Jobs within the tourism industry Essay

Introduction The travel and tourism industry is one of the faster growing industries in the world with over 50,000 jobs being created every year. This shows due to amount of employment this trade has created by the year 2007 there will be another 300,000 jobs created. The industry provides a wide variety of employment both direct and indirect jobs which will cater for people of all ages, skills and abilities. The nature of the industry will mean that many companies would need staff over the high seasons known as seasonal or temporary staff. Some jobs can also involve unsociable hours such as evenings or weekends. Travel Services Jobs available Jobs within the travel services include: * Agency clerk * Tour Operator * Resort Representative * Travel agency Manager * Administration * Reservation clerks etc Job Description and Working conditions The Representative is the primary source of help and information for guests, dealing with any immediate problems arising in resort such as accident or injury. The representative is responsible for welcoming guests and briefing them on the resort, ensuring the hosting in the chalets is of the highest quality, and will accompany passengers on the transfer coach between airport and resort. The working conditions are often outdoor based travelling from airport to resort sometimes many trips can be made within one day. They are expected to work 6 out of 7 days a week. Travel agents are the link between the customer and tour operators. The travel agency clerk sells a diversity of products and holidays to cater for incoming, outbound and domestic tourists. The working conditions are very different to a resort representative because it is often office based (shop floor), staff are usually required to work on 9-5 including some weekends, similar to any other retail outlet. Skills and qualifications The skills and qualifications depend in the job and the level of employment. A resort representative employee is expected to have at least one other spoken language i.e. French (depending on where the resort is based), good communication skills and must be over the age of 21. A travel agent is required good communication skills, ICT skills and literacy and numeracy skills can be useful. Transportation Jobs available Jobs in Transportation can be divided into three types these are land, air and sea. These jobs can include: * Cabin attendant * Pilot * Air traffic control officer * Airport baggage handler * Taxi driver * Train driver etc Job Description and Working conditions Cabin attendants are responsible for the safety of passengers during flights, all aspects of the cabin management, the menu planning and catering, the organisation of professional meal-services as well as the comfort of V.I.P. passengers and their assistance before and after flights when necessary. The working conditions are mainly within the aircraft. They are expected to be away from home for long periods of time and for unsociable hours, within a confined environment. Taxi drivers transport passengers to and from their homes, workplaces, and other locations. They also help tourists and other travellers get around in a new area. They drive cars licensed as a taxi to transport passengers for a fare that is calculated on a taximeter. Taxi drivers usually work shifts involving day, evening and weekend work usually unsociable hours, within a confined environment. Skills and qualifications Cabin attendants foreign languages, a pleasant appearance, customer service skills and communicational and organisational skills. Most air companies will only employee people over the age of 21. Taxi drivers need good communication skills, able to remain calm at difficult times and a high level of driving skill. The skills and qualifications depend in the job and the level of employment. Accommodation and Catering Jobs available Jobs within Accommodation and catering can be very varied from working away in a cruise ship to working with a local pub other jobs within the area can include: * Receptionist * House keeper (manager) * Chef * Waiter * Hotel porter * Bar person etc Job Description and Working conditions The Housekeeping assistant is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Resorts Housekeeping Department. The essential duties include responsibility for the day-to-day cleaning of public areas and accommodation, laundry, bed linen, banqueting linen and staff uniforms. Working conditions include working long, irregular unsociable hours and shift work. A job as a Bar person within a resort hotel may often involve waiting on tables, bar work and cleaning within the restaurant and bar. Duties may also include organising promotions and stock control. Hours are often unsociable on evening and weekends. Skills and qualifications A housekeeping assistant should have a smart appearance, well spoken and have a pleasant character and must be able to work within a team. Minimum age of bar staff is 18 although most bars prefer 21+. Bar staff need Stamina, enthusiasm and be able to work within a team. Good communication skills are needed and customer service skills. The skills and qualifications depend in the job and the level of employment Tourist attractions Jobs available Jobs within tourist attractions can be varied depending on the type of attraction i.e. Natural (such as beaches) or purpose built (such as theme parks). Jobs within the area can include: * Advertising staff * Catering staff * Tour guides * Retail assistant * Pool lifeguard * Cleaners etc Job Description and Working conditions A job as a tour guide will involve directing a group of holidaymakers or day-trippers around an attraction or to a wide variety of locations within the UK or overseas. They will act as a guide and ensure that the itinerary, facilities and services promised are provided. Tour guides work in all weather conditions. Tour guides may work regular or irregular hours depending on the organisation they are working for. The work is seasonal, this means that they will be very busy within the summertime it also means that there will be many non-permanent jobs. Lifeguards are responsible for the supervision of swimming and a variety of recreational activities. There are key Responsibilities in which a lifeguard will have to do for example preventing accidents, respond quickly to all emergency situations and to maintain cleanliness within the pool area. Pool supervisors and lifeguards may work indoors or outdoors, and conditions are usually wet and noisy. Pool supervisors and lifeguards usually work eight hours a day. Skills and qualifications Customer care skills are needed in all types of attraction employment this is generally because they are in contact with costumers all the time. The employee would also have a willingness to work long unsociable hours especially within the high season. The skills and qualifications depend in the job and the level of employment for example a GVQ in travel and tourism may be required in a higher level of employment. Tourism Support and Information Promotion Jobs available Jobs within tourism support and information promotion include jobs within the RTB (regional tourist board), TIC (tourist information centres), and LA (local authorities) jobs within these areas can include: * Information staff * Tourist information assistant * Standards officers * Administration staff * Marketing staff * Research officers etc Job Description and Working conditions A Tourist information assistant is required to provide tourists within information about attractions etc within the area and promoting the area by giving tourists free leaflets on the attractions and facilities around the destination other responsibilities may include advising tourists about places of interest, providing directions, prices and opening times of facilities. And may often Book accommodation and tickets (e.g. theatre or football) for tourists. Working condition are Office based and often work with computers these are similar to any office work. Skills and qualifications Skills and qualifications in which are needed to work within this section are ICT skills, marketing and sales experience, customer care skills language qualifications may be required and an NVQ in travel services ad tour guides may also be required depending in the level of employment.

Looking Back at My Childhood

â€Å"Looking back on a childhood filled with events and memories, I find it rather difficult to pick on that leaves me with the fabled â€Å"warm and fuzzy feelings. † As a first daughter of a workaholic man, I actually felt the little sadness of being a child. When my father got home from his work, it was always late In the evening and when I wake- up early in the morning, his still sleeping until my School Bus comes. It always happened. But when he's on vacation, he never falls to surprise me with a bunch of new toys and sweets. He even takes my Mommy and me too Park, Malls, Zoo, etc.When my little sister's come Into our life, It gets happier. There are times when I together with my sister went to the school together and my dad and mom would fetch us and went to the Ocean Adventure. There were lots of beautiful places that my family goes when vacation. I thought that our family Is perfect, and suddenly my childhood Is nearly my miserable nightmare, because when I was 6-8 years old, I saw everything that happens when my Mom and Dad were fighting and I don't know why. Then when I become 9 years old, I decided to come with my grandparents (which is y mother's side) here in Bucolic.My parent's let me to come. So I continue my studies while my mother is visiting me monthly. Then 1 day, when I'm turning 10 years old, my mother together with my little sisters went here in Bucolic. And that's the thing; I never realize that they left my Daddy in Manila. And time's goes by, my daddy was visiting us, and my little sisters continue they're studies with me. When I turn 1st year high school, that's the time when my dad and mom never see each other again and Dad stop visiting us, but all I know is that my Dad is only busy with his job.And suddenly, I heard a gossip about my Daddy, that he's having an affair with his Boss that has been he's last Girlfriend back in their high school days. And then my mommy told me that they're already separated. And I know everythi ng about my father's undoing's. That when I was still in my mother's womb, Dad is already having different affairs, for short my dad is a simple playboy. And when I already know everything, I changed. I changed a lot that Eve become hard headed, selfish, etc. I even have my very first failing grades. But times went by, everything is perfect again.I learn how to be responsible, appreciate little things, and to accept the fact that nothings perfect In life. And now, I already have a little brother and a half baby brother and baby sister. † Looking Back at My Childhood By Kristin-Moline my father got home from his work, it was always late in the evening and when I wake- happened. But when he's on vacation, he never fails to surprise me with a bunch of new toys and sweets. He even takes my Mommy and me to a Park, Malls, Zoo, etc. When my little sister's come into our life, it gets happier. There are times when I y family goes when vacation.I thought that our family is perfect, and suddenly my Childhood is nearly my miserable nightmare, because when I was 6-8 years old, I saw everything that happens when my Mom and Dad were fighting and I don't know why. Visiting us, and my little sisters continue they're studies with me. When I turn 1st year Dad stop visiting us, but all I know is that my Dad is only busy with his Job. And be responsible, appreciate little things, and to accept the fact that nothings perfect in life. And now, I already have a little brother and a half baby brother and baby

Mother: The Most Important Person in My Life Essay

The most important in my life is my mother because she is really all I have, she is my motivation, and she helps me live through all my struggles. I wouldn’t be able now to enjoy this minute of my life writing this essay without my mother. My mother has brought me to this wonderful world. For nine months she carried me, she felt very bad, but did not refuse, and gave birth to me. My mom is the most positive and important influence on my life. Another reason why my mother is the most important person in my life is because she is always with me, when I’m happy and when I’m sad. She helps me with hard problems in my life, and she is glad for some good things I do. She helped me from the first, day I was born. She fed me; she didn’t sleep for many nights, only to make me comfortable. see more:imagine the world in 2050 She went for walks with me, and was always with me. From the first grade of my school, she helped me with my homework; she taught me how to behave. In addition, my mother is the most important person in my life because I am who I am, because of my mom. She always tries to make me a better person. From childhood, she bought a lot of books for me to read. She bought some intellectual games and that kind of stuff; I study hard to make her happy. I want her to be proud of me. I want her to feel, as I am the best child in the world, and as she is the best mom. I do everything for that. I behave myself very good in school, I don’t fight and I obey the rules. Unquestionably, my mother is the most important person in my life because she always supports me for my goals and ambitions, and that’s the key in pursuing my dream. My mother the most important individual in my life in fact that even though how many times we fight, she always makes me feel that I am the best gift she ever received from God. If I would have a chance to be born again, I would have chosen to be again her child. Child of the most important person in my life.

