Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, And Judaism - 1644 Words

The following religions Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism are among the top religions when evaluating the number of followers they encompass worldwide (Henderson, 2005, p.1). Through assessing these major belief systems and their views, diversity between them is apparent. These multiplicities range from Hindus who acknowledge multitudes of gods to Muslims who believe in one God, Allah. Although the variety of beliefs and practices exist their remains some central concepts such as the belief that one being will bring about the unification of religions. For example, Buddhists belief they will experience the coming of Maitrya, Hindus believe in coming of the Kalki Avata, the Jews and Christians believe in a Messiah and the Muslims believe in the coming of Mahdi (Woodward, 2000). The Hand of Bodhista Maitreya is an artifact that communicates the concept that these religions, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism, all believe that a unifying religion wi ll one day come to fruition. Artifacts such as, Hand of Bodhista Maitreya, can represent the faith of Buddhism but in addition hold within its art form a universal concept that represents beliefs of other faiths. Some argue that the artifact, Hand of Bodhista Maitreya, is a fragmented from a full body statue that represents Maitreya that is only significant to the Buddhist community; however this representation of Maitreya is relevant to religions and societies all over the world, becauseShow MoreRelatedChristianity, Judaism, Hinduism, And Buddhism966 Words   |  4 PagesReligion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. In today’s society there are many religious lifestyles people stand by. Popular ones consist of Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. When looking at Christianity and Buddhism it is easy to identify some major differences. For instance, both the religions were started and founded by different people and in dissimilar ways. A second one would be what they believe in; number of deities, and whatRead MoreChristianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, And Confucianism1472 Words   |  6 Pagesspectrum of meanings, ranging from â€Å"kind of similar if you look at it in the right fashion†, to â€Å"exactly alike†. In any case, there are many examples, and counterexamples of universal ideas between the â€Å"main† seven religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism, which will be explored in the remainder of this essay. Arguments could be made on how all religions share a similarity. For example, all religions were persecuted by outsiders at some point. PerhapsRead MoreWorld Religion: Christianity the Most Widespread Religion in The World1473 Words   |  6 Pagesaround the world. The six world religions are Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Many of these religions are monotheistic, which is the belief of only one god or one higher power. There are also polytheistic believers, which is the belief in many or more than one god. These six world religions have a lot in common and they also have their differences that make their certain religion or belief special to them. Christianity is the most widespread religion in the worldRead MoreChristianity And Buddhism And Christianity1468 Words   |  6 PagesChristianity and Buddhism exist as two of the predominant religions throughout the world. While Buddhism ranks around fifth in number of followers of religions, it is the third most widespread religion behind Christianity and Islam. Buddhism and Christianity are arrantly distinct in their principle standpoints: Buddhism rejects the existence of a greater being and Christianity proudly professes the power of a universal God. However, despite this rigid dissimilarity, both religions developed and spreadRead MoreHinduism And The Middle East894 Words   |  4 Pagesthat are practiced in the world today. Hinduism developed first, then Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and finally Islam. Hinduism and Buddhism are considered Eastern religions while Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are considered Western. Both Eastern religions began in India, although Buddhi sm later moved out. The Western religions each developed, at different times, in the same general geographical and cultural setting of West Asia: Judaism and Christianity, in and around the area now known as IsraelRead MoreClassification of Religions1509 Words   |  7 Pagesexistence of one and only one GOD. The main three Abrahamic religions are: * Judaism * Christianity * Islam JUDISM Judaism is among the worlds oldest monotheistic religions and the first of the three Abraham religions. Around 12 million people in the world believe in Judaism. They are mostly in the United States and Israel. The Torah, or Hebrew Bible, is the most important holy book of Judaism. The primary custom of Judaism is practicing prayer, preferably communal prayer. Jews attend synagoguesRead More Appreciating other Religions Essay684 Words   |  3 Pagesreligious beliefs and practices. Morals and ethics allow one to make a knowledgeable and responsible decision. One’s religious and spiritual beliefs shapes and molds the mind, body, and spirit of the person. One would think that Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism have nothing in common, but in some ways they are. Generally, there are also differences between the five. Actually they are not so much a religion as a religion-social system. All religions share common goals and two main onesRead MoreFeminine Divine Traits : Buddhism And Christianity1737 Words   |  7 Pages 1. Feminine divine traits – Buddhism/Christianity Whether it is in a polytheistic or a monotheistic religion, the gender of divinity is always a topic given great attention. Although Buddhism doesn’t put much focus on gods in the teaching, it does include certain religious aspects such as praying to the higher beings. The feminine divine traits in Buddhism can be found with a closer examination on the feminine metaphors in the Buddhist scriptures. While Buddhas are