Friday, November 29, 2019

Village life free essay sample

Culturally,  Pakistan’s rural folk enjoy a seemingly happy and contented life.  Not that they tend to be passive and lack initiative. On the other hand our rural folk are more energetic and struggle minded than their city dwelling counterparts.  ·A  Way of  Life†¦But  More Natural  · by Hira N. Hashmey  · Pakistan  is the cradle of Indus Valley Civilization,  civilisation that is spread over more than 4000 years of history.Archaeological excavations here have revealed evidence of the  meticulously planned  cities of Harappa and Mohenjodaro that lived and died along the banks of the mighty Indus and its tributaries. The ancient Hindu epics narrate life between the 7th and 5th century BC which carry rich descriptions of the land and people of Indus at that time. These relics throw light on the culture and changing architectural styles of Punjab since the Harappan age. At Taxila near Islamabad, sites associated with great Gandhara Civilization  yielded remarkable relics that  showcase the  magnificient age  of Buddhism in the region. We will write a custom essay sample on Village life or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But along  with its magnificent past, the rural life in present day Pakistan is as rich even today as it used to be before.  The lush green crops which ripen in summer to yield golden harvests, fruit laden orchards which bear delicious fruits similar to those of the paradise and above all a mouth watering food that makes many a chefs to envy. The luscious fruits are so dominant in Punjab’s rural culture that a special variety of mangoes is called Samr-e-Bahisht, literally meaning the fruit of the paradise. The Punjabi  folk in Pakistani rural scene are extrovert; sociable guys who like to eat well and dress well.  Even in a tight spot, a Punjabi youth would like to twirl his moustache and say â€Å"Khair ae† (am quite well†) to those who ask how he’s getting on. He learns quickly and assimilates new cultures without difficulty; family honour is sacrosanct to Punjabi’s, but in other matters they tend to be liberal. It is a matter of pride to be â€Å"up to date†. Their enterprise and capacity to work hard are legendary and it’s a deep ambition of Punjabi guys to â€Å"be one’s own boss†: many an à ©migrà © Punjabi have started life in a strange land driving a cab or working in a cafà © and gone on to buy out the owner within a couple of years.A few generations  ago, turban   was   the â€Å"crowning glory† of all   Punjabis, but   it has now   gradually disappeared from   the   scene. It was once a symbol of   Punjab’s honour and status. At   the same   time it offered a   protection against the   simmering   heat in the Punjab plains.   The   kurta, a long straight-cut, loose   shirt teamed with pyjamas, the   loose   baggy shalwar, or a kind of   sarong   called a dhoti or tehmad   makes up the   traditional dress   for men. Winter sees   the rustic   Punjabi in colorful sweaters   that wives and mothers are so skilled in making. A shawl in winter and a chador in summer finish this ensemble. When the urban, educated Punjabi steps out to work he will be in shirt and pant or a suit-sartorially indistinguishable from his counterparts in Tokyo or Toronto. Back home in the evening, he is likely to be found in more tradi tional dress. The traditional  Punjabi shoes,  called juttis or khussas retain their popularity with rural folk; they are both elegant and comfortable. Bahawalpur, Sargodha and Hazro in Attock district are famous for khussas.   The women in Punjabi villages dress in shalwar topped by a kameez (a garment that can be fitted like a dress loose like the kurta) and accented by a rectangular scarf about 2.5 metres long called the duppatta . She’s fond of her sweaters, but  passionately proud of her collection of woolen shawls. Gold is the weakness of Punjabi women – brides are loaded with it. The jewelers of Punjab, stock an enormous range of designs in bangles, necklaces, rings and earrings, nose-pins, ornaments to pin in the hair, anklets and toe-rings. Culturally,  Pakistan’s rural folk enjoy a seemingly happy and contented life.  Not that they tend to be passive and lack initiative. On the other hand our rural folk are more energetic and struggle minded than their city dwelling counterparts. Life  in a typical Punjabi village in Pakistan, starts early in the morning. The senior village dwellers along with not so insignificant number of village youth turn to the village mosque for offering their early morning Fajr prayers. After prayer, a delicious rich breakfast awaits the village men. The breakfast itself comprises of either fresh milk (cow or buffalo’s) or a hot brew of tea with a good amount of milk and sugar. After breakfast,  the men folk move to the fields where they start performing different chores of cultivation like plowing, sowing, and harvesting depending upon the season. Most  villages in Pakistan are situated away from the noise of the city life.  They are peaceful and silent places. A typical Pakistani village consists of unpaved paths and streets. Its houses are made of mud. However, with lot of young members from rural families which moved to the gulf as part of the â€Å"Dubai Chalo† syndrome, have benefitted from the petro dollars. So the villagers now build their houses from bricks and concrete though most of the village people have simple habits and limited needs.There are  green trees, vast meadows, and flowery bushes in every village. The blossoming flowers, fragrant air, the rising and setting sun all leave a healthy influence on the health of villagers. In the summer they rest under shady trees, and take bath in cool water. Women also help their men in their work along with their household. They also take care of their domestic animals such as cows, goats, hens etc. As many small villages are still void of the facilities like safe drinking water and electricity; even hospitals and schools are at long distances, life in the village requires more struggle than the relatively modern lifestyles in the cities. Village life in  Pakistan  depicts a true picture of our culture. Villagers are very traditional people who are hard workers. They wake up early in the morning with the Fajar prayers and start working in the fields. They work all day long in the field under the sun without caring about the harsh weather. This is the only way for them to earn their livelihood. They live  in a  serene and clean environment surrounded by green orchids and lush crop fields.  There are beautiful flowing streams and ponds. People live in a very well knit community; they help and solve each other’s problems. The elders have great respect and in the evening they gather together in village â€Å"chopal† (a community meeting held every day) and discuss their village problems, which mainly surround the water distribution from a mohga (water outlet from a main stream), good or bad crop during the season and some petty matters of biradris. The discussions in a chopal though full of opposite views and dissensions too, yet at the end there is a more amicable end as in every matter the izzat of the village is and should remain supreme in every village dweller’s eyes. Then there will be discussion about lack of basic amenities, they don’t have proper drinking water, no schools and co lleges and somewhere even no sewerage system at all. Some villages really need attention so that they can move on the road to progress.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Still I Rise Essay Example

Still I Rise Essay Example Still I Rise Essay Still I Rise Essay Essay Topic: Maya Angelou Poems Dawson 1 China Dawson Dr. Geraldine Seay ENC 1102 16 October 2012 Still I Rise In the poem â€Å"Still I Rise† by Maya Angelou, Angelou uses strong words to describe how she feels. She uses words like sassiness, haughtiness, and sexiness, to describe herself. She asks her enemy does her sassiness, haughtiness, and sexiness upset or offends them. Angelou is speaking to her audience of oppressors about how she had overcome racism, criticism, sexism, and personal obstacles in her life with pride and grace. Angelou uses literary elements such as personification, simile, and imagery to covey the theme. Angelou uses the literary element personification to help the reader realize how you can rise above all negative words people can say to you. In the sixth stanza in Maya Angelou’s â€Å"Still I Rise† she says â€Å"You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise†. These are all perfect examples of personification used at its best. You can imagine being shot, cut, killed by someone’s brutal words, stares, and hate. This scenario that Angelou presents is very powerful because it shows how she was able to stand up against mental abuse. Another literary element that Angelou uses in the poem is simile. The usage of a simile in the poem, â€Å"Still I Rise† helps you create an image in your mind. As she states in the first stanza (line 3-4) â€Å"You may trod me in the dirt, but still, like dust, I’ll rise. She’s saying to all her enemies that no matter what they say or do, she will rise above and remain strong. She wants Dawson 1 them to know she will stay true to herself and will change for no one. This would be a perfect example of a simile that Angelou uses in the poem because it is a mentality that everybody should posses. No matter how hard someone tries to bring you down, you still have to keep your head held high. Imagery is also another literary element present in Maya Angelou’s poem. She uses imagery to articulate what she knows the critics are thinking and saying amongst themselves. An example would be in the seventh stanza as she states â€Å"Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise that I dance like Ive got diamonds, at the meeting of my thighs? † She is saying she is not secretive about it and she will do as she pleases regardless of what anyone says about her. Even though that may not be true she says it to prove to the audience that she is happy. I thought how would one dance as if they have diamonds at the meeting of their thighs? I had to imagine her actually having expensive diamonds between her legs, I suppose she would want everyone to see them, so she would dance in a sexy and provocative way so that her diamonds can be seen. Personification, simile, and imagery are the three literary elements Maya Angelou uses in â€Å"Still I Rise† because of how they work together to not only create the totality of what Angelou is trying to express. The overall theme of this poem is her past and how she still got back up when people put her down about her color. I actually like this poem because it emphasizes the importance of strength with one’s self. Maya Angelou wrote many of the greatest poems about resilience, change, self-respect, society, and life. She lets you know how things are in the world. Telling to be free in who you are; fight for what you are. Through her amazing use of literary devices, she has created some of the best symbolic poems there is. Dawson 1

