History of Jute Industries

Chapter 1: Introduction 1. Introduction Jute is a natural fiber with golden and silky shine and is known well as The Golden Fiber. It is the cheapest vegetable fiber procured from the skin of the plant's stem. Jute is the second most important vegetable fiber after cotton, in terms of usage, global consumption, production, and availability. It has high tensile strength, low extensibility, and ensures better breath ability of fabrics. Jute fiber is 100% bio-degradable and recyclable and thus environmentally friendly.It is one of the most versatile natural fibers that have been used in raw materials for packaging, textiles, non-textile, construction, and agricultural sectors. It helps to make best quality industrial yarn, fabric, net, and sacks. Jute, the golden fiber, is the raw material for one of  Bangladesh’s oldest industries. The first jute mill started production in Bengal in 1856. After more than 150 years; the jute industry is now challenged by competition from altern ative materials, by the recession in the international markets and by low awareness among consumers of the versatile, eco-friendly nature of jute fabric itself.Yet this industry still provides a livelihood to more than 250,000 mill workers and more than 4 million farmers’ families. It is a golden bond with the Earth; its use is a statement about ecological awareness as it is a fully bio-degradable and eco-friendly fiber. It comes from the earth, it helps the earth and once its life is done it merges back into the earth. Advantages of jute include good insulating and antistatic properties, as well as having low thermal conductivity and moderate moisture regain.It includes acoustic insulating properties and manufacture with no skin irritations. Jute has the ability to be blended with other fibers, both synthetic and natural, and accepts cellulosic dye classes such as natural, basic, vat, sulfur, reactive, and pigment dyes. While jute is being replaced by relatively cheap synthe tic materials in many uses, but  jute’s biodegradable nature is suitable for the storage of food materials, where synthetics would be unsuitable. 1. Report Background One of the unavoidable aspects of modern business studies is exposure to the practical experiences.As a part of the BBA program requirement, I was assigned by my honorable course instructor Prof. Dr. Nargis Akhter to prepare a Project Work on â€Å"The History of Jute Industries† to fulfill the requirement of 3 credit course, Course Code: BUS 498. It endowed me with the opportunities to experience the real life exposure to the Jute sectors of Bangladesh. 2. Methodology In order to prepare the project report I use both secondary and primary data. For primary data I talked to some employees of BJMC and BJMA over phone and face to face.I also crosschecked the information found over the internet by some people. For secondary data, I used the vast knowledge of internet, the websites of different research org anizations, different news websites and different article found in the internet. 3. Scope & Limitations For this report, I used graphs, chart, tables etc to show necessary information. Firstly, the history of jute industry in the Indian subcontinent has been described elaborately. The history is divided into four parts such as, Ancient Period, Pre-colonial period, post colonial period, after nationalization.The production, sales, contribution of jute industries in Bangladeshi economy, present condition, labor unrest, industrial relations situations etc. are discussed afterwards. Finally I have sum up by some recommendations and showing my findings and analysis. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2. Literature Review The paper titled â€Å"Jute Manufacturing Sector of Bangladesh; Challenges, Opportunities and Policy Options†, written by Khondokar Golam Moazzem, MD. Tariqur Rahman, Abdus Sobhan, is all about production and sales of jute mills, prospects of jute mills features and cha llenges faced by the jute mills of Bangladesh [1].News published in ‘Financial Express† is about the demand fulfilled by the jute industries, the ill management of jute industries and the present management situation of jute industries in Bangladesh [2]. An article published in Business Standard in 31 December 2009 written by the staff reporter Bhubaneswar which says that Jute industries of India seeks ban on imports of Bangladeshi jute goods for positive success of their own jute goods[3]. The article says the news about 48 hour strike held in state owned jute mills.The workers called the strike along with the trade union members for their right of increased wages and other arrears [4]. Information from the website gives a thorough idea about the earlier history of jute industries in Bangladesh [5]. The website provides jute related news about Bangladeshi jute industries. It consists of the news of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012[6]. On 18 March 2012, workers threaten to go o n strike, a report by Arafat Ara published in Financial express [7]. Government targets to double the production within 2011-12[8].While writing on â€Å"history of jute industries† some authentic information were found in the cited website [9]. Some valuable information about the history of jute industries in the Indian subcontinent were found in the website of ‘jute industries’ [10]. †Jute Dilemma† an article by Khalid Rab published in 20th Anniversary supplement of The Daily Star newspaper on March24, 2011 Thursday that talked about the dissatisfactory performance of the jute sector [11]. Chapter 3: Findings 3. 0. History of Jute Industries 3. 1. Jute in Ancient Time (Pre-Colonial Period)Jute has been used since ancient times in Africa and Asia to provide cordage and weaving fiber from the stem and food from the leaves. In several historical documents ( Ain-e-Akbari by Abul Fazal in 1590) during the era of the great Mughal Emperor Akbar   (1542 à ¢â‚¬â€œ1605) states that the poor villagers of India used to wear clothes made of jute. Simple handlooms and hand spinning wheels were used by the weavers, who used to spin cotton yarns as well. History also states that Indians, especially Bengalis, used ropes and twines made of white jute from ancient times for household and other uses.Chinese papermakers from very ancient times had selected almost all the kinds of plants as hemp, silk, jute, cotton etc. for  papermaking. Qiu Shiyu, researcher of the Harbin Academy of  Sciences and expert of Jin history, concluded that Jews used to take part in the work of designing â€Å"jiaozi,†Ã‚  made of coarse jute paper. A small, piece of jute paper with Chinese characters written on it has been discovered in Dunhuang in Gansu Province, in northwest China. It is believed it was produced during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). 3. 2. Colonial PeriodThe British East India Company was the British Empire Authority delegat ed in India from the 17th century to the middle of 20th century. The company was the first Jute trader. The company traded mainly in raw jute during the 19th century. During the start of the 20th century, the company started trading raw jute with Dundee’s Jute Industry. This company had monopolistic access to this trade during that time. In 1793, the East India Company exported the first  consignment of jute. This first shipment, 100 tons, was followed by additional  shipments at irregular intervals.Eventually, a consignment found its way to  Dundee, Scotland where the flax spinners were anxious to learn whether jute  could be processed mechanically. During the same period, the Scotlanders were experimenting on whether jute fiber can be mechanically processed. 1830 is the year when the flax machines were used by Dundee spinners for spinning jute yarns. Since Dundee mill was the only supplier of jute, the use of flax machine ultimately led to increase in production and export of jute products in entire continent. Margaret Donnelly I was a jute mill landowner in Dundee in the 1800s.She set up the first jute mills in India. The Entrepreneurs of the Dundee Jute Industry in Scotland were called The Jute Barons. Starting in the 1830's,  the Dundee  spinners learned how to spin jute yarn by modifying their power-driven flax  machinery. The rise of the jute industry in Dundee saw a corresponding increase in the  production and export of raw jute from the Indian sub-continent which was  the sole supplier of this primary commodity. The major jute growing areas were mainly in Bengal at the Kolkata side. Calcutta (now Kolkata) had the  raw material close by as the jute growing areas were mainly in Bengal.There  was an abundant supply of labor, ample coal for power, and the city was ideally  situated for shipping to world markets. The first jute mill was established at  Rishra, on the River Hooghly near Calcutta in 1855 when Mr. George Aucl and  brought jute spinning machinery from Dundee. Four years later, the first power  driven weaving factory was set up. Although Bengal, particularly Eastern Bengal, was the main producer of quality raw jute, the first jute mill was established at Risraw near calcutta on the bank of the hughli only in 1855, after 20 years of mechanical spinning of jute in Dundee.The delay was due to the non-availability of technical hands and power to drive machines. In 1854, coal mines were opened at Raniganj. Attracted by the easy availability of power, George Aucland, an Englishman established the first jute mill. But he could not make reasonable profits and left the business. In 1859, the Bornee Company founded the second mill with spinning and weaving facilities. Unlike the Aucland mill, it started prospering after its establishment. Figure 1 Dundee Jute Mill in Scotland. The Entrepreneurs of the DundeeJute Industry in Scotland were called The Jute Barons. Figure 2 Dundee Jute Mill in Scotl and. In 1833, Jute fibre was spun mechanically in Dundee, Scotland. Within five years it doubled its plant size. By 1866, three new mills were established. Between 1868 and 1873, these mills made large profits. Five new companies started in 1874 and eight more in 1875. Thus Bengal experienced a real boom in jute industry towards the end of the nineteenth century. With the establishment of jute mills, Bengal became a major exporter of sacking bags.Calcutta appeared to be a strong competitor of Dundee and successfully penetrated into Dundee's hessian market in many parts of the world, including America, primarily because Calcutta had the cost advantage in producing jute goods. Secondly, it was situated in close proximity to the jute growing districts of Eastern Bengal and Assam. Thirdly, it had cheap labour. Fourthly, the mills ran for 15 to 16 hours, and sometimes even for 22 hours daily. This led to a clear advantage of Calcutta manufacturers in monetary terms. Moreover, they could offer a finer quality of jute.In sixty years between 1880 and 1940, the number of mills increased by 5 times, that of looms by about 14 times, of spindles by 19 times, and of persons employed by 11 times. The growth of the industry was significant during the 20 years between 1900 and 1920. During the Great Depression of 1929-33, the jute industry was severely hit since the demand for jute goods declined drastically throughout the world. In the following three decades, the jute industry in India enjoyed even more  remarkable expansion, rising to commanding leadership by 1939 with a total of  68,377 looms, concentrated mainly on the River Hooghly near Calcutta.These  mills alone have proved able to supply the world demand. Several historical events were responsible for the growth of the jute industry. In 1838, the Dutch government specified bags made of jute instead of flax for carrying coffee from the East Indies. At that time flax was imported from Russia. But the Crimean War of 1854-56 led to the stoppage of supply of flax from Russia and forced Dundee, the famous jute manufacturing centre of UK, to look for substitutes.In Dundee the flax mills were converted into jute mills. The American Civil War (1861-65), on the other hand, gave further impetus to the jute trade, as supplies of American cotton were much restricted. Since then, the industry did not return to flax or cotton again. The main reason for this permanent shift had been its comparative cost advantage. The jute industry grew rapidly and jute mills were established in many countries, including USA, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, Italy, Holland, Spain, Russia, Brazil and Bengal.This led to a rapid increase in the demand for jute. The Bengali peasants responded quickly to][ meet the world demand by increasing the area under jute cultivation. The outbreak of the First World War led to a rapid increase in the demand for raw jute, since it was used to manufacture sandbags to protect soldiers in trenches and to produce gunny bags for carrying food grain for the army. Inevitably, the price of jute also rose sharply. Table 1 Growth of jute industry in Bengal, 1879-1939 Year |Mills |Looms |Spindles |Employment | |1879-80 |22 |5,000 |71,000 |27,000 | |1900-01 |36 |16,100 |331,400 |114,800 | |1920-21 |77 |41,600 |869,900 |288,400 | |1938-39 |110 |69,000 |13,70,000 |299,000 |Before it was put to industrial use, jute was used mostly for domestic purposes. With the conversion of the Dundee flax mills into jute processing mills, the demand for jute increased manifold in the world. Bengali peasants were highly experienced in jute cultivation and could respond quickly to meeting this increased demand. In 1872, when industrial use of jute had begun, it was mainly grown in the districts of pabna, bogra, darjeeling, dinajpur, rangpur and Hughli (West Bengal). The ratio of land under jute cultivation to total cropped land in these districts in 1872 was 14%, 11%, 9%, 7%, 6% and 5% respect ively.Subsequently, jute cultivation spread to other districts. In 1914, leading districts in terms of the above ratio were Rangpur (28%,) Bogra (25%), Tippera (comilla, 24%), Pabna (21%), Dhaka (18%), Faridpur (16%), Hughli (West Bengal, 13%), Rajshahi (11%), Jessore (10%), Nadia (10%), and Dinajpur (7%). After the end of the First World War in 1918, the world demand for raw jute decreased. This had a negative impact on the area under jute cultivation. The situation worsened for jute cultivation during the Great Depression of 1929-33. The prices sank so low that jute growing became unprofitable.As a result, peasants greatly reduced their area under jute cultivation. By 1939, economic recovery took place. The breaking out of the Second World War caused an increase in the demand for jute and between 1939 and 1945; peasants put more areas under jute cultivation. The earliest goods woven of jute in Dundee were coarse bagging  materials. With  longer experience, however, finer fabri cs called burlap, or hessian as it is  known in India, were produced. This superior cloth met a ready sale and,  eventually, the Indian Jute Mills began to turn out these fabrics.The natural advantage these mills enjoyed soon gave Calcutta world leadership in   burlap and bagging materials and the mills in Dundee and other countries turned  to specialties, a great variety of which were developed. 3. 