predominantly in male formRead MoreBuddhism s Belief Of God1419 Words   |  6 PagesBuddhism hope to its adherents is to have a state of life in the afterlife where each individual can find his own way. They identifies their existence as god-like beings, who do not believe in an omnipotent creator God. Each individual discover and walk their own path. Nonetheless, Buddhism is not divine it just points the way to Nirvana. In the Buddhism religion they do not personally believe in God or a divine being. They do not worship, pray, or praise a divine being. Though t he religion doesRead MoreEssay on Five Great World Religions1014 Words   |  5 PagesChristianity Christianity is a universalizing religion, which means that they actively seek converts and no one is ever excluded from this religion. This made it so the religion was able to reach out to the lower class families. Christianity is split into two groups. There are the Catholics and the Protestants. Both of these groups use the Holy Bible as their scriptures however they interpret the bible differently. Christians believe in Jesus Christ and that he was the Son of God and he was brought

Say No To Drugs! Essay - 419 Words

Say No To Drugs! Few people deny the dangers of drug use, while many teens are curious about drugs. They should stay away from drugs because drugs affect our health, lead to academic failure, and jeopardizes safety. Drugs are used from a long period of time in many countries. The concentration of drugs has increased from late 1960’s and 1970’s. Drugs can quickly takeover our lives. Friends and acquaintance have the greatest influence of using drugs during adolescence. Drugs are chemicals that change the way a persons body or mind works. Drugs are not good for health as they have many side effects and damage our brain, heart and other important organs. Drug is a depressant that slows down the functions of the central nervous system†¦show more content†¦Some of the illegal drugs are marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, LSD, crystal meth and heroin. Drugs are consumed in different ways, by inhaling, taking by mouth, injecting, applying on skin, and smoking. When a person is addicted to a drug, the drug becomes so important that the person cannot manage without it. Drug use distracts attention leading to academic failure and poor social skills. Stress plays a major role in drug use and continuing drug abuse. It also creates problem in our family, school and with our friends. The person’s reflexes will become slower; they will have trouble working and doing things which require any physical any mental coordination. In spite of knowing the harmful effects of drugs, people spend lots of money and consume them to forget their worries and sorrows and to seek happiness. Once a person is addicted, it is very hard to stop taking drugs. Drugs get us involved in many illegal activities such as crime, theft, etc. It leads to sexual assault and accidents. Young people use drugs because of curiosity, peer pressure, boredom, finance problem and for pleasure. The person’s behaviors tend to self-destructive activities and are often harder to think clearly and make good decisions. Drug addiction is a complex but treatable disease. An effective way to get rid of drugs is to have good companions, involvement in games and social activities, reading books, etc. Many governments worldwide have restricted on drugShow MoreRelated The Legalization of Drugs: Just Say No Essay507 Words   |  3 Pages   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The idea of legalizing drugs is as bad as the drugs itself. Some drugs are though to have positive medical use, but thats a though to be untrue considering the contradicting facts. How could drugs that are so addicitve be in any way helpful, specially in a medical manner. Every part of the world that has tried it only brought corruption to their country and made addiction rates even worse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although rumors that some drugs can help treat certain diceases have been stated they are notRead MoreJust Say No Programs And The War On Drugs Laws1375 Words   |  6 PagesRegan s passage of â€Å"just say no programs† and â€Å"the war on drugs laws† and the laws focus on stopping drugs use and sales via harsh sentencing laws, that included three-strikes laws, and mandatory minimum sentencing statute. Reagan and Bushes’ laws and governmental racial projects of racial profiling cast new forms of racial control on blacks reminiscent of the days of slavery as the focal point of Regan’s implementation of the â€Å"war on drug laws† centered in poor urban black neighborhoods strippedRead MoreCase Study – Drug Use. The Social Cognitive Theory Says1039 Words   |  5 PagesCase Study – Drug Use The social cognitive theory says that a person’s behavior is determined by personal cognitive factors, behavioral factors, and socioenvironmental factors. In this drug use case study, Laurens behavior can be applied to the three components of the social cognitive theory. The first component of the social cognitive theory is personal cognitive factors. Personal cognitive factors are the ability to choose and self-regulate a behavior. Under the ability to choose and self-regulateRead MoreAll My Life I Have Heard Just Say No To Drugs. You Hear1520 Words   |  7 Pagesheard just say no to drugs. You hear it from you parents, teachers, McGruff the Dog, and even people you do not know. Of course, they are talking about illegal drugs, and in most cases, they are right. Drugs are dangerous and should be used just for pleasure. That goes the same for prescribed drugs that are not yours. As for the case of marijuana, I don’t agree. I think marijuana is no more dangerous f than drinking or smoking regular cigarettes. I see marijuana as a recreational drug. A drug that isRead MoreThe Legalization Of Recreational Drugs1551 Words   |  7 PagesThe legalization of recreational drugs in the United States is a polarizing issue that affects every American, whether they are a drug user or not. Both sides present arguments that call for changes to federal drug policy. The pro-drug side says that the