Part A-Contract law Part B- Case study (letter)

Part A-Contract law Part B- (letter) - Case Study Example As a result, they did not expect the consumer to take them seriously. A misrepresentation, on the other hand, refers to a false statement of fact that a party makes to another party to influence them into entering a contract, even though the statement is not part of the contract. In effect, this makes the contract voidable and the innocent party could repudiate the contract, as well as claim damages (James, 2014: p22). Where a person making the statement knew the real facts and it can be proved, they could not have held their views reasonably as a result, their opinions are taken as statement of fact. In order for a contract to be valid, both parties must make it freely and there should be mutual assent. However, it is possible that pressure to enter into the contract or coercion could affect mutual assent. Undue influence and duress are situations that impact on mutual assent, rendering contracts voidable or void. Duress refers to the exertion of wrongful pressure on a party to coerce them into making a contract that they would not ordinarily enter. It involves threatening to use force or using force intentionally to induce the party to assent to the contract (Carter, 2013: p32). Whether the coercion is mental or physical, it must be to an extent to which the other party does not have freedom of choice or free will, leaving them no reasonable alternative than to assent to the contract. On the other hand, undue influence refers to taking advantage of the other party during the formation of contracts. In this case, the two parties have a relationship, for example, one is superior to the other. Unlike duress that involves the use of direct threats; undue influence involves the use of excessive pressure by a dominant party for the subordinate to assent to the contract, although persuasion alone does not constitute undue influence (Carter, 2013: p33). As a result, the

Human Resource Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Human Resource Strategy - Essay Example What is strategic human resource management? Strategic human resource management can be considered to be the capability of an organisation to ensure that it has the right mix of talent and skill in order to meet its business objectives (Armstrong and Baron, 2002, p. 42). Holbeche (2001, p. 13) highlights strategic human resource management as a ‘focus on implementing strategic change and growing the skill base of the organisation to ensure that the organisation can compete effectively in the future.’ SHRM involves the recognition of the internal intelligence available at all levels of the organisation and creating processes to draw upon this knowledge. Communication ‘is at the heart of these processes (Brewster, 2000, p. 153). The author discusses Mintzberg’s observation that strategy involves planning ahead of time and making changes to the plan on the basis of real world situations. The ability of an organisation to alter its course is dependent on the abi lity of the culture to allow for internal flexibility. SHRM then is an attempt to link organisational strategy with human resource management and drawing from this effort, makes an attempt to provide direction to the functional areas on HRM. Salaman, Storey and Billsbury (2005, p. 5) view SHRM as a ‘repository of ways in which academics, consultants†¦ think about ways to change organisations’. SHRM then is the key to how business is run and people managed. Huber and Glick (1995, p. 297) highlight the importance of facilitating organisational learning as a means to understand and adjust to changing business environments. Organisations that are designed to allow two-way information flow to ‘reflect cultural values and economic perspectives of top management’. This is of particular relevance in a multinational corporation. Ready and Conger (2007) reiterate the role of talent development in providing company’s the competitive edge to stay in the mar ketplace. They believe that companies that create ‘talent factories’ have the right mix of ‘functionality and vitality’ to fill key positions as and when the need arises. Storey (2007, p. 79-80) foresees a risk to the study of human resource management claiming to be a strategic function in the absence of a ‘robust analytical framework’. Terms like knowledge management have not been proven on grounds of efficacy in gearing the business up for change. The author suggests that some part of the responsibilities can as well be transferred to departments like marketing for managing the communications and the HR department relegated to the purely administrative practices of yore. The traditional role of HRM as policy maker to guide people management is incomplete without a conscious alignment to business goals. Strategic HRM aims to utilise the capabilities of the workforce towards a unified goal. The match between employee talent, employee goals and business goals is the key to successful work organisation. The necessary ingredients for an effective Strategic HRM process are the learning processes to facilitate future strategy development and adaptation to changes in the business environment. Who takes responsibility for strategic HRM? Ivancevich (2004, p. 48) recognises the role of the leader in laying the foundation for strategic HRM. Functional specialists provide the framework to carry out effective talent management processes; individual team heads determine

MHE599 - Culminating Project Module 5 - Case Essay

MHE599 - Culminating Project Module 5 - Case - Essay Example however in other cases their response to the disaster will be inadequate without proper steps and this will to lead to views that Federal government bodies could have done a better job. This scenario of inadequate response was visible during the disaster of Hurricane Katrina in the geographical region of Louisiana. U.S. Constitution’s 10th Amendment states that, â€Å"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.† (gpoaccess.gov). That is, through this amendment, the constitution entrusts the responsibility of public health and safety of the people in a particular state to the respective states itself. This means the emergency management of disasters and other tragedies as well as law enforcement is also the responsibility of the state government and local bodies. Critics of this amendment and ones who are against further autonomy for the local governments state that giving the responsibility of public health and safety particularly during emergencies would be too much for the local bodies. The 10th Amendment provides significant responsibility on the states; however Hurricane Katrina because of certain shortfalls has proved that the amendment wrongly places too much responsibility on the states. Although, in course of our history, several state and local governments have done an adequate and commendable job in aiding the public in times of natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, Tsunami, etc, it is not the case all the time. Hurricane Katrina is one such case of inadequate response because the first responders, Louisianan government and New Orleans City council themselves became the victims of the catastrophe, as their local infrastructure was maximally wiped out. Along with this shortfall, the local bodies performed inadequately raising questions regarding the 10th Amendment and how the Federal bodies if involved maximally could have

Introduction to Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Introduction to Economics - Essay Example This mainly depends on the type of the product or service offered. As such, this essay seeks to explain different factors that cause a monopoly market. It also seeks to discuss the benefits of a natural monopoly in the market with regards to the type of products offered. A monopoly market can be defined as a market environment where only one single supplier operates in that particular market and there is no close substitute to the products or services offered (Roos, 2008). A monopoly usually exists in electricity as well as postal services industry. In such kinds of industries, the government has power to control them to protect the interests of the consumers. A good example of a natural monopoly is Australia Post which offers different postal services as well as stationary to different customers. This industry is regulated by the government and it is responsible for setting prices for different products offered. In this case, it can be noted that the government is responsible for cr eating the monopoly in the postal industry so as to safeguard the interests of the people at large. Usually, confidential documents are conveyed to different destinations inside as well as outside the country hence there is need for this industry to be regulated by responsible authorities to avoid irregularities in handling different postal orders. In the event that some orders have been lost, it becomes easier to trace them given that there will be only a single player in the industry with clearly defined channels of delivering different postal orders. The other factor that may also contribute to the growth of the monopolist market is that this is a service industry which ought to meet the needs and interests of the people at a subsidised rate whereby the price of services offered will be determined by the responsible authorities. If there are many players in this particular industry, the competition that will arise can cause the prices to increase such that they will expensive to many people. The other aim is to maintain the quality whereby there will be few players in the industry. In most cases, it is the government which creates a monopoly market to satisfy the different needs of different consumers. There will be laws that are meant to guide the provision of certain products and services to the customers. A natural monopoly is usually regulated by the government to ensure that the industry conforms to the expected standards of operation. In some cases, a monopoly market can be caused by rising factors of production if it is a manufacturing industry. Information about some of the factors that give rise to a monopoly market can be viewed at . If the factors of production are very high, some players in the industry will be eliminated and only big organisations that are able to reap economies of scale from their operations are able to survive in that market which creates a monopoly. If other players are not able to meet the operational costs, the result is t hat they fold their business and only established organisations can continue to operate. The other factor that may cause a monopoly market is that certain products and services need to be regulated and controlled so that they conform to the expected standards by the regulatory authorities. In some cases, only one company will have great control of the supply of all the required material in

