DNA Evidence and Procedures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

DNA Evidence and Procedures - Essay Example Though DNA is used by the body to create the physical characteristics of hair color, eye color, and height, it can only be used to match a suspect to a sample and can not determine their physical characteristics. Advances in DNA technology have revolutionized forensic science since its introduction in the mid 1980s. It is used to bring evidence against a suspect as well as exonerate innocent people. As investigators, law enforcement is generally concerned with a few key issues with respect to DNA evidence These issue involve maintaining the integrity of the evidence and the credibility of its evidentiary value. These are: The crime scene is the first line of defense in maintaining credible DNA evidence. To minimize the possibility of contamination the incidental activity must be reduced at the crime scene. Only critical personnel should have any initial access until all samples are collected. According to the President's DNA Initiative (2007), "It is important for all law enforcement personnel at the crime scene to make a conscious effort to refrain from smoking, eating, drinking, littering or any other actions which could compromise the crime scene". In addition, it is suggested that all first responders be trained in DNA collection and preservation techniques. Investigators must tediously search for small amounts of DNA evidence available at the scene. This may be small blood spatters, hair, skin tissue evidence found under fingernails, and clothing that contains body fluids. Suspects may be swabbed for saliva or DNA may be obtained from an object they have contacted. In the case of rape or sexual assault, the Department of Justice guidelines dictate that, "...evidence that may be inside or on a victim's body should only be collected by a physician or sexual assault nurse examiner" (Understanding DNA evidence, 2007). Initial contact with an assault victim should stress the importance of not changing clothes or showering before evidence can be collected. Evidence needs to be clearly labeled and identified as to where and when it was collected in a manner that will maintain a proper chain of custody. Samples should be kept dry and need be sealed to prevent contamination and stored at room temperature to prevent degradation (President's DNA Initiative, 2007). The National Institute of Justice mandates that evidence that may contain DNA should not be placed in plastic bags as plastic retains moisture which could damage and degrade the DNA sample (What every law enforcement officer should know about DNA, 1999). Direct sunlight and heat can also damage samples and it is recommended that the sample be transported as quickly as reasonable to an appropriate storage area. It is recommended that long-term storage be maintained only by a qualified facility or laboratory. In the 2003 Summit Report, the National Institute of Justice warned, "If law enforcement officers, medical personnel, and crime lab technicians are not trained to recognize, collect, preserve, transport, and store DNA evidence, then its use may be compromised or even invalidated". Maintaining the integrity of the DNA evidence is vital if it is to have any value in the courtroom. Contamination is the greatest threat to the usability of DNA evidence. DNA evidence runs the risk of being contaminated when DNA from

Paralleles of Cosi and Cosi Fan Tutte Essay Example for Free

Paralleles of Cosi and Cosi Fan Tutte Essay Cosi by Louis Nowra and Cosi Fan Tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are set in completely different times but both themes of the play parallel each other. Cosi was set in 1970’s society whilst Cosi Fan Tutte was set in 1790. Cosi Fan Tutte is play about love and fidelity which parallels with what happens in Cosi. On the surface they are parallel because Lucy is unfaithful to Lewis when they are in a relationship together just as the women were in Cosi Fan Tutte. But it is much more than that. To really understand the parallels of the plays we must look at love and fidelity in depth. What really is love? What is demonstrated throughout both plays is that people have double standards towards love. In the Cosi we see free love and characters that believe in free love such as Lucy, Nick and Doug. Free love is the belief of having sexual relations according to choice, without being restricted by marriage or long-term relationships. They believe in freedom in doing whatever you want but this is the complete opposite of how they treat the mentally ill. They treat them with not dignity that makes them restricted to being behind walls of an asylum. Free love is about freedom yet they are confined to their ward like traditional marriage because people fear them. This is not the definition of love. Louis Nowra wants us to love each other and not stereotyping people by giving labels to people that we fear but instead showing respect and compassion. That is what true love is. In Cosi Fan Tutte we see two men test the love and fidelity of their girlfriends. This displays the double standards that men have on love. They believe that is alright to for them to test love. Mozart tells us that love needs to be equal that one side can’t unfaithful and that is alright. Mozart is trying to make us question what love is, like Louis Nowra did in Cosi. For there to be love, it must be equal and this is the key theme from bo th plays.

Administrative Management Theory Essay -- essays research papers

Our group project is on Henri Fayol’s â€Å"Administrative Management Theory†. As a group member I took on a task of researching his theory. Henri Fayol began his career as a junior Engineer in French Mining Company. His key work was â€Å"Administration Industrielle et Generale† which he published in 1916 ad later o pulished in Eglish I 1949. The administrative theory "emphasized management functions and attempted to generate broad administrative principles that would serve as guidelines for the rationalization of organizational activities" (Scott p. 36). Fayol played a main role in the turn-of-the-century Classical School of management theory. Fayol believed that techniques of effective management could be defined and taught and that managerial organization hold as much importance as management as workers organization. He was the first to identify functions of management. The five functions of managers, according to Fayol were plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control. Planning is the act of anticipating the future and acting on it. â€Å"Planning reduces uncertainty by forcing managers to look ahead, anticipate change, consider the impact of change and develop appropriate responses.† (Robbins, 2000, p.247) Organization is the development of the institution's resources, including material and human. Commanding is keeping the institution’s actions and processes running. Co-ordination is the alignment and harmonization of the groups’ efforts. Finally, control means that t...

