Contemporary Management issue (waleed) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contemporary Management issue (waleed) - Essay Example The Traditional theories of ethics look into the aspects in terms of an absolutist view. Under this regime, the theories are either claimed to be right or wrong. On the other hand, the Contemporary theories that are framed on ethics concentrates on the relativist positional views. The correctness of a given situation is determined by the Normative ethical theories (Warren, 2011). According to the views of Richard D. George, on the basis of Pluralism, the ethical theories can be conveyed in terms of two opposing patterns, Ethical Absolutism and Ethical Relativism. There are also other types of theories related to ethics, they are: Theory of Egoism Theory of Utilitarianism Theory of Egalitarianism (on basis of rights and justice) Theory of Non-Egalitarianism On the basis of the contemporary view, the ethical theories can be on: Virtue Ethics Feminist Ethics Discourse Ethics Post Modern Ethics The theories of morality and ethics are somewhat similar to each other. Some of the morality t heories are: Moral Subjectivism Cultural Relativism Ethical Egoism Devine Command Theory Kantian Theory Contractarianism The case deals with the consciousness of the U.S. government over the health hazards caused due to cigarette smoking. It claims that the Gladys Kessler (U.S. District Judge) would claim a penalty of $280 billion from the famous tobacco companies such as, Philip Morris, Liggett and Reynolds. These companies would be penalized if they are found to knowingly deceive the public regarding the addictive nature and risks associated with smoking. It was noted that about 400000 Americans die yearly due to the health issues caused from cigarettes manufactured by these companies. This paper would concentrate on an aspect that deals with the duties that the modern organizations cater to their customers. In the later stage, the essay would focus on the different theories of business ethics and morality. The theories in the course of the discussion would be related to the case study of the paper. The Duties to Customers from Companies In the contemporary world, the organizations are supposed to suffice three primary business goals. When describing about the duties of a company it is essential to shed light on the theories of business ethics. In simple terms, business ethics is often dubbed as the form of professional ethics or applied ethics which examines the ethical principles within a business environment. Moreover, it also appeals to every business aspect and is highly pertinent to the organization as well as the individuals. Business ethics encompasses both descriptive and normative dimensions. Hence, business ethics plays a crucial role in shaping the duties and activities of the consumers towards the company. Similarly, the theory of stakeholder holds high relevance in the field of business ethics. It states that a company has equal real responsibilities towards its stakeholders, but the activities differ from one group to the other. (Source: Elkin gton, 1999) As stated in the above diagram, the organizations must try to improve the state of environment, economy and society. This is as per the theory of Triple Bottom Line stated by John Elkington in 1999. This theory also states that the organization, by uplifting the societies, must try to bridge the gap between the poor and rich customers (Wright, 1995). However, catering to the social justice is the most essential factor that must be addressed by the

WaterAid UK. Operational Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

WaterAid UK. Operational Management - Essay Example The global strategy for WaterAid is to offer strategic perspective for building on this experience and integrating equity, as well as, inclusion in all areas of operation The company implemented the global strategy, with four significant aims of carrying out effective business to address sanitation and water crisis. One of the main objectives is to ensure that more than 25 millions of people across the globe have access to safe and clean water. They also focus on hygiene improvements, sanitation objective and also influencing government policies and practices in order to reach more than 100 million people globally. The organizational mission is transforming lives of people across the areas where they operate. The crucial services emphasizes human development and transform lives; thus enabling people to overcome poverty, as well as, enable them to access their human right effectively. The organization operates in more than 23 countries and the company offer support to their local part nership organizations. This is crucial because they aim to deliver sustainable water and services to all areas; thus improving sanitation. They also operate alongside their partners in order to influence effective decision making vital for improving investments and delivery of sanitation and water services to the population living under poverty level; therefore, to achieve their objectives, the company focuses to a wider context impacting sanitation and water services including marginalized communities, urbanization, unpredictable climatic changes, and political instabilities, as well as, stressed water resources. The company operates in unique way by focusing the challenges they face; thus finds solution of overcoming them through offering effective service delivery. They also have unique ways of developing and monitoring performance level. This strategy has been implemented through detailed operational plans and monitored with an aim of increasing effective performance. The human resource manager of the organization has made significant efforts of implementing a sustainability framework, which was piloted through the 2011 to 2012 post-implementation studies. Bratton and Gold (2010. P. 34) reveal the significance roles that manager play in an organization including training, encouraging teamwork, communicating effective and effective listening; thus contributing to successful performance of the company. Therefore, the WaterAid human resource manager has made significant efforts of partnering with others in creating an efficient operational management team in order to deliver sustainable services. Staff and volunteer management The company has varied staff workers and other volunteer groups who work together as a team to deliver effective services. Subba and Kumar (2010, p. 23) argue that working together as team in the management of resources of company activities can contribute to effective business performance. This is crucial because it has enabled the com pany to deliver equitable services across the regions where they operate. Moreover, the current company manager, Jeremy Pelczer employs unique leadership styles of managing both tangible and intangible resources of the company. Gold (2010, p. 102) argue that successful leaders should employee effective leadership styles that can enable them to deliver valuable services. They also have the board of directors who offer great opportunities and the shareholders also played key significant roles of supporting the company towards achieving the organizational mission. In addition, they have volunteer groups of people including the

