African American In The 1920s Essay

The aspect of African-American Studies is key to the lives of African-Americans and those involved with the welfare of the race. African-American Studies is the systematic and critical study of the multidimensional aspects of Black thought and practice in their current and historical unfolding (Karenga, 21). African-American Studies exposes students to the experiences of African-American people and others of African descent. It allows the promotion and sharing of the African-American culture. However, the concept of African-American Studies, like many other studies that focus on a specific group, gender, and/or creed, poses problems. Therefore, African-American Studies must overcome the obstacles in order to improve the state of being for African-Americans. According to the book, Introduction to Black Studies, by Maulana Karenga, various core principles make of the basis of African-American Studies. Some of the core principles consist of 1)history, 2)religion, 3)sociology, 4)politics, and 5)economics. The core principles serve as the thematic â€Å"glue† which holds the core subjects together. The principles assist with the expression of the African-American Studies discipline (Karenga, 27). The core principle of history is primary factor of African-American Studies. History is the struggle and record of humans in the process of humanizing the world i. e. shaping it in their own image and interests (Karenga, 70). By studying history in African-American Studies, history is allowed to be reconstructed. Reconstruction is vital, for over time, African-American history has been misleading. Similarly, the reconstruction of African-American history demands intervention not only in the academic process to redefines and reestablishes the truth of Black History, but also intervention in the social process to reshape reality in African-American images and interests and thus, self-consciously make history (Karenga, 69). African American History or Black American History, a history of African-American people in the United States from their arrival in the Americas in the Fifteenth Century until the present day. In 1996, 33. 9 million Americans, about one out of every eight people in the United States, were African-American. Although African-American from the West Indies and other areas have migrated to the United States in the Twentieth Century, most African- Americans were born in the United States, and this has been true since the early Nineteenth Century. Until the mid-20th century, the African-American population was concentrated in the Southern states. Even today, nearly half of all African-Americans live in the South. African-Americans also make up a significant part of the population in most urban areas in the eastern United States and in some mid-western and western cities as well . Africans and their descendants have been a part of the story of the Americas at least since the late 1400s. As scouts, interpreters, navigators, and military men, African-Americans were among those who first encountered Native Americans. Beginning in the colonial period, African-Americans provided most of the labor on which European settlement, development, and wealth depended, especially after European wars and diseases decimated Native Americans (http://encarta. msn. com). Thus, history plays a role in the way African-Americans have shaped the world over time. The core concept of African-American religion has always played a vital roles in the African-American life since its beginnings in Africa. Religion is defined as thought, belief, and practice concerned with the transcendent and the ultimate questions of life (Karenga, 211). The vast majority of African Americans practice some form of Protestantism. Protestantism’s relatively loose hierarchical structure, particularly in the Baptist and Methodist denominations, has allowed African Americans to create and maintain separate churches. Separate churches enabled blacks to take up positions of leadership denied to them in mainstream America. In addition to their religious role, African American churches traditionally provide political leadership and serve social welfare functions. The African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first nationwide black church in the United States, was founded by Protestant minister Richard Allen in Philadelphia in 1816. The largest African American religious denomination is the National Baptist Convention, U. S. A. , founded in 1895. A significant number of African Americans are Black Muslims. The most prominent Black Muslim group is the Nation of Islam, a religious organization founded by W. D. Fard and Elijiah Poole in 1935. Poole, who changed his name to Elijiah Muhammad, soon emerged as the leader of the Nation of Islam. Elijiah Muhammad established temples in Detroit, Chicago, and other northern cities. Today, Louis Farrakhan leads the Nation of Islam. A small number of African American Muslims worship independently of the Nation of Islam, as part of the mainstream Islamic tradition (http://encarta. msn. com). Presented with the fact that African-American religion is predominately Judeo-Christian, the tendency is to view it as â€Å"white religion in black face†. However, the rooting of the two religions varies due to the historical and social experiences (Karenga, 212). African-American over time has somewhat declined in its power. The church was once the sole basis of the community, especially to those in need. Today, this is speculated to be the link in the decline in the bonding of the African-American community. The core principle of African-American sociology integrates the various aspects and social reality from an African-American perspective. African-American sociology is defined as the critical study of the structure and functioning of the African-American community as a whole, as well as the various units and processes which compose and define it, and its relations with people and the forces external to it (Karenga, 269). African-American sociology involves the study of family, groups, institutions, views and values, relations of race, class and gender and related subjects. The African-American community, like other communities, is defined by the sharing of common space. Parts of its common space, however, are bounded areas of living, such as ghettos, which not only close African-Americans in the community, but simultaneously shuts them out from the access and opportunities available in the larger, predominately Caucasian society (Karenga, 302). The concept of isolation creates areas of poverty. Socially, isolation in ghettos prevents the cycle of diversity society, allowing prevailing stereotypes to surface. The immense concentration of African-Americans is a reason for disadvantages, such as joblessness, poverty, etc. Statistics suggest that the employment rate issue is an essential on among African-American women. The average rate of unemployment among African-American women in the 1980’s was 16% and was higher for African-American men (Giddings, 350). Thus, the concept of diversity prevents African-Americans from thriving socially. The core concept of African-American politics can be defined as the art and process of gaining, maintaining and using power (Karenga, 311). The institution of politics has played a role in the African-American community since the 15th amendment was passed, allowing African-American men the right to vote (Constitution). In order to obtain political power, however, there are eight bases: 1) key positions in government 2) voting strength 3) community control 4) economic capacity 5) community organization 6) possession of critical knowledge 7) coalition and alliance and 8) coercive capacity. In order to attain these, African-Americans must unite, for unity strengthens weak groups (African-Americans) and increases the power of others (Caucasians) (Karenga, 363). Over time, African-Americans have made substantial strides in politics. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who ran for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988, brought exceptional support and force to African-American politics. In 1989, Virginia became the first state in U. S. history to elect an African- American governor, Douglas Wilder. In 1992, Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois became the first African-American woman elected to the U. S. Senate. Today, Moseley-Braun is a candidate for the Presidency of the United States (Franklin, 612). There were 8,936 African-American office holders in the United States in 2000, showing a net increase of 7,467 since 1970. In 2001, there were 484 mayors and 38 members of Congress. The Congressional Black Caucus serves as a political alliance in Congress for issues relating to African- Americans. The appointment of African-Americans to high federal offices? including Colin Powell (chairman of the U. S. Armed Forces Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1989-1993; Secretary of State, 2001-present), Ron Brown (Secretary of Commerce, 1993-1996), and Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas? also demonstrates the increasing power of African-Americans in the political arena (http://encarta. msn. com). Despite the advances of African-Americans in the political scene, the rate of voting has immensely declined compared to 40 years ago. According to statistics, less than 20% of African-Americans between the ages of 18 and 24, the most vital voting age group, voted in the last 40 years (http://www. rockthevote. org ). African-American voting’s disappointing decline over time has become a setback in regards to power, for politics control most of the issues that concern society, such as healthcare, housing, and employment: issues that the African-American community are in need of improving. The core concept of economics is defined as the study and process of producing, distributing (or exchanging) and consuming goods and services. Economically, African-Americans have benefited from the advances made during the Civil Rights era. The racial disparity in poverty rates has narrowed to some extent. The African-American middle class has grown substantially. In 2000, 47% of African-Americans owned their homes. However, African-Americans are still underrepresented in government and employment. In 1999, median income of African American household was $27,910 compared to $44,366 of non-Hispanic Caucasians. Approximately one-fourth of the African-American population lives in poverty, a rate three times that of Caucasians. In 2000, 19. 1 % of the African-American population lived below poverty level as compared to 6. 9% of Caucasians population. The unemployment gap between African-Americans and Caucasians has grown. In 2000, the unemployment rate among African-Americans was almost twice the rate for Caucasians. The income gap between African-American and Caucasian families also continue to widen. Employed African-Americans earn only 77% of the wages of Caucasians in comparable jobs, down from 82% in 1975. In 2000, only 16. 6% of African-Americans 25 years and older earned bachelor’s or higher degrees in contrast to 28. 1% of Caucasians. Although rates of births to unwed mothers among both African-Americans and Caucasians have risen since the 1950’s, the rate of such births among African-Americans is three times the rate of Caucasians (DeBose, 1). Thus, the state of African-American economics have flourished over time, yet remains in a state of improvement. Whether one talks about poverty, incomes, jobs, etc. , all imply and necessitate the concern with economics in the African-American community (Karenga, 355). Conclucively, the possibility of problems arising towards the discipline of African-American Studies are rooted in the birth of the discipline itself (Karenga, 476). The mission of the discipline, problematic administrators, and campus opposition are examples of obstacles that often attempt to prevent the missions of African-American Studies. However, African-American Studies has continued to defend its stance over time. Thus, as long as there is an African-American culture, the quest for knowledge in the African-American studies field will remain. Works Cited DeBose,Brian. â€Å"Reclaiming the Mission†. Nov. 2002 . Franklin, John Hope. From Slavery to Freedom. Nashville, TN: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Giddings, Paula. When and Where I Enter . New York:Perrenial, 1984. Karenga, Malauna. Introduction to Black Studies. Los Angeles: University of Sankore Press ? Third Edition, 2002. http://encarta. msn. com http://www. rockthevote. com.