Friday, November 22, 2019

Similarities in the General Human Resource Practices Article

Similarities in the General Human Resource Practices - Article Example The technique actually examines the relationship between a single dependent variable and more than one independent variable. It is the most common type of method used. It shows a linear relationship holding the lowest sum of the squared variances. The assumptions such as normality, equal variance and linearity and finely and clearly examined by the researcher. A coefficient knows as beta are taken which is the marginal impacts of each variable. This technique is usually used by the firm for its forecasting. This technique is actually the variation of multiple regressions and allows the firms to predict different events. The technique used non-metric dependent variables and the actual objective of the technique is to achieve a probabilistic assessment of binary choice. The independent variable used by the researchers is either continuous or discrete. Later, a contingency table is formed holding the classification of observations and the observations and predicted results are matched. Then the researcher sum the events that are predicted to occur and they actually occur and sum the events that the researcher predicted not to occur and they actually do not occur. These two sums are added and divided by the total number of events. This shows the effectiveness of the model and helps to predict the choices. Â  

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 65

No topic - Essay Example Again Susan urgently needs to acquire the property to expand the university. The best alternative (BATNA) that he has is to sell it to the property to the private developer. His reserved price (RP) is approximately $19.7 million. This figure is arrived at by considering the cost of rebuilding property with same features, in the same location. Susan is mainly interested in acquiring a property to expand the university. As such, the property that Fr. John is selling is appropriate for the expansion due to its vicinity. Her main source of power is that she is aware that Fr. John is selling the property and that the school is suffering financial predicaments. Her best alternative would be to build her own premises should Fr. John sell the premises at the price equal to putting a new structure. Her recommended price is below $19.7 million as the amount would be enough to put up a new structure with similar features. Her target would basically to acquire the property at a lower price than that of putting a new

Monday, November 18, 2019

Live8 and Democratic Republic of Congo - What changed Essay

Live8 and Democratic Republic of Congo - What changed - Essay Example In the cold-war era, Africa became the battleground for super-power rivalry and many of the ills facing the continent can be traced to this period. It is only now that the developed world has woken up to the magnitude of the crisis engulfing Africa prompting the Tony Blair sponsored ‘Commission for Africa’ to note, â€Å" African poverty and stagnation is the greatest tragedy of our time,† (Commission for Africa 2005, p 13). There are some who question why the world should be so concerned about poverty and why the world community should contribute to Africa’s development when the same resources can be used domestically to improve the living standards of their own people. The answer is simple. Because Africa, where one child dies every second is a blot on our collective conscience. Prime Minister Tony Blair has spoken of â€Å"recognising the common bond of humanity†, as has Bob Geldof, the social activist, musician and brain behind the Live8 concert, â€Å"to extend the hand of sympathy and shared humanity to reach above the impenetrable roar and touch human beings on the other side (Commission for Africa 2005, p 66). To that extent the objectives of both Prime Minister Tony Blair and Live8 organiser, Bob Geldof seem to match. There is also another factor; self-interest. In the post-9/11 era it has become more and more evident that poverty spawns terrorism and that terrorism is a global phenomenon that recognises no boundaries. Black holes such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) can and are becoming sanctuaries where terrorists can hatch their plans undisturbed by weak and inefficient governments. When such countries are themselves embroiled in conflict, as in the case of the DRC, where government control does not extend to the whole of the country, the situation is even more critical. Prime Minister Tony Blair also acknowledges this fact when he says it is imperative

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Enhancing Competitive Abilities for Airline Companies

