Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Ap World History Midterm Review - 2054 Words

AP World History Midterm Review History The study of past events and changes in the development, transmission, and transformation of cultural practices. Earliest Farming Location Fertile crescent Swidden Agriculture a place temporarily cleared for agriculture by cutting back and burning off previous growth Catal Huyuk early urban culture based on sedentary agriculture Mesopotamia between the rivers; civilizations that arose between the Tigris-Euphrates river valleys Hyksos a member of an ancient nomadic people from western Asia, probably of Semitic ancestry, who conquered and ruled Egypt between 1720 bc and 1560 bc Hittites a member of an ancient Anatolian people whose empire was based in Asia Minor during the second millennium bc†¦show more content†¦An early inscription likens him to the sun as compared to stars, and later official language avoids calling the Aten a god, giving the solar deity a status above mere gods. King Tut an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (ruled c.1333 BC – 1323 BC in the conventional chronology), during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. His original name, Tutankhaten, means Living Image of Aten, Minoan relating to the Bronze Age civilization on Crete that lasted from around 3000 to 1100 bc Schlieman a German businessman and archaeologist, and an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an important archaeological excavator of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns. His successes lent material weight to the idea that Homers Iliad and Virgils Aeneid reflect actual historical events. Gilgamesh the fourth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), ruling 126 years, according to the Sumerian king list. He was said to be contemporary with some of the earliest archaeologically-known figures, placing his reign ca. 2500 BC. Iliad an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set in the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of Ilium by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warriorShow MoreRelatedThe Aspects Of Family And Juvenile Law3049 Words   |  13 PagesMiracle Norman Ms. Dent English II Pre-AP – 3 28 May 2015 THE ASPECTS OF FAMILY AND JUVENILE LAW â€Å"The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned† – Maya Angelou. It is proven that we all feel the safest and most comfortable when we are in our own homes and in the presence of our family members and loved ones. We feel as if they are the ones that protect us from the world and everything that we are scared of. ItRead MoreProject Management Infomaton System48477 Words   |  194 Pageschildren continue to die from it because their parents do not know how to save them†¦.Fighting poverty requires a global strategy to share knowledge systematically and energetically and to ensure that people who need that knowledge get it on time†. The World Bank Page 2 CARE DME-IS GUIDELINES Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................... 6 1.1 Preface ................................................................... 6 1.2 GuidelinesRead More65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays 2nd Edition 147256 Words   |  190 Pagesprofessional advancement via an MBA that will prepare you for leadership challenges in any business field. You are aware, however, that Harvard Business School receives about ten thousand applications annually, and you are uncertain how to make your ap.... plication stand out. We understand. We have been in your shoes. This book seeks to demystifythe admissions process for applicants by providing a selective but robust sample of HBS essaysthat have sue, cessfullysurvived the admissions committee inRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesBargaining 340 Endnotes 367 Glossary 389 Company Index 395 Subject Index 398 v Contents PART 1 UNDERSTANDING HRM Chapter 1 The Dynamic Environment of HRM 2 Learning Outcomes 2 Introduction 4 5 Understanding Cultural Environments 4 The Changing World of Technology What Is a Knowledge Worker? 6 How Technology Affects HRM Practices 6 Recruiting 7 Employee Selection 7 Training and Development 7 Ethics and Employee Rights 7 Motivating Knowledge Workers 7 Paying Employees Market Value 8 CommunicationsRead More_x000C_Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis355457 Words   |  1422 Pagesand Teri. J. D. ââ€"   About the Authors puter Teacher of the Year award in 1988 and received the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement in mathematics in 1999. 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Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Social Justice Essay - 1862 Words

What is social justice and how does it relate to liberation theology? How do sin, love, grace, and human freedom affect social justice? What restricts freedom and social justice? And how does all of this play a role in the Kingdom of God? Social justice is a concept of a society in which every human being is treated justly, without discrimination based on financial status, race, gender, ethnicity, etc. Grace is a gift from God that we don’t deserve, which helps us choose the good, therefore it promotes social justice. On the other hand, sin, which can be regarded as a lack of love and care for â€Å"others,† distances us from social justice. Therefore, love and grace are essential aspects of social justice and without them there could be†¦show more content†¦For example, most laws promote an â€Å"eye-for-an-eye† type of legal system. This encourages people to retaliate or â€Å"get even† with others, which is seen so often in America’s lawsuit-happy citizens. This is obviously in contradiction to the ends of social justice, which promote love and brotherhood. Social justice is not an â€Å"us versus them† mentality; rather it is a â€Å"were in it together† mentality where the powerful and powerless work together. Obviously those who are in need are the poor and oppressed: women, African-Americans, Jews, Latin Americans, etc. However, due to the fact that these people are in these oppressive situations, they gain insight into the injustices that surround them specifically, and society in general. Although they are made poor by those in power and the structures, institutions, and organizations run by those in power, they still possess â€Å"strength to resist, capacity to understand their rights, [and the ability] to organize themselves and transform a subhuman situation (Boff, 1)†. The poor and oppressed are held above the rich and powerful, in other words are given preferential treatment. Due to their oppression in life,Show MoreRelatedThe Importance Of Social Justice And Inclusion916 Words   |  4 PagesIntro duction Social justice and inclusion have become important parts of the modern world, especially within the Scottish education system. They allow pupils to reach their full potential and to become fully integrated whilst at school, regardless of background or disability. However these terms are ever changing and require a lot of thought and determination to be fully fulfilled within schools. This paper will look at the importance of social justice and inclusion as well as considering differentRead MoreDiversity, Inclusion And Social Justice845 Words   |  4 PagesI find that the concepts of diversity, inclusion and social justice to be important because they build on each other and have the power to change the world. When all of these aspects work together and are acknowledged then we are able to work toward changing social norms and creating aspects in society that are focused on equity, rather than equality. Of course, social justice should be the goal that we as individuals want to achi eve in liberating areas of our that have limited and restrained othersRead MoreEducation And Social Justice Issues Essay1667 Words   |  7 PagesDuring my time at school the combination of education and social justice issues is a complex one. School is supposed to be a safe place for one to learn and grow, however with the increasing amount of inequalities within the school system there seems to be a growing divide between what we consider the â€Å"norm† and those we deem as the â€Å"other† (Kumashiro, 2000). The â€Å"other† is constantly pressured to conform to the norm of society, which is socially constructed (Sensoy and Di Angelo,2012) and this posesRead MoreThe Liberal Conception Of Social Justice941 Words   |  4 PagesSocial Justice ==========In a review of literature one finds a number of different, competing theories of social justice. At base, they all seem to address the notion of privilege, and what one is entitled to based on their conduct in society (for different reasons, depending on the theory). Some of the more prominent conceptions of distributive justice would be Liberal, Libertarian, Laissez-faire, regulated capitalism, and rejected capitalism. ==========The liberal conception of social justiceRead MoreIs Social Justice Really Exist?924 Words   |  4 PagesHulya Eker Education 364-02 Social Justice Is social justice really exist? 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Through social justice, I serve asRead MoreThe Question: The Goal Of Social Justice Education Is To1515 Words   |  7 PagesThe Question: The goal of social justice education is to enable students to develop the analytical tools necessary to understand oppression and their own socialization within oppressive systems, and to develop a sense of agency and capacity to interrupt and change oppressive patterns and behaviors in themselves and in the institutions and communities of which they are a part. Outline a specific classroom lesson in which you would integrate social justice into your curriculum. Please make sureRead MoreSocial Justice And Its Entire Entity1045 Words   |  5 Pages Social Justice in its entire entity: The Final Countdown to Defining Social Justice Kaylie Ines ID 201: Social Justice Dr. Jorsch Dr. Van Tassel â€Æ' Fear and cruelty are the weapons of animals, not humanity, and social injustices derive from fear-the masked ego of one who has sustained through power: white power. It is only fair to continue to talk about social injustice by defining what is social justice. Social justice embodies a framework (and certainly not limited to) a community,Read MoreSocial Justice As A Social Worker1702 Words   |  7 PagesAs an undergraduate student, I never imagined becoming a social worker. At that time, I did not have a complete understanding of all the aspects social work encompassed. I was also unaware of the various pathways social work had. Now, to my understanding, social workers are aiming for social and economic justice. Social justice leads to greater social welfare and social change. Social work also aims to help those who face various hardships. Situational, cultural, ethnic diversity and intellectual