3. Post-Colonial Period After the fall of British Empire in India during 1947, it was found that all jute mills of the region fell in West Bengal, which became a part of India and all major jute growing districts became part of East Bengal, a province of Pakistan. Because it had no jute mills, East Bengal faced problems in marketing of raw jute.The problem was, however, quickly overcome by establishing jute mills in East Bengal. During that time, most of the Jute  Barons started to evacuate India, leaving behind the industrial setup of the Jute Industry. Most of the jute mills in India were taken over by the Marwaris businessmen. In East Pakistan after partition in 1947 lacked a Jute Industry but  had the finest jute fiber stock. As the tension started to rise between Pakistan and India, the Pakistani felt the need to setup their own Jute Industry.Several groups of Pakistani families (mainly from West Pakistan) came into the jute business by setting up several jute mills in  Narayanganj of then East Pakistan, the most significant ones are: Bawanis, Adamjees,  Ispahanis and Dauds. 3. 4. After Nationalization After the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971,  most of the Pakistani owned Jute Mills were taken over by the government of Bangladesh. Pakistani mill owners (about 68% of the total loom strength) left the country, leaving the industry in disarray. Abandoned jute mills were subject to heavy looting.The new government of Bangladesh had to take up the responsibility of rebuilding the industry. By a nationalization order, about 85% of i ndustries, including all jute mills, were nationalized. Later, to control these Jute mils in Bangladesh, the government built up Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC). Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) was formed to manage and look after all the 73 jute mills having 23,836 looms at that time. At one stage the number of jute mills under the jurisdiction of BJMC went up to 78. BJMC had to resurrect the industry from a ruined position.Immediately after liberation, it became very difficult to solve problem of financial hardship of the jute industry because financial institutions were not working well. Frequent power failures and power stoppages also compelled the industry to suffer heavy losses in terms of production and foreign exchange earnings. In addition to these problems, the short supply of spares, labor unrest, wastage in production etc. also shook the industry severely. For jute industry of Bangladesh, the first two years after liberation was the period of reorganizat ion.The government offered cash subsidy to the industry, which amounted to Tk 200 million annually. The annual cash subsidy was reduced to 100 million since 1976-77. Thanks to this policy and periodic devaluation of currency, Bangladesh could retain its position of a prime exporter of jute goods in the dollar areas of export. The industry earned profit in 1979-80, when the subsidy was withdrawn. By December 1979, BJMC had 77 jute mills, two carpet backing mills, and two spare parts producing units. In 1980, six twine mills were disinvested to the private sector.In June 1981, BJMC had 74 mills under its administration. These mills had about 165,000 workers and 27,000 managerial and office staff. 3. 5. Denationalization Denationalization of jute mills started in July 1982. The government ordered BJMC to complete the process by 16 December 1982, but only 10 mills could be handed over to Bangladeshi owners by that time. The valuation process and settlement of other organizational matte rs relating to handing over of the mills took a long time.Among the jute mills owned by BJMC, 46 had satisfactory financial performance in 1982-83, when their profit before contribution to national exchequer was about Tk 240 million. The same mills incurred total losses of about Tk 430 million in the previous year. Jute mills incurred losses regularly over years and external donor agencies pressed hard for denationalization. More and more mills were put into the denationalization list. In 1999, BJMC had 33 mills. The World Bank continued to work closely with the government to restructure the jute sector, especially through denationalization, merger, dissolution, closure and setting up of new units.By 1998, BJMC had an accumulated loss of more than Tk 28 billion and a debt of more than Tk 11 billion. Losses incurred by BJMC in 1997-98 were Tk 2. 38 billion. Major features of the BJMC mills in that year were: total production capacity – 451,707 tons; looms in operation – 12,350; loom hours – 59. 3 million; production per loom hour – 5. 33 kg; baled production – 312,000 tons; consumption of raw jute – 319,306 tons; local sales – 29,000 tons; export 256,000 tons; value of total sales (including export bonus) – Tk 8. billion; production cost per ton – Tk 30,349; wages paid to workers – Tk 3. 89 billion; and salary paid to employees and executives – Tk 881 million. 3. 6. Performance of private sector The performance of the private sector jute industry is also not encouraging. privatization itself has been a very problematic and slow process. Resistance from workers/employees of the mills and lengthy formalities forced the process to be slow. In 1998, out of forty jute mills in the private sector, three were closed and two laid off. The private sector jute mills run on a very low profile.Up to December 1999, the private sector jute mills have accumulated losses of more than Tk 12 billion. Th e jute spinning mills in Bangladesh export nearly 100% of their production. In 1998, there were 41 spinning mills, which had an annual production capacity of about 195,000 tons. Products of these mills are yarn and twine, which are used the world over, for carpet weaving, wall covering, jute webbing, fabrics for shopping bags, caps, handicrafts, canvas, decorative fabrics, laminated cloth, and safety fuse for explosives.These mills employ about 25,000 people and the employers have their own trade body named Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association. 3. 7. An overall trend of production and sales 3. 7. 1. Trend of production Production trend of the jute manufacturing sector can be broadly categorized into four periods: first phase (1950-1970); second phase (1972-1981); third phase (1982-1990); and fourth phase (1991-onward) (Figure 1). During these four phases, jute manufacturing sector had experienced various changes in policies, and also in the pattern of utilization of jute and jute go ods.In the pre independence period, jute mills were owned by a small number of private entrepreneurs. During this phase, average hessian production was 155,586 metric ton (MT) per year, of which 87 per cent was exported; the comparable figures for sacking were 267,614 MT and 78 per cent respectively. Production reached its peak in 1969, with an output of 5. 74 lakh MT. Due to political instability and damages caused during the year of Liberation in 1971, operations of jute mills were interrupted. Consequently, production declined in 1971 and 1972. Thereafter, production started to increase.In the second phase (1972-1981), government decided to nationalize the jute manufacturing sector, and took control of all the private sector jute mills. During the 1970s, average level of production of hessian was about 165,000 MT, of which 94 percent was exported, while comparable figures for sacking were 225,460 MT and 86 percent respectively. Growth in the production of jute goods between 1960 and 1980 can be attributed to the growth in production of hessian, sacking and carpet backing cloth (CBC) products. Figure 3 Production of different kinds of jute goods, 1960-2006 (Source: BJMC, BJMA and BJSA)Table 2 Periodic trend of jute goods production |Period |Hessian |Sacking |CBC |Yarn/Twine | |Up to 1970 |155,586 |267,614 |23,929 |0 | | |(86. 9) |(78. 2) |(96. 7) |(0. 0) | |1972-80 |165,033 |225,458 |63,578 |1,953 | | |(93. ) |(86. 3) |(95. 5) |(73. 3) | |1981-91 |219,048 |270,556 |80,415 |61,090 | | |(94. 8) |(83. 7) |(97. 0) |(69. 1) | |1992-05 |87,968 |96,839 |39,777 |163,830 | | |(99. 5) |(71. 7) |(89. 7) |(90. ) | Production of yarn/twine accounted for a small share of total production during the 1970s. During the 1980s (third phase), the then government decided to denationalize a number of jute mills in line with the initiative of economic liberalization. A mixed trend is observed in the production of jute goods during this phase, which reached its peak in 1990 with a production of 5. 96 lakh MT. Production of yarn gradually increased in the 1980s. Most importantly, production of hessian and sacking- two major traditional products gradually declined, especially since the late 1980s. Production of CBC declined as well.In the fourth phase (1990-onward), following the suggestions of the World Bank, government started to denationalize a number of other public sector jute mills which resulted in the shutdown of many jute mills as well. However, production of jute goods has not picked up even after adoption of various policy measures. Indeed, production of traditional products such as hessian, sacking and CBC has continued to decline with the exception of growth in the production of yarn and twine. Yarn/twine now accounts for the major portion of jute goods and over time, its production has also been on a steady rise.During 2006, Bangladesh’s share in the global production of jute goods was approximately 18 per cent. 3. 7. 2. Trend of Sales Both public and private sector jute mills sell their products in either the domestic market or the international market. Although overseas export comprised major share of Bangladesh’s jute goods production, domestic sale has been posting a rise, which now accounts for 38 per cent of the total production. Bangladesh is the leading exporter of jute goods in the world and her share in the global market is gradually increasing- which accounted for 60 percent of the global exports in 2006.If export of raw jute is taken into account, total export would reach more than 75 per cent. According to Bangladesh Jute Association (BJA), Bangladesh exports about 25 lakh bales of jute goods which accounted for about 56 per cent of the total raw jute grown in the country. It is worth noting here that Bangladesh and India currently meet more than 90 per cent of the global export demand for jute and jute goods; to compare, this share was 79 per cent in 1970. [pic] Figure 4 Sales in Domestic and Inte rnational market (%) 3. 8. Contribution in Economy The contribution of jute sector to economy of Bangladesh is enormous.Bangladesh holds the 2nd position as a Jute producer in the world with the average production of Jute 1. 08 m ton/Year. More than 85% of world production of Jute is cultivated in the Ganges Delta & having the major portion of it; Bangladesh became the largest producer of Raw Jute or Jute Fiber in the world. For centuries, Bangladeshi Jute had and still has demand in the international market for higher quality fibers. This fact makes Bangladesh the major exporter (80% + market share) of Jute Fiber in the world; while India has nominal dominance over export of Raw Jute Fiber.Total average export earnings from jute and jute goods are US$ 611 million (60 lakh bales)/Year. Average export value of raw jute is US$ 140 million and the numbers of factories are 187. Earnings from jute and jute product exports hit the billion dollars mark for the first time in the country's h istory in 2010. Jute sector is contributing 4. 68 percent in export earning last fiscal year and two per cent increase during 2009-10. This sector has been generating employment to a large segment of total population of the country, directly and indirectly over the years. Bangladesh produces 5. -6. 0 million (55-60 lakh) bales of raw jute every year of which some 3. 2 million (32 lakh) bales are used in the existing 148 jute mills. The country exports 2. 4 million (24 lakh). The total demand for jute goods in the international market is 0. 75 million (7. 50 lakh) tons. Bangladesh exports 0. 46 million (4. 60 lakh) tons of jute goods while India enjoys a share of 0. 285 million (2. 85 lakh) tons in the international market. Dhaka controls 62 per cent share of the total jute goods market of the world and earn Taka 20. 125 billion (2012. 5 crore) by exporting jute goods.Bangladesh is the lone exporter of raw jute. In the year 2006, the country exported 2. 4 million (24 lakh) bales of r aw jute valued at Taka 9. 77 million (977 crore). In total Bangladesh fetched Taka 29. 395 billion (2939. 5 crore) by exporting raw jute and jute goods. There are 50 private jute spinning mills producing jute yarn/twine under Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association (BJSA). The mills under jute spinning sector produce 0. 29 million (2. 90 lakh) tons of jute yarn/twine and export 0. 261 million (2. 61 lakh) m. tons of quality yarn/twine consuming 1. 9 illion (19 lakh) bales of high quality raw jute and earn foreign exchange worth Taka 12 million (1200 crore) per annum. 3. 9. Present Situations It has been recognized that Jute and Allied fibers occupy a unique position as eco-friendly, bio degradable, renewable natural fiber. We should also understand that Jute sector of Bangladesh has made and continues to make significant contribution to the national economy. Apart from its versatile use from domestic area to industry, it protects environment from different ways. All the export earnings from the Jute Industry vis-a-vis Jute sector are net foreign currency earnings.Domestic value additions are exceptionally high. So, a viable Jute Industry would be an ideal type of activity for the economic development of the country. We should always consider that Jute Industry is indigenous one. Jute, of the best quality in the world, is available in Bangladesh. It is one of the few natural resources that the country has and it has provided Bangladesh with a comparative edge in the world trade in jute goods. But, over the past decade, the jute industry has suffered more downs than ups for no fault of its own.It has been allowed to suffer gradual decline mainly due to lack of appropriate policy actions. Jute industry in Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan) was established as export oriented industry with the aim of rapid industrialization. It became the major source of foreign currency earnings. The industry was made viable and kept expanding with the Govt. financial assistance on export of jute goods through bonus voucher. After liberation of the country in 1971 and nationalization of the Industry in 1972, such financial assistance to Jute Industry was withdrawn and the Industry started incurring losses.On the other hand, the newly established BJMC had to concentrate mainly on rehabilitation of the war torn Jute Industry and expand the world export market share which was taken by the competitors during war of liberation. At the initial stage Bangladesh Jute Industry i. e. BJMC had to face serious problems to recover the lost market. By the untiring efforts to improve the management, production and export, the Industry i. e. BJMC started achieving positive results from 1973-74 with the production of 500 thousand tons and export of 445 thousand tons from 320 thousand tons and 225 thousand tons respectively of 1971-72.With help of pie chart the result can be shown in the following. [pic] Figure 5 Bangladesh Export in Major Products during 