Rhetoric & Sterotypes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Rhetoric & Sterotypes - Essay Example 1996). However, it seems that stereotypes have become woven into the human mind because no matter how insignificant, everyone has stereotypes formed about someone. In particular, the stereotypes of politicians, people with tattoos, feminist, and senior citizens are worth discussing. Politicians help run our legislative system. They are elected by the general public to represent their interest in the government on both the local and federal levels. Sometimes we elect representatives that represent our interest, while other times they represent â€Å"the highest bidder†. I have grown up hearing that politicians are corrupt and greasy; the power ends up corrupting their purpose. This can be seen with all the lobbying and special interest groups that now play a role in our representative democracy. When talking about politicians, stereotypes usually reflect a negative outlook with conversations mostly talking about political corruption and shady dealings with corporate owners for tax breaks. Tattoos are a form of body art that have foundations across most of the cultures of the world. The art of tattooing has been around since ancient times. Some of the common stereotypes held about people who have tattoos are: â€Å"being unsuccessful in school, coming from broken homes, having an unhappy childhood, rarely attending church, having poor decision making skills, usually obtaining further body modification while inebriated and being an easy victim of peer pressure† (Martin & Dula 2010). Many people have learned to associate tattoos with â€Å"destroying your body.† Due to the conflicting nature of tattoos, a generalized consensus would be hard to draw due not only to the popularity of tattoos, but their glorified nature in Hollywood as well as on television. The Feminist Movement focuses on the gender inequalities that exist in society and promotes women’s rights in every aspect of life. Radical feminism has lead to feminist having a negati ve appearance especially when talking about men. â€Å"People imagine a stereotypical image of an angry, man-hating, unattractive woman with hairy armpits screaming irrationally about imagined insults† (Gladen, 2008). The biggest component of the stereotype is male bashing and women supremacy. What started as a genuine movement for gender equality developed into a movement in which radical women wanting to become superior to men and have them feel the way women have been treated for ages. Gerontology is a specific study in psychology which deals with the aging process of the elderly. Across the world, there are many different views about the role of the elderly in society. In the western hemisphere, it is a common practice for the offspring to put their elderly parents in a nursing home once they are unable to care for themselves. In some eastern cultures, it is customary for the elderly to live with the parents throughout their lives. Elderly people are often viewed as ineff icient in society due to the lack of mobility and self reliance from biological and psychological aging. This negative stereotype about being a burden on their families often leads to depression and other psychological illnesses in the elderly which could eventually lead to suicide. There is some truth to all of the stereotypes. Stereotypes are ways for us to self associate/disassociate from people that are similar/different. Like all things in society, some stereotypes will hold true, even with some people conforming to that

This assignment allows you to determine the specific details about the Essay

This assignment allows you to determine the specific details about the fictitous company in order to conduct an environmental scan of this company - Essay Example The two owners take care of the managerial aspects of the business, including financial forecasting; accounting and dealing with suppliers and buyers (there are no other salaried employees). Right now the business is facing great competition from rival manufacturers. As the operation is relatively small, producing only 6,000 units of output per month, they cannot enjoy economies of scale that are available to larger manufacturers, these manufacturers also have more clout over their suppliers (or have integrated backward operations) allowing for a lower cost of raw material which translates into lower prices for their customers. Similarly, challenging is the inflow of imported manufacturing parts from economies like China, Japan and Germany which can compete at prices lower than local prices. Government policies enhancing free trade and lowering of trade quotas means that without legislative protection, they have to introduce more efficient and effective ways of processing if the business is to remain afloat. The relative competitiveness in the market along with threat of new (more powerful) entrants will decide whether the business can continue to run or will have to be shut down. With the recession of 2008, the economy took a severe downturn and because of financial security concerns, the banks were reluctant to hand out loans to small businesses. The two partners started their business on self finance and in order to introduce new technology or managerial staff to run their business they will need more resources than they have on hand. Their focus for the past few months has been to form strong relationships with their current customers, including car dealerships, repair shops and the used car market, through strategic marketing and PR platforms. But at the moment they cannot gain customers in the car manufacturing sector as they don’t have the capacity to bring in large orders of

Improving Carbon Dioxide Solubility in Ionic Liquids Essay Example for Free

Improving Carbon Dioxide Solubility in Ionic Liquids Essay Previously we showed that CO2 could be used to extract organic molecules from ionic liquids without contamination of the ionic liquid. Consequently a number of other groups demonstrated that ionic liquid/CO2 biphasic systems could be used for homogeneously catalyzed reactions. Large differences in the solubility of various gases in ionic liquids present the possibility of using them for gas separations. More recently we and others have shown that the presence of CO2 increases the solubility of other gases that are poorly soluble in the ionic liquid phase. Therefore, a knowledge and understanding of the phase behavior of these ionic liquid/ CO2 systems is important. With the aim of finding ionic liquids that improve CO2 solubility and gaining more information to help us understand how to design CO2-philic ionic liquids, we present the low- and high-pressure measurements of CO2 solubility in a range of ionic liquids possessing structures likely to increase the solubility of CO2. We examined the CO2 solubility in a number of ionic liquids with systematic increases in fluorination. We also studied nonfluorinated ionic liquids that have structural features known to improve CO2 solubility in other compounds such as polymers, for example, carbonyl groups and long alkyl chains with branching or ether linkages. Results show that ionic liquids containing increased fluoroalkyl chains on either the cation or anion do improve CO2 solubility when compared to less fluorinated ionic liquids previously studied. It was also found that it was possible to obtain similar, high levels of CO2 solubility in nonfluorous ionic liquids. In agreement with our previous results, we found that the anion frequently plays a key role in determining CO2 solubility in ionic liquids. Introduction The phase behavior of CO2 with ionic liquids (ILs) is important for the development of several potential IL applications. Since we first showed that CO2 was soluble in ILs and could be used to extract organic solutes,1-3 IL/CO2 systems have been demonstrated for various catalytic reactions.4-17 In some cases, CO2 is used to extract the product from the IL, leaving behind the catalyst and the IL for reuse. Others have adopted IL/CO2 continuous flow systems, where CO2 is used to deliver the substrates to the IL/catalyst phase and extract the products. Recently we also confirmed that CO2 could increase the solubility of gases normally not very soluble on their own in ILs.18 We found that the solubility of CH4 and O2 increased in ILs even at low partial pressures of CO2. Others studying the enantioselective hydrogenation of imines using a cationic iridium catalyst in an IL/CO2 biphasic system found that the catalyst performance was increased dramatically in the IL when CO2pressure was added.19 High-pressure NMR showed that the addition of CO2 increased the amount of H2 dissolved in the IL. The authors believed that the catalyst, which was known to be sensitive to H2 availability, could operate more effectively due to an increase in H2 concentration in the IL along with a decrease in viscosity of the IL with added CO2. Another * Corresponding author. Telephone: (574) 631-5847. Fax: (574) 6318366. E-mail: [emailprotected] †  Current address: EaStCHEM, School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, U.K. E-mail: [emailprotected] †¡ Current address: Intermediates RD, Invista S.a.r.l, Sabine River Laboratory B568, P. O. Box 1003, Orange, TX 77631-1003. potential application of ILs that several research groups along with our group have examined is the separation of CO2 from gas mixtures.20-22 To design and optimize processes using ILs, it is essential that we understand the important factors that determine CO2 solubility. It is possible to design many potential ILs; therefore, the systematic study of different cation/anion combinations will allow us to decipher the key properties in making CO2-philic ILs. To date we have studied the solubility of CO2 in a range ofcommonly used ILs.2,23-29 We found that there were a number of factors that controlled the CO2 solubility in the chosen ILs, both cation and anion related.26 Of the ionic liquids studied, the anion played the biggest role in CO2 solubility, a fact that was supported by a recent X-ray diffraction study by Kanakubo et al.30 Anions that contain fluoroalkyl groups were found to have some of the highest CO2 solubilities, and as the quantity of fluoroalkyl groups increased, the CO2 solubility also increased. The previous studies showed CO2 solubility for 1-butyl3-methylimidazolium ([bmim]+) based ILs at 60  °C increased in the order nitrate ([NO3]-) tetrafluoroborate ([BF4]-) dicyanamide ([DCA]-) ? hexafluorophosphate ([PF6]-) ? trifluoromethanesulfonate ([TfO]-) bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide ([Tf2N]-) tris(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)methide ([methide]-). For the cations, there were two factors thatinfluenced the CO2 solub ility. The biggest effect was seen in increasing alkyl chain length on the cation. For a given cation, the CO2 solubility increased with increasing chain length, and these results are consistent with those reported elsewhere.31-35

