Analysis of Coming Home Again Essay

The world is becoming smaller day by day, connecting millions if not all within the frame of internet and telecommunication. Hence, traveling abroad or immigration to a foreign land is quite common nowadays. Of course, the decision to move to a new country entails many benefits; however, it is not without problems. One such negative after-effect would be the possible family feud that arises from the clash between family members, mainly that of parents and children, often sparked by provision of new education. Language plays a part in family dispute. As the first generation immigrants, parents are usually confined by their teachings in the language and cultural lessons of their mother country while the offspring are ready to make transition to their newly-adopted home. Problems often arise in most mundane circumstances such as calling the bank, buying clothes, and more. Chang Rae Lee narrates about a personal experience of encountering a bitter argument with his mother as he â€Å"was getting more and more impatient with the difficulty she encountered in doing everyday things†. Although a very trivial matter, the mother can’t make a phone call because of the language barrier. When the son was asked to make a phone call for his mother, the author felt that his mother’s life was â€Å"so small to him†, thus creating a disorder between the two. Language is a way to connect and even divide the family members. Often when families immigrate to a foreign country, the roles of the parents and the offspring switch. Already accustomed to their home country’s culture and values, parents become unfamiliar with the new lifestyle and environment, thus losing responsibility of daily tasks and circumstances. On the other hand, children have the opportunity to adjust themselves to new perceptions and settings, granting them the responsibility to take care of trivial matters. Such reversal of roles that create dysfunctional unnatural circumstances causes the spark of family feud. Wounded and entangled, family feud caused by education is not easily curable. However, Chang Rae Lee, though he experienced a hard time with his mother because of his adoption of American education, recover his bondage with his mother because of his efforts to help her cope with her incoming death, allowing him to gain true understanding of his mother’s sentiments toward him. Through realization of love and sacrifice, the author is able to overcome the family.

A Case Study on “Managing Like a Man at Silkqueen?”

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This is the case study on â€Å"Managing like a man at SilkQueen? † by Kate Hutchings of Queensland University of Technology. Here we are given a character named Sally Dawson who works for SilkQueen, which is an Australian company. She is a well skilled manager who has a huge experience for working successfully in Asia. However, working in this company as a manager, she facing some problems, which lead her to take a decision whether she leaves the company or try to make some smart changes. For this case study, we are using four questions. We answer all the four questions one by one respectively. In those, we try to figure out the problems faced by the employees and Sally, attitudes of the organization towards Sally, ways open for Sally. We also discuss about cross-cultural problems here. We also include a bibliography at the end. Company Profile SilkQueen is an Australian Company. Its’ main product is fabrics. It produces high quality fabrics and sell those throughout the world. SilkQueens’ manufacturing plants are situated in Sydney as well as in several locations throughout Asia. This company started its’ business as a family-owned company in 1910 and it started its’ international operations in 1979. The workforce of SilkQueen always female-dominated but maximum times management has been male-dominated. Sally Dawson has been working for SilkQueen for many years and most of the time she was expending her times working in Asia. It should be noted that she is quite successful in her career. Recently she has been posted to Australia and she is facing some problems with her employees. Although, the productivity is increased but the management is not quite satisfied with her work because the workers are neglected there. In this case study, we have to find out the problems faced by the employees and Sally and the probable solutions for those problems. For this purpose, we are using four questions. They are as follows: 1)From the perspective of the employees, what problems they are facing? 2)What are the problems faced by Sally and what could the organization have done to address her problems? 3)What could Sally do to improve her leadership style? )Why Sally’s leadership style is questioned in Australia and accepted in Asia? Now we are discussing the above questions with a view to analyzing the case study. Because of globalization and workforce diversity, the nature of management in an organization has considerably changed over the years. Nowadays, management is not only about exercising reasonable power using directive leadership but also about building relat ionships with employees, adapting leadership styles depending on situations, and working together with people from various cultural backgrounds. To understand the management terrain in the various areas of organizational behavior mentioned above, the objective of this paper is to analyses the case study, ‘Managing like a man at SilkQueen? ’ and provide insights on the problems encountered by Sally Dawson, the employees and the organization at SilkQueen. The paper will first focus on perception stereotyping and dominance effect to explain how the employees perceive the situation and Sally’s leadership. The problems faced by Sally will be next looked into to understand how the organization could have helped in various areas. Theories on improving leadership styles will be used to explain why Sally’s leadership approach is accepted in Asia but not in Australia. Question One: From the perspective of the employees, what problems they are facing? To recognize the problems met by the employees of SilkQueen, an analysis of their perception of the former line manager Mr. Wong will be compulsory. This is because the assessment of Sally by employees is partly based on comparison with Wong. According to the employees’ perception, Wong is an effective leader who is consultative, caring and concerned about their well-being. He is seen as valuing employees’ opinion as he always asked what the employees think before he does anything. Unlike Wong, Sally does not walk around the factory floor or show concerns for her employees. She does not ask what the employees think before she implements anything. The employees therefore perceive Sally to be a poor manager who does not care about employees’ work condition and who buries herself ‘behind a high desk with her back to the door in an office two levels above’. These perceptions however may not be true. According to organizational behavior scholars, ‘women are evaluated negatively when they adopt a stereotypically male leadership style and occupy traditionally male-dominated positions’. The employees in the case assume that Sally being a woman should be ‘nurturing and †¦ care about their workers’ suggesting preconceived notions of how women should behave. This notion of stereotyping can result in misinterpretation of information because not all people are the same, and many in the same social category may demonstrate inconsistencies with the stereotype. Question Two: What are the problems faced by Sally and what could the organization have done to address her problems? The first action by Sally in making a decision to change the work hours without consultation with the employees formed a lasting impression of her leadership, known as the primary effect the primary effect relates to a perceptual distortion which states that ‘first impressions are lasting impressions’ and once an inaccurate first impression is established, it is difficult for the perception to change even when new information contradicts the first impression. The consequence of Sally’s non-consultative management style spells the beginning of a problematic relationship with her workers. Within three months after she took over line management, Sally is faced with considerable indifference and hostility from her subordinates. In addition to his pressure, Sally also has to ‘change the focus of her work’ when she took up the role of line management in the manufacturing operations-an area which she is unfamiliar with. Because of this, she has to work long hours with very little time for social life, resulting in increased stress. Sally’s problems and stress could have been substantially reduced if the organization has played a supportive role. A good organization should first assess its manager’s strengths and weaknesses before assigning new roles. This may be done through a structured interview process or through research and information gathering with the objective to understand two areas of managerial competencies- past behavior to predict future behavior, and recent behavior to predict distant past behavior. By understanding Sally’s former experiences and roles, the organization can then decide whether to assign her to another area of to send her to a leadership development program such as the leadership grid to train her in evaluating task-oriented and people oriented leadership to work out a style best suited for her new role. Question Three: What could Sally do to improve her leadership style? Notwithstanding this fact, however, Sally should cultivate her emotional intelligence to monitor her own and others’ feeling and emotions to guide her thinking and action. According to behavioral theories by Ohio state studies and University of Michigan studies, there are primarily two categories of leadership: people oriented, and task-oriented. The behavioral studies propose a managerial grid based on a manager’s ‘concern for people’ and ‘concern for production’, which ideal grid position rates the manager as performing best when the style of leadership is high on people and task dimensions. In the case of SilkQueen, Sally could improve her leadership style by adapting a more people-oriented behavioral approach. To influence her subordinates, she could consider using contingency leadership ‘based on the idea that the most appropriate leadership style depends on the situation’. Theories of contingency leadership that Sally could use include Hersey-Blanchard situational theory, house’s path-goal theory, and Vroom-Jago leadership participation theory. The Hersey-Blanchard situational theory proposes that effective leadership is dependent on the followers. This means that regardless of what the leader does, it is the actions or acceptation of the followers that decide the effectiveness of the leader. This theory suggests that the leader should change his or her leadership style according to the maturity of the followers and the situation. Situational theory combines task and relationship behaviors and identifies four specific leadership styles: telling, selling, participating and delegating. Based on the maturity of the followers, each of the relevant four styles is used by the leader to respond to the employees by gradually declining control over activities and relationship behavior. For example, when an employee is new to the organization, the leader should use the style of telling the follower what to do, giving clear and specific directions. Depending on the maturity stage of the follower, alternative styles such as selling the leader’s ideas, participating in decision-making, or delegating responsibilities to the follower may next be used. In the case of SilkQueen, using the situational theory approach would have helped Sally understand that leadership is dependent on the followers and the way to lead followers is dependent on situations and levels of maturity. Instead of telling the employees, Sally could use the method of selling and participating in implementing the change of work hours. The path-goal theory developed by Robert House is another contingency theory model that Sally could employ in improving her leadership style. The theory suggests that an effective leader is one who can influence employee satisfaction and performance by making their need satisfaction contingent with the overall objectives of the group or organization. Four styles of effective leadership are indentified in this model: directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented. A directive leader lets subordinates know what is expected, giving directions on what to do and how, while a supportive leadership shows concern for the needs of subordinates. A participative leader consults with subordinates and involves them in decision making, while an achievement-oriented leader sets the goals and expects subordinates to perform at their highest level. Using the path-goal theory, Sally could effectively change the perception of her subordinates by building a people oriented behavioral approach through the use of a more supportive and participative leadership style instead of an achievement-oriented leadership. The third model of contingency theory that could be used by Sally is the Vroom-Jago leader participation theory. This theory developed by Victor Vroom and Alfred Jago takes a contingency approach to determine the optimal level of employee involvement depending on the situation. It proposes choosing the best decision making method for any problem situation through alternatives such as individual or authority decision, consultative decision, group or consensus decision. The model considers five levels of employee participation based on a decision tree ranging from autocratic at the top to team consensus at the bottom. Following the leader-participation theory model, Sally could evaluate the level of participation required by her in choosing the optimal level of employee involvement. Instead of using the top two levels of the decision tree, that proposes autocratic decision-making. Sally could use the bottom three levels of consultative and group decision in her approach. Question Four: Why Sally’s leadership style is questioned in Australia and accepted in Asia? As can be seen in the theories discussed above, one of the traits required of an effective leader is adaptability of leadership styles in varied situations. Adapting styles to situations however is not an easy task especially in organizations today where employees are made up of people from different cultures across national and regional boundaries. In the case of SilkQueen, it is apparent that Sally’s leadership is seen as questionable in Australia, but appropriate in Asia because of cross-cultural perspectives. This underlying cultural value may be translated as power distance, uncertainty, avoidance, individualism versus collectivism, achievement versus nurturing orientation, and long-term versus short-term orientation according to Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture. Using Hofstede’s framework as the guideline to cross-cultural comparison in SilkQueen’s case study, employees in Australia may be seen as high in individualism, high on social obligations and traditions, but moderately low in power distance. This rating vastly differs from countries in Asia such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and China. In Indonesia, individual goals are seen as less important than collective goals. In Malaysia, power distance ranks high while in China the future is emphasized more than tradition or social obligations. Based on the ranking described above, it is easy to understand why Sally’s task oriented leadership style is questioned in Australia but accepted in Asia. According to Hofstede’s framework, Australia is more inclined to meeting individual goals than group goals and expects relatively equal power sharing. In Asia, power distance is generally high, which means that receiving commands from superiors are commonly accepted. Conclusion Throughout the discussion in this paper, the studies of organizational behavior have been primarily focused in four areas: perception, leadership styles, leadership assessment, and cross-cultural behaviors. The perception of leadership based on stereotype and primacy effect can present inaccuracies and incorrect information of a situation or a person. A manager who wants to be effective must cultivate emotional intelligence and be flexible to adapt different leadership styles depending on the situation. A good organization must first assess its leaders to understand past behavior to predict future behaviors and bridge the gap of its leaders through leadership grid training. To manage a global organization, the leader must understand the differences in cross-cultural values across different parts of the world. Bibliography: Robbins, P. Stephen, Judge, A. Timothy. Organizational Behavior Luthans, Fred. Organizational Behavior