1972-73 In 1977-78 BJ MC could achieve an export of 531 thousand tons, mainly traditional products (hession, sacking & CBC) against the previous highest export of 506 thousand tons in 1969-70. In 1980-81 Jute Industry could achieve highest production of 590 thousand tons exceeding the production of 1969-70. In 1981-82, the Jute Industry again could break the export record of 1969-70, exporting around 537 thousand tons against production of 586 thousand tons.Large scale denationalization started in 1982-83. But, private sector jute mills could not perform the way it was expected for many reasons. As a result, performance of the overall Jute industry started deteriorating gradually from 570 thousand tons (production) and 514 thousand tons (export) in 1982-83 to 286 thousand tons (production) and 192 thousand tons (export) in 2003-04. It is seen in the figure below more clearly. [pic] Figure 6 Bangladesh Export in Major Products during 1993-94 During Eighties the new jute yarn/twine mills came into the pict ure and expanded gradually.It could increase export of yarn/twine from 28 thousand tons in 1983-84 to around 380 thousand tons in 2009-10. The gradual increase in the production and export of yarn/twine could help increase of overall export of Jute products to nearly 600 thousand tons with the share of only around 200 thousand tons of traditional products i. e. Hessian, sacking & CBC. It may be seen from the figures given below that production and export of BJMC and BJMA mills (mainly traditional products) recorded gradual decline over the years. Table 3 Productions and Export of BJMA and BJMC Mills Year |Production |Export | |1981-82 |587 thousand tons |537 thousand tons | |1991-92 |416 thousand tons |408 thousand tons | |2001-02 |321 thousand tons |257 thousand tons | |2009-10 |302 thousand tons |219thousand tons | Position in current financial year is also not encouraging in BJMC & BJMA mills as may be seen from the table (6months/ July-Dec'10) below. Table 4 Production and Expor t of BJMC & BJMA Mills during July-Dec’10 Types of Mills |Production |Export | |BJMC |78 thousand tons |56 thousand tons | |BJMA |60 thousand tons |37 thousand tons | |Total |138 thousand tons |93 thousand tons | However, the production and export of yarn/twine mills mainly under BJSA (Bangladesh Jute Spinners Association) recorded increase gradually from 50 thousand tons and 28 thousand tons in 1983-84 to 399 thousand tons and 380 thousand tons in 2009-10 respectively. It may be maintained during this financial year also on the basis of its production and export of 227 thousand tons and 193 thousand tons of July-Dec'10.Table given below on the comparative position in production of traditional products reveal that while Bangladesh jute industry is sinking, Indian jute industry is booming. Table 5 Comparative Position of Bangladesh & India in Production of Traditional Products |Years |Bangladesh |India | |1999-2000 |3. 10 lac tons |12. 45 lac tons | |2005-2006 |2. 43 lac tons |13. 42 lac tons | |2009-2010 |2. 54 lac tons |14. 50 lac tons |The present govt. has taken some positive steps to revitalize the Jute Industry, particularly BJMC mills. But, piece meal action will not serve the purpose because, production and export of traditional products, both in BJMC and BJMA (private) mills recorded gradual decline to a frustrating level over the years. A recently-created demand for jute sacks in Thailand has come as a boon for the jute industry in Bangladesh, raising hopes for a recovery in exports that fell 13 percent during July-February of the current fiscal year. Also, India has recently increased import of jute and jute goods after its currency started to gain against the US dollar.According to MD Shamsul Haque, director (marketing) of state-owned Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation that has 21 jute mills running, â€Å"Exports of jute goods to our traditional middle-eastern and African markets have fallen amid political unrest in Libya, Syria, Iraq and o ther countries. But our exports increased in the last three months as we got some new markets, Thailand have emerged as a new market for our jute sacks along with Vietnam. † The market in Thailand has widened after the current Thai-government started buying a huge quantity of rice in jute sacks to fulfill its pledge of providing a guaranteed price to farmers. Bangladesh has received orders for supplying two crore (20 million) pieces of jute sacks from millers in Thailand. Thailand has opened up a new opportunity for Bangladesh. It has come as a blessing as Bangladesh’s stocks were piling up due to a fall in exports.Private jute mills will also be benefited due to the decision of Thailand, which is the largest exporter of rice and forecasts to produce 30 million tons of rice in 2011-12. Thailand needs three million pieces of bags a month to package rice which means around 36 million pieces of sacks will be required a year. According to Mahmudul Haque, managing director o f Janata Jute Mills Ltd, â€Å"Demand for jute sacks is high in Thailand. † He said, as his mill alone could not meet the orders, he tied up with two other mills. Janata ships 3. 2 lakh pieces of jute sacks a month to Thailand, he said. Exporters said the increased demand and higher prices of jute goods will allow them to narrow down the losses in export receipts in the first half of the year.But it may not be possible to offset the past fall and post a positive growth in exports by the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2012. Export receipts from the jute industry- the second biggest export earner- fell 13. 66 percent to $615 million in the July-February period of the current fiscal year, from $712 million during the same period last year, according to Export Promotion Bureau. In the following figure, workers carry bundles of jute sacks at a factory in Bogra as, Thailand and Vietnam have emerged as new markets for jute sacks. [pic] Figure 6 Workers carry bundles of jute sack s at a factory in Bogra (source: STAR magazine, March 27, 2012).Total figures are not available readily, it reveals from some of the available figures that export of BJMC in the major importing regions e. g. Australia, America, Middle East, Europe, Africa recorded sharp decline in recent years mainly because of decline in production and absence of effective marketing efforts. Present situation of the industry calls for immediate measures/actions in the following areas: ? The new challenges and opportunities presented by the changing global environment of integration in the development of natural fibers; ? Modernize the jute industry to improve efficiency in production and processing to reduce cost and enhance product quality.With the rise of inescapable competition facing our jute sector, in the international field it should be our endeavor to facilitate upgrading the skills of the Workers, Supervisors and Managerial staff who are employed in the Jute Industry. ? Involve and ensure the active co-operation and partnership of Corporation, Financial Institutions, Energy supplying Agencies and Entrepreneurs in the fulfillment of these objectives. ? Power shortage should be reduced either by power supplying agencies or by setting up generators (gas or diesel) in such mills where it is required. ? The efforts need to be put with all earnestness to bring the efficiency level to at least 80%. ? So far management at the mill level is concerned; it should be linked to productivity and efficiency. Enable the jute industry to build world class state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities in conformity with environmental standards, and for this purpose, to encourage Foreign Direct Investment as well as research and development in the sector. ? Aggressive marketing measures need to be undertaken internationally. Markets like Africa and Middle East should be given top priority to recover the lost market. 3. 10. Major drawbacks Major problems of the jute mills are as follows: †¢ Increase in the cost of production while the sales prices of jute goods remain at the same level or even decline; †¢ Accumulation of huge losses and consequently, of huge debts; †¢ Decline in exports of jute goods; †¢ Electricity failures; †¢ Excessive wastage; †¢ Labor unrest; Poor management that affects productivity and frequent changes in government policies; †¢ High cost of jute goods compared to synthetics led jute goods users to turn to synthetics. Concluding Remarks Before the independence, the country had six jute yarn mills. However, this sector had flourished during the '80s as the industry experienced a setback in the developed countries during the same period. The entrepreneurs of the country bought these second-hand jute mills machineries with a very low investment and started setting up these jute spinning mills. Two types of opinion exist in Bangladesh over the management of existing mills under BJMC. One group is in favor of pri vatization of the xisting state owned jute mills, where another group advocates reorganization/restructuring of BJMC mills. The mills under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation are exporting 0. 128 million (1. 28 lakh) m. tons of jute goods i. e. Hessian, Sacking and CBC. Mismanagement, corruption, inefficiency and lack of skilled manpower have gripped the BJMC mills. The mills should be run professionally to remain competitive in the open market but that are not practiced in case of BJMC, which is causing hundreds of millions of taka losses to the national exchequer. Time has come to put pragmatic/realistic thought on the jute sector to revive this promising sector. The government should devise plans to bring back the glory of the golden fibre.The demand for environmental friendly jute products are on the rise in the global market and Bangladesh should tap this opportunity by implementing some short-, mid- and long-term plans to rejuvenate the ailing jute sector of Bangladesh. At pres ent it is useless to be nostalgic about old prime era of our jute industry. Now we must formulate a pragmatic short, mid and long-term plan keeping in mind about future needs of jute goods' demand. Instead of remembering past mistakes, we must take lessons out of that and look forward with practical solutions which will bring back viability to our ailing Jute sector. This should be our only prime object. Recommendations Some recommendations are prescribed below to be considered by the government in the greater interest of the jute sector: To revive the glory of the jute industry, a high-powered committee should be constituted comprising the Finance Secretary under the direction of the Chief Adviser. †¢ The government should implement some short-, mid- and long-term proposals in a bid to revive the jute sector. †¢ The exiting jute mills of the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation should be converted into public limited companies keeping some shares in the hands of the governme nt like that of the Bangladesh Biman. The government may create a â€Å"Regulatory Board† to run its existing corporations professionally and efficiently. The Regulatory Body will monitor every unit of the corporation and ensure their accountability. The government should arrange a ‘special fund' to upgrade its existing jute mills to purchase necessary spares for machineries. Under this package the government will provide 50 per cent of the total credit as grants and banks will give rest 50 percent on a long-term credit to jute mills. †¢ Irregular power supply is adversely affecting production of existing jute mills by cutting their competitiveness. The government may ask donor agencies like the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to arrange a ‘special fund' to provide long term loans at 3. 00 per cent interest to the existing jute mills to help them to procure â€Å"stand-by generators†. The use of stand by generators by the jute mill s will help to save electricity at our national grid. Government is giving 7. 5 per cent cash incentives on jute goods exports. To expand the market and increase competitiveness, the rate of cash incentives should be raised to 15 per cent from present rate. †¢ The government should enact a law making mandatory or compulsory to use of jute bags for internal consumption in packaging. To meet requirement of local markets, an initiative is necessary to pack sugar, rice and pulse in 5-10 K. G. jute bags. The use of jute goods in the local market is limited. To increase the use, the government should also make law to use compulsory at least 20 per cent of total sugar and cement packaging with jute bags. The jute industries being an agro based and 100% export-oriented industry, the commercial banks are not implementing the Bangladesh Bank's order to provide export credit at lower interest rate (7%), commercial banks should provide â€Å"Export Cash Credit† to jute mills which t hey give to the leather sector. †¢ Crisis of quality jute seed is a regular phenomenon in the country every year. The total requirement of jute seeds are 4,000/5,000 tons against government supply of only 400-500 tons. To meet local demand, sub-standard Indian seeds enter the Bangladesh market through imports and smuggling. To improve the situation and ensure quality seeds, the government should set up ‘seed bank' to distribute seeds among planters at subsidized rate. †¢ Government should also arrange to provide fertilizer at subsidized rate. Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) should also take appropriate measures to familiarize their new invention â€Å"retting process† among the farmers. †¢ Lack of skilled manpower has put the industries in grave situation. To overcome the situation at least a ‘jute college' may be arranged to set up at one of the closed BJMC jute mills. To address this situation promptly, government should introduce  "Diploma Course† on jute in the six textile institutes as early as these are under the ministry of textile and jute. The significance of Mongla Port has increased as several hundred industrial units have been set in the southern part of the country recently. The government should initiate necessary steps to expand and develop the Mongla Port. †¢ The government should also take measures to promote and expand international' trade of jute products by maintaining existing markets and by developing of new end users. References 1. http://cpd. org. bd/pub_attach/op78. pdf 2. http://www. thefinancialexpress-bd. com/more. php? news_id=14562 3. http://www. business-standard. com/india/news/jute-industry-seeks-banimportsbangladesh/381205 4. http://www. stoppressbd. com/home/news_details/66948 5. http://www. banglapedia. rg/httpdocs/HT/J_0137. HTM 6. http://www. worldjute. com/jute_bangladesh/bangladesh_jute_news. html 7. http://www. thefinancialexpress-bd. com/more. php? news_id=123 813&date=2012-03-18 8. www. theindependentbd. com/business/finance/30375-govt-targets-to-double-jute-production-in-2011-12. html 9. http://www. worldjute. com/about_jute/juthist. html 10. www. jute-industry. com/history-of-jute. html 11. http://www. thedailystar. net/suppliments/2011/anniversary/part4/pg7. htm 12. http://www. bangladeshembassyinitaly. com/bangladesh. php 13. http://www. experiencebangladesh. com/bangladesh-business-jute. php 14. http://bangladesheconomy. wordpress. com/category/jute/