Reflective Writing on the meaning of Leadership

Reflective Writing on the meaning of Leadership During the first workshop of PASBD, I was in a way taught by our lecture, that working in a group or a team, every member is an important key to achievements, and having a leader is important to keep the team on track as well as lead the team to achieve goals. Leadership can be seen as a counteractive influence when groups experience difficulties in establishing the conditions necessary for making the best possible choice Dennis Gouran (qtd. in Beebe Masterson 2006). Therefore, a leader always gave me an impression that he or she has to be brilliant with good leadership skills, thinking that if a group is lack of a skillful or brilliant leader, a team would most probably fail. Throughout the semester I came to see the importance of a leader, but not as a dominant to the entire team. I felt that having a vertical leadership  [1]  is somehow not so appropriate in completing our task as a group in this subject; rather Shared Leadership will be more appropriate used to explain our g roup. Having a leader is crucial to keep the team going, however a team does not restrict to only one leader. According to Pearce Conger (2003) leadership is broadly distributed among a set of individual instead of centralizes in hands of a single individual who acts in the role of a superior, referring this as Shared Leadership Craig Jay, (2003), which is the process of influencing each other in a team, leading each other to achieve a certain goal or achievement, where leadership is carried out by the team as a whole, rather than solely by an individual alone.  [2]  . In our group, I felt that each group member has a very important role to keep the team going, having each with different skill contributing to a team will only keep the team resourceful, and unlock the thinking by bringing in new idea. Benne and Sheats, 1948, (qtd. In Craig Jay, 2003), raised that team members had actually the roles that is as critical as the team leader, where leadership is a reciprocal process. And the roles are divided by Benne and Sheats into two categories, which are Task Role  [3]  and Socioemotional Roles  [4]  . In my own opinion, I felt that I am most suitable to be classified as the Socioemotional Roles in a team, where I played most of the role as a group observer or as a follower. I do not enjoy leading a team dominantly, most of the time it will depend on situation where I felt suitable to contribute, usually collecting each group member opinion and idea before deciding on which suggestion is most appropriate to be taken up. Team Role Considering the team role, define as A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way. Belbins (1993) I would consider myself as a Monitor Evaluator Belbins (1993), being describe as having the characteristic of sober, strategic, discerning, able to sees all options and could judges accurately. A Monitor Evaluator in a team is needed to provide a logical eye, make impartial judgments where required and to weigh up the teams options in a dispassionate way  [5]  . This stands in a part of my personality, where I often not like to make a judgment without knowing the actual situation. During a group discussion, I usually observe the interaction and the statements of others before I start putting more of my opinions. It is important to have delegated team role in a group, with the different combination of characteristic, the team can only help each other to meet up all the requirements needed to complete the task. Due to the different characteristic of members in a group, it leads to a certain disagreement between members during the completion of the task. However to get job done, members of a group often need some corporation to a certain extent. In my situation I find it sometimes difficult to coordinate with group members who are in the team role of a Shaper  [6]  , where they have the tendency to hurt people feeling on some statement they made, without realizing it. Their actions often speak louder than words, made me feel annoying and difficult to concentrate. Despite the characteristics which I do not like about Shaper, they are actually important in providing drive to ensure that the team kept moving and did not lose focus or momentum, Belbins (1993). On the other hand, I most enjoy te aming with members with the role of Co-coordinator ², where they often delegates well, and will seek for advice for other members, allowing each members to feel the respect and involved in to team. According to Beebe Masterson (2006), Not only group members need a mutual concern to unite them, but they also need to feel they belong to a group. Nevertheless, each Team Role has its own contribution; however there are also allowable weakness Belbins (1993), where allowable weaknesses are the downside of the characteristics of the roles, which is allowable due to the strength which goes with it. As for my role as a Monitor Evaluator, I have the weakness of being said to lack of drive and ability to inspire others, and overly critical, Belbin (1993). I often realize this weakness of mine and attempt to change, by trying to say things to keep the discussion in progress. Weakness offers clues to a possible strength, Belbins (1993), knowing my own weaknesses could help to improve more in the future. I believe that by making use of my weakness appropriately, it could transform into strength. Working in Team/Group Working in a group is different from working individually. Working individually allows having flexibility in time management, as I can plan my own schedule to work on the assignment, as well as deciding on something without have to seek discussion or the opinion of other group members. When working in group, one of the major frustration about group work is the time it takes to accomplish task Beebe Masterson (2006). Working in a group, it needs much cooperation from each group members to get things done effectively and efficiently. This includes encouraging the group members to attend the discussion meeting, and ensuring every group member to take on the responsibility to complete their task assigned, If we want a better solution, it is going to take time, patients, and understanding, Beebe Masterson (2006). Because working in a group involves a few individuals, and few individual usually means involving different time to suit, as each has own different daily activities. This will create some difficulties in finding the correct time and place that is convenient for all to hold a discussion meeting. On the other hand, I also find many advantages in working in a group. Having a group of people working together is like pooling of skills and knowledge, and this will to certain extent speed up the researching process and the decision making. Working together with a few person, allows to have discussion on problems and solutions, increasing the probability of picking the error done by another, and could pool different opinion to a problem. There are different types of group according to Beebe Masterson (2006); there are the primary group and secondary group. Primary group members associate with one another to perpetuate the joy of community, to fulfill the basic human needs to be social Beebe Masterson (2006), therefor the conversation is informal. Secondary group is what I would classify as our group, as the secondary groups exist to accomplish task or achieve goal the reason you join secondary group is to get something done Beebe Masterson (2006). Our group is assigned with a take to complete every week, we gather to solve the problem in the task given. Further, our group could also be classifying as the Focus Group, where we have a goal to focus, as well as given a particular topic to follow, Beebe Masterson (2006). In order to get the group working well there are two most important behavior of group member based on Michael Mayer, Beebe Masterson (2006), these behavior encourage members to participate fully in the discussion, especially in analyzing problem, and, offer supportive comments to others, Beebe Masterson (2006). To me, having these behaviors can only our group fully utilize the skills and knowledge we have to achieve the best result possible. However, working in groups, I had come through different types of personalities grouping. Some are in a dominating role, where without seeking permission from others, they tries too in a way give order to people telling them what to do. Trying to get ideas across group members who like to dominate is rather challenging for me, I had experience some hard time convincing on an idea. This experience gives me a lot of practice on my patients, and practicing different way of communicating an idea. Nevertheless, there are also group members who are B locks Progress and some are Social Loafing, Beebe Masterson (2006). Block Progress has an attitude which is often stubborn and disagreeable with no supportive reason. Social Loafing are people who attempt to rely on others to do their job, and hold back on their contribution, Beebe Masterson (2006). These group members will delay the progress of the group, keeping the group from achieving goals. From these, I had realized that to work together effectively, individuals must develop common goals and collective focus rather than pursuing only individual goals Beebe Masterson (2006). To get the work effectively done I will have learn to be a competent group communicator, Beebe Masterson (2006), to always have motivation  [7]  and have the ability to interact appropriately to achieve goal. Communication Having the ability to convey ideas through communication is very important when working in group, as Speech communication gives individual access to the ideas and inner world of other group members, Beebe Masterson (2006). Failure in communication well will cause misunderstanding, leading to conflict or inability to come out with a well done assignment. Problems of communication that I have faced are such as Bypassing and Allness Statement, Beebe Masterson (2006). Bypassing is when, I or my group member is trying to make a statement, we misunderstand the meaning of on a same word, and this had leaded us to produce or work not as required at first. Further is Allness Statement, means that some statement is simple but untrue generalization, Beebe Masterson (2006). Knowing that there are chances that we may misunderstand out group members word, I often like to summarize our discussion at the end of the meeting, to ensure that the message is got through clearly. Throughout the entire course, I found myself in groups are being generally low profile, in the sense where I prefer to monitor the progress of the group discussion and only give opinions when I felt I am needed to, in another words seeking for others to discover that I have something to say. Realizing that a group cannot function without words; communication is the vehicle that allows a group to move towards its goals Beebe Masterson (2006), I have encouraged myself to speak out more during a discussion. At the beginning I was struggling to get points out of my mouth, after few discussions, I had felt more comfortable. In order to be sure of my communication skill I had done a test through the internet, on a website call Test Yourself  [8]  . The outcome of the test on my communication skill says that I am insightful, where I sometimes have difficulties interpreting other peoples words and actions, and see things from their perspective, although I can generally sense what others are feeling and thinking relatively well. Conflict between group members Conflict, happens when members have disagreement over two or more options that a group can take, Beebe Masterson (2006), and A conflict occurs because people do not understand one another Beebe Masterson (2006). It is something difficult to avoid when involving contact between human, in terms of communication or what so ever. In my situation, while needed to work in a group of five, there are always chances of conflict happening once any members cant get into the same opinion. A group with more than two people will often add complexity and element of uncertainty to the Trans active communication process, and this will affect the outcome Beebe Masterson (2006). I would preferably try my best to avoid conflict when working in my group, as conflict will have negative impact on a group harmony and the outcome of our work, I will keep the group from completing its task, interferes with the quality of the groups decision or productivity, threatens the existence of the group Beebe Maste rson (2006). According to the book of communication in small groups, Beebe Masterson (2006), Communication scholars Gerald Milller and Mark Steinberg had identified three common types of interpersonal conflict; they are the pseudo-conflict, where people misunderstand one another, Simple conflict, where people disagree about issues, and, Ego conflict, when personalities clash, Beebe Masterson (2006). Throughout the entire course, I came through the three types of interpersonal conflict in a different way. These conflict does not happen when our group members first met, it all happen when we begin to know more about each characteristic and working style, then begin the disagreement between each other. The conflict that I found most challenging to deal with is the Ego Conflict, as in the situation when the group members become defensive about their position because they think they are being personally attacked, Beebe Masterson (2006). There are times where the entire progress of the task is being delayed, and other group members are put into pressure, by worrying if the deadline could be met. Fortunately, we managed to overcome these obstacles, meeting the deadline. Dealing with conflict, each individual will have different style in managing it. Even though working in a group, each will manage the conflict in their own way as the feel more comfortable with. I myself manage conflict in a Nonconfrontational Style, one of the three general styles of managing conflict by, Linda Putnam and Charmaine, according to Beebe Masterson (2006). Nonconfrontational Style explains that a person in managing the conflict face by working hard to avoid conflict with others, Beebe Masterson (2006). I do not like to go into argument with others, for any reason; I will feel very uncomfortable to communicate or rather become speechless, when things begin to feel unpleasant. Thus, I would choose to withdraw myself to a certain extent, until the situation become calmer before I start to sort things out by communicating with the group member. Avoiding an immediate attack from another group member may give you time to think of more appropriate response rather than blurti ng out the first thing come to your mind Beebe Masterson (2006). However, in some situation, Avoiding conflict does not make the source of problem go away, it still exist Beebe Masterson (2006). When the conflict became too critical to be left to calm by itself, it cant be avoided by keeping quiet, things would have gotten worst if so. In this, no matter how uncomfortable I am to face the conflict, I still have to stand out to solve the problem, trying not to make things reach the extent where, group members turn into enemies. If others are unlikely to change, then you may have to change yourself, Belbins (1993). Conclusion Going through the entire PASBD course is a whole process of learning, teaching in the lecture, and through experience. From the lecture, I had learned on skills of presentation as well as got more understanding on the topic of PASBD. What I gain from the lecture are actually from the experience of others, and I can only understand it theoretically, if I did not got the true experience I can never have the real feeling of what the theories actually trying to convey. Mr. JJ said something about experience, the meaning is roughly of: experiencing the process is like riding a roller coaster; you will not want others to tell u about it, it is what you need to feel for yourself through your real experience. It is through the experience that I could utilize what I learned, and physically going through the process allowing me to have deeper impression on the leanings. Belbins (1993) had also mentioned something about experience learning, saying that Like competing in the Olympic Games, the g reat thing is to have taken part. Unless people enrol for the event, they cannot win the race. What we do will be what we learn; people equipped themselves for work through working, and through the lessons learned through experience, Beebe Masterson (2006).