Analysis of Asian American Essay

The United States has become the most diverse society on the face of the earth. For more than a century, most immigrants to the United States were Europeans—Germans, English, Italians, and so forth. However, according to â€Å"Globalization and Contemporary Immigration to the United States† by Min Zhou and J. V. Gatewood, â€Å"non-European immigration to the United States began in the late 1960s and has accelerated at rapid speeds since the early 1990s after a long hiatus due to restricted immigration. † More than one million people a year migrate, mostly from Asia and Latin American- is transforming America into a multicultural society. At the same time, diversity became a distinguishing characteristic of contemporary Asian American. Cultural, social, economic and geopolitical factors have contributed to the diversity and also has brought new challenges for immigrants and their children to adapt themselves to the new environment. (Min Zhou and J. V. Gatewood) There are four aspects about â€Å"the development of a coherent vision for future Asian American† as what Min Zhou and J. V. Gatewood described. Firstly, variously national origins, which make impact on both the immigrant generation and the second and third generation in language and religions. Secondly, socioeconomic diversity brings about different kinds of mobility patterns. Thirdly, diverse settlement modes influence the development of Asian American community. Finally, â€Å"immigration complicates intergenerational relations and ethnic solidarity. † As what Min Zhou and J. V. Gatewood referred, â€Å"the Philippines, China/Taiwan, Korea, India, and Vietnam have been on the list of top-ten sending countries since 1980. †Even though there were different kinds of laws to restrict immigration from the â€Å"Asian-Pacific triangle†, Asian immigrants found other ways to become eligible citizen. For example, marrying white Americans. With the development of globe economy, the U. S. immigration policy had been changed. On the one hand, the United States sought cheaper labor and resources abroad to develop the globalization of its economy. â€Å"Since the 1980s, about on e-third of the engineers and medical personnel in the U. S. labor market have come from abroad-mostly from India, China, Taiwan and the Philippines. † (Min Zhou and J.V. Gatewood) Further, more and more Asian study abroad, therefore, many international students, namely, foreign students, had found permanent employment in America so that they could stay here. On the other hand, globalization had played a significant role in immigration. For one thing, developing countries’ economics and occupational structures were interposed by the U. S. investment. The U. S. imported the abroad material and then processed, finally, exported to those developing countries. For another thing, with the increase number of labor demand, rural-urban migration increased rapidly.

Cultural report on workplace bullying in Israel Essay

Cultural report on workplace bullying in Israel - Essay Example The problem Ayoko et al (2003) states that lack of proper employee and multicultural management leads to workplace bullies. This is normally characterized by name-calling, taunting, teasing or even sexual harassment. The situation is much worse if the company or organization’s management is involved in the bullying of employees because the affected employees have no one to run to for help. It also reduces the chances of such a vice fading away. Such a case of management involvement in bullying employee has been reported in this textile company. Employees especially those of Australian origin have reported that they are being bullied by the company management. Some of the employees have reported that they have been called names while some of them have reported constant taunting and teasing. According to Brodsky (1976), bullying makes the workplace unbearable for bullied workers. It also impacts negatively on their productivity. This is to say that bullying kills their morale an d motivation. Bullying of employees by company management makes workers to develop a negative attitude towards the company and hence they put little or no efforts to see to it that its production levels increase. Wiedmer (2011) explains that when bullied, workers who are innovative in nature and those who are good at identifying new markets go mute. This means the company is directly loosing a lot as a result of its discriminative management. Apart from affecting employees, the negative culture has also impacts negatively on the management practice. For example, it makes the management to loose the respect of employees. This means that the rate of taking instructions reduces because the employees are no longer willing to co-operate with the management. Some could also be on a revenge mission to see to it that the company records poor performance so as to taint the image of the oppressive management. Bullying taints the credibility of the management. Crawford (1997) explains that emp loyees loose usually confidence in a management that participates in jokes that are racially and even sexually offensive. According to De Dreu (2007), bullying of employees by management can divide the management along racial lines. For example though this textile company is Australian based, not all its management is of Australian or Israeli origin. Some of its members therefore feel bad to see their fellow citizens being bullied or discriminated by a section of the management. Alternative Solutions Alternative solutions to bullying as an evil culture of bullying touch on the management as well as the employees. Such measures will ensure that the culture does not simply shift from the management to the employees or become a collaboration between sections of the two. First, the company should create a company culture that not only accepts but also appreciates the variations that every employee brings to the workplace. Ashforth (1994) states that the new culture should enable the man agement as well as the employees to recognize, appreciate and most importantly, to respect variations between cultures. The company should also develop an amalgamated culture from all the cultures represented in the company. Saam (2010) explains that such a unifying culture will form a common basis of conduct for all the employees irrespective of their cultural backgrounds. The company also should develop employment policies then

The differences between the English and Spanish colonies in the new Essay

The differences between the English and Spanish colonies in the new world - Essay Example There is need to compare the two colonial masters in an effort to identify differences. Religion played an important role in the administration of the colonial territories. Both masters embraced Christianity. The Spanish rule however integrated Christianity in their administration. On the other hand the British acknowledged Christianity but had no role in administration. The Spanish rule ensured that Catholic was the only denomination in their territories. The British encourage Protestantism as their form of religion (Elliot 184). Religion in both colonial territories was used as a tool of strengthening their territory as a common agenda made user each territory shared the same religious ideologies. Religion then played an important role in these colonies as it influenced indigenous cultures. The British colonies exercised tolerance as other denominations where allowed into the region (Elliot 186). The Spanish on the other hand ensured the modern religion was the only religion practices in their territories which were different in British colonies where indigenous cult ure was tolerated. Administration was an important element in the two territories as it was a tool that differentiated the two colonies in the ‘New World’. According to Lange et al (2006) Spanish colonies experienced direct rule. This meant that rulers where appointed by the royal administration in Spain. The rulers answered directly to Spain any action was to be undertaken with a directive from Spain. The direct rule was enhanced by the Spanish government to sponsor settlers in their new territories (Strayer, 633). The Imperial companies that enhanced exploration of the ‘New World’ by the British meant that there rule was independent and formed governments different from the royal rule in Britain. The two systems meant that the indigenous individuals where to be the subjects

