Reflective Portfolio

Abstract This is a reflective essay looking at the author’s career expectations and working background. Models of reflection are used to examine the author’s experience and self learning in terms of career aspirations. Past working history, and the situation with jobs in the airline industry, are discussed. A model of ideal characteristics for the author’s desired job is presented, and the areas in which the author is lacking are set out. The tools and approaches which can be used to improve these characteristics and hence become more like the ideal candidate are set out. 1. Introduction In the following paper, I am going to look at my career aspirations in the context of available careers in my chosen industry: the airline industry. I want to work in a customer services / management capacity at British Airways, building upon my existing skill-set and experience. I will discuss this subject in terms of approaches and insights I have gathered from studying international tourism management and travel tourism management, as well as what I have learnt in this particular module on career development. I will be looking critically at my experience and self-learning in order to identify the characteristics which I have that I feel equip me for this role. I will also be identifying areas which need to be further worked on. I will be combining intuitive writing about my experiences and capacities with academic research, textbooks and theories. In reflecting on my experience, I have been influenced by a number of models of learning through reflection, including Gibbs’ an d Kolb’s. Both these models show a way to structure learning. In Kolb the learner is encouraged to look at an experience and make observations then form concepts and general theories, which are then tested against more new experience. Gibbs suggests a similar process of describing, analysing feelings, evaluating, analysis and conceptualisation (Moon 2013). I have used models like these to first describe to myself or others my experience, then build conceptual models, abstract key ideas and theorise about what happened in order to do things differently in the future. Overall, I will be demonstrating how and why I feel I fit the role of Customer Service Manager within the airline industry, and how I might fill the current gaps in my knowledge and experience. 2. The Airline Sector and Available Careers In this section, I will look at the airline industry globally and in the UK, outline the areas of work, discuss the different possible job roles, and suggest the one which is right for me. I will also look at the career possibilities associated with this role, and look at the relationship between the ideal candidate for this role and my capabilities. My aim is to work in management within the airline industry. Although I have had a variety of jobs in my career so far, I have always wanted to work for British Airways. I was drawn to the opportunities for travel, as I see it as a way of learning and personal development. The old saying that travel broadens the mind seems true to me, although it also seems that travel and tourism research has so far concentrated more on why tourists select the destinations they do, rather than the impact on travellers psychology and perceptions (Chon et al 2012). Initially, I felt I should wait until the right job came along, but I was advised by a friend that I should take any job within the organisation and then work my way into the position I wanted. Many jobs are advertised internally first in many employers, not just B.A. (Williams 2010). The airline industry as a whole is large, and is likely to expand particularly if the trend for cheap air travel continues. Globally, there are approximately 2000 airlines with 23,000 aircraft serving over 3500 airports. By 2006, air travel growth was approximately 5% year on year, and capacity was thought likely to double by 2021 (Hencke 2006). Within the UK, aviation is a significant contributor to the economy, with UK airports handling 230 million passengers a year. UK manufacturing, technology and service providers in the industry are considered world leaders. Nearly 150,000 people are employed in the UK directly within the industry, and the sector contributes nearly ?10 billion to GDP (The Air League [online] 2014). The strength and likelihood of growth of the sector, while not directly motivating me to want to join the industry, certainly give me confidence that I will be able to have a life-long career within the industry. In terms of different organisations, the industry is d ominated by a few large organisations, although low-cost players have changed the situation somewhat. British Airways is the largest operator, followed by Virgin Atlantic Airways. British Midland and Easy Jet are also well known. UK companies face competition from overseas providers as well (Belobaba et al 2009). I was especially drawn to working for British Airways as they are the largest provider in the UK, and as such I feel I will have more opportunities for career development. But because many other companies operate globally, I feel I am in a good position to move to different organisations in the future, not least because I speak a number of languages. Given the large number of jobs in the sector, it is unsurprising that there are a wide range of occupations and roles. The type of jobs available can be divided into three main sections: ground handling services (e.g. baggage handling), airport operations (e.g. terminal manager, customer support) and airline operations (e.g. ground handling, cabin crew etc) (National Careers Service 2014). Of the choices, I have decided to focus on roles which directly progress out of the role I am now occupying. In particular, I have mapped out a possible career development path. First, I will go for a Future Talent Customer Service Manager (FTCSM) position, which I can move to after 12 months in this role. After this I can progress to a Customer Service Manager (after 2 years), and, beyond this, to an In-Flight Business Manager (IBM). I have chosen this particular development path having considered and rejected another. In the other path I would take a less customer-facing role, becoming a Duty Off ice Manager (DOM) or Turn Around Manager (TRM). The first looks at the management of crew, while the second deals with the mechanics of putting aircraft back in the air quickly and efficiently. My decision to go for the first career route was guided by my skills in dealing with people. I feel I have demonstrated empathy with different types of people, and am practiced at dealing with people’s problems. I care about people, want them to enjoy their experiences and want to continue to be very hands-on, if not with the public then with other employees. I also feel that there’s a more defined and visible career path in the first set of roles, as I can move from FTCCSM to CSM and to IBM, and beyond. In terms of my chosen career progression, there are a number of skills and abilities the ideal candidate will have. These are not specific to B.A. or the aviation industry, but are needed across all customer service and people facing roles. A CSM/FTCSM should have: Good leadership skills Planning ability Understanding and acting on feedback Communication ability Networking ability Flexibility The ability to manage stress and pressure as well as cope with job challenges Be able to deal with conflict (Evanson 2011) In terms of this ideal checklist, I believe I already possess several of these requirements. That is, I feel I am able to deal with conflict in a low-key, non-confrontational manner (a skill honed during my time as a bouncer), I can manage stress and pressure, I am fairly good at planning, understanding feedback and communication. This is not to say I cannot improve in these areas, but I feel that the areas in which my personal profile is most mismatched with the ideal job candidate profile are: Leadership Networking Flexibility I will explore in more detail my personal circumstances and their match to the ideal profile in the next section. 3. Current Career & Circumstances This section looks at my background in terms of career history, strengths and weaknesses. I then assess my competencies in terms of the ideal candidate profile I outlined in the last section. Finally, I identify areas for improvement in relation to this profile. Currently, I am working as a member of cabin crew. I have 6 months experience. I felt this position will help me advance in the industry as a whole. My previous career history has given me some very useful experience. I have had a variety of jobs from modelling to being a bouncer. While many of these positions might be considered ‘low level’ I feel they have taught me to deal with many different types of people, particularly people who are aggressive or who attempt to manipulate. Having dealt with so many tricky people, I feel I have a strong intuition about what people’s real motives are, as opposed to what they say they are motivated by, and also an ability to communicate with all sorts of people without making situations worse. Before I started my current job, I knew I wanted to work within the airline industry. I was also attracted to B.A. as I had heard they were a good employer (indeed.com [online] 2014). I treated the application process as a way of learning how to improve my interview skills. I applied to some organisations not because I especially wanted the advertised job, but in order to brush up on these skills, and become familiar with a range of the interview styles which exist in different companies. Some organisations, for example, use stress techniques to see how you cope under pressure (Parkinson 2002), others put you in either a very structured or an unstructured situation, both of which elicit different types of responses and require different approaches (Lehman and DuFrene 2010). During my 6 months in this job, I have come up against a number of new challenges which have made me more aware of my strengths and weaknesses in terms of the job I am ideally looking for. I have found that people tend to assume that working as a member of the cabin crew is easy particularly for men. Indeed, there’s a strong ‘trolley dolly’ stereotype (Bolton & Boyd 2003), which I have found frustrating at times. In fact, cabin crew work is a difficult job demanding good time management, concentration, the ability to think ‘on your feet’ and solve problems quickly, and an ability to get on with many different sorts of people. In addition, you need to pass a number of tests. For example for the BA mixed fleet crew the tests include health, criminal record and different aircraft licenses. I have found out in this job that I am good at listening to others. I feel I have a natural empathy with others and want to listen to what they are saying, rather than try and organise them into my way of doing things. However, and perhaps this is connected with this strength, I am not naturally forceful and good at leading others. In fact, if I am faced with a domineering or overpowering customer, I tend to give in and do what they want. This creates problems for me, for example if what they want is against the company rules. I think if I had more leadership ability, I would be better able to convince such people that the way I want them to behave is the right one for them as well. I also feel I do not currently demonstrate leadership skills. When in group meetings I tend to hang back and do not put my point of view across. I also feel I do not make the best use of situations. For example, I was asked to train up a new member of my team, but I felt I did not do this well, I felt und er-confident of what I was doing and I think I confused the person I was training. In addition to the areas of improvement I need to work on, which I will discuss more in the next section, I need to look at ways in which I can achieve my goal of a management position. I believe that my experience so far has helped a great deal. I have already had 6 months experience working as a member of cabin crew, so I understand the mechanics of this industry, but also of this particular job. After all, many people have to spend several months, if not years, volunteering to get similar experience of their desired industry, and I have had the luck to be paid for getting to this stage. Another benefit of being in the industry is that I have had a chance to build contacts already. Networking is an extremely powerful tool for getting the job you want (Souza 2010) and continues to be useful once in the job. After all, networking can be defined simply as creating opportunities, improving relationships with other people and making useful contacts. In a job, these benefits deepen over time, as you develop a more permanent network (Fisher 2011). As such, it is useful to career progression. Another skill I need to learn is flexibility. After all, as Pryor and Bright (2011) point out, the 21st Century workplace is characterised by change. Being able to adapt to change, not to expect the workplace to stay the same for years (or even months) and having a portfolio approach to a career are becoming increasingly important. I recognise that I am somewhat inflexible, and that change scares me. I naturally prefer the security of some sort of routine. However, there are things I can do to become more flexible. To some extent, working as cabin crew has helped improve my adaptability and increased the extent to which I can have a positive response to change, as I am never 100% sure where I’ll be going over the next months, and I have become aware that people can be very different in their demands and expectations. As I deal so much with members of the public, I have learnt to adapt to circumstances as they come up in a consistent way. I think there is more I can do in this area though. To summarise, there are some key areas which I need to work on: developing my management skills (including communication) and improving my networking, as well as being more flexible and open to change. I have covered networking and flexibility in this section, and will look at leadership in the next section. 4. The Development of Key Skills: Leadership This section evaluates the personal development tools I have used to improve my leadership skills, as it has been identified above as one of the areas I need to work on. I have had extensive working experience in a variety of positions, but have not really worked in a position where I have had to lead others. This initially made me wonder if I had what it takes to be a leader, but a number of things we covered in the module have convinced me that I can lead others. Other gaps include networking skills and flexibility. Theoretical learning about leadership has helped expand my horizons in terms of career development. Before I started the module, I believed that leaders are born, not made, and that one either is or is not the sort of person who can lead others. However, we learnt about different theories about leadership, and also about ways leadership can be developed. The idea that leaders are born is also known as the ‘great man’ theory of leadership (Daft 2007). A similar theory is the ‘trait’ model (Komives et al 2009). Although these are old models, they were still influential in my thinking. My experience on the course opened my eyes about different leadership theories. Many hold that leadership can be learned, for example behaviour-based theories, contingency theories and transformational theory (Komives et al 2009; Bragg 2008). Of the three, I have been most influenced by transformational theories. Behavioural and contingency theories seem to lack soul for me. It seems to me, based on my working experience, that people need to relate to and be inspired by leaders. Transformational theory, introduced by Burns (1978), suggests that transformational leadership is related to â€Å"morality, charisma, vision and values† that is, the leader must inspire people. Leaders also need to work with the people they lead, sharing information (Lucas 2005, p.20). One problem I found was that while there is a lot written about transformational leadership, there is not so much about how it can actually be put into practice. I did find a model based on Burns (1985) ideas. Manktelo et al (2005) suggest a 4 step process involving Creating a picture of the future to inspire people Getting people to ‘buy in’ to the picture Manage the way the vision is made to occur Improve relationships between people involved in delivering the vision They also suggest ways in which each stage can be achieved. In order to attain my desired career goals I will certainly be using this model to help me. I also found some textbooks recommended for the module useful. Chapman and O’Neill (1999) broke leadership down into 6 practical steps. I found this useful as I find it hard sometimes to translate theory into practice. I also found Covey (1999) useful. This approach teaches one how to base leadership around principles. I have always felt that management should be to do with treating people fairly and involving them in decisions, no matter what level of the company they are working at. Gardner and Laskin (1996) have given me ideas about how to watch what other leaders do and incorporate their behaviours into my own approach. One writer I found less helpful was Watkins (2013). He suggests getting to understand the â€Å"pivotal† people in the organisation quickly, through understanding their motivations and the pressures t hey are working under as well as the way they see their choices. The strategy is then to apply tools of influence to sway them. I have two issues with this approach. First, I believe every worker in an organisation is equally important. I would rather get all people agreeable to a course of action than concentrate on those he sees as ‘pivotal’. By concentrating on a few, resentment might arise. I would also suggest that it might not be possible to get to know people as quickly as he thinks. Watkins (2013) assumes that people will be honest and open about their motivation in a short conversation, and from my experience this often is not the case. Overall, I believe that learning more about leadership and finding practical approaches to being a better leader, including coaching skills, is the key way to address the gap I have talked about in earlier sections between my current skill set and the skill set required for my ideal position. 5. Conclusion In conclusion, I have examined my career in the context of my past working experience, where I am at the moment, and where I want to be. A number of tools I have learned during this module, as well as through self-learning, have helped me work out the ideal profile for my desired job role. I have also identified how I might turn my current skill set into the desired one. In particular, I need to work on leadership abilities. I have found a number of practical tools to help me do this, and have explored them above. My networking skills and flexibility can also be improved. 6. References The Air League (2014) ‘UK Aviation’ [online] (cited 8th February 2014). Available from http://www.airleague.co.uk/about/position-papers/uk-aviation/ Belobaba, P, Odoni, A and Barnhart, C (2009) The Global Airline Industry, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ Bolton, S C and Boyd, C (2003) ;Trolley Dolly or Skilled Emotion ManagerMoving on from Hochschild’s Managed Heart’, Work, Employment and Society, 17:2, 289-308. Bragg, D J (2008) The Application of Transformational Leadership, Proquest, USA. Chapman, E N and O’Neill, L S (1999) Leadership: Essential steps every manager needs to know (3rd edn.), Prentice Hall, USA Chon, K S, Pizam, A and Mansfeld, Y (2012) Consumer Behaviour in Travel and Tourism, Routledge, UK Covey, S R (1999) Principle-centered Leadership, Simon & Schuster, London Daft, R (2007) The Leadership Experience (4th edn.), Cengage Learning, Mason OH. Day, D V, Zaccaro, S J and Halpin, S M (2004) Leader Development for Transforming Organizations: Growing Leaders for Tomorrow, Psychology Press, Bristol D’Souza (2010) Brilliant Networking: What the Best Networkers Know, Say and Do, Pearson, UK Evenson, R (2011) Customer Service Management Training 101: Quick and Easy Techniques That Get Great Results, AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, USA Fisher, D (2011) Professional Networking For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ Gardner, H and Laskin, E (1996). Leading Minds: An anatomy of leadership, Basic Books, NY. Gladwell, M (2001) Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference Abacus, London Hencke, E (2006) ‘Airline Industry Overview’, [online] (cited 8th February 2014) available from http://www.columbia.edu/cu/consultingclub/Resources/Airlines_Eric_Henckels.pdf Indeed.com (2014) ‘British Airways’ [online] (cited 8th February 2014) available from http://www.indeed.com/cmp/British-Airways/reviews Komives, S R, Lucas, N and McMahon, T R (2009) Exploring Leadership: For College Students Who Want to Make a Difference (2nd edn.), John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ. Lehman, C and DuFrene, D (2010) Business Communication (16th edn.), Cengage Learning, Mason, OH Lucas, D B (2005) A Study of the Relationship Between Transformational Leadership and Constructive Organizational Culture in Small Manufacturing Companies, Proquest, USA Manketelow, J, Brodbeck, F and Anand, N (2005) How to Lead: Discover the Leader Within You, Mind Tools, Swindon. Moon, J A (2013) Reflection in Learning and Professional Development: Theory and Practice, Routledge, Oxon National Careers Service (2014) ‘Finding out about aviation’ [online] (cited 9th February 2014) available from ttps://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/LMI/Pages/aviation.aspx Parkinson, M (2002) Your Job Search Made Easy, Kogan Page Publishers, London Pryor, R and Bright, J (2011) Chaos Theory of Careers: A new perspective on working in the twenty-first century, Routledge, Oxon. Watkins, M D (2013) First 90 Days, Updated and Expanded: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, Harvard Business Press, USA Williams, C (2010) Management (6th edn), Cengage Learning, Mason, OH