recreational use of drugs should be allowed and the law should change to legalize it. The anti-drug side says that the use of drugs should continue to be illegal and more should be done to control drug use. All side of this issue have a point theyRead MoreEffects Of Prescription Drugs On The Brain1529 Words   |  7 PagesThere are many types of major drugs in use today and on the top of the list is prescription drugs. According to Drug and Society vicodin is the most misused prescribed narcotic in the United States (Glen R. Hanson, March 5, 2014). They say in 2011 was one of the prescription and most often used by teenagers (Glen R. Hanson, March 5, 2014). Vicodin associated with hydrocodone and acetaminophen it is in a class of drugs called narcotic analgesics a schedule II drug. It is used to relieve pain. It isRead MoreDrugs Should Be Legal And Sold At Price With A Warning Label991 Words   |  4 PagesDrug abuse is something than many people do not understand. The drug abuse in the United States is rising. We all have our own opinions on how to handle it and how the government should handle it. Our government is trying to get the whole drug situation under control in America which can be hard at times and for them can be frustrating at times. The Article â€Å"Drugs† by Gore says that all Americans how the right to experience what they want to as long as it does not disturb the happiness of his orRead MoreCrack and the Box1154 Words   |  5 Pageschange the world: television and drugs. It is clear that both drugs and television made their way to society at the same time, but it doesnt seem that obvious what is that made them escalate together. Some studious people say that it may have to do with the presence of drugs in the media, but it remains a mystery. In Crack and the Box by Pete Hamill, there is an intention to explain the reasons to this phenomenon. Hamill accuses television to be the instigator of drugs. However, his statements fallRead MorePro-Legalization of Drugs Essay examples1355 Words   |  6 Pagesnever-ending war against drugs. Politicians make dramatic speeches advocating tougher drug laws to when there to when seats. But what has this war really accomplished? In fact would legalization benefit society. Yes. Legalization is an option that should be heavily considered. I will illustrate in detail how the economy will be positively impacted building a foundation toward ending the So call war on drugs with a win for America as a whole. One of the issues with the drug war is the effectsRead MoreThe Importance Of Drug Testing In Schools1384 Words   |  6 PagesWhy should we drug test students in schools? Some seem to think drug tests could have a negative effect on students and their relationship with their community amongst their school, while others think drug tests should definitely find their way into the school system. Really, drug tests should be implemented into all school systems. Schools aren’t looking to punish students for going on the wrong track, rather they aspire to lead them back onto the correct way. The age of students in high schools

Professional Skills Communications in Information Literacy

Question: Discuss about theProfessional Skillsfor Communications in Information Literacy. Answer: Part A I have used the interpersonal skills while getting guidance from the senior players in the game of football. Moreover, I have used my listening and verbal communication skills to get some of the points of the named clarified. In order to read an academic document, the reading skills should be effective and I read a complete sentence in two half to get the actual meaning and this helps in enhancing my knowledge and skills. While working in the diverse culture there was a conflict between two of my friends and then using my effective communication skills I resolved the entire matter. Moreover, I first understand the matter nicely then communicated the same to each of them and made them understand by telling that cooperation will help to complete the desired task effectively (Baro Eze, 2015). The two examples are in working with m y teammates and on the playground. These are the two places where the effective use of ethical behavior helps in bringing out the desired success for the entire task concerned. The ethics, privacy and the legal aspects should be followed in these two of the situations as to increases the efficiency of the tasks concerned. The staff coming from different culture brings out their respective cultural ideas and thoughts from where many things can be learned easily. The diversity helps in understanding the different types of creativity from different people and this enhances our knowledge and skills (Ashraf et al., 2017). ICT technologies provided accurate knowledge on increasing the effectiveness and performances of the organizational processes. They reflect the detailed and the proper guidelines to execute the entire work processes. There are the main types of communication software technologies; they are communication, conferencing and coordination. The communicational and collaborative technologies can be used in the workplace as it improves the effectiveness of the entire workplace concerned. Part B This unit helps in evaluating two of the most important things, one the effective use of the professional communicational techniques and the use of collaborative and cooperative technologies. The training is important for the concerned staff or the students regarding the execution of the different technologies as it helps in enhancing the effective of the work concerned. Next is the working on the feedbacks of the senior person or the trainers as to increase the satisfaction level of the work concerned. References Ashraf, M. M., Hasan, N., Lewis, L., Hasan, M. R., Ray, P. (2017). A Systematic Literature Review of the Application of Information Communication Technology for Visually Impaired People.International Journal of Disability Management,11. Baro, E. E., Eze, M. E. (2015). Colleges Of Education Librarians In Nigeria: An investigation into the self-perception of ICT-related information literacy skills.Communications in Information Literacy,9(2), 198.