Business ethics. Social enterprise and business and poverty Essay

Business ethics. Social enterprise and business and poverty. Responsible investment - Essay Example This essay describes action of SELCO in her social entrepreneurship responsibility. SELCO has set example in social entrepreneurship both in India and worldwide. The company successfully presented solar electricity for lighting and power to the less privileged persons in the society. SELCO faced several challenges before succeeding in her operations and objectives in helping the poor. It initially grew purposely through gaining of enough capital and experience thus making it to attempt expanding her networks, which greatly interfered with her financial status. The company then increased the price of the solar panels thus causing a serious decline in the sales and the general operations of the company. Investors were not impressed by the decline of the business and forced the company to lay off employees and contract the business in 2000s. In 2008, SELCO acquired finance from the World Bank and International Finance Corporation to streamline the company although the company remained a for profit organization. However, the director of the company was able to obtain new investors who were aligned with the mission of the company thus making the company to keep her sales and service organization intact. The director was also able to boost the morale of the company’s employee who helped it to continue devising innovative solar solutions. The company successfully devised the solar system that could suite specific needs of the needy urban and rural persons. This was indeed a very good way of achieving social entrepreneurship objective of fulfilling the society needs. SELCO was able to design solar panels that exactly met the needs of the society by beginning with a broad needs assessment of specific part or activity of the underprivileged people in the society (Crane and Matten 2010, p. 474-476). The company ensured that they designed solar panels for street vendors, midwives and even the rural farmers who were in dire of the solar panel. The redesigning process involved many different activities that would ensure that the needs of particular markets were met. The company ensured that her operations were client based thus causing it to restructure and redesign her solar panels. SELCO was able to acquire funds from the World Bank and IMF perhaps due to her social objectives. It also gained publication due to her social entrepreneurship objectives. The company also arranged for financial assistance for the rural people who could not afford to buy even the cheap user customized solar panels. This slowed the company’s growth and made it to earn small levels of profit. The company could also not align her social objectives with the investors needs. Responsible Investment Responsible investment is one of the optimistic emerging trends in the financial world that integrates financial goals with positive business values that shapes the society future. Responsible investments vary because some companies may invest in the environmental factor s, employees’ welfare or society effects such as smoking. Responsible investment is a very vital area in doing business since sustainable society is crucial to the company’s values. Although it is important for organizations to reconcile society’s needs and the business objectives, the main problem is linking the economic, social, and environmental advantages with the

News paper summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 6

News paper summary - Essay Example Its stock dropped by more than 5% in three months. It also reported of various cyber-attacks that it has received. Its shares have also dropped by 10% in 12 months that are contradictory to gains of a company such as NASDAQ Internet Index that increased by 31%. The drop seems to indicate that investors are raising questions concerning its future. Its revenue growth has remained stagnant for the past two years, and the scenario will be the same in coming years. The article, HP chairman Whitworth to Step Down to Focus on Health, is about HP management and in particular its chairman Mr. Whitworth. He has served on several US boards, but now wants to retire and concentrate on his health. He has lived with throat cancer since April 2013. Relational managers will be meeting soon to discuss on how to appoint a new chairman. It manages more than $ 6 billion and features prominently in shareholder activism. He joined the HP Company in 2011 when it was turmoil and led to its stability. Relational investors are more worried of his wealth than effect on the firm. The article, Real-Estate Investors See No Problem with Puerto Rico, points out at the deteriorating economic conditions at Puerto Rico and how real-estate investors are taking advantage of the situation. Property managers and private-equity firms are buying and developing luxurious and high-end hotels on the island. Property deals have up scaled by more than $ 1 billion. The investments bet on its turn around, tourist’s credit concerns, and changes to the tax code that withdraws tax on such investments. The hotel business is on the rise, and the valuations are level to those seen before the wake of the global recession. The article, S&P Weighs Restarting Talks on US Suit, is about Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services and its lawsuit with the Justice department. The company is on discussion and negotiations on penalties on the range of

Smokers in great Britain and USA are increasingly treated as social Essay

Smokers in great Britain and USA are increasingly treated as social pariahs - Essay Example In Britain, following the ban on smoking; merchants have reverted to selling cigarettes in disguise to avoid confrontation with the government agencies who have vowed to eliminate smoking not only in the public places but also in private environments. The book creates scenarios of the possible implications of smoking ban in Britain. This makes the book reliable, authoritative, and objective for the research. Scenarios are conceivably the best practical analysis of social phenomena since it enables the creation of foresight into the societal issues. This literature details the health campaigns by the American Authorities to advocate for the elimination of smoking due to its contribution to cancer. It further depicts the discrimination that smokers encounter in seeking employments and sustaining such jobs. It captures the deliberate denial of civil rights in disguise for health campaigns and the resulting effects of the denial of civil rights on the smokers. In this light, it is reliable, authoritative and objective for the research. In a nutshell, the literature analyses the implications of reduced smoking on the economy, health standards, and the general welfare of the citizens. The book contains the elaborate steps employed by the American Authorities to at least minimize the use of certain drugs such as cigarettes. It recounts the intrigues in the banning of smoking in virtually all public places and that possibly with time, smokers would be registered as pedophiles. Berman, P.S, Neckerman, and K.M &Wright, elucidate the con tribution of health campaigns in changing the societal perception about smoking in America. In more precise terms, the book covers the risk perception about smoking among the early America smokers and the proceeding causes of changes in risk perception currently. The authors expose the earlier misconceptions that predisposed American to smoking such as the use of Menthol cigarettes to

Christian Stewardship and Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Christian Stewardship and Sustainability - Essay Example Christian Stewardship and Sustainability The concepts of stewardship require such a living approach that persuades desirable qualities of an individual and enjoys the harmony of living with unity. For instance, in stewardship the use of excessive resources like water, forests soil, wildlife and etc is prohibited or at least most likely to be avoided at its best. The word stewardship is mostly understood as a type of responsible and answerable management pattern and practice where the points of sustainability and quality of the environment are considered as the key area to focus on (Worrell, and Michael 263). Our notion of stewardship comes from biblical creation theology, distributed throughout the Bible but most visible in Genesis, the Psalms, and the Wisdom literature of ancient Israel (Butkus 19) It can be said that stewardship is just not a way of living; in fact it is better to be taken as a good way of living or an approach to better way of life. The starting and ending idea of stewardship lies in belongings to God. And on the other hand the theory of keeping everything in a moderate situation prevails in the ecological concepts of sustainability without damaging the productive rate of the society. Few of the best examples of sustainability are the forests that have been there from a long time with no harm. Sustainability is not only a matter of self interest for the communal societies of human being but they also consist of questions against the fundamental values of earth and other species besides humans.

Apple marketing stategy Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apple marketing stategy - Article Example This will make it affordable for the new customers to purchase the product before the product is hiked. This strategy will reduce threat of competition as the brand will have already have attained an advantage over other competitors. Diversification of the products in the market will also be used as a strategy to increase financial returns which will be used as a competition tool for the company. The finances will also be used as an entry barrier to potential competitors in the same sector (Hill & Jones, 2009). One of the competition strategies of the company is intensive advertising. This is through the media e.g. television, radio, newspapers and magazines. This will work in ensuring that customers have adequate knowledge concerning the existence of the product in the market. Efficient distribution is another strategy to be used by the company which will involve agents, sales persons and different branches that are established in different countries in the world. Another strategy that Apple Company will use to keep its competition level high is through constant communication with its customers through social networks and other communication channels such as blogs. This will help the company to have ideas of the customer’s behaviors concerning the product in the market. Constant innovation on the product is another important tool that will be used to extend the life of the products in the market. This will work towards reducing monotony of using the same product over a long period by the customer. It will also help in preventing the replacement of the products from the market by the competitors (Hill & Jones, 2009). Different products fit for different people (e.g. iPod for young generation, laptops for business people etc) based on demographics such as age; family location etc. in order to satisfy the market, the market will be divided depending on the demand of the product and the

eligion In United States Public Schools Essay Example for Free

eligion In United States Public Schools Essay The answer of the question is that students should be allowed to express any religion in United States Public Schools. I based my answer on the fundamental principles of the state with respect to the right to practice religion as well as my personal opinion. Therefore, I would like to submit that students in the United States should be allowed to practice any religion based on the separation of the church and state principle coined by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Other relevant instances and facts will also be used to explain this proposal like opposition of students of the mandatory prayer in school as well as the personal choice to express one’s religion through prayer. One reason that the students must be allowed to practice their own religion in schools is that it was the intention of the state that there will be a separation between the church and the state. All About History mentioned that the separation of the church and the state has been considered as part ad parcel of the legitimate, historical and political structure of the government and protects our freedom to practice religion (â€Å"Separation of Church and State†). In addition, it was also opined by Tripod that the separation of the church and state is considered a metaphor that well-known all over the world (â€Å"The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State†). This is stated this way because there is really no exact provision of the Constitution that mentioned separation of the church and the state. The idea was impliedly yet strongly mentioned in the Bill of Rights in order to ensure that freedom of religion can be served to the people. The phrase existed because of Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Danbury Baptists that they should not worry because an imaginary wall between the church and the state will be established (â€Å"The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State†). Second argument, the First Amendment of the Constitution clearly mentioned the basic ideals of the state concerning the freedom of religious practice. Volkomer (2001) wrote that, and I quote: â€Å"The First Amendment provides that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances† (425). It is then regarded by the government as a very important right since it was stated in the First Amendment of the Constitution. There is a clear prohibition that the legislature should not enact laws that favors any sectarian groups such that freedom of religion is thereby settled as a rule. If this rule will not be implemented, the very essence of liberty could not be exercised by the people. Imagine how scary on the part of the government to participate in matters those talks about religion when its very goal is to govern the people and not to make them godly. Besides, any governmental intervention on matters of religion would create chaos since we have different religious sects in the society. Political power may be seized by means of religion and everybody will use the name of God. Every religious sect will do everything in its power to influence policy-making in order to serve its interests to the disadvantage of the general welfare. Hence, students should be allowed in school to express their own way of worship and religious homage. Another argument to support the answer that students should be allowed to practice nay religion in public schools is that schools were not built to teach religious doctrines but to teach academic knowledge. It may be true that public schools are under the direction of the government yet the latter has no reason to direct it with regards to the incorporation of religious favor in schools. The mandatory school prayers made or required in some schools raked opposing views by students in public schools. The existence of public schools rests on education and not to basically proselyte. Kids in public schools are enslaved spectators. They are required to perform religious duties that they are not supposed to do either because they belong to other faith and or they have the right to practice their own beliefs. Therefore, the requirement that prayer should become an official element of the school day is improper and insidious (â€Å"Separation of Church and State†). In addition, religion must be treated as a private matter. It should be trifled upon by students in schools. Students in public schools must be given a chance to at least pray on their own decision and not because they were asked to do so. What is the purpose of faith when they should be forced to pray against their beliefs? There is none for that matter. The scheme that religious requirements in public schools be given would result to divisive attitudes of the students. It would create and build walls between students thereby giving them the opportunity to oppress the minority in terms of religious groups. It would disrupt the learning processes of the students in public schools. It must not be disregarded that public schools in America is for all students and not only for a particular group of students. It would be unfair if there were groups of religious believers who are given favorable situations on account of religious domination.

