Educational Research Methods Essay

1. What is the general purpose of a human subjects review? The general purpose of the human subjects review panel is to ensure that the rights, interests and the welfare of the human subjects are maintained during clinical research, and the clinical trials is conducted in an ethical manner compliant with standards established.   The review panel has the authority approve, amend or even reject any human research.   During the entire process of the clinical research, the review panel would be studying the manner in which the research is being conducted, and ensuring that the guidelines are stuck to.   Several regulatory authorities would be ensuring that the review board monitors the research being conducted on human subjects. The review board would be approving the research protocol outline and would also be creating the informed consent form.   During the meeting of the review board, the protocol would be studied, and accordingly it would be approved, disapproved or modified.   The review board would have to ensure that during any clinical trial, the risks to the human subjects are minimal, and certain benefits could be anticipated.   The benefits gained from the trial should be maximal and the risks involved should be minimal.   It would also look into other ethical issues such as confidentiality, informed consent and deceptive practices (USAF, 1999 & St. Edwards University, 2006). 2. What kinds of people within your organization would you ask to be on the review panel? Explain your reasons for choosing each person? The human subject research board is usually composed of a minimum of five members.   They should be professionally competent to examine research proposals and give consent for them on human subjects.   The members of the review board should be professionally qualified and should have sufficient experience so as to make appropriate decisions with regards to the human subjects.   The members of the board should belong to various backgrounds and should be familiar of the issues that exist in the community research is being conducted in.   The members of the board are usually elected for about 2 years.   Men and women should be a part of the board, so that female issues could also be appropriately addressed.   At least one member of the board should belong to a non-scientific background, and one member should belong to a scientific background (Monmouth, 2007 & St. Edwards University, 2006). 3. Give examples of projects within your organization that may require careful review before they are approved and of those that may be exempt from human studies review requirements. The institutional review board (IRB) of my organization would be examining any clinical research project that requires the use of human subjects, and in which some amount of risk exists.   The main aim of the IRB would be to assess the amount of risk that exists and also ensure that the trial is being conducted in an appropriate manner so that the risk is minimal.   Choosing the subjects should also be done in an equitable manner, and the IRB would be studying this.   The IRB would also be examining the provision of monetary and non-monetary incentives to the subjects who are a part of the clinical trial (HHS, 2005 & USAF, 1999). Some of the programs in which approval of the board is not required includes evaluations conducted by the student and teachers (for educational purposes), evaluation of the research program, marketing research, employee evaluations, certain educational tests, diagnostic tests, interview or survey procedures, compilation of existing data, etc (The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 2007)

Modern Gadgets Have Made Us Slaves

Disaster Mitigation of Debris Flows, Slope Failures and Landslides 727 Development of Earthquake- and Landslide-Proof Public Buildings and their Transformation into Shelters in Case of Emergency Emmerich Simoncsics Institute for Architecture and Design, Vienna University of Technology, Karlsplatz 13, 1040 Vienna, Austria ([email  protected] ac. at) Abstract Due to the occurrences of the Niigata-Chuetsu earthquake 2004, last October the Vienna University of Technology already delivered proposals concerning the reconstruction and future disaster mitigation for the protection of the people in the Niigata prefecture.Humane accommodation for the victims should be provided in public buildings, which are earthquake- and landslide-resistant, as well. Last year a selection of earthquake and landslide resistant public buildings have been designed in interdisciplinary cooperation between students of architecture and experts for structural engineers, dealing with projects of tourist facilities , schools, sports and health centers, buildings for research, congress and administration centers with exhibition areas.The buildings have a regular function in â€Å"normal case†, but each of them can be converted within 6 (six) hours into a shelter for 2,000 victims in case of emergency, providing humane accommodation and board for several months. Integrated are emergency hospitals, storages, water reservoir and energy supply. So-called â€Å"familystands† (3 ? 3m), which can be easily assembled, can accommodate six persons each (in three levels, like in a train for overnight trip). The experiences show that emergency accommodations should be made possible in all kinds of public buildings in hazard-prone countries like Japan.Regarding the â€Å"Reconstruction Activities†, according to the future demands, the economical development of the Niigata prefecture shall be enhanced by the above proposed buildings. This year, therefore, covering the topic of â€Å"Str ategy for Disaster Mitigation†, additional public facilities with various functions will be developed and concerning the theme of â€Å"Risk Management† the organization of immediate medical aid (emergency hospitals) and the procedure of quick ccommodation (transformation of the buildings and transportation of victims) will be treated. It is intended to show the research results in the framework of a poster exhibition. Keywords: Niigata, earthquake, landslide, reconstruction, disaster mitigation, Introduction The engineer has the task to do research in the ? eld of natural sciences and to ? nd the truth about the violating forces of Nature. He has to detect the danger for human beings and call the society’s attention to the risks.Moreover, the engineer (including the architect) is supposed to propose practice oriented solutions in order to reduce the hazards and the politicians together with the engineers are responsible to realize the relevant countermeasures in order to protect the population from catastrophes. However, close cooperation with the public is necessary, as well. The truth is that no engineer can stop earthquake and they will occur also in the future. Therefore, necessary preparations have to be done. Expectancy of life may increase in the future. After forty years it might be even 90 years.The last repeat of an earthquake in Niigata was after 40 years (1964–2004). It is not impossible, that an earthquake may happen after 40 years again. Considering the life expectancy, people of even 50 years old today, living in Niigata, may once more experience an earthquake. Based on this awareness, â€Å"middle-aged† and younger engineers and politicians are responsible for the protection of human life and property. In the framework of this symposium we exchange our experiences and thoughts about possible improvements of the present situation.How does future look like? â€Å"Future† is a very important concept in thi s connection. We cannot create improvements for the future with our present attitude toward our present situation. With our present attitude no change into a more safe life in future can be achieved. We cannot in? uence the laws of Nature: violating forces will always threaten our population. In order to protect our lives against hazards, we have to detect the truth and change our mind accordingly. In order to be able to work e? iently and in a practice-oriented way, in 2002 (after a severe disaster in Austria caused by ? ood) the â€Å"VUT (Vienna University of Technology) Cooperation Center for pp. 727–732 c 2006 by Universal Academy Press, Inc. / Tokyo, Japan 728 Disaster Mitigation and Security in Buildings† was founded. It is a platform and network to foster meetings of several institutes, in order to exchange and coordinate their research activities and form groups to continue their research topics in interdisciplinary cooperation.The most important events are th e yearly arranged public exhibitions, in which the research results are presented. Basically it consists of two sections — the â€Å"Section for Fundamental Research† and the â€Å"Section for Objectoriented Research†. Whereas the â€Å"Section of Fundamental Research† elaborates the basic theories by means of the data and facts about natural hazards (case studies), the â€Å"Section for Object-oriented Research† aims at the practical application of this knowledge to buildings, in order to mitigate or even prevent structural damages and the loss of human life.The proposals are developed by means of â€Å"Research Driven Education Programs†, involving interested and talented students in the design procedure of buildings for concretely de? ned hazard-prone areas, under the constant surveillance of consulting engineers and experts. The Vienna University of Technology has been conducting research activities on the topic of â€Å"Disaster Mitiga tion† already since the year 2000 in cooperation with the University of Tokyo and other related institutes and universities.The method of interdisciplinary cooperation became the basis for the research principles of the above described â€Å"VUT (Vienna University of Technology) Cooperation Center for Disaster Mitigation and Security in Buildings†. As most of the damages caused by natural hazards concern buildings and consequently the people within them, the main focus is placed on the development of hazard-proof construction techniques for public and residential buildings, as well. Method The subject of investigation is ? exibility in public buildings. There are di? erent types of buildings with di? erent functions. There are buildings with several functions (e. . o? ce building mixed with hotel and exhibition hall) and others with one main function (school, exhibition hall, theater, sports facilities, congress center, museum, library, cultural center, hotel, hospital, health center, etc. ). These buildings are very di? erent in their operation, as well. A comparative method helps to investigate the degree of ?exibility in each type of building, which shows the e? ciency of these buildings as a shelter for the accommodation of victims in case of emergency. The ? rst target is to develop some public building types and investigate the possibilities of ? exibility.Within a building there are spaces, which 1) fully can be evacuated to give place for another function (e. g. seminary rooms, exhibition hall, gym, stadium, etc. ) provided there are su? cient storages available, 2) can be rearranged, e. g. : a) hotel rooms, by additional bunk beds in order to increase the capacity of accommodation or b) a banquet hall, in order to enlarge the capacity of a restaurant also for victims, or c) a foyer / lobby to provide space for organization and discussions between the victims and the crisis managers or d) a wellness center / swimming pool, to use them for sanitary purposes, etc.Function of crisis management 1) Public buildings usually lack some special facilities for the case of emergency (e. g. ?rst aid, smaller scale medical center or clinic, su? cient storage area for food, drinking water, clothes and family stands, water reservoir also for cleaning, sanitary and catering facilities, energy supply, etc. ) These facilities are supposed to be planned in addition, in order to achieve a humane environment for the victims. 2) In those buildings, which serve as a shelter, transportation of persons (victims) and necessary objects (blankets, food, etc. temporarily increases. Heliports near to these buildings are required because the access roads might be destroyed after a disaster. Family stands 1) are equipments, which in normal case are mainly used in exhibition buildings / halls or international fairs. However, nowadays, many other public buildings (schools, universities, museums, o? ce buildings, hotels, department stores, etc. ) also o? er exhibition areas and use stands to display the relevant exhibits. 729 2) By means of a very simple additional device these stands can be equipped with attachable â€Å"beds† (max. ix in each family stand of 3 ? 3 m). The goal of these stands is to achieve privacy for each family and to increase the capacity of a ? oor for accommodation purposes. In order to reach an economical arrangement of the family stands, the newly designed buildings have to take the size and layout of the family stands into consideration. Projects, Examples Some architectural projects carried out in the last years shall demonstrate the methods and aims of our interdisciplinary research cooperation. â€Å"Sports hotel and Bull? ght Arena†, Design: R.Malinov This project considers a local attraction — the bull? ght — for the design of a hotel building in combination with sports- and training-facilities. Additionally, the structure provides a medical center and can be transforme d into a shelter for up to 2000 victims within 6 hours. â€Å"Theatre in landslide-prone Area† in Niigata, Design: I. Mach This project takes the risks of a landslide-prone area into consideration. The structure is ? xed in the ? rm ground by anchor-foundations and the access way protected by a wall. â€Å"High-rise building in Tokyo†, Design: A.Gr? nanger u In cooperation with Dr. M. Hochrainer (Assistant, Institute for Structural Engineering and Technology) the application of a so called â€Å"Tuned Liquid Column Damper† was tested on a high-rise building. By means of an experiment on the shaking table the functionality of the proposed construction was proved. The facility is very economical and can be installed even on the top of existing buildings. Tuned liquid column dampers (TLCDs) are passive energy absorbing substructures to control vibrations of buildings when e. g. exposed to earthquake or wind loads.They can be used to prevent structural Fig. 1. Earth quake-proof Sports Hotel and Bull? ght Arena, model and section Fig. 2. Sports Hotel and Bull? ght Arena — ? oor plans: equipment with family stands in case of emergency 730 Fig. 3. Landslide-proof Theatre and Exhibition Hall for Niigata Fig. 4. Increase of the capacity of hotel rooms in case of emergency by bunk beds and family stands Fig. 5. Earthquake-proof high rise building: model+shaking-table-experiment with tuned liquid column damper 731 Fig. 6. Detail: TLCD — Tuned Liquid Column Damper lements from damage (earthquake load) or increase human comfort due to reduced ? oor accelerations (strong wind load). The actual implementation of a TLCD is uncomplicated, since it only consists of a rigid piping system, partially ?lled with water, allowing the water column to move inside the piping system. A movement of the TLCD housing induces a motion of the water column, and vibrational energy is transferred to the TLCD in a desired way. The energy dissipation of a TLCD is caused by viscous and turbulent ? uid damping, which can be regulated by the insertion of hydraulic resistances (ori? e plates) to obtain a required damping characteristics. In addition to the plane TLCD already established in literature, an entirely new arrangement, called the torsional TLCD (TTLCD) has been proposed. Plane TLCDs are very promising in mitigating ? exural vibrations whereas TTLCDs are used to reduce torsional or coupled ? exural torsional vibrations. Although the construction of a tuned liquid column damper is quite di? erent from the well known tuned mass damper (TMD), a TMD-TLCD analogy has been found, which allows to use design guidelines of the extensively researched TMD.The conventional TLCD is a purely passive energy absorbing device, and its application reduces the steady state dynamic response of vibrating structures substantially. However, especially during the strong motion phase of earthquakes several response peaks remain, which can be eliminated by the application of an actively controlled air-spring setup integrated into the TLCD. This extended hybrid TLCD concept combined with an energy saving control design preserves the salient features of TLCDs: cheap and easy implementation into civil engineering structures, little maintenance costs and a performance comparable to TMD.Considerable vibration reduction has been shown in extended numerical simulations for both, wind and ground excitation. Existing buildings 1) In 2004 around 100. 000 people needed temporary accommodation. As newly built buildings will not cover the required space completely, it will be necessary to investigate the possibilities in existing buildings (gyms, exhibition areas, sports stadiums, etc. ) as well, whether appropriate areas can be converted into a shelter in case of emergency. 2) In this connection the students’ help is absolutely necessary.In the framework of the general education program, students could carry out analyses on the above theme, as king for the cooperation of the managers of some existing buildings. Future development 1) A part of the public buildings may serve in the most attractive mountainous areas of the Niigata Prefecture to enhance the interest of tourists and last but not least of the young generation to ? nd a job in the ? eld of tourism and resort facilities. This could become also a countermeasure against the aging society in the mountainous areas.Also for this purpose the investigation of the geological quality of possible sites is necessary. 2) In this connection the feasibility of this idea has to be investigated. However, simultaneously a realistic project has to be developed and announced among the population (questionnaire). 732 Conclusions 1) According to the experiences of the Chuetsu Earthquake the value of the lost property (including private houses) should be compared with the possible sum of future investments. The horrible amount of the lost value should make us conscious that investment s are worth making before a disaster ccurs again. 2) In the framework of this symposium we exchange our experiences and thoughts about possible improvements. Therefore, I suggest ? nishing this symposium with a RESOLUTION on immediate measures to be proposed to the government. 3) In order to achieve an e? cient international cooperation, based on the experiences of the â€Å"VUT (Vienna University of Technology) Cooperation Center for Disaster Mitigation and Security in Buildings† the principles should be extended also in other universities.It is not enough to meet every 4th year, the research and realization activities must be done uninterruptedly.References Catalogues of the exhibitions — 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005: Vienna University of Technology (2001), Disaster Mitigation — Catalogue Exhibition 2001 Vienna University of Technology (2002), Architecture and Disaster Vienna University of Technology (2003), Innovations for Disaster Mitigation and Security in Buildings Vienna University of Technology (2004), Disaster Prevention and Security in Buildings Vienna University of Technology (2005), The Niigata Project

