve complaints from the customer Requirement: Minimum SPM/STPM qualification and above Excellent selling skills, customer oriented, dynamic and proactive Good Communication Skills in English and Bahasa Malaysia. Chinese dialects is an added advantage Minimum 5 years of experience in retail management, preferably in optical business or optical retail chain stores Computer literate Applicants should be Malaysian citizens 2.4 The Insufficient of the Focus Point Holding Berhads Job Description The explanation of the particular which provided by Focus Point Holding Berhad actually is not sufficient, therefore they should have a further advance. 2.4.1 Responsibilities For the section of responsibilities, Focus Point has lacking of some points. As a branch manager, he or she is supposed to have need of do the interview, selection and then recruitment. Other than that, branch manager also must provide the training and development for their employees in order to maintain the reputation of Focus Point and also able to respond the market quickly. Besides that, branch manager must concern about the safety of their employees because no safety guaranty, the loyalty of employees will reduced. Not only the employees, the shop security also required to paid close attention in order to avoid external factors such as robbery, disturbance created by people and so forth, these would cause properties loss. In addition, branch manager needs has capability on allocating resources as well. This is because to assign the right employee to the right position and controlling the capital flowing are important in order to ensure the business operations run smoothly. Furth ermore, branch manager must possess great communicate skill with employees and customers because these able to prevent high turnover rate and low loyalty of customers and also can for the long term achievement. 2.4.2 Requirements For the requirements section, Focus Point stated that they need minimum SPM/STPM qualification, but as a branch manager, he or she should has minimum requirement of Bachelors Degree because though the experiences able to cover it but they might lack of some extra knowledge. Experience can be gained but knowledge is difficult to build if without learning. Other than that, Focus Point only stated that the branch manager have to good in communication skills with three languages, but actually good in writing skill is important as well, this is because they would required to writing out the accurately report to the headquarters (HQ) in order to let HQ to do further decisions or changes. Besides that, they didnt mention about own transport that the branch manager supposes to has it, because it would cause inconvenience for the meeting with HQ, sudden case occurred in supplier and need to go over there by own to check it out, if without own transport. 3.0 Conclusion In the Focus Point Holding Berhad, the job description and job application form of the company have some weaknesses; therefore we were looking for some new ways to improving it. We have come out with some solutions to improve some of the weaknesses in the job application form and job description as well. At first we analyzed the job description before we think about the solution to overcome the weaknesses. Other than that, we also used internet resources to search for other companies job description for comparison and we have generated some data to improve for the Focus Point Holding Berhad.

Women and Sports Essay -- Womens Softball

It has taken many years for women to gain a semblance of equality in sports. Throughout history, women have been both excluded from playing sports and discriminated against in sports. Men’s sports have always dominated the college athletic field, but women were finally given a fighting chance after Title IX was passed. Title IX, among other things, requires scholarships to be equally proportioned between men and women’s sports. Although this was a huge gain for women, gender inequality still exists in sports today. An example of this persisting inequality can be seen when looking at men’s baseball and women’s softball. In college, baseball and softball are both major NCAA sports. It is widely accepted throughout today’s society that baseball is a man’s sport, and softball is a woman’s sport. Very few people question why the two sexes are separated into two different sports, or wonder why women play softball instead of baseball . Fewer people know that women have been essentially excluded from playing baseball for a long time. This paper will focus on why softball has not changed the way women’s basketball has, why women continue to play softball, the possibilities and dynamics of women playing baseball with and without men, and the most discriminating aspect of women being banned from playing professional baseball. Basketball was created as a sport in 1891 by James Naismith, and it quickly became popular among both men and women. It initially started with the same rules for each gender, but according to Patricia Cain in her article, â€Å"Women, Race, and Sports: Life Before Title IX,† the rules quickly changed for women. Cain (2001) states that, â€Å"Almost immediately, however, some educators began changing the rules of basket... ...New York: A. S. Barnes and Company. Ring, Jennifer (2012). American women play hardball in venezuela: Team USA battles invisibility at home, is celebrated abroad, and faces gunfire at the Women’s World Cup. Spring 2012 Baseball Research Journal, 41(1). Retrieved from http://sabr.org/research/american-women-play-hardball-venezuela Ring, Jennifer (2009). Stolen bases: Why american girls don’t play baseball. Chicago Il: University of Illinois Press. Shattuck, Debra (2011). â€Å"Women’s baseball in the 1860s: Reestablishing a historical memory.† Nine,19(2), 1-26. Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/nine/vo19 /19.2.shattuck.html Women’s Sports Foundation (2011). Baseball and softball: Should girls and women have to choose? Retrieved from http://www.womenandsportsfoundation.org/en/home/advocate/foundation-positions/equity-issues/baseball_and_softball