Example of Resume and Practical Application Letter Essay Example for Free

Example of Resume and Practical Application Letter Essay On behalf of the School of Business and Economics, I submit herewith an application for the student mentioned below to conduct his/her industrial training under your esteemed organization. The industrial training program is one of the course requirements for student to complete their Bachelor of Business (with honors) degree at University Malaysia Sabah. For your information, the placement should last for 3 months from 24 June 2013 to 13 September 2013. The main objective of this placement is to expose the student to the working environment in the corporate world, of which can be explained further by the attached â€Å"Program Objectives’’. The following student (enclosed CV) is majoring in Entrepreneurship: 1. BB1011xxxx ALIA UMAIRA BINTI MOHD RAFI (I/C NO: 901228-01-xxxx) For further information, please do not hesitate to contact any number of the practicum coordinator during office hours. In addition, below are few other objectives with regard to practical training: o To brief the trainees the roles and task performed as well as to prepare daily/weekly schedule. o To improve the trainees understanding on the company’s roles and contribution towards the industry. o To provide opportunity for trainees to be involved in the organization operation management and other activities such as briefing/seminars, workshops, exhibition and etc. o To improve communication and public relation techniques in order to enhance better relationship within the company as well as the customers.

Failure In An Air Compressor Engineering Essay

Failure In An Air Compressor Engineering Essay Abstract In this project, the mission which needs to be accomplished is to investigate the relentless root cause of such failure and to give useful recommendations which can help to avoid such failures in the reciprocating compressor under study in the future. An engine driven auxiliary air compressor failed, the air compressor is located in the Hawke workshop. The first stage will be to establish details about the compressor, the manufacturer and how the compressor works. Classification of compressors and types will be also discussed and of course the theory of operation. Collecting components failed in order to be examined subsequently for the failure cause or causes this will be held using a variety of methods. NDE (non-distractive examination) or NDT (non-destructive testing) is valuable way to use for preliminary inspection of the failed parts without damaging it. Discussion of the probable causes for the failure well be performed in the following chapters as well as the conclusion obtained from study conducted. Introduction This project will investigate and analysis a failure happened in an air compressor. This investigation will be done in several ways to figure out the cause of the failure. Air compressor is a machine has the ability to compress the air and release it to convert the electrical power to kinetic energy to use it in several industrials and usages. Air compressor is consisting of many components. These components are electrical motor, pistons, air pump, air receiver, air drier, filters, air pressure regulator and pressure switch. All of these components will be discussed in details in the next chapters. There are also types of air compressor will be discussed later. Background The case which had here is a failure in an air compressor. From the first sight on the damage happened in it, it seems to be that the failure happened in the connecting rod and its obvious from the below figure number 1. This figure shows that the failure happened in the connecting rod from the ring part which connected to a crank shaft. But the reason for this failure is unknown as there are several scenarios could be adopted. The first scenario is the fatigue is the reason for this failure. The second scenario is a very heavy pressure loaded to the compressor which led to that failure. These are the most expected scenarios which will be investigated later in this project to figure out the reason of the failure. C:UsersAzizDocumentsreportsgreenwichMOHAMMADAir_CompIMG_0471.JPG Figure 1: Failure of compressor connecting rod Amis and objectives Aims: The main aim of this graduation project is to investigate and discover the cause or the causes of failure of diesel engine driven auxiliary reciprocating air compressor made by Knorr-Bremse, model number is LP 4865. This will be achieved by carrying out the below objectives, once its achieved, the main aim of the project will be achieved. Project objectives: Collecting valuable information about, model number is LP 4, this will include: design of compressor, design of each part, construction materials of each part, operation principles, working theory, production range..etc. collecting data will help to recognize main failure cause, and accordingly to prepare new procedure to eliminate the problem, to decrease the opportunity of failure occurrence in the future, use greater safety factor and to recognize the person or the entity responsible for failure and to make mistake proofing for future avoidance of the failure. Collecting this background information is not limited to numbers only but it is should be extended to everything such as pictures, charts and graphs and samples. Investigating operational parameters, history of operation, nature of operation..etc in order to be able to determine precisely the root cause of such failure and which failure mode it follows. Physical investigation or macroscopic inspection should be carried out. This mission includes photo capturing, code of the product, model number, lot number, batch number and serial number. Perform compressor disassembly in order to dismantle each component, part, assemblies and sub-assemblies to perform through investigation and inspection of each. Its should be mentioned that necessary tests and analyses should be performed; mainly the manufacturer usually has his own procedures and tests for test and inspection. Air Compressor What is the air compressor? Air compressor is a machine that converts electric power to kinetic energy (motion). This energy comes from pressurizing and compressing air. After that, the compressed air goes into a chamber, and the air kept in the chamber by unidirectional valve. There are many types of compressors these types are: reciprocating compressor, rotary screw compressor and centrifugal compressor. These types will be explained in details below. Reciprocating compressor: Reciprocating air compressor is positive displacement compressor. This compressor sucks a volume of air and presses it with high pressure. This pressure done by using a piston and cylinder as movement part and displacement part. The compressor could be single acting or double acting according to its accomplish by using one side or both side. When the pressure difference between the cylinder and the receiver became proper, the valves open. Inlet valves open when the pressure in the cylinder is slightly below the intake pressure. Discharge valves open when the pressure in the cylinder is slightly above the discharge pressure. The compressor could be a single stage when the compression process done parallel. Rotary screw compressor: Also Rotary air compressor is a positive displacement compressor. Single stage helical or spiral lobe oil flooded screw is the most common in rotary air compressor. This compressor is consisting of 2 rotors located in a case where the air is compressed internally without any valves. The cooling for these compressors done by oil. As the cooling for the working parts happened inside the compressor, this type of compressor will not experience over heat due to operation, so it could operate without stop. Due to the simple design of the rotary screw compressor and its parts it can be maintained easily and installed any where could handle its static weight. The 2 stages rotary air compressor uses 2 rotors with a combined air end. This 2 rotors installed in series to share the compression. This raise up the efficiency with 50%. This 2 stage rotary compressor combined the maximum profit from the rotary screw with its simplicity and flexibility and the reciprocating compressor with its effect ive energy when it works 2 stages with double acting. The 2 stages of this compressor could be cooled by water, air or oil. The cooling system for this compressor could be oil, air and water. Centrifugal compressor: The centrifugal air compressor is a dynamic compressor that depends on transfer of energy from a rotating impeller to the air. This done by changing the airs momentum and pressure. By slowing the air in stationary diffuser the momentum converted to pressure. This compressor is oil free compressor. There is a separation between the lubricated oil and air by shaft seals and atmospheric vents. Where the high volume of dry air is required a centrifugal compressor is the proper compressor as it has a few moving parts and could operate continuously. The reciprocating air compressor (knorr-bremse, model lp 4865) The main study object in this project as said before is to study the reciprocating air compressor (knorr-bremse lp 4865). By searching the internet and try to get information about the air compressor which needed to complete this study but unfortunately the required information couldnt be found. So the general information about the reciprocating air compressor will be mentioned instead of the specific air compressor. There are 9 main parts for the reciprocating air compressor these parts are: Crank case: Crank case is a close rigid body where the crank shaft and the bearing house where located. This body could by rectangular or square shape. Mainly crank case formed by using cast iron. Crank Shaft: Crank shaft in one of the most important parts in air compressor. It is a motion transferor. It designed as one piece has balance in its dynamics and tries to avoid any twisting. To ensure a long life for bearings, the polishing and crank pin will be done. Generally crank shafts have a fly wheel. This crank shaft manufactured mainly of high grade S.G iron. Connecting rod: This part is responsible of transfer the motion from the crank shaft to the piston and changing the direction from the rotating motion come from the crank shaft into reciprocating motion in piston. This part is mainly forged of alloy steel. Bearings: Bearings are made to provide the rotating gear with rigidity. Its mainly manufactured of copper lead alloy. Cross slide: to get a perfect running for cross head, this part is responsible for reduce the inertia. This part is commonly manufactured of high grade S.G. iron. Cylinder: This part is where the air flow passes and compressed. Cylinders are manufactured with water jacket to reduce the generated heat from the compression process. This cylinder mainly made of cast iron. Pistons: Piston is the main part in the compression process, which move forward to compress the air and backward to intake a new air amount to compress. There are 2 types of piston according to its lubrication system, the first type is non-lubricated which made from aluminium alloy, and the second type which is lubricated is made from cast iron. Due to moving of piston in the cylinder, so there must a space exist between them, to ensure there is no leak happened for air a piston rings located on piston. Piston rod: Piston rod is this rod which connects the piston to the connecting rod. The piston rod is manufactured of alloy steel. Intake and discharge valves: These valves are responsible for the amount of air sucked or discharged. When the piston in the retraction position the suction valve open to allow the air to get in. when the piston move forward and reach the maximum pressure the discharge valve open. These 2 valves are adjusted to be opened and closed according to the pressure difference between inside the cylinder and the outside. These valves are made from stainless steel even a plate type or spring type. Problem Analysis The first problem in this study is that damage which happened in the connecting rod from ring which connected with crack shaft. As said in the background, there are 2 scenarios leads to this damage. The first scenario is a fatigue accrues in the connecting rod with lead to this damage as it couldnt stand the motion and the pressure any more. The second scenario is an excessive pressure more than the maximum pressure which could be hold by the compressor. At the same time a malfunction in the discharge happened, and this could be taken in consider as it must opened at slightly below the maximum pressure. In both scenarios, the damage in the connecting rod lead to another greater damage in the piston and the cylinder, as the piston start to move in non-liner motion and hitting the cylinder wall. This leads to a serious damage in the compressors piston and cylinder. The second problem is gathering the information about the air compressor Knorr-Bremse Lp 4865. This problem happened as the manufactured company keep the information about this compressor not listed and its material and properties to figure out the reason of the damage, maybe by knowing its maximum pressure or material type to check the fatigue on it. Problem Solution To overcome the second problem a deeply internet search is made with trying to contact with the manufactured company through their website www.knorr-bremse.com, but with no result. So another technique implemented, which is gathering common information about reciprocating air compressor and its common parts and materials. This could be useful but not accoutre.