Effects of trade barriers

Effects of trade barriers Chapter 1 Introduction Trade is an exchange of services and goods for other services and goods or for money, Trade ( 2010). The paper discusses about the effects of trade barriers on international trade, i.e. to identify one or more variables (inflation, transportation cost, tariff, remittances, population, GDP deflator and exchange rate) in the study that effect international trade the most. A trade barrier is a general term that describes any government policy or regulation that restricts international trade (Trade barrier, 2010). The problem discussed is the effect of trade barriers on international trade. In order to address the problem, two hypotheses have been developed and tested. Each hypothesis explains the effect of variables as barrier to international trade. Secondary data of three years comprised on year 2005-2007, collected from the source World Trade Organization (WTO). The statistical tool applied to test the hypothesis is multi-variate regression model as there are more than one independent variable and one dependent variable. The independent variables identified in this paper are (Inflation, Exchange Rate, Remittances, GDP, Tariff, Population and Transportation Cost) the dependent variable are (Imports and Exports). The statistical result of the hypothesis testing can be seen in the following chapters. Inflation Generally inflation is defined as a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over time, where as most of the economist define inflation as a rise in the prices of some specific set of goods or services, it is important to understand that the rise in prices is for specific set of goods and services and it should be constant, as well as a rise in price of one good or service as compared to other does not mean an increase in inflation it should be increased for every product or service. Inflation is measured as the percentage rate of change of a price index (Haq Hussain, 2008). Measures of Inflation There are many measures of inflation each for different sector, Consumer Price Indices (CPI) CPI measures the price of goods and services purchased by a consumer (Haq Hussain, 2008). Cost-of-Living Indices (COLI) Are indices similar to the CPI which is often used to adjust fixed and contractual incomes (Haq Hussain, 2008). Producer Price Indices (PPIs) measures the prices acknowledged by producers. This differs from the CPI in that price subsidization, income, and taxes may cause the amount acknowledged by the producer to differ from what the buyer paid. Producer price inflation measures the pressure being put on producers by the costs of their raw materials. This could be passed on as consumer inflation, or it could be absorbed by profits, or offset by increasing productivity (Haq Hussain, 2008). Commodity Price Indices (CPI) measures the price of a selection of commodities. In the present commodity price indices are weighted by the relative importance of the components to the all in cost of an employee (Haq Hussain, 2008). GDP Deflator GDP deflator is a measure of the price of all the goods and services included in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Haq Hussain, 2008). Capital Goods Price Index So far (CGPI) has not been established, where as several economists have recently pointed out the necessity of measuring capital goods inflation (inflation in the price of stocks, real estate, and other assets) separately. Indeed a given increase in the supply of money can lead to a rise in inflation (consumption goods inflation) and or to a rise in capital goods price inflation. The growth in money supply has remained fairly constant through since the 1970s however consumption goods price inflation has been reduced because most of the inflation has happened in the capital goods prices, Haq Hussain (2008), where as there are two common known measures widely reported in many countries, i.e. CPI and GDP Deflator. The above chart shows the trade of world developed countries in terms of exports and imports, the amount is in US billion dollars, the next chart is of inflation of the developed countries of the world, the purpose is to compare and analyze the countries inflation rate and trade in order to examine the impact caused by inflation on countries trade. As it can be seen that each country has different impact of inflation on its imports and exports, for instance Australia inflation rate was 2.30% in year 2007 where as its exports were 142 billion dollars and its imports were 160 billion dollars, similarly for Canada its inflation rate was 2.10% and its exports were 431.1 billion dollars and its imports were 386.4 billion dollars, therefore if a comparison is made between these countries it can be seen that every country has a different impact of inflation on its trade, hence it can be said that the reason for this difference of change is the size of countrys economic and financial structure. Tariff A tariff is a tax forced on an imported or exported commodities. In general dialect, however, it has come to mean import duties charged at the time goods are imported (Parkin, 1996). According to Japans customs tariff law a tariff a tax based on the standard of assessment of prices or volume of imported goods (Tariff, 2010). Functions of Tariff There are three major functions of tariffs: To serve as a basis of income; To protect domestic industries; and To remedy trade distortions (corrective function) (Functions of Tariff, 2010). The Income Function The income function simply means that the income from tariffs provides governments with a source of tax revenue. In the past, the income function was indeed a major reason for applying tariffs, for instance Japan generates about 845 billion yen in tariff revenue per year, which represents approximately 1.9 percent of total tax revenue (Meti, 2010). Protection of Domestic Industries Tariffs are also used as a policy tool to protect domestic industries from competition of importing goods, as well as tariffs are also used as a source of protection of market access from foreign exporters (Meti, 2010). Remedy to Trade Distortions Corrective tariffs are used as a remedy for trade distortions caused by companies to injure domestic industry, for instance anti-dumping agreement is used to impose duties on companies exporting goods that are specifically banned and cause damage to domestic industry of importing country (Meti, 2010). Remittance Remittance can be defined as sums of money that a migrant worker sends back to his or her country of origin (Wimaladharma, Pearce Stanton, 2004). Remittance plays a vital source of income for developing country economies, as well as millions of individual households, predominantly poor women and their children. Unlike aid or concealed investment flows, remittance reaches the poor directly, and the poor decide how the money is spent. Importantly, remittance services also offer a means for monetary institutions to increase their outreach and significance to poor clients (Wimaladharma, Pearce Stanton, 2004). For instance the largest remitting countries in terms of volume are the United States with remittances amounting to $28.4 billion, Saudi Arabia with remittances amounting to $15.1 billion and Germany with remittances amounting to $8.2 billion (Wimaladharma, Pearce Stanton, 2004). In the study, Ratha (2003), it was found that more than three-quarters of remittances go to lower mid-income and low income developing countries. India receives the largest volume of remittance mounting to $10 billion, then Mexico with $9.9 billion, followed by the Philippines with $6.4 billion (Wimaladharma, Pearce Stanton, 2004). Exchange Rate The price of one countrys currency expressed in another countrys currency. In other words, the rate at which one currency can be exchanged for another. For instance, the higher the exchange rate for one euro in terms of oneyen,the lower the relative value of the yen (Investopedia , 2010). Exchange Rate and Trade Exchange rate is one of the important factors in an open economy since it affects so many business, investment and strategic decisions. Various empirical studies have been conducted to assess the influence of exchange rate on trade balance, with the objective of providing valuable inputs to policy makers on the usefulness of exchange rate policy such as devaluation-based alteration policies (effected through nominal exchange rate) to balance a countrys foreign trade for instance, Greenwood (1984), Himarios (1989), Rose Yellen (1989) provided the evidence of relationship between exchange rate and trade balance. In a study, Oskooee (2001) stated that appreciation of exchange rate directly affects a country trade as it can be used as an effort to increase international competitiveness and help to improve its trade balance. On the other hand it was also reported in the study that depreciation of exchange rate increases exports by making exports fairly cheaper, and daunt imports by making imports fairly more expensive, thus improving trade balance(Liew, Lim, Hussain, 2000). Japan and ASEAN A study conducted using trade balance data from year 1986 to 1999 between Japan and 5 ASEAN countries to examine the impact of exchange rate on countries trade balance. It was found in the study that the role of exchange rate changes in initiating changes in the trade balances has been overstated. It is widely expected that the decrease of ASEAN-5 exchange rates with respect to Japanese yen would improve these economies trade balances with Japan during the sample period of study (Liew, Lim, Hussain, 2000). Gross Domestic Product Gross domestic product is the value of collective or total production of goods and services in a country during a given time period (Parkins, 1996). Measures of GDP There are two common measures of GDP namely: Expenditure Approach. Factor Income Approach. Expenditure Approach In expenditure approach the GDP is measured by adding consumption expenditure, investment, government purchase of goods and services and net exports (Parkins, 1996). Factor Income Approach In factor income approach the GDP is measured by adding all the incomes paid by the firms to household for the services of factor of production, for example compensation of employees, net interest, rental income, and profits paid for entrepreneurship (Parkins, 1996). Chapter 2 Literature Review Transportation Cost Europe A comparative study, Conlon (1981), was conducted in 1981 between Australia and Canada to investigate the role of transportation cost as a trade barrier in trade flow of both the countries. It was found in the study that in Australia nominal transport costs contribute over 40 per cent of the trade barrier in its trade flow, where as in Canada transport costs provide over 17 per cent of the total barriers. In the study by, Casas choi (1985), it was found that transportation cost being the trade barrier has two affects on the country economy 1) implicit tariff effect, 2) resource cost effect. The Implicit Cost Effect In the implicit cost effect, Casas choi (1985) an increase in transportation costs affects the trade flows by increasing the domestic comparative price of the imported goods. Resource Cost Effect In the resource cost effect, Casas choi (1985) an increase in transportation cost, shifts productive resources from traded goods to the transport sector, i.e. in case of increase in transportation cost, the resources used to produce goods domestically were allocated for payments of transportation bills due to which production of domestic goods suffered. United Kingdom Similarly an empirical study, Binkley Harrer (1981), conducted in the United Kingdom to examine the role of transportation cost as trade barrier, it was found that Transportation costs between countries pose a formidable barrier to trade, similar to other trade barriers such as tariffs. This study was further supported by the study of Sampson and Yeats in which it was concluded that transport costs to be a more significant trade barrier for United Kingdom exports than tariffs, (Sampson Yeats: Binkley: 1978 Harrer: 1981). Similarly another study conducted in the United Kingdom also concluded that transportation cost is more effective trade barrier as compared to tariffs (Sampson yeats, 1978: Binkley Harrer: 1981). United States A similar study by, Finger Yeats (1976), conducted in the United States gave the similar conclusion that that effective shield through international transportation costs is at least as high as that due to tariffs, Geraci Prewo (1977). In a study it was concluded by the author that progressive reduction in the transportation cost resulted in the growth of trade between United States and Europe, Shiue (2002). Similarly another study conducted in the United States also concluded that transportation cost is more effective trade barrier. Africa A study conducted in Africa to examine the effect of transportation cost on African trade, the results indicated that there is a very little trade flow within the Africa and the rest of the world, due to strict trade policies, for example according to, Collier (1995), Collier Gunning (1999), Limà £o and Venables (2001), There is a common belief that Africa trades too little both with itself and with the rest of the world. The poor performance is typically attributed to protectionist trade policies and high transport costs. Similarly another study concluded that the reason behind the low trade is the poor infrastructure and inappropriate transport policies (Amjadi Yeats 1995: Limà £o Venables, 2001). Australia A study conducted in Australia, Sampson Yeats (1977) to identify the trade barriers causing decline in Australian exports, it was found in the study that transportation cost is a major contributor to decline in export as compared to tariffs, in other words it can be said that 66 percent of the total Australian exports are decline due to transportation cost. China A study conducted in china by studying various trends in trade barriers, the purpose of the study was to identify trade barriers affecting Chinese exports, and it was found in the study that transportation cost is a major trade barrier as compared to tariffs and local markups (Li, 2007). Tanzania An empirical study, Kweka (2001) conducted for developing countries such as Tanzania it was found in the study that transportation cost as a trade barrier have two impacts on the economy: It reduces the export competitiveness, Kweka (2001), since the cost incurred by the producer and cost paid by the buyer is widens by the high transportation cost. In other words it can be said that due to the increase in transportation cost most of the export orders to developing countries such as Tanzania are declined. The second impact, Kweka (2001) on the economy of developing countries is a positive impact, due to high transportation cost the trade of locally produced goods increases, this is due to the fact that the gap between the prices of locally produce goods and imported goods become so wide that it becomes nearly impossible for the people of importing country to buy imported goods as a result 95 percent of the purchases are made off locally produce goods. Ultimately leading a growth in the overall economy. Tariff There are number of studies conducted to