Business management

It has a database holding various companies' records specifically job vacancies. Therefore, it matches the qualities required and the candidates' qualifications. BBC, S company structure In any firm, the organizational structure is a vital factor which determines the success and achievement of the set goals. The structure of a company portrays not only the hierarchy of responsibilities in the company but also it defines the division of functions (Allen, 2000). The hierarchy determines various levels of personnel in the organization.The main role of the hierarchy is to substantiate the person or groups of persons responsible for the development of the company's vision and their tasks in pursuit of the session aimed at achieving the set goals (Bassett, 2004). On the other hand, the division of roles amongst the workers places each employee in the most efficient position viable for maximum production. BBC Company is made up of various positions. The main positions include the managing D irector, business development manager, recruitment manager and the support stuff which include the accountants, legal officers and the technical personnel.Abs's organization Chart I. Managing Director The managing director is the overall supervisor. He oversees the entire operation of the company. Some of the primary duties of the managing director are to supervise the general operation of the company, coordinates the financial management tasks and also initiate the development ideologies important for the achievement of the mission, vision and objectives (Shoehorning, 2013). Ii. Development Manager The development manager works in coordination with the marketers in order to bring the clients.The development manager is responsible for the initiation of the strategies required for creation of health network with the clients (Smith,2003). However, he is under the managing director. Iii. Recruitment Manager The recruitment manager works closely with the development manager. While the d evelopment manager markets the company and brings in the clients, the recruitment manager is responsible for the verification of the clients' qualification to find the potential candidates for particular available job vacancies. He also sets the recruitment conditions and standards. Additionally, he develops the recruitment goals (Steen, 2006).The recruitment manager takes instructions from the managing director. Iv. Support Staff The management team cannot operate without the support staff. For the ease of the BBC Company, the support staff includes the accountants, the Technical personnel and the legal officers. The role of the legal officer is to ensure that the recruitment contracts are in accordance with the relevant legislations. The technical persons are responsible for maintenance of proper computer networks and development of more efficient management systems. The accountants are responsible for the maintenance of financial records and provide the statements when required.T he support staffs receives instructions from the managers. BBC Company's Objectives The company's main objectives include; . Increase the number of the clients. Ii. Improve the service delivery. Iii. Satisfy the client needs to the fullest. Mission To be the leading recruitment company globally and which inclines its efforts towards satisfying the clients. Process Map for clients' recruitment Plan to Ensure Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Objectives The company needs proper plan which ensures consistency in legal, regulatory and ethical objectives in its operation. The plan is as follows I.The management should review the business contracts and other legal documents to find their validity and compatibility with the state laws. I. The company's operation to be conducted in accordance with the state law. Iii. The recruitment exercise must never subject any client to any form of injustice. Iv. The management to seek to have feedback from the clients on the quality of service delivery. Re commendation on Alignment of manpower and available resources Using SMART. SMART is an acronym which refers to Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. This provides the guideline for setting up the objectives. S: Specific.The desired goals and objectives by the organization should be specific. For instance, the management should be specific on the type of qualification required when recruiting the clients. M: Measurable: The management should establish concrete methodology used to measure progress towards achievement of the desired goals. For instance, the organization should ask itself how many available job vacancies are available against particular number of candidates. A: Attainable: The objectives should be within the reach especially in terms of available resources for instance, finance. R: Realistic: The goals or objectives must be within the capability.The company can fail if it Sets Very high objectives and goals which are never attainable. In regard to this , the company needs to consider the available resources and their efficiency to enable the achievement of the desired goals. T: Timely: Any goal is bound to a specific timeshare. This determines the time required for a goal to be attained. The availability of resources and their alignment enables timely attainment of the goals. The BBC Company New System. Considering the weaknesses associated with the current system, a new system is implemented which is more efficient and ensures SMART attainment of the set goals.The previous system was associated with poor uncial management, slow service delivery and generally poor leadership. Therefore, the new systems are as follow. Service Delivery system: A new digital system is put in place to enable service delivery in the shortest time possible. With this system, the clients have to deliver their academic and personal documents are delivered to the company's website via the Internet. The recruitment officers' access the documents, verify the ir originality, test the qualification and communicate to the applicant online.Therefore, the applicants do not have to appear at the company offices in person. Digital ATA management system: The new management system is deployed which is used to manage data in the most convenient way. This system minimizes human error and also saves time when retrieving information because the officers do not have to go through big files in search of records. Payment system: There is no more cash payment, rather, the clients make payment directly to the company s account and deliver the bank payment slips.This minimizes corruption where money gets lost in the hands of the officers. Work activities meeting operational plan Planning: This activity involves outlining objectives, and setting the prospected results. The techniques for achievement are also outlined under this activity. Organizing: organization of the BBC Company is crucial because it enables establishment of the structures and systems in which the activities are arranged and coordinated based on the particular plans and objectives. Staffing: this activity involves accomplishment of the personnel functions.The functions involve selection and training the staff members and also maintenance of proper and favorable conditions for work (Personnel management function, 1993). Directing: Directing is done by the managers and it involves embodying decision making through instructions. This activity is done in line with the set operational plan. Coordinating: coordination is an activity which is aimed at inter-relating the various activities undertaken within the organization. For instance, it inter-relates the highly ranked managers and the support staff. Reporting: Reporting is one of the tools important for ensuring quality checks.This involves making the various organs which include the shareholders, managers, the public, clients, us pliers and others informed regarding the progress of the organization. Budgeting: budget ing refers to the setting of financial plans, financial management control, keeping of financial records and also ensuring that the cost is in line with the set goals and objectives. Quality Management Systems Quality management systems refer to the techniques employed to enable proper communication between the manager and the employees concerning the quality of service to be delivered to the clients (Quality management systems, 2008).The employees are kept in check to deliver services in accordance to the set standard specifications. Quality management system design. Below are the steps important for designing of the quality management system. I. Studying and Understanding the current organizational structure and the associated processes. This involves studying the environment, the competitive level and others. Ii. Development of performance priorities. The BBC performance priorities are in line with shareholders and other stakeholders' expectations and desires. This is done before the action design is done. Iii.Development Of performance indicators. The measurement Of every department's performance enables tracking of the general performance of the organization. In this case, the top-down approach meets the bottom-up approach. Iv. Collection of the required data. This involves the calculation of the performance indicators. V. Designing reporting and performance data representation formats. This step involves the decision on how the data is presented to the end users. It also entails how the users provide the feedback for management, monitoring and improvement purposes based on the data provided. Vi.Testing and adjusting the performance measurement system. This step involves improvement of the previous performance system based on the feedback from the users. All elements working in unplanned manner are adjusted to enhance desired level of performance. Vii. Implementation of the system. This is the final step after designing the quality management system of BB C recruiting company. This is where the system is officially launched and put in use for the entire organization operation. The implementation stage involves the managing the user access, training of the users and also the demonstration of the system operation.The system designing process can be presented in chart as follows Quality culture to ensure continuous monitoring ,evaluation and development of process Demonstration of culture is a vital exercise in the organization. This can be demonstrated as follows; I. Leadership emphasis Managers in BBC Recruitment Company must understand that the basis of leadership is quality. The key objective worked on is to promote quality service delivery in the most efficient and faster way. Ii. Maintaining a leadership emphasis on quality. In any case, there are always gaps between what the managers advocate for and what they do.Therefore, awareness about the gaps must be made obvious to the employees. Additionally, the managers and executive di rectors must demonstrate commitment towards promotion of the quality service delivery. Iii. Ensuring message credibility. The messages provided by the company regarding the quality of services just be realistic and trusted. Credibility Of message earns the company clients loyalty. Credibility of messages is one of the legal and ethical conditions that the company must observe and practice. Iv. Encouraging peer involvement. Exercising peer engagement in the organization is a crucial balancing of act.Showing little support by the managers leads to loss of important opportunities. Therefore, they should be fully involved in activities. The managers also can consider important printing materials such as burners in the working place reminding the employees on the importance and needs to deliver quality service. The workers also should be motivated on their good performances (Purposive, 2006). Recommendation on the improvements The Abs's current system is associated with various weaknesse s which have led to complain from the clients. The complaints are centered on poor leadership which has resulted to a lot of deficits within the company.Therefore, changes must be recommended in order to improve the service delivery as stipulated in the organizations, objectives and set goals. The recommendations are as follows. I. The company must ensure employing qualified managers and other persons in charge of various positions in order o improve the productivity especially the top most positions. For instance, the operation managers must have full knowledge and skills on how to pursue the various roles relevant to their positions. The managers must be well equipped with skills for initiation of valid ideologies important for the development of the company.Unqualified personnel are liabilities within the company since they earn a lot and produce less hence earn the company a lot of deficits. Ii. Proper marketing strategies must be put in place in order to increase the number of clients who are the main source of revenues to the company (Lick, 1999). The main cause of the deficits in the company is that the company spends a lot and the returns from the clients are minimal because of the small number of clients. Iii. The company should adopt the modern system of service delivery which speeds up the process. This will ensures timely service delivery to the clients.The manual systems are time consuming and also never efficient in handling large number of clients. The modern system, probably the digital systems ensures quality service delivery. Iv. Also, the other reason for the deficits within the organization is corruption amongst the managers and other officers. There should be a proper monitoring system which ensures frequent generation of financial records in order to trace the revenues and the expenditure. Also electronic mode of payment and banking should be embraced unlike the manual handling of money which provides opportunities to some corrupt workers to steal and misappropriate funds. . Also, legal and ethical values should be observed in the company's processes in order to remain relevant to the state and client expectation. Unethical operation makes the clients develop negative attitude towards the company hence underperformed. Report on the implication of he proposed changes The proposed changes are of great importance to the company. BBC Company is under crisis under its current management system. Qualified Personnel Qualification in any relevant position is very important since it ensures maximum productivity.Any position, irrespective of its level within the company is associated with particular skills. These skills are the key resources for productivity. It is also important to match one's qualification with the relevant job category. Operating in one's level of expertise ensures quality and improved level of performances. Therefore, it is worth important o ensure that the roles in BBC company are allocated considering t he qualifications of the workers. Taking an example of the operation managers, they are tasked with management of the processes within the company.Therefore, they are required to be skilled on the relevant processes being undertaken and also possess techniques of aligning the available resources to their tasks to ensure maximum productivity (Product liability,ND). Proper marketing strategies Marketing is the key factor that fascinates the clients to seek services with the BBC Company. There are various other companies providing the name recruitment services and the company is tasked to strategies the best ideas that can make them develop competitive advantages over the others.There are various ways for marketing which include making advertisement via radios, televisions, social media such as faceable and also using marketing agents who make direct contact with the clients (Foss, 2012).. Develop financial monitoring system Corruption and misappropriation of funds within the organizat ion is one of the worst practices that can kill the general development. Therefore, the company must put in place monitoring system which includes safe moment mode which includes direct banking by the clients on registration and frequent generation of the financial records which enables tracing of revenues and expenditure.Modern service Delivery system The modern digital service delivery system is very crucial at the current generation since it is very convenient and safes time. The client may not even need to appear to the company registration premises rather he or she may need to make online application and the records are delivered directly to the company's portals for verification and approval is communicated to the client via email or phone. Also, the digital mode of keeping records is important because it ensure easy retrieval of the same when required (Davis, 1993).The record keepers waste a lot of time accessing records saved in hard copy files. Proper legal and ethical valu es Legal and ethical values are very crucial factors in general processes in the company. They ensure relevance with the client and state expectation (Cross,2007). Risk Assessment Working with BBC Company is associated with some risks. Computer operators within the company suffer risk of developing computer syndrome. Long term use of computer leads to complication which includes eye implication and also the long term effects may be cancer due to exposure to Radiant from the cathode ray tube screens.Also, the field marketers suffer risks of getting indulged in accidents such as road accidents because they travel almost daily. Also, the buildings are under risk of catching fire because of heat generated by heavy machines used for instance, the generators. Demonstration Health and safety regulations To minimize the risks, the company has set the maximum time one has to work on the computer probably two hours in a day (Design to reduce technical risk, 2007). This is achieved by employin g sufficient employees who work in shifts.Also, the vehicles used are serviced regularly to ensure that they are in good conditions. Over speeding the company's vehicles are illegal and the company's mechanics have fixed speed governors to all the company vehicles. Additionally, the building has a lot of fire extinguishers which ensures safety in case of fire (LEN Site 200 Risk Management Plans, 2008). Review of BBC Company Health and safety policies Below are some of the company's health and safety policies and regulation; I. It is illegal to spit carelessly within the company. Ii. No smoking in the work place iii.In case of fire, get out of the building as soon as possible through nearby exit and use the available fire extinguishers to fight the fire. Iv. Strangers are not permitted into the company premises unless permitted. V. Make use of the dust pits. Implementation of the health and safety policies. A body is formed to ensure that the health and safety policies are observed b y all. Also the body is responsible for taking legal actions against anyone breaching the policies. The group also conducts the seminars on the important of the observing the safety and healthy policies. Business Management Pandora Medal In terms of risk, uncertainty, and how its managers handled the company's challenges. What Is the current news on this company? The meaning of a business operating under conditions of uncertainty Is the lack of pertinent information and cannot estimate accurately the likelihood of different results of their actions. Pandora media provides internet radio services in the united States. Some of Pander's risks that would lead to the company's probability of success would be the uncertainty at the core of finance.Meaning, even though Pander's music service has grown to 80 million registered users and a database of over 800,000. They still lack to generate sufficient revenue to turn a profit due to the economy. Managers handle the company challenges by modifying its original commitment to the free radio model, offering users an alternative. Listeners who would prefer to skip the advertising have an option to pay $36 per year for ad-free streaming of their music. 2) What effec ts does time pressure have on your decision making?In what ways do you handle It well and not so well? The effect time pressure has on an Individual loud be the use of proper time management. For example. Your boss need you to pick up the slack for someone who took a sick leave you have their work as well as your. The best way to handle the situation is organization. Being able to accomplish doing your work and theirs without falling behind. I had a situation were I was on call working a IT position that required me to monitor a server for a fortune 500 level company.Hardware needed to be repaired overnight. Time management was key because I knew that if I got paged late at night I would have to prepare time to work he issue as well as has have enough sleep to work the next day. 3) Recall a recent decision that you had difficulty making. Describe it In terms of the characterless of managerial decisions. I can recall a situation working for IBM as a storage admit working a seventy Is sue on a hardware server some ports failed causing failure to the internet between our service and their company.I had to call a IT in another state where the company was located to schedule time to repair the problem. I designed an Microsoft excel design plan that needed to be approved by y manager in order to processed in resolving the issue. Being new to the company I took a lot of sufficient notes in order to be successful. This improved my personal growth within the company helping me design the plan for reviews and get approved by my 1st line manager for the process.I also had to use my networking skills by listening and asking my co-workers if I needed answers. This is were my programmed decision were critical when It came to dealing with technology. 4) What do you think are some advantages and disadvantages to using computer technology In decision making? The advantages of technology are the Improvement of company relative cost. Also the company's overall business strategy m eaning the important technologies to reinforce the company's competitive position.The disadvantages of using computer technology are failure of hardware and software that is purchased by a company. Also having outdated technology that causes problems to compete with other companies as well as performance issues on company projects. 5) Discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of using a group to make decisions. Give examples from your experience. The advantages of using group sections for business project would help give better perspective of the work.Also the ability to use ready-made solutions or custom made solutions between the experience and non-experienced members of your group. For example, if you work in a pool environment for a company the advantage would be networking with your time to improve your skills for your Job position. The only disadvantage is someone in your group lacks the ability to perform at the level of the group members in order to successful finis h work. Or a uncertain team member not being optimistic about the causing the group to fail. Business Management Pandora Medal In terms of risk, uncertainty, and how its managers handled the company's challenges. What Is the current news on this company? The meaning of a business operating under conditions of uncertainty Is the lack of pertinent information and cannot estimate accurately the likelihood of different results of their actions. Pandora media provides internet radio services in the united States. Some of Pander's risks that would lead to the company's probability of success would be the uncertainty at the core of finance.Meaning, even though Pander's music service has grown to 80 million registered users and a database of over 800,000. They still lack to generate sufficient revenue to turn a profit due to the economy. Managers handle the company challenges by modifying its original commitment to the free radio model, offering users an alternative. Listeners who would prefer to skip the advertising have an option to pay $36 per year for ad-free streaming of their music. 2) What effec ts does time pressure have on your decision making?In what ways do you handle It well and not so well? The effect time pressure has on an Individual loud be the use of proper time management. For example. Your boss need you to pick up the slack for someone who took a sick leave you have their work as well as your. The best way to handle the situation is organization. Being able to accomplish doing your work and theirs without falling behind. I had a situation were I was on call working a IT position that required me to monitor a server for a fortune 500 level company.Hardware needed to be repaired overnight. Time management was key because I knew that if I got paged late at night I would have to prepare time to work he issue as well as has have enough sleep to work the next day. 3) Recall a recent decision that you had difficulty making. Describe it In terms of the characterless of managerial decisions. I can recall a situation working for IBM as a storage admit working a seventy Is sue on a hardware server some ports failed causing failure to the internet between our service and their company.I had to call a IT in another state where the company was located to schedule time to repair the problem. I designed an Microsoft excel design plan that needed to be approved by y manager in order to processed in resolving the issue. Being new to the company I took a lot of sufficient notes in order to be successful. This improved my personal growth within the company helping me design the plan for reviews and get approved by my 1st line manager for the process.I also had to use my networking skills by listening and asking my co-workers if I needed answers. This is were my programmed decision were critical when It came to dealing with technology. 4) What do you think are some advantages and disadvantages to using computer technology In decision making? The advantages of technology are the Improvement of company relative cost. Also the company's overall business strategy m eaning the important technologies to reinforce the company's competitive position.The disadvantages of using computer technology are failure of hardware and software that is purchased by a company. Also having outdated technology that causes problems to compete with other companies as well as performance issues on company projects. 5) Discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages of using a group to make decisions. Give examples from your experience. The advantages of using group sections for business project would help give better perspective of the work.Also the ability to use ready-made solutions or custom made solutions between the experience and non-experienced members of your group. For example, if you work in a pool environment for a company the advantage would be networking with your time to improve your skills for your Job position. The only disadvantage is someone in your group lacks the ability to perform at the level of the group members in order to successful finis h work. Or a uncertain team member not being optimistic about the causing the group to fail.