A Study Of Thailands Sex Tourism

A Study Of Thailand's Sex Tourism 4Sex Tourism in ThailandAs we enter a new millenium the post-colonial nations in the world are still searching for ways to compete in an increasingly globalized, consumption driven economic environment. Many developing countries have speculated that Tourism is an effective catalyst for development as well as increased international understanding. Thailand, who has embraced tourism as the key to its modernization strategy, has been hailed by many as a paradigm for success. Over the past twenty years Thailand has enjoyed one of the fastest economic growth rates of any developing country. This rapid progress has allowed Thailand to emerge as an economic leader in the Third world. The $4 billion a year in tourism revenue is the core support of the Thai economy (Bishop, p. VI). Thai officials have attributed the success of the tourism industry to the many attractions located in various parts of the country as well as the uniqueness of the Thai people their friendliness and hospitality (B ishop, p. 67). However the Thai government has failed to recognize the contributions of sex tourism which is estimated to generate about $1.5 billion every year, according to Professor Krikiat Phiapatserithan of Thammasat University (World congress, regional profiles, p. 3). Thailands failure to recognize the sex tourism is reflective of the discourse used by the worldwide tourism industry to analyze the industry s success. From the standpoint of the tourism industry the success of tourism is directly related only to economic factors, anything else is seen as unnecessary. It is in the best interest of tourism corporations and the countries that are dependent on tourism to discourage the circulation of information regarding any of the potential negative effects related to tourism. The censorship of information by these entities has caused much of the general public to be ignorant of the adverse consequences of the mass tourist industry in Thailand. The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the sex tourism, using Thailand as the basis of my investigation. I will begin by shedding light on the complex social and economic factors that has formed the modern sex industry of Thailand. Then I will link the damaging effects to the Thailand s cultural va lues and quality of life to the emergence of child sex tourism, which in recent years has immerged as a significant contributor of tourist revenue. Subsequently I will give examples of how deliberate manipulations of information by the Thai government and the tourism industry is responsible for the spread of inaccurate images relating to sex tourism. Then I will attempt to link the manipulation of information to tourist s behaviors and attitudes as well as Thai government policy. In conclusion I will give the future outlook for sex tourism in Thailand.Historical, Social and Economic Roots:Vietnam is believed by many to be the beginning of the creation of a large-scale sex industry in Thailand. During the Vietnam War Thailand was a popular destination for rest and relaxation for American servicemen. To meet the demands of American soldiers, who were eager to pay for a temporary sexual partner, new brothels and go-go bars sprang up almost overnight. Following the war the Thai government took an active stance in promoting the growth of the tourist industry in the hope that it would contribute to the modernization process. The half-a-million prostitutes left over from the war were seen as a commodity that could be actively exploited in exchange for the influx of much needed foreign currency. Sex tours from Japan brought many free spending Japanese that significantly aided to the rapid growth of tourism. Tourist arrivals jumped from one million in 1973 to five million in 1990. During this time the Thai government made no attempts to curb the growth of prostitution. In fact they adopted measures that encouraged its growth. Deputy Prime Minister Boonchoo Rojanasathian urged the national conference of provincial governors to encourage certain entertainment , which might be viewed as disgusting and embarrassing because they are related to sexual pleasures (Jubilee, p. 3). The result of this speech was the relaxation of regulations regarding the operation of bars . Eventually the growth of Thailand s tourist industry succeeded in creating rapid economic growth, and modernization. However, Thailand has become so dependent on the tourist industry that a significant reduction of the number of tourist, for any reason, would likely result in the collapse of the entire Thai economy, which would result in widespread poverty. This is one reason why Thai officials have been reluctant to crack down on the sex industry, which is estimated to contribute a quarter of all of the revenues brought in by tourism. The rapid growth and modernization created by tourism has rapidly changed the economic and social structures of Thailand. These shifts have caused the Thai economy and Thai women to be enslaved to the sex trade.Thailand s total gross national income has nearly tripled in the past 50 years (World Congress, background, p. 2). However, despite this rapid growth the disparity of income between the rich and the poor has only widened (Jubilee, p. 4). This disparity has been caused by a drastic shift from an economy based on agriculture to the spread of a market economy. Lower crop prices and crop failures due to drought and floods resulted in widespread poverty among the rural people of Thailand. This has forced the mass migration of the rural population to the cities (Jubilee, p.2). The dire economic reality of these people has caused a disintegration of traditional Thai families. Until recently Thailand was a patriarchal society. One study showed that 73% of the families said they would like to have daughters, while only 27% expressed the desire to have sons (Jubilee, p. 3). Widespread poverty has lead families to consider children, especially females, as economic burdens. Children and women have dropped to the lowest strata of the socioeconomic scale, and have thus suffered the most (Jubilee, p. 4). The closing of options for many families have compelled parents to force their children to fend for themselves and in some circumstances it has led people to sell their children, especially daughters (World Congress, backgrounder, p. 1). The influx of western ideals is another factor that has contributed to the victimization of many women and children by the sex industry. The spread of consumerism by the mass media and through face to face interactions with western tourists has caused Thais to increasingly value money and consumer items. Materialism has led many to value possessions more then their sense of self worth. This materialistic greed has lead many poor families to sell their children in order to obtain material possessions. The market value of a ch ild is between 7,000 and 30,000 baht, depending on the physical attractiveness of the child (Jubilee, p.2). To families living in constant poverty and who only earn 5,000 baht a year 30,000 baht is very enticing. The emergence of the Child Sex Market:The market for children prostitutes has been created by a number of factors. During the 1970 s pedophiles from Western countries were attracted to Thailand because of its lenient laws against prostitution and the high currency exchange rate (Jubilee, p. 3). The supply of customers caused pimps to acquire children through sale and through kidnapping to meet their demand. Widespread rural poverty and the low socioeconomic status of children caused the influx of a large supply of rural children that could be acquired relatively cheep. To prevent the interference of the government Thai officials were bribed or in some cases offered a portion of the profits of the trade. When the AIDS epidemic severely hit the sex industry during the 1980 s many sex tourist began to engage in child sex tourism because children were seen as a safe alternative to adults. Child prostitutes were seen as being less risky due to their young age. Contrary to this notion sex with child prostitutes actually increases the likelihood of the transmission of AIDS due to the immature bodies of children (Jubilee, p. 4). In the past decade the media, most specifically the travel industry, has developed a taste for women with girly qualities. The result of this trend is a st eadily increasing demand for underage prostitutes as well as the continual decline in the desired age for child prostitutes. Due to these unfortunate circumstances the child sex trade has steadily grown and it is estimated that every year one million children are enter the sex trade (World Congress, overview, p. 2). The Manipulation of the Spread of Information by the Government:Despite the immeasurable damage that the sex trade has caused the people of Thailand the government has refused to take an active role in controlling it. In the name of prosperity the Thai government has reduced its focus on matters relating to tourism to exclude everything that is not strictly an economic function (Bishop, p. 66). In essence the Thai government feels justified in sacrificing an entire generation of women and children for economic development. THAI International, a government funded agency, addressed the problems associated with the AIDS epidemic and the sex trade, not as a threat to the nation or its people, but as a threat to the tourism industry (Bishop, p. 68). It seems that greed for money, and power has led to widespread government corruption that has led to a sickening disintegration of morals. The Thai government has swept sex tourism under the carpet with a public relations campaign designed at salvaging tourism s identity (bishop, p. 70). Thai social critic Siriporn Skrobanek claims that The ruling class values the bodies of poor women as a means to attract tourists to earn foreign exchange. This strategy made Thailand a country where all people who go there, like it and long to return. It is beautiful and there is something for everybody (Bishop, p. 75). In the past decade the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and THAI International has led an effort at attracting affluent white male tourists. One add, issued by a company called incentive Asia Destination Services, promises to turn fantasy into reality and reality into fantasy for deserving high achievers . A brochure titled Thai Values: Travel to the Land of Smiles, says Thai values make Thailand the ultimate incentive; So much for so little; Beauty and the beach; Antiques, Thai arts and crafts all at bargain prices; Living values; The most affordable luxury in Asia; and All the pageantry of Thailand at your command. This advertisement is promoting a form of neo colonialism. Goods in the form of pleasure are exploited by rich ex-imperialistic powers at the expense of a poor undeveloped country (Bishop, p. 70). The Thai government refuses to blatantly acknowledge sex tourism. For if they did it would not be acceptable to openly promote the industry. Instead they promote Thailand as a place with sensuous, beautiful, young women who are eager to serve you to the fullest. The Manipulation of the Spread of Information by the Tourism Industry:There are actual sex tours that you can procure for a modest some of money. The promotional advertising can be found in glossy brochures, and through tour information on the Internet. I was able to find two Asian sex tour agencies on the Internet. It is shocking to see how these ads have contributed to creating and supporting stereotypes about the tourist indust ry of Thailand. The first ad that I analyzed is from an agency called Thailand Teenage Girls Bangkok. It reads Have you ever wished you could go on a n exotic vacation and be surrounded by little teenage girls who just want you for sex!! Well if you go a sex vacation you can have sex with lovely little teenage girls like these all day and night a different one each time if you like! Why not take a week vacation to an exotic destination and fuck your brains out. Everything is arranged for you including a guide who can arrange girls for you! See details inside!!! Who knows you may even want to bring one home with you and this can also be arranged! On the front page it shows ten young, dark, nude Thai women. The women on the cover are consciously designed so that the reader believes that all of Thai women are friendly, beautiful, and primitive. The add promotes the hedonistic idea that the women in Thailand who are prostitutes just want you for sex. It fails to mention that many of the women are victim s of poverty, and in some cases kidnapping. The most shocking aspect of this add is the deliberate promotion of prostitution with teenage girls. It is not difficult for one to twist the message of the add so that it says come have sex with little girls and boys. It is illegal for companies to sell sex with a minor. However, despite these regulations it still occurs. Danny Smith, an undercover news reporter for a British television channel, secretly recorded with a hidden camera what a tour operator told him I can confirm that we can get you kids about ten or eleven. No problem at all? If you want the kids younger, just give me an age. Give me a number. Although child sex tourism is not seen in the general public it certainly exists. There have been cases of children as young as four who have been sold into prostitution (Smith, p. 1). The second add is from Ultimate Asia Sex Tour Travel in Video, which is based out of Honolulu, Hawaii. The first paragraph says: If you ever dreamed of going to Thailand and screwing every night with the most beautiful young sexy girls with thousands of the most luscious sexy girls just waiting to satisfy your wildest sexual fantasies now is the time to go with the Thailand Baht at an all time low!!! It promotes the myth that Thai women are all erotic and beautiful and only wish to please you. Also this add promotes the economic inequalities that allows westerners to exploit Thailand. In the first paragraph of the tour update it says: Have you ever fantasized about secretly escaping to a exotic location surrounded by hundreds of young beautiful sexy half-naked girls without a care if anybody see you or talk about you? This paragraph advocates a ritual inversion of behavior. That is, because you are in a different land surround by people you don t know it is all right to act in ways that you might consider unacceptable behavior in your home society. Also the ad promotes neocolonialism because it supports the idea that the women of this land are primitive and inferior which justifies exploiting them for sex. Conclusion and the Future of Sex Tourism in Thailand:In conclusion, sex tourism, although important to the Thai economy, has many serious consequences that have to a large extent been painted over by the media. Due to Thailand s dependence on the tourism industry it would be impossible to completely abolish the trade at once. A more equitable distribution of resources among the people of Thailand is necessary for Thailand to be able to end the sex trade. It is important for the world, as well as the people of Thailand, to be informed about the true consequences of sex tourism. This would dispel many of the myths and stereo types that have perpetuated ethnocentric ritual inversions of behavior by western tourist seeking a hedonistic experience. The people of Thailand must be informed of the drastic cost associated with sex tourism. This could potentially cause enough public uproar to prompt changes in the government s stance on sex tourism. Sex Tourism s place in the future in Thailand and the rest of the world is still very uncertain. It will be interesting to see how the nature of the industry changes in the future.