examine the impact of tariff as a trade barrier, for instance in a study it has been found that tariff and capital controls lead to trade deformation. Where as on the other hand it has also been that found tariff barriers in the importing countries tend to have a negative, though insignificant, effect on exports of countries (T. Tamirisa, 1999). Another study examining the impact of tariff as barrier on trade found that tariff has a significant negative effect on mutual exports, in part because of significant trade cost, where as in presence of tariff barrier the impact on imports is comparatively weak (T. Tamirisa, 1999). One more study examining the impact of tariff as a barrier in trade found that tariff is one of the significant factor of mutual trade in-between countries, as compared to country size wealth, exchange and capital controls, while tariff rate significantly reduce export of developing and transition economy (T. Tamirisa, 1999). A study conducted to examine the relationship between trade barriers and trade flow. The study identified number of barriers such as exchange control, tariff, NTBs, it has been found that tariff is one of the major trade barrier as compared to exchange control and NTBs. The study also concluded that tariff with other barriers of trade tend to reduce the volume of trade, as well as tariff alone have a depressing impact on the mutual trade of countries (Lee Swagel, 1997). The study also provided the evidence that country having bi-lateral trade is affected by tariff charges as a result it does not only have a strong negative effect imports but it acts as a substantial barrier to export also. Final study concluded that tariff act as a barrier to both imports and exports of a country (Lee Swagel, 1997). Another study conducted in year 1993 by lee to examine the distortion caused by tariff in international trade found that tariffs charges lower the long-run growth rates more significantly in a country that needs to import more under a free trade regime. As well as government intervention in terms of imposing a tariff on the imports of foreign goods leads to the increase in price paid by the domestic purchaser i.e. (1 + 7) times the price received by foreign exporters (lee, 1993). Therefore it can be said that, tariff has two effects on the economy, namely the deformation of resource distribution and the transfer of income, distortion effect of tariffs always decrease the steady-state levels of the capital stock, output, and consumption. Where as transfer of income help to retain the income earned through exports within the country, in presence of tariff where as in absence of tariff same income earned through export is used to settle import bills. On the other hand the study also concluded that when the tariff rates are high, the productivity of public input diminishes; thus, higher tariffs always lead to lower growth rates (lee, 1993). Empirical studies have found that tariff liberalization would transfer trade from the rich to the poor and from the local to the global. It has been estimated that the elimination of tariffs would create more trade for poor countries than for richer countries. They also imply that tariff elimination would divert trade away from continental preferential trading areas (lai zhu, 2004). The study provided the evidence that tariffs, and distance-related barriers and production costs are important factors affecting bilateral trade flow, where as tariff being the major element affecting the trade flow (lai zhu, 2004). For instance the trade among OECD countries is free form tariff charges where as non OECD countries have the highest tariff charges. As a result, the impact of tariffs on trade within OECD countries is likely less than 3.7% whereas the impact of tariffs on trade among non-OECD countries likely exceeds 3.7% (lai zhu, 2004). Population There are number of studies conducted to examine the impact of population on trade. These studies discussed various questions regarding the benefits of openness of trade between countries for instance, who gains from an opening of the borders between two neighboring countries? Will any country lose as borders are opened? Is it the small country or the large country that benefits most? (Shachmurove Spiegel, 2004) It is general perception that countries with large populations having no trade tend to have larger profits at the expense of consumers i.e. since there is no foreign producer in the country all the profits earned through production is solely taken by the country it self in simple words it can be said monopoly. Where as if the same country having trade with other countries or foreign producers are trading in the country tends to reduce its profits, as part of the profit is taken by foreign exporter. On the other hand keeping the same scenario for a country with small population tend to have lower profits in the absence of trade and it will further see a decline in its profits with the presence of foreign producer (Shachmurove Spiegel, 2004). There are number of studies conducted that provided the evidence that countries having population aging problems have direct impact on the country trade, for instance a study by, Kenc Sayan (2001), showed that changes in age composition of population are likely to affect saving and expenditure patterns, the resulting changes in composition of demand are expected to affect comparative prices between expenditure and investment goods. On the supply side, the decline in labor supply and the slow down in capital formation associated with population aging had cause changes in capital-labor ratios. As a result it alters relative factor prices and leads to second-round effects on resource allocation. Furthermore, since the changes in the relative capital intensities across traded and non-traded sectors affect real exchange rates and trade patterns, they are expected to create additional effects on partner country economies as well (Sayan Uyar, 2002). On the other hand if the countries experiencing population aging are large in the international trade, where as their partners are small and have not yet faced a population aging problem themselves. In other words, commodities and capital traded at the terms set by large economies may make these small countries vulnerable to the effects of population aging even if they have relatively young populations (Sayan Uyar, 2002). Gross Domestic Product (GDP) There are number of studies conducted to examine the impact of gross domestic product (GDP) on trade (imports exports) of a country, for instance a study conducted using gravity equation to examine the impact of gdp on exports of a country, the study classified the sample into three categories a) homogeneous goods, b) differentiated goods, and c) an in-between category (Feenstra, Markusen Rose, 2001). It found in the study that if a trade of one country with another move from homogeneous goods to differentiated goods, then the stretch of exports with respect to GDP rises considerably (Feenstra, Markusen Rose, 2001). The finding of the study is empirically strong and significant both economically and statistically, as well as the study also stated that the GDP of the exporting country is found to be a powerful illustrative variable in the comparative strength of bilateral trade relations (Feenstra, Markusen Rose, 2001). Another study conducted in India to examine the impact of various economic variables such as (distance, GDP, population, tariff, and exchange rate) on Indian trade flows. Previous studies have also been conducted using gravity model to examine the impact of economic variables on trade flows, it was reported in the previous studies that distance has a negative and significant impact on trade where as GDP and population have a positive and significant impact on trade flows (Srinivasan Archana, 2008). Likewise the previous studies, the study conducted in India reported the similar findings, i.e. larger distance reduces mutual trade and a larger GDP and population of the trading countries increase trade. It was also found in the study that size of the economy is an important influential factor explaining the inflow and outflow of goods and services. A study similar to previous studies was conducted to examine the impact of gdp on trade flows of a country. The study supported the findings of the previous studies that tariff barrier of importing country have a negative and significant impact on exporting countries, where as the study also reported that the larger gdp and population have a positive impact on bilateral exports of countries (Tamirisa, 1999). A study conducted by, Ghartey (1993), using economic data of three countries (United States, Japan and Taiwan) to examine the impact of gdp of each country on its trade flows, it was found in the study that United states GDP promoted its exports, where as for Japan and Taiwan the impact was opposite (Chen, 2009). Similarly another study conducted by, Jung Marshall (1985), to examine the relationship between GDP and exports, the study used thirty one years of GDP and exports data from year 1950 to year 1981 for 37 developing countries, it was found in the study that there is no relationship between GDP and exports of 37 developing countries except Israel (Chen, 2009). China A study conducted in china by, Shen (1999) to examine the relationship between exports and GDP, the study used twenty one years of exports and GDP data from year 1977 to year 1998, the study found that there is a short term relationship between the Chinese GDP and exports, where there is no long term relationship between the two variables (Chen, 2009). Pakistan A study conducted in Pakistan to examine the impact of GDP on Pakistan trade flows, it was found in the study that an increase in GDP i.e. increase in domestic income results in increase in imports, for instance a one-percent increase in Pakistan GDP increases imports from US and Japan by an equivalent percent. Where as if compared to UK and Germany the trade flow is positive and small but not significant (Akhtar Malik, 2000). Inflation What exactly is inflation? A persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money, caused by an increase in available currency and credit beyond the proportion of available goods and services. Inflation occurs when the price level rises from one period to the next (Robinson, 2007). The Impact of Inflation on International Trade A study conducted in U.S, Robinson (2007) to investigate the impact of inflation on international trade and small business. It was found that inflation creates uncertainty that discourages productive activity, savings and investing and ultimately reduces the competitiveness of a country in international trade. It was also found that if inflation is not offset by a nation with a less valuable currency, the U.S.s exports become more expensive and less attractive. This makes other countries imports more attractive. As a result this forms an economy of unbalanced trade with more reduced U.S. economy and international trade (Robinson, 2007). Inflation has many disadvantages; it creates uncertainty, in that people do not know what the money they earn today buy tomorrow. This uncertainty discourages productive activity, saving and investing. Inflation reduces the competitiveness of the country in international trade. If inflation is not offset by a nation with a less valuable currency, the U.S.s exports become more expensive and less attractive. This makes other countries imports more attractive. This forms an economy of unbalanced trade which results in a much more reduced U.S. economy (Robinson, 2007). Inflation and Trade A study conducted, Fitoussi (2007), to investigate the impact of inflation on trade found that in the last 15 years or so, disinflation and the increase of world trade seem to have gone hand in hand. It was found that in the past three decades a downward trend in inflation caused an inward trend in world trade (Fitoussi, 2007). The first fact that can be observed is that the past three decades were characterized both by an upward trend in world trade (measured as exports over GDP) and a downward trend in inflation (measured as yearly change in CPI) (Fitoussi, 2007). Remittances In general remittances are defined as a portion of the earnings a migrant sends to relatives back home, IMF (2010). It has been estimated that workers migrated to different countries send home between US$ 2000 to US$ 5000 a year, i.e. in terms of percentage around 20% to 30% of their income. It has been found in the previous researches that poor countries receive larger amount of remittances as compared to high income countries for instance In 2007, the top three recipients of remittances India, China, and Mexico-each received over $25 billion. But smaller and poorer countries tend to receive relatively larger remittances when the size of the economy is taken into account. Expressing remittances as a share of GDP, the top recipients were Tajikistan (36 percent), Moldova (36 percent), Tonga (32 percent) and Kyrgyz Republic (27percent). Remittances as a share of GDP amounted to 3.6 percent of GDP in low-income countries in 2006 compared to 1.7 percent in middle-income countries (Ratha Mohapatra, 2007). Numbers of studies have been conducted to examine the impact of remittances on the trade of a country; these studies provided a mix of evidence regarding the impact of remittances on countries trade, for instance some studies provided the evidence that remittances can improve a countrys creditworthiness and thereby enhance its access to international capital markets for financing infrastructure and other development projects, in other words it can be said that increase in inflow of remittances increase the foreign reserves of a country, hence it enhances the ability of a country to meet its foreign trade obligations (paying of import bills). This enhancement of country ability indicates a sign of increase in its economic activity as a result it attracts foreign investors and foreign export orders (Ratha Mohapatra, 2007). For instance the ratio of debt to exports of goods and services, a key indebtedness indicator, would increase significantly if remittances were excluded from the denominator. Exchange Rate Turkey A study conducted, Vergil (2001), to investigate the impact of exchange rate volatility on Turkish trade flows comprising on 10 years data from year 1990 to year 2000. It was found in the study that exchange rate volatility has a negative impact on Turkish trade flows. Africa A study conducted to analyze the impact of exchange rate volatility on African countries trade flows. The study used 33 sub-Saharan African countries exchange rate macro-economic performance indicators data. It was found in the study that exchange rates contributed a great deal towards Africas poor economic performance, Ghura Grennes (1993), i.e. overvaluation in exchange rate resulted in lower level of exports, lower level of real GDP per Capita and lower level of Savings (Shatz Tarr: 1990). G-7 Countries A study conducted by international monetary fund to investigate the impact of exchange fluctuation on world trade, in the study the G-7 countries trade was taken as world trade. The purpose of the study was to compare the results of IMF 1984 study a