Enhancing Competitive Abilities for Airline Companies Case of Air China Abstract This study examines the strategic, performance and learning issues confronting the Air China, in the aftermath of the Open Skies agreement between China and the United States. It uses a comparative perspective of United Airlines to examine Air China and the Chinese airline industry in context of ‘open skies, and in contrast to the wider global airlines industry. This is a questionnaire based study that uses both qualitative and quantitative data but relies more on the latter. The study is limited in its scope and implications primarily due to a small sample size, and the resulting inability to use inferential statistics. The study provides some focused recommendations on strategic thrusts and choices that could augment Air Chinas growth and performance as an international player. Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Background In the year 2008 the aviation industry forecasts show that Air China is the only Chinese airline that is likely to make a profit. Even Air China the Chinese flagship airline has been underperforming on international routes for some time now. While air travel is increasing on the backs of economic growth and the Olympic Games, fuel prices and competition under the ambits of international agreements like the ‘open skies between the US and China seem to have found Chinese airlines on the back foot for the moment. The fast expansion of the Chinese aviation market has seen investment flow in and international parties becoming interested as partners, investors and competitors in the sector. Chinese Airlines have responded with forays such as exploring alliancing, and strategic restructuring to respond to this duality of opportunity and threat. The open skies agreement in general implies â€Å"unrestricted access by any carrier into the sovereign territory of a country without any written agreement specifying capacity, ports of call or schedule of services† (Murali, 2005). Thus, theoretically, when the skies are open, any foreign airline can land any aircraft at any airport, with no restrictions on frequency and seat capacity. The frame of reference for the US China open skies agreement is the central provinces of Anhui, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Henan, and Shanxi. As per the terms of the agreement they are completely open to US airlines. Being open to the American enterprise means generous funds flow but harnessing this implies capturing the air routes and the passenger traffic. Major US airlines including the United maneuver to do this with their greater experience, resources and air traffic exposure alongside Chinese airlines. The latter have the advantage of being domestic players and thus have the local advantages that come with the same (Ahmed et al, 2006). Coordination and configuration issues also affect highly transnational international airlines in both positive and negative ways (Porter, 1985, 1986). One is by having greater experience of reaching out to new markets and the other is inevitable increasing challenge of synthesis and adjustment as each fresh market is encountered. The domestic flagship carrier Air China also has the advantage of national prestige just like Lufthansa has for Germany and British airways for Great Britain: â€Å"Air China is the only airline company which carries the national flag to fly. It has the first rank of brand value among domestic airline companies (the world brand laboratory evaluated it in 2006 as 18.896 billion RMB), and it is among the leading position of air passenger transport, freight transport and related service† (airchina.com, 2008). The advantage shows in it being at least better performing than other domestic airlines. However, the international experience and resource strength of players like the United Airlines is considerable. United operates more than 3,700 flights a day on United, United Express and Ted SM to more than 210 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C hubs (AsiaTravel.com, 2007). With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United is also a founding member of Star Alliance With the Star alliance, United is clearly in elite company where international code sharing, passenger traffic movements, innovations, and control of international hubs are the forte of a group of heavily resourced carriers. International alliancing is rather nascent as a strategy in the case of Chinese airlines with Air China having but recently joined the Star Alliance. Furthermore, within the Star Alliance also competition is not nullified among alliance partners. With the squabbling over alliances in domestic market viz. between Air China and China Eastern Airlines, the market seems dangerously susceptible to foreign takeovers unless either performance improves or government takes safety measures through anti-trust clamp down. The trust in a government safety net have often resulted in airlines facing major crisis like for instance, the German carrier Lufthansa in 1990s where a leadership change and strategic turnaround of a seminal nature were required to save it (Mintzberg et a l, 2003). With the domestic carriers making a loss even for the flagship carrier Air China it is imperative to make sure that it does not sit easy on its asset of existing brand recognition that stems primarily from carrying the national flag. It is reported, at present in the Chinese and American aviation routes, the domestic operators is relatively disadvantaged. Neither the passenger transportation nor freight transportation have been able to raise profits and even made losses, the situation being particularly acute in the Chinese context. Low occupancy in flights returning from the United Stated is just one reason among other operational and strategic aspects like fuel prices, customer preferences, quality perceptions, pricing, and alliancing effects, to name a few(ATKearney, 2008). Since the open skies agreement the need to strengthen the Chinese airlines competitive position has been seen as key to both the airline industry and to the validation of the strategic intent of China to successfully globalize its key industries. 1.2 Motivation The aviation agreement between China and the US signals the intention of the Chinese Government to take on global competition for larger gains. With a five fold increase in airline frequency proposed over six years commencing the onset of the agreement in 2004 it is probably the right juncture to examine the state of the Chinese airline industry in the aftermath of this strategic drive. Air China being the flagship carrier makes for an ideal setting to be examined with a comparative frame of reference of United Airlines of the United States. The agenda is to look at strategies, performance, and impact across a range of indicators to reflect on competitive performance, and issues therein for the Chinese aviation industry. The perspective of the China US agreement is also a case that has implications for other open skies agreements that China has entered into like with the European Union in 2005. The consequences of Chinas opening up and joining the World Trade Organization in 2001 are also implied in issues, challenges and performance related reflections that are to stem from this study. The motivation for this study in its chosen research site of Air China, in a comparative reference with united airlines in the main, and under the US-China open skies agreement is thus of great relevance to industry and economic scenario. 1.3 Research Questions In light of the aforesaid the following research questions will deliver the examination of Chinese Airline industry. This in context of the open skies agreement using the case of Air China in the main, with a comparative reference to United Airlines, and with a view to generate implications for the Chinese aviation industry as a whole. What has been Air Chinas strategy in light of the open skies agreement? What are the issues affecting the performance of Air China in particular and of the Chinese airlines in general, in the aftermath of the open skies agreement? What are the issues affecting Air Chinas global brand development and recognition? What are the lessons that Air China can draw from United Airlines as a sample of what the Chinese airline industry can learn from more experienced international carriers? The first two research question clearly relates to the examination of Air Chinas strategic choices in light of the open skies agreement and how these have resulted in the realized performance. The next question relates to the idea of stretching of the domestically acquired- flagship status based, brand recognition into an internationally acclaimed brand. A key indicator for the same is quality and value that is associated with the brand. The final question is in the domain of lessons learned more-so strategic lessons in the aftermath of the open skies and with a comparative context of more experienced transnational carriers. This completes the loop by looking at learning in context of strategic choices and performance 1.4 Outline of the Dissertation This dissertation presents a literature review in the next chapter. The chapter takes off by a review the global airline industry, open skies agreement and the airlines under purview with reference to past information and research. This is in addition to and an extension of the background presented here. The literature review then contextualizes extant research broadly in the areas of strategy, organisation learning and transnational aspects as discussed under the discussion on research questions above. The methodology and approach chapter that follows the literature review moves forward to discuss how the indicators from a synthesis of the literature review are developed into an instrument, and associated, data, sampling, approach and methods in analyses aspects, among other aspects. The findings chapter provide an objective outlay of the analysis from a questionnaire study and then the discussions chapter provides and interpretative discussion on the same. Finally the conclusions reflect back on the aims of the research as operationalised under the research questions to also provide recommendations for strategy and for future research in the area. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Global Airline Industry, Open Skies and Air China The AT Kearneys (2008) report on the global outlook for the airline industry presents several noteworthy points. It posits that returns are lower than the cost of capital, and that oil prices have caused a dramatic decline in US business conditions with consumer confidence at an all time low since 2001. It further argues that growth looks better in emerging markets like China, tight credit norms are affecting U.S and Europe while excess capacity is a big issue to tackle with efficiency lifts being very critical across the board. In addition the argument for open skies to intensify competition is also driven home. This comprehensive scenario suggests that there is an opportunity for airlines in the growing/emerging markets to usurp dominant international carriers if they pull their act together. The overall crisis scenario has more negatives for the bigger carriers that are outside emerging markets. However, experience, network and resource muscle are keeping them ahead. The Chinese a irline market is probably the biggest opportunity to gain fresh turf and revenues given its relative robustness in recent times. The Chinese flagship carrier ‘Air China today is the new generation of what was the â€Å"Air China† established on 1988. It has come together as a merger of the erstwhile Air China, National Aviation Company and China Southwest Airlines. With this strategic reshaping event in the aviation history of China that happened in 2002, air China has taken giant leaps in trying to become a globally recognized player in the airlines industry over a short time frame. Its sustained profitability is a matter of pride and a signifier of the potential in and of emerging markets. Despite global downturns in profitability which have been a concern for Air China also, its performance is much better than most other global and all domestic players (Airchina.com, 2008). The company has strategic targets that indicate its ambitious designs despite its nascent lineage. However, these, that of competitive lead, continuous quality, service and profitability improvements with unique and memorable experiences for customers (Airchina.com, 2008) are but rather generic across airlines and also conjoint agendas. Operationalising this strategy has seen quality impetus that we will discuss later, trying to learn from and network with other airlines, among others. This national carrier of China has joined the Star alliance in 2007 and its cooperation with leading airlines around the globe has seen it expand massively to nearly nine hundred locations around the globe. It has its catch phrases to help keep strategy and performance feedback simple and translatable into new initiatives and improvements. One such aspect is to do with service and is called ‘four hearts- implying reassurance, satisfaction, easiness and sensation (Airchina.com, 2008). Other config uration aspects that link with the sales network expansion, working to fine tune the much used frequent flyer tactic, and using supplier and partner networks to improve capacity utilization and efficiency. It has tried to outdo professional and technical capacities deployed by international airlines, whether it be pilot and staff training, motivating service operations and innovations through awards, and as aforesaid, using symbolic emblems for quality in general that can make the strategic intent transmittable through the organisation at all levels. Branding at a global level has always been a concern worked at audaciously with domestic dominance never being in question (Ahmed et al, 2006; Airchina.com, 2008). In 2007, Air China reported an increase of about fourteen percent in its operating revenue. The growth in passenger and cargo services fuelled by economic growth and also the impending Olympics seem to have contributed. Managing efficiency to make sure that capacity utilization and efficiency in operations given the fuel crisis deliver to their best might have paid off to some degree. However, rising operating costs have taken hold given the oil price scenario. While hedging has helped counter fuel price impact it is not a stable measure (ATKearney, 2008). The current scenario is not bleak by far the overtime trends are of concern given the uncertainties that prevail in the aviation market and the intensifying competition under the open skies agreement. Air China has focused on transfer traffic to increase passenger uptake while opening up steadily on international routes. Nearly thirty five percent of its routes are now international operating across nearly thirty countries. The revenue chunk from domestic operations stills makes the bulk. Having joined the Star Alliance recently Air China has made path breaking improvements in quality, service and has upgraded both its fleet and support infrastructure like under the new terminus at Beijing also hosting the alliance. The operating performance of Air China is markedly higher than other Chinese airlines including Eastern China Airlines. Domestic competition had defeated efforts at alliances here but the climate of uncertainty that has had international airlines pitching for co-operation saw Air China enter the prestigious Star Alliance. The inclusion was also triggered by promise in the emerging markets as aforesaid. Being the largest carrier in China with over 20000 employees and well trained crew who are more abreast with international service norms and issues holds Air China in good ground when making internationalization efforts. Domestic market is a stable resource mooring for the Airline that seeks to become a globally renowned brand in the industry. It makes for a perfect alliance partner for international majors given that at the onset of the decade China was recorded to have the highest percentage increase in passenger traffic of about 11.50%. US on the other hand had the lowest at -6.30% (Ahmed at al, 2008). Since 9/11 things have finally shaken the slumber in the U.S but fresh crisis of rising fuel prices and capital crunch have nullified the recovery. 