Monday, December 9, 2019

Event Planning and Management PR and Events Professionals

Question: Discuss about theEvent Planning and Managementfor PR and Events Professionals. Answer: Introduction There is a rapid popularity increase in the sporting events, which is mainly found in terms of gaining attention of specific individuals from different locations. On the basis of the city marketing efforts, the hall mark events are increased in their conditions in terms of achieving the benefits by maximizing the tourism driven from events, from the sponsors, and exposure to media.in the entire industry of hallmark sporting events plays the key role and are the major part (Dowson Bassett, 2015). The major problem that has been identified from the sporting attractiveness is that the existence of the hall mark events is only limited. From this literature it has been identified the kind of impact the sporting events have in the city from the potentials of the bidding process. In this stage of the bidding process the main city or the organization need to put their bidding proposal which is supposed to be leading the event that has been allocated to them in their city (Friedman Scholnick, 2014). An event should focus on the outcomes from the mechanism of the indicators of financial and economy which is known to be a common measure of success. From this research, the elements that are useful for the initial bidding process of the event has been identified. The process of bidding has gained importance in terms of managing events. Overview of the Events From the research, it has been found that hall mark events have the major scope for the city marketing. There are various other events that are reported here. The factors that determine the success of the bid process for the events of major sporting are also known from these events (Jones, 2014). Community Events or Special Events: This particular program or the event can be said to have difference from the events or programs of other normal organized groups. Along with that these events are not like the commonly occurring events. Major Events: These types of events can be figured by taking the consideration of popularity and the interest of media. These events can gain visitors with it specifications like the greater level of tourism, significance in the numbers. Along with that it is having more beneficiaries from the economic sector that are required for the organization of the communities. Hall mark events: These types of events are having regular occurrence which can also said to be the special events or mega events. These events are having the specifications that are having similarities with the international dimensions with the structures that are short term. The regular occurrence of the event is the one of the important characteristics of it by which it is well known among all the events. The type of events that are being provided by the government agencies are making the involvement of the developmental policies, required resources and many more requirements that will help in attracting the people towards the events in the major cities. The Process of Biding The biding process is the process that helps the organization in making the proposal to take the required responsibility by which the event can be carried out. It also gives clarification regarding all the details about the enquiries raised. In further processes this will make the description of the details defining the criteria for the organization of the event. That is the reason this particular proposal can be said to be as the bid process. This bid process has the following resolutions: The bidding done by the organization must have the provision that will give the abilities and resources defining the statement of the event. If there is something that will show the defining the performances of the organization then there must have the sufficient reasons. If the additional instances are taken into consideration then there will have the better facilities provision than the other rival bids, also having the assurance of the public support along with that having better supplies for the suppliers. Apart from that there have been described two types of tasks that have been including the performances of the organization that is getting involved in the biding process. In the first process there will have the development of the proposal along with the submission of the proposal to the selecting authority team. The second one is the benefit part that has to be completed by the team by attending the meeting of the selecting authority that will make them having knowledge regarding the proposal and will have the clarification of the doubts. Event Proposal Preparation This proposal for any of the event can be said to be dependent on the scale of the event and the importance of the event. There is having the involvement of various types of components that must be shared with the proposals of the events. The proposals of the events have the involvement of the information that can convey the information: Event Team: The proposal given by the event team can have the involvement of the information that will give the information regarding the management of the event. This information can be given in accordance to the experience and basing upon the qualification of the members of the team. It is also mandatory that the reader must have some idea regarding the proposal and its requirement so that the reader can be able to find out the abilities of the event along with the fulfilment of the promises attached to the proposal. Many issues of the staging event can be solved by the experience. In the same way the qualification makes the clarification of the details attached to the proposal to the team in case of any problem. Facilities provided and Venue: The person who is supposed to check the review of the proposal it is important to have the checking of the venue by him. That is the reason there must be the outlining of the facilities in the proposal that will draw the attention of the checker. In the case of the indoor events there must have the checking of the lightning, electrical equipment and etc. In case of outdoor events there will have the checking of the seating arrangements, maintenance level of the turf, flood lightning, drainage facilities, etc. Apart from that there will have the provision of the conditions of the changing rooms. Therefore it is a must to have the overall mention of the requirements that will attract the officials, spectators and all. Program details: The details of the program will have the discussion of the details of the set-up of the program by the governing body. The initial stages of the bidding can have the proposal from the start of the day to the end of the day. It is also necessary to have the idea to the makers regarding the timings of the venue along with its availability. That is the reason there will have some arrangements of the entertainment programs before the other program. Expenses Involved: In the process of bidding there must have the drafting of the budget by the organization where there is the mention of the possible income along with the expenditures. The most important part is the budget must be realistic without having any loss. The details of the finances are to be given to the governing bodies of the sports. The organization can also have the opportunity to gain money from the bars, canteens and many more processes of merchandising. The income that will be supposed to be gained from the event must have the reflection of the budget that has been made for the proposal. References Dowson, R., Bassett, D. (2015).Event Planning and Management: A Practical Handbook for PR and Events Professionals. Kogan Page Publishers. Friedman, S. L., Scholnick, E. K. (2014).The developmental psychology of planning: Why, how, and when do we plan?. Psychology Press. Jones, M. (2014).Sustainable event management: A practical guide. Routledge. Haines, S. (2016).The systems thinking approach to strategic planning and management. CRC Press. Ittner, C. D., Michels, J. (2015). Risk-Based Forecasting and Planning and Management Earnings Forecasts. Mason, P. (2015).Tourism impacts, planning and management. Routledge. Mller, M. (2015). The mega-event syndrome: Why so much goes wrong in mega-event planning and what to do about it.Journal of the American Planning Association,81(1), 6-17. Priest DrPH, E. L., Cantu, M. P. H., Collinsworth, M. P. H., Masica, M. D. (2014). A Pragmatic Framework for Planning Data Management in Effectiveness and Outcomes Research. Urmy, M. B., Sexton, J. A., Curtis, J. A. (2015).U.S. Patent No. 9,064,015. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Wilhite, D. A. (Ed.). (2012).Drought Assessment, Management, and Planning: Theory and Case Studies: Theory and Case Studies(Vol. 2). Springer Science Business Media.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Space Exploration Essay Research Paper Space ExplorationSpace free essay sample

Space Exploration Essay, Research Paper Space Exploration Space Exploration is the quest to utilize infinite travel to detect the nature of the universe beyond Earth. Today # 8217 ; s Space Exploration started in 1957 with the launch of the first unreal orbiter, but since ancient times people have dreamed of go forthing their place planet and researching other universes. Every epoch through out history has had a belief as to what the # 8220 ; heavens # 8221 ; are made signifier. The Greeks believed that the stars and infinite were made of a stuff called # 8220 ; Quitenses # 8221 ; , and other civilization one time thought that the stars were made of their peoples passed off. We know now what stars ( or suns ) are truly made of ; they are made of assorted gases that explode over and over once more. Mankind has come along ways from the yearss when we could merely think what was out at that place. The history of Space Exploration truly began in 1957 with the launch of the first unreal orbiter, Sputnik 1, sent into infinite by the Soviets. We will write a custom essay sample on Space Exploration Essay Research Paper Space ExplorationSpace or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Up until about 43 old ages ago people did non hold the agencies to go to or direct objects into infinite. The hardest portion of going into infinite was developing projectiles that were powerful plenty and dependable plenty to hike an object into infinite. These projectiles needed more so merely beastly force, they besides needed a counsel system that was capable of maintain the projectile on path, and to do certain that it reached a high adequate orbit. Rockets were fist used in the eleventh century China ; these projectiles were fuelled by gunpowder and were launched against enemy military personnels. In the centuries that followed these projectiles made an visual aspect in Europe. They were one time used in 1814 by the British against the Americans during an onslaught on New Orleans, but they had small consequence. In Russia, about a century subsequently, a school teacher by the name of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky saw that projectiles might be used to transport people or objects into infinite. He designed a program but didn # 8217 ; t have the agencies to construct the projectile. Most of the rocketry research during the twentieth century was done in Germany by a mathematician and physicist Herman Oberth, and Walter Hohmann in the 1920 # 8217 ; s. During World War II Germany undertook the first large-scale projectile plan. The projectile that they came up with was named the V-2, a projectile that burned an alcohol-water mixture with liquid O to bring forth 250,000 Newton # 8217 ; s of push. The Germans launch a figure of these projectiles against the Britain and the Netherlands. The V-2 did non turn out to be an effectual arm, but it was the first adult male made object to make a tallness of 80 kilometer ( the tallness at which outer infinite is said to get down ) . In the old ages after World War II the USSR and USA were locked in a race to who could make the first intercontinental ballistic missile. The Soviet # 8217 ; s were the first to make this with the completion of their R-7 projectile. Although the projectile was designed to be a arm it carried the first unreal orbiter into infinite. On October 4, 1957 the Soviets launched a R-7 projectile that carried Sputnik, ( translates to # 8220 ; fellow traveller # 8221 ; ) a 58 centimeter aluminium sphere incorporating a brace of wireless senders. This satellites trip around the Earth marked measure in engineering and ushered in the infinite age. In October of 1958 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) was created in the United States. During the following two decennaries over 1600 ballistic capsule have ventured into infinite, but most have non left the orbit of Earth. The first infinite traveller signifier Earth was a dog-named Laika. She was a dog signifier the USSR and was carried aboard Sputnik 2. The Canis familiaris died in infinite but signifier heat exhaustion and non from a deficiency of air. The following major event in the history of infinite geographic expedition was on July 20 of 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, of the USA, took the first measure by a human or any other animal from Earth on to the Moon. Neil Armstrong # 8217 ; s words # 8220 ; That # 8217 ; s one little measure for adult male, one giant spring for world # 8221 ; , may be incorrect, he subsequently stated that he had intended to state # 8220 ; That # 8217 ; s one little measure for ( a ) adult male, one giant spring for world # 8221 ; but because of inactive in the recording it will neer be known if he said it or, simply meant to state it. Over the class of the 43 old ages of today # 8217 ; s infinite Exploration history, there have been three major calamities. There were two calamities in 1967, with the detonation of the Apollo ballistic capsule at ness Kennedy and with the distortion of the parachute lines in the Soyuz ballistic capsule. The 3rd calamity happened in 1986 with the detonation of the starship Discovery, on aboard were seven people. This marked a twenty-four hours in infinite history because it was the first clip that a individual with a cause was traveling into infinite. This individual was a school teacher who tragically, besides died in the detonation. In Space Exploration today one of the major factors that affect every mission is cost. One of the ends at NASA is be able to acquire to infinite but with out the same costs as there is now. The biggest cost is to establish the projectile itself, to set something into infinite it costs about $ 10,000 for every 10 kilogram, so to set one individual into infinite it costs about $ 65,000 ( this doesn # 8217 ; t include the ballistic capsule that is needed to acquire this individual at that place ) . NASA is ever developing new signifiers of propulsion to travel ballistic capsule into infinite ; things that they look for are inexpensive, dependable, and reclaimable. Right now most multistage supporters are non reclaimable, which makes them expensive. Engineers at NASA would wish to make a vehicle that was wholly reclaimable ; this would cut cost by a big border. Robotic adventurers have visited all but one universe in our solar system, that is Pluto, and they have besides explored a great many other smaller organic structures in the solar system such as comets, asteroids, and the Moons of other universes. We know a batch about our devouring universes such as what they are made of, what the ambiance is like, and the clime of these universes is. The over all end of NASA is to happen out every bit much as they can about the existence. Space is a rough environment for worlds and human-made machines. Radiation from the Sun and other cosmic beginnings can weaken stuff and injury the human organic structure. In the vacuity of infinite, objects become boiling hot when exposed to the Sun and freeze cold when in the shadow of the Earth or some other organic structure. Scientists, applied scientists, and interior decorators must do ballistic capsule that can defy these utmost conditions and more. Space Exploration has many Professionals and Cons. We don # 8217 ; t cognize what is out at that place so you neer know what we will happen, and with every answered inquiry it seems as though it merely brings more unreciprocated inquiries with. Bibliography 1. Microsoft Encarta # 8216 ; 99, S.v. # 8220 ; Space Exploration # 8221 ; , by Andrew Chaikin 2. World Book, 1999 Edition, S.v. # 8220 ; Space Exploration # 8221 ; , by James Oberg 3. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.spaceflight.nasa.gov 4. hypertext transfer protocol: //hq.nasa.gov/ost/heds 5. hypertext transfer protocol: //liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov 6. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.seds.org/ spider/mars/marslife.html 7. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.seds.org/ rme/lunar.html 8. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.seds.org/technology/ 9. hypertext transfer protocol: //nasa.gov.com/space exploration/explore/ 10. ll