Underlying Meanings within Children Stories

Underlying Meanings within Children Stories People enjoy a good story. More importantly, children enjoy their fairytales. However, many of these stories have more morbid underlying meanings. Everyone should know, or at least be vaguely familiar with, the cute story of Winnie the Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Woods. What people may not know, or may not have figured out, is that this particular story’s dark messages are mental disorders. Each character in Winnie the Pooh, according The Perfectionist, author of a biomedical blog, has a different mental disorder.Are these disorders going to affect the way kids view others and themselves? The initial story line of Disney’s 2011 â€Å"Winnie the Pooh† is innocent enough. The movie starts off with the introduction of a young boy named Christopher Robin who has, as the narrator says, â€Å"a very active imagination. † However, Christopher Robin may have more than just that. He displays the common charac teristics of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a condition in which one has trouble defining the line with perception of reality.Common symptoms, according to the medical dictionary, are delusions, hallucinations, and hearing voices based on the person’s behavior. All of Christopher Robin’s â€Å"friends† are depictions of his stuffed animals coming to life. He talks and interacts with them and each character responds back appropriately. We are next introduced to Pooh. This is Christopher Robins’ â€Å"best friend. † Winnie the Pooh is a bear who is so obsessed with food, in particular honey, that he can be classified with an eating disorder.His consistent desire for honey interrupts his daily activities by not allowing him to think of other things besides filling his tummy. He thinks about it in his dreams, during the day, and even while he is attempting to complete another task. He makes eating his biggest priority. The first example of this in the movie is the very first glimpse we see into the Hundred Acre Woods. Pooh is talking in his sleep about honey, suggesting that that is what he is dreaming about. He then is woken up and the first thing he sets out to do is get honey.This priority is evident throughout the entire movie while he is trying to get honey from his friends or get some honey wherever he possibly can, with little to no regard to how he obtains it will affect his friends. While Pooh is searching for honey, for he had run out, he hears the grumbling sigh of his friend, Eyore. Eyore can easily be classified as clinically depressed. Depression is displayed by always feeling gloomy or sad. The first time Pooh and Eyore come together, this constant gloominess is apparent. Pooh greets him with a â€Å"Good morning. Lovely day, isn’t it? and Eyore promptly responds with â€Å"Wish I could say yes† in his typical bummed out manner. Eyore becomes more hopeless when he discovers his missing tail. This is the â€Å"very important thing† that everyone is the Hundred Acre Woods must do, they must help Eyore find his tail, or a tail. It is at this point Owl flies in. Owl is characterized as having Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Narcissistic Personality disorder is an obsession with oneself. There is an exaggeration in the importance of the self and the belief that they are exponentially unique and need constant approval and admiration of others.Owl enters the scene interrupting Pooh and Eyore with the need to bring the attention of his friends to him. He perches himself in a tree and announces that this is the tree where he was hatched and all about the marks his mother made on the tree. He begins to write his book. He titles chapter one â€Å"The birth of a Genius. † Pooh interrupts this â€Å"important work† by asking him to help find Eyore’s tail and feeds Owl’s Narcissism by saying he â€Å"has such a talent for speaking and telling [them] wh at to do. † Of course, Owl quickly recognizes his own importance in this and takes the lead to finding Eyore’s tail.Pooh is nailing up signs announcing that there is â€Å"a very important thing to do† when Tigger pounces in at a red balloon that is floating around nearby. The Perfectionist diagnoses Tigger with having ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). ADHD cause a person to have trouble paying attention and be constantly over-active. Tigger goes from fighting with the balloon, to playing, to being afraid of it, and to being worried something will happen to it if it is his â€Å"sidekick,† all within the span of about 1 minute. Also, from the moment he enters the scene to the very end, he does ot stop moving or talking. Pooh goes to Christopher Robin’s house in search of some honey to share but finds a note. He cannot read the note so he takes the note to Owl to be deciphered. Owl is, of course, more than happy to be the one selected to decode the meaning of this note. However, he misinterprets the note. He thinks that â€Å"back soon† is a monster called the â€Å"Backsoon† and that Christopher Robin has been captured by this creature. This sets off Piglet’s Panphobia. Panphobia is a disorder that makes a person overly fearful.They are afraid of basically everything but especially the unknown. The fact that this monster is lurking around gives Piglet the shakes. While setting up the trap for the Backsoon to capture him and get Christopher Robin back, it becomes apparent that Rabbit also suffers a mental disorder; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD is a disorder that causes obsessive thought about a ritual that must be performed or to adhere to rules with strict acuteness. If these things are not completed then it causes the person extreme anxiety.When setting everything up for the trap, Rabbit made sure everything was just so and that nobody interfered with what has been done. Christo pher Robin came back, much to their surprise, and explained that he had gone out and that he would be back soon. After that was settled, Pooh went back to Owl’s house to see if he would have some honey but when he saw the bell rope was actually Eyore’s tail and Owl had taken it by mistake Pooh rushed the tail to Eyore and won a prize pot of honey for finding his tail. There is obviously a lesson here about putting your friends first when Pooh denies honey to return the tail to Eyore.However, when children are watching this and they see characters with symptoms of these disorders, does it make them more tolerable when they are around friends at school with these same issues? Winnie the Pooh is not the only children’s story with madness as a twist; for example, the original â€Å"Grim Brothers Fairytales† and â€Å"Alice in Wonderland. † It could serve as an exposure for children to be more accepting differences among the people around them. As it is put in Alice in Wonderland, â€Å"we are all mad here. †