2.2 United Airlines: The lineage and Chinese Context United is one of the oldest airlines. It claims its genesis in W.T. Varneys airmail operations in the later 1920s. United went with the fortunes of the times whether it be the Wars or the economic boom thereafter which saw rapid expansion on the one hand and monopolistic competition on the other. The 1970s were true crisis times for United as it went through several leadership hands and tried to remain afloat during turbulent economic times. The era of stability thereafter has seen United become the largest employee majority owned company in the world. While this has had positive implications on service quality, it is also not without its downsides. Arguably employee lobbies resulted in factionalism at times but overall the service philosophy due to this ownership has taken great leaps, and the ‘friendly skies slogan got replaced with a more ambitious slogan of ‘rising. This was probably as much aspiration based as it was given deregulation across the World. New economies and markets beckoned with domestic competition being as intense as ever. The 9/11 crisis probably hit the United the hardest. However, with government support, employee cooperation and smart financial management United managed to stay afloat and recover as a strong player in the international market. While it shares the industry downturn of recent times, experience and employee ownership hold it in good grounds to face competition and explore new markets (United.com, 2008). In March 2008 United Airlines won the duel with other US based airlines like the Continental- to run daily flights between Washington D.C and Beijing. The implications for the United home the Dulles airport is massive. This includes a boost through employment among other things much needed in the slumping economy. With the Beijing Olympics then just around the corner this meant even more money. Despite the open skies agreement the number of carriers from US in Chinese air space are limited by the government and the routes that open up thus draw fierce competition amongst prospective airlines (asiatravel.com, 2007). Besides increasing communication, this has special implications for international carriers that are facing the brunt of global oil price rise and uptake of luxury class travel (ATKearney, 2008). The forecast of emerging markets being the place to be discussed before has seen airline industries queue up for the Chinese airspace. The success is not only in winning amongst peers but also by getting a bulk of revenue off Chinese airlines like Air China who have local advantages but when it comes to international travel where the clientele is mixed they have less experience. The bids draw great political clout that pitch in with one airline or the other. With nearly 90000 people moving between China and Washington the market is serious. Us airlines like Continental, American and Northwest are serious contenders for the overall Chinese air space and are carving out their own niche for instance the connection between Shanghai and New York that continental offers (Asia travel.com, 2007). The star alliance connection between Air China and United comes to the fore here as this alliance allows United to access more routes around Beijing. Clearly the alliance has a cooperation agenda at the fore but competition remains within alliance partners also. On the one hand they rope in customers based on loyalty points, better cumulative resource strength, and wider route configurations, among others while on the other they vie for getting more and more alliance passengers as primary to themselves. 2.3 Network effects, Quality and Service Value Quality drives with an international value paradigm are a key indicator of aspirations to become a globally renowned brand. Network effects like that of prestigious alliances and by virtue of passenger traffic in the area given events such as the Olympics and generally favorable economic climate also augment the potential. Air China identified key business activities to enhance service quality and by extension value perceptions in customers. These were: â€Å"flight service (including off flight), people management (employee satisfaction leading to better customer service); supplier network management; technology adoption and integration; passenger perception management; and customer satisfaction measurement and complaint handling† (Ahmed et al, 2006). Under these, customizing services for individual customers is considered important. At the same times basic satisfying aspects are to be ensured before specialist and high order services are to be configured. This is in line with the ‘hygiene -motivators theory of Frederick Hertzberg (1959). Working to deliver a unique experience through incorporating attractive cultural aspects that are also internationally appealing has also been on the agenda fueling creative insights and challenges in the process. It has not been without innovation meeting efficiency and operational bottleneck for example to stretch customer choices by providing onboard menus that met with some embarrassing failures to keep adequate stock of items. This was reworked with considerable focus on database management to record past preferences. Employee satisfaction and involvement at this stage is pivotal as they are central to service and in the airline business front end employee interface is critical for rep eat business and reputation building. The people management agenda at Air China is closely juxtaposed with quality, the role of the manager in tying together people, and productivity and excellence stemming from motivated employees are all key tenets practiced with the adage that performance and quality issues begin at the top (Ahmed et al, 2006). As far as network effects are concerned the company seeks to establish long term relations with suppliers for stability, assuredness and cost effectiveness. The product life cycle of the key artifact the aircraft also merits such an approach. Improvement needs, maintenance needs and incorporating new technology are connected issues where in-house capabilities are also important. The excellence 2008 programme works to look at technology as a nonhuman aspect and emphasizes the need for connection with people as pivotal in realizing developing capabilities. Processes and initiatives are kept simple for easy of delivery and communication from the staff and to the customer respectively. The network effects Air China seeks stretch out to the customer through loyalty programmes and horizontally to partners with exchange and amalgamation of routes, loyalty points and information among others (Airchina.com, 2008). Brand image as a natural and desired culmination of the aforesaid efforts takes number one priority, followed by scheduling which is closely connect with capacity utilization and efficiency. Interestingly pricing is at number six preceded by on and off board services and plane model (Ahmed et al, 2006). Clearly the agenda is to drive on quality first and be realistic about the associated price. This is a model very distinct from low cost short haul airlines and also some airlines in other emerging markets like Russia. This is also a bold step that underlines the agenda for brand recognition through quality and service value with a close perspective on customer needs. 2.4 Organisational Learning: Strategic Choices and Performance feedback Organisational learning is understood as learning within the organisation and is complimented by the idea of learning by organisations as a distinct concept (Cyert and March, 1963; Senge, 1990). Overall the literature on learning with reference to organisations has a rather expansive lineage that is outside the scope of this study. In context of this study it is important to keep in mind the context that of learning from competitors and partners, learning from the experience of initiatives like those related to quality within the organisation, and learning from past direct and indirect experiences to counter environmental threats. These three issues will be central to the main research site Air China in context of learning. Competitive, growth and recognition aspirations that we have broadly contextualized so far will be of concern The literature on organisational learning and learning by organisations as distinguished above can be viewed from several lenses. The first is the human development lens which is at the heart of Air Chinas people management orientation that drives everything else. The emphasis on simplifying inputs, delivery and adoption are all tied into the concern of this perspective. The individuals orientation, capacities and motivation to learn are at the core of this lens. Also the stages and enablers that make learning effective are design issues to be implemented and monitored (e.g. Kolb, 1979; Argyris, 1978, 1986, 1992; Talbot and Harrow, 1993; Dixon, 1994). The management science is essentially about information management. It is important to generate feedback from processes and operations again an important but not central issue. This is because while people management is supposed to motivate this automatically at Air China, the importance of effective processes to say generate employee and customer feedback cannot be ignored (e.g. Huber, 1991; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995). There are other lenses like the one that looks at organisation as a societal being and another that considers organisation from a productivity perspective only as far as learning is concerned (Easterby Smith, 1997). Both have consequences for efficiency and performance but alone do not suffice to deliver the needed learning for sustaining performance (e.g. Pettigrew, 1973; Hedberg, 1981; Talbot and Harrow, 1987; Buzzell and Gale, 1987). Easterby Smith (1997) has generated other perspectives from his extensive review of the growth of body in learning with reference to organisations. These include cultural and strategic lenses that are critical to appreciate given the globalization agenda to hand. The cultural multiplicity within organisations and the areas they operate is juxtaposed with increasing competitiveness as globalization becomes the order of the day for design and configuration of organisations and their goals (e.g. Shibata et al, 1991; Hamel and Prahalad, 1989,1993). While I explore these lenses here in context of the Chinese aviation industry and Air China in particular it is useful to refer back to the comparative frame of United Airlines being used. The context of learning also becomes important as experiences, the feedback and the realization of this feedback into improvements are not imitable but need to be adapted (Nickerson and Zenger, 2002; McDermott and ODell, 2001). With Air China drawing on conventional strategic and tactical threads used in the airline industry to fuel its mindset in this nascent stage of development care should be taken to recognize that it is a different organisation especially when indirect (experience of other airlines) are learned from (Schwab and Miner, 2001; Rogers, 1997). This is important because learning needs to translate into fine tuning the strategic frame. Choices that work need to be distilled from choices that dont. However there is the simplicity agenda to contend with here (Miller, 1993). Overtime this implies bracketing and focusing on an industry wide panacea or select aspects which are considered pivotal to performance while others are made dormant. A non-performing element whether it be pricing that takes a back seat to people management may be the cutting edge one is looking for when the aspect of employee management has been honed by all competitors to an extreme. Innovations lie in such dormant aspects and creativity within the organisation needs to be fuelled to encourage bouncing of new ideas outside the confines of what is taken as doing well in the present time (March, 1991; Miller, 1990, 1993). The globalization agenda makes this even more crucial as performance feedback is subject to more ambiguity than ever before. Outside once domestic arena interpretation of performance is often more difficult and mistakes can be costly. For Air China its bold steps like alliancing, technology and excellence drive that seems to be driven around dominant features of what has worked in the Airline industry may be risky. The learning agenda from United that is decades older than it could be to examine the shocks it faced when threading a similar path rather than what works for it and other more experienced transnational airlines (Mintzberg, 1979) 2.5 The transnational context: Establishing global recognition and competitiveness Globalization is a phenomenon that most industries and major companies therein choose, strive for and adapt to. On the one hand lies the legacy of domestic or local experience and competencies shaped in that mould, while on the other lies the challenge to customize and adapt this ‘strategic configuration to market realities of different international markets (Mintzberg, et al, 1998; Mintzberg, 1979). The multiple subsidiaries and spread across countries creates the need for multidimensional competencies that are flexible. These also come with the principle competency of being able to choose the right mix and leverage it to local realities. The relationship between intermediaries and with the parent /home unit is important resource strength. The perspective of being able to adapt, and at the same time identify with the parent organisation brings to the fore the important aspect of creating a balanced interdependency (Bartlett and Ghoshal 1987). Going trans-national thus needs to be a carefully crafted initiative with the aforesaid issues and a host of variables to be considered. These variables include the economic climate, and industry level variables. Baden fuller and Stopford (1991) provide a set of considerations that impact on the profitability of a global strategy (figure 1). While these are generic considerations that point that is again emphasized in shaping of this framework is that competing in the transnational market is a very distinct foray than domestic competition. Being a domestically profitable and successful firm will not imply that the same success will be repeated in the international market (Rangan, 2000). The company has to carefully stretch and leverage (Hamel and Prahalad, 1993) its value set and configurations (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990) so as to maintain a balance between the stability of its configuration and at the same time coordinate the diverse subsidiaries to gain maximum synergy and interdependent benefits (Porter, 1986). Air China with its nascent lineage that goes back just two decades, in its present form it being around for only a few years has a lot of lessons to draw on. Its dominance as the dom estic player in China has spurred it on but its transnational success is still an early call to make. The importance of being part of the Star alliance brings a novel perspective to going transnational. The interface with more experienced airlines and the trade off of benefits from hosting each other in home countries is mutually beneficial. Alliances are crucial not only given the airline industry needs but also they bring a novel enabling and risk averse perspective to global business. How this tells on competitiveness amongst the partners is also rather unique in the case of the ai