Human Resource Management in Australia Goals

Question: Discuss about the Human Resource Management in Australia for Goals. Answer: Introduction Coming up with different networking systems is a virtual key against acquiring goals which reflect a companys future plans. With facing the challenge of competition as a business etiquette, affirmative results planned by different business organizations in Australia from their environment of operations are those that are quick to embrace operation strategies that are effective at all times. Using truck transportation company in Australia, as a business idea it may face some challenges whereby; due to the current different business geographical location, situations might force a number of companies to produce similar analogous goods and services. Background Information Using of trucks has been appreciated as one of the greatest means of transportation available. With its diversification of offering variety of services, it one of the largely improving business strategy planned in Australia. Transportation company in mention, one of the prior plan upon introduction of truck vehicles, is to come up with a more organized and firm human resource group despite the many areas of market specification. The main manager, who will have the title field representative, will have top access to a system made to evaluate workers contribution to the organization. Because of its great impact in the business company, all the needed areas involved by the human resource department, will be used to rely on this system in order to avoid the misinterpretation of major keys that are used to propel the organization to be more successful (Norman, 2010). Welfare of the workers will be reflected in the system as the company will be frequently checking and focusing to uplift th e workers incentives. Strategic Plans Deployed by the means of Transportation The role of the Transport Workers Union is to ensure a favorable pay, safety standards and condition for its members(Transport Workers Union of Australia, 2010) . The TWU has a collective power of changing the lives and where they come from. The TWU also organizes workplaces and create safety in the industries, with workers who are treated with dignity and respect and improve member pay and conditions. Therefore the Transport Workers Unions is most likely to engage itself in the changes at the workplace. This is revealed from their website where they talk about how they organize workplaces and create safety in the industries from where there members work from. Getting to know the truth about the Trade Workers Union is getting back to Australian constitution which allows them to administer a number of regulations and laws that govern Australian Workplaces The plan is to come up with an improved evaluation technology, that will improve the efficiency of all workers within the organization. It is essential for one to note that the working incentive of workers can be facilitated by the level of success that is attained by the company in question. Therefore, high probability of success exists if all employees are put on their expected requirements to deliver the expected results. Additionally, the evaluation technique will assist in the recruitment process whereby; the company will be able to employ legit workers to tackle different tasks. This plan will involve the use of improved strategies that uplift the interests of all workers despite their positions at work. For instance, it will ensure that all workers are paid on due time whereby; there monthly wages reflect their contribution to the organization. This will attract more qualified employees to the agency who will be ready to work effectively basing on the advantages that might be directed towards them. The importance of good financial management cannot be ignored at any given time. Any business management can rise and develop if the individuals involved are ready to direct efforts towards proven commercial measures as their priors. According to (Tirole, 2012), in order for one to be considered as a good manager, he or she should be able to analyze situations and make good financial decisions that do not sabotage major operations in an organization. Consequently, the contribution made in the proposed plan implemented, stabilization of the transport company can be quoted as the main attractive factor. With cases reported on employees trying to get to acquire more payments by forging essentials documents, through this plan such incidents will be curbed from occurring making it a factor that is worth to be considered by business organizations. Moreover, the employers will not be able to harass its employees by using ways such as deducting of their salaries as it will be detected in the system clearly. Evolution of technology in implementation of business plan, will ensure that all workers are catered for in relation to the rights defending them, by either through offering training programs that are essential to improve their abilities. In addition, the human resource department will ensure that policies on compensation are reviewed to prevail the relationship between the workers and the employers of the transportation company. Functions of Human Resource Management in Relation to Employee, Employer Relationship. Recruitment: Recruitment; is defined as the process of attracting selecting and employing an individual or a large number of people based on specific qualifications. It is the one of the functions of Human Resource Management to hire people who are deemed fit for a certain job in an organization (Lock, 2007). They play a role in the advertising of job opportunities by using all the available opportunities such as friends and relatives, social media and fliers. They play a role in the process of sourcing candidates. This involves the deep analysis of all the qualifications of all candidates before finally settling for the best. In recruitment, the human resource management screens the applicants of the job, conduct interviews and finally coordinate with the respective authorities responsible for making the final decision of employees (McCrea, 2007). Safety: All employers have the responsibility of the provision of the safest of all working environments to their employers. The management has a role of ensuring that the safety of all employees within the organization is guaranteed. This is achieved through instilling and implementing policies in order for the most ideal measures to be taken. Employee Relations: Among the numerous functions of the Human Resource Management. Here, it has the duty of strengthening the relationship between the employers and employees. Employee relations can be achieved through simple processes such as the measuring of satisfaction of job of each and every employee in an organization. It also entails involving employees in all the activities of the organization such as decision making processes Training and development: One of their major roles of the human resource management is the ability to