Peaches Essay -- Character Analysis, Marcus, Reginald McKnight

In the story â€Å"Peaches†, Reginald McKnight introduces his main characters, one being Marcus. Marcus is a good guy, but he is described in many different ways, due to his bad temper and immaturity level. Throughout the work, author Reginald McKnight takes great care to illustrate situations and describe feelings and personalities that many men experience. This way, even though Marcus is having trouble controlling himself around other people and arrogant at times, he still tries to be a better person for Rita and for himself. He does this by going out of the country to experience other cultures and enhance his morals. Although Marcus is strong and eager, he is actually an easily irascible, impatient, immature, manipulative, unstable man whose inexperience does not prepare him for the frequent mishaps in his life. Marcus himself is white, and like most guys he is constantly nitpicking at not just anything, but everything he says and does. Even in realizing that he is being a complete neurotic, one can see that Marcus actions are a sign of his impatience. He has habits of always unknowingly insulting himself and exclaiming, â€Å"I’m the one who needs to change,† (73) two practices that reveal his insecurity and contradict his belief that, â€Å"If anything, I can give you more because my world is so different from yours† (74) which he stated to Rita. Even when Rita re-assures Marcus that â€Å"It’s got nothing to do with your beliefs. Really. I’m just preoccupied†¦..we can talk about this tomorrow, at dinner?† (74) His first concern is himself and asks Rita â€Å"Is it because you think I got no soul or some crap like that, isn’t it?† (74). He feels that his race is the reason Rita has been avoiding him. He reasons that the tension e xisting between him a... ...ially drawn to Rita, not for her â€Å"frizzy, uncombable black hair, or burdensome breasts, but the face that he insisted no guy on campus could forget, and the legs he insisted were not birdlike† (73). Due to Marcus’ personality traits he did not seem to notice that he was sabotaging any possibility of ever having anything serious with Rita. In creating a character so obvious in his irascibility, duality and selfishness, Reginald McKnight also creates a character we can sympathize with. McKnight created a sense that Marcus was an eager individual, who set himself apart from society, but in doing so, he set himself up for failure. This, if anything, makes use aware that negative remarks and statements can lead to a very negative end result. We are forced to form our own conclusion and conform to the fact that no matter how many miles away, one person may never change.

German Expressionism Essay -- Essays Papers

German Expressionism German Expressionism is a kind of art that is supposed to make you feel something. When you look at a painting such as â€Å"The Scream† by Edvard Munch (1863-1944), you ask yourself what kind of emotions does this painting give you. A group of early 20th century German artists used the term â€Å"expressionism† to desribe the way they produced art. The title later turned into â€Å"German Expressionism†. This art movement was prominent during 1905-1925. In German it is known as â€Å"Die Brucke† and â€Å"Der Blaue Reiter†. Unlike Impressionism, its goals were not to reproduce the impression by the surrounding world, but to express the artists feelings on the surrounding world. Expressionism comes from the route word â€Å"expression† which means to make known or reveal or show. The text b...

Overview of the Sport Softball Essay -- essays research papers

George Hancock's first intention was to come up with a way for baseball players to stay in practice during the winter. Instead, on September 16, 1887 in Chicago, he invented a whole new sport, the first version of softball. It was referred to then as just "Indoor Baseball." The first game of baseball consisted of a boxing glove tied into a ball and a broom handle which was used as the bat. After the game was successful with a score of 44-40, Hancock developed a ball and a bat that could be used to play the game. The new sport was moved outside the next year. Another version of softball came about when Lewis Rober, Sr. organized an outdoor game to be used as exercise for firefighters. It was called kitten ball, pumpkin ball, or diamond ball. His game used a ball with a circumference of 12 inches whereas Hancock's game used a ball with a circumference of 16 inches. When sports that were fairly the same were being played all over with different rules and names, the Joint Rules Committee on Softball was formed and standardized the rules and the name, "Softball." The rules of softball can be easily altered yet there are some basic rules no matter how it is played. It is a strike if a legally pitched ball is swung at and missed by a batter or when a foul ball is not caught when the batter has less than two strikes. A ball is called when a legally pitched ball does not enter the strike zone or hits the ground before reaching the home plate, but only if the batter had not attempted to swing. A ball is also called when the pitch is illegal. The batter must always run when a fair ball is hit. If a fair ball or foul ball is caught by an opponent before it hits the ground, the batter is out. When four b... ..., fair ball, is a batted ball is hit into fair territory. Fair territory is the part of the playing field within and including first base and third base foul lines from home base to the bottom of the playing field. A foul ball is a ball that is hit into foul territory. A dead ball is a ball that is not in play. Any ball that is hit into the air is called a fly ball. The strike zone is the space over the home-plate, which is between the batter's armpits and the top of the knees when the batter is in batting position. An overthrow is a play in which a ball is thrown from one fielder to another to try to retire a base-runner who hasn't gotten to or is off a base. The team in the field is called the defensive team. The team at bat is called the offensive team. The batting order is the official listing of offensive players in the order to go up to bat.

Shipping

This has Included the level of effort and costs associated with several courses of actions. I have also considered our obligations both legally and morally to our customer and our future customer. Our business has always held Itself and Its products to the highest quality standards and our customers in turn have rewarded us with continued trust and business. Our reputation and image should be a considering factor with any course of action that we take. I have carefully considered possible options and have identified three viable capabilities which would keep our reputation intact and provide the service our customers have come to expect.We can remake the whistle in question and repackage the entire collection; remove the whistle and ship the collection with a replacement of similar or higher value from our catalogue; keep the whistle Included but add a separate replacement of similar or even higher value with Instructions to discard the whistle and replace. Any solution should ensure the utmost customer satisfaction and provide our customers with the care and consideration, not to mention value, our customers rely on when they chose our company. It is also important to try to minimize the cost and effort required to remedy.This will not only minimize financial impact to the company but will help ensure we can remedial quickly in order to fulfill our shipments on time. All three have advantages and disadvantages which I will elaborate. The first option, remake the whistle in question and repackage the entire collection, has the advantage of providing our customer with exactly what they ordered and thus not Jeopardize the relationship we have In place. It would however be a significant undertaking as we would experience a great amount of labor for the remunerate and unpacking and repacking of the product.Legally and ethically there would be no issues but the financial impact of this approach would be about The second option, remove the whistle and replace with an item from our catalogue of equal value would allow us to utilize stock on hand and ship quickly. If the customer requests, we can ship the remade whistle at a later date. This option would remove the ethical and potentially legal concerns of shipping an unsafe reduce and if the customer accepts the replacement without requesting the shipping of the whistles to follow, would be significantly less costly than remaking the whistles in urgency to meet the shipping deadline.However, by substituting the whistle, even offering to ship the replacements at a later date, our reputation of accurate and timely shipping may be compromised with this customer. The third option, keep the whistle included but add a separate replacement of similar or even higher value with instructions to discard the whistle would save costs f remunerate and additional shipping. The schools could keep or discard the whistles as the whistle would pass any safety issues in South America.This would eliminate any legal concerns and would provide the best value to the customer and lowest cost to the company. However, knowing that these would not pass safety levels in the U. S. I feel that this would be highly unadvisable. If the schools chose to keep the whistles there could be resulting health issues to the children. My recommendation would be to proceed with the first option, to remake the whistle and repackage immediately. Although it is the most costly to the company upfront, the loss of reputation or customer faith would prove more costly in the long run.Our company prides itself on delivering to the highest levels. Compromised quality or orders the customer may feel are incomplete could damage the relationship and potentially future business. Additionally, any solution that may allow the tainted whistles in the hands of children could result in a more serious lack of confidence in our company. Our company is built on providing for educational and safe experiences for children worldwide. Anyth ing less would be unethical.In order to get in front of future issues of this type I recommend that we put in place a formal notification and escalation process for concerns of toy safety. We should clearly spell out what each employee is responsible to do and how the company will respond. If we consider potential issues before they occur and address the remediation it will remove any chance that we will be pressured into a fast and poor choice which may have long term impact to our company or our customers. I also recommend that we formalize the company ideals into a code of conduct that is available for our employees and customers.An excellent example that addresses responsibility to all stakeholders internally and externally is the code of conduct for the Matter Company. The Matter Company code of conduct addresses legal and ethical concerns and how to respond if there are concerns. (Matter Inc. , 2011) The Matter code of conduct removes any cloud of Judgment in a tough situation by addressing the concerns of the company, its stakeholders and its customers. It provides a clear explanation of the need and is easily understood. It includes core assign and play to grow.It also includes a value statement â€Å"act with unwavering integrity' that makes the company's emphasis on ethics to be paramount. The code of conduct addresses the responsibilities of all employees and additional responsibilities of leaders to be role models. In addition it spells out the consequences that should be expected if the code of conduct is not adhered. I strongly suggest that we develop a complete code of conduct such as this that will provide a guideline for the company and its employees for any future events as well as the day to day expectations.