Study on the Variability in Foreign Exchange Rate

Study on the Variability in Foreign Exchange Rate 1.0. Introduction Variability in foreign exchange (FX) rate has been one of the major economic and financial factors affecting cash flows and common stocks value. After the collapse of post-war Bretton Woods fixed exchange rates in the 1970s, the relative prices of currencies began to fluctuate. The rapid expansion in international trade and adoption of floating exchange rate regimes by many countries led to increase exchange rate volatility. As economic integration and globalization have been increasing year by year, exchange rate movements have become very important source of risk for financial firms as well as non-financial firms. In this context, it is very important to mention that virtually all existing empirical studies estimate currency exchange rate exposures on the basis of share prices. However, the assessment of cash flow and stock price exposures which will be studied in this research will represent a rational alternative to the analysis of stock price exposures. In fact, it is the impact of exchange rate risk on corporate cash flows rather than equity prices per se, that is emphasized in the theoretical literature on corporate risk management, either for tax reasons, managerial performance, bankruptcy, investment decisions or compensation purposes. Jacque (1996) points out that change in a companys earnings due to unexpected foreign currency exchange rate changes relatively to their domestic currency is considered as foreign exchange rate risks. Changes in exchange rates may affect firms profitability and value. Exchange rate changes can also impact on the level of competitiveness of the firms which are exposed to exchange rate risk, or affect the value of their net assets denominated in foreign currencies. Adler and Dumas (1984) show that even firms whose entire operations are domestic may have affects of exchange rates of foreign currencies, if their output and input prices are influenced by currency movements. Moreover, Eiteman et al. (2006) says that in general, firms are exposed to three types of foreign exchange risk: translation exposure, transaction exposure and economic exposure. Translation and transaction exposures are accounting based and defined in terms of the book values of assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency. In practice, economic exposure is computed as the net sensitivity of some aggregate measure of firm value to currency fluctuations. Economic exposure contains of the direct and indirect effects of currency fluctuations by focusing on the net sensitivity. At the corporate level, changes in exchange rates affect the firm value, because future cash flows of the firm will change with exchange rate fluctuations. In other words, exchange rate changes have important implications for financial decision-making and for firm profitability. It is widely believed that changing exchange rates affect the competitiveness of firms engaged in international competition. According to Luehrman (1991), a falling home currency promotes the competitiveness of firms in home country by allowing them to undercut prices charged for goods manufactured abroad. Many simple partial equilibrium models (e.g. Shapiro) predict an increase in the value of the home country firm in response to a real drop in the value of the home currency. Economic theory suggests that under a floating exchange rate regime, exchange rate appreciation reduces the competitiveness of export markets; it has a negative effect on the domestic stock market. Conversely, if the country is import denominated, exchange rate appreciation may have positive affect on the stock market by lowering input costs. Problem statement As economic integration and globalization have been increasing year by year, exchange rate movements have become very important source of risk for financial firms as well as non-financial firms. Also, the internationalization of capital markets has resulted in inflow of vast sums of funds between countries and in the cross listing of equities. This has therefore made investors and firms more interested in the volatility of exchange rate and its effect on stock price and stock market volatility. According to Yucel and Kurt (2003), floating exchange rate appreciation reduces the competitiveness of export markets; and has a negative effect on share prices as well as the domestic stock market. On the other hand, for import dominated country, it may have positive effect on the stock market by lowering input costs. Malaysia presents an example of an open economy which engages in international trade with several countries and hence susceptible to foreign exchange rate volatility. Malaysian exchange and trade system have been liberalized for many years. Malaysia now follows a floating exchange rate policy. Malaysian economy has been suffered from Asian financial crisis 1997 and World financial crisis 2008. As a result volatility in foreign exchange rate and deviation from purchasing power parity might become persistent in the economy. Most of the firms operating in Malaysia are affected in many ways from these economic conditions. The firms have faced higher business risk and foreign exchange risk. However, empirical evidence on the influence of foreign exchange market volatility on stock market is largely inconsistent. These have been in the contest of developed economies. Mishra (2004) found no theoretical consensus on the interaction between stock prices and exchange rate. However, Solnik (2000) argues that there is a negative correlation between stock market and local currency. The openness of a countrys economy is recognized as a cause of volatility of its market. Malaysia presents a classic example of an open economy which engages in international trade transaction. Moreover, with advert of globalization, developing economies are becoming more integrated into developed economies as the results of increasing flow of imports and exports. Malaysia is not an exception. A cursory examination of foreign exchange rate history in Malaysia shows some considerable level of volatility. Therefore, it would be interesting to explore the effect of its foreign exchange volatility on cash flows as well as stock prices of its non-financial companies. Again, much work on the effect of the exchange rate volatility in the developing country like Malaysia has not been done. Thus, for that reason the study intended look at the effect of foreign exchange exposure on companies cash flows and stock prices in Malaysia. Research objectives Objective of the current research is to determine whether cash flows and stock prices of companies are affected by exchange rate exposure. This research project attempts to assess the economic exposures of the firms chosen from the Bursa Malaysia Main market. The issues are important for investors as well as corporate risk management. To examine the relationship between cash flows of the companies and exchange rates; To examine the relationship between stock prices of the companies and exchange rates; To determine which currencies have major influence on the companies cash flows? To determine which currencies have major influence on the companies stock prices? Research questions The research aims to find answers to the following questions: Whether cash flows of the companies exposed to exchange rate risk? Whether stock prices of the companies exposed to exchange rate risk? Which currencies have major influence on the companies cash flows? Which currencies have major influence on the companies stock prices? Significance of the study The estimation of exchange rate exposure is a relatively new area in international finance. After 1973, managers and economists become more concerned about the exchange rate fluctuations on firms. Also, for the past decade, researchers have been empirically investigating the exchange rate exposure of the firms. Following Adler Dumas (1984) most of the research measures the exposure as the elasticity between change in firm value and exchange rate. Empirically, this exposure elasticity is obtained from a regression of stock returns on an exchange rate change (Bodnar Wong, 2000). In practice, there is little general agreement on the use of appropriate choice of ‘‘aggregate measure. In this research project it is focused on the impact of economic exposure of Malaysian firms values. Corporate managers will also be interested in the exposures of corporate cash flow measures such as sales, operating cash flow and earnings for reasons of corporate planning and risk management. Scope of the study The current study one of the new studies in international finance and risk management. In general, the research will assess the economic exposures for the companies listed in Bursa Malaysia Main Market from the years 2000 to 2008. For the research, first, all sample companies stock returns will be regressed on exchange rate change and market return. In the second step, companies will be examined according to one specific character, which is export volume. LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction It is also noticeable whether the firms cash flows are sensitive to exchange rate movements. Perhaps we should also point out the fact that Grambovas and McLeay (2006) are convinced that empirical analysis confirm that currency fluctuations may affect firm values, especially with consideration to the influence of foreign exchange rate movements on the firms cash flows and their accounting earnings, and on their stock prices. Previous literature Miller Reuer (1998) conducted a study on the implications of differences in strategy and industry structure for firms economic exposures to foreign exchange rate movements. According to their results, 13-17 % of US manufacturing firms exposed for foreign exchange rate movements. Also they indicated that foreign direct investment reduces economic exposure to foreign exhange rate movements. Martin and Mauer suggest that economic exposure, which typically has a longer-term time dimension, encompasses the competitive and indirect effects of exchange rate risk. Many academics such as Hodder (1982), Marston (2001) Pringle (1995), Shapiro (1975) and von Ungern-Sternberg von Weizsacker (1990) argue that unlike transaction exposure, economic exposure can affect even domestic firms. Economic exposure arises from changes in the sales prices and volumes, and the cost of inputs of the firm and its competitors as a result of exchange rate changes. Miller Reuer (1998) and Sundaram Black (1992) argued that geographically positioning production, sales, sourcing, and financing operations is effective for reducing economic exposure. Glaum, Brunner and Himmet (2000) examined the economic exposure of German corporations to change in DM/US dollar exchange rate. They found that German firms are significantly exposed to changes in DM/US dollar rate. Several studies focused on the some companies and they demonstrated that exporter firms stock values are more sensitive to change in foreign exchange rates (Mao and Kao, 1990; Bortov and Bodnar, 1992). The study by SÃ ¶hnke M. Bartram (2007) found significant exposure of several firms to at least one of the foreign exchange rates, and significant exposures found by them were more frequent at long-term horizons. They also argue that the impact of exchange rate risk on share prices and cash flows is similar and determined by a correlated set of economic factors. Moreover, Dominguez and Tesar (2006) found that exchange rate movements do matter for a significant fraction of firms, though which firms are affected and the direction of exposure depends on the specific exchange rate and varies over time, suggesting that