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on Overview Of Corporate Social Responsibility

Introduction A variety of terms are used - sometimes interchangeably - to talk about corporate social responsibility (CSR): business ethics, corporate citizenship, corporate accountability, sustainability. BSR defines corporate social responsibility as â€Å"achieving commercial success in ways that honor ethical values and respect people, communities, and the natural environment.† We also say that CSR means addressing the legal, ethical, commercial and other expectations society has for business, and making decisions that fairly balance the claims of all key stakeholders. In its simplest terms it is: â€Å"what you do, how you do it, and when and what you say.† In this sense, CSR is viewed as a comprehensive set of policies, practices and programs that are integrated into business operations, supply chains, and decision-making processes throughout the company - wherever the company does business - and includes responsibility for current and past actions as well as future impacts. The issues that represent a company’s CSR focus vary by business, by size, by sector and even by geographic region. In its broadest categories, CSR typically includes issues related to: business ethics, community investment, environment, governance, human rights, marketplace and workplace. (See other BSR reports on each of these topics). The field of corporate social responsibility has grown exponentially in the last decade. More companies than ever before are engaged in serious efforts to define and integrate CSR into all aspects of their business, with their experiences being bolstered by a growing body of evidence that CSR has a positive impact on business economic performance. New voluntary CSR standards and performance measurement tools continue to proliferate amidst the ongoing debate about whether and how to formalize legal CSR requirements for companies. Stakeholders - including shareholders, analysts, regulators, activists, labor unions, empl... Free Essays on Overview Of Corporate Social Responsibility Free Essays on Overview Of Corporate Social Responsibility Introduction A variety of terms are used - sometimes interchangeably - to talk about corporate social responsibility (CSR): business ethics, corporate citizenship, corporate accountability, sustainability. BSR defines corporate social responsibility as â€Å"achieving commercial success in ways that honor ethical values and respect people, communities, and the natural environment.† We also say that CSR means addressing the legal, ethical, commercial and other expectations society has for business, and making decisions that fairly balance the claims of all key stakeholders. In its simplest terms it is: â€Å"what you do, how you do it, and when and what you say.† In this sense, CSR is viewed as a comprehensive set of policies, practices and programs that are integrated into business operations, supply chains, and decision-making processes throughout the company - wherever the company does business - and includes responsibility for current and past actions as well as future impacts. The issues that represent a company’s CSR focus vary by business, by size, by sector and even by geographic region. In its broadest categories, CSR typically includes issues related to: business ethics, community investment, environment, governance, human rights, marketplace and workplace. (See other BSR reports on each of these topics). The field of corporate social responsibility has grown exponentially in the last decade. More companies than ever before are engaged in serious efforts to define and integrate CSR into all aspects of their business, with their experiences being bolstered by a growing body of evidence that CSR has a positive impact on business economic performance. New voluntary CSR standards and performance measurement tools continue to proliferate amidst the ongoing debate about whether and how to formalize legal CSR requirements for companies. Stakeholders - including shareholders, analysts, regulators, activists, labor unions, empl...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Reduce the Use of Of

Reduce the Use of Of Reduce the Use of â€Å"Of† Reduce the Use of â€Å"Of† By Mark Nichol How long can you go on writing without using of? You’ll quickly find that it’s an invaluable word, but writers often take it for granted, and its repeated use is a sure sign of prolixity. Of is a preposition, a word positioned before its object: In â€Å"a stroke of luck,† for example, of is the preposition of luck. We rely on such constructions often and, in moderation, they’re perfectly acceptable but we can easily overuse them. Fortunately, they’re (usually) easily revised: For example, with a few strokes of the pen (or a few taps on the keyboard), â€Å"a stroke of luck† becomes â€Å"a lucky stroke.† The formula is easy just convert the second noun in a â€Å"(noun) of (noun)† phrase to an adjective and move the first noun after the adjective. But such a strategy isn’t always elegant: â€Å"A pen’s stroke† might appeal to a computer seeking the most concise, efficient phrasing, but it is jarring to a human mind, which prefers â€Å"a stroke of the pen.† One’s goal, however, should be to reduce, not eliminate, use of of: After you’ve written a document, search for of, and if you find that you have used it more than once in a sentence or several times in a paragraph, consider revising one or more phrases in which it appears. For example, a sentence with an in-line list, such as â€Å"Information theory has been crucial in the invention of the compact disc, the technology of mobile phones, and the development of the Internet† can be revised to â€Å"Information theory has been crucial in the invention of the compact disc, the technology behind mobile phones, and the Internet’s development.† Note, however, that of is sometimes mistakenly omitted: â€Å"He took a couple days off† is acceptable in casual writing, but â€Å"He took a couple of days off† is correct, and regardless should always be followed by of, as in â€Å"I’m supporting her regardless of whether she’s right or wrong† (though â€Å"regardless of† is redundant to whether and might better be eliminated from the sentence). This post lists some wordy prepositional phrases that can be easily replaced by single words or shorter phrases, and this one suggests strategies for achieving more concise writing by avoiding prepositional phrases altogether. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Legs, Feet, and ToesHow to Punctuate with â€Å"However†The Uses of â€Å"The†

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Puerto Rico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Puerto Rico - Essay Example Its original inhabitants were Aboriginal people. Christopher Columbus discovered it. It was a Spanish colony who transformed its culture and physical landscape. European knowledge, customs and traditions including Roman Catholicism, Spanish language, agriculture, stone constructions and the printing presses. In the present day, its people are American citizens and the region has a local constitution. They elect their own governor although they lack voting members in Congress and is a subject of the plenary jurisdiction of the United States under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950 (Luis, 2009). Its economy is a high-income economy and the most competitive in the Latin America. This economy is mainly driven by the manufacturing and service industries. The manufacturing industry comprises of pharmaceuticals, textiles, petrochemicals and electronics while the service industry is of finance, insurance, real estate and tourism. The Unites States controls its foreign affairs exerting trading restrictions especially in its shipping industry. It is also a small island lacking natural resources and depends mostly on imports (Duany, 2003). Puerto Rico experienced recession from 2006 to 2011 and again in 2013. However, it has managed to maintain a relatively low inflation in the past decade at the same time maintaining a purchase power higher than 80% of the world. It is unable to become a self-sufficient and self-sustainable economy since it has a public debt equal to 68% of its gross domestic product (Sanchez, 2009). It is, therefore, poorer than other American states, even Mississippi, with 41% of its population below the poverty line. Puerto Rico does participate in globalization through activities such as consumerism of society, attracting industries, computers and through its tourism program. On the other hand, globalization has greatly affected Puerto Rico’s natural environment. The future of the country is greatly jeopardized by the

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Statistical Inference and Regression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Statistical Inference and Regression - Essay Example Those who impress statistics tend to improve on the quality of data, the experimental designs, as well as survey sampling. They also give tools for forecasting, as well as prediction using statistical models. On the overall, statistics is quite applicable in many academic fields and it cuts across, the natural science, the social sciences, businesses and government. Statistical methods are used in summarizing and describing of collected data. Descriptive statistics is particularly useful in research work especially when communicating the experimental results. Patterns in data can be modeled in such a way that it accounts for the uncertainty or randomness in the observation, which are then used in drawing of conclusion about the given population under study (Bethea, & Boullion, 2005). This is what is called the inferential statistics. Inferences are extremely crucial elements as far as scientific advancements are concerned. It helps in providing a means through which conclusions are d rawn for the data that are subject to random variations. The application of both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics comprise applied statistics. The theoretic statistics are concerned with the logical arguments that underlie justification of certain approaches to statistical inference. Mathematical statistics involves the manipulation of the probability distribution that is necessary for deriving outcomes that are closely related to methods of estimation and the inferences (Bethea, & Boullion, 2005). Probability cuts across various fields and encompasses many definitions. This paper discusses statistical inferences and cuts across other areas of statistics including regression, linear regression, nonlinear regression, least-squires method, and the maximum likelihood method. Statistical Inference The term statistical inference as used in statistics is taken to mean the process of drawing or making conclusions from data that are subject to random variations. The example of statistical inference is the sampling variation or the observational errors (Bethea, & Boullion, 2005). More often than not, the terms inferential statistics, statistical inference and statistical induction are used in describing systems of procedures that may be used in drawing of concussions’ from data sets that arise from systems that are affected by random variations including random experimentation and observational errors. The initial requirements of the system of processes for the inference and the induction are that the system produces reasonable answers whenever applied to defined situations. It should also be general enough so that it can be applied in all situations. Maximum likelihood method. Estimation problems involve estimating the value of the one or many population parameters from any random samples of the population (Bethea, & Boullion, 2005). Point and interval estimation are the two categories of estimation. Interval estimation is used in determining t he probability of the outcome that occurs in any given limits while point estimation takes Fisher’s estimation. The term likelihood is also, one key concept used in statistical inference, and it is always calculated for any fixed sample while providing information about the relative probability of any sample data that is as a function of the distribution parameters. The likelihood function is used to measure how likely a given data sample is as the function of