Economics Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Economics Assignment - Essay Example Based on the fact that within the market place the root of everything litereally comes down to supply and demand, this is altered by monopolistic practices and therefore society tends to disfavor monopolies as practicing on an unfair basis, and creating barriers of entry to firms wishing to enter the market for profit generation, as well as from the perspective of the consumer, being that the monopoly is unfairly regulating prices, by restricting output and therefore is extracting a price without allowing market forces to determine the correct supply and demand balance of the given commodity. Essentially when dealing with a monopoly consumers are at the mercy of the price determination of that monopoly, which they control via total output restriction and subsequent economic welfare reduction. The monopoly comes about when there is little or no competition, normally the latter. The monopoly will always persist based on the barriers to entry for any rival company or concern attempting to enter the market place. Barriers to entry protect a monopoly and at times can even be state sponsored, via legal framework or even finance. The barriers to entry for rival firms include: Legal Ba... Legal Barriers - these take the form of legal framework where a government will only allow a producer to supply a product, for example if one considers the first class mail deliver in the United States which USPS is the only allowed deliverer. Patents - similar to legal barriers due to the legal framework that will support a holder of a patent, although this issue is debatable around the cost of research and development in the patent creation process. A certain school of thought agreeing with the patent barrier, claims government encouraged innovation incentive, whilst others will claim consumer deprivation due to excessive price fixing. Examples would be the pharmaceutical companies that hold patents on medical drugs, Pfizer who manufactures Viagra - they are the patent holders and are therefore the only company entitled to produce and sell the drug. Control of strategic resources - this would entail a holder of mineral rights or mining rights of a commodity that must be present in order to produce the end product. An example is De Beers controlling 90% of the world's diamond production (Wessels, W.J). Natural Barriers - also called economies of scale. This is related to the mere cost of establishment within a given industry. It is too expensive and capital intensive to enter the market on a profitable basis. An example of this would be the various utility companies in any given economy. One can safely deduce that monopolies will continue to exist, as long as there are governments who sponsor such activity, as well as when companies are in the position to be able to create a barrier to entry, via market power or anti competitive behavior, this in turn can be negated by anti trust regulation or competition law. The Economists vs. The

Are Electric Cars Good for the Automotive Economy in the US Research Paper

Are Electric Cars Good for the Automotive Economy in the US - Research Paper Example These results are also backed by empirical evidence. Introduction With ever increasing growth of industrialization the need for transportation is also increasing rapidly. Automobile industry to match the escalating needs not only provided a wide variety of cars but came up with a broad range of innovative cars to pique the interest of the infatuated public. This resulted in concept cars such as hybrid cars and electric cars (Cleveland). Today’s market can be termed as in its early development stage of evolving technologies, designs and innovations to match the changing ever changing lifestyle of the twenty first century. Petroleum prices and economy of fuel has played an important role in the development of this technology. Recent volatility in petroleum prices has urged countries to look for self sufficiency in fuel. This need led to the emphasis on alternative fuel technology. In USA especially after the terrorist attack of 2011need for self sufficiency in fuel has aroused. This trend is depicted in the popularity of many SUV cars and other hybrid cars being manufactured by all major automobile manufacturers. This paper aims at studying the effects of electric cars on the US automotive industry. What impact it will have on the business of gas engine manufacturers, gas engine parts stores and the job of people who work on gas engines Review of related literature An electric car is not a new phenomenon. In fact the history of electric car dates back to 1890. The history of electric car can be divided into three phases. Firs the era 1890-1929 which can also be called the early years, second phase is 1895-1905 also called the golden era of dominance or the middle age and the third phase is the current years from 1990-to present. Current escalating fuel prices and growing concerns of environment has only sparked interest in the alternative fuels in recent times. The result is that today’s options of automobile include hybrid SUVs (Curtis Darrel Ander son). This recent resurgence and popularity of electric hybrid cars can be attributed to multitude of reasons. It includes environmental concerns such as harmful toxins released from internal combustion engine (ICE) of traditional cars, global warming, air pollution as well as more economical reasons such as depleting oil reserves and escalating petroleum prices. Gasoline composes 20% of the crude oil produced. Production of gasoline from crude oil requires two times of oil than any other fuel (Georgano). Gasoline is used in ICE of the cars used today. Hence it led to the need of finding more efficient use of the existing resources of the planet. A critical analysis of this electric hybrid car technology is required and the benefits of fuel efficiency should be weighed against its impact on the overall economy. These hybrid cars more expensive for the customers and the price difference called premium price is added to the cost to customers. In addition to that maintenance and replac ement cost of batteries of hybrid cars is another issue. Hybrid car is not free of its faults including some engineering faults and safety concerns as well as the pollution caused through manufacturing of these batteries (Friedman). It is estimated that this trend for electric cars will grow in the future. It is believed that in addition to

Contract Law-Commercial Purpose assignment Case Study

Contract Law-Commercial Purpose assignment - Case Study Example Who is responsible for the payment of the crew of the Boat Is it included in the charges negotiated with Mary Who will decide on the correctness of the amount payable to the crew Will Nile's concurrence be obtained for the charges payable to crew (This is important as this will affect the net earnings from the whole venture) Whether the boat will be made seaworthy by completing the defouling and painting the hull before the cruises start Who will pay for the charges for such defouling and painting Has it been agreed that "the boat will be made seaworthy by the owner before the cruises start" will form part of the contract Has the boat been insured If so what are the obligations of the insurer Till what date the insurance is valid Does the insurance cover the third party claims in case of accidents If currently there is no insurance, who will pay for the insurance coverage Has Mary a right to rescind the contract If so what are the terms (Notice period requirements, compensation for premature terminations are to be decided, as the tickets for such cruises will be sold in advance by Mr. John Nile and any unexpected withdrawal by Mary from the contract will put Mr. Nile into difficulties of facing the claims of the proposed passengers.) Has it been made known to Mary that pursuant to entering into a contract for the charter of t... Nile into difficulties of facing the claims of the proposed passengers.) Has it been made known to Mary that pursuant to entering into a contract for the charter of the boat, she will become binding for all legal obligations arising out of the contract whether expressed in the contract or implied by common usage in the charter of boats for cruises commercially 3. What are the rights and obligations of Mr. John Nile under the proposed arrangement Has Mr. Nile ensured that the boat is capable of carrying 40 passengers ( Since his commercial calculations are based on this assumption it is important that this point should be cleared) Can Mary produce a certificate to the effect that the boat can carry 40 passengers at a time In case if a certificate cannot be produced, is she agreeing for the legal consequences of the boat being capsized due to overweight of the passengers Is she aware of this eventuality Does Mary have a say in the fixation of the charges for the passenger fares for the cruises Does it need to form part of the contract while specifying the consideration payable to Mary What is the agreement relating to the provision of other amenities in the boat other than food and wine For Example provision of clean toilet facilities, provision for the clean maintenance of the deck and the retiring rooms- whose responsibility is this Who will bear the cost of the maintenance materials and maintenance crew Has this been included in the costs payable to Mary Has Mr. Nile discussed with Mary or her son about his withdrawing from the contact, in case he is not able to mobilize enough passengers to carry out the venture If not what are his ideas on this (The contract should mention a notice period and penal clauses for both the parties in case the