firms dynamically adjust their behavior in response to exchange rate risk. Exposure is correlated with firm size, multinational status, foreign sales, international assets, and competitiveness and trade at the industry level. Martin and Mauer (2003) pointed out that cash flow effects are greater for long-term lags than for short-term lags in exchange rate movements. This result may occur because transaction exposure is easier to assess and hedge, whereas economic exposure is more difficult to recognize and hedge. While Bartram (2007) suggests significant exposure of several firms to at least one of the foreign exchange rates such as CAD, JPY and EUR, and significant exposures determined by Bartram (2007) were more frequent at long-term horizons. The percentage of firms observed for which stock price and earnings exposures were considerably different was relatively low, though it increased with time horizon. Finally, he was convinced that the impact of exchange rate risk on stock prices and cash flows is similar and determined by a related set of economic factors. Batram and Karolyi (2006) took a new look at the exposure puzzle by studying the potential impact of the introduction of the Euro on stock returns of 3,220 non-financial firms from 20 countries. Their findings suggest that the introduction of the Euro decreased foreign exchange rate exposure, but these changes are statistically and economically small. According to Tesar and Dominguez (2006), factors such as firm size, multinational status, foreign sales, international assets, and competitiveness and trade at the industry level may influence economic exposure of the companies. These factors may either increase the companies economic exposure or decrease. These factors influence on the companies economic exposure will depend on how significantly these factors are correlated with the companies cash flows and operations, and if there are significant correlation between them, we should also point out whether these significant correlations are positive or negative. Empirical analysis by Grambovas and McLeay (2006) confirmed that exchange rate fluctuations will affect firm values, especially with regard to the influence of exchange rate movements on the cash flows and accounting earnings of companies with international exposure, and on their stock prices. Recent studies by Priestley and Odegaard (2007) studied the exchange rate exposures by orthogonalizing the market returns with respect to changes in exchange rates and a set of macroeconomic factors. Their findings suggest that the extent of exposures is only fully exposed when it is subdivided the sample period into regimes and at the same time used an orthogonalized market portfolio in the regression. Batram and Karolyi (2006) studied the exposure puzzle by looking at the potential impact of the introduction of the Euro on stock returns of 3,220 non-financial firms from different 20 countries. It was found that the introduction of the Euro had decreased foreign exchange rate exposure, but the changes were statistically and economically very small. However, Bae, Kwon, and Li (2008) having studied the exchange rate exposure and risk premium by using data on American depositary receipts (ADR) of Australia, France, Japan and the U.K., found that changes in the exchange rates were negat ively correlated with the underlying shares of ADRs, but they were positively correlated to ADR returns observed in the U.S. markets. Moreover, they discovered that U.S. and local investors require different risk premiums for exchange rate risks presented in ADR investments. Griffin and Stulz (2001) found weak evidence of statistically significant exchange rate exposures, and the economic significance of the estimated exposures was low. A first main study of the foreign exchange exposure fact done by Jorion (1990) found a significant impact of foreign exchange rate risk on share prices for 5.2 percent of the analyzed 287 U.S. MNCs at the 5 percent level. Choi and Prasad 1995 developed a model and examined the exchange rate sensitivity of 409 US multinational firms. Their findings indicated that change in exchange rate affected firm value. They found that 60 percent of firms had significant exchange rate exposure. In their study, Choi and Prasad (1995) found that 14.9 percent of the individual firms in the U.S. and 10 percent of the industry portfolios showed a significant exchange rate exposure at the 10 percent level, corroborating earlier findings. Domely and Sheehy (1996) found contemporaneous relation between the foreign exchange rate and the market value of large exporters in their study. Comparable results were found outside the United States by He and Ng (1998). For instance only some multinational companies in Japan (26.3% and 53.8% for different time periods) showed a significant exchange rate exposure with regard to a multilateral exchange rate index. Some studies look into the exposure of industry portfolios in several countries, there were found percentage yields of companies with significant exposure of 15% (United States), 4% (Japan) and 6% (United Kingdom) by Prasad and Rajan (1995), or 23% (United States), 21% (Canada) and 25% (Japan) by Bodnar and Gentry (1993) at the 5% level. Study by Bartram and Karolyi (2006) suggests that the FX rate exposure of non-financial firms is systematically linked to firm characteristics such as sales, the percentage of foreign sales in general and in Europe in particular, regional factors like geography, strength of currency and industry characteristics like competition, traded goods. Study examined by Allayannis and Ihrig ( 2001) speak about stock price exposure to international trade activities of U.S. industries, and Bodnar et al. (2002) mention the significance of pass-through for exposure. Moreover, Starks and Wei (2004) found that the scale of exchange rate exposure is linked to proxies for probabilities of financial distress, product uniqueness and growth opportunities. However, the evidence of corporate foreign exchange rate exposures on a cash flow basis is very thin and inadequate to individual case studies. Garner and Shapiro (1984) investigated the foreign exchange rate exposure of Vulcan Materials Company by regressing changes of its quarterly operating cash flows on changes in the exchange rate of USD against GBP, and showed only small and statistically irrelevant foreign exchange rate exposures. Moreover, Oxelheim and Wihlborg (1995) use quarterly changes of total cash flow, commercial cash flow and sales revenue as dependent variables in the exposure analysis of Volvo Cars. Results by Oxelheim and Wihlborg (1995) indicate that the financial situation of the company reduces exposures with regard to changes in the DEM/SEK exchange rate only to a modest degree. One more study by Bartram (2005) investigated the exposure of a large nonfinancial company based on proprietary internal as well as external capital markets data. Analysis by Bartram (2 005) illustrated that the irrelevance of foreign exchange rate exposures of wide-ranging performance measures such as total cash flow and/or share price can be explained by hedging at the company level. Several studies focused on the some companies and they demonstrated that exporter firms stock values are more sensitive to change in foreign exchange rates (Mao and Kao, 1990; Bortov and Bodnar, 1992). In the most of the studies foreign exchange exposure was measured by regression analysis by using stock returns. Adler and Simon (1986) measured economic exposure as the slope of stock return on exchange rate change. Jorions (1990) model was established by adding the return of the market to control for market movements. As Jorion, Booth and Rotenberg (1990) and Bodnar and Gentry (1993) examined economic exposure with market return, Miller and Reuner (2000) estimated economic exposure by multivariate modelling approach. They applied three-currency model, also add some specified macroeconomic variables such overall stock market return and interest rates. Flanney and James (1984) and Sweeney and Warga (1986) also used interest rates in their models. Doneely and Sheehy (1996) formed a porfolio with 39 companies, and examined the relationship between abnormal return on exporting firms portfolio and return on sterling. Khoo (1994) estimated mining companies economic exposure by using excha nge rates, interest rates and price of oil. METHODOLOGY 3.0. Economic Exposure Measurement In order to measure Malaysian companies economic exposure I decided to follow Adler Simon (1986) model. I will measure economic exposure as the slope coefficient from a regression of stock returns on exchange rates. R it = ÃŽ ±i + ÃŽ ²i et + eit (1) ÃŽ ±i = constant term R it = Stock return for company i. et = Percentage change in exchange rate The coefficient ÃŽ ²i represents the sensitivity of a company is stock returns to exchange rate movements. In the model exchange rate quotation is direct quotation for Malaysia. In other words it is shown as MYR per one unit of the foreign currency. Positive value of ÃŽ ²i means that a depreciation of MYR corresponds to an increase in the value of company i. In the study, I will apply another model as Jorion approach. Jorian introduced another macroeconomic variable market return to control for market movements. To control for the ‘common macroeconomic influences on total exposure elasticities; most emprical studies include the return to a market portfolio with the exchange rate variable in their emprical models (Bodnar Wong, 2000). R it = ÃŽ ±i + ÃŽ ²1i et + ÃŽ ²2i Rmt + eit (2) ÃŽ ±i = constant term R it = Stock return for company i. et = Percentage change in exchange rate Rmt = Market return Ordinary least squares regression was used to estimate models. Exchange rate movements can be measured in nominal or real terms. Real movements are defined as nominal movements adjusted for price level changes across countries. In some studies (Khoo, 1994; Bodnar and Wong, 2000), since real and nominal exchange rates are highly correlated both or one of them are used. Also in some studies trade weighed foreign exchange rate used. The exchange rate used in the study is real effective exchange rate, which is calculated by the Bank Negara (Malaysian Central Bank). The market index I employ will be FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index. In both model, it will be focused on individual firm value. Choi and Prasad (1995) state that examining exchange rate risk on aggregate level, on portfolio or market index, may not reveal the true exchange risk sensitivity of firm value. They claim that a firm level study is necessary to understand whether and why individual firms display varying sensitivity to exchange risk. I follow their approach in my analysis. 3.1. Data In order to examine Malaysian companies economic exposure, I constructed a sample. Sample companies stocks are publicly traded in FTSE Bursa Malaysia market. Only medium and big sized companies will be included. It will be used monthly data to estimate exchange rate sensitivity of the equity for the period from January 2000 to December 2008. Sample companies economic exposure will be examined in two steps. First, all sample companies stock returns will be regressed on exchange rate change and market return. In the second step, companies will be examined according to one specific character, which is export volume. The companies will be divided into two: exporter and non-exporter firms. It will be identified companies as an exporter company, if their foreign sales level is at least 20% of total sales in 2000. Individual stock returns for companies and FTSE Bursa Malaysia market return data will be collected from Bursa Malaysia sources and DataStream in UUM Library.