Impacts of Casinos

The Negative Impact Many people do not want the casinos in their town and feel that having one will only bring chaos and criminal activity. Some of the misconceptions how a casino will affect a town range from addiction to industry centralization. In the website that Greg Saris has written he states that â€Å"we don't want to get into slot machines and hard-core gambling because it is addictive and destructive in people's lives† (Saris, 2003). It is believed that the impact of a casino coming into a town would be morally ND ethically irresponsible.The people that go to this facility are sometimes categorized as gambling addicts with alarming numbers of them. In California back in 2002 it is said that there were over 1. 2 billion addicts in that state. It is a widespread belief that with the casinos will increase the â€Å"crime, suicide, addiction and human misery' (Saris, 2003). In the article that Kevin Fagan has written it can be seen the comparison between gambling addic tions and a drug (crack-cocaine) (Fagan, 2007). A person may start out n Bingo (class Ill in Nevada) or a simple form of gambling and then may be introduced to slot machines.It is believed there is a great need for medical help since it is referred to as â€Å"a medically designated psychological disorder in its most severe, pathological form† (Fagan, 2007). Douglas Walker has written a book to help us to understand the economics of gambling and the arguments presented. It is general misconception that casinos are an â€Å"industry centralization, the â€Å"factory-restaurant† dichotomy, export base theory of growth, money inflow (mercantilism) (Walker, 2007). Positive Argument There many positive impacts on a towns economics that have been proven over history.Will the positive affects be greater than the negative? Through studies and research it can be seen how beneficial casinos can affect the economic industry. It is believed that casinos will be able to draw in to urists and more income to a city through marketing and incentives to those across the U. S. It will bring more income to a town that otherwise would not have had visitors (Walker, 2007) (peg. 36). Both revenue and income for a small town is greatly increased when a casinos are created. (Ask. Com, n. D. )