Laozi and Dao Essay

1, Superficially understanding Laozi’s ideas, â€Å"those who know do not talk; / those who talk do not know† (56), are a bit conventional during his period time. It seems like that sages should try to follow the path of solitary, pretending to be ignorant and hide their talents to stay out of troubles. But we should think much deeper because Laozi’s wisdom is extremely profound that it is difficult for us to understand it. I think that â€Å"those who know do not talk;/ those who talk do not know† means that sage does not need to show off their talents. In Laozi, if a person is true erudite or intelligent, he himself will unify with what he learns and understands; I mean that everything a sage does can show how wise he is—a sage himself is wisdom itself. Laozi himself focuses more on how to live as an erudite person, act as an erudite person rather than talk as an erudite person. Related to Chinese tradition, Laozi prefers people who are humble and low-key but not ostentatious and hard-edged. So, Laozi writes about Dao instead of talking it; he believes that Dao itself is the truth which truly exists and does not need to be publicized by preaching. 2ï ¼Å'Confucius’ ideas of Dao focus more on ourselves, but Laozi’s Dao is more receptive, including the rules of everything in the universe. â€Å"An educated gentleman cannot but be resolute and broad—minded, for he has taken up a heavy responsibility and a long course. Is it not a heavy responsibility which is to practice benevolence? Is it not a long course, which will end only with his death?† (The Analects). Confucius thinks that no matter how difficult it is, man can make their will the will of the universe if they perform in the right ritual; that is the reason why Chinese emperor Wu (one of the most ambitious and powerful emperors in Chinese history) of Han dynasty decides to confucianize the whole China. Unlike Confucius, Laozi thinks that Dao decides what is possible and what is impossible, maybe possible can become impossible, but it should follow the rules of Dao; human being cannot force the impossible become possible. The biggest difference between Laozi and Confucius is that Confucius knows the past, now, but he does not know future, so everyone need to struggle now for future; Laozi  knows past, now and future because he knows that everything follows the Dao so he prefers that everyone should enjoys now and does not worry about future because it has already been decided by Dao.

The Virgin of Vladimir

http://www. flickr. com/photos/t-a-a/5340663023/  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Virgin of Vladimir Byzantine painting was not realistic in its representations of the divine and super natural. (Online Lectures) The final results were paintings and mosaics that had a blending of some naturalistic elements and abstractions. (Online Lectures) The unifying element was that the works were depictions of the Divine for the Church. (Online Lectures) The Virgin of Vladimir an image depicting a mother and child was given to the Russian ruler by the Byzantine emperor somewhere between 1130 and 1135. This image later became known as the Virgin of Vladimir which is believed to have been one of St. Luke’s original paintings painted from real life. (Unknown) As of today it is now considered to be the work of a twelfth century Byzantine artist, to date its true creator is still unknown. This icon has come to be considered the most important and most powerful icon in Russia. (Unknown) This is one of the most copied icons over generations. This icon was credited with protecting Russia in several battles. F. S. Kleiner) Because of this, the Virgin of Vladimir was held in close regards by rulers of Russia. (Unknown) Whenever the capital moved, the icon moved as well. It eventually ended up in Moscow in the late fifteenth century. The Virgin, as seen in the example image that I choose, is holding the child in a tender embrace while looking out to the viewer. It has been said that she is acknowledging Christ’s future sacrifice for all of mankind. This image exhibits all of th e characteristic Byzantine traits: her straight long nose and small mouth, the golden rays in the infant’s drapery; the decorative sweep of the unbroken contour that encloses the two figures; and the flat silhouette against the golden ground. †   (F. S. Kleiner)   This work of art is unified. The artist used actual proportions in this painting; the child is proportionally smaller than the mother. The vividness of the hues of yellows and oranges worked well creating a harmonious piece of art. Overall, I think that this is an interestingly balanced piece of art. Works Cited Kleiner, Fred S. and Mamiya, Christin J. Gardner's Art Through the Ages: A Concise History of Western Art. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2007. â€Å"Byzantine Art. † Online Lectures: History of Art in Early Civilization ART1020 XD. Web. 3 September 2011. Unknown. Art Through Time: A Global View . unknown unknown unknown. 4 September 2011 ;http://www. learner. org/courses/globalart/work/219/index. html;.

Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Human Resource Management - Essay Example There is no clear distinction between human resource management and personnel management. The two are used interchangeably by different authors hence the need to draw a line between the two and determine which of the approaches to management of human resources is more effective. This prompts the need to evaluate personnel management and the evolution of human resources management and the functions performed through the two approaches. Personnel Management According to Bach and Sisson (2000: 10), as early as 1945 personnel management was in existence and used to be â€Å"an administrative function concerned with operational matters of the organization†. The personnel managers were entrusted with such functions as; recruiting and selecting new employees, staff appraisal, reward management, negotiating contracts with trade unions, and handling training programmes for employees among other operational issues. Trade unions were widespread and worked in liaison with personnel manage rs to ensure fair work conditions and practices through negotiation of employment contracts. These contracts were the guiding principles of employee behaviour and were strictly observed. The management of human resources was solely the role of personnel specialists through formalised personnel policies such as job description, job evaluation systems and bureaucratic controls. Personnel management was geared towards satisfying shareholder interests of maximising revenue hence bonuses and rewards were major motivation for employees. Evolution of Human Resource Management With growth of industries, there was a lot of competition among organizations hence a new method of managing workforce was required for competitive advantage. The need was also prompted by growth in business education, rapid expansion of business studies courses and MBA which acted as source of information regarding a new management technique referred as human resource management. The HRM involved aligning operational functions of personnel managers with organizational goals (Koster, 2002). The approach was strategic in nature as opposed to personnel management which involved crisis management. High commitment of workforce began to be emphasized and was achieved through worker involvement and participation in management activities such as decision making. HRM introduced teamwork in organizations for better results and devolution of responsibilities to line managers although some resisted due to lack of management skills. Some personnel managers were not willing to give up their operational roles to line managers. Due to complexity and nature of their work the managers are accepting to delegate their roles so as to concentrate on other duties such as offering consultancy services to line managers as well as senior management. Kumar & Mittal (2001) acknowledges the fact that personnel management was about getting better results with collaboration of people hence employees were supposed to make con tribution for business purposes. The HRM on the other hand is

Solyndra Solar Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Solyndra Solar - Term Paper Example Meanwhile, the program intends to create over 60,000 jobs for the citizens and remains the significant source of jobs for thousands of people. Despite the current bankruptcy, the program is facing, the administration claims that its investment portfolio is still effective and productive. Meanwhile, the Solyndra issues post criticism about the suitability of government in the process of funding technologies and programs. Thus, the paper will evaluate the bankruptcy issues, bailout and analysis of the Solyndra Solar in order to establish its performance in the market. Solyndra Solar Bailout The research indicates that the Solyndra has used a lot of billion dollars ineffectively due to the poor management and $535 million are direct bailout from the United State taxpayers (Cappiello, 2011). The program was handed $535 million dollars as a federal loan guarantee despite its unstable financial footing. Solyndra has applied for the federal trade regulation support in order to assist foot t he bill for the 1,100 employees that it laid off as a result of bankruptcy. Meanwhile, the administration program is supposed to use $1.5 billion to bailout the retraining for employees who had lost their jobs due to the foreign trade like competition from the cheap panels from china. ... The bailout had a lot of risk disclosure, but the company was operating at a high cash burn rate because it could not mange its expenses effectively. Meanwhile, the company had sales of $100 million in 2010 and as a result of high costs and overhead it recorded a loss of $172 million that year (Cappiello, 2011). The company had lost about half a billion dollars for three sears before it comes for the bailout money from the federal programs. The federal government gave the money to the Solyndra without evaluating the financial crisis that was affecting the company. The company was producing tubes at cost of $4 per watt output, but it made losses on them because it was charging $3.24 in the market. Meanwhile, the company spent tens of millions of the bailout money in establishing a 500 million megawatt production capacity given that its production volumes had reduced to 65 megawatts (Cappiello, 2011). The company was expected to use the bailout money to sort the sales problems, but it spent its cash to build costly production firm. Meanwhile, the Kaiser Foundation bailout the Solyndra with a total of $ 75 million that would assist the company’s situation, but the company would be paid before taxpayers get their $535 million back (Cappiello, 2011). The paying the taxpayers should follow the order of creditors due to the bankruptcy proceeding of the company. Meanwhile, the bailout assisted the company because it was almost certain to fail in case it was not bailout because the refinancing plan was rejected by the federal program. Solyndra Solar Bankruptcy The company faced various difficulties that led the company to close operations that will affect the

The Impact of Globalization on the Global Economy and Global Business Assignment

The Impact of Globalization on the Global Economy and Global Business - Assignment Example From this paper it is clear that the Westphalian model of nationhood allowed different groups to form nations and maintain some degree of autonomy. The autonomy led to the creation of sovereign governments that were recognized locally in the nation and also internationally under the Westphalian treaty. Under this model, people and businesses had to be done within the confines of a given nation or state. In order to do any business elsewhere, the business needed to take up a charter or a kind of permit in the foreign jurisdiction. This provided serious restrictions for doing business borders. The Age of Exploration was pioneered by European sailors mainly from the Iberian nations of Spain and Portugal who found ways of reaching other nations by sea. This led to colonization and several international grasp of lands in foreign territories. In this era, businesses were organized strictly according to national lines and it was only the governments of the respective European nations who co ntrolled affairs in the overseas territories they had acquired. This led to serious tensions that led to several wars in the past three hundred years. The largest and most destructive of these wars fought over the control of national interests was the Second World War which was fought on the basis of trade restrictions and control of foreign territories. After the Second World War, the United Nations was formed to seek peaceful means of resolving issues and the promotion of human rights and the improvement of lives for people in societies around the world. Towards Modern Globalization The United Nations and other related entities like the IMF and World Bank set the foundation for the integration of nations and the unification of purpose of different businesses from different parts of the world. This marked the move towards the globalization that we have today. Globalization for the most part refers to the worldwide exchange of resources between nations and communities without restri ctions. As the study outlines globalization best refers to the elimination of borders and the disappearance of national restrictions on trade and other economic activities. Globalization has encouraged the harmonization of standards across borders and this has led to the maintenance of common systems and structures that aim at providing the best results for nations and peoples in different parts of the world. Globalization has affected global business and global economy in several ways. In other words, globalization has changed the world from the previous Westphalian model where citizens and businesses from nations could not operate in other nations without strict restrictions and limitations. There have been several changes that globalization has created in the general sense as well as the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels. General Trends of Globalization that Affects Businesses The fact that globalization, powered by the United Nations was inspired by the need to protect human rights and the dignity of people has led to a high degree of social consciousness.