Korean Immigrants to America Essay example -- Immigration Essays

Korean Immigrants to America On January 13, 1903, the first Korean Immigrants set foot in Hawaii. There were eighty six people on that first voyage, and since then there have been over 550,000 Koreans who have made the journey to the United States over the past 100 years. The original immigrants and their descendants now total over 1.6 million. Korean Americans make up one of the most prominent Asian communities in the United States. Many elements of Korean Culture, ranging from Kim Chee to Tae Kwon Do, have made their way into the American Lifestyle. There have been many events that have shaped the Korean American community and there are many current issues that affect Korean Americans. Aboard the S.S. Gaelic, the first ship to bring Korean immigrants to the United States, there were only 102 men, women and children (Chow). However, over the next two years, over seven thousand Koreans moved to Hawaii (Kim, 367). Most were young men who came to look for a new life on the sugar cane plantations that needed labor. These plantation workers had hard lives, working to save money to bring their families over from Korea or in hopes of someday returning to their homeland. The period from 1905 to 1924 is characterized by quite a different group of Korean Immigrants. One part of this group was made up of Koreans who were running from their government and students who were studying in the US. Syngman Rhee, who would become the leader of South Korea during the Korean War, was earning his Ph.D. at Princeton University during this time. About 500 students and political refugees arrived in America (... ...st to America: Korean American Life Stories. New York: The New Press, 1996. The pictures used are from the following sites: Adamnski, Mary. â€Å"A Better Life.† The Honolulu Star Bulletin. 12 Jan. 2003. 22. Nov. 2003. (http://starbulletin.com/2003/01/12/news/story3.html) Adamnski, Mary. â€Å"Korean Immigration to Hawaii at a Glance .† The Honolulu Star Bulletin. 12 Jan. 2003. 22. Nov. 2003. (http://starbulletin.com/2003/01/12/news/story3.html) Dayton, Kevin. â€Å"KIM.† The Honolulu Advertiser. 22 Nov. 2003. (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/specials/korean100/kim/) â€Å"Korean American Archive Photograph Sets.† 12 June, 2003. 22, Nov. 2003. (http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/arc/findingaids/kaaphotos/index.html) â€Å"Margaret Cho Hires Photo Gallery, Misc.† The Official Margaret Cho Website. 22 Nov. 2003. (http://video.margaretcho.net/margaret_cho_photos/misc.htm)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay -- essays research papers

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jekyll does deserve his final miserable fate because he commits several selfish deeds to the point where he brings his miserable fate upon himself. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses Jekyll to represent how man prioritizes by putting himself over others. Throughout the book, Jekyll’s two different sides are used to show that man is consistently selfish and will usually think of himself before others. Even though Jekyll has a good side and an evil side, both sides of him are selfish. Jekyll originally takes the potion for selfish reasons, Jekyll uses Hyde to conquer his own evil temptations, and in the end Jekyll gives into Hyde and completely gives up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jekyll originally taking the potion can be conveyed as a selfish act because he mainly took the potion to benefit himself. Jekyll said he took the potion so he could become recognized for his good deeds, even though he was well respected by his peers he wanted more recognition from the public, he wanted to be famous for his deeds and become well known among the public. Jekyll says, â€Å"†¦fond of the respect of the wise and good among my fellowmen...And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more commonly grave countenance before the public.† (Page 103). Jekyll ... Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay -- essays research papers Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jekyll does deserve his final miserable fate because he commits several selfish deeds to the point where he brings his miserable fate upon himself. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses Jekyll to represent how man prioritizes by putting himself over others. Throughout the book, Jekyll’s two different sides are used to show that man is consistently selfish and will usually think of himself before others. Even though Jekyll has a good side and an evil side, both sides of him are selfish. Jekyll originally takes the potion for selfish reasons, Jekyll uses Hyde to conquer his own evil temptations, and in the end Jekyll gives into Hyde and completely gives up.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Jekyll originally taking the potion can be conveyed as a selfish act because he mainly took the potion to benefit himself. Jekyll said he took the potion so he could become recognized for his good deeds, even though he was well respected by his peers he wanted more recognition from the public, he wanted to be famous for his deeds and become well known among the public. Jekyll says, â€Å"†¦fond of the respect of the wise and good among my fellowmen...And indeed the worst of my faults was a certain impatient gaiety of disposition, such as has made the happiness of many, but such as I found to reconcile with my imperious desire to carry my head high, and wear a more commonly grave countenance before the public.† (Page 103). Jekyll ...

Why obama is ruining this country

Obama is not stupid, he is simply evil. He is tearing apart this country from the inside and 51% of Americans were stupid to let this communist bastard back in to the white house even after four years of him doing, well, NOTHING. At least nothing beneficial. Now this socialist pig is trying to get rid of â€Å"assault weapons† and 30 round magazines. Colorado theater shooting, sandy hook, even so far back as columbine high school were a result of a mentally unstable person or persons acting violently because they were insane.If you walked up to a sane, rational person and handed them a loaded AR-1 5 chances are they wouldn't think â€Å"Oh well I have this gun, might as well go rob that gas station, and while I'm at it, I'm going to shoot up a school. † These socialist politicians are too stupid to figure that out. I agree with you that he wants total control of the US, I wouldn't even be surprised if he tried to run for a third term. He could probably find some loop ho le. And all the minorities and illegal would rally behind him if he wanted another term.In addition to all of this, he is a post turtle. He is president, sure, but he sure as hell didn't get there by himself. I will close with saying this: I have only been on this earth for 14 years but In that time I have seen the once great America crumble around me. The world hates us, we turned tall In Vietnam, and now Afghanistan. This once great nation is turning into a communist powerhouse and all the dumb-asses that voted for Obama are scratching their empty minded heads eying â€Å"Well he promised change, I guess capitalism to communism Is change, that's good, right? I have watched time and time again, news reporters walk up to minorities and go â€Å"Do you think Obama Is doing a good Job? † then they would reply â€Å"Well yes. † then the reporter would say â€Å"What do you think he has done that has benefited us the most? † then they would respond with, â€Å"Wel l, man, uh†¦. It's all good. † And that's the best they could come up with. I submit that If America continues on this path, It might as well bend over, grab It's ankles, and kiss It's ass goodbye.