Art Of Irony in The Story of An Hour

Art Of Irony in 'The Story of An Hour' In The Story of An Hour, Kate Chopin uses a variety of literary devices ranging from third person narration, juxtaposition and irony to vividly illustrate the dramatic process of grievance, and alternately liberation, that Mrs. Mallard experiences under the impression that her husband has died. In the beginning of the short story, Chopin attempts to extend inklings to the reader of what is later to come in the story through the assertion that â€Å"Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble,† and that the other characters, her sister Josephine specifically, would â€Å"break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband’s death.† It might be perceived that Chopin’s intentions were to foreshadow Mrs. Mallard having a heart failure in response to the traumatic news if it were not delivered delicately. Chopin depicts Mrs. Mallard as a fragile being whom would be shattered both physically and emotionally when given the news of her husband’s death. Chopin then toys along with this predictable reaction describing Mrs. Mallard as to have â€Å"wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment,† similar to how a â€Å"child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.† The use of such kinetic word composition and the comparison of Mrs. Mallard to that of a sobbing child portrays her as an emotionally obliterated, feeble woman – entirely devastated, the exact reaction Chopin had foreshadowed early on. Chopin then implements juxtaposition and irony when describing Mrs. Mallard’s feelings subsequent of her devastation. Up until this point in the story, all of Mrs. Mallard’s actions are seemingly natural. The reader would think it reasonable for a woman to be emotionally rattled at the news of her husband’s death, however Chopin twists this seemingly predictable narrative on its head by now revealing a sense of liberation in Mrs. Mallard. To initiate this shift in mood, Chopin describes Mrs. Mallard gazing at the sky not in â€Å"a glance of reflection,† however a glance which â€Å"indicated a suspension of intelligent thought,† and this described â€Å"suspension of intelligent thought† puts a pause on Mrs. Mallard’s remorseful thoughts and serves as a gateway into her newfound freedom. Chopin further describes the positive ascension of Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts through the phrases â€Å"her bosom rose and fell tumultuously,† while whispering, â€Å"free, free, free,† â€Å"over and over under her breath.† Through this description, Chopin seems to reinvent Mrs. Mallard in an almost evil way as she is finding peace within her husband’s death. A reader might associate Mrs. Mallard’s â€Å"tumultuous† chest movements and repetition of a single word with the clich?, evil, methodical laugh of a villainous character that rises in richness at the expense of another (the laugh then commensurate to Mrs. Mallard’s happiness at the expense of her husband’s life). Chopin has recreated Mrs. Mallard in a way that makes her seemingly selfish in that she has achieved contentment through the death of her husband when the orthodox reaction should be a sense of remorse. Chopin therefore creates irony in two ways: one through the juxtaposition of how Mrs. Mallard should feel and how she actually feels and the other being how Mrs. Mallard achieves emotional uplift through an inherently wrong (according to societal expectation) response to the situation. Referring back to the potential foreshadowing in the beginning of story, Chopin seems to create a full circle effect at the end of the story. The very last line of Chopin’s short story proclaims that â€Å"she (Mrs. Mallard) had died of heart disease – of the joy that kills.† This ending serves as a full circle ending as it ties Chopin’s beginning statement, â€Å"Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble,† to the end of the story: Mrs. Mallard’s death via heart failure. The irony then amounts from the cause of Mrs. Mallard’s heart failure. Chopin has illustrated the story so that the reader knows Mrs. Mallard’s heart failure is from the negative shock of knowing her husband is alive while the characters in the story believe Mrs. Mallard’s heart failure is from positive shock, hence â€Å"the joy that kills.† This irony and juxtaposition of what actually happened and what is perceived to have happened (by the characters in the story) is made entirely possible through Chopin’s choice of third person narration. Through third person narration, Chopin exposes both sides of the situation: Mrs. Mallard’s internal thoughts, her feelings of liberation and freedom, and the external thoughts of the other characters, the feelings that Mrs. Mallard is desolate. By divulging the juxtaposing views to the reader, Chopin creates an ironic dichotomy. Through this ironic dichotomy, the reader gleans the unadulterated truth of Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s death thus establishing a personal relationship between the reader and the character of Mrs. Mallard, all of which Chopin uses as a strategy to effectively illustrate Mrs. Mallard’s emotional development throughout the story.

Letter of Recommendation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter of Recommendation - Essay Example Additionally, he searched, selected, and managed Indonesian student volunteers who study abroad to teach students from my school through Skype. Therefore, now, my school has computers, and Internet. Furthermore, we have more good quality English teachers. All of these elements are useful for engaging English lesson online through Skype with Indonesian Students who volunteer becoming English teacher that live outside Indonesia. His effort helps my students improve English grades. Currently, he works as a volunteer in my school. He is an English teacher. His method to teach students is different from any other teachers. He always makes sure that the lesson is always interactive. He modifies the lesson to implement game in English, project and presentation. He brings something new to the curriculum, because before he came, my school always taught students basing on the book, but now he let students show his creativity by using English. This improved my students’ creativity in my school. Additionally, he consistently demonstrated strong work ethics and great communicational skills, increasingly extending the importance of handling negotiations with our clients, consumers and food distributors. This impacted the performance and the image of our company. X is an open-minded person, organized, adaptable in cases of objective criticism. I have developed deep personal and professional attachment and respect for x, and sincerely believe that this course will sharpen his skills of education development. He has my highest endorsement. If you have any questions regarding x and/or this recommendations, feel free to contact me at any

Career, What do I have to do to become a Veternarian Essay

Career, What do I have to do to become a Veternarian - Essay Example Before anything else, one must first complete his education and do well in studies especially if he is considering a profession that belongs to the field of science. One of which is becoming a veterinarian. It entails much effort to become a veterinarian and a person who is considering this profession must do his best in all science related subjects. The struggle will begin during high school days because in these school years, he will have the first grasp the different science subjects and this will be the foundation of later studies within this field (â€Å"How To Become a Veterinarian†). Performing best while in high school will be an edge and most likely lend a better chance for the candidate to pass the entrance examination in college as a preparatory for higher studies. Also, doing ones best during high school days will benefit the individual as he enters college because during these years, he only has to take up science related course and the focus will be much narrower. Chemistry, math and biology are the two most important units in college that one needs to excel in (â€Å"FAQ About a Veterinary Career†). If one is really dedicated to become a veterinarian, he must prepare for all the hardships of studying and memorization of numerous and different facts because taking up a course in the science field is not an easy task (â€Å"How To Become a Veterinarian?†). Being in the field of science especially a course in veterinary medicine entails reading numerous, thick books. Because the field of science is constantly changing and improving, one must always keep himself updated of current trends. Finding and entering the best veterinary school will be an advantage (Fulton). But it does not end there. No matter how good the school is, what is more important is the individuals optimal performance in all subjects. The success of ones career does not lie with the school where the person earned his degree but on the knowledge that he has

Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Carnival and Royal Caribbean Cruises - Essay Example With this, this essay will analyze the strategic position of Carnival Corporation and Royal Carribean Crruieses within the cruise industry. Royal Carribean International is the preferred cruise brand among celebrities because of its ability to understand the needs of their customers and aiming to perfect their craft. This cruise company strives to attract international clients through packages and options that range from cruise lengths, innovations of on-board dining and other activities for the vacationing guests (Colon, 2008). In essence, this international strategy applied by Royal Carribean required that the cruise company makes adjustments to some of their vessels so as to accommodate the features that the company sought to add as a way of attracting and retaining customers (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2012). In contrast, the Caribbean Cruises Ltd strategy of achieving strategic position is that of seeking mergers and buying of their rival companies as a way of commanding the market more. As a suggestion, the Carnival should adopt the strategic position applied by Royal Carribean Internation t hat also includes the differentiation strategy (Engle, 2011). The differentiation strategy requires that a company focuses on product diversification, brand promotion, and venturing into multiple markets as compared to focusing on mergers and acquisitions (Bhatia,

Investigate the expectation of the users of financial statement from Dissertation - 1

Investigate the expectation of the users of financial statement from the auditors in case of Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example This is usually done through their authentication, reliability and the correctness of their financial reporting (Mautz and Sharaf 1961; Manson and Zaman 2001). The accountants and auditors play an important role as they manage the finances of the companies (Manson 2000; Galloway 2003). Unfortunately, a number of issues have significantly affected the said process. In fact, one of the most important consequences is related to the existence of the so-called audit expectation gap. The audit expectation gap is indeed, one of the most important issues related to the audited function as it has relatively affected the development of auditing standards and practices (Godsell 1992; Best, Buckby and Tan 2001; Fadzly and Ahmad 2004). Members of the profession even attributed the existence of this issue to the significant increases in the litigations and criticisms they face (Mednick 1986; Berry, Otahata and Saleh 2000). The audit expectation gap pertains to the difference between the expectatio ns of the public in relation to an audit. The importance of this factor to the auditing profession lies on the fact that it tends to lower the credibility of the latter as well as their earnings potential (Godsell 1992; Best, Buckby and Tan 2001; Lin and Chen 2004;). More significantly, the presence of this problem also lowers the prestige of the profession (Beck 1973; Berry, Otahat and Saleh 2000; Best, Buckby and Tan 2001). 1.2 Statement of the Problem Various literatures have already been published in relation to audit expectations gap between the auditors and the users of financial statements. These literatures all emphasize that the expectations gap is usually evident from two points of view: (1) the users of the financial statements and (2) the auditors. In addition, there are also four expectation issues connected with this; these are: (1) audit assurance which pertains to the role and functions that the auditors must fulfill, (2) the level of quality in relation to the perfo rmance of the audits, (3) structural issues and regulatory issues that significantly affect the independence of the accountants/auditors, and (4) the manner by which the said audits are reported, taking into consideration the inconsistencies in terms of the construction of the different meanings contained in the audit reports. Previous studies conducted in relation to the auditing experiences gap tend to focus on developed countries and at the same time, have significantly failed to give paramount importance to the political and historical contexts wherein the said expectations are formed. Aside from this, the common recommendation is to publish strict guidelines with respect to accounting and auditing to cater to the problem at hand. However, some of the said studies mention that the said recommendations do not usually apply to all countries, most especially the developing ones taking into consideration the differences as to the ideological and legal structures that govern it. The study focuses on the experiences and perceptions of the users of financial statements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In addition to this, it also seeks to determine the different factors affecting this to gain a better understanding of the auditing expe