Why are people unequal in Society :: essays research papers

Why are People Unequal in Society?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to Philosopher’s of the time of enlightenment the nature of society created inequality. These philosophers also believed that it was the job of the government to limit inequality and try to create conformity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now we are able to see that inequality emerges with each and every interaction. This is because every individual possesses qualities which may be better or worse than another’s. These qualities include things such as intelligence, athletic ability, and beauty. However, this has become a problem that we ourselves created. We choose to compare ourselves to others. Sociologists have examined two aspects of this problem. One of these aspects is the simplicity of how inequality arises in the first place. The second aspect is how it is perpetuated over time. Social structure is a social pattern that involves unequal ranks. Once these ranks are discovered inequality will always exist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the main elements of inequality is the division of labor. There are three different settings for Division of Labor. The first setting is the economic setting. In this setting inequality occurs because of different jobs, money, positions of power, and dependence on others. This also creates inequality because an employer controls an employee. Once control is established there are automatically ranks. The boss may take advantage of his employee, and gain at this employee’s expense. Once this process has started it will never stop.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second setting for division of labor is the organizational division of labor. This division includes such things as family, friends, groups, schools, politics, and churches. Within these groups there is a sense of the follower and the leader. These leadership positions allow there to be an advantage over others. This also shows that all organizations have few in power and many that must follow them in order to succeed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third setting for the Division of Labor is the intentional division. This includes things such as war. In war there are always winners and losers. The winners of course end up ruling the losers. This provides a division of labor in which the outcome was somewhat intentional. This inequality is created by those who crave organization and structure. If these people do not agree with another country’s way of rule, they will defeat them and in turn bring in their own statutes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Social conflict is another way of creating inequality within a society.

Creative writing †The Meeting Essay

They were coming to get him, creeping through the undergrowth towards him. As they drew near he jumped up to run on, but tripped. He had been spotted. The savages drew in, their spears all pointing at him, moving around him as he stared up at them, chanting ‘Kill the pig. Cut his throat. Spill his blood.’ As the chanting got louder, and the spears nearer, he screamed. He woke up breathing heavily, covered in sweat, his hair adhering to his forehead. A nightmare. The same nightmare it always was. He was back on the island again. Except this time the officer hadn’t saved him, the savages had killed him. Ralph sat up haltingly and went to fetch a glass of water. He checked his watch, six forty-five in the morning. No point going back to bed now, his appointment was at seven thirty. He knew why the dream had come back this time. Today he was going to meet Jack Merridew for the first time in fifteen years. As they stood outside the door the psychiatrist quickly briefed Ralph before he entered. â€Å"Remember everything we’ve talked about. This is for you to sort out what happened. To sort out, if you can, why it happened. Let the anger out. Don’t let him intimidate you into not saying anything.† Ralph entered the room alone. Jack was already there silhouetted against the window. He turned and surveyed Ralph as he entered, holding out his hand in greeting. Ralph was tall and thin with fair hair. Jack was bigger and looked stronger, with brown hair and dark eyes. They shook hands confidently, and then Ralph stepped back and was opening his mouth to speak when Jack began. â€Å"We both know why we’re here, don’t we. You want answers and I’m to give them to you. So here you are. When we arrived on that island, I believed that I would be leader, that I would lead everyone, just as I had led the choir. Then you blew the conch, everyone was already there when we arrived and you were in control. I liked the look of you but I hated that you had found the conch, that you were always making the sensible suggestions. When you gave me the responsibility of looking after the fire and hunting I thought I’d show everyone that I could be just as powerful as you. Then I let the fire out. You and Piggy hated me for that. You lost your respect for me. So I had to gain it in another way, the beast. But the beast separated us even more. I then knew that there was no way I’d ever earn your respect so I tried to earn the respect of everyone else to show you that I could lead a tribe. I started my tribe and persuaded others to join me. Then to show you that we could live without you we invited you to our feast. Then the incident with Simon happened. You didn’t come back after that. I was in control, you and Piggy were on the other side of the island and we didn’t mention you. We had rocks ready in case you ever came, but we didn’t expect you to come. I thought that if you did you would be impressed with the idea of protection. But then you came. You came with the conch and tried to call a meeting, and I heard you talking to my tribe. Then Roger set off the rock that killed Piggy. That’s when I knew that you had to die. You confused everyone because you used to be their leader and they still respected you. So I organised the hunt. Anyone who wouldn’t hunt you would be hunted themselves. We hunted you all the way to the lagoon, I know that we would have killed you if that officer weren’t there. But luckily for you he was. I’m sorry we killed your friends but they had to die.† Throughout his speech Jack had stared out of the window, a dazed look in his eye, using his hands to emphasise what he was saying. But during that last sentence fire had returned to his eyes. He turned and Ralph was filled with a sudden terror. This was Jack as he remembered him, dark and murderous. â€Å"They had to die Ralph, and you had to die. You escaped then but finally you have returned to me. I agreed to this meeting so that I could finish off the episode on the island. You have to die now Ralph. You have to die.† As he finished speaking he advanced on Ralph, pulling a knife out of his pocket. A low chant emerged from his mouth. ‘Kill the beast. Cut his throat. Spill his blood.’ Ralph’s body slumped to the floor, blood oozing out of the mortal cut to his throat.