Internationalization of The Indian Market Essay

Internationalization of The Indian Market - Essay Example Internationalization of The Indian Market The market for consumer goods in India has been on an upward trend since the amendment of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 giving consumers an upper hand in deciding what they want (Tiwari and Herstatt, 2012). According to Bruche (2009), consumption trends in India indicate an inclination towards satisfaction of wants rather than the traditional focus on needs. Consumer culture has favoured the development of textile industry as people tend to replace their clothing with new ones every now and then and discarding the ones that are out of fashion. Repair of clothes has become a thing of the past among the working and business class and is only in the rural neighbourhoods that people are likely to repair worn-out clothes. This is an indication that consumers have more money to buy new clothes. According to Beise (2004), a successful consumer society is characterized by an increased rate of production of goods and services, increased purchases and consumption. The Indian society can be considered to be progressing as all these aspects are evident in the market (Bruche, 2009). It is therefore necessary to consider India as a perfect foreign market for the SME’s internationalization strategy. The Uppsala model described by Johanson and Vahlne (2013) will be most appropriate in the expansion of the textile business in the Indian market. As proposed in the model, it will be necessary to understand and gain experience in the UK market which is the home country where the SME is established.

Workplace Violence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Workplace Violence - Assignment Example Therefore, workplace violence remains a grave threat to employees and the larger community. This paper argues that victims of workplace violence experience perceived fear and psychological distress or mental problems immediately after the unpleasant incident. These negative outcomes of workplace violence cause dysfunctions in an organization. Hence it is important to implement effective prevention policies against workplace violence. Perceived Fear and the Psychological Effect of Workplace Violence Numerous studies have reported the effect of workplace violence on the victims’ psychological or emotional wellbeing, as well as on their self-perception. Some examples of the psychological impacts of violence in the workplace are lowered self-worth, distress, vulnerability, anger, fear, depression, denial, humiliation, and guilt. Several researchers have identified post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as an outcome of violence in the workplace among those victimized. Several of th e warning signs of PTSD are damaged concentration, weakened memory, recurrent nightmares, disturbance, isolation, bad temper, physiological stimulation, and anxiety (Cavanaugh et al., 2012). Victims of workplace violence immediately feel physical and psychological numbing, distress, denial, and suspicion. Immediately after the unpleasant incident, the victims go through three kinds of effects (Browne-Miller, 2012): (1) withdrawal effects such as truancy, social isolation; reliving effects such as nightmares, recollections; and (3) other effects such as excessive shock, anger, fear, and irritability. Horizontal violence is one of the forms of workplace violence that brings about negative psychological effects on victims. And horizontal violence is most prevalent in health care settings. Increasing rates of continuous horizontal violence or harassment and bullying have been reported to negatively affect the physical and psychological wellbeing of nurses, employee retention, and job sa tisfaction as well as indirect impacts on patient care quality and possibility of negative health outcomes. Horizontal violence harms the individual’s self-esteem and eventually becomes damaging to the nurses’ career, as violent behavior develops from colleagues who are supposed to be providing support, assistance, and guidance (Becher & Visovsky, 2012). Continuous horizontal violence among nurses is a major problem. In enhancing and broadening the field of research to intervention and prevention level, theoretical perspectives from sociology, psychology, and biology are explained alongside the theoretical explanation of the frequency of horizontal violence against nurses. Several studies discovered that employees are more likely to be victimized by people outside their organizations or by members of the civic sector than by colleagues, even though there are discrepancies. Nevertheless, in spite of the evidently lower prevalence of co-worker violence existing findings indicate that its psychological effects are more damaging and serious than those of public hostility (Mueller & Tschan, 2011). In the study of Kelloway and LeBlanc (2002 as cited in Mueller & Tschan, 2011), public hostility determined perceived fear and possibility of future victimization but was not related to emotional dedication, physiological health, and psychological wellbeing. In contrast, co-worker violence did not determine perceived fear or possibility of future victimization but was strongly related to reduced employee retention, weakened dedication, and poor health. The explanation for this pattern of findings needs additional study to resolve but there are several available possible explanations. First is that public hostility or client-initiated workplace violenc

The Victorian Law Reform Commission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Victorian Law Reform Commission - Essay Example Under the present law factors that reduce a person's blameworthiness for an intentional killing may be taken into account in one of three ways. In some situations where people intentionally kill another person they may be charged with and convicted of an offence which attracts a lower sentence than murder (for example, manslaughter). In this case they will not be 'labelled' as a 'murderer'. In other situations they may not be guilty of any offence (as where they killed in self-defence) or they may be convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter because they have a partial defence (as where they successfully argue they killed as the result of provocation). However, different legal systems take account of levels of blameworthiness in different ways. When law reform bodies have reviewed defences and partial defences to homicide, they have frequently reached different conclusions on how factors which affect the culpability of the accused should be taken into account by the criminal law. ... This allowed the courts to take into account certain human frailties. One such frailty involved the idea that the accused had been provoked into committing the act, because the victim had said or done something that caused the offender to loose control--as was deemed to be the case in the instance of a "chance medley." For the provocation defence to be invoked, the nature of the provocation had to fall into one of four categories: (1) grossly insulting assault; (2) attack upon a relative or a friend; (3) unlawful imprisonment or restraint of an Englishman; or (4) a man coming upon his wife engaged in adultery. In order to benefit from the defence, the accused had to prove that, during his response to the provocation, he was sufficiently deprived of self-control and had acted without malice. Historically, the criminal law system has justified and condoned male violence against women. It allowed a man to use "reasonable" force to ensure the respect and obedience of his spouse; it immunized husbands from prosecution for rape of their wives; it did not sanction the rape of "bad girls;" and it ignored most forms of child abuse. Our law did not even recognize the existence of sexual harassment until the mid-eighties, and the use of professional and religious power to sexually exploit subordinates has only recently been acknowledged and condemned by our justice system. More specifically, special evidentiary and substantive rules were developed for cases of wife-assault. Indeed, a woman cannot be compelled to testify against her husband, even in a case where he is accused of assault against her. This principle of "marital unity" historically "privatized" her complaint and forced her to bear the

Oliver Twist Essay Example for Free

Oliver Twist Essay Oliver Twist is the second novel written by Charles Dickens. It is all about Oliver who was an orphan living the world of crimes in London. The novel was published in Bentley’s Miscellany in a monthly basis. George Cruikshank was the illustrator of the said novel. Criticisms and opinions were gathered y Dickens as introducing the world of crimes. He exposed to the world the life of criminals and prostitutes. With this criticisms and comments, he took the opportunity of presenting a good view of his composition. He did not take the critics in a negative way. Among the works of Dickens, Oliver twist is the presented in a dramatic form. Oliver twist appears in series of novel in 10 theaters in London. The novel was also made with 25 numbers of versions since it started in 1906. The Famous Roman Polanski was the also made his own version of Oliver Twist. In the Oliver Twist, Oliver was an infant born in a workshop. After the adaptation of Oliver, he the came to an infant farm where he came o develop himself and then get back to the working place. Orphans were put to the workhouse to get their selves a home to get into. In the workplace, the orphans were experiencing the inhumane and mistreatment. With these mistreatments, the orphans were put into starvation. Oliver was asked to stand before his comrades to talk with their masters about the issue. Troublemaker is also named or recognized after Oliver. He does some job for other person who wishes to take him (Dickens, 2003). Oliver outside the workplace life was uneasy at first. He was so tired and hungry. He didn’t expect that life was also misery. Jack Dawkins is one of the persons who help Oliver by giving him a place to stay. Even though, he was recently together with thieves, he was still finds people who help him. As he stays with Dawkins, he also works with him. He came to the world of pick pocketers. With his work with Dawkins, he was also accused for some crimes. With the crimes being accused for him, he came to experience the world of criminals and prostitutes. He had himself put into a world where there are many negative insights. The life of Oliver really became a misery when he came with the criminals and do some criminal works. His life was also nearly put to death when he once put into criminal work when he was shot. With this misery life of Oliver he came to know about his family roots. He came to know who his brother is. He talks with Maylies and Doctor Losberne about his misery life. He had a brother who is a monk and he was claimed to be an inherited to a monk. Oliver was also an inheritor of an estate which his father wrote in will before his father died. And because of this they wanted to have the inheritance of Oliver. In the end, Oliver made a life of good after he had also got the inheritance. Oliver Twist is of the great novel of Dickens. The novel presented a story of humor and wit. The novel is of poverty mode and of cruelty. Oliver Twist may e given recognition for his thoughts about the world and its great creativity of story. With this Novel of Dickens, he used some world views. He relates the Novel with religion world view. He uses some facts with the monks when tackling about the religion. He discussed that eve though the family of Oliver was of different religions, they were still putting the peace on their heart. With respect to the political view, the politics in the novel represents some deficiencies of the true form of politics in the whole wide world. It was presented and explained on the novel how the politics is some sort of injustice. The real politics and politics in this novel are neither really similar nor different. In the geographical view, the novel was situated in way that the geographical mode is of the same way with the time of the novel was presented. It was situated in a community where people experienced difficulties with respect to community of criminals ad prostitutes. The people in the novel were creating a way that the geographic position of the community is essential. Tackling with the social view, the author speaks for the truth about the social community. It is explained in the novel that people need other people to survive in the community. People are born for other people. No man is an island. In order to survive the cruelty of the world, one person should have great communication and social interactions with other people. And last but not the least, about the economic view. One of the great topics in this novel is about the economic view. It is presented here that in life of poverty and scruelty; people were doing unnecessary things just to make their life into fulfillment. People may do some crimes and other illegal works just to survive in the low economized community. The use of providing great world issues in the Novel is a way to provide creativity with the said religion, political, economical, social and geographical ways. The author, Charles Dickens have very wide thought about the current issues I his time that he came to develop a novel with story that relates to the whole wide world. I is necessary for him that he even does not have good experiences in writing had no acclaimed awards for his works he still make it expressive for him to provide meaningful Novel. The Novel in particular was really fascinating for the story it provides is viewers or readers, it catches most of the reader’s attention. It does not need o make some more great speculations for the story to make it interesting. It was interesting in many ways. With its thoughts and ideas, it is still interesting. List of Reference Dickens, C. Oliver Twist. New York. Penguin Books; 2003.