Succubus Blues CHAPTER 16

â€Å"Georgina?† â€Å"I'm still here.† â€Å"Pretty fucked up, huh? I guess this kills your angel theory.† â€Å"I'm not so sure.† My initial feeling of dismay was being replaced by a new idea, one that had been percolating in the back of my mind ever since I read the biblical passage at Terry and Andrea's. I wondered now†¦ wondered exactly what we were dealing with, if it was an angel after all. The words in Genesis came back to me: There were giants in the earth in those days†¦ the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown†¦ â€Å"What's Jerome saying about all of this?† â€Å"Nothing. What'd you expect?† â€Å"Everyone else is okay, though?† â€Å"Fine, last I knew. What are you going to do? Nothing stupid, I hope.† â€Å"I have to go check on something.† â€Å"Georgina†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Hugh warned. â€Å"Yeah?† â€Å"Be careful. Jerome's in a terrible mood over all of this.† I laughed harshly. â€Å"I can imagine.† An awkward silence hung on the line. â€Å"What else aren't you telling me?† He hesitated a moment longer. â€Å"This†¦ this is a surprise to you, right? This Lucinda thing?† â€Å"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?† Another pause. â€Å"It's just†¦ well, you've got to admit it's kind of weird, first Duane†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Hugh!† â€Å"And then, I mean, when no one could contact you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I told you, my cell phone broke. You can't be serious about this.† â€Å"No, no. It's just†¦ I don't know. I'll talk to you later.† I disconnected. Lucinda dead? Lucinda, with her plaid skirt and bob? It was impossible. I felt terrible; I'd just seen her the other day. Sure, I'd called her a sanctimonious bitch, but I hadn't wanted this. Any more than I'd wanted Duane dead. Yet, the connections Hugh had drawn were weird, weirder than I liked to admit. I'd argued with both Duane and Lucinda, and they'd died shortly thereafter. But Hugh†¦ how did he fit in? Some friend. From what I heard, he received a great deal of amusement telling anyone that would listen about your little whip and wings getup. I remembered Luanda's jibe. I had indeed had a small flare-up with the imp just before his attack. A small flare-up and a small attack, considering he had lived. I shivered, unsure as to what this meant. Doug walked in. â€Å"You get everything straightened out?† â€Å"Yeah. Thanks.† We stood there uncomfortably for a moment until I finally unlocked the floodgates of my guilt. â€Å"Doug, I-â€Å" â€Å"Forget it, Kincaid. It's nothing.† â€Å"What I said, I shouldn't have. I was – â€Å" â€Å"Wasted. Trashed. Flat on your ass drunk. It happens.† â€Å"Still, I had no right. You were trying to be nice, and I turned complete psycho bitch on you.† â€Å"You weren't that psycho.† â€Å"But definitely a bitch?† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He hid a smile, not meeting my eyes. â€Å"I'm sorry, Doug. I'm really sorry.† â€Å"Quit it. I can't take much more of this sentimentality.† I leaned over and squeezed his arm, resting my head slightly on his shoulder. â€Å"You're a good guy, Doug. A really good guy. And a good friend. And I'm sorry†¦ sorry for a lot of things that have – or haven't – happened between us.† â€Å"Hey, forget about it. It's nothing between friends, Kin- caid.† A pregnant pause hung between us; he was still clearly uncomfortable with this exchange. â€Å"Did†¦ did everything turn out all right? I lost track of you after the show. That outfit you have on doesn't reassure me any.† â€Å"You'll never believe whose shirt this is,† I teased, subsequently telling him the whole tale of getting sick with Seth and the follow-up birthday party. Doug was pushing hysterics by the time I finished, albeit in a relieved sort of way. â€Å"Mortensen's a good guy,† he finally said, still laughing. â€Å"He says the same thing about you.† Doug grinned. â€Å"You know he's – oh, man. I forgot, what with all those phone calls.† Turning to the desk, he sifted through papers and books, finally producing a small white envelope. â€Å"You got a note. Paige said she found it last night. I hope it's good news.† â€Å"Yeah, me too.† But I had my doubts when I saw it. I took it gingerly, like something that might burn me. The paper and calligraphy were identical to the last one's. Opening up the envelope, I read: So you're interested in fallen angels, are you? Well, there'll be a hands-on demonstration tonight. It should prove more informative than your current endeavors and won't require you screwing your boss in order to get help with extrapolation – not that watching you make a whore of yourself didn't have its moments. I looked up, meeting Doug's curious eyes. â€Å"No worries,† I told him lightly, folding the note up and placing it in my purse. â€Å"This is old news.† Hugh's report implied Lucinda had been killed last night, and this note had been slipped to me beforehand, according to Doug. The warning had gone unheeded. This person apparently didn't have a good grasp of my schedule, or they hadn't wanted me to actually act beforehand. It was more like a scare tactic. Whatever their point in giving me a heads-up on Lucinda, it was nothing compared to the other reference in the note. The thought that someone had watched me have sex with Warren made my skin crawl. â€Å"Where are you off to now?† Doug asked. â€Å"Believe it or not, I need to find a book.† â€Å"You're in the right place.† We went back out to the information desk, where Tammi stood. It pleased me to see Doug training her in this post; we'd need people available for all jobs when the holidays came. â€Å"Practice time,† I told her. â€Å"Tell me where we keep this book.† I gave her the name, and she looked it up in the computer, frowning at the results. â€Å"We don't. We can order it for you.† I scowled, suddenly understanding why people seemed so pissed off when I told them that. â€Å"Great,† I muttered. â€Å"Where am I going to get it tonight?† Erik probably stocked it, but he'd be closed by now. â€Å"I hate to recommend this,† joked Doug, â€Å"but a library might have it.† â€Å"Maybe†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I eyed a clock, unsure how late the local branches stayed open. â€Å"Um, Georgina?† began Tammi carefully. â€Å"I know a place that has it. And that's still open.† I turned to her in surprise. â€Å"Really? Where – no. No. Not there.† â€Å"I'm sorry.† Her blue eyes pleaded with me to forgive her for such tidings. â€Å"But there were three copies in stock the last time I was there. They couldn't have sold out.† I groaned, rubbing my temples. â€Å"I can't go in there. Doug, you want to run an errand for me?† â€Å"I've got to close,† he admonished. â€Å"What place are you avoiding?† † Krystal Starz, home of ‘freaky witch woman.' â€Å" â€Å"You couldn't pay me to go there.† â€Å"You could pay me,† noted Tammi, â€Å"but I'm closing too. If it makes it any easier, she's not there all the time.† â€Å"Yeah,† added Doug helpfully. â€Å"No manager is always on-duty. She must have other staff to cover her.† â€Å"Unless they're short-staffed,† I muttered. The irony. I left the store and got into my car for the journey to Krystal Starz. As I drove, I reflected on the two pieces of information I'd gleaned today. First, the nephilim reference. The King James translation had mentioned angelic offspring, even mentioned them as being abnormal, but I had never considered the possibilities half-angel children might present. The annotation in Terry and Andrea's translation had elaborated only slightly more on such creatures, but it had been enough to spring a lock in my head. Who better, I thought, to take on both angels and demons than some sort of bastard demigod? Of course, the whole discovery of the nephilim had come about as a spin-off to the verse Erik had given me about fallen angels. I could be running away with a blind lead here when really the culprit was just a regular immortal, albeit an unstable one, slaying members of both sides. After all, I still hadn't ruled Carter out of the realm of suspects, nor had I figured out why said killer would finish the job with Duane and Lucinda but let Hugh live. My other piece of data today, the new note, offered little I hadn't already known. I'd simply found it too late for it to be of preemptive use. And if some voyeur was following me around, there was nothing I could do about that either. Yet, it led to the obvious question: Why was this person following me around? Evidence suggested I was the only one receiving such attention, the only one receiving notes. And again, there was the niggling truth: Everyone I'd fought with had later become a victim†¦ When I had almost reached Krystal Starz, I pulled off onto a deserted street. Unbeknownst to Tammi and Doug, I already had a simple solution for facing Helena. Stripping out of the dress and Seth's shirt, lest they be consumed, I shape-shifted, taking on the guise of a tall, willowy Thai woman in a linen dress. I sometimes used this body to hunt in. The New Age bookstore was quiet when I entered, with only a couple of browsing customers. I saw the same boyish acolyte from before manning the register, and blessing upon blessing, I couldn't see Helena anywhere. Even disguised, I still had no desire to run into that nutcase. Smiling at the young man behind the counter, I approached and asked where I could find the book. Grinning back like an idiot – this was a very attractive form, after all – he led me to a certain section in their cryptic cataloging system, immediately finding the book. As Tammi had said, the store stocked three copies. We returned to the register to cash out, and I sighed in relief, thinking I was going to make it out of here unscathed. No such luck. The back door leading to the conference room opened, and Helena glided out as though conjured, clad in a flowing fuchsia gown, laden with her usual ten pounds of necklaces. Damn it. It was like the woman really did have a sixth sense or something. â€Å"Things are well, Roger?† she asked the clerk, using her raspy show voice. â€Å"Yes, yes.† He bobbed his head eagerly, apparently thrilled that she'd call him by first name. Turning to me, she gave me one of her diva smiles. â€Å"Hello, my dear. How are you this evening?† Remembering that this persona had no grudge with her, I forced a smile and answered politely, â€Å"Good, thank you.† â€Å"I imagine so,† she told me gravely as I handed cash to the boy, â€Å"because I sense excellent things about your aura.† I widened my eyes in what I hoped was a laywoman's awe. â€Å"Really?† She nodded, pleased at an appreciative audience. â€Å"Very bright. Very strong. Lots of color. You have good things in store for you.† This message was a far cry from the one she'd given me at Emerald City, I thought. Seeing my book, she eyed me sharply, probably because it was dense and filled with research, as opposed to most of the fluff she sold. â€Å"I'm surprised. I would have expected you to be reading up on how to focus your gifts more. Maximize your full potential. I have several titles I can recommend if you're interested.† Didn't this woman ever stop with the sales pitching? â€Å"Oh, I'd love to,† I oozed back, â€Å"but I only brought enough cash for this.† I gestured to the bag now in hand. â€Å"I understand,† she told me gravely. â€Å"Let me show you anyway. So you'll know what to come back for next time.† Torn, I contemplated which would cause me the most discomfort: going along with her or starting a feud in yet another body. Noticing a clock, I saw that the store closed in fifteen minutes. She couldn't waste that much of my time. â€Å"Okay. I'd love to.† Beaming, Helena led me across the store, another victim in her thrall. As promised, we looked at books on utilizing the strongest parts of the aura, a few books on crystal channeling, and even one on how visualization could help bring about the things we most wanted. This last one was so painful, I wanted to beat myself in the head with it to end my suffering. â€Å"Don't underestimate the power of visualization,† she whispered. â€Å"You can control your own destiny, set your own paths, rules, and stakes. I can sense great potential in you, but following these principles can help you unlock more – all the things you'd want for a happy and fulfilling life. Career, home, husband, children.† An image of Seth's niece curled in my lap suddenly came unbidden to me, and I hastily turned away from Helena. Succubi bore no children. No such future waited for me, book or no. â€Å"I need to go. Thanks for your help.† â€Å"Of course,† she responded demurely, handing me a list she'd conveniently written the titles – and prices – upon. â€Å"And let me give you some brochures for our upcoming programs and events.† It didn't end. She finally released me once I was sufficiently laden with paper, all of which I dumped into the trash bin in the parking lot. Lord, I hated that woman. I supposed Helena the schmoozing con artist was better than Helena the raving lunatic who had been at Emerald City, but really, it was a tough call. At least I'd obtained the book, which was all that mattered. I pulled off at one of my favorite Chinese places on the way home, back in my normal shape. Carrying Harrington's book in, I ate General Tso's chicken while reading the entry on nephilim : Nephilim are first referenced in Genesis 6:4, where they are sometimes referred to as â€Å"giants † or â€Å"fallen ones.† Regardless of the word's translation, the nephilim's origin is clear from this passage: they are the semi-divine offspring of angels and human women. Genesis 6:4 refers to them as â€Å"mighty† and â€Å"men of renown.† The rest of the Bible makes little reference to the nephilim's angelic siring, but encounters with giants and men of â€Å"great stature† are frequently recorded in other books, such as Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua. Some have speculated that the â€Å"great wickedness† prompting the flood in Genesis 6 was actually a result of the nephilim's corrupting influence on mankind. Further apocryphal readings, such as 1 Enoch, elaborate on the plight of the fallen angels and their families, describing how the corrupted angels taught â€Å"charms and enchantments† to their wives while their offspring ra n wild throughout the earth, slaughtering and causing strife among humans. The nephilim, gifted with great abilities much like those of the ancient Greek heroes, were nonetheless cursed by God and neglected by their parents, consigned to wander the earth all their days without peace until eventually destroyed for the sake of mankind. I looked up, feeling breathless. I had never heard of anything like this. I had been right in telling Erik practitioners were the worst to ask about their own histories; surely this was something someone should have told me about before. Angelic offspring. Were nephilim real? Were they still around? Or was I really just chasing a dead end here, following a distracting lead when I should have restricted my search to immortals of my caliber or above, like Carter? After all, these nephilim were half-human; they couldn't be all that powerful. After paying the bill, I walked out to my car, opening my fortune cookie as I went. It was empty. Charming. A light rain misted around me, and fatigue crept in around my edges, not surprising considering the last twenty-four hours. I couldn't find a parking spot when I arrived in Queen Anne, which indicated some sort of sporting event or show going on nearby. Grumbling, I parked seven blocks away from home, vowing to never again lease an apartment that only had street spots. The wind Seth and I had felt earlier was fading, normal since Seattle was not a wind-prone city. The rain picked up in intensity, however, further darkening my mood. I was halfway home when I heard footsteps behind me. Pausing, I turned to look back but saw nothing save slick pavement, blearily reflecting streetlights. No one was there. I turned back around, starting to pick up my pace until I did a mental head slap and simply turned invisible. Jerome was right; I did think like a human too much. Still, I didn't like the street I'd chosen back; it was too deserted. I needed to cut over and walk the rest of the distance on Queen Anne Avenue itself. I had just turned the corner when something impacted me hard on my back, knocking me forward six feet, startling me so much that I shifted back to visible. I tried to turn around, flailing at my attacker, but another blow hit me in the head hard, knocking me to my knees. The sense I had was of being struck by something hand and arm shaped, but it packed a punch, more like a baseball bat. Again, my attacker hit me, this time across one of my shoulder blades, and I cried out, hoping someone would hear me. Another strike swiped the side of my head, the force pushing me over onto my back. I squinted up, trying to catch sight of who was doing this, but all I could dimly discern was a dark, amorphous shape, bearing down on me fast and hard as another blow made contact with my jaw. I could not get up from that onslaught, could not fight against the pain descending on me harder and thicker than the rain around me. Suddenly, brilliant light filled my vision – light so brilliant it hurt. I was not alone in my assessment. My attacker recoiled, letting me go, and I heard a strange high-pitched scream emitted above me. Attracted by some irresistible lure, I looked toward the light. A white-hot pain seared my brain as I did, my eyes taking in the figure moving toward us: beautiful and terrible, all colors and none, white light and darkness, winged and armed with a sword, features shifting and indiscernible. The next scream I heard was my own, the agony and ecstasy of what I had seen scorching my senses, even though I could no longer see it. My vision had gone white-whiter-whitest until all was black, and I could see nothing at all. Then, silence fell. I sat there sobbing, hurting physically and spiritually. Footsteps came, and I felt someone kneel beside me. Somehow, despite my blindness, I knew it was not my attacker. That person had long since fled. â€Å"Georgina?† a familiar voice asked me. â€Å"Carter,† I gasped out, throwing my arms around him.