Compose an essay addressing Chinas one-child policy. Why was this

Compose an addressing Chinas one-child policy. Why was this policy determined to be the best option for China to reduce population growth What is the - Essay Example The policy was effective in reducing the overall population growth, however, this action was not without negative ramifications. In 2006, China had a population of over 1.3 billion people, and is predicted to grow to just over 1.4 billion by the year 2050 (â€Å"2006 World†, 2006). This makes China the most populous country in the world today. However, because of implemented measures to reduce its rate of population growth, in 2050, it is projected to be the second most populated country just behind India (â€Å"2006 World†, 2006). In the 1960s and 1970s, when the population seemed to be increasing out of control, the use of contraceptives began to be promoted vigorously, which gradually resulted in a drop in fertility rates in China (Kent & Haub, 2005). The most popular contraceptive method used continued to be female sterilization and intrauterine devices (IUDs), followed by oral contraceptives (Kend & Haub, 2005). This was successful in lowering fertility rates, however, the Chinese government still believed a more rigid policy must be implemented to successfully contain the population rate. The history of China’s population control has fluctuated between encouraging births at certain times in its history, while actively prohibiting births at another (Love, 2005). In 1949, the same year the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was created, the regime encouraged births to â€Å"increase the rate of socioeconomic development and to strengthen the county† (Love, 2005, p. 143). In fact, the leader of the Chinese Revolution, Mao Zedong, publicly announced that a large population would be a very good thing for China because out of all the things in existence in the world, â€Å"people are the most precious (Zedong, as cited by Love, 2005, p. 143). The population grew so fast during that time, that only a few years later, policy changes were implemented. In 1954, birth control was discussed openly by the PRC, however, only four years later in 1958, Mao

Should we mine this Ore Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Should we mine this Ore - Essay Example The amount of light that passed through the solutions to the photocells is used to determine the absorbance of each solution (Reynolds & Thompson 26). The equation of the standard curve is given by y =mx + b. Plotting a graph of absorbance against concentration for the standard solutions produces a curve that has a direct relationship with the equation of the standard curve (Bartlett 159). The direct relationship between concentration and absorbance for a solution is referred to as Beer’s law. Concentration of unknown compound can be determined from the graph by measuring its absorbance. Its absorbance is located on the x-axis of the graph, and its corresponding concentration is determined on the y-axis. Concentration of the unknown solutions can also be established from the slope of the Beer’s law curve (Bartlett 159). A blank solution was then prepared by filling the cuvette with distilled water to a volume of  ¾ full. Care was taken not to contaminate the cuvette while filling it. Spectrometer was then calibrated by placing a blank cuvette into the cuvette grove of the spectrometer (Reynolds & Thompson 160). In order to determine optimal wavelength for plotting this standard curve, 0.4 M standard solution was placed in the cuvette slot. The cuvette was then rinsed twice with 1 mL solution in Test Tube 1, and then refilled to  ¾ of its volume. The outside was wiped with a tissue paper and placed into the cuvette, and absorbance of the solution was measured (Bartlett 159). This process was repeated for solution 2-5 until their absorbances were obtained. The absorbance of each solution was recorded in the data table. The data recorded was used to draw a graph of absorbance Vs concentration. The concentration of Copper (II) sulfate was obtained from the graph by determining its corresponding rea ding on the y-axis. Among all the acids

Free

Free Market and Market Character Essay The main difficulty in tackling this question is squaring moral means with moral ends, (Wilkinson, 2008). Moral character, or virtue, is a means to achieving moral ends. As the socioeconomic structure changes so do the means of achieving moral ends. Free markets flourishes along fast socioeconomic change, and therefore market cultures are most likely to see a mismatch between the traits of moral character valued by the culture and the traits of character actually effective as means within the existing structure for achieving moral ends. Due to the indifference of each individual, perspectives vary according to the superannuated standards of our lagging moral culture while the system simultaneously delivers moral goods more effectively than at any time in human history. So, the correct answer to the question is: Yes, market societies corrode traditional moral norms, although this corrosion is an integral part of moral progress. John gray in his view of the effect of free market on market character suggests comparison of realistic alternatives and understanding how different systems promote divergent types of human character. His definition of a free market sidelines the view that free markets emerge spontaneously when state interference in the economy is removed, or simply free markets the ‘absence of government’. Instead markets in his view depend on systems of law to decide what can be traded as a commodity and what cannot. Therefore, free markets not only contain some moral restraints which are policed by the government, but also rely on property rights mostly created and enforced by the government. The free market as in the past mid-Victorian England came about not because the state withdrew from the economy, but rather because state power was used to privatize land that had been under various forms of common ownership, or not owned at all. Historically, it is evident that economic systems are living things, and rarely do free markets operate according to the established economic models; except in economics textbooks where markets are self-regulating. On the contrary, the relation between economics and ethics can be seen more clearly in the light that traits of character most rewarded by free markets are entrepreneurial boldness, the willingness to speculate and gamble, and the ability to seize new opportunities. In order to survive and prosper in free market economies one has to embrace such skills and risk-taking actions as retooling one’s skills, relocating and switching careers. According to Adam Smith, one of the originators of free-market economics, markets cannot be confined to the marketplace because free markets demand a high degree of mobility and an ingrained readiness to exit from relationships that are no longer profitable; a direct reflection of the humanity in our lives. Adam’s fear and Gray’s perception matter the least when it has been proved that though free markets reward some moral traits, they also undermine others. The moral hazards of free markets do not mean that other economic systems are any better. Therefore, no economic system can fully attend to every aspect of moral character; instead all rely on motives that are morally questionable. A sensible combination cannot be achieved by applying an ideal model of how the economy should work. Different mixes will be best in different historical contexts. But one thing is clear: a modern market economy cannot do without a measure of moral corrosion. Tyler (2008) is of the opinion that free markets operate like amplifiers; the abundance placed in our disposal tends to boost and accentuate whatever character tendencies we already possess. He believes that other features of the free market also encourage the better angels of our nature and discourage our destructive impulses; thus allowing people to realize a range of good intentions. Market-friendly societies are attractive to immigrants. Transparency International annually issues an index of the most corrupt places in the world to do business. The countries topping last year’s list were Iraq, Myanmar, and Somalia, while the least corrupt countries were Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand, all of which have active market economies. In relation to such a report, it is obvious that the rise of markets and the decline of corruption are part of a common and consistent thread of progress. Markets purpose to create a consensus around certain moral expectations: that agreements should be binding, that honesty is expected in transactions, and that economic actors are held accountable for broken promises. However not all markets are ‘free’ because ‘corrupt’ markets do not meet the above standards, as a similarly in a variety of other human imperfections. By making more social activity of every kind possible, the market creates greater scope for these vices. As observers of economic life, many of us focus too often on these sorts of negative examples. But we need to take a wider view of human progress. In the midst of our own long era of economic growth and expansion, it is obvious that the positive features of markets decisively outweigh their negative features. This is true not only because of the practical and material benefits of wealth creation but because of its beneficial effect on personal morality as well. Irrespective of the side taken by each market analyst, a common ground runs through in the aspects of moral and social issues. In his judgment, Globalization, leads not only to the creation and spread of wealth but to ethical outcomes and to better moral character among its participants. In contrast Hymowitz believes that market economies weaken the cultural conspiracy in three powerful ways. First, they introduce novelty, which tests established cultural habits and moral verities. Second, they provoke individual desire in ways that can easily weaken the self-discipline and moral obligations that make free markets flourish. And lastly, as they advance, market economies become more likely to treat the yet-to-be-socialized child as an autonomous, adult-like actor rather than as an undeveloped dependent. On the hand, subscribes to the liberal school of thought as pioneered by Adam Smith or Milton Friedman. According to this school of thought, freedom of the individual is the highest aim, and the ultimate test of a ones character is his ability to pursue his own chosen goals in life without infringing upon the freedom of others pursuit of their own goals. From this perspective, free economic activity among individuals, corporations, and nations boosts such desirable qualities as trust, honesty, and hard work. Other panelists on the same big question, has each faithfully attested to his or her view but at one point came to the conclusion that the answer to this question depends on how one conceives the good life; prescribing that at all times we should ensure to take a wider view of human progress. ? References Jagdish, Bhagwati. Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character? London. 2008 December 3, 2008. 3 March 2009 http://www. templeton. org/market/PDF/Cowen. pdf Tyler, Cowen. Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character? London. 2008 December 3, 2008. 3 March 2009 http://www. templeton. org/market/PDF/ Bhagwati. pdf Will, Wilkinson. Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character, London. 2008 October 6, 2008. 3 March 2009 http://www. willwilkinson. net/flybottle/2008/10/06/does-the-free- market-corrode-moral-character/ John, Templeton Foundation. â€Å"Supporting Science-Investing in the Big Questions: An interview with leading scientists, scholars, and public figures,† Does the Free Market Corrode Moral Character. 3 December 2008. 3 March 2009 http://www. templeton. org/market/ Lockwood, Anne Turnbaugh. Community Collaboration and Social Capital: An Interview with Gary G. Wehlage. Leaders for Tomorrows Schools. 2 May 2001. 19 July 2001 http://www. ncrel. org/cscd/pubs/lead21/2-1m. htm.