Pellet Catalyst Development using Ferroxcube Process

Pellet Catalyst Development using Ferroxcube Process Pellet catalyst development using the Ferroxcube process The pellet preparation followed the classic routine of the powder metallurgy industry (NTUA): hematite (Fe2O3) or magnetite (Fe3O4) powders were homogenized in a plasticizer and greasing environment, within a rotating pan (Figure 7). Consequently, disks were pressed in a 150 bar hydraulic press (Figure 8). NTUA used the experience of CERTH (coordinators of the HYDROSOL projects to proceed in the proper preparation of the pellets). Figure 7. Rotating panFigure 8. The 150 bar hydraulic press After the initial pelletization by the hydraulic press, the pellets were undergone sintering and reduction in a controlled atmosphere (oxygen-reduced atmosphere) oven as shown in Figure 9, in order to obtain the magnetite phase certified by XRD, as shown in Figure 10. Figure 9. The sintering oven.Figure 10. XRD response of the sintered pellet, certifying the magnetite phase The porosity of the pellet and the neck development, offering substantial mechanical properties, have been monitored by SEM, as shown in Figure 11, as well as by the classic pressurizing methods. This way, the magnetite pellets have been stabilized in mechanical, electric and magnetic properties, offering mechanical robustness and electric resistivity below 10 Ohm or 3 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­Ohm.m (non-used pellet). Furthermore, an advanced manufacturing process has been proposed by the SUN Unit to the above-mentioned industrial technique. During sintering and reduction process, magnetic field can be added externally to the sintering and reducing ovens to magnetically orient the magnetite dipoles in the desired direction, allowing for advanced Lorentz force control. 2.2. A thin-film catalyst We have conceived and developed a thin film device for the hydrogen production which can be integrated in an automated system. The device can also be used for the reduction and oxidation process in oxide semiconducting films supported by metal substrates-wafers, even if they do not exhibit coherent magnetic order. The method is based on the Lorentz forces acted on the reducing oxidizing conducting electrons in the said oxide semiconducting films. Hence, this device can trap oxygen and hydroxyl from transmitted water, thus producing hydrogen. This such reduction and oxidation process in open air, as well as controlled atmosphere conditions. A particular application, useful for the HELENIC REF project refers to the three-layer depicted in Figure 15. The upper layer consists of a magnetite film not thicker than 500 nm, an insulating thin film supporting the magnetite film, not thicker than 500 nm and finally a metallic wafer made of Al or other metal, supporting the insulating and the magnetite thin film. Figure 15. Schematic of the catalyst Possible manufacturing methods include electrodeposition, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition as well as lithography and masking methods for the generation of electric contacts on the upper thin film. Concerning Fe3O4 (magnetite) film, a preferable but not obligatory condition is to be able to provide magnetic order in all grains of the ferrimagnetic cells of the oxide. This is achieved by magnetic field during deposition or by post-processing magnetic field annealing with subsequent field cooling. The desired properties of the Fe3O4 (magnetite) film are indicatively as follows: Structure of the magnetite phase, which can be certified by X-ray powder diffraction Multi-grained microstructure with small necks between grains, monitored by Electron Microscopy Resistivity below 10 kOhm, indicative of semiconducting phase Magnetic order, observed by monitoring the magnetic hysteresis loop Mechanical robustness observed by hardness and wear measurement Applying electric current through the metallic support of the film results in magnetic field parallel to the surface of the film and vertical to the applied electric current. The amplitude of this field is: Where I is the applied electric current and a the thickness of the film. If the thickness a (sum of the magnetite film and the insulating thin film) are less than 1 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­m and the current I is C Amperes, then the applied field is: Thus, the applied field is controllable by the applied electric current through the metallic support. This current can easily be in the order of one Amperes in dc mode or several tens of Amperes in pulsed mode, if the thickness of the metallic support is in the order of 100 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­m, thus allowing the transmission of magnetic field larger than 1 T in the vicinity of the oxide semiconducting film. Therefore, passing electric current through metallic support, one can simulate the magnetic field vertical to the direction of electric current passing through the magnetite thin film. The directions of these two electric currents characterizes the direction of the Lorentz force on the conducting electrons of the magnetite film. Parallel currents result in forcing the electrons towards the insulating thin film, while anti-parallel currents force them towards the surface of the magnetite film. These two different directions of Lorentz forces have a different effect on the operation of the magnetite thin film, acting as catalyst for the production of hydrogen. Passing electric current along the magnetite film, independent on the electric current passing through the metallic substrate of the magnetite film, (i.e. from another source), along the same direction of the current transmitted to the metallic substrate, results in a Lorentz force acting on the charge carriers (electrons) moving them from the surface towards the insulating thin film. Thus, the surface of the magnetite film becomes activated, in other words is reduced due to the removal of the mentioned Lorentz electrons. Activation is the generation of electron vacancies, offering the generation of new oxygen vacancies (excess of oxygen vacancies). Thus, the resistivity drops, and the applied voltage results in higher current, which increases the local temperature to 280 320C. Such temperature increase is observable by any kind of pyrometer. The temperature increase is dependent on the combination of the electric current passing through the oxide semiconducting film and the magnetic field transmitted to it due to the electric current passing through the metallic support. The effect is reversible and un-hysteretic: increase or decrease of the amplitude of I x H product, where I is the applied current on the oxide film and H the field resulting from the current on the metallic substrate, results in un-hysteretic and reversible increase or decrease of the temperature and reduction of the oxide film respectively. Such activation can be maintained even in open air: the competition between the Lorentz electrons based reduction and the free air oxidation finally results in oxidation which can also be macroscopically observed by the decrease of the activated (reduced) area on the free surface of the film. Having limited the current passing through the metallic support may result in activation (reduction) shrinkage. In this case, increasing the current transmitted to the metallic substrate before the radiation disappears, or before oxygen vacancy excess disappears, the oxygen vacancy excess is rejuvenated. Such rejuvenation is completely reversible by using the magnetic field produced by the current passing through the metallic support (in the order of 1 T). After complete oxidation (phase transformation of all the Fe3O4 film to Fe2O3) such oxygen vacancy excess and consequent reduction of the compound is impossible with magnetic fields of this order. The reduction and oxidation process can be monitored by measuring the surface resistivity of the magnetite film. Such resistivity depicts the increase or decrease of oxygen vacancies on the surface and consequently the bulk of the oxide pellet. Increase and decrease of this resistivity is equivalent to the oxidation and reduction of the resistivity of the surface respectively. This effect is observable in all types of oxide semiconducting films even in the absence of coherent magnetic order in them. To be able to observe this effect in oxide semiconducting films, they should be in a continuous solid state form, exhibiting even a small electric conductivity, and provided that magnetic field and electric current of proper waveform and amplitude are simultaneously applied on the semiconducting oxide film and the conducting (metallic) support. Such reduction mechanism can be used in the reduction of compounds passing on or through the film surface. Our focus is the reduction of pure vapor water to H2, by means of trapping the oxygen or the hydroxyl of the water molecule to the reduced (or activated) magnetite. Such oxidation with consequent hydrogen production can be reversed back to oxide reduction (activation) by means of stopping the water vapor transmission. This way, the two electric currents will reduce (activate) again the surface of the oxide film, provided that no water vapors are transmitted to the pellet surface or body. A certain application of such effect is the use of the said pair of Fe3O4 (magnetite) film with its metallic support for the production of hydrogen and oxygen from water vapors, using the following algorithm: Independent electric currents pass through the metallic support and the oxide semiconducting film in the same direction. Thus, the surface of the oxide semiconducting film is reduced (activated). Then, water vapor is transmitted on the surface of the oxide semiconducting film, resulting in oxygen trapping, hydrogen production and oxidation of the surface of the oxide semiconducting film. As soon as the resistance of the surface of the oxide semiconducting film exceeds a certain threshold, indicating reach to a critical level of oxide film surface reduction, the water vapor transmission is stopped. Thus, the oxide film surface is re-activated, followed by consequent oxygen release, until the resistance of the oxide film surface reaches a minimum threshold, indicating proper reduction (activation), which is proper for oxygen trapping. Then, water vapor is re-transmitted to the re-activated oxide film surface for hydrogen production. The production of hydrogen and oxygen is followed by an automatic storage of these two gases in different chambers to be used for any scope, like thermal combustion or fuel cell operation or other purpose. Development of the thin film catalysts The Dynamic Hydrogen Bubble Template (DHBT) is an excellent method for the fabrication of macrostructures with nanoporous side walls. The method has been named from the phenomena when a series of hydrogen-bubbles generated on the surface of the substrae act like a dynamic negative template. Figure 1 demonstrates the theoretical approach of the technique. Figure 1(a) illustrates the hydrogen-evolution taking place on the surface there is no metal/metal-oxide deposition. The size of the bubbles increasing along the distance from the substrate surface. Fig 1(b) shows the SEM-image of copper nanofoams prepared by DHBT. Figure 1. (a) Simplified description of DHBT generated metal/metal-based foams; (b) Honeycomb-like Cu-deposit structure made by DHBT. The electrochemical deposition procedure of the development of the catalyst is divided in two main parts. At first preliminary experiments on deposition of magnetite film were carried out in order to determine the orders of amplitude of the different involved parameters (current density, geometry etc.). , the electrochemical deposition of iron-oxide films was carried out as a preliminary approach. Based on the results of the characterization, the parameters of the deposition were varied in a high range in order to obtain 3D-structured porous nanofoams. The films were electrodeposited onto copper substrates (purity: 99.5%). The