ensure that its employees post the best of all results. This can be achieved through ensuring that it avails all the equipment and necessities that come in handy in the goal of achieving the highest level of success. Compliance: Management organization has a role of ensuring that all the employees have fully complied with all the labour and employment laws. Through this, they enlighten the employees on the dangers and challenges that are associated with the failure to comply with the rules of labour and employment. Unsafe working conditions could mean poor productivity of the organization which in turn leads to the organization running at a loss (Brigham, 2013). The Role of Human Resource Management in Strategic Planning of an Organization It is essential to take note of the fact that one too any times human resource management is rarely involved in the decision making of crucial strategic decisions. Just like any other department within the organization, this department also has a role to play in the process of strategic planning. Below are its roles Selecting and Staffing: When an organization comes up with goals that have to be achieved through the coordination of all departments, it is important to ensure that it places the right people on the right posts. Human resource management plays the role of ensuring that the organization hires only the best of all employees. Organizational Development: Strategic planning usually involves the change of work places, systems and processes. Various large number of individuals are promoted while others are assigned to a different occupation and their former posts reassigned. This management plays an important role in ensuring that workers are well informed with all the decisions that all the has been made regarding the same. Training and Development: considering the fact that the employees offer quality services, it does not guarantee that the same services will be provided as years go by. It is therefore the role of Human resource to guide the organization on the best techniques that can be employed to train employees to produce quality results now and forever. Conclusion In summary, the aim of this research is to introduce a business plan that is expected to fetch affirmative results through its implementation due to the direct involvement of all staff members within the truck transportation company. As mentioned above, Success can only be attained if the interests of the workers are uplifted. However, with a company facing financial crisis, this may not be the case. The involvement of human resource management is efficient in the guiding of the transportation company towards its goals. Different conclusions have been met based on the research that was done regarding the questions asked in the case study. Question one, the performance of the employees was ensured when the other bad employee left, the new yard manager had a good employee relation, he was able to introduce technology into the warehouse and there was effective communication between him and the employees When one does not have specific plans and directions which might lead the company to lose focus, there would be no effective communication in the company, employees might not have the opportunity to get training, employee would find it hard trying to adapt to a new style of managerial system, the likelihood that the new manger would have poor advisors, the relationship with customers might loosen hence resulting to lose of contracts. Transport Workers Unions is most likely to engage itself in the changes at the workplace. This is revealed from there website where they talk about how they organize workplaces and create safety in the industries from where there members work from. Getting to know the truth about the Trade Workers Union is getting back to Australian constitution which allows them to administer a number of regulations and laws that govern Australian Workplaces References Ahmad, N. H., Seet, P.-S. (2009). Disecting Behaviours Associated with Business Failure: A Qualitative Study of SME Owners in Malaysia and Australia. Asian Social Science, 7. Berisha-Shaqiri, A. (2015). Impact of Information Technology and Internet in Businesses. Academic Journal of Business, Administration, Law and Social Sciences, 79. Brigham, E.F., (2013). Financial Management Theory and Practice. Andover: Cengage Learning. Coyle-Shapiro, J., Hoque, K., Kessler, I., Pepper, A., Richardson, R., Walker, L. (2013). Human Resource Management. London: University of London. James, S (2014) Human Resource. New York: New York Publishers. Lock, D., (2007). Project Management 9th edition. New York: New York Publishers. Khan, F., Khan, M. E. (2012). Achieving Success through Effective Business Communication. Information and Knowledge Management, 6. McCrea, B. (2007). Developing an Effective Business Plan. London: DigitalPulp Publishing. Norman, G. (2010). Market Structure and Competition Policy: Game-Theoretic Approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tirole, J. (2012). Overcoming adverse selection: How public intervention can restore market functioning. The American Economic Review. Transport Workers Union of Australia. (2010, 12 12). About The Transport Workers Union of Australia . Retrieved from Transport Workers Union: https://www.twu.com.au/about/ Transport Workers Union of Australia. (2010, 12 12). About The Transport Workers Union of Australia . Retrieved from Transport Workers Union: https://www.twu.com.au/about/

Successful Points Of The Ancient Chinese Civilization Essays

Successful Points Of The Ancient Chinese Civilization SUCCESSFUL POINTS OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE CIVILIZATION The Ancient Chinese civilization went through a series of successful social affairs as well as a series of social disarray. Each Dynasty resulted in slightly different reforms, but it seems as though the overall Chinese population held the same general beliefs on such things as family, education and the civilization as a whole. I believe that these morals are what really held the Chinese civilization together in times of conflict and political division. FAMILY A Chinese family was traditionally very large. It was what would be called an extensive family today. The grandparents, parents, and children of one family all lived together. It was considered a sign of good luck and happiness, if five generations lived together at one time. In Ancient China, the family was a strict hierarchy: father sons (oldest to youngest) mother daughters (oldest to youngest) Being the ruler in his home, the father assigned his childrens careers, determined their education, arranged their marriages, gave rewards or punishments, and controlled the family finances. Every family member gave their earnings to the father, who then decided how to redistribute the money. EDUCATION The Chinese have always respected and stressed learning. All parents tried to give their sons, rather than daughters, the best education possible. In poor families, boys were usually