Montessori Math Rationale Essay

â€Å"The mathematic mind is a mind that is especially interested in mathematics. Rather than find them boring and absurd, they find them interesting and absorbing. It is a fact that most children in our Montessori schools manage to achieve great enthusiasm while working with mathematics. Is the preparation of their minds that allows them to reach this pleasure.† Maria Montessori, London Lectures, 1946, p 41 Mathematics has always been a difficult subject for students. Many children have developed phobias and barriers towards mathematics, which prevail into adulthood, thus limiting their potential. This limitation implies problems of learning, resulting in the child a sense of inferiority. Mathematics for common education have been a process of memorizing away from the child’s natural development, apart from understanding, reasoning and interest. The problem then lies not in the major or minor child’s ability to understand or the age at which to learn mathematics. These are just prejudices of adults; rather the problem lies in the way in which we teach them. By contrast, in our schools, children show a real fascination for mathematics, which are presented from 4 years of age. Children learn in a few weeks what would take 2 or 3 years at a traditional school . Why is this difference so abysmal? What has education done to produce these reactions in children? The Human Tendenc ies, The Absorbent Mind and The Sensitive Periods governing child development from birth are fertile ground for planting and harvesting this new knowledge. If we want to succeed and enthusiasm them in this area, we must continue their natural development. Numbers like the alphabet, not found in nature, have been an invention of man as a need to understand each other, to progress, for evolution and survival. Humans, as we know, were born with the innate ability to create a language to express the abstract aspects that we have formed of the things around us and their qualities and to share with others. Through civilization and evolution, the man felt the need to see things in a quantitative manner, then created another language we call â€Å"mathematics†. This language, this need, evolved until a registration system that took man to develop the numbers. Mathematics, like every creation of man, have evolved without really knowing how far you can get with them: the scope of the computer, physics, chemistry, algebra, all are evidence of this. Every aspect of our culture is based in some way or another in Mathematics: language, music, dance, art, sculpture, architecture, biology, daily life. All these areas of measurements and calculations are accurate. Even in nature, everything follows a precise pattern and a precise order: a flower, a shell, a butterfly, day and night, the seasons. All this makes mathematics essential for human life and they can not be limited only to a matter within the school curriculum; here lies the importance of teaching math in a pleasure, enjoyable and understandable way. Mathematics is an aid to the development of the child and should be seen as an aid to life and not as an obstacle in their lifes. Dr. Montessori said that man is provided with an innate power â€Å"The Mathematical Mind†. She takes this term of the French mathematic, physic and philosopher Blass Pascal (1623-1662), who was the first to say that the human mind naturally has the characteristic of being mathematical and if you think for a minute we see that all progress man has developed is because the human mind has a propensity for accuracy, order and precision. Maria Montessori observed scientifically and methodically this phenomen on in the development of children worldwide. The Montessori materials prepare the child indirectly to the formal study of mathematics. This makes it the natural way and they learn with joy and follow a specific pattern that goes from the concrete to the abstract and are created specifically in order to build knowledge slowly and concretely, always using first the senses. These indirect preparations, or the lack of them, are one of the causes that awaken in children a love or hate for mathematics. They are essential in the construction process of the child and ensure the child’s success at work. â€Å"The hand is the teacher of the mind. We should never give to the brain more than we give to the hand. Merely impressions do not enter his mind, they form it.† Montessori Maria, â€Å"The Absorbent Mind† Holt & Company, New York, 1995. One of the genius of Maria Montessori is to observe each of the difficulties that the child will be found throughout the learning process, and to isolate each of them beforehand preparing him for the big event (writing, reading  and math). Students who learn math only by memorization often have no real understanding or ability to put their skills to use in everyday life. Learning comes much more easily when they work with concrete materials that show what is taking place in a given mathematical process. The concrete Montessori Math materials are perhaps the best-known and most imitated elements of Dr. Montessori’s work. These simply and beautiful materials hold a fascination for most children and adults alike. They proceed through several levels of abstraction, beginning with concepts and skills that are the most basic foundations of mathematics, presented in the most concrete representation, up through the advanced concepts of secondary mathematics, which are represented in increasing levels of abstraction. All of the content for Mathematics is divided into sub-categories that reflect these increasing levels of abstraction. As I work with the Montessori math materials it still amazes me how much I didn’t understand about mathematics. For me, the Montessori math materials are truly unique. What makes them unique? First of all, the introductory materials are all hands-on rather than abstract; they are sequential (each one builds upon the one before) and also they contain many similar elements (colors for example) that enable the child to master new work quickly. As a student, I started doing math on paper with a pencil; in Montessori the abstract process of math is the final step of a long series of exercises. To me, and most traditional school students, numbers on the page are just that, symbols we are taught how to manipulate. To Montessori students, those symbols represent very concrete ideas that they have physically manipulated; they fully understand what they mean, how they w ork, and why, again by following the concrete/abstract rationale of Dr. Montessori. Kids are better able to understand abstract mathematical concepts because they have first handled the actual materials, and I believe this is why the mathematics area in a Montessori classroom is the best well known of all of them, and is the strongest area in most of the children attending a Montessori school.

Discussion 7 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion 7 - Essay Example A number of books and movies have been written and made on how the war affected the lives of people as well as modern societies around the world. The major power countries lost millions of soldiers; these brave men fought hard and sacrificed their lives ultimately. However, the war also affected civilians and people from everyday walks of life that had no hand in it. The face of politics, economies around the world, as well as public opinion underwent a strong change because of the First World War. Germany was at large made to pay for the reparation of the damages that it had caused all around the globe, and most other countries tried to adopt a more liberal path of government in order to serve the people better and establish democracies. There was widespread inflation all around as people were forced to pay high sums of money for the basic necessities of life. Industrialization had not yet taken a strong hold over many countries, however, it began to, because people were in vast nee d of jobs. Pay cuts were rampant as more and more people began to die early and were not able to afford food for their families. The use of human labour also declined a great deal as more and more machines came into use. The effect of the War on civilians thus was such that it had a long term impact on their lives. Entire families were affected in a bad way due to the down sloped economy.

Contempary issues in change management - Major Assignment Essay

Contempary issues in change management - Major Assignment - Essay Example s for inculcating a new change management organizational culture that has, at its core, the process robust knowledge management which ensures a healthy employees’ participation through the concepts of employee empowerment and employee motivation within the ambit of a transformational approach to change management. The very first important step toward creating a change management system within any organization is the thorough assessment of the organization culture, to assess the level of change management maturity level. Such a change process will transform itself into competitive advantage only when it is properly captured, inculcated and shared and of these the very important step being the capturing of the change management system. Capturing of such a system as a dynamic snapshot -particularly in high value selling environments like the one prevailing in the Corporate Express Australia Ltd (the organization under reference) and which is at the centre of this research is highly problematic as the nature of tasks and activities within these organization are very unpredictable, complex and dynamic, dynamic in the sense because of constant, recurrent and reorganization of the organizational targets and objectives to match changing environment. Changing environment warrants capturing of knowledg e and knowledge management within the organization. Thus one should have an organizational culture that leads to the maximum capture of the environmental and business specific knowledge; ensures its total assimilation and utilizes it in making time specific effective decisions that maximize the value for the organization in its value chain-which can be interpreted in financial terminology in terms of profits and turnover on the one hand and improved or enhanced employees’ productivity and satisfaction, on the other hand. Thus organizational culture and knowledge management systems can be used as tools to target above financial and employees’ specific variables under

Roosevelt's Foreign Policy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Roosevelt's Foreign Policy - Case Study Example During the twenties the American people showed in elections that they were unwilling to join the League, and Roosevelt himself came to distrust it as a distortion of Wilson's project. Advocates of collective security held the United States partly responsible for this distortion because its absence encouraged use of the League for narrowly nationalist purposes by the other victorious Allies. In any case, isolationist sentiment in the Democratic Party became so strong that, in 1932, it was politically expedient for Roosevelt as a presidential candidate to reject United States entry into the League, and this he did before he was nominated. The most important step of the United States government towards collective security before 1933 was the Stimson Doctrine. By it the United States led the world in its first action against an aggression by a first-class power, Japan. It carried into practice the revolution in international law which had occurred since pre First World War days, when the rule had been general consent by the other powers to conquests by one nation and demands for shares in the spoils as compensation. Even the United States had on occasion played that game. When it took the Philippine Islands for itself, it threw a few other Spanish Pacific islands to Germany to quiet its complaints. Japan was always ready to "compensate" the powers, and particularly the United States, for its own gains in Manchuria and China, but the Stimson Doctrine marked a new era in which an aggressor became a criminal who could not bribe the jury. Its ultimate importance may be gauged by the fact that Beard points to Roosevelt's pr e-Inauguration agreement to maintain it as "a fateful step leading in the direction of Pearl Harbour." 1 A supporter of the policy would call it the first of the series of actions which led the United States into the United Nations. That a Republican administration should abandon imperialism in Latin America and move towards collective security in Asia has puzzled observers and historians. The development of public opinion was basic. The personal pacifism of President Hoover was doubtless influential. The Hoover administration was divided between internationalists led by Stimson, who advocated the new policies as steps towards full cooperation with the League of Nations, and imperialists who wished to checkmate Japan as a trade rival and to sacrifice the small gains of direct intervention in the Caribbean republics for the sake of large gains in Latin American good will and trade. Roosevelt and Hull, like Stimson, regarded the new policies as minimum steps. But these renovations of foreign policy passed almost unnoticed by the public at large as the depression caused painful absorption in domestic affairs. The Hoover administration, with its gift for boring the public, had failed to dramatize the issues. Roosevelt, after he was elected President and before he was inaugurated, found in the Stimson Doctrine the only area in which he could cooperate with the outgoing administration. He promised Stimson to maintain his policy and confirmed the promise in a public statement. 2 This connection was the only one Roosevelt was willing to establish with the Hoover administration after the bitter election campaign, and it is symbolic of continuity in favour of collective securi

Management of Peripheral Intravascular Devices Essay - 1

Management of Peripheral Intravascular Devices - Essay Example Management of Peripheral Intravascular Devices Intravascular devices are the implements that are useful during the practice of healthcare administration, especially where the target points of administration are the blood vessels. In the management of these devises, there are five areas of central importance – these including skin preparation before the insertion of intravascular devices; administrator practices – these including hand hygiene and the obstructive precautions to be employed during the insertion of intravascular devices. Other chief areas include the dressing systems – related to the areas where intravascular devices are inserted, the time to be taken before intravascular devises are checked or changed; and the favorable hang time for the devices used during the administration. During the practicum session, there are points when different reasoning areas were used, these including the application of a personal point of view and operating on the basis of initial anxiety related to clinical practice. Others included the attempts at bridging the theory-practical application gap which often calls for clinical supervision by experienced staff and the nurture of professional role and mode of practice. These different focal areas were also significant in determining the learning models that would be most helpful towards the development of the best clinical practicum experience.