substrates were mechanically polished with 800 and 2000 emery papers, respectively. Henceforward, the polished substrates were ultrasonically cleaned in deionized water, ethanol and acetone, respectively. The 2 cm2 active surface area of the substrate was ensured by commercial nail-polish and insulating tape. The galvanostatic deposition was carried out in a two-electrode cell using a DC Power Supply. Platinum-mesh was used as counter electrode. Two different arrangement of the working electrode have been tested as shown in Figure 2. The electrolytic bath was a strongly alkaline solution with pH 12.5 made of 0.037 M Fe2(SO4)3.x H2O, 0.1 M triethanolamine (TEA) and 2 M NaOH. After mixing the components at T = 80 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C the solution had greyish-green color and no turbidity was observed. The parameters of the deposition process were varied in the terms of current density, bath temperature and deposition time. The range of cathodic current density was chosen j = 5-15 mA.cm-2, the depostion time was given from 5 min to 6 hours and the bath temperature was adjusted T = 60-90 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C. The nominal thicknesses of the prepared structures were calculated by using the Faraday-law. The surface morphology of the deposited film-layers were studied by scanning electron microscope (Nova NanoSEM 230) and the crystallographic characterization was determined by X-ray diffraction (Bruker D8 Advance, Cu radiation-40kV, 35mA). Figure 16. a) copper triangle used as working electrode (W) by turning the active surface towards the surface of the electrolyte b) copper-plate (W) used as working electrode by immersing it totally and by turning the active surface towards the counter electrode (C). Concerning the development of 3D-structured porous films, the substrate deposition was not changed (Cu-foil, purity: 99.5%). SiC polishing papers were used in grade of 800, 1500, 2500 and 4000, respectively as a surface pre-treatment. All the pre-treated samples were ultrasonically cleaned in deionized water, ethanol and acetone, respectively. In that case, the active surface area of the substrates was reduced to 0.5 cm-2 and fixed with nail-polish and insulating tape. The galvanostatic deposition was carried out in a two electrode cell using a BioLogic SP 300 potentiostat. Platinum-wire was used as counter electrode. Concerning the result of the film-deposition the arrangement of the working electrode was set in vertical position. The electrolytic bath, concentrations and its properties were the same as described above. The cathodic current density was varied in the range ofj = 0.075-1 A.cm-2, the depostion time was changed between 30 sec to 180 s and the bath temperature was adjusted T = 90 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C. Similar films have also been developed by using sputtering deposition and electron-gun aided deposition (Figure 17). Apart from the electrolytic method, thin magnetite films were also deposited onto insulating films by usign spuutering and electron gun physical evaporation at the NTUA. However, the obtained results on the porosity of the magnetite films are not comparable with the DHBT method and therefore they are not demonstratable at their current stage. Nevertheless, experiments are under way to obtain PVD films of the quality observed in the electrodeposited films. Characterization of catalysts Structural analysis The catalyst pellets were prepared by a proprietary process from Fe3O4 powders. IP SAS used Fe3O4 powder with declared purity better than 99% and nominal grain size of 2-4um supplied by chemicalstore.com, product code FE3O4M1. The phase composition determined by XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) is shown in Figure 38. Minor traces of Hematite can be observed at 32.8 ° 2Theta for the sample produced at IP SAS. Figure 38. XRD patterns from pellets prepared by SUN (red) and IP SAS (blue). Marked constituent phases are Magnetite (blue lines) and Hematite (black lines) A typical XRD response in the bulk SUN pellets and in bulk CERTH pellets is illustrated in Figure 1, demonstrating exclusive magnetite presence. Figure 1. XRD response of bulk pellets from SUN (left) and CERTH (right) illustrating exclusive presence of magnetite Phase transformations were studied by the means of in-situ XRD presented in Figure 41. Samples were mortar milled to obtain a fine powder that could be spread on the sample holder of the furnace. Milling force was kept minimal to preserve the structure of the pellet parts. Linear heating with indicated rate was used to obtain well-defined diffraction maxima with respect to the signal to noise ratio. Diffractometer was configured for parallel beam illumination with a secondary LiF monochromator to supress fluorescence from the Fe containing pellets. Formerly purely magnetite pellets are transforming to hematite in the vicinity of 300 °C. After the transformation no other phase change was observed. Pellets supplied by SUN exibit the transformation at higher temparature than the pellets prepared at IP SAS. This can be atributed to the smaller size of the Fe3O4 crystallites in the SUN pellets. Detailed pattern examination is shown in Figure 42. The studied powdered pellets exhibit only presence of magnetite and hematite respectively. Diffraction maxima at 26 ° 2Theta corresponds to SiO2 present as a thin layer grown on the non-reflective Si sample holder. Figure 41. In-situ XRD patterns of catalysts in air atmosphere with indicated heating rate Figure 42. In-situ XRD patterns of annealed catalyst pellets at indicated temperatures. Marked constituent phases Magnetite (blue lines) and Hematite (black lines).Catalyst prepared at SUN left, IP SAS right. Crystallographic study of the iron-oxide thin films samples was also realized. Figure 4 represents the identification of the observed peaks. Figure 4(a) shows the results of sample prepared in 3300 s in 70 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C bath with -5 mA.cm-2 current density. Grazing incidence XRD patterns of this sample indicate the presence of magnetite (blue lines) and copper substrate (green lines). Grazing angle was 2 (red curve) and 6 degrees (blue curve), respectively. In Figure 4(b) the results of sample with same conditions as in Figure 4(a) can be seen, but in this case the current density was -9 mA.cm-2. Here, grazing incidence XRD patterns indicate iron (grey lines) and copper (green lines). Grazing angle was 2 (red curve) and 6 degrees (blue curve), respectively. Figure 4(c/1) and (c/2) show the results of XRD taken from the same sample with deposition conditions of 2 hours deposition time in 85 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C bath and -12.5 mA.cm-2 current density. Figure 4. X-ray diffractograms of the iron-oxide electrodeposited samples prepared under different conditions. a, Άt=3300 s,T = 70  °C, j= -5 mA cm-2; b, Άt=3300 s, T= 70 °C, j= -9 mA cm-2; c/1, Άt=7200 s, T= 85 °C, j = -12.5 mA cm-2; c/2, powder scratched from the surface of sample c/1 In Figure 4(c/1) the grazing incidence XRD patterns were done on the sample with the substrate. Clear evidence of magnetite (blue lines), iron (grey lines) and copper as substrate (green lines). Grazing angle was 2 (red curve) and 6 degrees (blue curve), respectively. Figure 4(c/2) demonstrates grazing incidence XRD pattern of loose powder from the same sample as (c/1). Only magnetite phase (blue lines) is detected. Grazing angle was 2 degrees. The XRD results show clear evidence of magnetite if the current density does not exceed 8 mA.cm-2 cathodic current density (see Figures 4(a) and (b). Apart from that, XPS studies have also been performed after the check meeting. For integration reasons, they are demonstrated only in the Milestone 1 document. Microstructural analysis Morphology of pellets after preparation was studied by the means of SEM (scanning electron microscopy) shown in Fig. 39. The particle size is larger for the catalyst prepared by SUN. The particle size of sample prepared at IP SAS is in good agreement with the manufacturer specification and is rather homogenous in size distribution. Sample prepared at SUN is exhibiting a different size distribution ranging from very fine sub-micron particles up to particles with size increasing 50um shown in Fig. 39 and 40. As can be seen the porosity of the prepared pellets is higher for the pellet prepared at IP SAS. The grid shown in Fig. 40 is protecting the sample from being destroyed by the magnetic field in the microscope and thus contaminating the microscope system by fine magnetic dust in the pole-piece, lens and detector system. It is worth to mention that the particle size is not directly explaining the diffraction maxima broadening shown in inset in Fig. 38. This is due to the fact that the diffraction domain size is rather different than the grain size of a particle. We can surely state that the diffraction domain size is smaller in the pellet prepared at SUN rather than at IP SAS despite the observed grain-size distribution. Figure 39. SEM micrographs of catalysts prepared by SUN (left) and IP SAS (right) Figure 40. Low magnification micrographs of catalyst prepared by SUN (left) and IP SAS (right) Micrographs from the CERTH pellets (Figure 41) illustrate a clear evidence of necks, responsible for the significant reduction of temperature. Figure 41. Micrographs of the CERTH pellets, illustrating the presence of micro-necks, responsible for the improvement of the electric and mechanical properties Concerning the thin film catalysts, SEM analysis was performed. Figure 3 demonstrates 4 different SEM-images of the prepared samples. Fig 3(a) was taken on a sample prepared in 300 s deposition period in 60 °C bath with -7.5 mA cm-2 current density, and the nominal thickness was 2.24 ÃŽÂ ¼m. In Fig 3(b) can be seen the morphology of the sample prepared in 300 s at 70 °C with-5 mA cm-2 current densitywith nominal thickness of 23.55 ÃŽÂ ¼m. Fig 3(c) shows the SEM-result of the sample deposited with the same bath temperature and current density as 3(b) but extended deposition time: Άt = 900 s (dn = 30.28 ÃŽÂ ¼m). Fig 3(d) represents the SEM-image of the sample prepared in the highest bath temperature 90 °C with 5 min deposition time, -7.5 mA cm-2 current density (dn = 4.42 ÃŽÂ ¼m). The SEM-images clearly show the structural changes by increasing the bath-temperature. Filamentous deposit structure has been observed at 90 à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C. Due to the galvanostatic deposition mode the potential values have been not recorded. For better understanding of the structural formations potentiostatic deposition mode should be done. Figure 3. SEM-images of the electrodeposited iron-oxide samples with different deposition parameters (a) Άt=300 s,T= 60 °C, j= -7.5 mA cm-2 at 30000X magnification (b) Άt=300 s, T= 70 °C, j = -5 mA cm-2 at 15 000X magnification(c) Άt=900 s, T= 70 °C, j= -5 mA cm-2at 10000X magnification (d) Άt=300 s, T= 90 °C, j= -7.5 mA cm-2 at 10000X magnification. Concerning nano-foam, due to the fact that the experiments were done in the close past the characterization of the prepared nanostructures was done only by scanning electron microscope. Figure 5 demonstrates the first promising results of the electrochemical deposition of iron-based 3D structures by using hydrogen generation on the surface as a negative template. Such a structure was a result of applying -0.375 A.cm-2 and more negative current density, namely -1 A.cm-2 with different depositing times. Fig 5(a) to Fig 5 (c) represents a possible building process of the 3D networks with pore size range in 2-6 ÃŽÂ ¼m. Other type of deposit can be observed at Fig 5(d) to Fig 5(e) with numerous dendrites along the pore-sides by using current density -0.375 A.cm-2 with different deposition times. The formation of porous layer is not so obvious like in the previous case, but the size of pores are close in the same range than the pores formed at -1 A.cm-2.