Management and Cost Accounting Assignment

B313F Management and Cost Accounting Assignment 1 Date due:29 October 2008 Weighting:15% of the total marks of the course Question 1(25 marks) Mini Case – Seto’s Storage Warehouse Paul Seto owns and manages a commercial storage warehouse. He stores a vast variety of perishable goods for his customers. Under the existing pricing policy, he has charged customers using a flat rate of $2. 40 per kilogram per month for goods stored. His storage warehouse has 10,000 cubic metres of storage capacity.In the past two years, Seto has become dissatisfied with the profitability of the warehouse operation. Despite the fact that the warehouse remains relatively full, revenues have not kept pace with operating costs. Recently, Seto approached his accountant, Albert Lo, about using activity-based costing (ABC) to improve his understanding of the causes of costs and revise the pricing formula. Lo has determined that most costs can be associated with one of four activities. Those activit ies and their related monthly costs, volume measures, and volume levels for 2008 are as follows: Activity |Cost |Monthly Volume Measure | |Send/receive goods | $80,000 |Weight in kilograms – 50,000 | |Store goods | $8,000 |Volume in cubic metres – 800 | |Move goods | $10,000 |Volume in square metres – 500 | |Identify goods | $3,000 |Number of packages – 500 |Lo has also collected last month’s information on the following 3 customers whose goods were all received on the first day of last month. |Customers |Weight of Order |Cubic Metres |Square Metres |Number of Packages | | |(Kilograms) | | | | |Sunshine Co. |20,000 |600 |30 |10 | |Best Buy Co. 20,000 |400 |20 |40 | |Chow’s Trading |20,000 |200 | 100 | 160 | Seto would like Lo to perform some analyses based on the above information and data in order to evaluate whether to use ABC. Required: a. Determine the price to be charged to each of the 3 customers under the existing pricing policy. (3 m arks) b. Based on the monthly activity cost and volume data provided, determine the amount of cost assigned to each of the 3 customers. 10 marks) c. Determine the price to be charged to each of the 3 customers using activity-based costing (ABC), assuming Seto would base the price on the cost determined in part (b) plus a markup of 40 percent. (3 marks) d. Critically discuss whether Seto’s existing pricing policy captures the costs incurred to provide the warehouse services. (5 marks) e. A cost hierarchy categorizes costs into different cost pools on the basis of the different types of cost drivers or cost-allocation bases. Describe the four levels of a manufacturing cost hierarchy under the ABC system. 4 marks) Question 2(25 marks) Antique Furnishings Ltd. is a Yuen Long based manufacturer making three unique wood products: bed-frames, coffee tables, footstools. These products are completely carved by hand by skilled craftspeople who have been trained in making these products . Since it takes about a year to train each craftsperson, the labour cost is a fixed production constraint over the short term. For the year ended 31 December 2008, the company expects to have 34,000 available labour hours. The average hourly labour rate is $25.Information regarding the current product line is as follows: Bed-framesCoffee tablesFootstools $ $ $ Selling price900 680 240 Variable costs: Direct material220 160 60 Direct manufacturing-labour costs 300 275 75 Indirect manufacturing-labour costs 80 40 21 Other indirect manufacturing costs100 80 20 Variable selling expense 20 15 10 Variable manufacturing costs are variable with respect to units produced. Variable selling expenses are variable with respect to units sold.Fixed costs: Indirect manufacturing-labour costs 80,000 Other indirect manufacturing costs 70,000 Selling & administration 75,000 Required: a. Compute the contribution margin per unit for each of the three products above. (6 marks) b. Assuming that the marke t demand exceeds the company’s production capacity for all products, determine the number of units of each product that the company should make. (Hint: You need to maximize the contribution per unit of the scarce resource. ) Calculate the profit before tax based on your determination of units of each product. (7 marks) c.Assuming that the company has a policy of devoting between 20% to 50% of its available skilled labour capacity to one product, determine the number of units of each product that the company should make and calculate the maximum profit before tax. (7 marks) d. Discuss how managers decide whether a cost is a direct or an indirect cost and describe the factors that will affect the classification of a cost as direct or indirect. (5 marks) Question 3(25 marks) DVD Express is a large manufacturer of affordable DVD players. Management recently became aware of rising costs resulting from returns of malfunctioning products.As a starting point for further analysis, Bon nie Lee, the controller, wants to test different forecasting methods and then use the best one to forecast quarterly expenses for 2009. The relevant data for the previous three years follows: 2006Return 2007Return2008Return QuarterExpensesQuarterExpensesQuarterExpenses 1$15,0001$16,2001$16,600 217,500217,800218,100 318,500318,800319,000 418,600417,700419,200 The result of a simple regression analysis using all 12 data points yielded an intercept of $16,559. 09 and a coefficient for the independent variable of $183. 22 (R-squared = . 27, t = 1. 4, SE = 1128). Required: a. Calculate the quarterly forecast for 2009 using the high-low method and regression analyses. Recommend which method Bonnie should use. (15 marks) b. How does your analysis in requirement #1 change if DVD Express manufactures its products in multiple global production facilities to serve the global market? (5 marks) c. How do we know when high correlation exists? Explain whether high correlation is the same as cause and effect? (5 marks) Question 4(25 marks) Quik Printing Inc. , is a rapidly growing company that has not been profitable despite increases in sales.It has hired you as a consultant to find ways to improve the situation. You believe that the problem results from poor cost control and inaccurate cost estimation on jobs. To gather data for your investigation, you turn to the accounting system and find that it is almost nonexistent. However, you piece together the following information for April: †¢ Production 1. Completed job 101. 2. Started and completed job 102. 3. Started job 103. †¢ Inventory values: 1. Work-in-process inventory: |March 31: Job 101 | | | Direct material†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. $ 2,000 | | Labor (960 hours ( $10)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ | 9,600 | |April 30: Job 103 | | | Direct material†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. |$ 1,600 | | Labor (1,040 hours ( $10)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ | 10,400 | 2. Each job in wor k-in-process inventory was exactly 50 percent completed as to labor hours; however, all direct material necessary to do the entire job was charged to each job as soon as it was started. 3. There were no raw-material inventories or finished-goods inventories at either March 31 or April 30. Actual manufacturing overhead was $20,000. †¢ Cost of goods sold (before adjustment for over-or underapplied overhead): |Job 101 | | | Direct material†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ | $ 2,000 | | Labor†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. | ? | | Overhead†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ | ? | |Total†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ | $ 30,800 | | | | |Job 102 | | | Direct material†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? | | Labor†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. | ? | | Overhead†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ | ? | |Total†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ | ? | †¢ Overhead was applied to jobs using a predetermined rate per labor dollar that has been used since the company began operations. †¢ All raw materials were purchased for cash and charged directly to Work-in-Process Inventory when purchased. Raw material purchased in April amounted to $4,600. †¢ Direct-labor costs charged to jobs in April totaled $32,000.All labor costs were the same per hour for April for all laborers. Required Write a report, with supporting calculations, to management to show the following: a. The cost elements (direct material, labor, and overhead) of cost of goods sold before adjustment for over-or underapplied overhead for each job sold. (14 marks) b. The value of each cost element (direct material, labor, and overhead) for each job in work-in-process inventor y at April 30. (7 marks) c. Over-or underapplied overhead for April. (4 marks)

Should Cellphones Be Allowed in Class

Should Cell Phones Be Allowed In The Classroom? Personally, I think cell phones should be allowed in the classrooms as they can benefit students in many ways. Student’s listen to music on them, do research on them, and they benefit students with individual education plans. To start, cell phones should be allowed in the classroom, as student’s use them to listen to music. In addition, listening to music helps people concentrate on their learning as it avoids them from getting distracted at what is going on around them. Also, listening to music helps student’s deal with emotional problems, stress, etc.Therefore, students should be allowed to bring their cell phones to class. Next, I think students should be able to bring their cell phones to class considering it is helpful when it comes to them having to do research on something. Cell phones are helpful to students when it comes to doing research, as they can save what they researched on their phone and come back t o it later. Furthermore, cell phones are good when it comes to needing to do research as sometimes you could wait days to use the school computers, but if you have a cell phone with a data plan you can have all the research you want at the end of your finger tips.In conclusion, cell phones should be allowed in the class as they do benefit student’s when it comes to doing research. Finally, cell phones should be allowed in the classroom, as they can benefit students with individual education plans. For instance, cell phones can help benefit student’s with I. E. P’s because they have cameras on them which student’s can use to take pictures of their assignments who cannot write, student’s can also type up their work and print it, and lastly if they have a hard time when it comes to reading something they can use applications like Kurzweil or dragon and have it audio read to them.To summarize, I think cell phones should be allowed in class, as they are a very useful device when it comes down to students with individual education plans learning. To conclude, students should have the privilege of bringing their cell phones to class, as they can help benefit students in their learning in several ways. For example, they can be used as a calculator for math. To wrap it up, students should be able to bring their mobile devices to class, as they can benefit students in so many ways.