Entrepreneurship Reflection Essay Essay

1. INTRODUCTION From this reflection, I am glad that I came to this talk because this kind of discussion taught me a lot on how to be a good and excellent entrepreneur. Maybe before I came, the first think we will think after being an entrepreneur is of course the profit that we gained. We never think about the responsibilities as a Muslim to do the job properly and wisely. Sometimes the entrepreneur itself forget to donate the money, to give zakat and others. We only think that the profit that the business can give us. But we forget that everything come from Allah and everything is his’. We do not absolutely own every single money that we earn. But of course if we earn it by ourselves the money is ours, but if we do not give zakat, the money is nothing to us as a Muslim. 2. REFLECTIONS ON KEY LEARNING POINT 2.1 Islamic entrepreneurship There are secrets to be a successful businessman which is following the way from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).There are 10 qualities of Prophet Muhammad in being a successful person in business. First is honesty. Undoubtedly, no one can be more truthful and honest than the Messengers of God. Of course we must be honest on doing works to get barakah from Allah on what are we doing.. Second is trustworthy. Trustworthiness further enhances the integrity and sound moral conduct that is inherent in the notion of honesty. Being trustworthy implies being honest, fair in dealings and punctual as well as honoring trusts and keeping promises and commitments. The third one is flexibility. He always observed justice and equity while he was trading  and avoided telling lies and fraud, which was the practiced by many tradesmen. Prophet Muhammad was never strict in his business dealings with others. Sa’ib ibn al-Sa’ib relates: During the age of ignorance, I was his [the Prophetâ€⠄¢s] trade partner, and I found him the best of the partners in every respect. He neither argued with anyone nor was he obstinate and nor did he blame anything on his partner. Fourth is his consciousness of responsibility. In a hadith reported by Abdullah b. Omar Prophet Muhammad said: â€Å"We are all shepherds and we are all responsible for those who are under our hands (i.e. in our flocks). Fifth is good manner with his companions. The prophet was very close to his companions, and this is well known when one reads the detailed reports about the prophet’s biography. The sixth one is prophet Muhammad always seek his companions to consult with them. The Prophet (pbuh) would consult his companions, and take their opinions and points of view into consideration in issues and matters for which no textual proofs were revealed. The prophet (SAW) was concerned about his companions and would make sure that they were well. If he was told about a companion who was sick, he would rush to visit him with the companions that were present with him. Seventh is Prophet Muhammad would serve himself such as washed his own clothes and milked his sheep. The Prophet’s excellent manners, not only made him serve himself; rather, he would serve others as well. Next is he recognizes his companions’ skills. A good leader is one who sees the positive traits of his team members and invests in them. This is exactly what the Prophet (pbuh) did with his companions. There are many examples that show how the Prophet (pbuh) discovered where his companions excelled and how he utilized their potentials and wisely invested in them. The second last is correcting his companions’ mistakes. Correcting people’s mistakes is a Quranic guidance. The Quran has many references to situations in which a certain conduct is blamed and corrected. These situations apply to Muslims in general and to the Prophet (pbuh) himself. Last but not least is the gentleness of Prophet Muhammad. Gentleness is a key quality of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). When he wanted to teach his companions, he used a very wise method which involved both respect for the recipient of such knowledge without embarrassing him. 2.2 Personality Type That Suit to Your New Venture There are 4 types of person after lots of researches has been done. First is sanguine. Sanguine is a sociable person. They laugh for the hard days, wise words when squeezed by the burden, creative, enthusiasm, and always have the energy to start. Sanguine love to be popular. They have a lot of friends. They love to talk, to perform, and help each other and they always curious. Sanguine love to be children forever. Second is choleric. Choleric is a strong person. They have a strong leadership. They are faithful, brave, and have the freedom to be on one’s own. They all forced and always want to make a change. Strong-willed and assertive, goal oriented, well organized, and they don’t really need friends. They always be the superior one in the emergency time. Next is melancholic. Melancholies is a sensitive person. Depth to see the heart and soul of life. Artistic to appreciate the art. They are thoughtfully, analytical, serious, and have a talent. They are perfectionist, so they love details. Last but not least is phlegmatic. Phlegmatic is a peaceful person. They always stable, patient, and have a compassion for the other. They always keep calm, when the other was in confusion. They are humble, silent, controlled, good listener, and always happy with their life. They always be the mediator, and easy to get along with. 2.3 SALES AND MARKETING For sales and marketing, there are 4 marketing techniques that can boost up our business. First is product. In the case of services, the â€Å"product† is intangible, heterogeneous and perishable. Moreover, its production and consumption are inseparable. Hence, there is scope for customizing the offering as per customer requirements, and the actual customer encounter therefore assumes particular significance. Second is price. Of all the aspects of the marketing mix, price is the one, which creates sales revenue – all the others are costs. The price of an item is clearly an important determinant of the value of sales made. In theory, price is really determined by the discovery of what customers perceive is the value of the item on sale. Next is place. Place is concerned with various methods of transporting and storing goods, and then making them available for the  customer. Getting the right product to the right place at the right time involves the distribution system. The choice of distribution method will depend on a variety of circumstances. The last one is promotion. Promotion is the business of communicating with customers. It will provide information that will assist them in making a decision to purchase a product or service. The successful promotion increases sales so that advertising and other costs are spread over a larger output. Though increased promotional activity is often a sign of a response to a problem such as competitive activity, it enables an organization to develop and build up a succession of messages and can be extremely cost-effective. CRITICAL FINDINGS 3.1 Islamic Entrepreneurship Islam is a complete way of life. There is no separation between business and religion. Islam has its own entrepreneurship culture and guiding principles based on the Al-Quran and Al-Hadith to guide business operation. The aim of the group is to highlight the guiding principles of entrepreneurship in Islam, especially in the Arab heritage, by Al-Quran, Al-Hadith and the entrepreneurial ethics based on example of conducts from Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In business, entrepreneurs has to have objectives and targets but these are subservient to the ultimate objective of acquiring the blessing of Allah s.w.t. In Islam, to indulge in business is to perform an obligatory duty (fardhu kifayah). Profits gained from the business by entrepreneurs are merely incidental in the fulfillment of the fardhu kifayah. In business we must have a role model so that their actions can guide us in our development stages of life and more so, they help us make meaningful decisions. Many children grow up imitating their role model’s behavior, for example, if they see their role model smoking, then they are likely to smoke. We as Muslims have our own role model that can’t be changed even in another life none other than Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). There is no community has been without its righteous guides and teachers to help its people towards the truth and to lead them from the depths of darkness to the light of Islam. Aristotle believes that we learn to be moral (virtuous) by modeling the behavior of moral people. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has maintained the best characteristics in his roles as father, husband, friend, ruler, governor,  teacher, statesman, protector of the weak, widows, and poor, a guide to the rich, a guardian of the orphans, and a servant of Allah. No one could ever equal the Prophet (pbuh) in the whole history of mankind and no one ever will, insha Allah. 3.2 Personality Type That Suit to Your New Venture As for me, I would like meet new people, having works with bunch of friends so that we would not feel the works is burdensome for us and we also find that doing work in group is fun. As we know the more the merrier. Meeting new people will teach me to handle every kind or every type of people. I think the type of personality suits me best is sanguine. This is because I am a person who is very talkative an also extrovert. I am not good for keeping things inside. In the future I have planned to work not only in the office but have opportunities to meet new people so that I can increase the number of friends. I also like to socialize instead of having works in front of the computer for the whole day. I also tend to enjoy social gatherings. From the research, they state that sanguine personality is affected by chemical called dopamine, which makes these people intensely curious and creative. Their curiosity can be expressed in their love for reading and different kinds of knowledge and t hey usually possess high amounts of energy, so they may seem restless and spontaneous. Some findings also stated that if you have a sanguine business personality, your strengths lie in your interpersonal relationships. You’ve got people skills that are out of this world. People warm to you quickly and you understand how to make a good first impression. Your business relationships are solid and effective; social media and networking come easily to you. You’re probably very popular in your workplace amongst your co-workers as well as your clients. Even though like that, everyone must have their own negative sides in their own way. For sanguine we need a little help in the non-social aspects of owning a business. ‘On Your Own’ we may have trouble focusing when you’re working alone or you may find solo work boring and tedious. Timeliness Sanguine tend to be chronically late. You may have trouble getting in on time or keeping up with your appointments. Like any other bad habits, the first step is admitting that you’ve got a problem t ime management. Sanguine also often  struggle with leadership positions if they’re too concerned with how their employees see them. Of course it would be some good sides of a person and some bad sides. But, with such an extroverted business personality, we should not be afraid to focus on networking and building strong customer relationships. Just make sure that we’re not losing sight on the other aspects of your business; though your social interactions may have built your business, it’s the legwork that keeps it running. Your personality type might affects everything in your life. It is how we interact with others, how we spend our free time, how we build relationships. It even affects how we do business. This is why we need Islam in our life so that we do not go astray from what we should do. And this is one of the reason why we must have to make Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a role model so that we know why we do all of this on this earth. 3.3 SALES AND MARKETING For IIC marketing and sales, they also follow the rules of marketing which are 4Ps. 1. Product This year (2013)2 certificates, 10 diploma programs and 2 degree programs are offered. For December 2013, online executive diploma program will be opened. Next year additional 2 certificate, 1 foundation, 7 diploma programs and 3 degree programs are offered for registered students. IIC also is IIUM branding which is apply Islamic values and also Intensive English classes. 2. Place IIC is placed at Taman Batu Muda, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur. Batu Caves is a center of Malaysia. This is because Batu caves is one of the most popular temple in the world. So people might be easy to know the place of IIC by searching it in the internet. This place also easy access by public transportation. 3. Promotion There are some promotions has been held by IIC which are advertisements in newspapers and radio stations, participating in educational exhibitions locally and internationally and road Tour while conduct briefing and interview session nationwide. IIC also promotes using telemarketing and Facebook. They also held some programs with school counselors to persuade  the students to join IIC. Registered agents also has been practiced in IIC promoting actions. 4. Price Certificate – RM5,580 Diploma – RM14,260-RM18,400 Degree – RM42,000 (3 years), RM28,000 (2 Years) Registration fee of RM440/RM975- Cert/Diploma Registration fee of RM1,000/RM1,500- Degree Hostel Fee of RM250 per month From the talk we can see that the sales and marketing part for IIC has been given as listed above. It follows everything from the 4Ps. 4. ACTION PLAN After the speech given by the speakers, we can tell that IIC is a good high education institute because it is near to residential area and lots of facilities around the campus. This will ease the student of the institute to get the essential needs. As for me I will promote the institute to others as it offers the course that widely needed in this global industries. This campus also offers a very conducive environment of studies to help the students to develop their critical and logical thinking as well as develop their creativity and good personal traits. I also thinking about joining the road tour with IIC so that I can get some experience about marketing and promoting. From the road tour, IIC will distribute goody bags to provide all the information needed for the customers. I also will help to promote IIC using social network as we can see internet is the fastest to spread the information all over the cyber community. 5. CONCLUSION From the talk we can see that everything that has been discussed is important. First is they let us know that the qualities to be the best business man is we must have our role model which is Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) so that we will not go astray from what we should do and from we should be. They also taught us about the personality types exist so that we well prepared for anything happen in the future on how to overcome our emotion and our greediness and so on. Next is the 4Ps which are the most important  things in marketing and entrepreneurship. 4Ps stands for product, price, promotion and place. Every aspect must be clear before we run any business so that we know what exactly going on to our business.