Ryanair: PESTEL and Porters Five Analysis

Ryanair: PESTEL and Porters Five Analysis 1.0 Introduction Ryanair is an Ireland based airline company and it involved in commercial aviation business since 1986, operating scheduled passenger airlines, serving short haul and point to point routes primarily between Ireland, Britain and Europe. It is the pioneers of low fare airline in Europe and even until now Ryanair is the only airline that offers cheapest air fare to passengers travel around Europe. Micheal OLeary is the CEO of Ryanair, holds 4.6% stake of the company, His dynamic low fare strategies along with the evolution of Ryanair have had led to burst of many budget airlines and some of them had been bought by Ryaniar around Europe, simply because of their inability to compete with Ryanair. European aviation industry is wider, but squeezed with many incumbents that are operating both short haul and long haul routes. As European short haul airline market segment is price sensitive, Ryanair handles no frills strategy and charges lowest price from its customers. In order to obtain bett er margin in the low fare demanding market Ryanair held in a position of cost leader and fundamental low fare strategy supports for rapid growth of its business. The strategic capabilities underpinned by its unique resources and core competences are the preliminary constituents for Ryanair to be a cost leader and offer low fares. This will be explained in detail under below topics about the feasibility of various strategic circumstances. 2.0 External Analysis: The analysis of Macro-environment explores core cause of factor; assess the nature of effects and immediacy. PESTEL analysis has been undertaken to evaluate the external environment of Ryanair. 2.1 PESTEL Analysis: (P)olitical/(L)egal factors: Preferential Treatment of home base airlines in some countries, at the same time they prevent thriving foreign companies and inflict them in more operational cost. Increased terrorists activities have prompted airline industry to tighten security measures and alleged terrorist plots will adversely affect flight turn-around time. Detrimental mental effects are also possible due to any terrorists plots targeted on Ryanair. The rapidly changing government rules and regulations are an inevitable legal factor for Ryanair. This will be discussed in detail under suppliers bargaining power. (E)conomic factors: The instability in fuel price cause major problem for airline industry. If they do not hedge, the fuel price hike is inevitable and they need to find cost savings in other spheres of business when the fuel price is soared. Ryanair was especially more vulnerable to fuel price rises in the past. For example: In the last quarter of 2008, when the fuel price was in its hike, Ryanair reported losses of $130 million dollar and it blamed a 71% increase in the price paid for fuel during the quarter due to the abnormal surge of fuel price of more than $ 1,100 a ton (K, Capel. Airline. The Telegraph, Feb 2 2009.). (E)nvironmental factors: As the world is heading towards more and more greener, all governments taking appropriate measures to control greenhouse gases from carbon emission which would lead to catastrophic human and economic consequences. Ryanair has network virtually in all European countries, so it is more vulnerable to all EU environmental rules and regulations. The mounting pressure on EU laws to tax aviation fuel and anticipated charges on environmental pollution by airlines would have direct impact to Ryanair. (T)echnological factors: Technological factors such as internet, innovative developments in telecommunications such as video conferencing, instant messaging, web conferencing etc. will mean less need for travel, especially on scenarios such as business meetings. 3.0 Industry environment: 3.1 Segmentation and positioning: Ryanair is positioned in the lowest fare segment and has least customer experience among other budget airlines in the European market. The market segment for its rivalries is broader with larger geographical area including operations to main airports, whereas Ryanairs networks are limited only to low cost secondary airports with smaller geographical area. Ryanair predominantly focuses on only people who are desperate for low fare and it has no separate segment for people who want luxury service or business class. Despite, Ryanairs continuous traffic growth, shows that the people wanting low fare in European market are tremendous and European market is for the low fare short-haul carriers. Perhaps, high air fare carriers neither cope up nor sustain against low fare carriers. The competitive position is deeply elaborated in section 3.2. 3.2 Porters five forces: Industry environment analysis figures out the foreseeing competitive pressure in European aviation and the profitability of the industry likely to be in future. It explores the magnitude impact of Threat of substitutes, Threat of Entrants, Rivalries in European market, bargaining power of supplier and bargaining power of customers. Rivalries: The high rivalry impacts for Ryanair are from Easy Jet, Air Lingus, Lufthansa, Iberia, SAS, Airfrance, KLM and Air Lingus. Few airlines (Easy Jet, Air lingus and Lufthansa) the first three of them are roughly more or less equal in size to Ryanair and some of their performances are even better in terms of customer service. This is considered as a significant threat to Ryanair. Despite, among all short-haul carriers Ryanair is the cost leader with having highest market share in the European market. Although Ryanair has firmly improving its competitive advantage, the core strategy of the company is to maintain the operational cost as minimum and offer low fare to customers, which is virtually same among its rivalries, but the outstanding scenario is Ryanair constantly creates new paths to bring down the operational cost . Threat of New Entrants: The short haul no frill airline market is a highly profitable business in Europe so far, while long haul market in Europe is experiencing huge losses like Air Lingus long haul airlines. So, the business scope in the short-haul market may attract new entrants. Although, European airline industry is de-regulated and open for both national and international companies, Airline business is not something like setting up a dot.com with minimum capital in anticipated profit. Hefty capital investment is required to acquire route, fleet, set up flight maintenance centre, building infrastructure etc in order to establish an operation. Industry knowledge and time associated with entry are significant for companies that want to start short haul airline business in Europe from other industries such as tourism and Rail way etc, but for airline companies from some other market like Asia, South America, North America and Australia can trace out the European market in some extent and such huge investm ents also may be affordable for them. Threat of substitutes: The threat of substitute is possible threat for Ryanairs traffic growth as passengers tendency to switch to other means of transport such as buses, trains and cruise. This kind of threat has medium effect over Ryanair, despite, the ubiquity of other means of transport to travel across European countries. Particularly rapid growth of railway network is considered to be a most influential substitute for short haul air travel across Europe. Congestion in airports and difficulties (such as boarding, airport journey) involved in air travel could cause passengers more likely to choose railway. Some government like U.K is substantially funding for the expansion of high-speed rail networks to and from Europe, especially to curb short haul carriers through heavier taxation due to the pressure arising from the environmental groups to cut down carbon emission by domestic aviation. The government intervention to establish better rail links in other countries such as France, Germany and the Nethe rlands is more vulnerable to Ryanairs routes in those countries (Dan Milmo 2009. The Guardian. 5th Aug). Bargaining power of supplier: Aircraft Supplier: In aviation Boeing and Airbus plays duopoly in manufacturing passenger aircrafts. Boeing is the main aircraft supplier for Ryanair, since its establishment. In terms of supplier bargaining power, Ryanair holds significant scale of power over Boeing, as it can easily switch to Airbus anytime in-case of high price charged by Boeing. The recent Micheal O Learys announcement of negotiation with Air Lingus evidenced the high bargaining power over its Aircraft supplier (Sarah Arnott., 2008. Ryanair looks to order 400 aircraft in plans for massive expansion. The Independent, 8th Aug.). Airports: The enforcement of new rules and regulations by airport authorities are inevitable, eventually they have more control on their bases with both short haul and long carriers airlines operating in any government airports. Ryanair has been either strongly protesting or recklessly withdrawing and switching its routes to alternative airports, at bases wherever it is experiencing significant problems. For example: Recently Manchester Airports Group refused to bring down its prices, which resulted Ryanair to pull nine out of its ten Manchester routes(Sarah Arnott., 2009. Price dispute sees Ryanair cut nearly all Manchester flights. The Independent, 18th Aug.). So, Ryanair can switch its destinations easily in case of its bargain does not take lead. Ryanair holds substantial power in the other spheres of suppliers such as staff recruitment agency, food providers and ancillary product suppliers etc due to substantial availability of those kind of suppliers in the market. Bargaining power of customer: European market is almost saturated with many airline companies including premium services to economy classes. Bargaining power of customers is high as low budget airline a commodity today and presence of more substitutes in European market. Ryanair had shrunken the bargaining leverage to its bottom with no other airlines could possibly offer such low fares, as the result that Ryanair is having extra-ordinary performance in traffic growth consistently year by year, but this growth is uncertain if Ryanair pushes its fare up. More people travelling on Ryanair, because they like the fare and can easily afford it. 3.3 Value Networks and Business Partners: It is necessary to analyse value creating areas in Ryanairs Industry value chain, which consolidates it competitive advantage by delivering those precious values to customers. According to porter, 1985, Value chain of any organization comprises of two activities, primary and secondary activities. Primary activities are directly concerned with delivery of service and that includes inbound logistics, operation, outbound logistics, marketing, sales and services. The support activities include administrative infrastructure management, human resource management, technology and procurement. Inbound logistics: Stock control of Food, beverages and Ancillary sale items: Although, Ryanair is a no frills airline, it is making huge profit through the sales of food, beverages and Ancillary items. Ryanair manages strong relationship with various foods and beverages suppliers, in-order to receive quality standard goods and on time delivery, which adds value throughout its value chain. Route selection and airport base: Ryanair only selects low cost route with the anticipation of traffic growth. Ryanair has strong relationship with various airport authorities around Europe, thus they provide subsidies in exchange for high traffic and low fares. Jet fuel: This is the most significant input that Ryanair has to scrutinize, as jet fuel contributes around half of the operating cost. Well hedged contracts will minimise cost, so recent hedging arrangements adds value to get control of fuel cost in some extent. Aircrafts and Maintenance: Deployment of single type aircraft Boeing 737-800. Operation: Ryanairs operational activities includes passenger check-In, loading ancillary and catering items in the flights, baggage check-In, Hospitality, In-flight services and daily flight operations. Contemporary online check-in system reduces cost associated with staff and avoids passenger queues in airports, thus it provides convenient journey for passengers. This adds value by enabling quick turnover of flights and prompt minimum waiting time of flights at airports. Additionally, Ryanair has contractors at certain airports for ticketing, passengers and aircraft handling (Includes loading various goods into aircraft) as well as for engine repairs and heavy maintenance at competitive rates. (Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 10 Jan, 2010) This third party contracts are more cost-efficient than Ryanair perform these activities itself. Productivity-based incentives, this includes sales bonuses for on-board sale of products by flight attendance to increase ancillary revenue through reward mechanism and pilots are remunerated based on number of hours or sectors flown, which c uts unnecessary staff cost. Ryanair facilitate the usage of onboard mobile and electronic device for its passengers in order to add value for customers. Marketing, Sales, Services and Outbound Logistics: Ryanair advertise its seasonal fares and other company related commercial advertisements on its fleet with zero advertisement costs. Furthermore special ticket offers are being advertised on its website to promote sales. In order to curb substantial operational cost and tackle high number of booking, Ryanair has introduced new Online Reservation System in addition to the host system. The system new has been provided and maintained by an outside contractor, Navaitire. (Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 5, Jan, 2010) It adds value for passengers by increasing system speed and avoid Ryanair is being on exposure to the risk of resolving system failure issues. There is no sales agent commission adds value on passengers fare and it adds value in terms of the distribution cost aggregate nearly to zero and convenient journey for passengers. Online baggage claiming system for baggage l ost passengers, which adds value to passengers as it is an easy way to claim their bags. 4.0 Resources and Capabilities: 4.1 Resources: Resources allocation and capabilities development are the source to gain competitive advantage for a company, while the market and environment establish constraints and pressures. Resources of Ryanair are basically what it holds as productive assets and can be differentiated into three different forms, tangible, intangible and human resources. Capabilities are what it can achieve by exploiting opportunities in the external environment and efficient deployment of its unique resources that exist within the company to achieve competitive advantage. Tangible Resource: Ryanair had 181 aircrafts in operation as of March, 21, 2009, among which 109 aircrafts were funded by The Export and Import Bank, 43 aircrafts were in operating lease, 20 of the aircraft in the fleet were treated as financially leased by Japanese operating leases with call options, 6 of the aircraft in the fleet were encumbered with commercial debt financing and three remaining aircrafts are entirely owned by Ryanair without any finance related encumbrances. Ryanair also owns and operates six Boeing 737-800 flight simulators for the purpose of pilot training. All the above are long-lived assets virtually all of them were aircraft totalled to 3.6 billion Euros. [Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 