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Boston Matrix - Refresher Essay Example for Free

Boston Matrix Refresher Essay According to those two figures and based on some sales figure from Unilevers marketing department, it is clear that most of its products are in the maturity stage and Cash-Cow products except for some new products which are undergoing the introduction stage or growth stage because there are many similar new products which are developed in China and focusing on Chinese consumer. The annual sales figure appear that, in personal care sector, its products have been kept in a slightly increase or decrease lever and tend to grow to a stable maximum level. However, because of in the huge market, the amount of sales normally is significant. This situation, therefore, could be effective for Unilever China run and maintain its business owing to the enormous cashflow. It also contributed to launching Unilevers sixth Research and Development (R D) Laboratory in China, 2000 in order to meet the everyday needs of the Chinese consumer and develop more products for the Chinese market. Facing the pressure form not only another large firm P G but also a lot of local booming manufactures, Unilever China has adopted a lot of effective measures in order to compete with them. For instance, frequent products promotion with the purpose of offering more profits to the customers and keeping the lower price. In addition, in order to maintain the awareness of brands, Unilever launches a lot of brilliant advertisements by using many famous pop stars in every season. Commentary on the three underlying systems: Technical, People, Economic (including: Organisational use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) A. Technical When I was working in ChinadotCom corporation Shanghai branch, I had had a lot of opportunities of communicating with IT staff of Unilever China. According to the information which I have gained form them, it is clear that if there was no supporting from Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), possibly, all of its business and management would be out of control. ICT plays a significant role of management in lots of successful western firms as well as in Unilever. Thus, when Unilever re-entered China in 1990, it also brought some advanced management systems especially Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software which it had already operated in most of its subsidiaries into Unilever China. Throughout six years development, based on original ERP system, Unilever China has been building a brand-new Management Information System (MIS) which is different between the common MIS during current years. This new MIS concentrates in generating and analysing date source which forwards to provide efficient reports rather than the function of information communication. Unilever China has launched a number of separated information systems such as Dealer Management System (DMS), Sales Information System (SIS) and Supplier Management System as well. All of them have integrated with MIS through ERP in order to offer standard data source. Moreover, it has planned to launch a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system owing to maintain high proportion of royalty among its consumers. As we know, most multinational companies adopt single united globe standard for their IT equipments including hardware and software as well as Unilever. It should be easy and effective for the companies to manage and maintain the whole systems for example, once any engineer of Unilever turns on any PC of Unilever, there would be the same operation system and application software in the PC. However, for Unilever China, this situation could lead to some problems when it would like to merge other companies. It also has cost Unilever China much money and labour to integrate all the different systems which the fourteen joint ventures had been used, when it was carrying out the two revolutions. B. People In a world where technologies and markets are speedily changing, as well as in China, both local knowledge and globe proficiency have been required to deeply understand and meet the complex needs of the 150 million customers who choose Unilevers products everyday. It is very important, therefore, for Unilever China to make its employees localising as possible as it could. At its beginning stage, Unilever China had employed more one hundred foreign staffs including managers and professionals. Although they had more working experience and good management approaches, there still had been some disadvantages of this state. Firstly, it had led to the high cost of labour because Unilever should pay nearly six times more than employing local people. Secondly, most of foreign staffs, they had not had enough knowledge of Chinese economy environment. This might provide some wrong decisions in both marketing and manufacture areas. Finally, because they had been so proud of their characters and positions, they tended to be difficult to communicate with local people. All in all, thus, Unilever China has modified its mind to reduce the number of foreign staffs and offer more opportunities to local employees. (Unilever China, 2001) In every recent year, Unilever China has sent numbers of its local managers abroad to practise for senior positions in their own countries. Its target of 95 percent local management in China includes five percent of local managers who are also working overseas at any given time. On the other hand, in purpose of reducing the cost of workforce, Unilever China decided to cut down the number of workforce in Shanghai which is in the highest level of working payment in China, and move its manufactures to the lower cost place. C. Economic Inside Unilever China, the significant motive of two revolutions is to decrease their working expenditures and utilise all the business resource efficiently. The production lines of most its products such as shampoo and shower are quite similar including the raw material as well. There had been several same production lines among the fourteen joint ventures, before Unilever China re-structured them. In addition, the waste also happened to the IT departments, administration department and supporting department. Once Unilever China had held a new joint venture, it had had to build an individual business system for it. It seems to be more efficient and having more abilities of competition, when the two revolutions have been accomplished. Furthermore, the changes also facilitate Unilever to concentrate its brands in order to meet the needs of different markets. For instance, in Shanghai which is the huge developed city in China, its key products are in the personal care and wash area including Lux, Dove, Hazeline and Ponds. Due to the changing of Chinese government economy policy, China is going to be more open for the foreign companies. As a result that China has joint World Trade Organisation (WTO), more foeign companies will enter China. Most local manufactures tend to become stronger because they will have more chance to gain the advanced management approaches and learn the business skills by competing with more foreign companies. They also could the big challenge to the Unilever China. Another purpose of its changes, thus, is to maintain its leader position in China. Since these changes, Unilever China becomes more flexibility because it clearly to allocate its business targets to three groups. Every group has its own responsibility of manufacturing and selling particular products. Thus, both of them could be the professional in their own economical environment. Discussion of management activities and approaches (including typical errors) Until this section, it seems that there has been no obvious evidence which could show that Unilever China has made some clear mistakes of management so far. However, there might be no completely perfect result once you have accomplished some changes. In the short-term, we could regard it as more positive than negative but no one could image the future. Also, before the two revolutions happened, there had been some typical management errors which Unilever China had made. Inside most of joint ventures in China, there are two different manager teams: one group of them are assigned straight by foreign companies; another are the people who have already worked in the companies which are going to co-operate with the foreign companies. However, both of them have the responsibilities of managing the new companies which we exactly classify as Chinese-foreign joint ventures in China. Thus, because of different working background in different economics system, these two manager teams provide two different management styles. For the managers who have been worked in Unilever world group for a period of time, because of underlying the western developed management theory, their management approach could be considered as Proactive Positive. The management approaches have been argued and developed by a lot of western researchers for a long time. Those effective management approaches, such as team work, business culture and management information system, have been widely utilised in Unilever. This also could contribute good forecast of marketing and sales, efficient decision making and powerful capability of competition. Those advantages could be clearly embodied in the two revolution of Unilever China. In particular, in order to avoid more waste of resource, Unilever China terminated some business in 2002 in Shanghai and transferred them to the low cost place which was in HeFei. During this process, certainly, it should deal with the loss of re-investment and high risk of changing. Nevertheless, due to some typical management errors which it had made at the beginning of re-entering China, it has had to change its temporal situation. The typical mistakes could be Market Share wars and The big project. The evidences of these errors could be discovered by some investigation in its process of growth. For instance, only in a decade, it had constructed fourteen joint ventures in China to take the leader position of Chinese market and compete with P G. Following its step, P G China also carried out some measures which might beat its challenge. Finally, that lead to both of these two firms had to reduce their products price in order to obtain more market share. Those fourteen joint ventures had caused numerous waste of fix assets, labour and operation cost.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Essay --

Discuss the social psychological approach in psychology and identify the kinds of questions that social psychologists attempt to answer. This essay will study what social psychology actually is and the debates within the field as well as the history and origins of social psychology. In addition to this it will then continue and look at what they study within this field and what types of questions to ask and what results they gain from this. The question of what social psychology actually is, is not something that is easy to answer as it has been regarded as a diverse and fragmented discipline that is divided by the battle between experimental and critical social psychology. This is based on whether it should be a science or not, the ideology and what constitutes the social world (Rogers,). It is regarded as an umbrella discipline in which many sub-disciplines sit under including biological, clinical and organisational. (Myers,) Many social psychologists argue that social psychology is a scientific study that investigates how others influence thoughts, behaviour and feeling (Hogg & Vaughan,). Theses are the experimental psychologists who try to find a cause effect relationship between two variables by testing hypotheses, whilst ensuring that all variables are operationalized in order to gain results that are valid and there are no confounding variables. They do this whilst in a controlled laboratory environment ensuring that no other factors could play a part and act as a confounding variable. Critical psychology on the other hand would argue that the scientific method to measure behaviour is not the only method that can be used. It argues that the scientific method if often unsuitable for studying certain aspects of peoples ... ...ing used as many were relying on experimental methods and the assumptions of positivists to produce explanations that were reductionist instead of holistic and looking at the whole environment and not just the person. The ideology was also criticised during this period as the values of individualism were arising rather than the sociologist ideology that had previously existed (Myers). Social psychologists have a range of different subject areas and topics that they can choose from when deciding what research they want to do, including; obedience, conformity, identity, communication and language, persuasion and influence. In addition to this there are two main theories that derive from social psychology, the first being behaviourism and the second being social learning theory. The first theory behaviourism, derived from Pavlovs work looking at operant conditioning

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

The Importance of Securing equipmen Essay

The ability to be accountable of army equipment is a task given to all Service members. It starts when we first enter basic training. We receive our first issued items from CIF in order to complete all of our task during basic training. We are responsible to inventory and maintain our gear until we are finished with basic training. It is expected that we turn in item that were received in a clean and serviceable condition. After Basic training we move on to AIT and later to our first Unit. As we progress with our military career we become responsible for more gear. Our Platoon leaders and commanders entrust us with more sensitive as we sign not just for our personal gear. We sign for radios, vehicle, Blue Force Trackers and many other items that cannot fall into the hands of the enemy. The loss of any equipment is costly, not only does it cost money but it take time away from the mission while you are waiting for much needed gear. The inability to maintain your equipment potential causes a mission failure or missing a movement. The best method to keep equipment secure is to always have it on your person. The problem with this method is it’s not always possible. Caring around everything would be a very tedious and inefficient process. The next best method is to keep your equipment under lock and key. Keeping that in mind the equipment should be left in a place where security is in place to guard those items. Of course some item will need different levels of security such as weapons. The loss of any equipment can lead to a loss in operational security. You don’t want information much less equipment to fall into enemy hands. This could potentially lead to a loss of life.