Non-violent social change

Chavez, King Jr. and Malcolm X all advocated non-violent struggles for justice and equality. They were all successful in their policy goals. Through the tactics and strategies that they employed, they were able to achieve their goals. Through their leadership, the marches, boycotts, rallies, fasts and strikes led to their objectives. Non-violent struggles proved to be more effective in making people aware and bringing out desired changes.Their experiences also led them to be the leaders of their organizations. Chavez has seen a lot of inequality towards Mexican-Americans especially the farm workers. King Jr., on the other hand, has also experienced inequality and injustice even when he was young. And when he became the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), he saw a lot of racial discrimination and inequality in rights against the blacks. Malcolm X, too, has experienced being harassed when he was young. In fact, his life before being a Muslim could be said as sorrowful. His father was killed, his mother was taken to a mental institution and he and his siblings were split up to different homes.Discrimination seemed to be the factor which drove these leaders to seek change. Chavez has encountered it when he was in elementary schools. King Jr. has seen discrimination against the blacks. Malcolm X has probably experienced discrimination as he talked about black pride. Due to this, they have become resolved in bringing social change and civil rights.I believe that their advocacy of non-violent social change played a big role in their success as leaders. As to Chavez and King, their mothers taught them that there should be no place for violence or any discrimination in one’s heart.These three leaders were long dead, but their legacy still lives. Malcolm X had influenced both the blacks and the whites. The blacks has regarded him as a man of the people and experienced in the ways of the street. The whites, on the other hand, were influen ced by his unwillingness to turn away from hostility. Chavez’s legacy, on the other hand, is his philosophy of service for others, justice, equality and civil rights. And King Jr. has brought the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act.WORKS CITEDMcElrath, Jessica. Malcolm X. Online. Available: http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/malcolmx/a/bio_x_malcolm.htm. 30 September 2007.Siqueiros, Ray. â€Å"Who was Cesar Chavez?† People’s Weekly World. 19 Apr 2003: 11 pars. Online. Available: http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/3309/1/

My Most Embarrassing Situation Essay

Everyone has been embarrassed at one time or another. It is that moment in time when you wish the earth would open up and swallow you. The anxiety and discomfort felt during that time which may only last a few seconds feels like time has stood still. I remember so well when I had my most embarrassing moment. I was in Form 4 and it was during the school recess. The minute the bell rang for recess, I rushed to the toilet because I had been controlling my urges since class started. I didn’t want to miss class because the lesson taught that morning was to include tips for the forthcoming examination. Without realising, I had rushed to the girls’ toilet. The prolonged control and an upset stomach made worse by two glasses of cold milk in the morning made me grunt and groan in what I thought in what I thought was the privacy of the cubicle. I thought I heard giggling outside and wondered why the giggles sounded unusually near. A few minutes later I came out the cubicle and discovered my horror that I had entered the girls’ toilet. To make matters worse, the few girls standing outside didn’t even turn away when I came out. Instead they looked down at me, then only they turned quickly away. Horror of horrors, I had forgotten to zip up! No beetroot could have  matched the colour of my face at this point in time! They news of my predicament spread like wild fire throughout school. I was truly the talk of the town. I felt like I could either walk around feeling perpetually self-conscious and embarrassed or I could turn the situation round, perhaps even to my advantage. I remembered my mother’s words that ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’. So I decided to make fun of myself, to laugh at myself too. It works. Everyone got bored after a while and nobody teased me after that. It was indeed an eye-opening experience for me. I have learnt that when people laugh at you, you should laugh along. You must not take yourself seriously. Learn to look at yourself through other people’s eyes and you will realise that most of the time when they laugh at you, they just want to have some fun. They mean no harm. If you can make people laugh, it’s like bringing sunshine into their lives and as someone said, ‘those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.’

Case Study Of Elektra Products, Inc. Essay

The Elektra Products Inc has faced the problem: market share was declining in competition of foreign and domestic area; new products ideas were few and far; morale was low at all time and employees were actively seeking new jobs. Because they are disenchanted by the current culture and they may see management as untrusted in their abilities. Barbara Russel, a manufacturing vice president has been assigned by Martin Griffin, Elektra’s new CEO who very recently made the challenge: â€Å"As we face increasing competition, we need new ideas, new energy, new sprit to make this company great. An the source for this change is you – each of you†, to lead a team which will implement a plan to change management style to a decentralized organization than encourage employee empowerment in management processing. Ms Russell forms an active team that work hard to achieve management change. And Ms Russell would allow employees to make decision suitable at their positions. When the Mr Griffin is not participate in meeting the department heads’ responses are not workable. The resistance is happen at the middle level management when implementation is done. In answering first sub-question of the question no 1 of â€Å"How might top management have done a better job changing Elektra products into a new kind of organization?†, we would like to express that top management could have included the middle and lower level managers,  and the employees in the teams. The team should have received instruction on the concept behind â€Å"empowerment†, and how the objective was to have employees at all levels taking responsibility for decision making, at that level, and accepting responsibility for the results. And letting them understand that positive attitude is needed in every step and every task to be done, is practically motivated on the other hand. For second sub-question of the question no 1 of â€Å"what might they do now to get the empowerment process back on track?†, it is no doubt that getting the program back on track, Mr Griffin needs to bring managers and employees at all levels into the teams, after all involved have learned what the new management approach entails. And assigning the tast of â€Å"quick and easy to win† to every team support them in gaining the motivation. In answer of question no 2 of â€Å" Can you think of ways Barbara could have avoided the problems her team faced in the meeting with department heads ? † we would like to answer that Ms Russel could avoided the problems her team face by including the department heads in her team, and charging them with identifying the challenge and obstacles to high performance in their departments. She also should have required them to apply this approach to all levels in their departments. Empowerment management means granting authority to subordinates. Her team actually tried to â€Å"empower† lower level management without including them in the solution. In answering the question no 3 of â€Å" If you were barbara Russell, what would you do now ? Why?† If I were Barbara Russell, I would push slowly to reform and work for gradual support from the other teams and I would support Martin to realize the problems with inter-departmental communication that exist at Elektra’s product as he may not have been with the company for long enough a period of time. Encouraging Martin to meet with each department head in advance and try to collect information about the corporate culture and each department head’s opinion of his empowerment campaign and so, he might have had a  better idea as to how he should implement his reforms. Second, by having each team membership consist of only one  department, each team habitually brought their ideas for each department to change and that did nothing to contribute to the poor departmental communication.  The most important things for Barbara to do is to communicate to Martin the existing problems concerning communication and trust between departments. Barbara’s other choices, to p ush ahead with grim determination while the CEO remains ignorant to the real cultural standard, is doomed to failure if for no other reason than that Barbara has no definitive clout among the rest of upper management, and thus not enough weight to throw around to effect change. She could try to make new teams or to debate the proposals of her team, but she may not carry enough authority to lead the other departments in such an action. Such actions could inevitably strain the current inter-departmental communications further and may not provide any positive results without lots of hard work. Once Martin is made aware of the poor communication relationships that currently exist, steps can be made to attack the problem from a different angle. Barbara, by confronting Martin on these issues, serves  herself and the campaign by showing her supervisor that she is both interested in his idea and its success and by providing Martin with necessary insight into the corporate culture that he may have yet to fully realize. As a CEO who’s main function is to please the stock holders of this publicly traded company, Martin should value the information Barbara can provide him as it would serve to both increase his plan’s potential for success and to please his bosses. Once he is made aware of the current situation, Martin will  have a better grasp on just what the problems are that exist at Elektra’s product and how to solve them. As the CEO, Martin should take a strong management stance and exert his power over the department heads by clearly  demarking the chain of command. Done effectively, Martin would thus have established among upper management that his ideas will be implemented and that it would be wise to support him in the campaign. This can be done by simply repeating his credos among the employees, by being very clear on his ideas, and by encouraging open discourse among the levels of upper management. This serves to not only define the company goals but to instill a new sense of purpose among the employees through strong leadership. Next, Martin needs to regroup the initial project teams so that each team consists of a variety of employees from different departments. Having employees from different departments actually work with and speak to each other is the first step to eventually tearing down the communication barriers that currently exist in the company. This  methodology serves other useful purposes as well. As well, by having a team make-up that is cross-departmental, when teams present their ideas there will no longer exist a â€Å"you against us† attitude. At this point it would be nice to know more about Martin and  his history in the corporate world, and the relationship between Barbara and Simon. With this knowledge, it becomes possible to study Martin’s management style and track record so that more definitive conclusions can be drawn concerning what he should do. As well, knowing how Barbara and Simon relate can offer guidelines to how Barbara may be able to use Simon as an information tool for gauging employee’s opinions regarding the empowerment campaign and the corporate culture in general. This is just the first step towards launching Martin’s empowerment campaign and turning the company into a motivated, profitable entity. Much work has yet to be done to ensure that Electra-Quik even has a chance of becoming a market leader again, although Marti n is correct in his desires to change the corporate culture.