The Origins Of Nike Commerce Essay

The Origins Of Nike Commerce Essay Nike was founded by Mr. Phil Knight and his past coach Bill Bowerman in 1964 and they started Blue Ribbon Sports. Knights first shoe was called Tiger and then began distribution of shoes. Blue Ribbon got great success in 1971 and Knight changes the company name Nike. In 1971 it introduced Nikes first brand line. Nike launched its product line in 1979. The new version of its Air shoe which was very successful and it was known as Air Jordan; introduced in 1985. Nike opened its first retail outlet in Portland, Oregon in 1990. In 1991 the company was very successful and its revenue reached USD $3 billion. In 1999 company started selling its products directly to customers from its website. Nike is the worlds leading sports and athletic shoes. Nike is the major manufacturer of sports equipment with $18.6 billion USD in the year of 2008. Nike has 30000 employees in worldwide. (Nikebiz:company overview, 2010) Nike had generated profits of $97.4 million and its profit dropped down by 50% in February 2001. Nike said that it was because of the failure of supply chain software produced by i2 technologies. Both companies blamed each other. This failure also effected Nikes reputation. The supply chain software was the first segment of NSC (Nike Supply Chain) project from SAP and also customer relationship management software from Siebel System. Analysts pointed out the fault of customization of the software and over demand forecasting. (Koah, 2004) Company successfully implemented (NSC) Nike Supply Chain project by 2004. The (NSC) Nike Supply Chain project is centralized planning moving and manufacturing. At last Nike got success in Implementing ERP and it became the desired approach for those who want to implement the ERP systems in their company. Christopher Koch (Editor of CIO Magazine) stated that If it was easy, everyone would just do it. In the late 1990, most companies avoided to adopt ERP because of the huge cost of ERP systems. (Koch, 2004) The lesson of Nikes failure and subsequent rebound lies in the fact that it had a sound business plan that was widely understood and accepted at every level of the company. Given that resiliency it afforded the company, in the end the i2 failure turned out to be just a speed bump. (Koah, 2004) Products Range Nike has wide range of sports equipment, running shoes, and jerseys and may other products as shown in figure 1. Figure Nike Products (nike, 2010) ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) ERP entitles a companys information system which can bring more closely the companys departments and functions like human resources, finance and inventories. It also creates the link between customers and producers. 1.1 Introduction of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Enterprise Resource Planning is the enterprise system tool which manages demand and supply. It has the ability to make link between customers and suppliers. ERP also provides the high degree of integration between purchasing, manufacturing, marketing, sales, logistics and marketing. ERP is the tool which can provide high level of customer services and productivity and also lower the cost. (Wallace Kremzar, 2001) Enterprise Resource Planning is a company which increase it sales by 20% because of ERP. The vice president states that ERP has provided the key to becoming a truly global company. Design can be made with the accurate data and with the process that concretes demand and supply across border and oceans. This change is worth billion to us in sales worldwide. (Wallace Kremzar, 2001) The Director of ERP For the first time ever, we have a good handle on our future requirements for components raw and materials. When our customer demand changes, we-ourselves and our suppliers-can manage changes to our schedules on a very coordinated and controlled basis. I dont see how any company can do effective supply chain management without ERP. (Wallace Kremzar, 2001) 1.2 Origin of the Term ERP The Enterprise Resource Planning ERP developed from Manufacture Resource Planning (MRP). The ERP was introduced by an analytical firm Garner. Enterprise Resource Planning has all the functions of an enterprise except organisation business or charter. Many organisations like IBM, Dell and HP Microsoft, Intel and many other organisations are now using ERP systems. The ERP systems are typically for large and more broadly based applications although it is also used in small and medium sized businesses. The ERP systems provide standardization, lower maintenance and it can store all data in one database. So, we can say that it has greater reporting capabilities. ERP includes other applications like Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), Financials Resource Management (FRM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Human Resources Management (HRM). (Leon , 2008) Figure : Information integration through ERP (ERP, 2010) 1.3 Overview of ERP Many organisations choose to implement one part for ERP systems and stand-alone systems for the other ERP applications need to develop an external interface to the other ERP system. Because in an organisation one vendor choose to use human resource management system and the financial system choose another and integration between those systems. It is very common in midsized retailer and the retail sector will have a point of sale (POS) and financial application then they have a specialized application to handle other business requirements like logistics and merchandising. (Leon , 2008) The quality of ERP system is that it provides a single database which contains all the data for the software module also shown in figure 3: Manufacturing   Supply Chain Management   Financials   Projects   Human Resources Customer Relationship Management   (Leon , 2008) Figure ERP Database (google, 2010) 1.4 Reasons for Buying ERP Software In these days when the business environment is increasingly complex and highly competitive then the organisations need the IT system which is highly competitive with time management. The organisations need the outstanding performance in their business by utilizing the time in the correct way. Enterprise system utilize the company time correctly. Enterprise Resource Planning is the planning in which the business resources like material, employees and customers moved from one state to another state. An ERP system maintains the data which connects with the business functions like manufacturing, supply chain, Management, finance, human resource, customer relationship management. (Leon , 2008) 1.5 Reasons of ERP projects Failure Sometimes ERP projects fail if you do not implement them well. There are some of the reasons for the failure of ERP failure. The company selected the wrong software of ERP for the company. The training of employee is also very important and some organisations dont train well their employees. Some software is heavily customized and if these are not match with the companys IT infrastructure then there can be problem. If we do not implement the effective change management strategies then it can be the result of failure of the project. If the business merger leaves out the work in the process then it can be also a big loss.(Glenn, 2008) There are also some factors from where we can achieve the successful ERP projects by selecting the right software for the company. Give the right training to employees. For implementing the ERP we have to manage each approach and utilize the best practices for implementing ERP software. (Starinsky, 2001) I found some important realities about ERP are that there is no perfect ERP system exists. We cannot say that any ERP implementation is ever perfect. If two companies have the same ERP software but the implementation cannot be the same because every company has its own style of implementation. (Leon , 2008) SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Supply Chain Management is a network that is involved buying, making, moving, selling and distribution. (Hugos, 2006) A supply chain is a network of facilities and distribution options that performs the functions of procurement of materials, transformation of materials into intermediate and finished products and the distribution of these finished products to customers. (Hugos, 2006) Buying Making Moving Ware housing Selling Selling Buying Making Movin Ware housing Figure Supply Chain (Supplychain, 2010) 2 Nikes Supply Chain Nikes supply chain theme is centralization. All products designs, making and delivery is centralized from Beaverton, Oregon in the US. Nike operations were divided into five regions USA, Middle East, Africa, Asia and America which included Canada, Mexico and Latin and American countries. In 1975, Nike launched one program which is known as future program for managing its footwear products. In this program Nikes retailers placed their orders before six months. Then these orders moved manufacturing units around the globe. The supply chain worked nicely at that time. Nike Company became spreading more and more globally. Nike felt that its supply chain needed rapid changes. The manufacturing process also became very complex because some models like Air Jordan Sneakers required 130 steps to manufacturing. In 1998 Nikes profit dropped down by 50% also shown in figure 5. Nike mentioned that they had problems with the existing supply chain systems. To overcome this problem Nike launched one project known as NSC (Nike Supply Chain) project. (Koch, 2004) Figure : Profit dropped down by 50% (investment, 2010) This was a massive project in which the global operations were operated centralization to implement ERP, supply chain and customer relationship management on a single SAP system as shown in Table 1. Many changes were made various times to fix the supply chain and these changes created serious problems and in the result Nike had to move a whole new system. (Royal, 2001) Table : ENTERPRISE APPLICATION IMPLEMENTATION AT NIKE (CGT, 2010) Company Solution SAP ERP i2 Planning Siebel CRM PeopleSoft Human Capital Management (HR Systems) PTC Product Data Management, Product Life Cycle management See Beyond Application Integration Marc Globe Warehouse Management Systems HP Unix Serves Supporting all supply chain systems IBM Systems integrators other professional services 2.1 i2s Software Implementation 2.1.1 Background Nikes supply chain theme is centralization. All products designs, making and delivery is centralized from Beaverton, Ore. The problem was that the supply chain was built for six months cycle which is also called future program. This future program was developed in 1975. At that time Nike made its market space because people at that time did not much care about the style or looks. Their attention was that they need technically advanced shoes which were steady and fit. (Koah, 2004) 2.1.2 Need the i2 software for better supply chain Nike got the global demand and its supply chain broken down because of the high demand from all over the globe. By 1998, Nike had 27 order management systems all over the globe which were poorly linked with Beaverton. Another problem with these systems was that these were highly customized. At that point Nike needed the ERP system which can handle the manufacturing cycle for up to six months. Nike also decided that the needed the systems which were centralized. For that reason the ERP software like SAPs R/3 software were better for the Nikes supply chain strategy. The software was included with i2 supply, demand and collaboration planner software applications. In the beginning of 1999 Nike decided to implement i2 software. I2 software implementation was the first part of NSC project. The cost of this project was US $40 million. (Koch, 2004) Table i2 SCM Proposed Benefits (Industrial Supply Chain management Solution -i2-Planning, 2010) Solution Objective Challenge Capability Benefit Strategic Planning Maximize profitability by optimally allocating resources Unclear parameters Optimization Long term profitability Demand management Anticipate and influence demand Accurate demand estimation is difficult Demand planning, channel collaboration Improved customer service Supply planning Determine what to make and when and how to profitably distribute supply Size and complexity of problem Collaboration, optimization, Speed Global visibility and coordination , fast reaction to changes Production Determine what to produce and when Managing material capacity tradeoffs is complex Fast finite material capacity planning scheduling Reduced inventory, Improved due date performance 2.1.3 Reasons of i2 software failure There were many reasons for i2 failure. Nike did not show patience during the implementation of the first part of its NSC (Nike Supply Chain) project. Nike decided to install its i2 software while Nike was using its legacy systems. The legacy systems were highly customized. The i2 software also needed to be highly customized because they have to be operated by Nikes Legacy systems. Even one entry took too much time to be recorded by the i2 software. This problem was the unexpected setback. The main fault was that the system ignored some orders and made duplicate the other orders. The ordered data was also deleted after six to eight weeks when it was entered. It was impossible for the company to recall the order had asked to produce. The complications of NSC project are also one of the reasons of the failure. The i2 software failed in demand forecast as shown in the figure 6. In some places Nike has excess inventory and in shortage of inventory in other places. Because of i2 software failure Nikes profit dropped down by 50% from USD $798 million to US $399 million. (Koah, 2004) Figure i2 software failure (Koah, 2004) 2.2 IMPLEMENTING SAP APPAREL AND FOOTWEAR SOLUTION (AFS) Nike had decided to implement the SAP Apparel and footwear solution. AFS is a part of SAP ERP project. This software is based on SAP r/3 and especially for footwear industry. Nike chose to implement other SAP applications like SCM and (B/W) Business information warehouse. Nike is also considering the SAP Net weaver platform in near future. Figure 7 shows the sample structure of SAP Net Weaver Implementation. (Koah, 2004) Figure SAP Net Weaver Implementation (Koah, 2004) Nike did not implement the first version of AFS although Nike had purchased SAP AFS in 1998. This new version of SAP AFS was the base of NSC Project. The SAP module implementations at Nikes were Financial Control (FICO), Sales Distribution (SD), Material Management (MM) and Production Planning (PP). These interfaced fully with Nikes i2 demand-planning and Siebel CRM software. (Koah, 2004) 2.2.1 Strategy for implementing ERP system Nike adopted the Big Bang approach for implementing ERP software by installing all SAP components like planning order entry financials etc. all at once. This task had a high degree of integration between its footwear and apparel sectors. Because of SAP (AFS) the company took full control on both area footwear and apparel of supply chain from raw material until delivery. (Sussman, May 2004) In 2000, Nike Canada became a company which implemented SAP (AFS) along i2 applications and Siebel CRM. The software was used multiple HP enterprise servers because on HP-UC (1) 11 operating environment. HP was chosen because it had experience in SAP and i2 applications. (Sussman, May 2004) 2.2.2 Benefits NSC Project allowed the company to make build-to-order supply chain. Before implementing NSC project Nike purchased products from manufacturers about 9 to 10 months before and on the other hand Nikes retailers ordered for only 6 months. The project enabled Nike to shorten the time for footwear products from nine to six months because of implementing this NSC project. Now Nike can buy from partner factories on the base of actual requirements rather than forecast alone. Another benefit of this project was that it had directly benefited on the financial management. This project gave better integration between departments. (Barrett, 2003) According to Shelley Dewey, Vice president, Nike Supply Checain, The transition of business team members into IT savvy individuals and IT team members into business process experts was an unexpected bonus of the project effort. We are a much stronger team for having done this work. (Clark, July 2004) Recommendations During late 1990 most companies avoided to implement ERP systems because of the huge cost and the project was time consume. But Nike has invested on ERP system and they proved that although they paid a huge cost for implementing ERP system but it worth a lot. We can also observe the complex of implementing ERP system from that if it was easy to implement ERP system then everybody did it at that time. Nike has implemented the NSC (Nike Supply Chain Project). But for this success Nike has paid a huge amount and time. Although the company has implemented SAP system but there was still problem that it did not accept direct point of sale (POS) data in integration with retailers data. The forecasting function is also less accurate because company knew only about the retailers buying and not have any information that what the customer buying. Nike has invested a lot on this project and now Nike has to make this system perfect because small bugs became a huge problem to fix. In the beginning of ERP implementation Nike had faced difficulties but now Nike has those approaches that many companies to follow that approach. But Nike has to aware consistently about the problem in ERP sectors and also makes changes its strategy in the future with market environment.