To what extent does the professional ideology of socially responsible Essay

To what extent does the professional ideology of socially responsible journalism serve the public interest Discuss with refere - Essay Example A biased information is not the final truth, and in the case where the media owner influences the kind of information to be issued, then the media fails in being independent (Uow.edu.au 2013). The norm of objectivity is made up of two components. One such component is depersonalization, which is a requirement stipulating that when issuing a report or information, a journalist should never express his or her own views, evaluations or believes for this may lead to delivery of biased information. The second component is balance, which involves presenting opinions of agents from both sides of a controversy, and by all means avoiding favoring one side. The policy of objectivity requires that when dealing with authoritative sources like politicians, journalist should report the views of these sources in a way that proves that they are not favoring any one side (Uow.edu.au 2013). The objectivity policy helps in making sure that the public is protected from biased information that may mislea d them when making decisions. Sometimes the information to be reported might not be in conjunction with their beliefs or evaluations, and the policy helps in presenting truth to the public during such instances. Under the responsible journalism system, the public enjoys transparency in different arms of the government and the corporate sector. Socially responsible journalism ensures that journalists working in different departments are careful about the kind of information they present to the public (Uow.edu.au 2013). Balance, which is part of the objectivity policy of journalism, helps in making sure that journalists give the exact information about any authoritative source of information like the government. Through their unbiased and truthful reporting of the activities of the government, journalists help in ensuring that the public is aware of the government’s progress, is a position to scrutinize as well as put the government in check. Such information becomes useful to the public when voting in the next government (Uow.edu.au 2013). The policy of objectivity helps in protecting the rights of the public. In most parts of the world, the greatest traitors and dictators have been rendered powerless by responsible journalism. Responsible journalism educates the public more about their rights and through such education, the public is able to ensure that they acquire their various rights and freedom as stipulated by the law. Sometimes when some governments fail to offer good leadership, the media comes in to serve the role of activists. This at times serves as good way of keeping the government in check, by inciting the public and of ensuring that the public enjoys good governance (Carr 2006). There are many instances in different parts of the world where a social responsible journalism system saves the day by giving the public the right information. Journalism being a source of information, analysis and comments on the current affairs, journalism as a f ield helps in many different roles in the modern society. The principal goal of almost every professional journalist is to serve the society by being transparent as he or she issues the right and true information to the public. Journalists also examine the way power is exercised by the elected or appointed leaders. Through this, they help in inspiring democratic

Free Black people in Antebellum America between 1820-1861 Essay

Free Black people in Antebellum America between 1820-1861 - Essay Example ng the effect of anti-black laws were segregation, lack of opportunities among blacks either at school or at work, lack of political participation in the public sphere and the general disenfranchisement against the blacks that made life difficult for them. Albeit there were few free blacks prior to the Antebellum period in America, they were still in danger of being relegated to slavery by many means such as being caught and sold into slavery, inability to pay debts and sold as slaves and losing their â€Å"freedom† documents which will automatically make them slaves since blacks were treated as slaves by default in the 18th century. And those who are deemed to be â€Å"free† still suffer from disenfranchisement, persecution and restrictions on their putative freedom. The rise of urban neighborhoods however slowly changed the political and economic prospect for the blacks. Urbanization nurtured black communities and from these communities emerged the free black people in Antebellum America which became prominent in periods 1820 to 1861. Community organizations, voluntary educations, mutual help societies and fraternal societies such as black temperance societies, Prince Hall Masons and Black Odd Fellows lodges helped united these emerging free black communities. And from these communities emerged the new northern black elite who were educated, professionals, wealthy and well connected that led antislavery movements. These emerging movements gave direction and mold for the black culture in the 20the century and later propelled the impetus for abolitionist movements that eventually emancipated the blacks such as the Civil Rights Movements which removed the invisible shackles of the blacks and made them equal in law and opportunity (Greven 173-174). One of the assertions of these new black elite was to racially integrate schools because segregated schools for the black were underfunded and poorly instructed. Black leaders realized that with the kind of schools

Research methodology in Strategic Human Resource Management Paper

Methodology in Strategic Human Resource Management - Research Paper Example This work would evaluate the research philosophies, strategies and methods employed in some human resource research journals/articles. There are some philosophical principles that were used in the research to make it more effective. The principle of social constructivism was well applied when the researchers set a friendly atmosphere before engaging some workers in some interviews. The researchers understood the fact that each organization has policies which limit some workers from handling some questions or duties within the organization. The research team had to be clear on the intention or purpose of their research as well as the assurance that it would have no negative implication on their career. However, the principle of participation was not well utilized since the research team only involved employees from specific departments and left out the rest, they should have sampled their respondents to represent the entire organization to limit biasness (Wilkins, 2009). Positivist an d constructivist principles are important for any research, they help one judge the quantitative and qualitative implications in any research. Quantitative research is that which figures can be used to back or support its finding while qualitative research is that which cannot be quantified or rather based on facts or theories. E-HRM research considered the constructivist principles when the employees were asked to give their thoughts or verdicts with the technology concerned. The majority were for the idea that it would improve the effectiveness of human resource in the organization. The technology requires a few IT specialists and a smaller space to operate and furthermore, it simply records all income and expenditure details in terms of time of transaction and amount among other details. It also saves on organization resources spent to recruit, train and supervise workers in various departments (Parry, 2011). The technology also promotes self-service management system in the mode rn workplaces. Here the employees convey their complaints or concerns through secured web-channels to the top management team or the employer. Researchers tried to compare the E-HRM and the traditional human resource and they found out that they were labor and technology oriented respectively. Furthermore, E-HRM depends wholly on advanced software to manage and monitor some of the important human resource elements in a certain organization. Traditional human resource, on the other hand, uses human resource managers, directors and secretaries but oversees major human resource issues. However, positivist principles were not effectively applied in the research. The article ought to record numerical values of the findings. For instance, the researchers should have recorded the number of human resource employees in E-HRM system and compared with that of traditional human resource management. The article is not clear on some of the research strategies employed. However, from the findings, one can depict that the researchers must have prepared research questions about the kind of findings they expected. The questions could have been withdrawn from prior similar research and internet sources among others. They ought to have indicated how they conducted their pre-visit study to converse themselves with the study environment. This would also enable them to get to know the estimate population of the study area. This would guide the researchers in decision on the

Make-up Midterm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Make-up Midterm - Essay Example There has to be a recognition that the business environment is always changing and that because of these changes are constant, it is essential for the organization to create forecasts so that it can be better able to handle itself. It has to be noted that most business organizations tend to concentrate more on creating efficiency rather than developing strategies which are needed to ensure their long term survival. Such situations often lead to organizations increasing their capabilities yet are not able to secure their sustainability when it comes to making profits in their ventures. It is important to understand the strategy of an organization to ensure that there is efficient human resource planning. This allows management to deal with those problems associated with team cohesiveness in the organization, which should be handled in a manner that encourages cooperation between the members of the team to ensure that the goals and objectives of the organization are achieved (Belcourt, McBey, Hong, and Yap, 2013). Because good working relationships in many organizations are often considered very delicate because of the high levels of competition in the workplace between coworkers, a cohesive strategy for human resource planning has to be developed and implemented. This is especially the case where the actions of certain employees in an organization may work against the interests of their fellows. When such situations occur, it is the responsibility of management to ensure that a plan is developed to help in the development of good working relationships through freq uent team building relationships. One of these plans might include a situation where coworkers are encouraged to have a social association apart from work which helps them understand each other and also understand what motivates each of them. By developing such a strategy, management is able to retain the good working relationship of their