Property Prices in the UK Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Property Prices in the UK - Coursework Example Our null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis were as follows:H0: ÃŽ ¼w = ÃŽ ¼l (No significant difference in the two means) H1: ÃŽ ¼w ≠  ÃŽ ¼l (A significant difference exist between the two means)A t-test was used to ascertain whether the price data vary vastly, with regard to our assertion or it is steady. We opted for a t-test because, according to Dalgaard (2008), it is best suited for this work and it is easy to interpret. From the results of two sample, t-statistics tells how the mean of one population sample deviates from the mean of another population sample. It interprets the average of each property price and the mean difference between the two property sits. Moreover, t-test gives an explanation as to whether the difference in mean is statistically significant or not especially if the two populations, where the sample prices were gathered, have similar means.      We tabulated the sample prices for property news (sample w) and the sample prices for property live and then calculated the relevant summary statistics using STATA.  The variance of difference for the two means (sd2) was calculated as follows:sd2 = (sw2 / nw) + (sl2 / nl) = (108370.3/8) + (108725.4/7)  = 13546.29 +15532.2 sd2 = 29078.49 Therefore, sd = √29078.49 = 170.52 Our calculated t-statistics was therefore given as:  t = (ÃŽ ¼w – ÃŽ ¼l)/ sd = (85731 - 73329.71)/ 170.52 = 72.73 However, the tabulated t-value, at 13 degrees of freedom (8 + 7 -2) is given as 1.7709. Since the calculated t-statistics > the tabulated t-statistics, we reject Ho and conclude that the two means for the two property prices are significantly different at 5% significance level.

When Volunteerism Isn't Noble Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

When Volunteerism Isn't Noble - Essay Example 58-61). The Liberty High school board demanded that all its students undertake community service. All students were required to demonstrate that they have undertaken at least 60 hours of community service or other volunteerism work, failure to which they would not obtain their high school diploma (Steirer Par. 2). This requirement baffled Lynn and disturbed her immensely as she saw it as contradictory and going against the spirit of volunteerism, which should be explicitly voluntary. Lynn perceived the move as diminishing, rather than promoting the spirit of volunteerism. These decisions by the board presented Lynn with a dilemma: should she subscribe to  the program, or stay true to her principles, which itself is civil disobedience (Steirer Par. 3). For Lynn, volunteerism had always been a cherished attribute demonstrated for her extensive service as an aide in Meals on Wheels, Girl Scout, and other charity activities. The hundreds of hours she committed to the community were out of her own initiative rather than an obligation. Lynn undertook her community service but failed to submit her hours for credit, a decision that denied her a diploma. According to her, staying true to her values was more fulfilling (Steirer Par. 6). Lynn and her parent believed that the requirement for volunteerism inculcates the wrong values, besides being unconstitutional. Lynn Steirer claimed that mandatory community service for high schools infringes on students’ rights and vitiates the notion of volunteerism by twisting it into an â€Å"involuntary servitude,† an affront on freedom. Mandatory Community service is a privilege to volunteer and students bear a responsibility to contribute their talent, time, and energies towards the welfare of all, and give back part of the numerous concessions given by the community. First, communities gain significantly from the intelligence and the resourceful energies of high school students (Salamon 510).

Written report on Macdonalds Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Written report on Macdonalds - Essay Example From a strategic perspective, McDonald’s is currently perusing an aggressive sales based strategy in new and emergent markets such as China, India, Russia and parts of South America. While McDonald’s traditional markets such as the UK and US may be seen as saturated, the company has still managed to increase sales through organic growth with sales in 2010 increasing by 3.9% in the US and 4.4% in Europe compared to 6% figure seen in new and emergent markets for the company (McDonald’s, 2010). In generating continued growth over the past eight years, the annual report (McDonald’s, 2010) highlights the fact that a clear strategy has been set in the adaptation of a globalised marketing mix template to meet the needs of localised customer groups (Brassington and Pettit, 2006, Kottler et al, 2009). As such, for McDonald’s this results in a business model with limited complexity and the associated costs of complexity, yet the ability to benefit from a localised marketing strategy. In addition the business has in recent years developed a clear model of communication in which three key stakeholders are included so as to ensure success of the businesses strategy at the aggregate level. Here the annual report (McDonald’s, 2010) highlights franchisees, suppliers and employees as the key stakeholders of the business in carrying out the overall strategy of the business. A standard tool for analysing the key factors within the general level or macro environment is to use a PESTLE analysis (Jones and George, 2010, Johnson et al, 2008). The PESTLE analysis considers six key factors within the external macro level environment which may have an impact upon how a business later seeks to create a competitive advantage. Political factors in recent decades may be seen as aiding the McDonald’s business model for large international expansion. Key political reforms

Identify the important examples and images of technology in the novel Essay

Identify the important examples and images of technology in the novel and to explain why they are important - Essay Example Rather an in-depth analysis of the inner meaning of the novel seems to be bound to exhume a more profound theme that includes technology revealed in a positively negative context. The question whether technology can bring about ultimate happiness has been continually explored throughout the whole novel. Here Huxley scathingly criticizes any regime that claims universal happiness for human being. He attempts to establish; if happiness is something to be pursued by human being, certainly it cannot be brought about by any genetic pre-program. Consequently the futility of the use of technology by the totalitarian authority to bring happiness is revealed in the claim of the savages: The right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind. (Huxley, 240) In the novel Huxley continually manages to exploits the attention of his readers to the fact that happiness in the Brave New World derives from what technology is supposed to contribute to it, such as genetic engineering, mutation and biological advancements, Centrifugal Bumble-puppy and Obstacle Golf, pleasure drug, Soma, etc. One of the stunning aspects of this technology-equipped society is the limitless consumerism that satisfies only the hunger of carnal desires of human being. Consequently ‘Happiness’ in this society tolls the sacrifice of the most sacred shibboleths of human culture: â€Å"love†, â€Å"family†, â€Å"freedom†, â€Å"motherhood†, â€Å"home† etc. Controls in every sphere of life determine the individual existence of human being. Controls of technical pre-programs replace the moral restrictions of human that traditional religions of the world impose upon man, as Mustafa Mond says, â€Å"God isnt

Relativism in ethics poses serious problems for Christians Essay Example for Free

Relativism in ethics poses serious problems for Christians Essay With reference to other aspects of human experience, comment on the claim that relativism in ethics poses serious problems for Christians. Justify your answer. [15] Ethical relativism is the theory that states morality is relative to culture and circumstance, meaning the same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another. For example, most societies believe the act of sacrificing either people or animals is wrong, but there are tribal cultures that perceive it as part of normal life. If one takes this approach there are no such things as moral absolutes, and this can pose problems for Christians. For most Christians ethics are dependent on rules recorded in the Bible. Paul instructs, â€Å"Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.† In the Old Testament especially there are many empathic statements such as, â€Å"Do not kill,† which do not leave much room for ethical relativism. They reject the idea that the ends could justify the means, because sin is sin no matter what the intentions behind it were. Slick wrote on this topic, â€Å"I consider moral absolutes to be real because they come from God and not because they are determined by the whims of mankind.† One of the main criticisms of ethical relativism from within Christian circles is how it leads to a subjective view on morality. If there are no fixed moral truths then that leaves the individual as the supreme moral agent. Under this theory it could be argued the Holocaust was moral – after all, it was the view of that culture that Jews should be exterminated. Anti-Semitism was a societal norm. Groothuis put forward this view: â€Å"Surely any morally sane person must ethically condemn Nazi atrocities as evil †¦ but relativism cannot permit such judgments. The morality of everything is relative — even genocide.† Humans are tainted by sin and therefore are predisposed to make poor choices. On the other hand, relativism does not necessarily mean that anything is acceptable. This is too simplistic a way of looking at it. For example, Peter Singer would describe himself as a believer in ethical relativity, but he wrote, â€Å"what has to be shown to put practical ethics on a sound basis is that ethical reasoning is possible.† He rejected the idea of moral absolutes but also rejected the idea that you could not criticise the choices of others. He stated that human reason is a major factor when it comes to decision making, and that it is not simply a case of choosing what pleases you most. Many Christians have no problem reconciling the Bible with a relativistic approach to ethics. After all, even the Bible contains things that modern day believers do not adhere to such as slavery. When the Bible addresses a topic it should not be compared against the sensibilities of the modern world, but rather against the culture of the ones to whom the Bible was addressed. The Bible was written a long time ago by fallible humans and Christian denominations such as the United Methodist Church in the USA hold a position of ethical relativism. This has led them to performing same-sex weddings and other things that set them apart from their conservative counterparts. They see relativism not as a problem for Christians, but something that can free them from legalism and allow them to be more loving. Strict adherence to Sola Scriptura when it comes to ethics can reject the believer’s own conscience and work of the Holy Spirit, which are also a necessary part of moral decisions. This is similar to those that espouse Christian utilitarianism and believe that God wants them to be happy, even if it requires breaking Biblical law. In the words of Zack Hunt, â€Å"Don’t let dogma and doctrine get in the way of practicing Love, who is God.†