4 Jan 2009]. Even though many aircraft are encumbrances, ownership accompanied with the bank loan gives greater independency and financially the cost involved in leasing arrangements i s higher than being owner of aircraft. In addition to aircraft, administration offices in Dublin and East Midlands Airport, simulator and training centres are entirely owned by Ryanair. It also has leasehold property in eight airports for the purpose of flight maintenance and an office building in Dublin Airport Business Park. The recent investment of 702 million Euros for the purchase of property, plant and equipment in 2008 is remarkable. [Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 4 Jan 2009]. Ryanair serves over 1000 routes across Europe and Morocco from 40 airport bases, which is considered to be high in numbers compare to its rivalries. (http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2010/q3_2010_doc.pdf, accessed on: 15th Jan 2010). Airport bases served by Ryanair are ultimately considered as strategic assets due to its low cost. Financial Resources: The huge cash reserves held in the company of over 2.5 billion Euros will allow having abundant cash flow for its operation. Cash pile would financially leverage to take strategic decision in future expansion of business. Ryanair holds 93.15 million Euros worth of available-for-sale financial assets, which are not considered as an investment in an associate company due to insufficient power of Ryanair to influence over the investee. And also, Ryanair is the biggest investor on its rivalry Aer Lingus with the acquired stake of 29.8% of Aer Linguss share capital through private acquisition with the total aggregate cost of 407.2 million Euros. Ryanairs long term debt totalled to 2398.40 million as of 2009 annual report, which is an increase of 131.9 million from 2008 annual report. The latest debt increase is primarily due to financing of new aircraft, which will be delivered within two years as per the schedule. [Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 4 Jan 2009]. Intangible resources: Ryanairs climbing traffic growth and established brand name are most consolidated and valuable intangible assets for the company that embedded in its relentlessly flowing low fare strategies to make huge profit. In terms of operational prospective, minimum aircraft age of 3.77 years average age of all its Boeing 737-800s is a unique intangible asset and no aircraft is more than 9 years old. The company also holds considerable intangible asset of landing rights that flows future benefit into the company. Human Resources: There are 6616 staffs working at Ryanair as of March 2009, this includes 1041 additional experienced pilots contracted from employment agencies to satisfy short term pilot requirements. The employees figure is constantly increasing year by year due to rapid expansion of the company. Ryanairs top management comprises of eight boards of directors, all of them are having more than 7 years of experience with the company and their remuneration including different share options scheme are available and based on experience, as well as their job position. David Bonderman, Chairman of the Board and Director, who has served more than 13 years with the company. CEO and Director of Ryanair, Micheal OLeary is the most valuable human resources in the company and he has been successfully leading the company for nearly two decades, as CEO since 1994. (Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 20 Jan, 2010]). 4.2 Capabilities: In this section, we will discuss about the special knowledge and a skill possessed by Ryanair in order to gain competitive advantage and the key success factors that positioned the company as cost leader. The companys innovative pioneer strategies to keep the operating cost low and its ability to carrying passengers at lowest fare demand are the special capabilities it posses. Apart from these, the table below contains Ryanairs last three years operational data up to March 2009, which will demonstrate the operational capabilities during that period. The average yield per revenue passenger mile and average yield per available seat miles are decreased in 2009 due to the intense competition and further reduction of average booked passenger fare by approximately 4 Euros compare to the previous years. Yield management is crucial for airlines as the gross profit of the company mainly depends on it, so achieving better yield would perhaps maximise Ryanairs profit. The fares of Ryanair need to be continuously monitored in a way that would create demand, at the same time that would maximise companys profit. Ryanair has only little control over the fuel fluctuations like many other airlines, so increase in fuel cost is an unavoidable increase in operating expenses. The remarkable factor is the recent fuel hedging arrangements increased Ryanairs power to some extent to influence those cost aroused due to high fuel price. The next factor is cost per available seat miles, which is operating cost by available seat miles. This is one of the mo st success factors that gain competitive advantage for Ryanair, as it always being low compared to all other short haul airlines in Europe. In the table above, the increase in the operating cost in 2009 is mainly due to the rise in fuel cost. The low fare strategy is embedded in the companys capability and it is most valuable for the company by creating demand for its service. The constantly increasing load factors year by year, while the average booked passenger fare is decreasing indicates that the unique capability of Ryanair to make the traffic grow and how well it filling its seats through creating demand by stretching its fare to lowest possible. So the increased load factor is mainly due to decrease in the fares. One of the main mottos of companys CEO, Micheal OLearys is to maximise profit through selling ancillary products. Ryanair is the highest ancillary revenue making airline in Europe, which add extra profit for the company. Motivating cabin crews through commissions to sell ancillary product, consistently increasing and introducing various ancillary products and having many commission based related business are the main source for ancillary revenue. The number of airport served and average flight utilisation hours are some other measurable capabilities of Ryanair. The best service to the passengers in terms of punctuality of its flights and less baggage missing scenarios are in Top Priorities and it makes competitive advantage for Ryanair in its operation. In fact it has the policy of publishing its customer service statistics every month to show the leads from its competitors. The table below shows that the Ryanairs capability in terms of punctuality, Bags handling and journey completions among its few rivalries. 4.3 Strength and intellectual assets: All routes are point to point rather than transitional. Although it is easy to establish point to point routes for a short haul carrier, it enhances convenient journey to the passengers. Ryanair has entered into fuel hedging arrangements followed by the huge losses on 2008. The unprecedented hedging arrangements will provide substantial protection against fluctuations in fuel prices, generally through forwarding contracts covering certain periods in the future. Ancillary services including non-flight scheduled such as Car hire, Hotels, Travel Insurance, in-flight sales, rail and bus ground transport services in its business model adds extra revenue for the company. Ryanair has direct sales channels; the only way to book ticket nowadays is via the website or via Ryanair direct call centre. It helps to take out sale agents commission and special offers would directly reach the customers without any discrepancies. Ryanair has been deploying Boeing 737-800s, same fleet community in all its routes. The company can save training cost as all staffs are only be trained for one type of aircraft and also saves on maintenance supplies and labour as only one type of parts and skills needed. High seat density of 189 seats per aircraft accommodates more passengers (compare to its older version Boeing 737-200A, which had only 130 seats per aircraft) and it tends to extra revenue for the company. The use of Secondary Airport with frequent transport medium to populated cities for the purpose to keep its airport charges low and for high turnaround times. The well known scattered strategy of no frills such as, free food, drink, and lounges etc 4.5 Weakness: Even though its fares are far cheaper than any other airlines in Europe, it is being severely criticised by many people for its extravagant hidden charges. The basic reason for this criticism is advertising fares without the disclosure of most basic inevitable charges such as, taxes, online check-In or airport check-In charge(which is outrageously costlier than the online check-In), card surcharge other than master card (only possible way to pay as the booking can feasibly done through either website or call centre), administration fee etc Ryanairs deliberate controversial advertisements and statements by its CEO such as charging one pound to use the toilets in flight, are practically generate additional free publicity for the airline, but significantly it depletes brand reputation and it often perceived as bad impression among peoples mind. The poor customer service by its staffs employed and disgrace treatment of passengers by its CEO, Micheal O Leary and the company are misleading companys reputation for not even providing the basic services and rudeness involved in customer query replies are the weakness that embedded in its system. According to the comments analysed from 280 websites, Ryanair came bottom of the ranking with minus 40 points. Poor customer service and extra cost the airline charge for check-in bags are the major complaints. [Lisa Minot, 2008. Sun Air News: Ryanair suffer Over Service. The Sun, 2nd Aug.] The company is heavily addicted for traffic growth and rivalry led in European short haul market. Because of that growth, Ryanair is not able to identify the reputation and loyalty in its brand among passengers. 5.0 Strategic situation: Perhaps, I have mentioned about 2.5 billion cash reserves in its financial resources. It has announced plans of start paying dividend from its cash pile to their shareholder from 2013. (Sarah Arnott, 2010. Ryanair to pay dividend from 2013. The independent, 8th Jan). Instead of paying dividend out of its cash reserves or by using companys profit, it should decide to deploy its cash reserves in its on-holding strategy towards long haul routes. The company will get significant future growth by launching long-haul transatlantic routes. According to CEO, Micheal O Learys statement, if Ryanair introduces long haul routes from Europe to six US destinations, two segments of seat will be offered, one lowest unprecedented economic class and ever high fare business class with extravagant services. This rational strategy will generate huge profit by luring middle economic-class passengers; perhaps transatlantic passengers will want something cheaper in their tickets. The cheapest fare no frill for economic class passengers with onboard sale of everything from breakfast to dinner, beverage to entertainment would create substantial ancillary revenue. In spite the airline destinations must be in populated area or rich cities such as Chicago Midway Airport, Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport etc to fill up business class seats, Otherwise there is no logic in adding business class seats in long haul routes. Alternatively, it can choose rural destinations in US, but the business class passengers firmly transited to populated cities without any delay and inconveniency by having alliance with US luxury short haul carriers. Although, I have mentioned Ryanairs 29.8% stake over Aer Lingus, its first bid in 2006 to acquire entire share capital of Aer Lingus was firstly blocked by European commission on competition grounds and the second bid in 2007 was also failed after the Irish Government (25% stack holder on Aer Lingus) said Ryanair undervalued the company, while the offer totalled  £701 million. So, Ryanair is not yet planned to make any further bid in recent future, rather it aims to boost its cash reserves. [Pilita, C, Vincent, B, 2010. Third Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus unlikely. Financial Times, 7th Jan.] Perhaps, the acquired stakes consolidate its financial position over Aer Lingus for convenient takeover in the future, in case of any failure or the acceptance of further bid by Aer Lingus. In consideration to Ryanairs future growth in the existing market and anticipated transatlantic expansion, it has to press hard for a horizontal integration over Aer Lingus by raising the offer price from its last bid of  £701 million. The acquisition of Aer Lingus is more likely to see tremendous expansion in European market by acquiring market share and implementing low cost operating strategy over it rivalry. In a situation when a competitor disappears in the market, the competition gets ease for some instance. The acquisition also allow Ryanair to get easy access into the transatlantic routes, as Aer Lingus already operating flights to some major airports in the United States such as, Houston (HOU), Houston (IAH), Indianapolis (IND), Columbus (CMH) and San Francisco (SNF) etc 6.0 Strategic Choice: Identification: The first choice what I suggest is Ryanair can expand its market through Related Diversification by the launch of new international routes from Europe to Selected Asian countries, such as India, Malaysia and Singapore. Ryanair will be able to grow its traffic by selecting core destinations such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Chennai and New Delhi in India, Kualalampur in Malayasia and Singapore. In the other end, Ryanair would be able to cover travellers and tourists from all European countries by setting up transit hubs in selected airports in Europe such as Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Glasgow and Dublin (So, flights from the new market will land in those transit hubs and then passengers can reach their end destination by Ryanairs local network flights through transit from these airport) travelling to our selected destinations in Asia, as it already has firm and established operation in Europe. The above selected strategic choice would be demonstrated under Ansoff Strategic Direction Matrix Market/product choices. According to Ansoff Matrix (developed by Igor Ansoff, 1957) the above selected business is launching of new service in new market, so it will be categorized under Diversification. Although, Ryanair has an on-holding plan of introducing transatlantic routes, but not yet lunged, the new strategic choice is to flourish market share in developing nations. The assumed service in those markets is clearly business to consumer type of activity, as Ryanair directly engaged in carrying passengers or providing service directly to the customers. Ryanairs main targeting customer segment in the above three countries are tourists and passengers who are looking for low fares, as well as high fare over luxury service. The differentiations in fares with price premium for passengers perceive it as on luxury segment and without price premium for passengers perceive cost benefit under low fare segment. All the three countries are developing nations with low income, middle class and rich people. Among them, people who afford to travel to Europe are