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

An Emotional Slave in The Slave Dancer :: Slave Dancer Essays

An Emotional Slave in The Slave Dancer I found The Slave Dancer, by Paula Fox, to be a very commendable historical fiction. When I had finished reading the final sentence, I was left with a feeling of appreciation. I felt imperfect. For it easily could have been my ancestors who tortured the multitudes of helpless slaves. The Slave Dancer was a difficult book to get into, but it soon captured my interest and turned into an excellent, yet emotional, piece of literature. The Slave Dancer was a story that was so real and likewise so powerful. It was such an immaculate piece of work that it should be read by all. I truly enjoyed the main character, Jessie. He was slowly, throughout the story, transformed from an innocent young boy, captured and taken aboard a slave ship to play his fife to "dance the slaves", into a man who realizes the true meaning of friendship, life, survival, hardships, and love. Paula Fox's writing style is very admirable, and it genuinely shows with this Newberry Honor wining book. There were few things I disliked about this book. I disliked the beginning of The Slave Dancer because it was a very difficult book to get into. I did not like the lack of detail when it came to describing the crew members aboard The Moonlight, which is the name of the slave ship. The book kept referring to crew members, and I could not tell them apart. I could not picture something different about each one of them. I believe that The Slave Dancer would help everyone understand the misfortune that all of the African slaves went through. I anticipate that there will be some who would not enjoy this book, however, I think that everybody should read The Slave Dancer. I would certainly read this book again and still benefit from its text. I recommend this book to all who have lost the true meaning of appreciation and wish to grasp that significance once again. After reading The Slave Dancer I was transposed into a different person. I was more aware of the views of each person and each cherished life. I took back a lesson; a sad lesson. I was reminded of how precious every person's life is, and how just one experience can change one's perspective of life.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Bp Oil Spill