Prevent Pollution :: essays research papers

All time-management courses boil down to one basic piece of advice: set priorities and allocate the bulk of your time to tasks that are crucial to meeting your goals. Minimize interruptions and spend big chunks of your time in productive and creative activity. Unfortunately, current information systems encourage the opposite approach, leading to an interrupt-driven workday and reduced productivity. Here are six steps to regaining control of your day: Don't check your email all the time. Set aside special breaks between bigger projects to handle email. Don't let email interrupt your projects, and don't let the computer dictate your priorities. Turn off your email program's "Biff" feature (the annoying bell or screen flash that notifies you every time an email message arrives). If you're using Microsoft Outlook, go to Tools > Options > Preferences > E-mail Options and uncheck "Display a notification message when new mail arrives." Don't use "reply to all" when responding to email. Abide by the good old "need to know" principle that's so beloved by the military and send follow-up messages only to those people who will actually benefit from the reply. Write informative subject lines for your email messages. Assume that the recipient is too busy to open messages with lame titles like "hi." Create a special email address for personal messages and newsletters. Only check this account once per day. (If you're geekly enough to master filtering, use filters to sort and prioritize your email. Unfortunately, this is currently too difficult for average users.) Write short. J. K. Rowling is not a good role model for email writers. Avoid IM (instant messaging) unless real-time interaction will truly add value to the communication. A one-minute interruption of your colleagues will cost them ten minutes of productivity as they reestablish their mental context and get back into "flow." Only the most important messages are worth 1,000 percent in overhead costs. What Companies Can Do At the corporate level, we need to implement four more steps: Answer common customer questions on your website using clear and concise language. This will save your customers a lot of time -- thus making you popular -- and will keep them from pestering you with time-consuming phone calls and emails. User test your intranet. Clean it up so that employees can find stuff faster, and make the intranet homepage their entry point for keeping up on company news and events.

Mother of Three Earns Six-Figures with eCommerce Website :: Sell Websites Buy Websites

Mother of Three Earns Six-Figures with eCommerce Website Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com In January, Sarah Kline bought an old watch for three dollars at a small thrift store she stumbled upon in a tiny town near her home in Florida . She went home and listed it for sale on her website. Several days later it sold for $14,200. She'd recognized the watch as the signature style of a designer famous for his unusual creations. A sharp eye for authentic vintage watches -- watches no longer being made -- and the ability to connect with customers who want it are Ms. Kline’s secrets to success on the internet. The 36-year-old housewife has been selling to jewelry stores for years. In early 2002, a computer-savvy store owner and friend suggested she turn to the internet to widen her market. By selling directly to customers online, she could cut out the middleman. Ms. Kline wasn't an experienced Internet user, but she found an existing website listed for sale on VotanWeb. She bought the website when the owner agreed to help her until she had a thorough grasp of the website. His instructions were easy to follow. "It was all new to me, but I learned quickly," she says. "I also did a lot of research by looking at how successful websites set up their auctions -- the categories they listed their products in and the descriptions they used." Ms. Kline began holding auctions. Within weeks, her online sales exceeded those of her off-line business, and she decided to commit entirely to the internet. She now runs about 75 auctions a week, and her annual sales have doubled in the past year to about $420,000. The watch, for example, sold on the internet for about 20 times the amount she estimates it would have gone for had she solicited a local retailer. She's also no longer dependent on local buyers' tastes, since over 90% of her sales are to out-of-state customers. "I couldn't sell everything I had to stores because a lot were particular about what they wanted," she says. For example, most wouldn't buy large quantities of high-end vintage watches. "I found a lot of nice vintage watches from the estates of all the old people who move to Florida to die," she says. "But the stores I sold to wouldn't buy them." Ms. Kline fell in love with vintage watches in the early 1990s while working as a clerk at the local jewelry store. Mother of Three Earns Six-Figures with eCommerce Website :: Sell Websites Buy Websites Mother of Three Earns Six-Figures with eCommerce Website Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com In January, Sarah Kline bought an old watch for three dollars at a small thrift store she stumbled upon in a tiny town near her home in Florida . She went home and listed it for sale on her website. Several days later it sold for $14,200. She'd recognized the watch as the signature style of a designer famous for his unusual creations. A sharp eye for authentic vintage watches -- watches no longer being made -- and the ability to connect with customers who want it are Ms. Kline’s secrets to success on the internet. The 36-year-old housewife has been selling to jewelry stores for years. In early 2002, a computer-savvy store owner and friend suggested she turn to the internet to widen her market. By selling directly to customers online, she could cut out the middleman. Ms. Kline wasn't an experienced Internet user, but she found an existing website listed for sale on VotanWeb. She bought the website when the owner agreed to help her until she had a thorough grasp of the website. His instructions were easy to follow. "It was all new to me, but I learned quickly," she says. "I also did a lot of research by looking at how successful websites set up their auctions -- the categories they listed their products in and the descriptions they used." Ms. Kline began holding auctions. Within weeks, her online sales exceeded those of her off-line business, and she decided to commit entirely to the internet. She now runs about 75 auctions a week, and her annual sales have doubled in the past year to about $420,000. The watch, for example, sold on the internet for about 20 times the amount she estimates it would have gone for had she solicited a local retailer. She's also no longer dependent on local buyers' tastes, since over 90% of her sales are to out-of-state customers. "I couldn't sell everything I had to stores because a lot were particular about what they wanted," she says. For example, most wouldn't buy large quantities of high-end vintage watches. "I found a lot of nice vintage watches from the estates of all the old people who move to Florida to die," she says. "But the stores I sold to wouldn't buy them." Ms. Kline fell in love with vintage watches in the early 1990s while working as a clerk at the local jewelry store.