Toyota Motor Corporation Business Sample

Toyota Motor Corporation Business Sample Toyota Motor Corporation Business Essay Example Toyota Motor Corporation Business Essay Example Toyota has become one of the leaders in vehicle industry. Its history goes back to the 1930s, when the company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda. Toyota Company was a branch project of Toyota Automatic Loom Works run by founder’s son. Its first creations were A1 and G1 passenger vehicles. Only in August 1937, Toyota Company was established as a separate entity. Ever since that time, company had encored its positions on a global market. In 2012, Toyota Motors Corporation was the largest manufacturer in the world by production capacities. Starting from this year, 2014 it occupies the fourteenth place in the world by revenue. Toyota Way The company’s values and business style in terms of management are known as the Toyota Way. Toyota Way is a code of conduct embraced by all of its employees. Amongst its content there are two headings Respect for People and Continuous Improvement that lay the foundation for five major principles that include: challenge, improvement, go and see, respect and teamwork (Toyota Motor Corporation, n.d.). The Toyota Way encounters four main components that are essential for its operations: long-term thinking, problem-solving process, adding value and root problem solving leads to organizational learning. Toyota’s global vision reflects its intentions to lead the way to the future of mobility via enriching lives around the world with the safe and responsible ways of moving people. They seek to achieve the mentioned above through commitment to quality, constant innovation and respect for the planet, exceeding expectations with a smile as a reward from customers. The company also emphasizes on involvement of those who are talented and passionate who seek better ways of achieving corporate goals. Tracing back to its foundation, the Toyota Company has changed the course of its products and services. The Toyota Grop consists of 16 companies that provide goods and services. Its product line includes manufacturing of automobiles, luxury vehicles, commercial vehicles, engines and motorcycles. Services, provided by Toyota embrace banking, financing and leasing. The Toyota Company also performs an expertise in fields that are not related to the automobile business: housing, financial ser vices, environmental (marine, biotechnology and afforestation) and communications. Its headquarters are located in Toyota city in the Aichi prefecture in Japan. Ten of its plants operate in Japan. Its geographical presence embraces manufacturing or assembling plants in North and South Americas region, Europe and Asia and Oceania. As of March 2014, the Toyota’s: capital was worth 80.4 billion yen; net sales 2,007.8 billion yen; net income 91.7 billion yen. During 2012 and 2013 total sales were 9,748,000 and 9,980,000 yen respectively (Reuters Financial, 2014). 1. Every company seeks the way to increase profits Thus, expanding the geographical borders is means – maximizing profits and minimizing risks. Starting as a domestic company that manufactured passenger cars, the Toyota Company has managed to occupy leading positions on the world market. Its first model passenger car was around 3,500 yen that was cheaper than analogues offered by General Motors or Ford. Another significant push for making business globally is related to company’s marketing campaigns and strategies that are developed locally. It helps to adjust business to local demands with the quality and reputation of the brand. The Toyota Company makes a huge emphasis on its philosophy and corporate culture. They pose themselves as modest brand that provides quality products. The product line embraces all different types of vehicles, from small, luxury to big-size trucks. It closely coincides with customer demand. Innovation is one of the major factors that attract customers. The company implements its innovations through the creation of vehicles that have unique characteristics because of optimization and differentiation on the regional level. Another peculiar feature of Toyota on an automobile market related to innovations is realized through creation of basic high-quality parts that are cross-usable in different products (Thompson, 2014). Expanding means establishing its production within a specific region and thus, it affects the budget and as a result – profit. Over the course of its development up to this date, the Toyota Company consists of 540 consolidated subsidiaries and 226 affiliates worldwide with 333,498 members of employed staff as of March 2014. To sum up above, Toyota has managed to become a flagman in an automobile industry via innovative approach to manufacture a variety of products that fit into different categories of customer segment. Besides, the Company has a highly developed and successful marketing course of development that helped to enter foreign markets and adjust to its rules. 2. The competitive advantage of Toyota can be explained by Porter’s model Threat of New Entry (Weak): Large amÐ ¾unt of capital required High retaliatiÐ ¾n pÐ ¾ssible from existing cÐ ¾mpanies, if new entrants wÐ ¾uld bring innÐ ¾vative prÐ ¾ducts and ideas to the industry; Few legal barriers prÐ ¾tect cÐ ¾mpany from new entrants; The company has established brand image and reputation; Products are mainly differentiated by design and engineering quality; New entrant could easily access suppliers and distributors; It is very hard to achieve economies of scale for small companies; GÐ ¾vernments Ð ¾ften prÐ ¾tect their home markets by intrÐ ¾ducing high import taxes; Supplier power (Weak): Large number of suppliers; Some suppliers are large but the most of them are pretty small; Company uses another type of material (use one metal instead of another) but only to some extent (plastic instead of metal); Materials widely accessible; Suppliers do not pose any threat of forward integration; Buyer power (Strong): There are many buyers; Most of the buyers are individuals that buy one car, but corporates or governments usually buy large fleets and can bargain for lower prices; Buyers are price sensitive and their decision is often based on how much does a vehicle cost; Buyers do not threaten backward integration; Threat of Substitutes (Weak): There are many alternative types of transportation, such as bicycles, motorcycles, trains, buses or planes; Substitutes can rarely offer the same convenience; Alternative types of transportation almost always cost less and sometimes are more environment friendly; Competitive Rivalry (Very Strong): Moderate number of competitors; If a firm would decide to leave an industry it would incur huge losses, so most of the time it either bankrupts or stays in automotive industry for the lifetime; Industry is very large but matured; Size of competing firm’s varying but they usually compete for different consumer segments; Customers are loyal to their brands; There is moderate threat of being acquired by a competitor; (Nkomo, 2013, p.4). 3. External environmental factors are important for the proper growth, which leads to occupation of leading position on domestic and later on global markets. Toyota has managed to achieve success via thorough guidelines and principles of business that were created within the company. While entering business, especially automobile industry it is not enough to know competitors, one should have clear understanding of what advantages your company has over others on a market; thus, it shows ways for improvement. The Toyota Company has become a leader on the market not in one day. In 2012, the Toyota Motors Corporation was recognized as the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, with the reported production of 200-millionth vehicle in the middle of that year. Its annual production of vehicles reaches 10 million. The biggest share of its success belongs to production system, known as â€Å"lean manufacturing system† or â€Å"just-in-time system† that has become popular worldwide and thus, studied. The system functions in the way of producing vehicles ordered by customers in the quickest and the most efficient way. The method helps to deliver vehicles in a short period. Firstly, it explains the significant number of factories all over the world that work for a specific region. Secondly, this approach helps to establish so-called communication with customers and ability to be flexible in fast-changing tastes and trends. Economic factors are also important for the company’s growth. The economic system and policies, nature of the economy of the country, trade cycles, level and distribution of income define the economic environment of the company (Jain et al., 2006). One of the examples, describing mentioned above is connected with Toyota entering North American market. The company has entered the market with its small passenger cars that were cheaper that those of competitors. During the oil crisis in 1970s, the Toyota was able to respond to customer demand for small cars with improved fuel economy while competitors were producing small cars of lower quality. It shows that the Company had healthy and fast-responding solution to the situation both on a global scale (oil crisis) and customer demand within a region (small cars with effective fuel consumption). Socioeconomic factors are related to the brand’s features – quality, reliability and durability. Over a span of time, the Toyota has become the most trusted vehicle manufacturer in the world. After launching a luxury line, it had become a symbol of status. Toyota’s input into socioeconomic development of every country always associates with respect. The laws of a country are valued by fair corporate actions from senior management. Thus, Toyota has gained general recognition from the society. Company’s priorities in each country combine awareness of traffic laws and work-life balance for its employees. Financial performance of Toyota is determined as outperformed. During the last five years, total assets increased 586.8 billion yen to 3,243.8 billion yen that can be explained in terms of an increase in market value of investment securities. Liabilities grew due to an increase in deferred tax liabilities. Net assets growth is estimated at the level of 327.2 billion yen. Cash flow from operating activities rose due to posting income before income taxes. In comparison with the last fiscal year, net case has also grown. Cash flows from investing activities resulted in a decrease in cash of 274.2 billion yen, resulted by increase in payments for purchases of property, plant and equipment (Toyota Industries: Financial Summary, 2013). When analyzing Toyota’s presence in the US market, for example, it is important to highlight that Toyota has minimum political and legal implications. It is connected with company does not have to deal with unions has minimal financial burden along with the retirement and financial plans. There is no need for the company to splurge budgets on legal costs associated with its operations and health care expenditures. The government within the country where the company runs its business outlines legal framework for the Toyota. In the United States, there are laws that are directly applied for the company – competition, consumer protection or taxation and emission laws. Physical factors are associated with challenges that company has faced while being among the leaders in automobile manufacturing. These are forces that have a direct impact on plans, strategies and decisions made by the company. Challenges embrace the wide spectrum of spheres including: intense and high competition economic crisis of 2008 malfunction of products (Camry Solara and Lexus, four million of which were recalled by the company; 2009-2010 the Company recalled around eight million cars and trucks manufactured in the US) Political environment of the Toyota Company is affected by the decisions related to marketing and thus, development of new products. Despite of the geographical location, companies are still vulnerable to a political environment within a specific country. However, states are interested in maintaining companies inside of the country as they give working places and are subject to taxation. With its number of consolidated companies and affiliates, the Toyota Company belongs to the bunch that is protected by local governments with further creation of competition on the market, adding customer values. Sociocultural factors refer to the influence of certain social and cultural factors on an organisation. The factors influencing the social environment of an organization are usually beyond the control of the Toyota Company and may include the following: attitude of people to work, religion, cast etc. The Toyota Company has established The Toyota Way internal principles and guidelines for its employees. The staff has to embrace and follow five principles: challenge, improvement, go and see, respect and teamwork. A lot of work is done by creating comfortable conditions for local staff and creating opportunities via incentives and programs aimed at growth both personal and professional. The Company has launched Corporate Citizenship program that includes environmental awareness, traffic safety, education and input into the society by volunteering. Technological environment is a driving force for future development. Toyota spends a lot of time working on technological advance and production of products of the highest quality. For example, back in 1997 the company was the first who launched mass production of hybrid electric vehicles (Toyota Prius). Technological environment means the creation of cars that are popular with consumers. They are popular because of safety of its products, environmental issue, and engagement with intelligent transport systems outside of the vehicle. For example, Corolla model that is present on the market for over 17 years has been attractive to customers due to important features such as gas expenditure and low maintain cost (Flynn, 2013). The Toyota is one of the leaders on automobile market and industry as well. Success coincides with some of the challenges that the company had to face in the mid 2000s related to technical malfunctions of its products. It took many resources, tangible and intangible in order to solve these issues and restore its reputation. The biggest achievement of Toyota is an ability the products of Toyota to be beneficial for the society and environment at the same time. Over the time, the company has gained success on the market leading to the constant demand of its product, thus, profit as well. The Company always seeks new ways in technology to improve its products, which is promising for company’s career. Recommendations Toyota Motor Corporation should seek ways to detect bugs while products are not sold to the end consumers. It will enable efficient control and responsibility. Business expansion is possible in new emerging economies. For it, Toyota has to be flexible and responsive to local market demands. Emerging economies are new horizons to be discovered by Toyota. The Company should pursue its innovative approach towards environmentally-sound products not only in automobile industry.