trained from early childhood to do the same jobs as their fathers. At times, however, extremely intelligent boys were able to attend school if a rich relative or group of neighbors agreed to help pay the fees. Boys from wealthy families could either attend school or choose to learn from a private tutor in their own homes. Girls from wealthy families might also learn at home from a tutor. Otherwise, she would learn domestic tasks from her mother, such as sewing and embroidery. The main goal of schools was to train boys to be able to become a government official. However, it was not easy to enter the government due to the difficult exams that must be passed. As a result, boys started to prepare early, and began their education at the age of eight or nine. All students had to learn and memorize the important texts that Confucious used in his teachings. DYNASTIES Although there were several different Dynasties during the Ancient Chinese era, they each flourished with the different achievements of the Chinese culture. The Han Dynasty During this period, records were kept, enabling us to learn more about this exciting time. Han strengths included mathematics, geography, and astronomy which led to technological advancements. These advancements led to inventions such as the magnetic compass and the sternpost rudder. Iron came into use, aiding the improvement of agricultural practices, which in turn helped produce sufficient amounts of food to supply the growing urban population. The Tang Dynasty The Tang emperors focused on giving back to the peasants. They adopted the equal field system which entitled the state to fertile land only after the death of the peasant owner. The state then turned and reassigned the land to another worthy adult peasant for their needs and resources. Also during this period, Chinese culture began to influence Japan due to successful foreign affairs. The Song Dynasty The Song rulers aggressively promoted the use of the previous dynasties innovations. The use of printing was encouraged. The revolution of irrigation was made by the water pump and the spiral worm-drive for liquids. This made mining less difficult and of course aided in the general field of agriculture. As stated before, it seems as though the general Chinese civilization had firm beliefs and morals within the family and from those beliefs the population simply lived their lives. Although they did go through several different dynasties and social/ political reforms, the basis of family and education remained constant, forming a firm faith of the two elements. History Essays

Analysis of the Russian Telecommunication Industry at the Case of Mts Essays

Analysis of the Russian Telecommunication Industry at the Case of Mts Essays Analysis of the Russian Telecommunication Industry at the Case of Mts Essay Analysis of the Russian Telecommunication Industry at the Case of Mts Essay Course: Contemporary Strategic Analysis (fall 2011) Analysis of the Russian telecommunication industry the case of MTS 1. - Speculate on the distinctive features of the telecom industry and define their effect on the company strategy. Historical background To start with, the telecommunication industry for a long time seen as a provider of public goods, next to post service and railway, also involves heavy investments at a steady but relatively small cashflow income. Hence, it was seen that economics of scale are need to lead such a business successfully. Historically this industry was highly regulated in form of monopolistic companies owned by the government. According to Fransmann (2011) in the days of the Old Telecoms Industry the conventional wisdom was that telecoms was an example of ‘natural monopoly’, that is due to increasing returns to scale telecoms services could only be provided efficiently by a monopoly provider. Accordingly, in most industrialized countries was dominated by a monopoly network operator. The situation could be described as closed innovation system, very high entry barriers (in fact impossible to enter), very few innovators, fragmented knowledge base, medium-powered incentives, Slow, sequential, innovation process. Because of missing competition the price-quality relationship of telecom services in most countries was a disaster and companies still didn’t manage to operate profitably. This was the case in almost all countries before the 1980 and 90’s when liberalization made it possible for private â€Å"high-tech† players to enter the market when in the mid-1980s, for different political-economic reasons, Japan, the UK and US decided to end the monopolies of their monopoly network operators. The result was the birth of the original new entrants. The new era From the late-1990s, it was clear that a qualitative change had occurred in the Telecoms Industry in the early-1990s, signifying the birth of the New Telecoms Industry. The most evident sign of qualitative change was the rise of the new new entrants who quickly eclipsed the original new entrants and became the biggest threat to state enterprises. For the new entrants fast growth was needed in order to have economics of scale and cost-efficiency to pay back loans for investments and satisfy shareholders (Fransmann, 2011). With such low technological barriers to entry, the result has been a highly competitive market for network services. However, the contribution of specialist technology suppliers was not confined to the supply of technology. A significant bottleneck is the factor of human resources provided through the operations of the labor market to both the original new entrants and new ones. Moreover, financial markets have a big influence as they, firstly, facilitate the entry and initial growth of new entrants, in particular the new entrants and, secondly, facilitate the ‘re-shuffling of the capital stock’ that has taken place as both network operators and specialist technology suppliers with highly valued shares have used their valuable ‘paper’ (shares) to acquire the complementary knowledge and tangible assets of other companies. By so doing, financial markets have facilitated the process of consolidation in the Telecoms Industry The telecommunications industry nowadays provides a number of services such as data, voice services, graphics, television, and video at increasing speeds and through diverse channels. While landline telephonic communication is still the core service mode, wireless communication, internet, cable and satellite program distribution are increasing their share in overall industry earnings. The industry is experiencing rapid deregulation and technology disruption in service offerings. In many markets across the globe, governments are revoking monopolistic policies, and older players face a new breed of competitors. According to Gupter (2008) The market of this industry includes residential customers, small businesses, and big corporate customers. In the residential customers market, competitors rely heavily on price to increase their customer base. Success depends on branding, reputation, and