Physical Therapy - An Exciting Healthcare Profession :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

Physical Therapy Physical therapy is a fun and exciting healthcare profession that helps people. It is all about helping other people who have problems with their body, muscles, joints and other parts of their body. Patients includes accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as low back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy. Physical therapy will perform an evaluation of your problem or difficulty. They evaluate your problem by performing tests and measures to assess the problem. These tests includes muscle strength, joint motion, sensory and neurological, coordination, balance, observation, palpation, flexibility, postural screening, movement analysis, and special tests are designed for a particular problem. Next, they develop a treatment plan and goals and then manage the appropriate treatment to aid in recovery of a problem or dysfunction. Physical therapists are able to treat their patients by using many different treatments de pending on the type of injury. Some of the treatments are electrical stimulation, hot and cold packs, infrared and ultrasound to reduce swelling or relieve pain. These treatments are used to help decrease pain and increase movement and function. Therapeutic exercises instructions will help restore strength, movement, balance, or skill as a guide towards full functional recovery. Physical therapy provides "hands on techniques" like massage or joint mobilizations skills to restore joint motion or increase soft tissue flexibility. They will focus on basic skills such as getting out of bed, walking safely with crutches or a walker, moving specific joints and muscles of the body. Physical therapists treatment includes patient education to teach them how to deal with a current problem and how to prevent the problem in the future. Such documentation is used to track the patient's progress, and identify areas requiring more or less attention. They encourage patients to use their own muscles. Their main goal is to improve how an individual functions at work and home. Physical therapies do much more of than restore function to traumatize. They work with children with birth defects to overcome to restore movement and independent living. Physical therapy held about one hundred thirty-two thousand jobs in year of two thousand. The number of jobs is greater than a number because of practicing physical therapy become more therapists holds two or more jobs.

Biblical Story in Goblin Market

â€Å"And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter† (Revelation 10:10). Is it always that we are punished for searching knowledge or pleasures? In Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, the author uses clear parallels with the Biblical Fall and the Garden of Eden. Both stories depict the natural human desire to taste the unknown, but the philosophical and social implications in the Biblical Fall and in Goblin Market are completely different.Thesis statement: the setting, the characters, and the plot in Rossetti’s Goblin Market are close to those in the Biblical account of Fall, but Rossetti’s poem offers a different vision of Bible and carries different philosophical implications for the reader. Goblin Market and the Garden of Eden The Biblical story of the Garden of Eden and Eve’s Fall is very similar to that described by Christina Ros setti in Goblin Market. The forbidden fruits in both stories are integrally linked to human sexuality.Forbidden fruits represent a new (and forbidden) knowledge, although the forbidden fruits in Rossetti’s poem do not cause as serious consequences as those in the Biblical account of Fall. Desire and doubt – these are the key elements in Goblin Market and Bible. As Eve finds herself seduced by the external forces to taste the forbidden fruit, the setting in Rossetti’s story is very similar: â€Å"Morning and evening / Maids heard the goblins cry: / â€Å"Come buy our orchard fruits, / Come buy, come buy† (Rossetti 1-4).Rossetti intentionally fills the setting with seducing elements and temptations. Goblins offering wonderful fruits to Laura and Lizzie make the two women think better about their earthy desires and the consequences of eating these fruits: â€Å"We must not look at goblin men, / We must not buy their fruits, / Who knows what soil they fed / Their hungry thirsty roots? † (Rossetti 42-45). Eve’s feelings in the Garden of Eden were similar to those of Laura – the desire to taste new knowledge, and the doubt, whether a woman should do that.Everything goes in a way similar to the Biblical account of Fall – seduction, hesitation, and the decisive step – until Laura eats the fruit. In many instances the similarity of the setting in Goblin Market and the Biblical Fall carries profound philosophical and social implications. However, such similarity is mostly deceptive, as Rossetti exploits a different interpretation of Biblical readings to deliver her own message to the reader. The first and the primary difference we face in the person of Lizzie.On the one hand, Lizzie is very similar to a redemptive figure of Christ; on the other hand, Lizzie does not create the separation between her and Laura after Laura eats the fruit. Laura does not experience the sense of shame which Eve experiences in B ible. On the contrary, Laura expresses delightful emotions. Eve’s symbolic expulsion from the Garden of Eden is absent in Goblin Market, and tasting the fruit results in the growing spiritual closeness between Laura and Lizzie: â€Å"Golden head by golden head, / Like two pigeons in one nest / Folded in each other’s wing† (Rossetti 184-86).As Bible opposes human nature to the divine spirit, Rossetti avoids this discord and tends to use the Biblical plot as the basis for a different spiritual interpretation. In the similar setting, and surrounded by similar temptations, Laura is different from Eve: she manages to keep her spiritual position, and the role of Christ undertaken by Lizzie does not lead to Laura’s redemption. Rossetti avoids creating a distinction between the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. As we know, Bible tells the story of Adam and Eve as they eat the forbidden fruit and lose their access to the Tree of Life.As soon as Laura tastes the fruit she immediately loses the access to this very fruit and does not have an opportunity to taste it again. Rossetti does not speak about the two different trees. The fruit of knowledge and the fruit of life in Bible represent the expression of and the division between the sin and the purity. Rossetti combines these two notions in one fruit which Laura tastes with the help of Goblins: â€Å"Must she them buy no more such dainty fruit? / Must she no more such succous pasture find, / Gone deaf and blind?/ Her tree of life droop’d from the root† (Rossetti 257-60). Rossetti adapts the Biblical story to the given cultural and social environment. As Eve was weighing the sinfulness of eating the forbidden fruit, Laura rather weighs the profitability of her â€Å"eating† decision: â€Å"Buy from us with a golden curl. / She clipp’d a precious golden lock, / She dropp’d a tear more rare than pearl† (Rossetti 125-27). In this long process of hes itation, Goblins play the decisive role and lead Laura to step which will become critical to her further life.Goblins are deceptive. They emphasize the importance of earthy desires which can easily replace the need for eternal spiritual rewards. The Book of Revelations reads: â€Å"I counsel thee to buy of me fold tried in the fires, that thou mayest be rich† (3:18). In the same manner, Goblins promote the benefits of corruptible earthy rewards, and Laura accepts their invitation. Certainly, one will ask, why the profitable offer to taste a fruit is corruptible for Laura, and the answer is very simple: the sweetest taste of a fruit does not last for long.In the Garden of Eden, Eve’s pleasure does not last for long, too; she has to leave the garden with a sinful shame in her soul, and having forever lost the chance to return to the place in heaven. Conclusion Christina Rossetti adapts the Biblical account of Eve’s Fall to produce a completely different effect on the reader. Rossetti offers a different vision of Eve’s sin. Similar to Eve, Laura is seduced at eating the forbidden fruit, but in distinction from Eve, she is not compelled at leaving heaven, and does not experience the feeling of shame.Lizzie is very similar to the redemptive figure of Christ, but the two women are not separated by the fact of eating the fruit. As a result, Rossetti avoids the discord between purity and sin, found in the Biblical writings, and puts the reader into the ambiguity of the sinful implications in Goblin Market. Works Cited Bible. King James Version. Camden, Thomas Nelson, 1992. Rossetti, C. â€Å"Goblin Market. † 1862. Representative Poetry Online. 15 April 2008. http://rpo. library. utoronto. ca/poem/1753. html

A Paper on Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is phenomenal societal problems that are plaguing human society at the present times which victims are mostly women and children.   They are usually victims of physical or sexual assault.Because women are prone to be victims of domestic violence, Feminist expressed concern about the widespread problem plaguing the present generation and struggle towards getting protection for women from the court.Although, most of the offenses were hidden under family affairs, Carol Bolimer, Jennyfer Brandth, Denise Bronson, and Helen Hartnett, in their article, Domestic Violence Law Reforms: Reaction from the Trenches, say that, Feminists are gaining success in their efforts, as criminal justice personnel are now getting   more objective investigative in handling domestic violence cases.But despite of this hundreds of thousands of American women and children suffer domestic violence each year, studies have shown that sixty percent up to seventy-five percent of families fall vic tims to domestic violence every year; and this problem has already taken thousands of women’s lives.What is domestic violence? How can one determine that he or she is standing on that very dangerous ground?   And what are the solutions to the problem, are some of the contents that this paper attempts to present.Definitions of Domestic ViolenceDomestic violence is defined as a continuum of behavior ranging from verbal abuse, physical and sexual assault, to rape and even homicide.   Most of the cases of domestic violence are perpetuated by â€Å"men against women and their children† In C.J. Newton’s article, domestic violence â€Å"an overview,† he presented a United States Department of Justice report published in May 2000 through the National Crime Victimization Survey and the FBI data, defining domestic violence as â€Å"violent crimes by current or former spouses, boyfriend and girlfriend.   In their definition of violent, it includes lethal (hom icide) and non lethal which they enumerated as rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault.   The report mentions more than one million crimes committed against persons by the current or former spouses.Deborah Lockton, LLB, MPhil and Professor Richard Ward LLB, identified domestic violence as an act of physical and mental cruelty progressing from a slap or shore, to punch or kick, and to the more extreme manifestation of violence, in suffocation, strangulation, attempted murder and murder.†Causes of Domestic ViolenceDifferent group of people explained the causes of domestic violence, however, as one analyze the causes of the problem, they are similar in terms of gender roles which is fact has something to do with the cultural and historical origin of family.   It is also noted that, changes in terms of roles contributed a lot in the existence of this particular problem.According to feminism, one of the causes of domestic violence is the legal syst em which in their view is patriarchal on several levels. They argue that the law is â€Å"sexist in that it generally treats men better than women.†Ã‚   They emphasized that the criminal justice personnel prior to their effort to gain equal rights with men, treats domestic violence as a family matter and out of the reach of the legal system.They also reveal that police would simply â€Å"take perpetrator for a walk to discuss keeping the little woman in line† and then return her home without further action.†Ã‚   Kristin L. Anderson says Feminist emphasized that domestic violence is â€Å"rooted in gender and power and represents men’s active attempts to maintain dominance and control† (Anderson, 1997).   Feminist sociologist maintains that the main cause of domestic violence is the issue of gender and power.Anderson pointed out that Feminist contend that this is a system of which men â€Å"maintain societal dominance over women.†Ã‚   Lockto n and Ward say, domestic violence continues for years, before the victims take action which sometimes results to the death of either the victim or the perpetrator.But sociologist finds other causes of domestic violence.   They suggested that cohabiting status, unemployment and socio-economic status rank as one of the causes of domestic violence (UNICEF).They agreed that main causes of domestic violence pertain to unequal power relations.   Family institution, where traditional control lies with husband as the head of the family, is seen as breeding ground for domestic violence too.   Beliefs in male traditional superiority and other sanctions that do not recognize women’s and children’s legal rights in the society are also seen as causes of domestic violence plaguing human society worldwide.Nowadays, domestic violence includes physical aggression in which the perpetrator controls the victim by using fear and force.   It occurs usually in traditional marriages o r same-sex relationship especially when relationship is in the verge of collapse.