Television if full of advertisement and propaganda. As well as the internet with advertisement popups and clips on the sides of every webpage. Propaganda is information put out by an organization or government to promote and idea or cause. Many of these are misleading and bias, trying to make you believe in the same things they do and convince you to participate in whatever cause they are in. Think about some of the commercials you seen on television such as news reports, movies, political ads, and recall ads. The most memorable to me are recall ads such as lawyers making announcements for medicines and compensation. As well as when election time comes around and all of the runners are putting their names out there. Also, every day, watching the news on new crimes going on in the world and previews for my next favorite movie. Those are all different techniques of propaganda. The purpose of me writing this essay is to show you the propaganda in a simple informative commercial or newscast. My main focus will be on the BP oil spill. The first sociology theory I will compare with is symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism is the use of symbols or face to face interaction. The way that this relates to the BP oil spill is the way that the owner of the company, Kenneth R. Fineburg, said that he was going to help and compensate the victims of the oil spill. Commercials and speeches were made about his plans to pay back for the damage and loss of wages that his company had caused the Gulf of Mexico and victims. The second theory will be functionalism. Functionalism is the relationship between parts of society. In this situation, the society came together and fought to be compensated to get their lost wages back. Claiming they have mortgages, bills, car payments, and children to pay for and they have not been working in 8 months. Citizens of the affected area appeared on news cast and commercials were made explaining their situations, trying to reach out to someone that they needed help. The last theory is the conflict theory. Conflict theory means competition of scarce resources or the elite control the poor and weak. This relates to this situation as the big man, Mr. Fineburg, having the money and resources to help the people out with their lost wages. As, well his colleagues were trying to tell him that he was over compensating the victims. They had all of the control over whether or not the victims were going to be able to get paid and bailed out of this mess that one man was responsible for. In conclusion, propaganda was used in ways to reach out to people about the real problems going on in the Gulf of Mexico during the time of the BP oil spill. I used the 3 main theories of sociology to compare how each of them relates to the oil spill. The rich over powering the poor, how society came together to get help, and the interaction between the people when the word needed to be put out. RESOURCE Schwartz, J. (2011, February 17). Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Blog. Retrieved from http://gulfofmexicooilspillblog. com/2011/02/17/gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill-blog-bp-propaganda/ Bp Oil Spill BP OIL SPILL Under the Deepwater Horizon, an offshore drilling ring of British Petroleum (BP) caused an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The incident occurred on April 20th 2010, where equipment failed and caused the explosion sinking the ring, and causing the death of 11 workers and more than 17 workers injured. The British based energy company also faced other problems at the site of the oil spill. More than 40 million gallons (estimated data) of oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico.Oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a very serious threat for the wildlife as it causes water pollution. The oil spill effected many coastal areas in the US, like the Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. The oil spill disaster strongly damaged wildlife cycle in the Gulf of Mexico, and many species were thrown into extinction. Similarly, thousands of businesses were thrown into extinction. Many people has questioned the ethical decisions and core value system that BP used to cut corners with the acc ident; namely, the race to maximize profits at all costs.We are all aware that one of the main causes that let to the disaster were the result of bad decisions, in which a less expensive option (whether to run a test or use a particular kind casing pipe, for example) would save lives. There has been â€Å"zero dollars spent on research concerning how to handle oil spills for off-shore drilling by BP despite the company's NET profits – above and beyond all salaries, bonuses, or overhead costs- of more than $59 BILLION† (â€Å"The Rachel Maddow Show† on MSNBC, aired at 7 p. m.EST on June 28, Monday). The paperwork submitted to the U. S. Minerals Management Services (MMS) by BP in 2008 was 582 pages long, supposedly covering all of BP's operations in the Gulf of Mexico. However, they omitted their ability to deal with oil spills in a worst-case scenario just to get their permits for drilling. Another very unethical act by BP was when President Obama was scheduled t o visit Louisiana back than, BP hurriedly â€Å"hired† temporary workers and handed out gear (paper haz-mat uniforms, etc. , but told these temps not to talk to anyone. As soon as all the TV cameras and the president's motorcade left the area, these â€Å"for show only† hires immediately stopped working (a local government official took photos and attempted to question a few, who advised him they were â€Å"not supposed to talk to anyone, on BP's orders†). They did not come back on the following day or any day thereafter.On the zero dollars spent for developing back-up systems, BP informed â€Å"The Rachel Maddow Show's† representative that they â€Å"rely† on an organization which they claimed â€Å"does spill research† even though the investigators from the show discovered the organization named by BP does not receive any money from BP nor do they do research for ways to stop oil spills. In other words, BP was unethical and lied again. Thi s British Petroleum is listed as the fourth wealthiest corporation in the entire world, and yet they lie about the extent of their spill.They fudged figures and information (against the law) in order to get a license to drill in American waters, they did not even bother to change the batteries for the system they claimed was their â€Å"back-up†. BP, as most oil companies (and other business), are aimed at making as much money as possible. In this case because of the big cover up the media did, BP was forced to fix the problem, and it is a problem that its costing them major money, both through clean up and lost product. BP has so far committed $42 billion to cleaning up.I really hope that BP (and other companies) learned the lesson, that cutting corners and cost reduction is not the only point that organizations should focus on. It is not safe to cut corners and presume that things will not happen. Make ethical decision, have back up plans, and ‘worst case scenarioâ₠¬â„¢ preparation. If BP would be more ethical and do the right things either by using the latest safety precautions when drilling (not cutting corners, and reducing costs), and moving faster and more dynamically when the disaster occurred, they could have avoided billions in cleanup and damages that they faced and are still facing now.The BP oil spill has offered a moment for reflection for leaders around the world about their most basic beliefs. To many people, the BP oil spill has brought home the idea that future corporate leaders must develop personal ethical standards for making decisions that go beyond just a financial calculation. There are plenty of business practices that are legal, but fall short in being ethical. But I believe being ethical does pay off, slowly and steadily. You may lose some opportunities, but your reputation and self-perception is invaluable.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Free Essays on My Byzantine Mosaic

Make Your Own Byzantine Mosaic There are a lot of forms of art in the world, and art can just be just about anything depending on the viewer. Art can be from a painting of the Mona Lisa to a pile of sticks, depending on how you look at it. In just a few steps and procedures you will have your very own Byzantine Mosaic. So get ready to make some art. For this art project you will need the following supplies. All the supplies needed you’re your project you can get at your local supermarket or Wal-Mart. First you will need some illustration board, or card board to put your painting on and a picture you will like to see as a masterpiece.. The Illustration board must be ten inches by eight inches, or however big you want to do your painting. Next you will need from one dozen to two dozen empty egg shells depending on your painting. You will need a variety of paints to color your mosaic. About ten different colors will be sufficient, each bottle being about two ounces. You won t need that much paint. Then you will need some brushes you can color the egg shells. You might want to get some small brushes just enough so you can color an egg. You will need a pencil so you can draw your picture. Then you will need Elmer’s glue, tweezers, an empty ice tray or empty egg carton, and some enamel spray to seal up your ma sterpiece. The first step to making this wonderful masterpiece is to draw or trace your picture onto the illustration board. Make sure you draw the picture nice and dark so that you can see it very well. Next get your egg shells and paint them the colors of your picture making sure to use every color that is in your picture. Paint the entire egg so that there is no white part of the egg showing. Then you will have to wait about ten to thirty minutes for the paint on the egg to dry depending on the kind of paint you used. After the eggs are dry comes the fun part. Get the eggs and put them in the egg carton or... Free Essays on My Byzantine Mosaic Free Essays on My Byzantine Mosaic Make Your Own Byzantine Mosaic There are a lot of forms of art in the world, and art can just be just about anything depending on the viewer. Art can be from a painting of the Mona Lisa to a pile of sticks, depending on how you look at it. In just a few steps and procedures you will have your very own Byzantine Mosaic. So get ready to make some art. For this art project you will need the following supplies. All the supplies needed you’re your project you can get at your local supermarket or Wal-Mart. First you will need some illustration board, or card board to put your painting on and a picture you will like to see as a masterpiece.. The Illustration board must be ten inches by eight inches, or however big you want to do your painting. Next you will need from one dozen to two dozen empty egg shells depending on your painting. You will need a variety of paints to color your mosaic. About ten different colors will be sufficient, each bottle being about two ounces. You won t need that much paint. Then you will need some brushes you can color the egg shells. You might want to get some small brushes just enough so you can color an egg. You will need a pencil so you can draw your picture. Then you will need Elmer’s glue, tweezers, an empty ice tray or empty egg carton, and some enamel spray to seal up your ma sterpiece. The first step to making this wonderful masterpiece is to draw or trace your picture onto the illustration board. Make sure you draw the picture nice and dark so that you can see it very well. Next get your egg shells and paint them the colors of your picture making sure to use every color that is in your picture. Paint the entire egg so that there is no white part of the egg showing. Then you will have to wait about ten to thirty minutes for the paint on the egg to dry depending on the kind of paint you used. After the eggs are dry comes the fun part. Get the eggs and put them in the egg carton or...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Cómo solicitar visa humanitaria parole para EE.UU.