investment in agile order management and billing solutions. The corporate market has different characteristics as compared to residential customers. Big corporate customers are ready to pay premium for the quality and reliability of their voice services and data delivery. They are less price-sensitive when special services like virtual private network, data security, and videoconferencing come into picture. Telecom operators also provide network connectivity services to other companies that need it. The players with far-reaching networks lend circuits to heavy network users like large corporations and internet services providers (Gupter, 2008). Porter’s five forces analysis In order to analyze the industry we can take Porter’s model and look at the five forces which dominate circumstances. Firstly, looking at the rivalry within the market, we can say that from the former monopolistic industry, as described before, the situation went to fierce competition with high price pressure in most markets. Moreover, technologies are changing very fast and, hence, operators need to constantly adapt and to investment into RD. In addition, there are quite high exit barriers as companies have a lot of technical investments which usually cannot be devested without considerable losses. To sum it up, we can say that this industry compresses a highly competitive and difficult environment. When looking at possible substitutes, we can find that the internet makes a huge competition for classical telecom providers. Especially free-internet call services like Skype offer a very good alternative. Anyway, right now there is no real 100% substitute possibility for mobile phone services which could offer the same satisfaction of needs at reasonable cost. Hence, we can conclude that there is only little till medium competition for telecom providers at the very moment. Speaking of suppliers’ power we can conclude that main actors are technology companies selling equipment plus governmental agencies giving licensees which is done usually only once this is not a constant pressure on telecom enterprises. Moreover, we can state that there is a vast number of technology suppliers which decreases their power. On the other hand, the power of buyers strongly increased during the last years as their choice of providers, fighting each other, grew a lot. In some segments or markets customer power can be lower because of less competition (e. g. France, Germany) whereas in other markets it is huge (e. g. Austria, Estonia). To conclude, we can say that the overall situation in the industry is challenging for telecom providers but, nevertheless, many people keep saying that competition is good for business. One approach to deal with these tricky circumstances within the industry is an extensive expansion strategy, which is discussed consequently by the case of MTS. 2. - Summarize the advantages and disadvantages of the company strategy in Russia and in CIS; think of possible ways of improving it. MTS nowadays is the number telecommunication player in the CIS. During 1993-2001, MTS was developing on the domestic market, increasing its coverage area by regional expansion within Russia. In 2002-2004 the company started its internationalization by expanding to neighboring CIS countries and has used a very aggressive strategy driven by mergers and acquisitions. Starting from its home market, Russia, the operator firstly entered Belarus and, consequently, Ukraine by acquiring and development a big local player. Entering new markets According to Lisitsyn (2008), for any company in the mobile communication sector, entering new markets to extend its network largely through the usage of existing infrastructure in the country of destination. From that point of view, the higher the level of its technological development the more attractive is the target market. This factor also strongly favors acquisitions of existing companies, which operate on the local mobile communications market and have their own infrastructure and subscriber base. In addition to that, a regulatory factor is rather important for mobile communications sector as the state quite often tries to protect it from foreign operators. In general, a combination of technological and regulatory considerations largely predetermines foreign market entry mode for the companies in the sector. Entry modes for MTS were predetermined by technological and regulatory considerations. As for target markets, they largely resulted from historical and cultural traditions, common infrastructure network, similar business practices, and development of re-integration process within the framework of the CIS. As the company started its internationalization already in 2002 by entering several markets in the region, it could gradually increase its experience and build up competence and use its knowledge and existing positions as â€Å"the platform† for future expansion to other CIS countries. Due to various types of similarities between Russia and its neighbors MTS may better understand market environment in the region in comparison with Western counterparts, and therefore use this understanding as its competitive advantage. At the same time, the main threats would most probably come not from national telecom service suppliers, but from large Western telecoms with huge financial recourses. Regarding regulatory issues, it is necessary to mention that without the political will of the national authorities MTS could not get access to their privatization processes. In addition to that, due to the high level of monopolization in most of the countries under review, in order to be successful MTS should establish a good relationship with local anti-monopoly agencies. MTS positions itself as an international company and the leading mobile service provider in Russia and the CIS countries. Hence, in three cases (out of four) it entered foreign countries by purchasing the most successful national mobile companies with prominent market shares. Only in Belarus it partly made greenfield investments and then the company did its best to gain the leading position in the local telecom sector. Drawbacks of the acquisition strategy In order to discuss the disadvantages of MTS’ growth strategy we firstly need to sum up its pluses. As discussed before the advantages of external growth, in our case acquisition of already existing telecom firm in new markets, the growth is not limited by internal resources. This means that the company does not need to invest in building up new infrastructure, getting state licenses and creating a first customer base. Moreover, there is not such an extensive pressure on the working capital for such initial investments– instead the firm just acquires another full-functional company which can be seen in the balance sheets and increases the enterprise value. Another point it, that it may reduce the number of competitors on the market. The acquisition can include the managerial skills, customers, goodwill, patents, and other intangible assets of the