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Time and Money Management

Time and money management are integral parts of being a college student. With class, homework, and extracurricular activities, many students struggle to find enough time in the day to do everything they need to and still get enough sleep. Also, many college students are unable to manage their money while buying food and other luxuries. After reviewing the articles posted on these topics, some key ideas jumped out to help make me a more effective person. The first topic that was researched was time management.This is very important for a student to be more effective throughout their day and waste less time. Many college students have a tendency to be lethargic throughout the day and then cram their work into the night. After reading the articles on time management, the main tip to help solve this tendency is to plan your day. This will cut down on the dead time you have and will also prevent you from ever getting bored. The tips however were based upon knowing yourself including your tendencies and personality.The first step was to analyze yourself and what your goals are. By determining your goals, a person can decide how strict they want their daily routine to be and how much free time they want to allocate themself. Another tip is to identify possible time-wasters. These will change for each person but is a very helpful hint. If a person knows what their time-wasters are, they can avoid situations where they come up and also escape them easier when they are faced with a time-waster. These time-wasters include procrastination, interruptions, and lack of planning.These are all things that plague me and knowing my potential time-wasters has helped me find places to do my work that will limit my distractions. The second topic that was researched was money management. This is important for college because kids are on their own and cannot depend on their parents to track their money for them. Keeping money management tips in mind will help college students keep mon ey in their bank account and feel safe monetarily. The first tip in the article is to track your spending.This is important because many people lose track of how much they have spent and do not realize it until it is too late. The next step in managing money is getting a plan to budget your money and decide how much money will be allotted for different things. Money should be allotted for food, clothes, and hobbies or relaxing purchases such as a cd or a videogame. Another tip is to limit the use of credit cards when making purchases. Many students get in the habit of using their credit cards losing track of much they have spent.The next tips focus on realizing that you may not be able to purchase everything you want. This is tough for many people and the article suggests that even if you do make a mistake and blow your budget, just make up for it the next week. Looking ahead and saving money for bills or purchases in the future can help with money management a lot as well. The last and one of the most useful tips the article gives is recognizing how you can utilize your roommate in managing your money. You can delegate responsibilities and split expenses with your roommate as much as possible, making college much easier and cheaper.The articles posted on time and money management were very helpful. The best tip I got from the time-management article was â€Å"The 4 D’s of Time Management. † The four D’s include, â€Å"do it†, â€Å"delegate it†, â€Å"dump it†, â€Å"defer it†. Each D applies to a different situation you might encounter while trying to do work and provides a solution for dealing with it. The four D’s are easy to remember and give you basic principles to fall back on when you are faced with a distraction. The best tip I got from money management was to limit how much I use my credit card and to try and use cash more often.Studies show students spend 30% more when using a credit card becau se there is no sense of a limit like there would be if they used cash. All of these tips reminded me of the time I went out to dinner with a girl and when I tried to pay the check with my credit card, my card cancelled because I had spent all of the money in my account without knowing it. This was embarrassing and luckily I had some cash with me to pay but I learned my lesson. Now with the money management tips I have learned, this will not happen again.After reading the money and time management articles, I am more prepared to navigate through college by myself. They each gave easy tips to remember and make you a more effective manager. I would suggest these articles to all of my friends because they were helpful to me and they came from reliable sources. Most articles I came across had similar ideas but there are specific ideas that will stick to me from both articles I chose. For me, knowing my time-wasters and limiting the use of my credit card were the biggest tips I got from e ach article.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Medieval Instruments essays

Medieval Instruments essays The More Popular Instruments of the Medieval to Renaissance Period Music plays a vital role in human society. It provides entertainment and emotional release, and it accompanies activities ranging from dance to religious ceremonies. Music is heard everywhere: in auditoriums, churches, homes, elevators, sports arenas, and on the street. Recorded music, through our technology, can be heard almost anywhere at anytime. Although we have the technology to listen to whatever kind of music we desire, there is still an exciting sensation for people to watch music performed live. The musicians on stage use their skills with their instruments to produce music that stimulates the mind, excites the heart, and takes the breath away. Through the course of life, humans develop the ability to identify most instruments either by being played or just seen up close. What most people don't know is the history behind the more popular instruments of the world. Some instruments can be traced back in some form to as early as 4000 B.C. This paper will not discuss the history of instruments from the dawn of man, just the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Of all the instruments of the Middle Ages, the most popular had to be what is called the lute. Specifically, the lute is a stringed instrument widely played in the 14th to 18th centuries that actually had a revival in the 20th century. Generically, the lute is any stringed instrument having strings that run in a parallel plane to the soundboard and along a protruding neck (see figure one). The modern guitar is basically the descendant of the classical lute. The lute entered medieval Europe from Arabic culture as an instrument plucked by a plectrum, or pick, with four pairs of strings. It was a version of the Arabic 'ud (spelled oud by its modern Balkan players), which today is an unfretted, plectrum-plucked instrument with four to seven double courses. The lute developed i...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

ACT Tutoring Right For You

Is Online SAT/ACT Tutoring Right For You SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You know you want tutoring, but do you go with in-person tutoring or online tutoring? Right now, I can practically hear the face some of you just made at the idea of online tutoring (yes, the face was so awful it actually made a noise). The world is full of dire warnings about the issues with online learning. â€Å"How can you possibly learn if you’re not in there in person with your teacher? Won’t you just slack off?† On the other side of the issue are people like me, whose reactions to hearing about online tutoring are more along the lines of "Woo! No travel time means I get to spend more time doing non-SAT/ACT-related things!" To help you get a better sense of whether or not online tutoring is right for you, I’ve blocked out the three areas in which there are significant differences between online and in-person tutoring. For each of these areas, I’ll explain when online tutoring is the right choice†¦and when it is not. feature image credit: Thought plus action by Ben Tesch, used under CC BY 2.0. Quality The first dimension to consider when choosing a method of tutoring is that of quality: what level of tutor do you want? This may seem to be a facetious question, since no matter the tutoring method you go with, you obviously you don't want a BAD tutor. It's important, however, when you choose a tutoring method to consider exactly what you want to get out of tutoring. We'll have an article up soon on how to find the best tutor for you. Do you want tutors to help you with new insights into test content, strategies, and more? If so, online tutoring is probably the best option for you. Why? Near, far, wherever you are in the world, online tutoring allows you to access high quality tutors. I'm going to be brutually honest: if you aren’t in a top city for education like New York or Boston, you don’t have access to the nation’s top tutors. This is even more true if you don't live near a top 5 city at all. Don't go with online tutoring if†¦ All you want is someone to monitor your test prep, making sure you're on schedule and accountable for doing your prep. In this case, you don't even really need a tutor - you need something more like a study buddy or babysitter. Or some sort of electronic surveillance. All you need is someone to explain answers to you better than answer keys can. If this is true for you, then it makes more sense for you to go with a high school student who's taken the test or understands the material. Time and Travel For online tutoring, the road not taken†¦is every road. Consider the time wasted in travel for the average tutoring session, for both parent and child: a 30 minute drive to and from tutoring for student and parent plus either an additional trip from and to the tutor and/or 1 hour of waiting for the parent. At the end of the day: 1 hour wasted for student, 2 hours wasted for parent Online tutoring also means your tutor doesn’t have to travel, which will save money for you. How? Let's say I'm a tutor, and I have to drive half an hour to and from your 2 hour tutoring session. Even if I would normally charge $40/hr to tutor students online or at my house, I'm going to have to charge you $60/hr because I'm losing an hour of potential tutoring time to travel; rather than paying me $80 for a 2 hour tutoring session, you end up paying 50% more ($120/2 hours). If I tutor online, I can charge solely for tutoring time (without having to fold in the money I'd lose from time spent traveling). With online tutoring, you only pay for the tutoring you receive. Another perk is that no need to travel means that all your study materials at your fingertips – no more forgetting things at home (not that I have extensive experience in this subject area. Nope). Finally, online tutoring lets you have more flexibility when scheduling your tutoring - you don't have to worry about when you can get a ride, or when you can fit the travel time into your busy high school schedule. Don’t go with online tutoring if†¦ You have to travel to get high-speed internet access, and a tutor will come to you/is closer by. Both parent and student have time to spare – in that case, time spent traveling may not be an issue Suburban commute by pedrik, used under CC BY 2.0. One if by land, two if by sea, three if we’re just calling to let you know we’re running late ‘cause of the after-school traffic on the highway. Technology Online video chat software and hardware have advanced substantially from just 5 years ago. Videos look sharp and are live, making online sessions equal in quality to in-person tutoring. Some presentational software even lets tutors show equations and diagrams, which in turn can make SkypeTM tutoring even more effective than in-person tutoring. Case in point: it’s way easier to draw perfect circles and diagrams and manipulate equations on a computer than on paper with a pencil and compass. Don’t go with online tutoring if†¦ You have ZERO access to high speed internet. If you live in a rural area or some area where the only internet you have is dial-up (cabin in the woods in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas, for example), online tutoring will probably not work for you. You don’t have a computer and/or have never before used a webcam. Even you have the technology, but are not comfortable with it, you may want to hold off on online tutoring. Not sure if the technology is going to be a barrier? Go with online tutoring that offers a full money-back guarantee for the first session and make sure there are no hiccups. The Bottom Line There are certainly legitimate reasons to dislike online tutoring. If you... Don’t care about quality Don’t have easy access to high speed internet Aren’t comfortable with the technology used ...then it makes sense not to get online tutoring. Barring these exceptions, however, online tutoring is equally as effective as, if not more effective than, traditional in-person tutoring. We’re particularly confident of this at PrepScholar because of the quality of our tutors. What’s Next? How much should you pay for an SAT/ACT Tutor? Use our guidelines to help you form a reasonable budget. Not sure if you should go with a tutor or just do online prep? We have the article for you. For more on how to choose the best online prep, read our concise guide. Want to get serious about improving your SAT/ACT score? Our tutoring service is designed to be the most effective in the nation. We hire the best tutors from across the country. This is then paired with our exclusiveonline drillingprogramthat gives your tutor complete insight into your progress to design the most effective sessions. Think about what improving 160 points on your SAT, or 4 points on your ACT, can do for you. Learn more about tutoring now:

Sunday, November 3, 2019

International Strategy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Strategy - Research Paper Example Literature review This is a vital section of this project but while conducting the literature review, care should be taken so that only the relevant information is discussed. This will keep the literature review section specific and to the point. While starting the literature review section, a well defined definition of international strategy will be discussed. For example, with time how the concept of international strategy got modified (Root & Visudtibhan, 1992, p.44). The research conducted by different scholars on multinational companies regarding international strategies used by them will be discussed (Frankenberger, 2006, p.2). In the literature review section, some vital international strategies used by the firms will be explored (Mcfarlin & Sweeney, 2008, p.266). Some of the common mode used by companies to enter in international market will also be discussed (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2009, p.225). The information strategy regarding related as well as unrelated diversificat ion will be discussed with help of some vital case studies (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, p.285-295). Research methodology Being a descriptive research, in this project secondary research will be conducted. Data will be collected from different authenticated sources. As for example, the company website, books from renowned authors, journals and online data base will be used. The research will be a mixed one where quantitative as well as qualitative data will be collected. The aim of this research is to collect information that explains the international strategy used by the fast food industry. As for example how the company decided to avoid beef and pork products in India as these products raised religious issues. Again,... This essay streeses that Being a descriptive research, in this project secondary research will be conducted. Data will be collected from different authenticated sources. As for example, the company website, books from renowned authors, journals and online data base will be used. The research will be a mixed one where quantitative as well as qualitative data will be collected. The aim of this research is to collect information that explains the international strategy used by the fast food industry. As for example how the company decided to avoid beef and pork products in India as these products raised religious issues. Again, considering the preference of rice products over wheat product in Japan, McDonald introduced rice burgers. These are some of the unique international strategies followed by McDonald to cater unique requirement of its highly diversified customer base. The business strategy used by McDonald will be compared against other commonly used international entry model. The advantages as well as disadvantages associated with McDonald’s international business model will be discussed. This report makes a conclusion this will be closing part of the research; hence almost whole of the project will be briefed in this section. The vital finding will also be discussed once again. Finally, considering the analysis and finding of the research, some recommendation will be suggested.

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Department of Human Resource Development and Performance Technologies Essay

Department of Human Resource Development and Performance Technologies - Essay Example It is anchored on sustainable development strategies which seek to provide a long term solution instead of short term measures of poverty alienation. Sustainability is a concept within the development agenda which refers to ability of people to use various resources without finishing them up for the future generation or use. These international developments have been pegged on sustainable technology campaign and this brings the above dined terms into one umbrella idea. †¢ Provide background information about your worksite and its mission. My worksite is an Islamic Center of Terre Haute which is a religious center that serves diverse roles in nurturing the future Muslim faithful and makes effort to promote peaceful co-existence with other communities from different religious faith. This institution is a learning center with an organized curriculum and the workforce deliver services of high standards (Bargach, 2002). There is a spirited management effort to champion for technologi cal application in learning and execution of various administrative issues in line with the concept of sustainable development. ... †¢ Briefly describe what you did while you were at the worksite. Describe your own thinking, understanding, and learning as your project evolved. My work in Islamic center was to help with cleaning, arranging the books in the library, also arranging the Quran books. These activities provided a great challenge which also served as a lesson to me in view of the wider concept of the society. As the project progressed, I began to reflect on the theories learnt in class and compare with the real life situation. It is worth to note that the theoretical concepts learnt in class give a guideline and appropriate hint on how to handle different issues in any situation. Practical application of learnt concepts requires patience and perseverance as they don’t automatically fit. In arranging the books in this institution for instance, there are some cases where the books have erroneous coding and their search process in the database may as well not help. At this point, critical thinki ng is required to advance book search methods. When it comes to cleaning, the effect of the litter and dust on the compound should be seen to be an environmental threat beyond the limits of the institution and this explains the need to place litter bins in places of higher population concentration. This is a sustainable approach that promotes environmental care and a perfect precedent for the future generation. †¢ Identify what was puzzling, problematic, engaging, exciting, etc. about your project. My project entail cleaning and arrangement of books which attracted several problems and equally puzzling situation. Despite my attempts to put litter bins in the

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act Research Paper

Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act - Research Paper Example In addition, the team conducted a research of former attempts that have been made in addressing the issue in question (Payne, 2015). The subsequent part of the essay covers the stakeholder analysis where issues related to them have been discussed. The section also provides the stakeholders who are adversely affected by the problem associated with the Act. The stakeholders have different objectives that are with policies that are implemented by the relevant institutions. Conversely, the section discusses how stakeholders are affected by the implementation of the Act. The next section provides alternative solutions that can be used to resolve the issue related to the Indiana Religious Act. In addition, an evaluation of the possible outcomes of the alternatives has been provided. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the alternatives given to mitigating the problem that arise from the application of the policy in the business environment. Lastly, the last section provides the anticipated future trend of the problem (Robertson and Pà ©rez-Peà ±a, 2015). The Act was introduced in Indiana after it was enacted by the Governor of the State. One of the problems that have been widely associated with the Act is that it discriminates certain groups of people in the society. Critics argue that the move to introduce the policy was intended to exclude particular groups such as the gay community in the business sector. In the year 1993, President Bill Clinton signed a law allowing states to have their religious laws. The senators who participated passing the law voted overwhelming in support of the law. However, it was established the Indiana State operated in contrast to the legislation of the federal government. The decision to allow states to come up with their religion created a loophole in the legal system where the state of Indiana legalized gay marriage. The decision to allow gay marriage in State came with negative implications especially to

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Effects of FDI in the Dominican Republic