Free Essays on Lifes a Bitch and Then You Rock

lIFE’S A BITCH AND THEN YOU ROCK Life is full of hardships, which is a bitch. But, if faced, they are overcome and you are rewarded, which rocks. However, if the problems are not dealt with, more problems will arise. My title is a quote by Art Alexakis- lead singer of the band Everclear. He was presented with problems in his life, but he faced them. And now his life is much better. No one ever promised that life would be easy, and no one ever told you exactly what to expect. This is because everyone’s life is different. No one faces the same challenges. But, everyone has to face life sooner or later. First, life confronts you with a problem. It is impossible to list every situation life can hand you, however, here are three scenarios that show different aspects of life. You’re a seventeen year-old girl who has just found out she is pregnant. Your boyfriend, afraid of the situation, has left you. Your parents, deeply religious, have shunned you. Your aunt allows you to stay in her house but disapproves. You are left alone to take care of yourself- sacrifice your childhood. In the next scenario, you’re a grown man. Your father has just suffered a severe stroke, his third in as many years. He is unconscious, in constant suffering, and kept alive, only by respirators that breathe for him. You must choose whether to keep him alive on the machine or pull the plug and let him die- decide his fate. Finally, you’re a 19 year-old college student that has to write a major essay. You haven’t made an effort all year. And if you don’t write a re asonable paper you will probably fail the class. It’s not a difficult assignment but you have to find time, research the subject, and not loose sight your goal- take the responsibility. Ursula K. Le Guin was presented with responsibility when she saw the sparrow trapped in the cage (564-565). She could have just walked away, but she took it upon herself to find... Free Essays on Life's a Bitch and Then You Rock Free Essays on Life's a Bitch and Then You Rock lIFE’S A BITCH AND THEN YOU ROCK Life is full of hardships, which is a bitch. But, if faced, they are overcome and you are rewarded, which rocks. However, if the problems are not dealt with, more problems will arise. My title is a quote by Art Alexakis- lead singer of the band Everclear. He was presented with problems in his life, but he faced them. And now his life is much better. No one ever promised that life would be easy, and no one ever told you exactly what to expect. This is because everyone’s life is different. No one faces the same challenges. But, everyone has to face life sooner or later. First, life confronts you with a problem. It is impossible to list every situation life can hand you, however, here are three scenarios that show different aspects of life. You’re a seventeen year-old girl who has just found out she is pregnant. Your boyfriend, afraid of the situation, has left you. Your parents, deeply religious, have shunned you. Your aunt allows you to stay in her house but disapproves. You are left alone to take care of yourself- sacrifice your childhood. In the next scenario, you’re a grown man. Your father has just suffered a severe stroke, his third in as many years. He is unconscious, in constant suffering, and kept alive, only by respirators that breathe for him. You must choose whether to keep him alive on the machine or pull the plug and let him die- decide his fate. Finally, you’re a 19 year-old college student that has to write a major essay. You haven’t made an effort all year. And if you don’t write a re asonable paper you will probably fail the class. It’s not a difficult assignment but you have to find time, research the subject, and not loose sight your goal- take the responsibility. Ursula K. Le Guin was presented with responsibility when she saw the sparrow trapped in the cage (564-565). She could have just walked away, but she took it upon herself to find...

How to Write a Press Release

How to Write a Press Release How to Write a Press Release If your business has news to share, you can do so via a press release. But what exactly goes into a good press release? And how can you write one? Check out our tips below to find out. 1. Pick an Eye-Catching Headline Press releases are designed to get your business in the news, so treat them like a news story. And one thing that every good news story has is an eye-catching headline. Ideally, this will let the people you contact know exactly what your press release is about and why it is important. Try to keep your headline punchy, too. If you need more space to give extra detail, you can add a subheading after the main one. 2. Think About Your Goals The content of your press release will depend on what you want to achieve. Are you promoting an event? Letting customers or clients know about a change in your business? Think about: How your news affects your business and those involved What you want readers to take away from your press release How you want people to act upon this information If you can focus on these details, your press releases will be more effective. Make sure, too, to mention all the key players involved (e.g., staff, stakeholders, clients, and customers). 3. Make It Quotable Journalists love it when you make their lives easier. So if you want to get coverage from your press release, try to include the following: Soundbites from key players such as the company owner or CEO Statistics related to your news (e.g., number of sales, revenue increases) Any images you want used alongside your news Journalists can then use these when writing up the press release as news. 4. Pick the Perfect Time The timing of your press release is almost as important as its content. But the best time for a press release will depend on what you are writing about: When it is about something that has just happened, release it as soon as possible afterwards. If possible, write a draft version in advance. If it is about an upcoming event, send it 3-5 days before you need coverage. You may also want to include an embargo date for publication. In addition, it is usually best to send press releases first thing in the morning (e.g., 9am) when journalists will be checking their emails. On a similar note, the best days to send press releases are usually Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (never send one on Friday before the weekend). Summary: How to Write a Press Release When writing press releases, keep the following tips in mind: Write an eye-catching headline to grab the reader’s attention Think about your goals and tailor its content accordingly Provide statistics and quotes from key players for journalists to use Think about the best date and time to send out your press release And don’t forget to get your business documents proofread! Click here to see our example press release.

Choose any country, assess its current macroeconomic position and Essay

Choose any country, assess its current macroeconomic position and discuss what policy options might be adopted (or have been ado - Essay Example This is translated in the macro level as the economy’s total income and total expenditure. GDP measures both the income of the people in the economy and expenditure in the form of consumption, investment, government purchases and net exports. We can assess the economic performance of United Kingdom (UK) using the economic indicators mentioned above. We begin with analysis of the trend in UK’s GDP. There were rises and falls in UK’s GDP as results of the economic fluctuations over the years but the latest figures in its trends reveal the positive position of UK. The UK figures show that GDP on a comparable basis (constant basic prices) grew by 0.5 per cent in the year to end-September 2010 and grew by 0.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2010 (www.scotland.gov.uk 2011). These figures are the results of the experienced increase in both services and construction sectors, 0.6 % and 1.6% respectively and the fall in production sector by 0.4 %. This trend was presented in Figure 1. FIGURE 1. UK GDP GROWTH RATE (2000-2010) In this graph, UK’s GDP was positive from year 2000 up to the first quarter of 2008 and started to register negative growth rates in the second quarter of 2008. There was a negative GDP gap as the actual GDP was less than the potential output. This was the same year when the global recession hits most countries around the world. Recession is one of the economic fluctuations that economies have to face and pass through because failure to do so will cause economic depression. It is a period of declining real GDP, accompanied by lower real income and higher unemployment. UK is one of the affected economies by the recent global crisis. The effects were seen and felt by everyone in the economy. The findings of a survey of almost 5,000 small, medium and large businesses suggested that UK faced a serious risk of recession within months (BBC 2008). Major businesses reported fall in their production and sales. Firms particularly i n the manufacturing and services sector have experienced serious cash-flow problems as results of the lowest levels of sales and orders, job expectations and confidence hit. Both consumers and firms were losing confidence in the recovery of the economy. This made them to hold on tight to their money and refrain from spending, making the consumption and investment level very low. We all know from our circular flow of economic activities that expenditures on buyers purchases and consumption will be the income of sellers of products and providers of services. The effects of the changes in consumption behavior of the households were extended to the producers. House builders has to cut their jobs and reported that completion of their house sales fell. The services firms like restaurants, gyms and tour operators were also hard hit by the decrease in consumption level of the households. The low volumes of production and sales of the businesses caused the real income to fall and contributed to higher inflation rate (Friedman and Schwartz 1982, p.253). More firms have decided stop their production activities because the present condition won’