acquired business. Also, there may be tax and accounting elements which could be available. Added economies of scale may result from the elimination of duplication in facilities, management personnel, purchasing practices, and improved utilization of fixed assets. Nevertheless, the strategy of growth through acquisition has also its drawbacks. This includes that the company also acquire assets specific to the business, meaning that MTS had to acquire the whole target in one piece even if some business units or assets were completely useless and difficult to resell again. Another point is that there might be creditors or minority shareholders of an acquired business. In the case of MTS there are other shareholder in Georgia, Kirgizstan and Armenia, holding each between 25 and 49 percent of the local company’s stock. Such shareholders not only absorb profits but also can bring in their personal interests which might conflict with the group’s expansion strategy. Moreover, in the course of such an MA expansion strategy the company must go through costly negotiations and the problems of corporate valuation. This risk especially applies to MTS’ situation as it is assumed that the operator paid too much for some of its assets acquired. Prices of stakes are usually not evaluated on an asset-based approach but on the basis of discounted future cashflows. Since this take a look in the future and estimate such cashflows is an impossible task, such evaluations are based on assumptions and personal expectations. Recent outlooks – new product markets entry As MTS managed to capture a huge market within the CIS region, they now focus on extending their business field in those markets. By doing so, they again use the MA strategy by building partnerships and closing mergers with expert companies in order to avoid unnecessary investments in RD and infrastructure which can increase entry barriers which may discourage new competition. According to Andrey Dubovskov, the new MTS Groups’ President and CEO (since 2011), the company the merger with Comstar, the leading fixed broadband and cable television provider in Russia, allowed the company to enter the promising fixed line market. Given the low levels of Internet penetration and positive socio-economic factors, as well as the strong brand and large subscriber base of MTS, they believe in a good chance of capturing significant growth in this market. Following the completion of the merger and the integration of Comstar’s operations, wants to offer their customers a wide range of convergent products with quality customer care. On the operational level, the merger will allow MTS to realize hundreds of millions USD in synergies as they cut on SGA and infrastructure-related expenses. As Andrey Dubovskov says, further mergers are planned to expand in other business of such kind. Conclusions According to Lisitsyn (2008), the growth could be explained by two main reasons: An urgent need for modern communication tools on the one hand, and aggressive marketing campaigns of mobile service providers on the other hand. Of course this kind of aggressive expansion strategy could only be achieved by huge capital investments. This capability is bound to a strong and big home-market (Russian Federation) as well as a big and financially solid owner (Sistema). As those factors are fulfilled MTS’ business expansion and growth strategy is absolutely successful. There were some drawbacks mentioned before among which the problem of corporate evaluation plays an essential role. It can be assumed that MTS paid too high prices for some of its acquisition as expectations at the time of transaction were too optimistic. Anyway, capturing a top market position in markets with high potential growth, at least in the long-term perspective (even Ukraine will recover and become a solid economy one day) will pay off. An alternative and more conservative way of growing would have been to use its own experience in terms of technology and marketing by going for the slower â€Å"green-field† approach and fighting local players directly. This sounds good in theory, but as mentioned before the market conditions in CIS are affected by protectionism, entry-barriers and corruption. Hence, to acquire an already existing successful player avoids a lot of troubles. References Gupta, Aman; BPTrends: ‘Pursuit of the Perfect Order: Telecommunications Industry Perspectives’, November 2008 * Fransman, Martin; Telecoms Policy Magazine: Mapping The Evolving Telecoms Industry: The Uses And Shortcomings of The Layer Model, 2011 * Business Monitor International; Canada Telecommunications Report: Regulatory Environment Industry Developments, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), 2010 * Dubovskov, Andrey; Financial times: Company interview: MTS Group (MBT); 2011 * Lisi tsyn et. l, Journal of East-West Business: ‘Russian Telecommunication Company MTS Goes to the CIS’, 2008 * Huyghebaert, Nancy; Universiteit Leuven Academic papers: Determinants of Growth through Mergers and Acquisitions An Empirical Analysis, 2008

Social Construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Social Construction - Essay Example These concepts were connected to Greek and Roman mythology. Greek mythology believed in the fact that geographical aspects played a big role in the different people’s physical appearance (Bond 96). They also believed that mankind’s dispositions and forms corresponded to country of origin’s nature. Thus, people from temperate climates were sluggish and unsuitable for labour while those from extreme climates were vigilant, industrious, and sharp. Roman mythology, on the other hand, stereotyped ethnic groups according to characteristics. An example was the intelligence and craftiness of the Egyptians and the effeminist and unwarlike nature of the Syrians. They used this to prove the existence of a God, since not all this could be spontaneous. Unlike the English colonies, Spanish America always was a society that was racially mixed. The early conquerors were men, as were the settlers and the Spanish priests. Apart from possibly the priests, the men were in need of female companionship, and this led to intermarriage becoming a Spanish American life staple (Burr 67). Among Spanish officials of high standing, families and wives were common, but not for the rest of the population of colonialists. This led to a rise of mestizos, or population of mixed race. These mestizos soon became the largest numerical proportion of America’s population. While some of the intermingling and intermarriage was forced, some was voluntary. As the population grew a caste, system was institutionalized classifying people according to the proportion of Indian blood that they had. For centuries, the Spanish had followed laws called the purity of blood, via which public office aspirants, as well as those brought in front of an inquisition, were asked to prove their Christian ancestry as far as 10 generations back (Burr 67). The mestizos were stopped from assuming most offices, as well