Effects of FDI in the Dominican Republic Introduction Background and purpose The Dominican Republic has done a major shift in its economy, coming from an agricultural economy, to one based on services. An estimate of the sectors contribution to the country are, 60.2% in services (tourism, transportation, communications, finances, others), 15.5% in industry (manufacturing), 11.5% in construction, 11.3% in agriculture, and 1.5% in mining (CIA fact book). As of right now only tourism leads the service industry, but is soon to be challenged by the investment of contact centers. Because of this shift in its economy the Dominican Republic has become home to various foreign investments, but the one this study will focus on is on the foreign direct investment in contact centers, or call centers as they are also known. It is important to explore the advantages the Dominican Republic offers to attract such foreign investment, as well as to analyze the fact that although there are benefits, it could also lack the necessary infrastructure to sustain this rapidly growing industry. Due to the ongoing world financial crisis, many international companies are struggling to keep their business afloat and looking to establish their contact centers outside of their home based countries. Saving money and reducing operational cost are some of the main reason companies move and do foreign direct investment (FDI) abroad. Investing and conducting operations overseas seems to be the answer that foreign contact centers are looking for in order to meet such goals. It can be said that the Dominican Republic offers an answer to the difficulties contact centers companies are experiencing and continue to confront back at home. Some of the solutions given to these companies are a great business climate for foreign direct investment (FDI), incentives and good geographical location, among other compensations. As a result of moving abroad contact centers gain a particular advantage over their competitors. These advantages can range from cheaper operational cost, strategic location a nd skilled personnel, to a variety of options which may or may not be available in the Dominican Republic. But like everything in life not everything is perfect, the country also needs to confront a sad reality, which is that although it offers good things to investors, it also lacks of other good things. This study will provide the key aspects of contact center FDI in the Dominican Republic in order to present some of the weak and strong points the country has on this industry. By doing this the report looks at what the country has to offer to current and future investors in the contact center industry. It will also provide-from the investors point of view-what makes the Dominican Republic an attractive place to invest foreign capital in contact centers, as well as some of the problems encountered throughout the business venture. Although information provided by the governmental institutions in charge of spreading information about this industry say the country is capable, suited and ready to meet all the requirements of international investors, it is a fact that no system is perfect. This is where facts will be laid down in order to show what truly attracts, keep or loses these investments on the island. Based on those previously mentioned facts the study will look at what improveme nts can be made by the country in order to keep a competitive edge on the rapid growing industry. With this information the reader will comprehend the flaws in the system, and what measures are needed in order to correct them and generate a more positive investment climate. Along with this positive investment climate the study will show the impact call center FDI has had in the country. An efficient and effective investment climate can only be produced by pointing out the pros and cons of what the Dominican Republic has to offer to its investors. The conclusion of the study wishes to convey that these improvements can be achieved by taking action upon the recommendations given. Being that this study is based mostly on empirical knowledge, some of the observations made will be presented based on the industry expertise of the writer of over 7 years or working experience in this field. Research questions Is the Dominican Republic a good place for FDI? Have contact centers FDI created a real impact in the Dominican Republic? Research methodology In order to answer the questions mentioned above, this paper we will use a mixture of methodologies in order to analyze if the country is truly a good place for contact center FDI and if the industry has had an impact in the Dominican Republic. These methodologies include interviews, qualitative research and quantitative data. Organization of paper This document will be composed of four chapters, the first one being its introductory part. The first chapter will provide a brief introduction and background of the Dominican Republic and what sectors comprise the FDI in the country, along with the research questions and research methodology. The second chapter will present an overview of foreign direct investment, inflows, trends, performances and investment climate that pertains the country, as well as the promotion agency in charge of FDI in the country. This information will be in comparison with selected economies from the Caribbean, Latin America and others. The third chapter will cover a more in-depth analysis of contact centers in the Dominican Republic, flaws and investor perspective. The study will also look at a specific company from which the study will depict the impact this specific center has had in the country. The concluding and fourth chapter will provide key findings from the study and recommend future improvement s based on those findings. Overview of FDI in the Dominican Republic FDI trends and performance in Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic, like many other developing countries, is actively seeking to attract FDI. They are not only seeking FDI as an important factor in creating employment opportunities and additional source of income, but rather for the reason of potential spillovers of knowledge and technology. The strong public support for FDI in the Dominican Republic is expressed through the creation of the Center for Exports and Investment of the Dominican Republic, institution in charge of all exports and investment, along with other measures taken by the government. Some of these measures include simplification of administrative procedures, aid from the CEI-RD in logistics and information, subsidies, tax breaks, exemptions and other instruments that facilitate FDI. Before addressing the question of whether FDI in the Dominican Republic has led to development, spillovers of knowledge and technology, as well as, if it is a good place for contact centers to establish and invest, the study will provide an overview of FDI inflows and trends in the Dominican Republic. FDI inflows in the Dominican Republic have made a miraculous recovery from 2004 to 2008 according to the data by the World Bank (World Bank, World Development Indicators). As any other developing country, the inflow of foreign capital was affected by the political environment, which reflected in an average loss of almost 200 million dollars per year during the 2000-2004 governmental period. During this period the collapse of a major bank caused financial turmoil and many investors were forced to leave the country. After a change of government and the macro stability was placed back in track by the new authorities, the country received an average foreign capital inflow of 450 million dollars a year, to earn a total of over two billion dollars in FDI inflows (See figure below). This great recovery happened during the 2004-2008 period, as it was first mentioned, and it is still improving as the country keeps positioning itself as a preferred destination for FDI. Although contact centers are not the main reason for this fast recovery in the FDI, the new rapid industry of contact centers are playing a very important role as it continues to evolve into a leading industry in the service field. In President Fernandez first governmental period (2004-2008) the country recovered from the worst financial crisis in many years. During 2005 the country predicted a GDP growth of 9.3% and inflation to be brought under control at 7.3% throughout the 2004-2008 years. By managing these issues President Fernandez said We have rescued the confidence of investors by achieving macroeconomic stability (Leonel Fernandez, 2004). Having achieved macroeconomic stability, the Dominican Republic received US$1 billion worth of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2005, up 40% from 2004, and U.S. investment accounted for around 40% of the total (CEI-RD, 2006). This led to an improvement of FDI inflows and mechanisms to continue attracting and sustaining this newly found investments. Below are the net inflows of FDI for various Latin American and the Caribbean countries, including the Dominican Republic. Investment climate When one thinks of the Dominican Republic, images of tropical beaches and all-inclusive resorts may come to mind, but this ten million-strong nation, occupying two thirds of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, also has one of the Americas fastest growing economies and diverse scenery in the Caribbean (BusinessWeek, 2006). The briefing paper Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2008 is one of the latest editions of a series issued annually by the Unit of Investment and Corporate Strategies of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) Division of Production, Productivity and Management. This report presents-in a very detail manner-the foreign investment done in Latin American and Caribbean countries, showing their relative differences and investment climate among other indicators. This report also touches on the contact center industry, which has contributed greatly to the ever increasing FDI inflow of the Dominican Republic. Comparing to oth er countries the Dominican Republic shows one of the best FDI inflows by reflecting a relative difference of 83%. What this means is that FDI activities has been constantly growing in the country, thus reflecting good initiatives from the country and a positive improving investment climate (see image below). A good investment climate is not created by simple marketing; it takes hard work, good economic policies and first-class governance on behalf of the government and its Head of State. Because many countries offer desirable investment conditions companies frequently ask themselves, where they should invest their capital. The answer needs to be provided by the country that wishes to be the host of the foreign investments these companies wish to make. The Dominican Republic has characteristics that make it a desirable place to make an investment of any kind, but the question that still lingers around is if the country can really sustain an investment of great magnitude. Offering the right investment climate in the Caribbean is something that the country wishes to achieve, but is not always successful on doing so. With a long history of attracting considerable FDI in a variety of sectors, the Dominican Republic is a regional leader in attracting contact center foreign investment. Longstan ding political stability and a diversifying economy have led many foreign firms to choose the Dominican Republic as an investment destination. Recent success in attracting FDI is due to the countrys investor-friendly legal regime, generous incentives, and infrastructure capable of supporting new technologies, including information technology (FDI Magazine. Financial Times Magazine. August 2005). As mentioned earlier, this success is fairly new and the Dominican Republic still faces the challenge of maintaining and attracting this foreign investments. A great way to see how well positioned is the country and the investment climate it offers is to do a comparison of economies. Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times is the seventh in a series of annual reports investigating regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. The report presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 183 economies, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, over time (Doing business, 2010). Looking at this specialize report the Dominican Republic reflects its ranking in ease of doing business and other important world ranking criterias that foreign investors consider necessary to know before investing in any. Although this report is using specific economies, the data compares the Dominican Republic to the economies of countries around its region, as well as others from a distant hemisphere and much more developed than the island. One basic criterion for investment is the ease of doing business, the chart below reflects a clear weakness for the Dominican Republic in this area by ranking lower than a Puerto Rico and Jamaica. Puerto Rico and Jamaica are much smaller countries, which may contribute to more agile processes, but the fact that they are neighboring countries there should be a bigger similitude among them in terms of how business is handle. This is a clear sign that depending on how a country handles its business will reflect how efficient their mechanisms are, therefore providing a bigger ease of doing business. Another factor that should not be of much importance is the fact that Jamaica and Puerto Rico receive assistance, guidance and at times are regulated by developed countries. This should not be an excuse for why the Dominican Republic is falling behind in such a basic and important principle. (Doing business, 2010). The chart below, which has also been extracted from the Doing Business 2010: Reforming Through Difficult Times Report, touches on another very important factor for investors when they consider making an investment abroad. The ranking given in this chart is compared to the selected economies of Haiti, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Rwanda and others. This comparison is done once again in order to show how the Dominican Republic presents itself as a favorable investment location. Yet again this favorable climate for investors is not providing the best climate because is falling behind to neighboring economies which only advantage seems to be a more organize and efficient system. The Dominican Republic continues to improve, but is weak in its bureaucratic process, which as a result continues to slow down its progress. Dominican Republics ranking in doing business (Doing business, 2010) Once an investment is done, one of the biggest-if not the main concern of any investor-is how secure is their investment in a foreign country, meaning how are they protected from any unwanted situation. The Dominican Republic has recently passed a new legislation which provides a greater protection to its investors, thus providing investors with a contingency plan if anything happens. The graph below shows the global ranking of the Dominican Republic in terms or protecting its investors, which is a great improvement from other areas already mentioned. Although this is a very important concern for investors, it still addresses a post-investment situation. What this mean is that it does not really provide an immediate impact in attracting a foreign investment if the other factors are encouraging, but it does boost investors confidence in the country they plan to invest as well as adding to a better investment climate. (Doing business, 2010) In an interview to CEI-RD Minister Eddy Martinez in the renowned Dominican daily show Hoy Mismo, transmitted by channel 9, he talks about the investment climate in the Dominican Republic and mentions key factors that make the country a great place to invest-compared to other countries in the region. He talks about establishing incentive mechanisms in order to attract those capitals which