The Power of One: Analysis of Peekay

The Power of One: Analysis of Peekay In Pursuit of a Dog Pile Introduction: The Power of One is about the life of a boy named Peekay who overcame his rough and humble beginnings and later achieved his dreams of becoming a professional boxer. Peekay is a simple white English South African who grew up in South Africa during World War II and the beginning of the Apartheid era. He is an extremely likeable and competent young man who represents many qualities of generosity and unselfishness. Moreover, Peekays generosity and care for others leads him to find ways of helping black prisoners write and receive letters as well as teaching them to box. Because of Peekays sense of humor and his ability to criticize himself, we, the reader, are able to identify ourselves closely with him on extraordinary levels. Although we see his generous and unique background throughout this early childhood and later adulthood, he did not grow up with much of a family. His mother was often unnoticeable in his life as she constantly had nervous breakdowns which resulted in her absence when he was just five years old. His Nanny Zulu, on the other hand, was the woman to whom Peekay prayed and sought to obtain advice. His grandpa, although being a grumpy racist, helps Peekay convince his mother to allow the teaching of black inmates to box. In the end, Peekays childhood and acquaintances had an extensive impact on Peekay that not only transformed him into the man he dreamed of becoming, but also into the man he became.Through Peekays life struggles and honorable victories, the reader understands that it is not what we accomplish that makes us great; it is the journey and the limits we strive to overcome to achieve our goals that defines us as true champions. Bullying: As a child, Peekay was sent away to Afrikaans boarding school where he was constantly bullied and hazed for being a young white Englishman. The Judge, an Afrikaans boy who solely diminishes Peekay throughout the novel, along with the jury, tease him for wetting his bed: The pissing upon me by the Judge and the jury had them rocking and moaning and holding their hands to their ears. Such an indignity was surely beyond even the white manà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦In the sudden way of Africa it was dark now (12). On a more personal level, the Judge convinces him that Hitler is on a mission to kill all Englishmen, take over England, and throw them into the sea: Adolf Hitler is the king of Germany and God has sent him to take South Africa back from the English and give it to us. He jabbed at the swastika on his arm. This is his sign . . . the swastika! (31). The hazing continues as the Judge and his jury interrogate Peekay about the origin of his name and pull down his pants in the process: I stepped forward to stand directly in front of where he sat cross-legged on his bed. The Judges arm came up and my hand flew up to protect my face, but instead of hitting me he pulled at the cord of my pajama pants, which collapsed around my ankles (37). Furthermore, during his last days of his first year at boarding school, Peekay is forced to eat human feces and although as a young boy this traumatizes him, this unthinkable act embeds drive and determination into his fragile heart. The torture continues when Peekay discovers that diseases are present on a nearby chicken farm where his grandpa and mother are living. After being categorized as a prisoner of war, Peekay was afflicted Chinese torture: I was required to hold the bar out in front of me while he timed each session, so that I would have to hold the bar up longer than the previous time before dropping it (43). After Chinese torture, Peekay was used as shooting practice for troopers, Nazis, and any other personnel who wanted to enhance their skills: For shooting practice I was required to stretch my arms out on either side of me with my palms open and turned upward. An empty jam tin was placed on either hand, and each of the storm troopers was allowed two shots to try to knock the tins down (43). However, he is able to overcome his problems and gain a spirit called, The Power of One, and is eventually given boxing lessons at a prison as he gets one step closer to this childhood dreams. Bullying has many effects on people that often go unrecognized and more literally, unnoticed. For Peekay, the fact he was bullied was a gift for three simple reasons. First, because of the Judges harsh humor toward his bed wetting issue, Peekay was cured of this problem by his Nanny Zulu. More importantly, he received a unique spirit and unrivaled determination that led him on a path to success throughout his life. Second, he was given the drive and heart he needed to become a boxer as he learned that it is our differences that make us strong and talents that define who we are. Third, not only was his personality changed for the better, but also his mindset was astonishingly altered as he began to believe in himself which allowed him to chase and accomplish his dreams. Role of Apartheid and Camouflage in Peekays Life: Throughout the novel, a theme that takes shape is the power of Apartheid and what affect it ultimately has on Peekay. Apartheid, in South Africa, is the system of segregation and discrimination of specific races. The birth of Apartheid began with the 1913 Land Act which marked the beginning of territorial segregation by forcing black Africans to live in new places and made it illegal for them to perform any kind of work around their homes. Later, the Great Depression and World War II brought a surplus of economic difficulties to South Africa which not only put them in debt, but also convinced the government to increase their policies of racial segregation. A few decades passed and after the election of the Afrikaner National Party, whites were separated from whites and non-whites were separated from non-whites. However, cross-racial marriages and sexual relations were banned. Following a series of new land acts, more than eighty percent of land was marked to white control and private facilities were built for each race. There were many oppositions to Apartheid which took form immediately in South Africa as riots, protests, and non-violent actions constantly broke out. Police open fired on a group of Africans where about eighty seven were killed and nearly two hundred wounded. When Nelson Mandela was imprisoned, international attention was brought to the controversy and as a result, in 1973, Apartheid was abolished. However, the United States and United Kingdom provided economic sanctions on South Africa. In The Power of One, Apartheid is a symbol of both fear and confusion. Peekay is confused as a young boy when he sees local signs that say, Blacks only, as he is unable to understand the difference his elders see: Half a dozen Africans were asleep at the far end of the verandah, where there was a second entrance to the shop. Above this entrance was written BLACKS ONLY. I wondered briefly why whites were not allowed to enter (55). Furthermore, as Peekay grows up, he fears that Apartheid is becoming r outine and ordinary for his country and people thus he seeks to find change. As a feeble young five year old, in order to endure boarding school, Peekay developed the classic technique of camouflage where he would blend in. Not only was camouflage important for his survival at school, but also it was a necessity to ensure his survival of life. He learns that it is extremely dangerous to stand out and that hiding in the shadows is the best form of camouflage. This is how he survives prison, boarding school, and the Apartheid era. At one point, Peekay loses himself and forgets his camouflage: I tried to cover my face but my arms refused to life from my lap. Look what happens when you forget your camouflage, (33). Moreover, it was extremely important for Peekay to always be aware of the situation and who was around him because he never knew what the next few minutes could hold. Snake Symbol: Throughout segregation and discrimination, the symbol of a snake beings to take place in the novel. At boarding school, Peekay was hazed for having a circumcised penis and often brought to shame because of it. Later in the novel, however, the symbol of the snake shedding its skin is used to show when Peekay goes home after each term of school, he is coming into his true self and accepting who he is as a person: Going home at the end of each term was like sloughing a skin. The joy of a small town lies in its unchanging natureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I liked the idea of nothing ever changing in Barberton, it gave me a sense of belonging (379). Following, when Peekay goes to visit Doc, a hometown best friend, he sees a black mamba which is suggesting danger and forewarns his future: Then the head of the black mamba rose above the edge of the shelf two feet from where I sat. Its flat anthracite head froze inches above the shelfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The snake could only have come out of the cave. Doc has sent me a sign. I knew what I was required to do (473). Peekay describes the nature of a black mamba snake as it is the most deadly snake in the world. If its partner is killed, the second snake will often wait for the killer to return in order to take revenge. Revenge: An important question that comes up in the novel is, Is revenge everything? Toward the end of the novel, Peekay fights his childhood nemesis, the Judge, and after beating him gruesomely, he carves his initials over the Judges swastika tattoo: The blood, before it started to run down Bothas arm, made a perfect Union Jack. Across the jagged blue lines of the swastika the mamba-driven blade cut PK. Then followed the injection of poison (512). The poison traveled throughout the Judges body and ultimately killed him. Thus, we are left with the idea of revenge and the question, Is violent revenge of past experiences ultimately the answer to a rough and bitter childhood? In Peekays mind, the answer was simply yes: I felt clean, all of the bone-beaked loneliness birds banished, their rocky nests turned to river stones. Cool, clear water bubbled over them, streams in the desert (513). Peekay felt cleansed as he diminished a once childhood fear. But, do we see a different side of Peekay? Is th ere a violent and uncharacteristically violent Peekay we have not been introduced to? Or, is this type of act moral and righteous? There are many instances of revenge that have occurred throughout my life as a young adult. It was the start of my annual travel soccer season and the team had one goal in mind-beat Marlboro Gold. Last season, we lost in the championship to Marlboro Gold who had won the title for the last five years. Everybody despised them not only because they were practically impossible to beat, but also because they lacked sportsmanship and respectful fans as the parents were constantly rude and ejected to the nearby parking lots. In preparation for our challenge, we trained hard and long every day starting two months before the season. However, first we had to win our group title in order to advance and play Marlboro in the playoffs. With little doubt, we demolished every team in the surrounding area and we were playoff bound. After cruising by the quarter-finals and the semi-finals with ease, it was time for the ultimate test. The whistle sounded and the championship game began. Five minutes into the game, breakaway, goal!! Marlboro scored quite easily and took a strong 1-0 lead. Another ten minutes and another goal was scored my Marlboro and my teammates began losing hope. They bowed their heads, lowered their shoulders and became limp and life-less. For a second, I thought it was over and our dream of winning a championship was destroyed. It seemed like an eternity, but finally it was half-time. After dousing ourselves with water and an intriguing half-time speech by our coach, the second half began. Five minutes went by, then ten minutes, then fifteen, and all of a sudden, there were only a few minutes left in the game. Our captain stole the ball, dribbled down the field, took a long shot and scored!! Suddenly we had life! The game began again, we regained possession and with quick combination play I was on a breakaway and another goal! We had scored two goals in only three minutes and now we awaited ov ertime, a first goal wins format. I had never been more nervous in my life when overtime began. After constant chances for both teams, we had our opportunity. We had a fast break down the sideline and a cross in on goal. As the ball floated, for what seemed like forever, I adjusted my body and put myself in position to head the ball into the net. And after a blink, the ball landed in the net and we won the championship. Upon the crying of sore-losing nine year olds, I was immediately dog piled in the middle of the field. I share this story not to exemplify one of my favorite childhood soccer memories, but to prove that with hard work and effort, dreams can be accomplished just as Peekay fulfilled his ambition of becoming a boxer and obtaining revenge on a childhood bully. Creed Relation: Similar to Peekays story as well as mine, there exists extreme synergy between the fight and determination of Peekay and that of Adonis Johnson in the compelling movie, Creed. Creed is the story of a man named Adonis who is the son of an accomplished former heavy weight boxer, Apollo Creed, who is serving time in Los Angeles youth prison. Not knowing his mother, she bails him out and takes Adonis in for herself. As an adult, Adonis obtains a steady job at a security firm, but he walks away in order to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional boxer. His mother quickly opposes his idea as Apollo was killed in the ring and fears the same will happen to her son. Ultimately, the decision is Adoniss and after being rejected from many different boxing academies, he travels to Philadelphia to connect with his fathers old friend and rival, Rocky Balboa. Adoniss journey to become a boxer is rough and unsettling and similar to Peekay, Adonis learns the hard life and uneasy task of becoming a professional boxer. Adonis travels to a local gym where the trainer is a family member who has shut him out of his life since early childhood. Adonis enters the ring, puts his Mustang up for wager, and challenges the number six ranked light heavyweight boxer in the world. After a few seconds, Adonis knocks him out proving his worth. Next up is Danny Wheeler, the number two ranked light heavyweight boxer in the world, with a record of thirty-one wins and zero losses. Adonis is knocked out after laying a few hits. We see how an ego can get the best of someone and how important it is to be humble. Here is the signifying difference between Peekay and Adonis. However, at the end of the film, Adonis has to start his legacy as he challenges Ricky Conlan, the number one ranked light heavyweight boxer in the world. It is an extremely rough fight, and halfw ay through, Adoniss left eye is completely shut from taking a beating. His coach wants him to give up, but Adonis thinks otherwise: I gotta prove it. Prove what? That Im not a mistake. The final round begins with Adonis landing some shots of his own on Conlan. With ten seconds left, Adonis lands a hit so powerful, it sends the Conlan to the mat, but he rises to his feet after nine seconds of the ten second count. In the end, the decisions comes down to the judges where they declare Ricky Conlan the victor. Relating back to The Power of One, Peekay is clearly Adonis in the situation and uniquely, Ricky Conlan is the Judge. Conlan gave Adonis little respect throughout the film calling him a failure and incapable of becoming a boxer. The main difference between the two examples is Peekay ends victorious, while Adonis comes up short. However, both stories teach us that it is not the end result that is important; it is the drive, determination, and heart you hold within yourself that makes you a true champion. Conclusion: I learned much about who I am from reading The Power of One and furthermore, found ways in which I relate to Peekay I never thought possible. Although this may sound completely conceded, I found that like Peekay, I am also extremely talented and always find ways to achieve my goals. Also, my talents and accomplishments represent the kind of person I am and the kind of person I want to be. This led me to discover that it is our personalities that distinguish us, but our talents that define us. Furthermore, this reminds me of a time during my sophomore year that shaped me into the person I am today and the person I am proud to be: It happened on a frigid ten-degree day in Mercersburg. I was the backup lacrosse goalie and looked forward for my chance to play in a varsity game. When there were thirty seconds left in the game and our starting goalie received a penalty, without hesitation, I threw down my over-sized football coat and jogged out to the net, my legs frozen from standing on the sideline. There was a shot after ten seconds that hit the post and rolled to the back corner of the field. Mercersburg retrieved the ball and maintained possession. With fifteen seconds remaining in the game, a shot was taken that bounced and hit me in the chest and landed in front of me. I immediately pounced on the ball to make sure Mercersburg could not scramble the cage, and after a few seconds, the whistle sounded, the game was over, and our team won. My teammates dog piled me for having stopped the goal that would have tied the game and forced overtime. In conclusion, Peekay taught me to always believe in yourself. It is important to always strive for your dreams, no matter the difficulty, and to never sell yourself short. Peekay learned in his life-from the rough bullying, Apartheid, and other struggles he experienced-that after hard work, he achieved his dreams and obtained his revenge. In Creed, Adonis trained his whole life to follow in his fathers footsteps and, although he fell short in the end, his heart was greater than other light heavyweight champions in the world and that is what truly made him unique. In my life, I sought revenge in the championship game against a rival soccer team. Also, I made two incredible saves in lacrosse that won the team the game. Most importantly, it is not what we accomplish that makes us great, it is the journey and the limits we strive to overcome to achieve our goals that defines us as champions-the pursuit of a dog pile, the power of one.