buy custom History of Haiti essay

buy custom History of Haiti essay Before the Arrival of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish explorer, in 1492 during his first voyage, Haiti was inhabited by the Taino and Arakwan tribes who referred their country as Ayiti or Hayti meaning land of mountains (Coupeau). Christopher declared the island a Spanish colony and named it Hispaniola. He went ahead and established a temporary settlement on the Northern coast of the island which he named Christmas or Navidad. At first the tribes were friendly to the settled Spaniards but after discovery of their abuse and intolerance they became very violent against them. On his second return in 1493, Columbus discovered that the settlement at Christmas has been destroyed and the settlers disappeared presumably slain. He was bent on establishing this island as a Spanish colony and therefore made another settlement on the Eastern coast, which became known as Isabella (Girard). Spain established the island as its colonial administration headquarters after the disappointment of lack of gold as expected. The conquest and colonization of the other islands was to be conducted from here as Coupeau says. The Spanish system of repartimiento was tested here whereby the Spain born people were given land and the right to force the Indian inhabitants to work for them. Columbus and his brother who were in charge of the colony fell out with the settlers and consequently with the crown because they failed to maintain order. A new governor, Nicolas De Avando took over and under him the system of encomienda was enforced. This meant that all the land was the property of the crown and the Spaniards were stewards of huge tracks of land and could employ the inhabitants labor which in practice was slavery. Under the colonial rule the Taino Indians were almost eliminated from hundreds of thousands according to accounts to about 150 by 1550 (Coupeau). This was attributed to diseases, forced labor and the emergency of Mulatos or Mestizo and saw the near elimination of the Taino people and their culture. Interest on the colony however, was lost to the Spanish crown after the discovery of gold in the Mexico and South American colonies. Agriculture became the backbone of the economy but did not thrive as much as it experienced under the French rule. The Spanish neglect of the Island gave other colonizers a chance to invade the island. The French established their first permanent settlement in Tortuga, an island off the West coast of Hispaniola, in 1659 under King Louis XIV. Another group of French colonizers were already settled in the north coast of Hispaniola. Skirmishes with the English and French forces had weakened the Spanish in Hispaniola and therefore the invasion of the French into the island was easier. They established the French West India Company to give direction to commerce in the colony. In 1670 the first major community was established at Cap Francois now named Cap Haitien and in 1697 the Treaty of Ryswick was signed where the Spain relinquished sovereignty of the Island to the French and was renamed Saint Domingue (Girard). Under the French rule the colony became prosperous and the richest colony in the Western hemisphere. By the mid eighteenth century produced about the 60 percent of worlds coffee and 40percent of sugar imported to French and Britain. It also accounted for two thirds of the French commercial interests abroad and brought luxury to plantation owners and jobs to the mother country, but its major flaw was slavery (Jermyn and Ngcheong-Lum). The slave labor for the sugar and coffee plantations were brought from West Africa which were greatly abused and remained impoverished. Men mainly provided labor and few lived long enough to reproduce while women were made slave masters concubines. The slavery system produced a mixture of races and consequently classes of people. At the top were the white colonialists or the blancs, then the mulattoes or the people of color who were also free and then the masses of black slaves. This is what is what has shaped the modern Haiti society(Morss). This slavery system and the discriminative legislations brought a lot of resentment and conflict. The people of color were not permitted take certain professions and other detailed restrictions but they could purchase land and rend money to the planters and some accumulated substantial wealth. The black slaves on the other hand, runaway and waged guerilla warfare against the settlers and the inhabitants too the most common one being led by a man named Francois Macandal between 1751 and 1757 (Coupeau). This eventually culminated to the 1791 slave rebellion, which evolved to Haitian revolution. The French with the help of the people of color was able to repel the attacks of the maroons but the maroons wanted more than what they had, they wanted equality with the settlers. This delicate balance of the slavery system crumbled down don during the 1789 French Revolution. The French national assembly required that the colonial assembly give suffrage to the landed and tax paying people of co lor which it ignored. This led to a revolt from the people of color, which failed. The colonial authority was faced with massive slave rebellion in 1791 which was supported by some people of color. This saw a lot of damage wrecked on the plantations and factories and killing of the white people. Soon this spread to Cap Francais and people of color staged attacks, which led to widespread revolution throughout the island, which attracted Spanish and English intervention (Books LLC). Then, came the leadership of Toussaint Louverture to the rebellion with the help of the French authority. Louverture together with his allies, successfully fought for the independence of the slaves in Haiti after the French abolished slavery in 1794. In 1802, French under Napoleon Bonaparte tried to take back Haiti to slavery where he sought help from America and Thomas Jefferson who at first supported him but later remained neutral after realization Napoleon wanted to colonize his land. Louvarture was arrested in 1803 bu his colleagues continued with the resistant eventually attaining in dependence in 1804 and in 1805 the island nation drafted it first constitution. Soon after independence the French imposed a trade embargo against Haiti and demanded a compensation for the loss of slaves which was an astronomical figure of 125 million francs which the country finished paying in 1947. This left the country on a struggling economy for those years (Borgy and Chojnicki). This was further worsened by the attack and invasion from the US marines in 1915 as fear of German occupation heightened from the small population of German people integrating and owning property in the island. The French and US took control of Haitis economy and the central bank, amid resistant, to make sure their debts were paid ward off any resistant from the Haitians with brutal force. This lasted until 1947 when their debts were cleared and was marked by imposed dictatorship, death squads, torture and enslavement, which resulted to a revolt in 1986.(Buss and Gardner) In 1990, Haiti voted for Jean Bertrand Aristide who tried to put an end to corruption and improve the lives of the countrys poor but did not last long before he was ousted by the Catholic Church with the help of the CIA. Eventually Aristide was put back to power by the Clinton administration at the cost of the countrys economy, which, saw it open up to the trade from the US reducing the country further into poverty. However, Aristides government made a few milestones in the provision of education and health care to the poor in the country and had promised to double the minimum wages (Morss). These policies put into motion a lot of political resistance from mainly the wealthy landowners with the support of many interested parties including foreign governments. Aristide was eventually forced to step down and since then the country has been plugged into one coup after another and deteriorating conditions of living for the poor. There have also been claims of killings, rape and torture f rom the powers being to the rebellious people in the countrys poor slums. Since 2006, after elections hoped to return the country into sanity, Haiti has experienced political turmoil one after another. In this elections allegations of election fraud were raised after Rene Preval, a former prime minister and Aristides friend was declared the winner. In 2008, the current prime minister, Jacques-Edourd Alexis was ousted by the senate for poor performance of the countrys economy. Another prime minister was appointed by the president and rejected by the lower house and finally Michele Pierre was approved as the prime minister. In 2009, the senate was at it again when they ousted Michele Pirre who the international community thought was competent to bring change to the country and replaced her with Jean-Max Bellerive (Books LLC). Last November, poll also presented the same debacle as allegations of massive election fraud were raised in the first round. A former first lady was declared the winner by the electoral commission and was to face Jude Celestin in the se cond round. This brought protests in the country. Eventually Jude Celestin was put under pressure apparently by the United States to withdraw leaving Manigat to face Martely who worn by a landslide (Kelly). There is some hope that the countrys unstable politics would end and bring the much-needed investment into the country. The Haiti economy The country has been described as the poorest in the western hemisphere and its capacity to attract investment is very low (Sletten and Egset). By the time the country gained independence in 1804, it was the richest and most productive colony in the world, however, years of political instability and international isolation in diplomatic engagement in earlier years coupled with a huge debt to both US and French has left the country reeling. During the period between 1996 and 2001, the country tried to implement some reforms in order to attain economic stability. These included cutting government expenditure, down sizing the civil service and modernization of state owned entities among others. Structural adjustments were also implemented as required by financial institutions funding the reforms such as World Bank, IMF and inter American Development bank. Modernization of the state corporations was a major policy issues during this time however only two have been privatized as the issue has turned into a political one. External aid has been and continues to be of great importance in the economic development of the country(Books LLC). The major sectors supporting the economy of the country are agriculture, fishing, forestry and mining. Most of the Haitians rely on substance farming although an export agriculture sector exists. The agricultural, fishing and forestry sector contributed to 28% of the GDP in 2004 and employed 66% of the force (Borgy and Chojnicki). The major cash crops in the country are coffee, cocoa and mangoes. The mining industry is small with total earning of around $13 million per year dominated mainly by Bauxite, calcium carbonate, copper, gold and marble. The manufacturing sector is consisted mainly of beverages, butter, cement, detergents, flours sugar and textiles among others. Growth in this sector has been undermined by lack of investment. This sector accounted for 20% of GDP employing less than 10% of the labor force. The sector has been declining since the 1994 UN embargo on trade that saw as many as 80,000 workers put of work. The years following the military rule since 1991 contributed to the decline in the sector. The service sector in the country has the sustained little growth in unstable years of 1990s. It employed 25% of the labor force in 2004 and contributed to 52% of the GDP. The impediment to economic growth in the country has been the lack of reliable banking and financial sector as banks collapse with regularity and mmost of the banks are in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The country boasted of no stock exchange by 2009 labor (Buss and Gardner). Tourism was an important sector of the economy in the 1970s and 1980s however political instability in 1990s and early 2000s discouraged any growth in the industry. Lack of infrastructure and up to date hospitality industry has also been a turn off for visitors. One can not conclude a discussion of the economy of Haiti without mention of the labor force. In 1995 the USAID estimated the labor force to be about 3.6 million but with minimal skilled labor. Statistics on employment are sparse due to lack of pub lication of such data and the only available ones are from foreign organizations such as USAID which gave a figure of 50% unemployment in 2003 (Kelly). Geography of Haiti The Republic of Haiti is in the Western hemisphere and occupies one third of the Western of the island of the Hispaniola west of the Dominican Republic and between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean (Jermyn and Ngcheong-Lum). It has an area of 27,750 square kilometers and a coastline of 1, 1771 km of coastline. Haiti has a land area of 27,560 square kilometers and 190 square kilometer of water. The land is comprised of three fourths mountainous country marked by great fertile valleys, extensive plateaus and small plains. The climate is mainly tropical but the eastern side is semi desert as mountains block the trade winds. Rainfall varies in the country and averages between 1,370 mm with two rainy seasons between April and June and October and November (Jermyn and Ngcheong-Lum). The country is geographically situated in the hurricane region and therefore prone to strong storms between June and October, flooding is another phenomenon characterizing the country with earthquakes and floods also being common. Demographics The population of Haiti is estimated to be 9,648,924 by 2010 and is estimated to reach 9,719,932 by July 2011 according to the US Bureau of the Census (Eurostat). This averages about 250 people per square kilometer and concentrated mainly in urban areas, valleys and coastal plains. The population is largely composed of Haitians of West African ancestry, mulattos and small number of Asians, Arabs and white communities. There are also Hispanic people mainly from Cuba and Dominican Republic(Eurostat). The CIA fact book reports that the age structure of 0-14 years comprise 38% of the total [population and 15-65 years making up 58.5% and those above 65 years to be 3.4% of the population. The population growth rate is low at 0.787 % per annum according to this report. Social problems in Haiti Poverty Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 80% of the population is estimated to live in absolute poverty. A look at the capital city Port-au-prince gives a grim picture of the poverty in the country (Kelly). Most of the population lives in slums which are overcrowded and prone to diseases. In this city most of the population of people who work earn less than two US dollars a day this is hardly enough to cater for the basic necessities like food and health care. The Pan-American Health Organization (Eurostat) reports that child mortality, communicable diseases are very prevalent mainly due to poverty. This situation has been aggravated by the biggest natural disaster in its 200 years history, the January 2010 earthquake that shook the country capital to its core and caused hundreds of thousand of lost life. The president of the country is quoted saying that the parliament had collapsed, tax office, Schools and hospitals and the destruction of the capital as unimaginable. This was followed by a hurricane, which saw an outbreak of cholera that claimed even more life (Kelly). Unequal distribution of wealth In this country, a small elite group mainly of elites and ruling class composed of several thousand families are extremely wealthy while 80% of the population is estimated to live in absolute poverty. There exist a small middle class group consisting of civil servants and other government employees but the gap between the majority black and the minority lighter skinned people is very wide (Kelly). This has existed since colonization. The minority wealthy live in cooler mountainsides where education and medical services are exclusively private. Their children attend schools abroad either in Paris or United States with most of the families holding bank accounts in United States. In comparison the rural folks live in small remote villages or settlements where they have no access to clean water, electricity, education and other social services. In comparison to the wealthy children, the rural kids have access to elementary education provided by either the churches or charitable organizat ions. The rural children travel long distances to school, cannot afford the books and uniform and have to work at an early age. This only increases illiteracy levels among the poor with estimation that half the adult population is illiterate. Health services are another thing they cannot afford and some areas depend entirely on relief food from aid agencies. Racial divisions Racial divisions in the country are another problem although 95% of the population is composed of black people (Kelly). The divisions occur between the largely black people of the African decent and the mulattoes who act as the ruling class. The mulattoes are wealthy and identify with wealthy classes in other countries and have little to do with the Haitian poor. The country has an underdeveloped social, economic and political institutions and mostly education system which do not allow for upward social mobility making the difference even wider. This is further aggravated by isolation of rural populations from the urban ones with reports indicating that 79% of Haitians have no or little contact with Port-au-Prince or other major towns, which are centers of change. Buy custom History of Haiti essay

Prepaid Wireless Industry

Prepaid Wireless Industry Technology has totally revolutionalized the manner in which we carry our day-to-day activities. The communication industry seems to be one of the greatest beneficiaries of the advanced technology since there are so many changes that have taken place.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Prepaid Wireless Industry specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Life has become easier and simpler with the technological advancements. The prepaid wireless industry is one of the industries that has emerged as a result of advancement in technology. This industry is highly competitive and this has seen many companies come up and stiff competition that is characteristic of this industry and has ensured that customers benefit greatly due to the high quality services being offered. The focus of this discussion will be on some of the key players in this dynamic and highly competitive industry. The companies in focus are epay worldwide.com. Emida.net and eurekarevenue.com. This discussion will also look at some of the advantages that each of these services has and which of the companies is stronger. Epay. Com is an international company whose main business is the distribution of payments solutions electronically. These services are instrumental in helping providers of various services reap maximally from the sales of their services as well as products. With more than half a million selling points in various countries of the world like Spain, Ireland, Italy, India and Germany, epay.com has continued to deliver highly innovative and specific tailored services as far as making of payment by electronic means in concerned (Epay 3). The advantage of the prepaid services provided by epay.com is that customers are able to access an array of gift cards which are branded. With this concept of prepaid, retailers are able to come up with categories and destinations that are fully supported by experts from epay. 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Retailers, ISOs, service providers a nd carriers using emida.net also have the advantage of getting robust revenues. Currently, emida.net is said to be leading as far as proving prepaid services is concerned. One issue that distinguishes emida.net from other companies is the fact Eureka has partnered with most of the well established carriers throughout the world and this has enabled eureka to a great extent to create a reliable network which has proven helpful to clients throughout the world. This company also caters for long distance prepaid services and this has brought about convenience and customers are able to get value and the revenue goes up. Any retailer or service provider who has subscribed with emida will also be in a position to offer all their customers, cost effective, convenient and safe options that they can implement to ensure that their financial needs are well managed. 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Having paid full recognition to the challenges that consumers experience in payment of bills Emida has come up with a way of making it easy for clients to foot their bills which is not only easier but also more reliable and convenient. The payment solution provided by Emida ensures that you gain access to numerous biller s from telecommunication to providers of utilities, insurance among others. With this pay bill solution, all one needs to do is to make payments at a local shop and this helps eliminate the risk factor as well as one is saved the hassle of making the payments and also one is able to save time that would have been wasted in making queues. For those customers who have subscribed to AT T services, you can also make it easy for them through emida.com. Just like the bills, these customers subscribed to AT T can also make payments through the local shops. Eurekarevenue.com though it has been in the market for a fewer years compared to its competitors, it has managed to create a niche itself. This company is dedicated to making life easier for those who prefer the option of truncating using cash as opposed to using credit cards and cheques. The platform created by Eurekarevenue has made it simple for customers the world over to enjoy prepaid services through electronic means and with a w ell established and robust network. The company has managed to partner with different well established and this has ensured that clients get convenient services within their reach. Eureka revenue has various products that they offer which include the ERI web and the ERI terminal. The terminal is an effective simplifies of selling airtime of prepaid wireless. These terminals are used as they are provided by the company without the need to buy additional equipments (Eureka 1).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The only requirement is a telephone line and you will be good to go. The ERI web on the other hand works pretty similar with the ERI terminal just that in this case, one will require a computer with internet connectivity to enjoy this service Comparing epay.com and emida. Net, it is clear that emida is stronger than its counterpart. This is not only in terms of the number of years that this company has been in existence but also the robust network that it has managed to establish ad the numerous reliable partners that this company has. In addition, this company has managed to penetrate in more markets than epay thus making emida stronger in terms of popularity and client base. Prepaid wireless industry has without a doubt grown tremendously the world over. Emida. Prepaid Wireless. 2011. Web. https://www.emida.net/en/home/ Epay. Welcome to Epay. 2011. Web. http://epayworldwide.com/en-US/ Eureka. ERI helps retail stores increase their revenue and foot traffic through prepaidwireless solutions. 2011. Web.