Transfer of Personal Data to a Third Country :: Safe Harbor Agreement Human Rights Essays

Transfer of Personal Data to a Third Country I. Introduction 1.) An old issue, growing in importance Searching the web, one can see that privacy on the Internet is a big issue. Countless US or EU based human rights initiatives are fighting for the right to privacy. What is the reason for this? Although concerns about consumers' ability to protect their privacy have been in existence for decades, the Internet makes the issue more delicate: Businesses have access to a larger audience, which allows them to collect more data from more people. Furthermore, collection of more specific behavioural information is possible attaching cookies to a hard drive, reporting which websites someone enters.[1] In addition, data collection and storage having become much easier, faster and cheaper, cost concerns do not limit data-collection practices.[2] At the same time, the market for information about consumers and consumer behaviour is continuously growing, side by side with the expansion of e-commerce. 2.) Definition of the issue Privacy can be defined as "the right of the individual to be protected against intrusion into his personal life or affairs, or those of his family, by direct physical means or by publication of information."[3] This paper will focus purely on information privacy, also known as "data protection", which means the rules governing the collection and handling of personal data such as a person's name, address, phone number, family status, social security or other identification number or even medical, financial or government records. Data protection concerns the process of gathering, storing, analysis and distribution of personal data. Privacy issues can be divided into relations with the public sector and with the private sector.[4] In this paper, I will concentrate on the private sector, especially relevant because of the growing importance of e-commerce. 3.) Fundamentally different approaches in the US and the EU Europe and the US have very different approaches to data protection and privacy. In 250 years, nations on each side of the Atlantic have evolved their democracies into distinct forms of society and market economy. Differences in culture, policies and society are the consequence. a.) Government Interference vs. Self-Regulation As discussed in seminar one, there is an ongoing dispute regarding the approach in choosing an apt legal framework for the public and transnational sphere of cyberspace: Some scholars want governments to interfere as little as possible, others see the need for a unified legal framework. It seems that, concerning the privacy issue, the EU has chosen the latter option, by imposing a comprehensive, general law governing the collection, use and dissemination of data by public and private sector, whose enforcement is assured by an oversight body. The US tends to rely on sectoral laws, and on self-regulation for the

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn :: essays research papers

E.M. Forster makes a bold statement when he declares that he would rather betray his country than betray his friend. Forster takes a very moral stand on the issue and states that a friendship is often more important than a government's actions or society's beliefs. His opinion regarding the value of friendship is a common theme shared by many authors throughout history, including Mark Twain, and Alexandre Dumas.Mark Twain's classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, describes a young boy torn between what he feels his country and society expect of him and what his heart tells him is right. Society believes that slaves should be treated as property; Huck, who had befriended a runaway slave, sees Jim as a person, not property. In the end, Huck Finn decides that he would rather disobey society's teachings about slavery, than betray his friend by returning him to his previous condition of servitude.Further reiterating Forster's conception of the proper order of one's loyalty is a product of English folklore, Robin Hood. According to legend, Robin Hood robbed from the rich and gave to the poor in an effort to bring happiness to the peasants of Nottingham in an otherwise dreary time under the tyrannical rule of Prince John. A childhood friend of Robin, Maid Marion places her friendship with Robin Hood above loyalty to the crown. She has numerous opportunities to betray Robin Hood, but she does not. She sees the good he is doing for the land and the lone resistance he and his band of Merry Men provide against the evil Sheriff. Had she been loyal to her country, Robin Hood would have never been successful against the Sheriff of Nottingham and the citizens of her kingdom would have had to endure even greater injustices. Sharing many of the same principles Robin Hood embodies is Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers. The famous trio of noblemen battle against the villainy of the Court of King Louis XIII. D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis fight to preserve the honor of their Queen, Anne of Austria, against the Cardinal Richelieu. Their famous motto " All for one and one for all!" illustrates the value they place on their friendship.