Comparison of Healthcare, Nursing Care, and Nursing education in the Research Paper

Comparison of Healthcare, Nursing Care, and Nursing education in the US and Ireland - Research Paper Example Barring a few exceptions such as Veterans Healthcare Administration, Medicare, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and TRICARE, the health insurance in the United States is predominantly provided by the private firms (Sultz & Young, 2008). Many of the Americans and their families are extended health insurance by their employers. Yet, a great many Americans are left uninsured. The US spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other nation in the world (Herzlinger, 2007). In fact a large chunk of the national income is spent on healthcare every year. Considering the very high cost of healthcare in the United States, the country has the third highest healthcare budget in the world (Herzlinger, 2007). Irrespective of the gargantuan healthcare expenditure, when it comes to parameters like infant mortality and life expectancy, the US tends to fall behind other developed nations (Herzlinger, 2007). Though there are many government funded healthcare programs, yet they are mostly limited to the veterans, the elderly, the poor, children, and disabled (Armstrong & Armstrong, 1999). Luckily, as per the federal laws, the citizens are allowed a free access to the emergency services, irrespective of their ability to pay (Armstrong & Armstrong, 1999). The hospitals, doctors and the medical personnel in the United States are primarily funded by the insurance pla ns and the payments received from the patients (Roth, 2010). Also, there are also many inequities in the US healthcare system in the context of ethnicity and financial status (Roth, 2010). Besides, United States is one of the only two countries in the world that allows the pharmaceutical companies to engage in direct to consumer advertising of prescription drugs, thereby further adding to the cost of healthcare (Roth, 2010). The current Obama administration has given way to many healthcare reforms like Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Healthcare and

ABANDONED VEHICLE PROBLEM IN SAUDI ARABIA Assignment

ABANDONED VEHICLE PROBLEM IN SAUDI ARABIA - Assignment Example The situation is much worse in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Many countries, like New Zealand and European Union, have succeeded in getting rid of the problems of abandoned vehicles; however, Saudi Arabia is still caught in its strong clutches. This research paper throws light on the status of current industrial activities in Saudi Arabia by comparing it with the best current status of recycling in New Zealand. Moreover, the evaluation of the recycling industries currently working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia indicates that they are progressing very rapidly, Seder Environment for instance. Possible solutions and suggestions are given at the end in order to combat the environmental threats posed by the disproportionate abandoning of vehicles in the country. Additionally, the suggestions include massive awareness programs, implementation of the proper government laws and policies enforced by Law enforcement and other local authorities, improvement in the vehicle recycling industries a nd advanced research in this particular field. The health of human beings is the most important thing that needs to be taken care of in this modern era. Hence, in order to prevent further spreading of fatal diseases produced as a result of unsafe abandonment and limited recycling activities, the problems mentioned in the paper need to addressed as soon as possible. Introduction The increased expansion in the field of car technology has made human life exceedingly trouble-free. However, this advanced technology which gets quite an obsessive hype from all the strata of life does have a whole negative side to it. The issues encompassing abandoned vehicles by their owners have originated a major concern for city administrations and other law enforcement agencies throughout the world. This predicament often brings negative environmental, social and economic problems with it. The assignment of returning these abandoned vehicles back to their owners proves to be a humungous task as they do not carry any identification plates most of the times. For instance, Dubai Municipality removes around 240 to 250 cars in a month. Head of specialized hygiene, Yaqoub Al Ali once said, "Some people spoil Dubai’s landscape by leaving their cars for long periods within the city for emergency travel or because of financial and security problems" (Al-Sadafy, 2011). However, keeping in view the current statistics, the present situation in Saudi Arabia regarding the problem of abandoned vehicles is much worse and needs to be dealt with as soon as possible. According to the spokesman of the traffic department of Jeddah, Lt. Colonel Zaid-Al-Hamzi, his department has removed almost 2,836 cars in 2011 from the various sections of Jeddah. Law enforcing agencies fear that they will soon run out of the suitable places to store the vehicles. Abandoned vehicles are stored for six months and once this period is over, the cars are discarded away as junk (Arabia MSN). Municipality collects a large number of deserted vehicles from all parts of the country but the lack of recycling activities in Saudi Arabia makes it difficult to deal with such a huge quantity of vehicles in a constructive way. In 2009, the municipality confiscated 1,536 vehicles from Jeddah. According to a well-known economist, Al-Buainain, the recycling sites in Saudi Arabia are marginal at present and the country needs to learn from its neighbouring countries such as Bahrain on the subject of advanced recycling activities (CW Staff, 2013). Abandoned Cars in a North Jeddah neighborhood. (Source: http://arabnews.com) (Source: www.flickr.com) Current Status of Recycling in

Explain why art is something that has great value both monetarily as Essay

Explain why art is something that has great value both monetarily as well as a reflection of the highest achievements of humankind - Essay Example Art has a great value monetarily, not only because it can obtain high prices, but also because it inspires artists to continue their craft. In the world of the arts, artists are either making money or struggling and poor. Despite the lack of financial compensation, highly-paid artworks drive artists to continue making art that has different purposes and meanings. They believe that they are making something that has eternal value to present and future generations. The monetary value of art also inspires young artists, which ensures the continuity of the arts. Art also has social significance because it connects people, as they find personal and/or collective meaning in art. Art becomes a manifestation of the highest achievements of humankind, when people find something valuable in it. These values provide eternal life to artists and their works. For those who appreciate art and find it valuable, art changes people’s thinking and actions. Sometimes, art can also help change the world and turn it into a better place. Art has financial and social values because people provide these values. It is through their appreciation and interpretation of art in their lives that breathes purpose into art. Art is not always just something to be seen and consumed aesthetically. Sometimes, it also provokes intelligent thoughts that can spark individual and collective changes. Sometimes, art can also transform societies and make humanity work toward their greater

Steel making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Steel making - Essay Example The process of steel making process involves producing steel from either the ferrous scrap or from iron. During the steel making practice, there is the removal of excessive impurities, among which are silicon, nitrogen, carbon and phosphorous from raw iron, together with other elements of alloy like nickel, vanadium, chromium and manganese, for the production of different steel grades (Mohammed, Stephen, and Seetharaman 1566). The limitation of dissolved gases that include oxygen and nitrogen, as well as all other impurities entrained within steel is important for enhancing the product quality cast from the initial liquid state. Two important processes are involved in steel making; the electric arc furnace, and Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS). The latter uses scrap steel and blast-based liquid pig-iron as the major feed materials, whereas the former makes use of the direct reduced iron or the scrap steel (Mao, Pan, Pang, and Chai 67). The oxygen steel making is exclusively fueled by the reaction’s exothermic nature within the vessels, while the electric arc furnace (EAF) process makes use of the electric energy for melting of the solid scrap material. Introduction of additional chemical energy for EAF processes has enhanced the evolution of the process to almost equal the technological expertise involved in oxygen steel making. The modern processes for steel making can be classified as primary or secondary. The primary steel making generally entails the conversion of liquid iron from an original steel scrap and blast furnace to steel by the melting of scrap, or basic oxygen steel making, and the use of direct reduced iron within the electric arc furnace (Seiji, Yoshiyuki, and Masuro 13). The secondary process of steel making, however, entails the refinery of crude steel prior to casting, and this involves numerous operations in the ladles. The addition of alloying agents occurs during the secondary metallurgy

Explain why art is something that has great value both monetarily as Essay

Explain why art is something that has great value both monetarily as well as a reflection of the highest achievements of humankind - Essay Example Art has a great value monetarily, not only because it can obtain high prices, but also because it inspires artists to continue their craft. In the world of the arts, artists are either making money or struggling and poor. Despite the lack of financial compensation, highly-paid artworks drive artists to continue making art that has different purposes and meanings. They believe that they are making something that has eternal value to present and future generations. The monetary value of art also inspires young artists, which ensures the continuity of the arts. Art also has social significance because it connects people, as they find personal and/or collective meaning in art. Art becomes a manifestation of the highest achievements of humankind, when people find something valuable in it. These values provide eternal life to artists and their works. For those who appreciate art and find it valuable, art changes people’s thinking and actions. Sometimes, art can also help change the world and turn it into a better place. Art has financial and social values because people provide these values. It is through their appreciation and interpretation of art in their lives that breathes purpose into art. Art is not always just something to be seen and consumed aesthetically. Sometimes, it also provokes intelligent thoughts that can spark individual and collective changes. Sometimes, art can also transform societies and make humanity work toward their greater

Business Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Business Economics - Essay Example In fact the choice problem of the monopolist is to choose the per-unit price and quantity of output to maximise profits. This is achieved by producing that level of output (Qm) for which the MC = MR (with the MR being intersected by the MC from below as a second order condition). The price charged will be Pm as it can be seen from the demand curve that it is what the consumers shall be willing to pay for each unit if Qm is the available output in the market. Here the profit level shall be supernormal (represented as the shaded area in the diagram) i.e, over and above the normal profits. The absence of close substitutes allows the monopolist to charge a price high enough that ensures supernormal profits. However one should note that the monopolist can actually be bearing losses as well in the short run. This occurs simply if the AC corresponding to the profit maximising output lies above the corresponding price. In this case however the short run problem for the monopolist becomes one of minimising the loss. However, a firm will go on operating in a monopoly market through the long run if only he earns positive profits. Such profits can be sustained in the long run since in spite of the supernormal profits that may act as incentives to new firms, the barriers to entry are assumed to be strong enough to prevent new entry in a monopoly market structure. In the long run, the equilibrium condition is LMC = MR with the MR curve being intersected from below by the LMC curve. However the monopolist is limited in hiking the pricing over a certain extent as the negative income effect it generates may cause consumers to move on to substitute goods and thus causing a loss in revenue. However as long as the monopolist produces the profit maximising output and charges the corresponding optimal price, he/she shall be earning supernormal profits in the long run as well. Oligopoly is a type of