Results of Child Abuse Survey :: Primary Research on Child Abuse

The primary method was conducted using a series of distributed questionnaires to children for my research. The reasons why I used questionnaires are because I think I will obtain appropriate and honest responses which relates to their personal experiences. The data collected was then categorized by data into gender, age from age 8 to10, age 11 to 13, age 14 to16, age 17 to 19 and type of abuse. The surveys were equally distributed, a total of 13 surveys were handed out to children between 8-18 years of age that have been victims of child abuse/ neglect. The questionnaire consisted of 22 questions divided into five parts: multiple choice, background, open, rank order and attitude questions. The answers to most questions were suggested for consistency, and they could be ticked in boxes in a multiple choice format. This survey looked at two different groups of children, males and females. The aim of this research is to find out if child abuse has an effect on the intellectual and emotio nal development of the child and if it has effect on their adulthood. Primary Research Findings The respondents were asked 22 questions in the questionnaires. In the questionnaire I asked their age group, gender, who their abuser was, if the child was abused physically, sexually, emotionally, or psychologically and if they were mistreated because their parent or parents were abused as a child. I also asked if the child was ever arrested or charged for a criminal act and if answered yes then what was the reason why they arrested or charged. I surveyed The information gotten from the respondents is most out of 13 children 40 percent of them are between the ages of 8 to10 and 29 percent were between the ages of 11to13 and 31 percent abused between the ages of 14 to 16. I have found out that out of 13 children 6 of them are females that are victims of child abuse and the remaining children are males. Most of the children were abused by a step-parent or a parent. One of the important information that I have found out is that majority of the children were physically or emotionally ab used as a child at times and very often. Most of the children reported that they were either being mistreated by a parent(s) who were abused as a child or the abuser have problems with drugs or alcohol.

Free College Admissions Essays: Strength and Weakness :: College Admissions Essays

Strength and Weakness Everyone has strengths and weaknesses but as a child, it's hard to deal with your weaknesses. It's not until you grow up and realize that you have to use your strengths to overcome your weaknesses. Combining logic with technology can be a useful tool. For me it was the way to overcome my disability. Early on in my education I encountered learning disabilities. These learning disabilities included reading, spelling, grammar, and difficulty in time writing reports. These learning disabilities have frustrated me. I wondered " Why couldn't I do this?" I knew that I had the intelligence, but I just could not finish the assignments. I would then become angry. My anger sometimes led me to break pencils and throw them across my room. The basis of my learning disabilities, I discovered, was in transferring my thoughts and ideas from my head to paper. Reading was also a challenge for me in the early grades. I never had trouble understanding stories themselves; but when I had to answer question s about what I had read, I often had difficulty formulating an answer. Another major issue I had was the slow pace of my work. In elementary school I usually didn't finish my homework until 10 o'clock at night. Other students in my grade were finished by 7 o'clock. Although this was difficult for me to deal with, I did not let it stop me from completing my homework. Originally I felt sorry for myself. I believed that I would never overcome these problems. This led me to complain how unfair it was. Perhaps, I thought, someone did not want me to succeed. Word processing was a huge benefit to me in overcoming my learning disabilities. Before I had a desktop computer I had great difficulty writing reports. This was due to the fact that I had to type up my reports using a typewriter. After every sentence, my mother had to check my spelling. Due to this my progress was at a snail's pace. Also, throughout elementary school, and into the beginning of high school, I had illegible notes. Then , at the beginning of junior year, I purchased a notebook computer. This aided me greatly. I could now actually take notes since I could type far faster than I could write. Free College Admissions Essays: Strength and Weakness :: College Admissions Essays Strength and Weakness Everyone has strengths and weaknesses but as a child, it's hard to deal with your weaknesses. It's not until you grow up and realize that you have to use your strengths to overcome your weaknesses. Combining logic with technology can be a useful tool. For me it was the way to overcome my disability. Early on in my education I encountered learning disabilities. These learning disabilities included reading, spelling, grammar, and difficulty in time writing reports. These learning disabilities have frustrated me. I wondered " Why couldn't I do this?" I knew that I had the intelligence, but I just could not finish the assignments. I would then become angry. My anger sometimes led me to break pencils and throw them across my room. The basis of my learning disabilities, I discovered, was in transferring my thoughts and ideas from my head to paper. Reading was also a challenge for me in the early grades. I never had trouble understanding stories themselves; but when I had to answer question s about what I had read, I often had difficulty formulating an answer. Another major issue I had was the slow pace of my work. In elementary school I usually didn't finish my homework until 10 o'clock at night. Other students in my grade were finished by 7 o'clock. Although this was difficult for me to deal with, I did not let it stop me from completing my homework. Originally I felt sorry for myself. I believed that I would never overcome these problems. This led me to complain how unfair it was. Perhaps, I thought, someone did not want me to succeed. Word processing was a huge benefit to me in overcoming my learning disabilities. Before I had a desktop computer I had great difficulty writing reports. This was due to the fact that I had to type up my reports using a typewriter. After every sentence, my mother had to check my spelling. Due to this my progress was at a snail's pace. Also, throughout elementary school, and into the beginning of high school, I had illegible notes. Then , at the beginning of junior year, I purchased a notebook computer. This aided me greatly. I could now actually take notes since I could type far faster than I could write.