Is Free Trade Possible?

Is Free Trade Possible? Tom Hobson ‘Free trade is neither possible nor desirable.’ Do you agree with this Statement? Roger Scruton makes the claim free trade is neither possible nor desirable in A Political Philosophy and takes a conservative political viewpoint in defence of national sovereignty (2006). Taking the statement within the realm of international political economy it draws in the debate of the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in advancing free trade as its aim, the economic debate between those who advocate free trade from Adam Smith and David Ricardo and their modern advocates and those who oppose it including Joseph Stiglitz and an analysis of the power relations that entail in free trade negotiations as well as the consequences answering first whether it is possible and secondly its degree of desirability. Free trade in a majority of production areas and scenarios is possible but its desirability is the key debate, the domestic consequences for both developing and developed states can distort national economies in a globalised world. It is a complex issue that is largely ap proached through the WTO. Free trade has an impact on developmentalism for industrialising countries and is connected to hegemonic theories of world governance to uphold the system. Free trade is a possible concept for a globalised world but it is largely undesirable when considering the human impact of market forces. Krasner argues that a hegemon is required for a global system of free trade to be viable, the essential principle is that the distribution of power amongst states dictates the international economic system. He highlighted the role of Britain during the 19th century and the US post World War One and marked the decline in power of the US up to the 1970s being the precursor to the end of a liberal international free trade system. According to Krasner only an open hegemon has the sufficient power to provide the public goods and any other system is inherently unstable (Krasner Webb, 1989, pp.183-184). But in the contemporary international political economy with the rise of China economically and militarily alongside the supremacy of the US there are infact increases to the global liberalisation movement (Chestnut Johnston, 2009, pp.252-253). Hegemonic stability theory has a place in contemporary international political economy but it is not overriding. The realist hegemonic stability theory is very rigid for a free trade international system and empirical evidence shows it is true that a hegemon can meet the public goods cost without jeopardising its own state security it isn’t necessarily the only situation where free trade stemming from state power can flourish as we can see with the rising bipolar international system including China. Krasner’s theory concentrates on the Cold War era and how far the US was willing to open world trade at its own expense in order to have an advantage over the Soviet Union in absolute power (Krasner Webb, 1989, p.196). The state power relationship that Krasner offers for open trade in the global system is very convincing in terms of state security and his realist perspective of the international political economy is as a part of international relations rather than separate. It shows that contrary to Scruton’s statement that free trade is possible within a system whereby public goods are met by a state or states are able to meet the demand without risk to their own security. But a more technical approach taken by Richard Baldwin on regionalism and its problems show that international trade is inhibited by the numerous regional rules and argues that a multilateralisation of the existing systems will be required for a truly global free trade system (Baldwin, 2006, p.1451). Two of the issues he analyses are the current asymmetric negotiations whereby nations and interest groups seek to minimise losses rather than maximise gains and race to the bottom tax competition unilateral negotiations as an alternative to regionalism and mulitlateralism which leads to fragmentation in the supply chain (Ibid, 2006, pp.1469-1471). A good example of asymmetric negotiations can be seen between the US and China on tyres in 2009. The Interest groups of labour including United Steel and Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union pushed US negotiations to introduce tariffs on Chinese imports of tyres on the premise of saving US jobs and manufacturing (i.e. minim ising losses). The result of US imposition of tariffs argued by Ilkensen is a cost to the consumer of $600-700 million annually which results in a cost of $300,000 annually per job saved (Ilkensen, 2009). This follows Baldwin’s argument that unilateral and asymmetric trade negotiations lead to strength in interest groups and poor outcomes. It is also an example of Barry Eichengreen’s perspective on the role interest groups have on limiting policy of free trade with reference to the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of the 1930s, the movement towards protectionism by domestic pressure groups (Eichengreen, 2003, p.59). the strength of institutions beyond the state in affecting the outcomes of trade negotiations are able to prevent the posibility of free trade in the international political economy as this example and Eichengreen highlight. Further to this the position of Richard Baldwin on the strength of regionalism in forcing such action as well as inhibiting the prospect of global international free trade by having a multitude of incompatible rules and aims. The possibility of free trade is disputed; the broad theory of Krasner would indicate that it is possible but the specifics of unilateral trade and regionalism show the limits of global free trade. Turning to whether free trade is desirable concentrates on the WTO and the effects of free trade. The comparative advantage of Smith and Ricardo according to Ilkensen applies in the supply chain of the globalised modern political economy because it is how countries ascend or descend the chain, liberalisation of trade restrictions allows producers to serve the global supply chain in specific areas of comparative advantage. He uses the example of the Ipod with highly skilled engineers in Californa and low wage manual workers in China maintain low costs so that consumer prices are not high and members of the labour force can be freed to work in other sectors (Ilkensen,2009, pp.10-15). His argument rejects the idea of international trade being a zero sum game that is assumed by the critics of free trade, his emphasis is on productivity to create growth. The central argument is that all consumers benefit from free trade and the emphasis of the entire argument should shift from producers to consumers (Ibid 2009 pp.10-15). Ilkensen’s analysis of a global supply chain also rejects the premise of a global north/south divide and he argues that there is not national competition but global cooperation (Ibid, p.4). Similarly, the mutual reduction of tariffs ends the prisoner’s dilemma that ends in a Nash equilibrium that satisfies neither party and as argued by Subramanian the developed nations in the WTO system have reduced their tariffs the most while allowing the rest to maintain protection of 2/3 of their imports (2007, pp. 152-154). Ilkensen’s argument ignores many aspects of international political economy and purely concentrates on the economics of the process of free trade. The rejection of the orthodoxy on primacy of producers over consumers is a very market based approach that concludes it is positive for all involved and a desirable outcome of trade negotiations particularly when you highlight that developed nations are seen to give greater concessions. The WTO is an advanced and technical, monitoring and compliance mechanism for managing trade relations where tackling asymmetric power is the key to its existence where every member is given equal standing and access to the Dispute Settlement Understanding (Lanoszka, 2009, pp 47-51). Contrasting the view of Ilkensen are the criticisms placed against the WTO. Sarah Joseph highlights the dependency theory of Singer-Prebisch where free trade deepens the international division of labour that does not work in long term development because it entrenches positions of nations within the core industrialised west, the semi-periphery and periphery of developing nations (2013, p.8). This marxist interpretation of the international political economic system emphasises the asymmetric trade negotiations forced upon developing nations by the WTO to ensure the west’s supremacy in terms of international relations and economics. She argues that with it being in the developed world’s inter est to ensure a lack of diversity in the economies of the developing nations to create an underclass of labour that relies on manufactured imports and foreign direct investment (Ibid, p.9). She accuses the WTO of serving goods and services of big business rather than individuals; in particular that of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for creating worldwide patents on drugs which therefore prevents their mas use across developing nations to tackle health issues (Ibid, pp. 285-287). Joseph’s critical analysis of the effect of the WTO in pushing for free trade highlights the dominance of the west in maintaining the status quo and not creating the development it promises. In this the problems of free trade show that it is not universally desirable as an economic system. Similarly Joseph Stiglitz attacks the system of free trade for preventing development in the poorest nations by forcing them to state infrastructure and industry. Stiglitz agrees with Scruton’s argument that liberalisation and international economics need to be sensitive to national economies in order to ensure growth and progress; he argues that free trade is about efficiency nations rather than growth, comparative advantage assumes full employment, stability in developing countries’ and uses the example of Southeast Asia where high investment in physical and human activity acted as catalysts for growth (Stiglitz Charlton, 2007, p. 15-25). For developing countries protection of infant industries is more often than not optimal because foreign investment is dependent on selling at a loss until productivity rises which will not happen and in terms of state building the easiest form of revenue is import tariffs and the priorities of a developing economy are not in efficie ncy but growth (Ibid, 2007, pp.32-29). The argument of Stiglitz takes a different perspective on the aims of developing nations from efficiency to growth in their own context; developing nations have very different needs to those that are developed in terms of human development. He highlights the fact that free trade only benefits developed nations that force liberalisation on other nations through the WTO (Ibid, 2007). A further argument against free trade can be found in the environmental lobby that sees potentially global economic expansion as ‘inimical to the goal of preserving a clean, healthy, and sustainable global commons’ (Grossman Krueger, 1991, p.2). The analysis of the report by Grossman and Krueger was specifically regarding the NAFTA trade agreement and the environmental impact on Mexico. Specifically it highlights the problem with Mexico being a relatively poorly developed nation that should industrialisation occur due to liberalisation then pollution will grow under an undeveloped regulatory framework (Ibid, pp.3-4). But the Kuznets curve refutes the basic assumption of the report that economic growth leads to exponential environmental degradation by concluding that the greater the GDP per capita the lower the overall pollution in the long term (Stern, et al., 1996, p.1159). Free trade has initial environmental degradation but the long term forecasts of the Kuznets curv e negate the argument against free trade as a desirable system of international economics. The possibility of free trade is a debated topic and though the technical approach of Baldwin argues that global free trade isn’t a possibility with the complexities of regionalism the overarching argument of Krasner that a hegemon, or as argued more recently a number of nations, providing public goods to fulfill the global demand without incurring too great a cost is a convincing argument in the contemporary international political economy that free trade is possible. But the key debate is whether free trade is desirable in a global context. Taking international economics as a global supply chain then Ilkensen’s argument that the comparative advantage of each country placed within this chain then free trade is necessary to lead to the most efficient forms of growth and all benefit. But the arguments of Stiglitz, Charlton and Joseph emphasis the underlying principle that global trade is a zero-sum system that embeds the current and historical inequalities between the gl obal north and south. To conclude on whether free trade is desirable is dependent on whether the aim is growth or effieciency; growth that it is unfair to developing nations, efficiency that it benefits all. It is too complex a subject to conclude either way in this essay whether it is desirable. Bibliography Baldwin, R., 2006. Multilateralising Regionalism: Spaghetti Bowls as Building Blocs on the Path to Global Free Trade. The World Economy, 29(11), pp. 1451-1518. Chestnut, S. Johnston, A. I., 2009. Is China Rising?. In: E. Paus, P. Prime J. Western, eds. Is China Changing the Rules of the Game. NY: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 237-260. Eichengreen, B., 2003. The Political Economy of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. In: J. Frieden D. Lake, eds. 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