Photostory Essay Essay Example for Free

Photostory Essay Essay This essay is to comment on my photo story that I did for my coursework, I will be talking about various things like the lighting, costumes and mise-en-scene, what they did for the photo story and how it helped. The genre I chose for my photo story was a sports genre. I thought it would appeal to the vast majority of male readers of around 14-18 years old, as it is a football magazine, which I have called The Kick-A-Bout Crew. I think that the story I chose would also interest younger readers as an incident like this one could crop up in their everyday lives. In a newsagents local to me, most of the space for papers and comics had been taken up by football magazines; this is partly why I used a football idea. If I were to sell my magazine, I would be very confident that my target audience would be teenage boys, and my grey market would be female readers as they are not likely to want to read football stories very often in most cases, but not unheard of. I would be very satisfied with this target audience. The way my story was narrated was through caption boxes and speech bubbles; this made my story quite easy to understand without too much difficulty. My captions were being placed at the bottom of a photo, to be read first, while the speech bubbles on the photo, perhaps slipping onto the background of the document to make sure that they didnt cover up the characters faces. I placed my speech bubbles in the direction the storys pictures were placed, normally flowing from left to right so as to make it easier to read. I used many different camera angles, to subtly highlight the events occurring in my story. For my first photo, I took an establishing shot from a fairly long distance away, taking it from a high angle to symbolize the fact that the boys are really just kids, innocent in youth and also to show the readers were the story takes place. In my second photo I take the photo as a medium shot, from a slightly low angle, so that it appears to the readers that the watching boy is much taller physically and symbolically than Paul and Jimmy showing that he is more important. For my third and fourth shots, I used eye-level close-ups that display the clear emotion on both of the boys faces, to depict to the readers the emotions of the boys and put the readers in their positions. The fifth photo is simply an eye-level medium shot that was the plainest and most obvious way to show the audience what is happening quite clearly. When my main character, Paul, gets tackled, the photo is taken from a high angle from a medium distance for the first view of it, to show the vulnerability of Paul to the audience before switching to an eye-level close-up to make the readers see how cheap the tackle was. The next shot is taken back to a high-angle showing the discomfort and pain that Paul is feeling, making him pitiful to the audience and to make them feel sorry for him, whilst not showing the boy, who is helping Paul up in the same light. For the next shot I used another eye-level medium shot, with a slight over-the-shoulder feel to it were you see Jimmy listening in behind the two talking boys, to show his sly jealous side to the more judgmental of the readers. For my penultimate shot I used an eye-level long shot to fit the characters all in but not leave too much background so the audience are drawn to the colour and action of the shot. And finally I used an eye-level close-up of Jimmy getting punched; the camera is supposedly a first-person view from Paul, to make the audience feel as though theyre throwing the punch. I think that all of these different angles have really illustrated the point that I was trying to make in each photo, they help keep the readers entertained and even kind of involved and would easily help them to understand the characters. I used particular colours in my background to lure my readers attention and immediately tell them the type of story I have chosen. I used a background of green and white like a football field and had the title set against a black and white football, in the actual title the word foul was a chilling blood red in the style of chiller. For each of my photos I used a different colour for each caption boxes to try and not make the page too boring and also to try and describe the photos, for instance at the start of the story where it is just a friendly kick about the caption box is a merry yellow, while proceeding through the story coming to the tackle it has slowing turned to a violent shade of scarlet. I shot my photo story at Dundonald Playing Fields as it fitted in with the story and provided a good mise-en-scene. Its in the grounds of a shabby looking high school to show that these kids lead a normal school life and this is their day to day surroundings, a the dual carriage way in the background shows how busy the place is and stands for their urban lives. I also used different costumes to display the type of characters starring in my photo story. Jimmy wore a black tracksuit to show him as the villain, while Paul wore a green and grey Northern Ireland tracksuit, to show that he is not exactly good as gold either, but generally decent and has strong loyalties. The boy watching is wearing a bright red Man U top to show that he is very friendly and is chasing a spot on Manchester United Youth team. The only lighting was the afternoon sky that made it seem as though they were still at school having a lunch-time game. The football and the goalposts fitted in nicely with the story giving it that sporty touch. I also added a competition to star in the magazine, which I thought would really grab the readers attention and spread the word to their friends. These are all the devices and techniques I used to make the story interesting, eye-catching and comprehendible.