Fair Value Accounting Essay Example for Free

Fair Value Accounting Essay Topic: To what extent is â€Å"Fair Value Accounting† an effective method in measuring the values of financial instruments in financial statement? In recent years, the breakout of global financial crisis has raised controversial debates about whether or not fair value accounting (FVA) is an effective method in measuring the values of financial instruments (Laux Leuz, 2009). As two main accounting standards around the world, both International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and US Financial Accounting Standards (FAS) have adopted FVA as an accounting method to judge the values of some financial instruments (Mala and Chand, 2011). This essay will argue that although FVA can provide timely and transparent price information to the users of accounting information in some cases, there are potential problems of FVA in measuring the values of financial instruments on account of unreliable evaluation models, biased prices in inefficient markets and a negative price contagion effect. There are three main parts in this essay. Firstly, it will give the definition of FVA and then it will analyze why the effectiveness of FVA may be limited from three aspects, namely unreliable evaluation models, biased prices in inefficient markets and a negative price contagion effect. At last, it will consider the pros of FVA regarding the timely and transparent information it provides in some cases and analyze the pros. According to Financial Accounting Standards 157, fair value accounting can be defined as â€Å"an accounting method to measure the values of assets and liabilities based on the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date†. That is to say, FVA relies on the actual market prices of the financial instruments and records the exact market prices on the financial statements. In fact, FVA replaces historical cost accounting (HCA) with the development of accounting standards (Boyer, 2007). Compared with FVA, historical cost accounting can be described as an accounting measurement of values based on the original or historical cost when the company got the assets or liabilities. For example, a company bought a stock for 50 pounds last year. In this year, the price of the stock increases to 100 pounds. Under FVA, the company should record the value of  the stock at 100 pounds this year while 50 pounds will be recognized under HCA. As the replaced FVA has been regarding as accelerating the global financial crisis, it draws a lot of attention in respect of its potential weaknesses in the accounting field. Firstly, the model to estimate fair values of financial instruments in illiquid markets seems to have insufficient reliability (Laux Leuz 2009 and Mala Chand 2011). If the markets for the identical or similar financial instruments whose values need to be evaluated are active, the available prices can be used to evaluate the fair values of them (Laux Leuz 2009). However, if the markets do not exist, which means the the markets are inactive or illiquid, the fair evaluation model is needed to estimate the fair value of the financial instruments (Ball 2006). Specifically speaking, the model to evaluate fair values of financial instruments rely on the future cash flow of the financial instruments and borrowing rate of the company. The future cash flow can be described as the future cash inflow (income) and outflow (expense) brought by the financial instruments whilst the borrowing rate of a company can be considered as the cost of capital which can be invested in other investments rather than the financial instruments. The users of the evaluation model should firstly predict the future cash flow of the financial instruments and then use the borrowing rate of the company to calculate the present fair values. Ljiri (2005) states that using model to estimate the values of financial instruments provides significant discretionary power to the users and gives uncertainty, which may influence the objectivity of the valuation of financial instruments. Indeed, the same financial instrument could be evaluated differently on account of different estimation of future cash flows and distinct borrowing rate. Because the users of the evaluation model have the power to forecast the future cash flow, different users may have distinct estimations of the same financial instrument based on their perspectives of its future profitability. In addition, different companies may have different borrowing rates due to distinct industries involved. Thus, the above two uncertain factors affects the objectivity of the fair evaluation of the financial instruments, which limits the reliability of the evaluation model. Secondly, the inefficient markets could distort prices, which has a negative effect on the basis of FVA (Laux Leuz 2009). An inefficient market can be defined as a market in which the prices of financial instruments can not be measured accurately due to the inefficient information it provides (Aboody et. al 2002). Additionally, Lim and Brooks (2010) review the empirical literature about the evolution of market efficiency over time and find that the market cannot be always efficient and market inefficiency can be easily caused by investor irrationality and liquidity problems. That is to say, the market prices of financial instruments could be distorted by biased behaviors of investors, such as overconfidence or overreaction to a stock, and liquidity problems, such as illiquid market for a long-term bond. What’s more, the distorted prices can not reflect the real values of financial instruments, which makes FVA lose the reliable basis to measure the fair value of financial instruments. Therefore, the biased prices in the inefficient markets tend to the appropriateness of fair evaluation of financial instruments. Thirdly, Laux and Leuz (2009) argues that FVA could enforce negative price contagion in the financial markets, which has been considered as the main cause of rapid spread of global financial crisis. It is argued that FVA has stimulated the financial crisis in a vicious spiral and leading to the spread and depth of the financial crisis (Begtsoon 2011, Allen and Carletti 2007, Appelbaum 2009 and Jones 2009). To be specific, after financial crisis broke out, the liquidity of financial instruments’ markets dried up, which means very few trades of the financial instruments existed in the markets (Begtsoon 2011). As a result, the market pricing mechanism became dysfunctional because the prices should be evaluated from very few trades, which resulted in low prices of financial instruments (ibid). In turn, the low prices put pressure on the financial statements of some financial institutions in terms of assets depreciation under FVA (Allen Carletti 2008). In order to keep capital requirements, the financial institutions had no choice but to sell assets at low prices, which led to lower prices of financial instruments in the markets and stimulated further assets depreciation on other financial instruments’ financial statements under FVA  (Plantin et al. 2008a). To sum up, the prices in the market could negatively influence the evaluation of financial instruments under FVA and at the same time, the evaluation of financial instruments under FVA could have a further negative effect on the market prices, which forms a vicious circle that can speed up the price contagion and fluctuations. Nevertheless, supporters of FVA believe that FVA can provide transparent and timely information for the users of accounting information (Brown 2008). As Hughes (2009) says, the function of FVA is â€Å"like that of the thermometer-it mirrors reality, it does not create it†. Since FVA can reflect what is happening in the market on the financial statements immediately, it allows the information users to get easy access to the most timely and transparent market information. In addition, Hinks (2009) argues that the useful information provided by FVA allows the investors and regulators to approach to the up-to-date position of financial institutions and encourage them to make corrective decisions. Indeed, it cannot be denied that FVA can provide prompt and transparent price information in some cases. However, it is not always the case which contributes FVA to an effective measurement to value financial instruments. First of all, in an illiquid or inefficient market for some financial instruments, even if FVA could provide timely price information of the financial instruments, the timely information provided is unreliable, which leads to the uselessness of the timely and transparent information provided by FVA. Secondly, even though the financial instruments have an active or efficient market, FVA cannot result in increased transparency of information in financial statements as expected (Krumwiede 2008). Thirdly, under FVA, timely price information would lead to volatility of financial statements (Barth 2004). The continuous volatility of financial statements causes confusion for the users of accounting information and raises the company’s cost to keep accounts. Hence, although FVA could offer some timely and transparent information to the users, these information limits to some extent because of unreliable information, limited transparency and volatility of financial statements. In conclusion, this essay has discussed three aspects limiting the effectiveness of FVA to measure the values of financial instruments, including evaluation model, inefficient markets and price contagion effect. In addition, it also considers the pros of FVA in terms of timely and transparent information provided in some cases. It can be concluded that even though up-to-date and transparent information could be provided by FVA occasionally, the effectiveness of FVA to measure the values of financial instruments has been limited due to the unreliable evaluation model, distorted prices in inefficient markets and a negative price contagion effect. Because of word limit, this essay cannot cover the detailed application of FVA to specific kind of financial instrument. However, the above discussion can clearly show that FVA has some general problems in measuring the values of financial instruments. Based on above analysis, it can be suggested that the problematic aspects of FVA could be improved or revised by providing more clear explanation and more specific regulations by the constitutors of accounting standards and for some specific financial instruments with illiquid or inefficient markets, it is better to use some other methods to measure their values.

Market analysis of starbucks

Market analysis of starbucks Starbucks was founded in 1971, in Pike Place Market, nestled in Seattle with hopes of creating a third place between home and work. The company was originally named Starbucks Coffee, Tea and Spices, but today change to Starbucks Coffee Company. Now stores are located all over the U.S. They sprung up in urban areas, suburbs, as well as rural areas. This expansion developed the brand as we know it today. It has become a well known name for quality coffee. The company has realized that people dont only come for coffee; they come for the atmosphere, (Kembell). Customers are able to socialize, read, study or enjoy music while drinking coffee. They changed the normal experience of going to a coffee shop. The music selection, furnishings, wide selection of coffee, and great customer service set them apart. Howard Schulz, CEO of Starbucks, once stated, You get more than the finest coffee when you visit a Starbucks-you get great people, first-rate music and a comfortable and upbeat meeting place. In their own words, Starbucks describes this as, champions business practices that help produce social, environmental and economics benefits of communities in which we operate. Starbucks wants to open new stores in both new and existing markets, expand their product development process, and cater to customers needs to eventually improve their financial position and dominate market share. Situational Analysis The limiting of impact on the environment comes in many forms, from materials they use to the way the coffee in produced. The Urban Coffee Opportunity is to help get Starbucks Coffee Company stores into ethnically diverse communities. The mission and principles are listed among many other aspects of the company on their web site, starbucks.com. Coffee being their staple product, they offer over 30 blends, which come from all over the world. They package these as well as produce a premium handcrafted beverage in their stores. Starbucks also offers its customers a wide assortment of home coffee machines. That means in the United States they had 11,168 stores, 7,087 company operated stores and 4,081 licensed stores make up this staggering number. They now have 4,588 stores in over 43 countries. Their brand is top notch in the coffee world, but this awareness is mainly in respect to their handcrafted beverages and other items located at their store. Market Summary Target Markets The primary target audience was found by evaluating information from focusing in on those that drink ground pre-packaged coffee in the home. another target audience is women 20 to 45. A secondary target audience is men aged 20 to 45. They understand that Starbucks is more than just a brand of coffee, but instead, its an experience that a person is savouring in the morning during their coffee time. the original target market has not disappeared, but has expanded into the demographic of the store location. Market Demographics Data from 2004 showed the company was far from reaching existing markets. That in the Pacific Northwest, there was one store for every 20,000 people whereas in the Southeast there was only one store for every 110,000 people. Some Researches showed Starbucks was operating in over 300 Company-owned stores in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Thailand. Customers that started visiting Starbucks in 2002 were 45% female,55% male. The most frequent customers average 21 visits per month, whereas the typical customer visits seven times per month. Average age for an established customer was 38, new customers was 42. Demographic factors are important to Starbucks so executives can make vital decisions regarding population, ethnic groups and expansion. According to the CIA World Factbook, people between the ages of 15-64 make up the largest percentage of the population, and therefore have the greatest influence on Starbucks to maximize profit. Market NeedsMarket Growth Starbucks wants to create an experience for their customers that combine their on-the-go schedule, as well as a place to relax. they believe people come here for the coffee, but ambience is what makes them want to stay, Starbucks operates over 10,000 retail stores. Most of the 4,200franchised stores are located in shopping malls and airports. Starbucks menu contains brewed coffee, espresso traditions and favourites, cold beverages, coffee alternatives, frappuccinos, and the sale of whole beans. From the beginning when Howard Schultz took over Starbucks, he believed, Partner satisfaction leads to customer satisfaction, Starbucks employees are referred to as partners. As of 2002,Starbucks employed 60,000 partners worldwide, 50,000 of those in the United States. Specialty coffee was an estimated $5 billion business in the foodservice channel. Starbucks was estimated to have a 5% share. In-the-home consumption was an estimated $3.2 billion business. Starbucks was estimated to have a 4% share. The coffee market can be divided into consumers segment by where the coffee is drunk, In-Home vs. Out of Home; and type of product, Soluble (Instant) vs. Ground coffee. Three market trends worth noting are firstly the anticipated growth of the out of home segment based on a recent study by Nestle (As reported in Bernama Press 2009), where Malaysians currently spend 35 per cent of their total food and beverage expenses out-of-home. Secondly, instant coffee market caters quite specifically to local tastes. This can be witnessed by the behaviour of Nestle , the market leader, who in 2009 (Chan 2009) also introduced a range of instant hot drinks targeted at local tastes to compete directly with other domestic brands who have specialised in domestic flavours such as White Coffee or Kopi-O. PEST ANALYSIS The PEST analysis examines the broad environment in which the organisation is operating. (Johnson Scholes, 1999) There are the four key areas in which to consider how current and future change can affect the business of Starbucks. Political factors Political factors include government regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules under which the company must operate. (Knowles et al, 2001) As Starbucks is expanding internationally, trade restrictions, tariffs, tax policies and employment laws of related to their business countries have influence upon Starbucks. Economic factors The Starbucks business depends on economic factors in developing countries, where it buys the coffee beans. Coffee is the principle commercial crop. Social factors The social and cultural influences on business vary from country to country. Social factors include the demographic and cultural aspects of the external environment. These factors affect customers needs and the size of the potential market. (Johnson Scholes, 1999) Technological factors Technologies allow Starbucks to offer the higher standard quality products; its computerised roasters allow the company to create unique computerised curves in roasting coffee beans.