Literacy Autobiography Essay

I have come a long way down my road of knowledge and learning of English throughout my life and it has taken me places and shown me things I would have never expected when I first started out on this long journey, and it includes things that most other student’s do not. I have learned so much, so fast and it has taken me far from home and around the world. While most of the people I know have traveled the same road their whole lives and have grown up in very similar ways, my experiences tell a whole different story. I was born and raised as a child in Beijing, China and grew up around people that spoke mandarin Chinese all the time. Mandarin was my primary language growing up as a child, I learned how to read and write when I first started school and I have been speaking Mandarin for twenty years now. This was my first challenge I faced about learning because it takes so much memorization and practice to learn such a vast language and there were times when I thought I couldn’t do it but I got help from my parents and my teachers. At times I wanted to give up because my teachers would get mad at me for saying or writing the wrong thing. I remember a certain memory in third grade of being called to the board to spell the word â€Å"student†, but I spelled it incorrectly and I’ll never forget because the whole class laughed at me and the teacher was very disappointed. But I knew I couldn’t give up and with enough time and effort I began to get good at writing essays and reading books in Chinese. As I progressed in school they started teaching English along with Mandarin because it is such an important language to the world and widely used and this just added to the challenge of being a successful student. With more help from my parents and teachers I started to learn enough English to read my first book, which was Forest Gump, which I really liked and it also became one of my favorite movies. I continued on through school learning more and more of both languages and in high school things got even more complicated. I went to a very competitive high school and the teachers were very hard on us so many more hours of studying were required in order to meet the grades I was expected to reach. It was when I was in high school that I finally decided what I wanted to do with my life and it was to pursue a career in business in the United States of America. My father was a successful military man in China but I knew that was something I did not want to follow. Growing up I heard so many great things about America and saw many things on TV and I knew that was where I wanted to find a career and become successful. But in order to meet such a large goal I knew I had to strengthen my English and work much harder. So I looked at all my options available to me and I found a program at the University of Texas at Austin called, English as a Second Language (ESL), where I could learn English and also learn its culture at the same time. Uninterested in a future in the military, like my dad, and high hopes for a future in business, I decided to give the ESL program a try and move to America where so many more opportunities would be available to me and be given a chance to become a lot more successful. My mom also played a big role in my decision because she too chose to move to America and she had so many great things to say about it. Moving to Austin, TX and being at UT was a huge change for me and opened my perspective to a lot new things that I had never even known before. The school there was like nothing I’d ever experienced before and I had to learn a whole new language in a short amount of time, while at the same time adapt to a whole new culture. The ESL program was the most drastic change in my life because it changed many things for me including my culture, literature, interests, and personality. I had to learn a whole new set of guidelines of learning but I worked hard and it paid off and I continue to use everything I have learned these past few years in order to succeed at UTPA and return to UT Austin where I can pursue a future in business. Although I’ve spent years studying English, I still feel like I’m a step behind everybody else because of the difficulty I have with reading and writing. It’s not as difficult for the people that have English as their primary language, but as they talk and write they also comprehend the meaning behind everything that is being communicated. But growing up in a different country this is a huge obstacle for me because even though i have learned to read and write like all the others, I can’t comprehend the meanings behind it as fast as other people can. This has proved to be a big challenge for me at the university level and I’ve learned that even though the students are given the same materials as me and the same opportunities, it takes me longer than the other students to figure out what to do with the materials. I have been exposed to the culture here long enough to learn things that will help me to adapt more to my surroundings and make it easier to reach success, such as music. I have always loved music but I have only recently discovered that I can use it to my advantage as a literary device. Once I got to America I fell in love with the pop culture and the music it creates and it became a big part of my life so I started incorporating it into my daily habits. But I found that if I focus rather than just enjoy the rhythm and words, I can learn from the music at the same time. For example, Kanye West is one of my favorite artists and I love the music he makes, but when I focus in more on what he is singing about I can learn things like important subjects in society, grammar they use, current events, and the different meanings and contexts of words I have never heard. I learned many things when moving from China but one of the most useful things I have come to learn is that there is more than what meets the eye and music is more than just music to me now, it is a useful literary device. So I started looking out for more things that could prove to be useful to me and I noticed more helpful things that most students do not even think could benefit their English learning abilities. Like the media for example, people think TV is a waste of time and will not teach you anything more than useless reality TV and lies, but if you focus in more you can learn anything from spelling to new words people use, also called â€Å"slang†. In short, readers construct meaning by building multifacted, interwoven, representations of knowledge. The current text, prior texts, and the reading context can exert varying degrees of influence on this process, but it is the reader who must integrate information into meaning. † (Haas & Flower 168). Haas and Flower explain how it depends on the reader to interpret the text and construct meaning from it and that different people may interpret the meaning differently. And with the varying degrees of influence that texts may have on people has more influence on me because simple things like music and media continue to teach me things that most kids do not even recognize. Education has a whole new meaning to me than other students may have because of all the other obstacles that come with studying in a different culture than the one raised in. Students have little to worry about in my opinion because all they have to worry about is school and how hallenging there classes are, but a student like me has so much more to worry about because even outside of the classroom I am still faced with learning challenges even when it comes to talking with friends. Do I have the same chances as the other students to succeed even though things are more difficult for me? The answer to this question depends greatly on your teacher. â€Å"In a similar fashion, asking to teach â€Å"academic writing† begs the question: which academic writing – what conte nt, what genre, for what activity, context, and audience? FYC teachers are thus forced to define academic discourse for themselves before they can teach it. † (Downs & Wardle 556). I agree with Downs and Wardle by saying that not all teachers are the same, some teachers are more intelligent and more qualified than some of the others out there and that they might define their view of academic discourse differently than others. And if a student is lucky enough to get a teacher with a loose definition of academic discourse and does not ask much of their students then the student has a better chance at success. There are many things that affect a student’s chance at success in the classroom but my question is, does a student in my situation still have a chance at the same opportunities as the other students despite the other student’s head start? In reading the essays and writing this paper I have developed a theory that a student in my situation with a late start in their learning abilities has to go the extra mile in order to adapt to the culture and the learning styles that come with it so that they have the same opportunities as the other students. And I have found that we do have the opportunity and the same chances of success as the other students do, we just have find the tools that will take us that extra mile. In order to find those tools you have to find the patience, determination and will inside yourself to take on the challenge ahead of you, but without these characteristics you will surely fail along the way only to find out that all your time and effort were for nothing. You have to expect that taking on such a challenge is a very difficult task and you have to expect that there will be many bumps along the way. Thinking it will be an easy road to follow and not anticipating any trouble will also bring you failure in the end. So not only do students in my situation have to physically work harder by studying and devoting their time to learning, but they also have to mentally prepare themselves for the challenge and any bumps you may find along the way. With time I have learned some things that help my literature and help me to become a better writer and student of English just by simply listening to music or watching what’s on TV. I knew I needed as much practice and help as I could get and I also knew how much I loved music and reality TV, so with my theory of my new literacy practices in mind I put the two together and practice this all the time to sharpen my skills. I can’t say this solution will work for everybody in a situation similar to mine but I do know that if you keep an open mind it will be easier to develop practices that fit your specific style of learning just as I did. There’s something out there that will fit your certain learning style but you just have to be patient and it will come to you eventually. I will close my theory with a question, if a student grows up in a different culture with a different way of learning things, can he still achieve the goals he sets for himself even though he is adapting to a different culture and way of learning at the same time?

Why has it been difficult to obtain peace in Northern Ireland?