Cà ³mo solicitar visa humanitaria parole para EE.UU. Cuando una persona extranjera necesita urgentemente ingresar a Estados Unidos y no puede obtener una visa podrà ­a calificar para obtener una parole humanitaria. Puntos clave: parole humanitaria La parole humanitaria solo es posible pedirla cuando el solicitante est fuera de EE.UU., no puede de ninguna manera obtener una visa regular y necesita ingresar a Estados Unidos por razà ³n de emergencia humanitaria o beneficio pà ºblico significativo.Cualquier persona puede pedir la parole humanitaria para sà ­ mismo, aunque tambià ©n es posible que lo solicita otra persona o una ONG a su nombre.El solicitante o sus patrocinadores debern tener recursos econà ³micos suficientes para demostrar que, de ingresar a EE.UU. el solicitante no se convertir en carga pà ºblica.Una de cada cuatro solicitudes de parole humanitaria es negada.De aprobarse, las parole humanitarias son por un tiempo concreto.  ¿Quà © es la visa humanitaria para Estados Unidos? Aunque habitualmente a este tipo de autorizacià ³n se les llama visa humanitaria en realidad no es un visa, sino que se trata de un parole, es decir, una autorizacià ³n extraordinaria que se otorga cuando no se cumplen los requisitos ordinarios para obtener una visa. Requisitos para solicitar una parole humanitaria Los requisitos para calificar para solicitar la parole humanitaria son cuatro: Estar fuera de EE.UU.No poder obtener una visa para EE.UU. por ser inadmisibleEl ingreso a EE.UU. serà ­a temporalLa razà ³n por la que se pide el parole es de naturaleza humanitaria o por razones de beneficio pà ºblico. Hay ms de 20 visas no inmigrante distintas para ingresar a Estados Unidos, cada una con sus caracterà ­sticas y requisitos. Adems, chilenos y espaà ±oles y ciudadanos de otros 36 paà ­ses  no la necesitan para viajes por tiempo inferior a 90 dà ­as. Si no es posible obtener ninguna de estas visas, a veces es posible solicitar un waiver, tambià ©n conocido como perdà ³n o permiso. Si se han agotado todas las posibilidades y no es posible viajar a EE.UU. porque se es inadmisible  podr entonces intentarse obtener la parole humanitaria.  ¿Quà © es una razà ³n humanitaria o beneficio pà ºblico significante para obtener la parole? La ley migratoria de los Estados Unidos establece que se puede solicitar cuando se dà © una de las siguientes causas:   mà ©dica, tanto para visitar a un familiar enfermo o accidentado o  como para recibir tratamiento mà ©dico, cuando no sea posible recibirlo en el propio paà ­s o en uno vecino.presentarse como testigo en un juicio  civil o penalcasos muy excepcionales de reunificacià ³n familiar, cuando se trata de una separacià ³n entre adulto - nià ±o menor de 16 aà ±os o en casos de incapacidad fà ­sica o mental.cualquier otra que sea considerada grave.  cuando sea un beneficio pà ºblico importante. Son muy importantes los ejemplos para ilustrar estos requisitos. Asà ­, una razà ³n mà ©dica de peso puede ser que un nià ±o enfermo necesite de una operacià ³n que solo se realiza en los Estados Unidos, y se puede pedir la parole para el menor y para su padre o su madre. Otro ejemplo, es si se necesita hacer una donacià ³n de mà ©dula a un hermano, etc.   Un ejemplo de reunificacià ³n familiar puede ser el caso extraordinario en el que un matrimonio obtiene una visa de inmigrante pero la esposa tiene un bebà © despuà ©s de la entrevista en el consulado pero antes de viajar a los Estados Unidos.   Se aplica inmediatamente por el I-130 pero por retrasos en las fechas de prioridad el bebà © tendrà ­a que estar muchos meses separado de su mam, esperando por un nà ºmero de visa disponible. Para evitar esto, podrà ­a solicitarse. Tambià ©n podrà ­a considerarse como base para un parole la necesidad de cuidar a un familiar muy grave o moribundo que se encuentra en EE.UU. o el deseo de asistir a un funeral de una persona cercana.  ¿Quià ©nes pueden presentar la solicitud de parole humanitaria? Pueden hacerlo cualquiera de las siguientes personas: La persona que necesita el parole. Es decir, el beneficiarioUn abogadoUna organizacià ³n sin fin de lucroUn familiar u otra persona como un amigo que est en Estados Unidos y que  patrocina. En este caso à ºltimo caso se debe enviar prueba de estatus migratorio legal en Estados Unidos, como por ejemplo, pasaporte americano, si es ciudadano, green card, si es residente permanente legal, etc.  ¿Cà ³mo solicitar la parole humanitaria? Para realizar la peticià ³n de parole humanitaria es requerimiento completar dos formularios oficiales, pagar y adjuntar documentacià ³n adicional que apoye la peticià ³n.   Existen dos formas muy parecidas de solicitar el permiso. En primer lugar, si el solicitante que fuera de Estados Unidos presenta la solicitud por sà ­ mismo, es decir, una auto-peticià ³n,  las reglas son las siguientes: Antes de comenzar a rellenar los formularios es necesario presentarse en persona en la embajada o consulado de los Estados Unidos y solicitar una pre-autorizacià ³n para llenar el I-131. Si se obtiene, en algà ºn momento que ya se indicar ser necesario acudir al consulado o a un centro de apoyo para que le tomen al solicitante los datos biomà ©tricos, como por ejemplo, las huellas digitales. Adems, una vez obtenida la pre-autorizacià ³n ya se puede ya completar la planilla  I-131.   Esta planilla, que se llama en inglà ©s Application for Travel Document es utilizado en ms casos que nada tienen que ver con la parole humanitaria. Por esta razà ³n es que es fcil confundirse por lo que se recomienda prestar mucha atencià ³n o contratar a un abogado con experiencia en estos casos. La otra planilla que se debe enviar con la aplicacià ³n es la  I-134 que es una declaracià ³n jurada sobre recursos econà ³micos. Incluir la declaracià ³n de impuestos, prueba de empleo actual y,  si se pide el parole por razà ³n mà ©dica, prueba de cà ³mo se va a pagar el tratamiento. Con este requisito se trata de demostrar que el solicitante no se convertir en una carga pà ºblica en el caso de ingresar a EE.UU. Adems, si un abogado colabora en la peticià ³n de este permiso, debe presentarse la forma G-28. Si se solicita para recibir tratamiento mà ©dico debe incluirse documentacià ³n de por quà © no puede recibir dicho tratamiento en su paà ­s ni en los vecinos, papeles mà ©dicos sobre diagnà ³stico y prognosis (cà ³mo se cree que va a ser la evolucià ³n de la enfermedad), cunto tiempo se cree que va a durar el tratamiento, cul es el costo, cà ³mo se va a pagar y cules son los planes para salir de Estados Unidos cuando finalice el tratamiento. Asimismo, adjuntar toda la documentacià ³n adicional y detallada de apoyo que sirva para demostrar que existe una emergencia y tambià ©n la papelerà ­a con documentos personales, como copia legible del pasaporte del solicitante, su certificado de nacimiento o adopcià ³n y, si los tuviera, los certificados de matrimonio y decreto de divorcio.   Adems, escribir una carta concisa pero que contenga todos los puntos sobre por quà © debe aprobarse la parole humanitaria. Esta aplicacià ³n tiene en la actualidad un costo de $575 dà ³lares americanos, pero verificar siempre antes de enviar la solicitud ya que puede cambiar. No es posible solicitar una waiver para no pagar esta cuota. Adems, las personas entre 14 y 79 aà ±os de edad deben pagar $85 ms en concepto de toma de datos biomà ©tricos. Cabe destacar que si algà ºn documento est en un idioma distinto al inglà ©s debe traducirse y  certificar la traduccià ³n. Por el contrario, si la solicitud de la envà ­a un patrocinador que est en Estados Unidos, como por ejemplo un familiar el trmite consiste en rellenar las planillas I-131 y I-134 y adjuntar pago y documentacià ³n adicional como se ha dicho anteriormente. La à ºnica diferencia y muy importante es que no es necesario acudir al consulado por una pre-autorizacià ³n. Adems, en este caso, el patrocinador al llenar el formulario I-134 deber presentar los tax returns de los à ºltimos dos aà ±os.  ¿Cà ³mo se envà ­a la documentacià ³n para la parole humanitaria? Depende de dà ³nde est la persona que realiza la solicitud: Si el que solicita el parole es la persona que solicita ingresar a Estados Unidos y por lo tanto se encuentra fuera del paà ­s, entonces la documentacià ³n se entrega o envà ­a al consulado o embajada, quien la remite a la oficina del Humanitarian Affairs Branch (HAB, por sus siglas en inglà ©s), que est ubicado en Washington D.C. Por el contrario, si se cuenta con un patrocinador en Estados Unidos o se tiene aquà ­ abogado, entonces existen dos direcciones. Emplear la correcta segà ºn el tipo de envà ­o: Para correo ordinario: USCIS PO Box 660865 Dallas, TX. 75266 Para correo exprà ©s o mensajerà ­a:  USCIS Attn: HP 2501 S. State Hwy 121, Business Suite 400 Lewisville, TX 75067 Respuesta de USCIS a la solicitud de parole humanitaria Como regla general, el Servicio de Inmigracià ³n y Ciudadanà ­a (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) responde por carta al solicitante y a su abogado, si lo tiene, entre 90 y  120 dà ­as despuà ©s del envà ­o. Sin embargo, si existe urgencia se puede solicitar tramitacià ³n de emergencia y se puede resolver en cuestià ³n de dà ­as. Si pasan ms de 120 dà ­as y no ha habido comunicacià ³n de ningà ºn tipo es recomendable escribir al lugar al que se envià ³ la solicitud y pedir informacià ³n.   Si se deniega la peticià ³n de la parole humanitaria, no se puede apelar, pero si cambian las circunstancias o se consiguen ms documentos para apoyar la solicitud, se puede aplicar de nuevo. Por el contrario, si se aprueba, se notifica al solicitante y a su abogado, si lo tiene. A continuacià ³n la embajada o el consulado se coordinar con el HAB y con el solicitante para entregarle a à ©ste los documentos para viajar a Estados Unidos por el tiempo que se concede el parole, que generalmente es  por el tiempo necesario que dure la emergencia. El parole expira el dà ­a que se  indica en el documento en el que se aprueba o, si se sale antes de Estados Unidos, ese dà ­a. Se puede pedir un nuevo parole una vez que se est en Estados Unidos, es lo que en inglà ©s se llama un re-parole. Esto es, no se trata de una extensià ³n, sino de una nueva aplicacià ³n y se tiene que explicar por quà © se necesita.   La documentacià ³n y el pago se envà ­a a la oficina del HAB: 20 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Ste 3300 Washington, D.C. 20529-2100 Estadà ­sticas y consejos Cada aà ±o fiscal, el USCIS recibe aproximadamente unas 1.200 peticiones para que apruebe parole humanitarias. De ese total, apenas se aprueban 300. Es decir, se niegan el 75 por ciento o lo que es lo mismo, sà ³lo obtienen la aprobacià ³n una de cada cuatro. Los nà ºmeros indican claramente que no es fcil de obtener por lo que conviene estudiar las reglas y si se cree que se cumplen los requisitos contratar a un abogado con experiencia positiva en este tipo de casos. En ningà ºn caso se aprueban peticiones con el fin de saltarse las reglas establecidas por las leyes migratorias de los Estados Unidos. La parole humanitaria es el à ºltimo recurso para ingresar a Estados Unidos. Sà ³lo se debe buscar cuando exista una razà ³n humanitaria urgente o un beneficio pà ºblico importante que la justifique y siempre que se hayan previamente agotado todas las posibilidades de obtener una visa.   Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Argentina Economy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Argentina Economy - Research Paper Example GDP Per Capita Source: (tradingeconomics.com; Argentina GDP Per Capita; Retrieved: 2nd April 2012) Analyzing the ten years, we clearly see that the overall trend of per capita GDP has been rising. The per capita GDP has approximately doubled in the last ten years from $6300 to around $10,800 in 2011. We do see that the economic slow down had an effect on Argentina since its growth stagnated between 2009-2010 but has risen considerably since. The overall outlook for 2012 is also very positive. Inflation Rate: Source: (tradingeconomics.com; Argentina Inflation Rate; Retrieved: 2nd April 2012) Argentina has always been ridden with high inflation issues. Specially at the start of the millenium the CPI figures were sky high around 40% .The dramatic decrease in CPI was because of devaluation of its currency. Since then various measures have been underway to keep the inflation rate in and around 10%. Although some unofficial figures state that inflation is twice as much, around 25%. The inf lation issue continues to be a main concern for the country and measures are to be taken with repect to this to ensure any further growth in the country. UnEmployment Rate: Source: ( tradingeconomics.com; Argentina Unemployement Rate; Retrieved: 2nd April 2012) The overall umployement figures for Argentina have been impressive. Unemployement was very high in 2002 around 21%. Since then, there has been a steady decline in unemployement rate to around 7% in 2012. The unemployement numbers have decreased which certainly is a positive sign for the country which is because of the growing demand for argentinian products and growing local demand. With growing domestic as well as international demand the country is creating jobs for its citizens and the figures may get better in 2012. Source: (Indexmundi.com; Argentina Poverty Rate; Retrieved: 2nd April 2012) The poverty rate for Argentina has declined since 2003 from a staggering 48% to around 12% in 2010. The decrease in employment has la rgely been due to the strenghtening economy and higher opportunities for growth in manufacturing and agriculture.Argentina has now a very high Human Development Index and is now in an upper middle income economy in the world. The poverty rate does seem to be getting higher and measures need to be taken to address this issue.Population being below the poverty line was estimated at around 10% in the CIA factbook, however the figure is still alarming. Democracy Index and Level Of Corruption: A research study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit compiled a list of 167 democracies around the world to identify their level of democrarcy based on a number of factors most notably; political participation,civil liberties,and functioning of the government. In this survey Argentina was placed at number 51 of the 167 countries with an index of 6.84 which translated to flawed democracy. 10 being the highest, full democracy and 0 being authoritarion regimes. ( (Kekic) The country has democ ratically elected governement although there are some flaws in the system that have made its democracy level go down a bit. The transparency International conducted a study to identify corrupt and non corrupt nations by providing an index