Analysis of Indias Young Population

Analysis of Indias Young Population Abstract- India has the largest youth population in the world. Any policies or decisions taken for the population at large and youth in particular, cannot ignore to understand various attributes related to youth. The current research paper is an attempt to know and understand the preferences of youth with regards to various attributes related to their day-to-day habits, beliefs, ethos, preferences and career aspirations. Various observations suggested that young people generally knew how to access internet; spend most of their time on mobiles; could read, write and understand English but could not speak it confidently; were dependent upon parents for financial resources; wanted to pursue a career with reputation; and felt that the time-management was the biggest challenge. They also gave their opinions regarding their beliefs about themselves and the societal norms. Analysis like these can help the marketers and policy makers in designing and implementing policies and strategies targ eted at youth segment. Key words Youth, preferences, beliefs, attributes, ethos, India The demography of India in the contemporary times is historically placed in a way that could lead India towards becoming a superpower. India is the second most populated country in the world after China. According to a UN report cited in The Hindu (2014) India had the largest youth population in the world with 28% of the population belonging to the age group of 10-24 years’ old. About 356 million people belonged to this age-group in India. If this segment of the population developed into a productive human resource then there would be a surge in the economic growth. They would earn and spend more and thereby participate in the economic growth through contributions in production and consumption. This would further lead to an increased GDP for a long period of time till this segment of the population retired from the workforce. For a country that can enjoy such a demographic dividend for about four decades, it surely holds promises for future economic growth and development. It is thus very important to understand the preferences of youth so that the efforts by policy makers, sociologists, anthropologists, economists, and businessmen amongst others were put in the correct direction. Their participation in production and consumption would be greatly influenced by their preferences and beliefs. Hence the objective of this paper was to understand the habits, preferences, beliefs, ethos, etc. of the youth and thereby gain a fair idea regarding selected attributes. METHODOLOGY A primary data collection was done for this exploratory research. Sample size was 100 youth. But 96 responses were analyzed since four were incomplete for certain responses. All the respondents belonged to the age group of 18-24 years and included 54 females and 42 males. The survey was conducted through a questionnaire based on informal discussions and a testing of a draft questionnaire through a preliminary survey. The questionnaire was further revised to incorporate the changes based on the observations and suggestions from the preliminary survey. Respondents were given the liberty to choose more than one options in certain questions. Frequencies have been cited for various attributes. The research area was Adipur city of Kachchh district, which is also called an education center due to the presence of about 15 institutions of higher learning in the vicinity. Attributes included were related to habits, preferences, beliefs, ethos, opinions about self and the societal norms, etc. Limitations of the research include those related to the sample size and number of attributes that could be incorporated. It was restricted to one geographical area only. Further research can be conducted to include more attitudes and people from larger geographical area. The attributes to be analyzed can also be increased. Certainly such researches are specific to a particular targeted segment and cannot be generalized for larger or different areas. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS The respondents were asked how they spent most of their leisure time. About 89 preferred enjoying with their handsets through various activities like chats, playing games, browsing internet and listening to music. About 44 preferred freaking out with friends, 38 preferred watching television, 26 performed household chores, 18 preferred spending time in their own offices or shops, 12 preferred self-grooming related activities and about 19 were involved in various forms of exercises. About 76 respondents accessed internet almost on a daily basis through phones, laptops or personal computers whereas 12 respondents accessed internet with a frequency of about once a week and about 8 accessed with a frequency of about once a month or not at all. 70 respondents used at least one social networking site, whereas 26 did not. The purpose of accessing internet was bifurcated as: for social purposes 52, 69 for academic purposes and 78 for entertainment. 74 students knew and used handset texting languages and about 13 students rarely used the texting language and a 9 were unaware. 68 respondents said that they read a newspaper regularly out of which 44 read English newspapers and 24 read vernacular language newspaper i.e. Gujarati dailies. 37 respondents suggested that they routinely accessed knowledge resources either in the form of books, magazines, or browsing through various knowledge associated websites. 84 students said that they understood English language, but 48 wer e confident that they can read and write correct English and 27 were confident of speaking correct English. About 34 said that they feared to communicate with anyone in English and included 11 respondents who suggested that they were able to speak correct English. About 7 respondents received a fixed pocket money from their parents, to sponsor their leisure costs whereas about 68 suggested that they got the financial support from their parents as and when required. 25 were employed and so were self-dependent for most of their own financial needs except education. About 5 boys and 3 girls even supported family financially. The self-dependents largely earned either from their own shops after academic hours, doing jobs and others provided coaching to younger students. Financial resources were used in the costs associated with handset and other electronic gadgets, self-grooming inclusive of purchases of garments and cosmetics, freaking out with friends for movies or restaurants, costs related to education like fees, books, coaching classes’ charges, stationery, etc. Educational expenses were incurred by parents in case of 84 respondents. Respondents’ discussion amongst themselves largely focused on handset features, social discussions related to family and friends, fashion and appearance, movies and soap-operas, amongst others. 48 respondents were hopeful about the bright future of the country while 34 felt that the challenges were difficult to overcome and the rest were not sure. With regards to their career options 38 respondents wanted to pursue a career that had reputation as the prime-most attribute, 12 wanted a career with an easy life, 32 wanted a career that was financially lucrative, and 18 respondents wanted to pursue a career that could make them powerful / influential. When inquired for the challenges that they faced in pursuing their ambitions / aspirations, time-management was a common challenge for 68 respondents, lack of focus for 48, lack of self-commitment for 39, financial constraints for 27 and geographical immobility for 42. To understand what the youth felt about themselves and certain societal norms they were asked to give their opinions with regards to certain sentences with responses like disagree, neutral or agree. All the responses have not been quoted. Only those responses that had strong opinions were cited. 48 students agreed that they believed in hard work. 83 agreed that they obeyed the suggestions made by the parents. 75 agreed that they wanted to learn from their own mistakes. 74 agreed that youth had the power to change the society. 20 agreed that they believed in achieving results no matter how, 29 were neutral and 47 disagreed. 42 agreed that they knew their strengths and weaknesses while 17 were neutral and 37 disagreed. 50 respondents agreed that they believed in living ethically, honestly and truthfully while 14 were neutral. Some of the respondents who were neutral also suggested that ethics were subjective and differed from person to person, place to place and situation to situation. 70 agreed that they accomplished everything for their family. 41 students agreed that for them their friend’s opinions were the most influential but 29 were neutral and 26 disagreed. 77 agreed that working in a team produced best results. 43 agreed that they did not care what society thou ght / believed but 24 respondents were neutral and 29 disagreed and suggested that they were concerned about what society thought. 74 agreed that they took decisions only after a careful thinking while 16 were neutral. 49 agreed that they were cool, 26 were neutral and 21 did not agree that they were cool. The students who disagreed felt that it was neither important to look cool since they did not care or they felt that there were far more important things to do than putting efforts in looking cool. 53 liked bright and vibrant colors, 23 were neutral and 20 disliked. 69 respondents agreed that they liked adventurous activities, while 18 were neutral. 55 agreed that they liked to earn more and spend more, while 19 were neutral 22 felt that it was equally important to save what was earned. 68 agreed that they respected traditions but that it was not a burden for them while 12 were neutral while 20 felt the burden of maintaining traditions. 37 agreed that they liked to show off their talent, 16 were neutral and 43 disagreed and suggested that they did not like to show off their talent.

Reducing waste in Europe Essay -- Waste Management, Waste Handling

European Union Directive 2008/98/EC outlines hierarchy of steps in which waste handling should occur. It suggests that waste prevention should be a top priority followed by re-use and recycling of materials. However in modern, demand and profit driven society this tactic has very small chance of success, certainly in terms of reducing and reusing. As a result generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) is projected to rise by further 2020 by 16% in EU-27, with 80% produced in the EU-15 (which includes UK) (Skovgaard et al., 2008). This implies that â€Å"The 3 R’s† strategy fails to deliver its key objective – waste reduction. Thus attention should also focus on options that could help to reduce waste accumulation rather than just prevention. One of the most successful strategies to decrease landfill waste is to divert it to Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities. The most popular form of energy recovery from waste, for technical and economical reason, is Waste to Energy Incineration (WtEI). It raises a lot of controversy, mainly because it is associated with technologies from the past, when air pollution controls did not exist. This resulted in significant environmental degradation and heath issues. Understandably, this has left a bad image of incineration. Modern incinerators however emit less than 10% of pollutants than their counterparts 25 years ago (DEFRA, 2013). Technology has the potential to play a significant role as part of waste management strategy but equally important as constituent of balanced energy mix. This essay presents available evidence which sheds new light on Waste to Energy Incineration, highlighting its impact on environment, energy security and human health. In 2011 waste management contributed 17.3 MtCO2e (3.1... ...te Management 29, 1718–1724 Shalunenko, N., I.,Korolyuk, T., A., 2012. Construction glass material based on ash from waste incineration plants. Glass and Ceramics, Vol. 69, Nos. 11 – 12, March, 2013 Skovgaard, M., Hedal, N., Villanueva, A., Andersen, F., M., Larsen, H., 2008. Municipal waste management and greenhouse gases. ETC/RWM working paper 2008/1 Available at: http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/publications/wp2008_1/wp/wp1_2008 Accessed on: 4th December 2013 Tabasovà ¡, A., Kropà ¡c, J., Kermes, V., Nemet, A., Stehlà ­k, P., 2012. Waste-to-energy technologies: Impact on environment. Energy 44, 146-155 UK biomass strategy, 2007. Working Paper 1 – economic analysis of biomass energy. Energy Technologies Unit Department of Trade and Industry. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file39040.pdf Accessed on: 24th November 2013 Reducing waste in Europe Essay -- Waste Management, Waste Handling European Union Directive 2008/98/EC outlines hierarchy of steps in which waste handling should occur. It suggests that waste prevention should be a top priority followed by re-use and recycling of materials. However in modern, demand and profit driven society this tactic has very small chance of success, certainly in terms of reducing and reusing. As a result generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) is projected to rise by further 2020 by 16% in EU-27, with 80% produced in the EU-15 (which includes UK) (Skovgaard et al., 2008). This implies that â€Å"The 3 R’s† strategy fails to deliver its key objective – waste reduction. Thus attention should also focus on options that could help to reduce waste accumulation rather than just prevention. One of the most successful strategies to decrease landfill waste is to divert it to Waste to Energy (WtE) facilities. The most popular form of energy recovery from waste, for technical and economical reason, is Waste to Energy Incineration (WtEI). It raises a lot of controversy, mainly because it is associated with technologies from the past, when air pollution controls did not exist. This resulted in significant environmental degradation and heath issues. Understandably, this has left a bad image of incineration. Modern incinerators however emit less than 10% of pollutants than their counterparts 25 years ago (DEFRA, 2013). Technology has the potential to play a significant role as part of waste management strategy but equally important as constituent of balanced energy mix. This essay presents available evidence which sheds new light on Waste to Energy Incineration, highlighting its impact on environment, energy security and human health. In 2011 waste management contributed 17.3 MtCO2e (3.1... ...te Management 29, 1718–1724 Shalunenko, N., I.,Korolyuk, T., A., 2012. Construction glass material based on ash from waste incineration plants. Glass and Ceramics, Vol. 69, Nos. 11 – 12, March, 2013 Skovgaard, M., Hedal, N., Villanueva, A., Andersen, F., M., Larsen, H., 2008. Municipal waste management and greenhouse gases. ETC/RWM working paper 2008/1 Available at: http://scp.eionet.europa.eu/publications/wp2008_1/wp/wp1_2008 Accessed on: 4th December 2013 Tabasovà ¡, A., Kropà ¡c, J., Kermes, V., Nemet, A., Stehlà ­k, P., 2012. Waste-to-energy technologies: Impact on environment. Energy 44, 146-155 UK biomass strategy, 2007. Working Paper 1 – economic analysis of biomass energy. Energy Technologies Unit Department of Trade and Industry. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dti.gov.uk/files/file39040.pdf Accessed on: 24th November 2013