There is a large variety of social, political and religious reasons why it has been hard to obtain peace in Northern Ireland; there have also been many events that occurred in Northern Ireland that seriously hindered peace progress talks. These are four events that seriously effect peace in Northern Ireland right up to the current day, the Civil Rights Movement, Bloody Sunday, Hunger Strikes and Peace Movements. All these events will be described in my piece of work, I will identify why they happened and who was involved. I will also explain how a power sharing agreement took so long to be put into place because of the impact these events had on the prejudice between Catholic Nationalists and Protestant Unionists. The Civil Rights Movement was a series of Nationalist Catholic marches held between 1967 and 1972 in Northern Ireland, these marches were organised to protest against the discrimination Catholics faced at that time. This discrimination came in many forms for example Catholics found it harder to get houses and some families were on the waiting list for years while single Protestants were placed in homes before them. They also found it hard to get their children good education, or even get themselves a job because many employers would only take on Protestants. It even effected voting as not every Catholic was aloud to take part in the election campaign. So the Nationalist Catholics organised many marches demanding equal rights and to stop prejudice against them. Though these marches were organised with peaceful intent they often turned into mass riots and conflict between Catholic and Protestant civilians. Sometimes it was suspected terrorists had infiltrated peaceful marches and caused violence that often escalated into riots and these caused innocent people to get seriously injured. One of the most famous riots was the Battle of Bogside; this riot took place in Derry and lasted from 12-14 August 1969. The riot saw over five hundred women and children evacuated out of the area and caused over 1000 casualties. It was clear the Irish police and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) alone could not deal with mass violence on this scale so to try and stop the riots the British Government sent paratroopers in to try and obtain peace. The paratrooper's main objective was to try and destroy the IRA which was quickly reforming. But many Irish people saw the paratroopers as occupational forces and because of this they where largely hated by Catholics. This led to a lot of tension in and around the country and even led to a slight collapse in the Northern Irish government as they only half met the demands of the people involved with the Civil Rights Movement. This caused uproar as Nationalist Catholics still felt discriminated against so they continued to act out violently in public protests, this lead to one of the most tragic days in the history of Northern Ireland, Bloody Sunday. Bloody Sunday was the 30th of January 1972, it began as a march Londonderry organised by the Civil Rights Movement to protest against internment. Internment began in 1971, this was a law passed by the British Government allowing suspected terrorist in Northern Ireland to be arrested and imprisoned without charge. Catholic Nationalist was strongly against internment as most of the people arrested where Catholic, when there where almost equal amounts of terrorist on both sides. Some of the Catholics that were imprisoned became subject to torture like lack of sleep, this lead to national outrage. Pre-organised marches at this point by British Government 15,000 Catholics still congregated in the middle of the city on the 30th of January 1972 and began a protest march. But later that day violence began as Catholics began to throw rocks and other objects at British paratroopers who responded by opening fire on a crowd of unarmed civilians and killed thirteen of them, some of which were shot in the back. This did not help the peace process at all; the nation was again outraged, the little trust between Nationalist and paratroopers had now been totally destroyed and the deaths of those thirteen civilians were considered murders, the people that died were considered martyrs to the Nationalist cause. This strengthened the IRA's cause and they began to get funding and weaponry from other countries, such as the USA, they seemed to many to have proven their point that they needed to attack the Unionists and paratroopers and not just defend the Nationalist. It also affected power sharing talks between Nationalists and Unionists, Nationalist Catholics across the country saw the paratroopers as murders, and what added insult to injury was the fact that the paratroopers were not disciplined in any way for they had done, so hatred between Catholics and paratroopers and Catholics And Protestants (who by many were blamed for the deaths on Bloody Sunday) severely escalated. Catholics began to say there was no way they would ever share power with murderers, how could they ever trust the Government and Protestants to not make the same mistakes, how could they be sure there would not be a second event as catastrophic as Bloody Sunday, this meant any peace agreement between Nationalists and Unionists would be delayed. If one was put into place just after the Civil Rights Movement it would have lead to a national outrage as the hatred and violence between Nationalists and Protestants that many did not see peace as an option and many would refuse to stop the violence. The Civil Rights Movement and all its marches, including Bloody Sunday still have a big impact on peace today. Even though in 2007 a power sharing agreement was reached there is still a lot of prejudice and anger between the Nationalist and Unionist. Nationalists look back at events such as Bloody Sunday or the Battle of Bogside with hatred towards Unionists and Unionists will do likewise, it is very difficult for the people involved to forget the past and forgive their opponents. People still do not trust the British Government after the paratroopers murdered those thirteen men and this has made it difficult for the British Government to make any major decisions influencing Northern Ireland as they would widely be discredited and not accepted. Another factor that has made it difficult to obtain peace in Northern Ireland is the Hunger Strikes of 1980-1981. Members of the IRA that had been imprisoned were treated like everyday criminals, but they wanted to be recognised as prisoners of war. Prisoners of war were treated differently than normal prisoners, they got to wear there own clothes, aloud to organise their own activities in the prison, they would have freedom of association, they would serve less time for their crimes then a normal prisoner and they would not have to participate in prison work. The members of the IRA that were inside the prison believed they should be know as prisoners of war and get their privileges for a variety of reasons, for one they were jailed from a court without a jury, they felt the situation in Ireland was a war whether the Government would admit it or not and also members of the IRA that had been in the jail before them had these privileges but they were taken away as time progressed. But the British Government refused to grant them these privileges and did not allow them to be known as prisoners of war, this caused uproar with the IRA members that were imprisoned and other splinter groups. A while before the hunger strikes were put into place members of the IRA in the jail went on a thing known as the ‘Dirty Protest' this is were prisoners would cover the walls of there cell with their own excrement, though it caused extra work for the prison workers and made the jail generally filthy it did not have a large effect on the outside world. It did not bring much attention to the prisoner's situation and it was clear a larger demonstration would have to come to place to have a big enough impact to affect the outside world, the prisoners felt hunger strikes were the best way to achieve their goal. The leader of the very first hunger strikes was called Brendan Hughes, but he was not seen as a good leader at the time and made a vital mistake by calling the strike of when he thought the British Government would give in to their demands but they did not. So weeks after the first attempt at a hunger strike Bobby Sands took over as the leader and developed a plan were a new person would go on strike every week, this was so there would be roughly a death a week if the British Government did not give up to their demands, a death a week would have the ultimate shock factor on the public. Even when the hunger strikes began and Bobby Sands, who opted to be the first strikers, was about to die Margaret Thatcher refused to intervene, she did not want to admit to the situation in Northern Ireland as being a war and that meant not allowing the prisoners on strike to be know as prisoners of war, she also did consider there crimes any different as the crimes of the over prisoners, she famously declared ‘crime is crime is crime; it is not political. This sparked outrage across Northern Ireland as there was huge support for what Bobby Sands and the other hunger strikers were doing, such support that Bobby Sands was elected as an MP while he was starving in jail. When Booby Sands was announced dead May 5, 1981, he was aged 27 and was on strike 66 days, he was known as a martyr for the Nationalist cause and for the IRA. The national outcry that occurred after his death resulted in more people joining the IRA and a big increase in their activity. The British Government and Unionist were once again considered murderers by the majority of Nationalist people. Over 100,000 people attended Bobby Sands funeral, which was over one fifth the Catholics population in Northern Ireland at the time. The media coverage of Bobby Sands death sparked a wave of support and sympathy around the world for him, the other hunger strikers, and what the IRA were trying to achieve. There were huge protests on the street and violence around the country in support of what the strikers were doing. The Unionist and British response to the hunger strike was reactionary, they tried their best to stop the hunger strikes by trying to half meet the prisoners demands but they did not solve the root of the problem, the peoples pride and passion and their believe that they were correct. Eventually ten prisoners died as a result of the hunger strikes and the British Government proposed that prisoners from the IRA and other terrorist organisations were given many advantages that prisoners of war were given but they still had to participate in prison work and were not presented with the term prisoners of war. After the hunger strikes Margaret Thatcher boasted that that they had not cave in to the demands of the hunger strikers and it was a victory for the British Government. But the political effect of the hunger strikes was huge, the British government and what they stood for were resented hugely again by the Nationalist in Northern Ireland, people saw them as murders and lyres and with the events of Bloody Sunday still on peoples mind the British and Unionist were hated more then ever by Catholics. This effected peace in the long run as well power sharing was not accepted for so long because of events such as this and the passion behind them. Nationalist do not want to share power with the murders of one of there heroes Bobby Sands, and do not want to share power with people that they considered caused through there unfair democracy such violence and disorder in Northern Ireland for so many years, that caused so many lives to be lost. There have been many peace talks based around Northern Ireland over the years, most were to do with power sharing but many broke down because of events like the Civil Rights Movement and hunger strikes. The first major peace talk was the 1973-1974 power sharing executive; this was agreed between the major political parties and William Whitelaw the Northern Ireland secretary. The power sharing executive, known as the Sunningdale Agreement, suggested that a new power sharing assembly was elected to govern Northern Ireland and that a power sharing executive represented the main political parties and guaranteed to share power between the Republic and Northern Ireland. Although this agreement was well received by most parties, the DUP opposed the agreement and refused to join. A general strike was organised in May 1974 by the Unionist Ulster workers council brought Northern Ireland to a halt. This caused the power sharing executive to resign and as a result of this direct rule from Westminster returned, the Sunningdale Agreement had failed. The next attempted peace agreement was the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement; this was between Margaret Thatcher and the Irish Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald. They agreed to an intergovernmental conference that would be held regularly, they would keep cross border co-operation on political legal and security matters, the British Government accepted the possibility of a united Ireland in the future, but only if the majority of Northern Ireland consented and the Republic of Ireland accepted the existence of partition and the principle of consent. Nationalist across Northern Ireland were divided in their reactions, the SDLP saw it as a big chance for progress but Sinn Fein saw it as enforced partition and did not approve. Unionist resented this agreement and would not coincided with what it was saying, big strikes and demonstrations followed the release of the Anglo-Irish Agreement and the violence of the people and paramilitaries was worse then ever, the agreement had little effect and therefore failed. One of the most major peace talks was the 1998 Good Friday Agreement; also know as the Belfast Agreement. It was signed in Belfast in April 1998 by the British and Irish governments and was approved by most Northern Ireland parties, the only major party to disapprove of the agreement was the DUP. It was though approved by most of the voters of Northern and the Republic of Ireland. The final Agreement was posted to every household in Northern Ireland and put to a vote in May it included plans for a Northern Ireland assembly with a power sharing executive and new cross border structures involving the Republic of Ireland. There were also controversial plans on paramilitary's giving up their weapons and the early release of paramilitary prisoners. A vote was also held in the Irish Republic, the result was staggering with 71% of people in Northern Ireland and 94% in the Republic voted that the agreement should be accepted. Throughout the first three years of the agreement, Unionists said the Government and major Nationalist parties were failing to live back up the rule for decommissioning of arms, as many paramilitaries such as the IRA were simply not handing over their guns. Moreover, Sinn Fein said the British Government did not demilitarise quickly enough, they stated they could not force anyone to give up arms and that the agreement only stated that the parties should use all their power to make paramilitary's give up their guns, they had discovered a bit of a loophole and arguments quickly started. Eventually after much debating a power sharing agreement has been signed recently in 2007 that the Republic and Northern Ireland are both happy to consent to, it took so long to come to a power sharing agreement that all parties are happy with because of all the complications along the way, a lot of these from the ‘battles' Unionists and Nationalist have fort with one another down the years, this caused a lot of hate and prejudice between Catholics and Protestants which lead to events such as Bloody Sunday and the hunger strikes that represented what the Irish people stood for at the time and there pure passion for what they believed in. All these events left such an aftermath that people would not consent to any peace agreements or power sharing until the situation had cooled down, we can only hope that the 2007 agreement brings peace to a troubled Northern Ireland and the civilians that live there. But will the peace last, and will all the political parties and paramilitaries be able to keep peace and settle down, we can only wait and see what the future holds for Northern Ireland.