appraise the value of the investment not only for the amount, but for the impact these investments will have in terms of technology transfer, creation of employment, type of employment, quality of products produced in the country and if they will carry out Research Development activities. Although this mechanism is something the country whishes to implement, it is still not fully incorporated, thus leaving room for error. The institution is still trying to educate and integrate the contact center community so they can share these incentives and goals with other investors who want to do future busine ss based on the country incentive structure. To disseminate this information the CEI-RD has done seminars concerning these incentives, and is moving forward to the implementation of those incentive policies. During the interview CEI-RD Minister mentioned that many investments come through different ministries, therefore many investors are not sure who and how their investment are handle. This reflects a clear disorganization in the governmental mechanisms, which translates into a weakness. Minister Martinez suggests the government creates an integrated mechanism of investment. What this means is that no matter the origin of the investment or ministry, it will end up in a single place. This will allow proper follow up of the investment, and in case a project gets stuck, the institution can determine where being detained due to bureaucracy or lack of project handling. Based on that integrated mechanism the country can increase its FDI inflows by having all projects in a single place, thus providing one more reason to invest in th e Dominican Republic. Promotion agency (CEI-RD) and incentives offered The Dominican Republics government has implemented a liberal framework for attracting FDI. It makes no distinction between foreign and local companies in terms of ownership restrictions and ability to qualify for investment incentives. Foreign investment is permitted in all sectors except those related to public health and the environment (such as storage and disposal of hazardous or radioactive waste), as well as national security. The Dominican Republic government also offers full exemption from all taxes, duties, charges, and fees that affect production and export activities in free trade zones, which it introduced in 1969. The free trade zones aim to attract high-tech manufacturing (including electronics and electrical components) as well as more traditional manufacturing-such as of automotive parts, medical devices and pharmaceuticals, plastics, metals, injection molding, textiles and footwear, jewelry, tobacco and of course contact centers. The incentives offered last up to 25 years for zones on the Haitian border, and up to 15 years for all other zones. In May 2006 there were 59 industrial parks and free trade zones in the Dominican Republic, hosting more than 600 companies, providing over 190,000 direct jobs, and occupying 2.1 million square meters. Although there are no performance requirements for foreign investors, few sector-specific incentives are offered to them. (World Bank Group, MIGA, Snapshot of the Caribbean, 2007) All of the benefits mentioned above and the continuing inflow of investment is happening thanks to efforts from the government and the institution in charge of carrying out FDI promotion. The institution carrying out this very important task is the Dominican Republics Export and Investment Center (CEI-RD), which is headed by Eddy Martinez, as the Minister and Executive Director of this government institution that promotes national strategic export and foreign investment opportunities and works hands-on with local and foreign enterprise to facilitate business activity. Because the institution knows the importance of investment they are aggressively targeting investors through offices in New York, Miami and California, and because of the nations entry into the Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA-DR. The Centro de Exportacià ³n e Inversià ³n de la Repà ºblica Dominicana (CEI-RD) as it is called in Spanish, is the countrys one-stop investment promotion intermediary. It has three main departments: Export Promotion, Investment Promotion, and a Training Center. The CEI-RD aims to strategically promote the valuable conditions that the Dominican Republic offers as an investment destination and foreign trade developer, by pursuing priority areas as defined by the Government, to increase employment, technological transfer and the social welfare of the Nation. The agency organizes and participates in trade missions both overseas and locally as well as provides tools to assist investors, such as an export directory. (World Bank Group, MIGA, Snapshot of the Caribbean) The CEI-RD is the official organization responsible for the promotion of international trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). It was created as a product of the fusion of the Center for the Promotion of Exports of the Dominican Republic (CEDOPEX) and the Office for the Promotion of Investments of the Dominican Republic (OPI-RD), according to Law 98-03, effective on June 17, 2003. The CEI-RD is comprised of two main operational areas, export promotion and foreign investment promotion and its functions include many promotions, but some of the more relevant to this study are promotion of the countrys advantages to attract foreign investment, coordination with other government institution related to foreign trade in the interest of achieving an expedient and efficient flow of exports and investments in the country, promotion and development of FDI and business from the CEI-RD offices abroad, currently in Miami, New York and Chicago, participating actively in trade negotiations and ad ministration of resulting agreements, contribute to the improvement of the legal framework and its proper application. Also throughout the Foreign Service network, new offices will be opening soon in Puerto Rico and Silicon Valley The institution services are available for local and foreign companies to facilitate the exports and investments of the country which is an advantage to any investor. Among the services the CEI-RD offers, and which are relevant to this study, they have specialized consulting, technical assistance in meeting the regulations and norms required for the export of goods and services, which is helpful to new investor who are not familiar with the legal framework. They also have validation of certificates of origin, technical assistance relating to trade agreements, recommendations for improving the production process and benefiting from tariff preferences. The new investor can also benefit from visits on behalf of the CEI-RD specialized staff to their companies in order to evaluate the production process under trade agreements and preferential programs. One very important service the CEI-RD offers is that they ensure the correct application of norms relating to export and investment proced ures by administrating Law 84-99 on the reactivation and promotion of exports and Law 16-95 on foreign investment. Other services, although not specific to the industry, offered by the CEI-RD and from which investors could benefit are product profiles and market analysis, business intelligence, legal and economic information, registration of exports and foreign direct investment, facilitation of a network of representatives abroad and foreign trade documentation center. As any other promotion agency the CEI-RD has several promotion programs that make the Dominican Republic attractive for FDI. These programs include National and International Trade shows and expos where it presents companies, local and foreign, can showcase their products. The CEI-RD also coordinates trade missions in order to ensure a successful transaction as well as training programs relating to international trade. In these specific programs-relating to international trade-local companies can get educated and learn how to export their products and foreign investors can learn about the local market and opportunities. Another very important promotion program-and the one of the most significant-is the coordination of business meetings to present what the countrys has to offer, as well as to contact potential investors and exporters. With this two-way program, foreign and local investors will have a mutual gain by making the necessary contacts to get their business started, thus gene rating future FDI. (CEI-RD, 2010) Contact center FDI in Dominican Republic Overview of contact center FDI As it was previously mentioned, this study looks at the pros and cons of contact center FDI from various angles, one been from the host country point of view and the other the investors point of view. From the host country the study takes into consideration a report created by the economist Jonathan Aragonez, from the Center of Export and Investment of the Dominican Republic (CEI-RD), as well as other documentation of contact centers from the CEI-RD. These documents will provide the necessary data to point out the countrys benefit and disadvantages. Do to the lack of published papers that truly criticize or analyze the contact center industry, this study will support many of its facts on three things. These three key contributions are empirical knowledge of the writer, interview conducted to the economist previously mentioned, and interview with a contact center owner who is doing FDI in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic has had strong export services for many years, and as a result there are 40 to 50 call centers registered with the Dominican Call Center Association. Investors currently operating in the country cited skilled workers, most of whom are bilingual, as their main reason for choosing it as their investment location (Dominican Republic Contact Center Association, 2010). The country has a large, well-trained labor force and although Spanish is the countrys official language, investors can find workers that also speak English. Apart from the stable, fast growing economy, attractive cost structure and near shore location, it can be said that people are the primary competitive advantage in the Dominican Republic. Investors in the Dominican Republic always emphasize the Dominicans high learning ability and proficiency in English. (Eddy Martinez, 2006). The countrys large size means that land is available for green field investment-if one was to be done-although most investors opt to rent or lease a work space for their operations. The country also offers great access to all markets being that is one of the six countries in the world that has a free trade agreement with the U.S. and Europe. Some of the other countries that have such a privilege are Israel, Jordan, Chile and Mexico (Office of the United States Trade Representative, 2010). Other favorable investment factors included the countrys well-developed, affordable telecommunications infrastructure which is the only one in the Caribbean with access four international cables through the Americas Region Caribbean Optical-Ring System Cable (ARCOS-1). What this means is that the Dominican Republic connection to the U.S. or any other country is redundant, thus ensuring contact center businesses to always be connected. Contact centers in the Dominican Republic generate 25,000 direct jobs, from the 57 companies registered and operating in the country. In the next two years those centers are expected to create 30,000 additional jobs, which when added to the indirect ones are more than 150,000 in. This information comes from the CEI-RD, which also says almost all of the data and information technology centers have been installed in the country in the past three years, meaning this great progress has been done in record time. This year alone-and not including centers outside of free trade zones-Contact Centers constituted 15% of approved companies in the free trade zones of the Dominican Republic, being matched only by textile companies (Approved companies by the Free Trade Zone and Export Committee, 2010). In previous reports the committee also shows how these companies add to the countrys GDP year after year, reflecting in a steady and secure growth of this industry. Companies approved in 2010 Free Trade Zone and Export Committee, 2010) The contact center industry in the Dominican Republic is one that has maintained a steady and significant growth. By doing so it has provided a great deal of jobs in the Dominican labor market, citing that for the year 2009 the industry counted with 22,000 jobs. Taking into consideration that the growth of this industry will be of about 27% and 36% annual growth during the next five years, it means that by 2014 the number of jobs can grow to an astonishing 150,000 jobs if the average annual growth rate is of only 27%. If the industry grows at an average of 37% annually, we are talking about having 250,000 jobs, which is almost double of the previous projection. (Jonathan Aragonez, 2010) Strengths, weaknesses and investors perspective of contact centers FDI Deciding whether to invest or not in a country is a decision which is influenced by what the country has offered and showed you, and what other investors say their experience has been. Investors will most likely take other investors input as the reality of how business works in a country. With that being said, one of the biggest disadvantages mentioned by investors is that the Dominican Republic doesnt count with a large enough English speaking community to hold growing operations. This statement comes from the interview with Mr. Blake Janover, contact center owner who has experienced the lack of English speaking representatives. He mentions that the Dominican Republic is a great place to invest, but not the best in the world due to some more important flaws than not enough English personnel. The main weaknesses mentioned by this contact center owner are banking, finance, and overall infrastructure, which is why he runs everything through an external company abroad instead of legally constituting a Dominican company. He also says that it takes time to get things rolling in the country, but he likes the Dominican Republic because it offers a huge tax benefit, as the US offers almost none (Blake Janover, 2010). Further details given by Mr. Janover can be seen in the Appendix. As for the interview with Mr. Jonathan Aragonez, an economist for the Center of Export and Investment of the Dominican Republic, he explains that the Dominican Republic offers contact center investors a great deal of benefits. In his interview he mentions some of the exclusivity of Dominican Republic, its treaty and skilled labor force. The most significant interpretation I could gather form the interview was that an investor is usually winning when investing in a contact center. This is an industry that is expected to grow at a steady 27 to 36 percent in average in the next 5 years, so the investor is bound to make a great profit in the business.(Jonathan Aragonez, 2010) Both the investor and the host country agree in one thing, the Dominican Republic offers advantages that many other countries dont have, and that is why the country is becoming a leader in the industry. These advantages are not only extended to the country and the investor, but are also transferable to the workforce. The average starting salaries in the contact centers are between RD$18,000 to RD$22,000 pesos. This amount is three times more than the average salary of RD$6,000 pesos-established by law-for people working office jobs such as law clerk, assistant or financial analyst (Ministry of Labor of the Dominican Republic, 2007). The contact center salaries are only matched by those of Doctors or Engineers in production plants, which is very demanding professional field in comparison with being a contact center agent. Although this is good for an individual whose only skill may be to speak English, it affects other labor markets due to the fact that the salary is so much