Lab#2 concrete mix design and compression tests Lab Report

#2 concrete mix design and compression tests - Lab Report Example Concrete quality control is an essential practice to ensure consistency in both the fresh and hardened concrete. Some of the laboratory methods used for concrete quality control include; slump test, compressive strength test and workability tests. The primary objective for this experimental study was to identify the characteristics exhibited by concrete materials and to familiarize with the commonly used laboratory specimen manufacturing and testing methods. In design and quality control of concrete, the most specified concrete property is strength. This can be attributed to the fact that testing methods available are relatively easy and furthermore; other concrete properties such as resistance to weathering and fire, elastic modulus, and impermeability are directly linked to strength. This means that having the strength data, then the other properties can be deduced. A good concrete mix should take into account the following key attributes: workability, consistency, strength, water cement ratio, durability, density, slump expected, and heat and chemical resistance. The relative proportions of concrete components, either by volume or weight, will closely influence its properties in both fresh and hardened state. The cement-water paste forms the active component in the concrete material, which is dependent on the characteristics of materials used and their relative proportions. The aggregates used must be well graded to minimize air voids in the concrete matrix. Generally, concrete mix designs are currently being over-designed for the fear of production of results that will not meet the minimum strength criteria specified by the engineer concerned. There is therefore need for analysis of concrete compressive strength variance and understanding of the criteria for proper concrete mix designs suitable for various applications. Concrete is a

Reflection ( R-Rent a car) buisness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reflection ( R-Rent a car) buisness - Essay Example After which a careful scan of competitors around Dubai must be thoroughly made so that I can have a full grasp of how it is to compete in a dense market. It was difficult since as a new entry in this business, other companies have already the advantage of having loyal customers. Nevertheless, I was able to successfully gather enough data that can give me a complete view of the car rental industry. This also meant being resourceful by tapping networks of friends, even relatives who knows someone from this kind of business. On the second week, I doubled my efforts to get primary sources for my data. This entailed doing interviews among two rent-a-car owners so I can have some idea for the marketing strategy. I also interviewed a driver so I can anticipate possible problems in operating this business. I fully realized that this business is not about cars, it’s about giving service which is why I incorporated â€Å"pleasure â€Å" in my tag line. The succeeding week, it was time to put up advertisement on different media and that was not quite easy for a newcomer. There were many phone calls to make just to canvass the price of such ads. Also, I was not familiar with sizes, dimension and design of paid ads. Indeed, the design of the website occupied also another week of the project since many considerations must be made in the B2C marketing. The four principles of marketing are the same but one must view the ad as a browser on the internet with very little attention span. The ad must immediately grasp the attention of the potential customer. There were many skills that I have learned in accomplishing this project. The first set of skills I have developed are soft skills in negotiating, problem-solving, listening, interacting with others, diffusing tension in an argument and even teaching. These skills were learned during my interaction with people in the industry as well as people in the media. The rent-a-car business depends

How can cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) be modified to fit the needs Outline

How can cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) be modified to fit the needs of young children - Outline Example This paper will address some of the ways in which cognitive behaviour therapy can be modified to fit the needs of young children. As it is usually the case with almost all paediatric procedures, they are usually tested with adults before they can be brought to children; therefore, cognitive behaviour therapy is no exception. Due to children’s limitations in metacognition and their inability to classify feelings, clinicians need to adjust their pacing of therapy’s content and the speed of therapy (Butler, Chapman, Forman & Beck, 2006, p22). One of the things that psychiatrist need to adjust in cognitive behaviour therapy for children is the time frame with which they carry out the therapy (March et al, 2005, p813). Children do not have fully developed metacognition abilities therefore the speed at which they will respond to therapy will be slower than that of adults. Due to these challenges, therapist need to ensure that the spacing of the whole course of the therapy is in such a way that the child will not be overburdened by the therapy due to congestion of the therapy or it will be too spaced such that the effectiveness of the therapy will be compromised. The inability of children to express their feelings, which may help in easier diagnosis of the disorders, will require the time required for full cycle of therapy to increased (Wood et al, 2006, p315). Due to the stage of development in children cognitive abilities, cognitive behavioural therapies for children will always focus on the behavioural aspect of the therapy since it will be more effective, however, the behavioural aspect too will require the children to be trained in social and problem solving skills (Nauta, Scholing, Emmelkamp & Minderaa, 2003, p1273; Kendall & Hedtke, 2006, p101). These characteristics among children requires that the therapy be combined with other skills or at least provide an opportunity for the child to learn

Business planning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Business planning - Assignment Example Contributing to competitive edge 14 5. Marketing Research 15 5.1. Targeted customers 15 5.2. Market Share 16 6. Marketing Strategy 16 6.1. Marketing Mix strategy 16 6.2. STP Strategy 18 7. Processes 19 7.1. Quality Control 19 7.2. Equipments 20 7.3. Policies 20 8. Personnel 21 8.1. Management team 21 8.2. Organizational Chart 21 9. Finance 22 9.1. Financial Projections 22 Conclusion 23 References 24 1. Executive Summary ‘The Fresher’ is an exciting start-up logistic business with unique approach to helping large scale supercentres and hypermarkets across London to provide its customers with freshest fruits and vegetables than those that are presently available in large retail outlets. The business idea behind this start-up is that customers across London are extremely concerned about fresh, natural, genuine and quality fruits as well as vegetables distributed by both large and small scale retailers, but they hardly get satisfied. The Fresher takes it not only as an oppor tunity to be commercialized, but also as a social responsibility to meet customers’ specific need for farm-fresh goods. In today’s highly competitive business contexts, marketers need to think strategically to develop certain strategies to help them achieve competitive advantage and to survive in the market. It is also required for a start-up business to be successful. ‘Going global’ is a very significant and effective strategy for that it widens the market potential and helps the firm grab further marketing opportunities. The Fresher begins its business from farmers across different countries and extends its services to local retailers in London to provide farm-fresh goods, and therefore, it not only goes global but also comes back to local to gain maximum advantages of logistics. The Fresher’s market involves customers who come to large as well as small to medium sized retailers to buy fruits and vegetables. The Fresher is going to bring wide vari ants of foreign fruits and vegetables that were never before available in London market and this adds up to the market potential of the company. The financial projections show that the company will generate quite impressive profitability within the first year. Strategic marketing activities, extensive R&D, integrated communication and promotion activities will help the company build a strong brand image among its customers. 2. The Industry 2.1. The industry Overview For the last two decades, fresh fruits and vegetables represented the most important product category in the UK market. According to United Nations Publication (2003, p. 231), out of the total turnover of the organic food in UK, 33 or more percent are generated by fresh fruits and vegetables in 2001 and more than 85 percent of all the organic fruits and vegetable sales were taken place in supermarket chains. As of 2006, fruits and vegetable represented 27 percent of UK’s organic food segmentation and 75 percent of the organic food sales were carried out by Supermarkets (UK Organic food, 2006). Almost all the large scale retailers, mainly Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose already offer core assortments of organic fruits and vegetables. UK’s fresh fruits and vegetables market has been valued as worth an estimated ?9.52 billion in 2010, with an increase of 4.3 percent from the previous year figures despite the fact that the market has been severally affected by rising food-price inflation. The industry in 2010 reported an increase of 29.5 percent total turnover in comparison