White Power :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  White supremecy is a current issue in society today. It takes place throughout the world and is a very serious thing. There are a lot of people who have revolted against these White Power groups. While trying to overthrow or supress the White Power groups, people may have been beaten or killed in some cases. There are a lot of these groups out there now with thousands of followers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some White Power groups are only in special areas. Some of these groups are non-violent and try to fight the government for there demands. One of these non-violent groups is W.A.R. W.A.R. is a group in Arkansas fighting the government for an all white city.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Awaken White Americans or our race, heritage, history, and the future of our white children will be forever lost.†(www.airnet.net/niterider) This message was written from a Klansman Anarchist unnamed in the W.A.R. group. The quote is trying to recrute new members and telling the people about there orginization. The statement also proves that in a suppressive government people proceed with agression towards others easily in a society that tries to preach peace, love, and harmony.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The other three big white Power Groups are the Nazi’s, Klu Klux Klan or KKK, and Skinheads. Nazism originated under Hitler’s rule in Germany they are striving to achieve the Arian race that is against everyone except white protestants. The KKK are a bunch of hicks with guns with a lot of followers, they are against all blacks and Mexicans. The skinhead groups always vary; most skinheads are satanists, punks, or anarchists they are mainly against the government, blacks, and Mexicans.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nazi’s are the biggest hate groups in the whole world. They mainly still live in Germany and still persecute the Jewish people and any people who try to suppress them. The Nazi’s are the most dangerous group to oppose, they have about two million followers in there organization. They also have great numbers of people in the United states.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Hate so cheap that even Jews are buying.† The quote is from the web site www.whitepride.net/home where you can buy Nazi music and flags. The site is trying to recrute new members to all of the White Power groups. The traditional clothes for Nazi’s were a brown coat brown pants and an armband with a swastika on it because it used to be good to expose you are a Nazi. Now the Nazi’s wear a camouflage or leather jacket, the leaders have hair, and the newer members have a shaved head and they wear Doc Martin black steel toed boots.

Media Violence and Its Effects Essay -- Media

Imagine one day you lost your television. You lost your favorite talk show, your CNN, your favorite cartoon and all of your connections to the whole world. Throughout decades, media have became one of the most powerful weapons in the world. As time passed, more and more varieties of media were shown, like television, magazines, and internet. From reporting the news to persuading us to buy certain products, media became the only connection between people and the world. But violence in media is shown everywhere, it is hard to turn on your media source and not find violence displayed on the screen, no matter its television, internet, print media, or even radio. Eventually, media became a contributing factor to violent and aggressive behavior of youngsters, especially teenagers. Media violence has caused many negative effects in society. The main reasons for the unstoppable growth of media violence are because of the continue disregard of this matter, the demand for violence from the aud ience, and the effects it has on youngsters. The society is accepting everything media shows as a ...

Ib Biology Hl2 – 6.1 (Digestion)

6. 1. 1 Explain why digestion of large food molecules is essential. There are two reasons why the digestion of large food molecules is vital. Firstly, the food we eat is made up of many compounds made by other organisms which are not all suitable for human tissues and therefore these have to be broken down and reassembled so that our bodies can use them. Secondly, the food molecules have to be small enough to be absorbed by the villi in the intestine through diffusion, facilitated diffusion or active transport and so large food molecules need to be broken down into smaller ones for absorption to occur.Summary: ? 1. Food needs to be broken down and reassembled. 2. Large food molecules need to be broken down into smaller ones. 6. 1. 2 Explain the need for enzymes in digestion. Enzymes are needed in the process of digestion as they are the biological catalysts which break down the large food molecules into smaller ones so that these can eventually be absorbed. Digestion can occur natura lly at body temperature, however this process takes a very long time as it happens at such a slow rate. For digestion to increase in these circumstances, body temperature would have to increase as well.However this is not possible as it would interfere with other body functions. This is why enzymes are vital as they speed up this process by lowering the activation energy required for the reaction to occur and they do so at body temperature. Summary: ? 3. Enzymes break down large food molecules into smaller ones. 4. Speed up the process of digestion by lowering the activation energy for the reaction. 5. Work at body temperature. 6. 1. 3 State the source, substrate, products and optimum pH conditions for one amylase, one protease and one lipase.AmylaseProteaseLipase EnzymeSalivary AmylasePepsinPancreatic Lipase SourceSalivary GlandsChief cells in stomach liningPancreas SubstrateStarchProteinsTriglycerides such as fats and oils ProductsMaltoseSmall polypeptidesFatty Acids and Glycerol Optimum pHpH 7 pH 1. 5 – 2pH 7 6. 1. 4 Draw and label a diagram of the digestive system. ?Figure 6. 1. 1 – The digestive system 6. 1. 5 Outline the functions of the stomach, small intestine and large intestine. The stomach is an important part of the digestive system.Firstly it secretes HCL which kills bacteria and other harmful organisms preventing food poisoning and it also provides the optimum conditions for the enzyme pepsin to work in (pH 1. 5 – 2). In addition, the stomach secretes pepsin which starts the digestion of proteins into polypeptides and amino acids. Theses can then be absorbed by the villi in the small intestine. The small intestine is where the final stages of digestion occur. The intestinal wall secretes enzymes and it also receives enzymes from the pancreas.However the main function of the small intestine is the absorption of the small food particles resulting from digestion. It contains many villi which increase the surface area for absorpt ion. The large intestine moves the material that has not been digested from the small intestine and absorbs water. This produces solid faeces which are then egested through the anus. Summary: Stomach: 6. Secretes HCL which kills bacteria. 7. HCL provides optimum pH for pepsin. 8. Secretes pepsin for protein digestion. Small intestine: 1. Intestinal wall secretes enzymes 2. Receives enzymes from the pancreas. . Has villi for absorption of food particles. Large intestine: 1. Moves material that has not been digested along. 2. Absorbes water. 3. Produces faeces. 6. 1. 6 Distinguish between absorption and assimilation. Absorption occurs when the food enters the body as the food molecules pass through a layer of cells and into the bodies tissues. This occurs in the small intestine which has many villi that are specialised for absorption. Assimilation occurs when the food molecules becomes part of the bodies tissue. Therefore, absorption is followed by assimilation. 6. 1. Explain how the structure of the villus is related to its role in absorption and transport of the products of digestion. The structure of the villus is very specific. Firstly there is a great number of them so this increases the surface area for absorption in the small intestine. In addition the villi also have their own projections which are called microvilli. The many microvilli increase the surface area for absorption further. These microvilli have protein channels and pumps in their membranes to allow the rapid absorption of food by facilitated diffusion and active transport.Also, the villi contains an epithelial layer which is only one cell layer thick so that food can pass through easily and be absorbed quickly. The blood capillaries in the villus are very closely associated with the epithelium so that the distance for the diffusion of the food molecules is small. This thin layer of cells contains mitochondria to provide the ATP needed for the active transport of certain food molecules. Final ly, there is a lacteal branch at the centre of the villus which carries away fats after absorption. ?Figure 6. 1. – Intestinal villus? Summary:? 9. Many villi increase the surface area for absorption. 10. Epithelium is only one cell layer thick and so food is quickly absorbed. 11. Microvilli on the villi increase the surface area for absorption further. 12. Protein channels and pumps are present in the microvilli for rapid absorption. 13. The mitochondria in the epithelium provide ATP needed for active transport. 14. Blood capillaries are very close to the epithelium so diffusion distance is small. 15. The lacteal takes away fats after absorption.