Objectifying Women

Objectifying Women Women in the Media Although we may not realize it, but media is a very powerful source of influence. Influence that can affect people in many ways that may be positive and beneficial for corporations, but not so much for the general public. Media uses a variety of means such as advertisements, movies and music videos to convince its consumers and potential consumers in buying their products, or following their lifestyles. Majority of these means are dominated with portraying different views of women.Whether it is a detergent ad, a sports themed movie or a popular pop song, each and every source of media is focused on objectifying women. While watching your favorite television show, you may not pay attention to the advertisement in between, nor do you pay attention to the fact that most of them have women in it, nor the way that they are portrayed as. Since it is seen as a common thing, our minds are accustomed to this idea. Most women in today’s media are vi ewed as  sex objects, and most advertisements use this as a way to sell a product.Magazines, television, and the Internet display this quite well by constantly portraying pencil thin models with impossibly long legs, perfect complexions, enhanced breasts, and incredibly thick locks (DeYoung & Crane). These women are then illustrated in sexually provocative poses for the purpose of selling something as ordinary as shoes. This may seem to be a harmless way of promoting a product but these  sexually provocative advertisements  have had a grave effect on our society. Media completely changes the way we see women and how we describe beauty.It has started to sell beauty; it creates an unattainable ideal woman, compelling other women to attempt to transform themselves into model look-alikes. A beautiful women does not have to be tall, skinny or should have long hair, but these images have created a category which define beauty, hence we have started to believe that as being the real definition. After all, it’s been scientifically proven that extended exposure to media changes our brains and the way we think, with average media exposure for hildren shown to be around 10 hours per day there is a lot of brain changing going on (DeYoung & Crane). So we can only imagine the affect of all this on little girls, teens as well as older women. Many of which lack self-esteem and empowerment. They are struggling everyday to find ways to look and feel more confident and beautiful. To tackle this, Dove launched a marketing campaign in 2004, called â€Å" the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty†. It included all sorts of media sources such as advertisements, video, workshops, sleepover events and much more.The campaign featured women of diverse shapes and sizes. The central objective behind it was to celebrate differences in physical traits that represented all kinds of women: to inspire them so they can be confident and comfortable with themselves (Arruda, 2011). Fir stly, the idea that Dove has is impeccable, the implementation and its source are not. Unilever owns Dove, which also owns Axe (male grooming products) amongst many other brands. Axe is a well-known brand, especially for its sexual commercials in which they objectify women and perpetuate unrealistic images of beauty.They habitually feature young, longhaired, thin, and large breasted models that are usually throwing themselves at the male-models. If Dove truly believed in liberating women to broaden the conventional definition of beauty, it would end its affiliation with such companies. Even though, that might be difficult as Unilever is a parent company, the least Dove can do is to address criticism it faces. The central point of this campaign is to liberate women and celebrate different types of beauty.On the contrary, this campaign has been criticized to only show women that naturally have a small frame and all images that they show are manipulated. Not just faintly edited to remo ve pimples, but bodies are altered to fit the beauty norm. A ‘heavy’ woman may be included but she has got to be the right kind of heavy, her image will be altered to remove freckles, lumps and bumps (Dye). In other words, â€Å" Campaign for Real Beauty† presents unreal bodies, which people can never attain.Additionally, it has been said that to appear socially responsible and to gain more market share resulting in an increment in profits was the core reason of this campaign. Due to this, Dove brand itself is deceptive, as it is not fully committed to its core proposition of the campaign. We need to understand the power that media has on our societies. Objectification and degrading women has led to many consequences that include fatalities such as anorexia and bulimia. Many young girl and teens are self conscious about their appearance and weight.Some have gone as far as going on a diet from as little as 13 years of age (The causes and the experience of eating d isorders). To terminate this atrocity, the government needs to step in. We know that there are many campaigns against cigarettes and alcohol, if the government is able to spend money on such issues, we are certain they can take part in this. The government must control where/how diet pills and such products are sold. A teenager of 15 years must not be able to walk into Wal-Mart and pick up slimfast, on her way back home from school.An awareness campaign to attack this must begin immediately; it could include seminars to help with self-esteem, spread educational handouts. Media can become an instrument of change and help awaken minds. Videos can be put on the Internet about empowering women, advertisements can show real life stories to inspire young women rather than dishearten. To conclude, we need to understand the great damage that media is causing on our society as a whole. It portrays women not as an equal but as an object to boost profits. This makes an irrational criterion abo ut beauty in our minds, which corrupts the real definition.Women make up half the population on this planet, and if they lack self-esteem and confidence we are not on a suitable path to success. The government must take action as it distresses not just our generation but our future as well. Bibliography Arruda, C. (2011, March 05). Doves Revolution- Rhetorical Analysis #2. Retrieved May 31, 2012, from Rhetoric and Popular Culture: http://rhetoricandpopculture. com/2011/03/05/doves-evolution-rhetorical-analysis-2/ Dye, L. A Critique of Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. Canadian Journal of Media Studies , 5 (1). DeYoung, S. & Crane, F. G. (n. d. ). Females' attitudes toward the portrayal of women in advertising: a Canadian study. Retrieved June 1, 2012, from Warc: http://www. warc. com/fulltext/ijoa/5225. htm Portrayal of Women in the Popular Media. (n. d. ). Retrieved June 1, 2012, from World Savvy: http://worldsavvy. org/monitor/index. php? option=com_content;view=article;id=6 02;Itemid=1049 The causes and the experience of eating disorders. (n. d. ). Retrieved June 1, 2012, from Feminist Resources for Women and Girls: http://womensstudies. homestead. com/edwords. html

John Quincy Adams: Domestic and Foreign Policy Essay

Adams believed strongly that it was constitutional and appropriate for the federal government to sponsor broad programs to improve American society and prosperity. He backed Henry Clay’s proposed â€Å"American System,† envisioning a national marketplace in which North and South, town and country, were tied together by trade and exchange. To realize this vision, Adams proposed to Congress an ambitious program involving the construction of roads, canals, educational institutions, and other initiatives. Lacking congressional allies, however, Adams was unable to maneuver most of these programs into law. Congress also blocked many of his foreign initiatives. His support of the so-called Tariff of Abominations of 1828, which protected American interests but caused higher prices, cost him popularity among the voters. John Quincy Adams’s administration achieved a mixed record in foreign affairs during his presidency. On the one hand, it substantially opened up trade through commercial treaties with a variety of nations, including Austria, Brazil, the Central American federation, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, which granted the United States reciprocal trading rights. Adams arranged to extend indefinitely a commercial convention with Britain and resolved outstanding questions regarding British seizure of property during the War of 1812. On the other hand, President Adams was prevented from resolving the ongoing issue of trade with the British West Indies, and rivals in Congress were determined to deny him any mark of success and thwarted his other efforts. For example, when the new Latin American republics, which had formerly been Spanish colonies, convened a congress in Panama to promote cooperation in the Western Hemisphere, they logically asked for delegates to attend from the American President who had authored the Monroe Doctrine. When Adams requested funding to send two delegates, southern congressmen strongly objected. The new Latin American nations had outlawed slavery, and southerners feared that the conference might call for a united stand in favor of emancipation everywhere in the hemisphere. Others did not like the idea of American ministers’ meeting with black and mixed-race foreigners on equal terms. Jacksonian supporters in Congress eagerly joined with southerners to withhold funding for the delegation until the convention had ended. Also, Adams had resolved many foreign affairs issues that might have engaged him as President when he served as Monroe’s secretary of state. He had already secured the disarmament of the Great Lakes, fishing rights off of Canada, a U.S.-Canadian boundary, the accession of Florida, and a U.S.-Spanish border west of the Mississippi River giving America strong claim to the Pacific Coast in the Northwest. These were all issues that previously had brought the nation into open conflict with Britain. The resolution of these concerns, which had dominated American foreign policy for so many years, meant fewer projects for the State Department to tackle during the Adams administration.