Self Assessment Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Self Assessment - Term Paper Example ) says that merchandise budget planning accounts for inventory shrinkage by indicating deviation between budgeted loses and loses causes by stock theft. Every merchandise budget factors in inventory loses expected as a result of conventional damages during stock handling, losses from discounts and those from general sales activities. In this context, any substantial divergence between the planned loss and actual losses after sales will account for inventory shrinkage. Sales = $26,000, stock 1 = $100,000 and stock 2 = $88,000. Difference in stock value = $12,000. This value represents inventory shrinkage within a single sales period of $26,000. Additions to stock is given by; (value of stock 1/sales) Ãâ€" (sales - inventory shrinkage). Additions = (100,000/26,000) Ãâ€" 14000 = $53,846. Based on the formula GMROI = Gross Margin Ãâ€" (Sales/Average Inventory Cost). Gross margin = 46/100. This means 1.3 = 0.46 Ãâ€" sales-to-stock ratio. Therefore, sales to stock ratio = 2.8:1. In this case, the stock-to-sales ratio for 6 months = 2.8 : 1. In retail marketing, the concept of stock-to-sales ratio shows the relationship between the quantity of inventory in stock and the amount of sales. In August, there will be a high stock-to-sales ratio as compared to that of September. According to Toomey (2010), a high ratio in August means that substantial value of capital is tied up in inventory with little sales. On the contrary, September comes with significant sales; hence the ratio reduces as inventory value melts away due to increasing sales. This rule helps retail managers to acknowledge the fact that approximately 80% of sales will come from 20% of the entire stock. On the contrary, 20% of the stock levels will cause 80% of the losses incurred during sales. According to Toomey (2010), the Pareto rule helps retail managers to focus on only 20% of the inventory levels. This rule should serve as a reminder that managers should focus on controlling inventory levels of fast-selling

National Organization for Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

National Organization for Women - Essay Example The amendment known as Equal Rights Amendment had been introduced by Alice Paul, and it sought to make men and women have equal rights all over the United States, as well as any other place under its jurisdiction (Wood 85). The amendment received opposition, and it is unfortunate that up to this moment, it has not been ratified. Some people believe that collective action problems played a significant role in the Equal Rights Amendment’s ratification failure. This implies that the pro-ERA lobby groups did not co-ordinate their actions well while fighting for the common cause. Women were not united in their struggle for their rights. This was demonstrated by some women leaders such as Phyllis Schlafly, the right-wing leader of Eagle Forum, a lobby group that was created to stop ERA. Women who were in this group argued that ERA was going to deny women the right to obtain support from their husbands, women were going to be sent to battles, women’s privacy rights were going to be reversed, and that homosexual marriages and abortion rights was going to be upheld. Schlafly presented a consistent and coherent message, and this defeated the dispersed efforts from pro-ERA forces (Critchlow 215). The National Organization of Women (NOW) decided not to pursue a centrally managed and hierarchically organized support program for ERA. This is because it was faced with dilemmas regarding the organizational style to use while pushing for the amendment. This dilemma was brought about by the manner in which Schlafly’s opposition was well organized. If NOW had chosen to adhere to its decentralized and participatory style of management to agitate for ratification of ERA against the properly orchestrated campaign, there was no way it was going to be successful. Its only option to counter Schlafly’s campaign was to adopt the same campaign style, and this would mean that it compromises its ideals. Therefore, NOW chose to stick to its accustomed methods, and this led to ERA’s defeat. The ratification process was also made difficult by some external factors. For instance, the Supreme Court’s decision on the abortion case, Roe v. Wade on 22 Jan 1973, as well as the countrywide appreciation for Senator Sam Ervin as the chairman of the Senate Watergate hearings that commenced in May, made it difficult for the proponents of ERA. Social conservatives and fundamentalists were angered by the decriminalization of abortion, and to make it worse, ERA was linked with upholding of the abortion rights (Wood 86). Therefore, they campaigned against ERA as a way of retaliating the Supreme Court’s ruling. On the other hand, Senator Ervin had exemplary performed his duty as the chairman of the Senate Watergate hearings; thus, he was viewed as a savior to the United States Constitution. His portfolio, as the Senate opposing leader to ERA, played a significant role in influencing the southern states to refuse to ratify ERA. It is worth noting that Schlafly also made use of Senator Ervin’s influence to propel her campaigns. She included Senator Ervin’s wife in her campaigns in order to make her campaigns have a national appeal bearing in mind that Senator Ervin was highly regarded (Critchlow 220). NOW and pro-ERA lobby groups had difficulties handling the pressures that was being exerted by the opposition groups. This is attributed to the fact that several opposition groups kept springing, and their number

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Graphic Design & Society - Essay Example Design is a crucial part in communication. Whereas radio advertising is influential in wider verbal and audio broadcast a different medium is necessary for visual stimulus. This occurs when anything is placed in front of the eyes. One form of visual stimulation communication is graphic design. The process that goes into a design All the communication that we see visually from billboards to magazine ads, web pages to flyers and even menus in restaurant required a designer to create them. The designer of such visual images has to first picture mentally the pieces of the work to be communicated in his mind. He has to create and organize his work in such a way that it meets the customer’s requirement and convey the message intended without distorting (Jorhson and Jameson). Graphic design is synonymous with society, in a way it is always omnipresent in life. It is found in every shape of life. Whether one is selling, persuading or stimulating design is right there to influence your decisions. Astounding graphic designers attract viewers to them making one feel affiliated towards them. It is integral in the promotion of emotions as well as actions. Graphic design involves evenly the procedure by which a design is created and the design or product created. The graphics design involves the artist breaking communication barriers by visually setting out proper techniques for the message. Graphic designs integral components are the image and the font type. Making an art craft, it does not maker one a graphic designer, graphic designing entails a lot including good interaction skills, talent, and even critical thinking. An artist is required within a limited amount of space the artist should convey feelings, opinions, and emotions repeatedly without using words. Audiences react differently to what they see based on individual experiences character and mental organization. For example a visual image that expresses or shows tears, there is something wrong. Mostly the emotions of sadness and sympathy come to mind (Jorhson and Jameson). Graphic design involves several styles. One style is the image-based design. This type of design an image transmits the majority all whole of a message and it includes few or no words to compliment it. In such images the picture carries the meaning and it has words they serve to support a message clearly expressed by the picture. In the text-based design style, the words carry the bigger message while the picture supplements. It is almost purely made of words while the picture serves a small amount of reference. It is important to note that explicit designers use text much differently than article writers do. Even when one has a text based design words must be limited and precise in their meaning and look. Even text fonts highly affect the emotion that is attributed to a graphic. It is the duty of a graphic designer to look for the necessary letter fonts, colours and images and use them to a balance that is fitting . Another part of the graphic design process is the job description. The designer is typically the cushion linking all the participating parties. The parties involved include, professionals, client’s audiences, artists whom all work through the designer to attain end results which is a piece that delivers the intended message. The artist becomes an intermediary linking the user and the audience. In

National Organization for Women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

National Organization for Women - Essay Example The amendment known as Equal Rights Amendment had been introduced by Alice Paul, and it sought to make men and women have equal rights all over the United States, as well as any other place under its jurisdiction (Wood 85). The amendment received opposition, and it is unfortunate that up to this moment, it has not been ratified. Some people believe that collective action problems played a significant role in the Equal Rights Amendment’s ratification failure. This implies that the pro-ERA lobby groups did not co-ordinate their actions well while fighting for the common cause. Women were not united in their struggle for their rights. This was demonstrated by some women leaders such as Phyllis Schlafly, the right-wing leader of Eagle Forum, a lobby group that was created to stop ERA. Women who were in this group argued that ERA was going to deny women the right to obtain support from their husbands, women were going to be sent to battles, women’s privacy rights were going to be reversed, and that homosexual marriages and abortion rights was going to be upheld. Schlafly presented a consistent and coherent message, and this defeated the dispersed efforts from pro-ERA forces (Critchlow 215). The National Organization of Women (NOW) decided not to pursue a centrally managed and hierarchically organized support program for ERA. This is because it was faced with dilemmas regarding the organizational style to use while pushing for the amendment. This dilemma was brought about by the manner in which Schlafly’s opposition was well organized. If NOW had chosen to adhere to its decentralized and participatory style of management to agitate for ratification of ERA against the properly orchestrated campaign, there was no way it was going to be successful. Its only option to counter Schlafly’s campaign was to adopt the same campaign style, and this would mean that it compromises its ideals. Therefore, NOW chose to stick to its accustomed methods, and this led to ERA’s defeat. The ratification process was also made difficult by some external factors. For instance, the Supreme Court’s decision on the abortion case, Roe v. Wade on 22 Jan 1973, as well as the countrywide appreciation for Senator Sam Ervin as the chairman of the Senate Watergate hearings that commenced in May, made it difficult for the proponents of ERA. Social conservatives and fundamentalists were angered by the decriminalization of abortion, and to make it worse, ERA was linked with upholding of the abortion rights (Wood 86). Therefore, they campaigned against ERA as a way of retaliating the Supreme Court’s ruling. On the other hand, Senator Ervin had exemplary performed his duty as the chairman of the Senate Watergate hearings; thus, he was viewed as a savior to the United States Constitution. His portfolio, as the Senate opposing leader to ERA, played a significant role in influencing the southern states to refuse to ratify ERA. It is worth noting that Schlafly also made use of Senator Ervin’s influence to propel her campaigns. She included Senator Ervin’s wife in her campaigns in order to make her campaigns have a national appeal bearing in mind that Senator Ervin was highly regarded (Critchlow 220). NOW and pro-ERA lobby groups had difficulties handling the pressures that was being exerted by the opposition groups. This is attributed to the fact that several opposition groups kept springing, and their number