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Double- spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, Term Paper

Double- spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, headers and footers. You are required to adhere to the 7 - Term Paper Example According to OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, U.S draws approximately 85% of its energy from fossil fuels. This is an alarming fact since global fossil fuel reserves are dwindling at a very fast rate. Consequently, this has caused an increased cost of energy thereby affecting the economic drivers. Nuclear energy comes in handy in solving this energy crisis (OECD, 2008). Low input cost Arguably, setting up a nuclear energy power plant requires a lot of capital investment. However, the overall running costs of the plant are relatively cheap. The main input cost when harnessing nuclear energy is production of nuclear rods. Once a good supply is established, a constant supply of energy is guaranteed. Unlike fossil fuel which is bulky to store and transport, nuclear materials are less bulky and can thus be prepared and stored to ensure constant supply of energy without the need of large storage. Constant and Consistent Supply Nuclear power plants can be set up in any convenient place that meet s the safety standards. This implies that U.S does not have to depend on imported fossil fuel energy, which is usually affected by global political climate. For instance, the current political crisis that has affected northern African oil producing countries such as Libya has greatly affected fuel supply to U.S (Herbst and Hopley, 2007). Having nuclear power plants in U.S would ensure constant and efficient supply of energy to the whole population. Nuclear energy offers a long-term supply of energy enough to drive the U.S economy for many years. Therefore, nuclear energy offers not only a solution to the current overdependence on fossil fuels but also offers a long-term viable energy supply. Power Output Efficiency One of the main advantages of nuclear energy is the efficiency in power output. Nuclear energy is obtained from nuclear reactions in the atom of elements such as uranium. A very small amount of uranium is enough to produce a lot of heat energy during the nuclear reaction. This energy is used to drive steam turbines, which in turn generates electricity. Energy from fossil fuels requires extraction and refining of a very large amount of fossil ore to come up with a refined usable energy product. This comparison makes nuclear energy the preferred choice when it comes to power output efficiency. Effective interchangeability Advancement in Technology has made it possible to transform electric energy to a wide variety of forms. Hybrid and electric cars are increasingly becoming a reality. This makes electric energy to be the most preferred form of energy due to its wide variety of applications. Transforming fossil fuel energy to electricity requires burning of the fuel thereby contributing to environmental pollution. This does not come by surprise since the greatest percentage of global pollution comes from burning of fossil fuels in the process of transforming it from one form to another (Holt, 2008). Nuclear energy comes in as the best alternative. Prod uction of nuclear energy does not cause environmental pollution and the electric energy produced comes in a form ready to use in an environmental friendly way. Integrating Saint Leo’s Core Values The primary objective of any leadership is to serve the community with best interest in mind. When leadership provides the U.S community with efficient, safe, affordable, and stable supply of energy, the community will develop and advance. This is concurs with Saint Leo’