Human Resources and Industrial Relations in the Public Sector Essay

INTRODUCTION Industrial relations is concerned with the relationship between management and workers and the role of the regulatory mechanism in resolving any industrial dispute. It covers areas such as collective bargaining, trade unions and the government. Human resource management (HRM), which has a soft approach (people friendly) and a hard approach (people as a resource to be used as seen fit by the organization), could be summarized as a strategic approach to managing employees. The role of industrial relations has been diminished to some extent in Trinidad and Tobago with the implementation of human resource management practices and policies. However some of the aspects of the traditional public sector model and the environment it was planted in has survived till now, which affects the implementation and success of new public management. LITERATURE REVIEW â€Å"Comparative Industrial Relations: An Introduction to Cross National Perspectives† by Bean 1994 states, Dunlops prescription of the advancement of knowledge in IR is the need to break away from the restrictive and myopic confines of problem solving, institutional studies with individual countries- what has been termed ‘ethno-centric’ bias- in favor of border comparisons over the course of time and across countries. He postulated that the systems theory was applicable to study comparative industrial relations. Haworth 1991 however states that the systems theory fails to explain how the pattern of industrial relations has developed in Third World countries. The industrial relations system responds to social political and economic change  whereby actors (mainly management) usually have a number of responses they can make, therefore there is the existence of discretion in decision making which will in turn affect industrial relations. Kochan et al 1984. Zeitlin 1987 states, industrial relations can best be explained not by the social and economic structure but by historical divergences in institutional development resulting from the strategies and organizations of the state, trade unions and employers. This book basically deals with comparative industrial relations where research is done on similar phenomena taking place in different countries. Poole 1986 highlights four principles for this research to be done, 1. Focus on environmental influences coming from the societal processes and structures. 2. Multi-disciplinary perspectives incorporating social, political and economic aspects. 3. Explanatory variables as opposed to descriptive categories. 4. Utilizing the historical as well as contemporary dimension. Trade unions are institutional representatives of worker interests within the labour market and the society. It is collective rather than individual â€Å"concerted behavior is the essence of modern trade uni onism†, (Ulman 1990) He also spoke of the ‘individualizing’ of industrial relations into human resource management. Industrial Relations and Globalization: Challenges for Employers and their Organizations†, a document prepared by David Macdonald (1997) states that during the period of the 1990’s there were new demands of international competition and dramatic advances in technology. Globalization had also changed the nature and operation of the ‘market place’ and production in many countries across the world. Considerable demands were placed on employers and enterprises thus new structures, processes and strategies were required to be implemented. Within the enterprise, industrial Relations (IR) plays a very strategic role and many changes much be made to the traditional practices and human resource Management (HRM). This new approach attempts to improve flexibility and skills of the workforce which would seek to improve various aspects within the workplace such as trust and communication between managers and workers etc. David’s paper focuses on industrial relations trends and developments in Asia and the Pacific with special attention paid to the challenges organizations and employers are to be faced with. The paper also observes the changing nature of industrial relations and its development as influenced by the forces of globalization, liberalization as  well as the historical and current factors which influence the relations in the region. He defines industrial relations as the means by which various interests in the labour market are accommodated, primarily for the purpose of regulating employment relationships. Industrial relations are therefore concerned with relationships within the workplace and in the organization at all levels. These relationships are expressed through collective bargaining, involvement of workers in decision making etc. Traditionally, industrial relations was to achieve collective outcomes at a national and/or sector/industry levels which are then applied to each enterprise. Human Resource Management is different as it focuses directly at the level of the enterprise seeking to align interests of workers both individually and in groups, managers for the purpose of corporate objectives, seeking to accomplish a competitive advantage in the marketplace. In the book ‘Understanding Work and Employment: Industrial relations in Transition’ looked at the contribution and challenges of human resource management to industrial relations. Due to ‘high commitment management’, human resource management (HRM) is seen to be replacing trade unions. Traditionally, personnel was seen as a subset of IR but in the 1980’s, employee relations evolved to IR being a part of HRM. Eight main issues of HRM to IR were identified as being a change of focus from a sociology perspective to a psychology perspective, a move from pluralism to unitarism, a stress on management as the main actors in the industrial relations system, an emphasis on business strategy and ‘fit’ between policies, the application of the resource based view of the firm to employee relations, the influence of high commitment management and the challenge of the psychological contract view to the understanding of employment contract. Industrial relations had its share of hardship as it journeyed to succession. Historians and novelists acknowledged the drastic changed made in the British society which came about during the industrial revolution. Karl Polanyi described the excruciating changes which took place as feudal societies transformed to an industrialized state. He identified that â€Å"the effects on the lives of people were awful beyond description† (Polanyi 1957, 76). Also stated was: In disposing of a man’s labor power the system would, incidentally, dispose of the physical, psychological, and moral entity â€Å"man† attached to the tag. Robbed of the protective covering of cultural institutions, human beings would perish from the effects of social exposure; they would die as the victims of acute social dislocation through vice, perversion, crime and starvation†¦. No society could stand the effects of such a system of crude fictions even for the shortest stretch of time unless human and natural substances, as well as its business organization, were protected against the ravages of this satanic mill. (Polanyi 1957, 73). Polanyi stated that the negativity that the industrial revolution faces was not much of poor conditions under which individuals live or worked but rather the displacements faced by employees whom are no longer under the protection of cultural institutions. Employment relations and the social sciences by Hills revealed that there is a link between industrial relations and the discipline of social sciences. Steven M. Hills also extended the search of systems analysis by Dunlop where he established a structure to put in order the variety of concepts, of which many never was fully known, which comprise the study of industrial relations. Hills, in his explanation for choosing the employment relationship rather than labor union as his reference point, are because his attention was focused on the controls that govern employer-employee relationships. Understanding these controls is an important aspect in order to express appreciation toward the underlying forces of industrial relations systems according to Hills. He also shows the closeness these controls impose by the government, labor unions and social classes. In Hills analysis, he showed the difficulties faced in all employment relationships, whether they are well-thought-out as pre-industrial, industrial or alleged â€Å"post-industrial† citizens where unions are strong, weak or nonexistent. TRADITIONAL IR SYSTEM INCLUDING DISCUSSION OF THE TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SECTOR MODEL Industrial relations produces and organizes knowledge, it is unique and has its own theories, concepts, techniques, practices and ideological commitments. Industrial relations was born in the United Stated in the 1910’s. It was a reaction to the waste, human suffering, the social injustice as well as the employer- power in the nineteenth and early  twentieth century capitalism. It also arose because it was viewed that relations between bosses and workers could be improved. Industrial relations in terms of academia is the study of labor problems but gave priority to specific areas like a strategy or institution for solving problems for example the trade unions or collective bargaining. The early version of industrial relations emphasized inherent conflict of interest which exist between the employer and employee, that there is superior bargaining power of the employer and the autocratic nature of workplace governance in the traditional firm. With the globalization of industrial relations there was the spread of industrialism, market economics, trade union movements, protection of human rights and political democracy. There was a decline in industrial relations because of the decrease in trade union density, major forma of labour unrest, political power in many countries, the rise in human resource management, the rise in neo-liberalism, national and world politics etc. Industrial relations is centered around fostering stability, efficiency cooperation, peace and positivity. In the 1960’s there began to be a slow decline in industrial relations. There was a narrowing of the intellectual domain and the field was becoming marginalized. Numerous universities in the 1990’s dropped the term ‘Industrial Relations’ and adopted ‘employment relations’ or ‘human resources’. Over the years industrial relations had made attempts to establish itself as a self- contained academic dis cipline but continued to fail (Kaufman 2004). There was the shrinking role of collective bargaining as well. The traditional industrial relations model is concerned with a particular set of phenomena associated with regulating the human activity of employment. It focuses on the implementation of rules within the work place and factors outside of the work place which influences the process. It is concerned with collective bargaining, trade unions, employers, managers and payments. John Dunlop originated the systems approach to industrial relations which is basically an integrative model which seeks to provide tools of analysis to interpret and gain an understanding and how and why particular rules are established in particular Industrial Relations systems and how and why they change in response to changes which affect the system. John Dunlop (1991) applied the systems theory which embodies a set of actors, rules, context and ideology. Flanders (1979) and the Oxford Approach defined industrial relations as the  study of institutions of job regulation. Flanders states that the institution and job regulation can be categorized into the internal and external factors; he insists that collective bargaining is central to the industrial relations system. Flanders agreed with Dunlop (1958) that rules are also essential but continued that rules are only a generic description which can be given to these various instruments of regulation. Heyman (1957) a critic of industrial relations scholars agrees that rules are a mandatory aspect as well. He however, criticizes the Oxford school and Dunlop for not acknowledging the importance of informal rules in the industrial relations system. Heyman (1975) takes the view of the Marxist perspective and views industrial relations as the process of control over work relations, or as the political economy of waged labour. The three perspectives of industrial relations are as follows: the Marxist perspective, the unitary perspective and the pluralist perspective. Fox agrees that industrial relations provided the foundation for Human Resource Management. Concepts and practice of industrial relations are as follows, collective bargaining, trade unions, models of trade unions, the voluntarist tradition, compulsory system and the adversary system. The first four decades of the 1930’s in the English- speaking Caribbean was dominated by political unionism. The shift was largely influenced by globalization. There was rapid expansion of enterprises in almost all aspects. The three phases which affects the Caribbean’s history were, the colonial phase and the colonial administrator, the post- colonial phase and the globalization phase. There was a social division between labour and capital in Trinidad and Tobago. During the 1930’s Trinidad and Tobago suffered the effects of the worldwide depression. There were unjust labour practices and the wages were exceptionally low. The colonial era in Trinidad and Tobago was basically one in where there was unilateralism in rule making by employers, voluntarism and non-involvement of the state and there was the social and economic exploitation of the people. During the post-colonial eras, there was the adversarial system, state control, it was pluralist to a certain extent and was unitary. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS The globalization period brought drastic changes to the public sector and  industrial relations. There were structural adjustment programs, free trade, foreign aid, investment as well as reforms in the labour market. Gray (1998) describes globalization as the worldwide spread of modern technologies of industrial production and communication of all kinds. The consequence was that solutions for the contemporary Caribbean were no longer the same as the ones in the past. There was a missing link and a burning need for a Human resource management approach to step in. It was the approach where â€Å"a human workplace† menaing â€Å"the company looks after their employees and the employees look after their company. The human resource management function was now an integral part of management. It can be said that the role of industrial relations, policies and practices have diminished in comparison to the earlier years under the traditional model after human resource management was introduced. During the 1930’s in Trinidad and Tobago, the industrial relations paradigm was quite dominant. There was a severity in struggle with respect to the working class as the country had experienced periods of enslavement and indentureship, workers had no rights and there was no place for grievances. This period was controlling and dominant and there was the Royal Commission of Lord Moyne (1938) which was to investigate the labour and social conditions in the British West Indian Colonies. In Trinidad and Tobago there was hardly any political representation and all power and responsibility was centered on the governor. Trade unions had to fight for political and social status, industrial politics political unionism and trade unions- based political parties are rooted in the tradition of Caribbean societies. This legacy has continued even until today in the Trinidad and Tobago public sector. However, it is safe to say that the implementation of human resource management policies and practice has reduced the influence and popularity of industrial relations to the public sector and society as a whole. With the implementation of various departments in organizations, including human resource departments, managers are taking are not only reducing the need for certain aspects of industrial relations but also deal with problems. Therefore the connection between employee and the trade union or government organizations are being wiped out. This may be because it fosters an environment that shows the employee that the organization cares, but may also reduce the chance of negative stories or problem leaking outside of the organization, preventing bad  reputations from being created. Human Resource Management includes conducting job analyses, planning personnel needs, recruiting the right people for the job, orienting and training, managing wages and salaries, providing benefits and incentives, evaluating performance, resolving disputes, and communicating with all employees at all levels. Examples of core qualities of HR management are extensive knowledge of the industry, leadership, and effective negotiation skills. Human resource management is formerly called personnel management. Although ‘high commitment’ as stated by some scholars, it reaps the most rewards for the organization itself. CONCLUSION Human resource management is seen as the new way forward. Industrial relations still has a connotation of trade union struggles and equality battles. Industrial relations still play a major role in organizations in Trinidad and Tobago. While human resource management is increasingly dealing with the issues and concerns of employees, there is still a need for government intervention. At the conciliation unit of the Ministry of Labour, Small and Micro Enterprise Development Limited, there are a thousand trade disputes reported on average per year. When management may be the problem, industrial relations and its components are of use. However, HRM is still a developing concept in Trinidad and Tobago. HRM could be seen as a developed country’s take on employee relations and Trinidad and Tobago is still developing. Aspects of the traditional public sector still exist. Since industrial relations still play a major role in Trinidad and Tobago society, it would be wise to adopt a more employee relations approach. In the past, HRM was not entirely successful in Trinidad and Tobago. It is still a relatively new concept and field to the developing world. Due to the circumstances and nature of Trinidad and Tobago, HRM may not be the best policy to implement in society at this time. Human Resource Management can also pose as a challenge for Industrial relations as it can undermine the role of trade unions at enterprise level. Realistically however, human resource management and industrial relations policies and practices can be harmonized to benefit each other. As society changes and more are demanded from employer, employee and the  organization, adopting the more common soft approach to human resource management shows development on the part of the industrial relations system. There is a need for industrial relations in society, but by adding more roles that may have diminished due to human resource manage, it ensures not only survival but the ability to survive in a society where west is viewed as better, and human resource management is the way of the west. References Ackers, Peter, and Adrian Wilkinson. Understanding work and employment: industrial relations in transition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Bean, Ron. Comparative industrial relations: an introduction to cross-national perspectives. 2nd ed. London: International Thomson, 1999. Collings, David G., and Geoffrey T. Wood. Human resource management: a critical approach. London: Routledge, 2009. â€Å"Employment Relations and the Social Sciences.† Google Books. https://encrypted.google.com/books?id=lTIS5L5JbD0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed November 21, 2013). Mac Donald, David. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND GLOBALIZATION: CHALLENGES FOR EMPLOYERS AND THEIR ORGANIZATIONS . 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