Tourism as a boost to economic growth in African countries; the case of Cameroon

Tourism as a boost to economic growth in African countries; the case of Cameroon ABSTRACT Tourism is viewed worldwide as a strategy to bring in foreign currency through the show casing of local goods, works of arts and cultures ranging from food to dressing. This also obtains in Africa and Cameroon in particular. Tourism is seen as a major source of income for the government and offers employment opportunities to thousands of its citizens. Cameroon is described as Africa in miniature probably because of its rich touristic potentials. This paper will therefore focus on the development of touristic potentials in Cameroon, public perception of tourism, the management of revenue from tourism and the overall economic gains it provides to the country. Introduction Cameroon is a Central African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, bordered by Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. Cameroons estimated 250 ethnic groups form five large regional-cultural groups: western highlanders (or grassfielders), including the Bamileke, Bamoun, and many smaller entities in the northwest (est. 38% of population); coastal tropical forest peoples, including the Bassa, Douala, and many smaller entities in the Southwest (12%); southern tropical forest peoples, including the Ewondo, Bulu, and Fang (all Beti subgroups), Maka and Pygmies (officially called Bakas) (18%); predominantly Islamic peoples of the northern semi-arid regions (the Sahel) and central highlands, including the Fulani, also known as Peuhl in French (14%); and the Kirdi, non-Islamic or recently Islamic peoples of the northern desert and central highlands (18%). The people concentrated in the Southwest and Northwest regionsaround Buea and Bamendause standard English and pidgin, as well as their local languages. In the three northern regions Adamawa, North, and Far NorthFrench and Fulfulde, the language of the Fulani, are widely spoken. Elsewhere, French is the principal language, although pidgin and some local languages such as Ewondo, the dialect of a Beti clan from the Yaounde area, also is widely spoken. Although Yaounde is Cameroons administrative capital, Douala is the largest and the economic capital with the main seaport, and main industrial and commercial centers. The western highlands are amongst the most fertile regions in Cameroon and have a relatively healthy environment in higher altitudes. This region is densely populated and has intensive agriculture, commerce, cohesive communities, and historical emigration pressures. From here, the Bantu migrations into eastern, southern, and central Africa are believed to have originated about 2,000 years ago. Bamileke people from this area have in recent years migrated to towns elsewhere in Cameroon, such as the coastal regions, where they form much of the business community. About 20,000 non-Africans, including more than 6,000 French and 2,400 U. S. citizens, reside in Cameroon. HISTORY The earliest inhabitants of Cameroon were probably the Bakas (Pygmies). They still inhabit the forests of the South and East regions. During the late 1770s and early 1800s, the Fulani, a pastoral Islamic people of the western Sahel, conquered most of what is now northern Cameroon, subjugating or displacing its largely non-Muslim inhabitants. Although the Portuguese arrived on Cameroons coast in the 1500s, malaria prevented significant European settlement and conquest of the interior until the late 1870s, when large supplies of the malaria suppressant, quinine, became available. The early European presence in Cameroon was primarily devoted to coastal trade and the acquisition of slaves. The northern part of Cameroon was an important part of the Muslim slave trade network. The slave trade was largely suppressed by the mid-19th century. Christian missions established a presence in the late 19th century and continue to play a role in Cameroonian life. Beginning in 1884, all of present-day Cameroon and parts of several of its neighbors became the German colony of Kamerun, with a capital first at Buea and later at Yaounde. After World War I, this colony was partitioned between Britain and France under a June 28, 1919 League of Nations mandate. France gained the larger geographical share, transferred outlying regions to neighbo ring French colonies, and ruled the rest from Yaounde. Britains territorya strip bordering Nigeria from the sea to Lake Chad, with an equal populationwas ruled from Lagos. In 1955, the outlawed Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (UPC), based largely among the Bamileke and Bassa ethnic groups, began an armed struggle for independence in French Cameroon. This rebellion continued, with diminishing intensity, even after independence. Estimates of deaths from this conflict vary from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. French Cameroon achieved independence in 1960 as the Republic of Cameroon. The following year the largely Muslim northern two-thirds of British Cameroon voted to join Nigeria; the largely Christian southern third voted to join with the Republic of Cameroon to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The formerly French and British regions each maintained substantial autonomy. Ahmadou Ahidjo, a French-educated Fulani, was chosen President of the federation in 1961. Ahidjo, relying on a pervasive internal security apparatus, outlawed all political parties but his own in 1966. He successfully suppressed the UPC rebellion, capturing the last important rebel leader in 1970. In 1972, a new constitution replaced the federation with a unitary state. Ahidjo resigned as President in 1982 and was constitutionally succeeded by his Prime Minister, Paul Biya, a career official from the Bulu-Beti ethnic group. Ahidjo later regretted his choice of successors, but his supporters failed to overthrow Biya in a 1984 coup attempt. Biya won single-candidate elections in 1984 and 1988 and flawed multiparty elections in 1992, 1997, and 2004. His Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) party holds a sizeable majority in the legislature following 2007 elections153 deputies out of a total of 180. ECONOMY Cameroon is endowed with an abundance of natural resources, including in the agricultural, mining, forestry, oil and gas sectors. Cameroon is the commercial and economic leader in the CEMAC sub-region, although regional trade, especially with Nigeria, remains under-realized. Cameroons economy is highly dependent on commodity exports, and swings in world prices strongly affect its growth. Cameroons economic development has been impeded by economic mismanagement, pervasive corruption, and a challenging business environment (for local and foreign investors). Cameroon remains one of the lowest-ranked economies on the World Banks annual Doing Business and similar surveys and regularly ranks among the most corrupt countries in the world. Over the last 3 years, GDP growth has averaged around 2%-3%, which is roughly on par with population growth but not enough to significantly reduce high poverty levels. Despite boasting a higher GDP per capita than either Senegal or Ghana, Cameroon lags behind these two countries in important socio-economic indicators, including health and education. The government has professed a determination to foster urgent economic growth and job creation, and there is a decided uptick in interest in the mining sector and infrastructure de velopment. For a quarter-century following independence, Cameroon was one of the most prosperous countries in Africa. The drop in commodity prices for its principal exportsoil, cocoa, coffee, and cottonin the mid-1980s, combined with an overvalued currency and economic mismanagement, led to a decade-long recession. Real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) fell by more than 60% from 1986 to 1994. The current account and fiscal deficits widened, and foreign debt grew. The government embarked upon a series of economic reform programs supported by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) beginning in the late 1980s. Many of these measures have been painful, including the governments slashing of civil service salaries by 50% in 1993. The CFA francthe common currency of Cameroon and 13 other African stateswas devalued by 50% in January 1994. The conjunction of these two events meant an overall drop in purchasing power of nearly 65%. The government failed to meet the conditions of the first four IMF programs. A 3-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) approved by the IMF in October 2005 ended in 2008. Cameroon has not negotiated any new IMF program but is continuing cooperation with the Fund under Article IV consultations. In 2009, the IMF disbursed $144 million to Cameroon under its Exogenous Shocks Facility to help with the effects of the global economic crisis. Official statistics for 2009 had inflation at 5.3%, indicating a weakening of Cameroonians spending power. Public frustration over rising prices was partly to blame for an outbreak of social unrest and violence in many Cameroonian cities in February 2008. In March 2008, the government announced a reduction in food import tariffs and other measures designed to reduce the cost of basic commodities. The global economic crisis has seriously impacted Cameroons oil, cotton, timber, and rubber sectors, depressing exports, growth, and overall consumption. The government has made halting progress on its privatization program. The National Water Utility Corporation (SNEC) was split into two entities. CAMWATERto handle infrastructureremains in government hands, and a reformed SNEC is now owned by a consortium led by Moroccan Water Utility. Plans to privatize the national air company CAMAIR and national telecom CAMTEL, however, have repeatedly faltered because of political sensitivities and concerns about corruption. CAMAIR was declared officially defunct and ceased to operate in May 2008; its replacement, CAMAIR-CO, has announced its intention to commence flights in early 2012. CAMTEL remains under the control of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. The European Union is Cameroons main trading bloc, accounting for 36.6% of total imports and 66.1% of exports. France is Cameroons main trading partner, but the United States is the leading investor in Cameroon (largely through the Chad-Cameroon pipeline and energy provider AES Sonel). According to press reports, China recently became the number one importer of Cameroonian exports, especially unprocessed timber. The map of Cameroon Cameroon Geography The climate of Cameroon is mainly tropical along the coast but it is hot in the north. The land of the country is diverse, starting form the coastal plain to mountains, plateau to plains. Volcanic activity from Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun volcanoes often take place. The natural resources of this country are iron ore, timber, bauxite, hydropower and petroleum. The agricultural products of Cameroon are coffee, bananas, cocoa, cotton, oilseed, grains, livestock, rubber and root starches. Geography of Cameroon reveals that deforestation, poaching, overfishing, overgrazing are becoming environmental issues currently. In Cameroon the southern part has got two dry seasons from November to March and June to August. The climate of the northern part is comparatively comfortable. The temperature varies from 23 degree to 26 degree C. This central plateau receives 150 cm to 60 cm rainfall a year. The dry season of this region continues from October to March. Tourism in Cameroon Tourism in Cameroon is a growing but relatively minor industry. Since the 1970s, the government of Cameroon has cultivated the industry by creating a ministry of tourism, encouraging investment by airlines, hotels, and travel agencies. Many hotels, restaurants and guesthouses have grown over the years to offer good accommodation facilities to the tourists, as such more cameroonians are being employed. All of Africa in a single Country. This is a slogan of inspiration for all those who visit Cameroon and especially for expserts in Cameroons Ministry of Tourism. This country offers all major characteristics that can be found in other countries in Africa: a highly diverse cultural background found in more than 200 ethnic groups, an exceptional geological, ecological and botanic potential, wildlife in its natural form and varied climatic conditions. This is the main reason why tourism is ranked 10th top priority of the President and his collaborators. The objective is to make Cameroon a leading tourist destination. The number of tourists coming to Cameroon increased from 200 000 in 2001 to about 300 000 in 2003 and this figure has steadily increased over the years. The objective in 2003 was to attain 500 000 visitors. Cameroon has more than 200 ethnic groups with over 233 languages spoken and a diversity of cultural activities. There are also ecotourist potentials that can be developed from North to south and from East to West thanks to the highly contrasting landscape. Mountaineering and tourism on mountains can also be practiced on the mountain ranges that are found all over the country. Safari can also be practiced by visiting the multitude of National parks which contain a diversity of mammals, birds and other beasts. Henceforth a safari could be a visit to Waza to watch animals, then back to the Northern parks like that of Bouba Ndjidah, or Korup in the south and the Dja national patrimony to admire the riches of nature. The some what median position of Cameroon in Africa makes it really summarize a good number of characteristics of the continent, causing some people refer to it as Africa in miniature. From the green dense south dominated by the Equatorial forest, there is a gradual change towards a low green savannah and steppe towards the north. The Western section of the country is dominated by a high relief, also dominated by savannah meanwhile the littoral section of the country has an extensive coastline marked by grayish yellow fine sands. There are also interesting aspects of the landscape marked by attractive sites, traditions and people. All these have led to different types of tourism which are practiced through out the year depending on the seasons. Cameroon has a good site for sea and beach loving visitors, with about 400 km of the Atlantic coast stretching along part of the country. Kribi and Limbe towns are the highest points of attraction for tourism on the coast. From these coasts, tourists can also carry out inland tourism to other destinations. In Kribi, there is an excellent beach of white sand extending over a large area with coconut trees from time to time appearing on the scenery. The contact between the Ocean and the sea is also an extraordinary site to see. Another wonder of Kribi is found in the south where a number of cascades of about 30 m high have given rise to waterfalls, the most spectacular being the Lobe fall which issues out directly into the Atlantic Ocean. A little bit above this area are fishing villages; Ebounja and Ebodje in which the activity is believed to be carried out miraculously. From Lobe, further visits on boats and canoes will take you to the discovery of the Pygmies of the equatorial Forest . The Limbe region is close to Douala and has a splendid site marked by the mount Cameroon which dominates the Atlantic region of Cameroon. The road linking the coast to Douala passes along magnificient plantations of rubber, palms and bananas. The geology of the coastal area is generally characterized by a large expanse of grey sand. Also thanks to the geographic situation Cameroon, there is a high diversity of most fauna and flora species found in Africa, with some that can only be found in Cameroon. There are presently nine national parks serving as a safe haven for wildlife in its natural state. This are areas of safari in which visitors can observe, take photos and feel the presence of animals in nature. The Waza National Park is the most popular in Cameroon and one of the most spectacular in francophone black Africa. It is located in the Far North Region and is a paradise for lions and numerous mammals like giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, leopards etc as well as a great colony of diverse bird species. The Bouba Ndjidah National park is a territory for rhinoceros. There are equally lions, elephants, buffaloes amongst others found here. The Benue National Park is at the heart of the northern region and it is a region with the largest antelopes, hippopotamus, hyenas, panthers, buffaloes etc. The Faro National park has a large number of animals amongst which are: buffaloes, rhinoceros, elephants, giraffes etc. The Kalamaloue National Park has elephants, crocodiles and a multitude of birds. The Mozogo Gokoro National park is of high botanical interest, and therefore a good site for research. The Korup national park located in the southern part of the country and has one of the oldest and most beautiful tropical forests in the world. Besides National parks, Cameroon also has a good number of reserves and sanctuaries such as that of Dja and Campo which are great gorilla sanctuaries. Cameroon is also endowed with a rich cultural diversity manifested by a rich and diverse folklore, arts, habitats and ways of life. Every region has a particular folklore and music. In the south there is the Bafia dance, Bekutsi, assiko and others that are very much loved by poets and visitors to the region. In the West, there is the Bamaleke dance, dominated by masked people dancing in very attractive and picturesque costumes. The north is a whole country of fantasia, marked by decorated horsemen in painted costumes, carrying and blowing long trumpets. Handicrafts and arts are made through out the country but the West and Northern parts of the country are leaders in the sector. Bafoussam, Foumban and Bamenda are towns that are noted for their masks, decorated costumes, chairs created in the form of thrones, pipes, sculptures and statues. In Maroua, there is an attractive multicolored market of decorated table cloths, locally tanned leather sleepers, bags and wallets of crocodile, snake or iguana skins, bracelets, hand-made carpets and decorative objects in general. There is also a rich historical patrimony in this region marked by monuments and antiquities as well as very ancient traditional palaces. Cameroon also has abundant potentials for ecotourism; four sites can be visited in this respect like: the Dja reserve, the Korup National Park, the Limbe botanical garden and the Ebodje village. The Limbe botanical garden was created in 1892 by a German horticulturalist in a bid to cultivate certain crops which were not adapted to the climate of Cameroon. Limbe is situated in the South West, beside the Atlantic Ocean. Several small tracks were created in this garden to facilitate easy access by visitors who come there to admire the natural wonders and biodiversity of the site. A jungle village was created at the centre of the garden for cultural manifestations. It is also a centre for international research on biodiversity. Ebodje is a fishing village also located at the borders of the Atlantic Ocean some 50 km from Kribi. Its beautiful beaches are a good site for lovers who can take on excursions in boats organized by fishermen. Ebodje is also a regional site for the protection of marine turtles. The Dja reserve is a world Heritage site declared y UNESCO since 1987. It is located in the south and has the richest natural fauna and flora biodiversity. It has over 1500 animal species amongst which are elephants, gorillas and chimpanzees, more than 107 mammals and a large biodiversity of birds estimated at over 320 bird species. The Korup National park falls amongst one of the oldest Tropical rainforests in the world. Fauna riches in this park can be explained by the fact that this area was not totally cleared off during the last ice age. Its fauna is comprised of more than 400 bird species, 140 fish species, numerous mammals and primates. More than 400 flora species have been identified in this area, with numerous medicinal plants. In terms of ecotourism, the presence of 250 fossilized dinosaur footprints at Manangia (Mayo Rey) are also be an attraction, not forgetting the mount Cameroon with its impressive height of 4070m. It is an active volcano, having a number of small rivers crisscrossing its slopes, some falling as rapids or waterfalls. To the north, the Mount Mandara and the sunny landscapes of the Kapsiki present beautiful sceneries. This area is inhabited by isolated human groups of people who are animists and live totally preserved from the influence of modern civilizations. An example is the Koma people on the Mount Atlantika. Within the confines of the boundary from the South west coasts of the Atlantic towards the interior, there is a vast expanse of forest vegetation that is cut across in several areas by rivers. There are equally towns and especially villages isolated in some areas; having traditions that have long existed and keep on passing from generation to generation. Some of these villages are good camping sites. The north has distinct vegetation from the south; there is a visible change from dense forests in the south to a savannah landscape in the north. This begins with a vast expanse of lowland prairies on the Adamawa plateau (grazing zone) towards the north between Maroua and Kousseri on immense dry plains which tend to be dominated by a Sahel steppe vegetation. Culturally, annual traditional festivals are often organized in different areas of the country; these are opportunities of seeing different traditional dances and costumes. Examples are: the Ngondo of the coastal people, funerals of the Western people, the Ngoun of the Bamoun People which has become very popular and the Nyem-Nyem festival in the Adamawa. Big towns like Yaoundà © and Douala with their immense infrastructure of hotels, banks, conference halls and hotels are favorable sites for international conferences and business. There are also several possibilities of carrying out leisure activities like golf clubs, night clubs, bars, theatre halls and swimming pools. There are more than 50 travel agencies that are specialized in organizing tours and taking tourists to different locations; ensuring their security, nice stay and safe return. Cameroon also has three international airports that regularly serve international flights. There are equally internal flights to the nine secondary airports found in different locations. There is equally a good road network that links the major towns and provincial capitals as well as principal tourist sites in the country. A railway line runs from the south to the north, moving from Douala to Yaounde and finally to Ngaoundere. Cameroon is an ideal tourist destination in Africa and has a good record of security. The population is very welcoming to strangers and has much to offer in terms of culture, arts and behaviors. A visit to Cameroon could be equated to visiting the whole African Continent in summary. It is therefore not wrong to refer to this country as Africa in miniature. Pic 1: Tourist climbing mt, Cameroon South West Region Pic 2: elephants in Waza Park in the Far North Region Pic 3: Palace of the Sultan of the Foumban people in the Western Region Foumban or Fumban is a city in Cameroon, lying north east of Bafoussam. It has a population of 83,522 (at the 2005 Census). It is a major town for the Bamoun people and is home to a museum of traditional arts and culture. There is also a market and a craft centre, while Foumban Royal Palace contains a museum with information on Ibrahim Njoya who invented a new religion and the Shumom alphabet. Pic 4: A Bamun artisan in Foumban Though touristy, Foumban is one of Cameroons major attractions and an important centre of traditional African art. Its jewel is the Palais Royal, seat of power for the Bamoun people. The ruler of the Bamoun is known as the sultan, and the Bamoun can trace the lineage of their sultan back to 1394. The palace, completed in 1917, resembles a medieval chateau. It houses the Sultans Museum, which contains a multitude of royal gowns, arms, musical instruments, statues, jewellery, masks and colourful bead-covered thrones carved in the shapes of the men who sat on them. A few hundred metres south of the palace is the Musà ©e des Arts et des Traditions Bamoun. This extensive collection has exhibits on Bamoun history and art, including cooking implements, musical instruments, pipes, statues, masks, gongs and an ornately carved xylophone. The road that connects the two museums is the Rue des Artisans, home to sculptors, basket makers, weavers and embroiderers, and one of the best places in Central Africa to buy wood carvings. The table below show the number of tourists arrival in cameroon since 2000. YEAR NUMBER OF TOURISTS ARRIVALS 2000 277000 2001 221000 2002 226000 2003 300000 2004 190000 2005 176000 2006 / 2007 / 2008 / 2009 / 2010 572.73 Table 1: Number of tourists arrivals in Cameroon per year since 2000 (source: African statistical year book, 2009). THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF TOURISM IN CAMEROON The economic impact of the tourism industry is usually assessed at the macroconomic level and can be measured in several different ways. While tourism generates a significant amount of foreign exchange earnings that also contribute to the economic growth of developed countries, such ingredient of growth has not been effectively harnessed in Africa. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 2005) estimates, 766 million tourists who traveled world-wide in 2004 generated about $626 billion (excluding transport). During the same year, Africa received nearly 5% of the global arrivals (or 33 million tourists), an increase over the 2000 level (28.2 million) of 18% (Dieke, 2004). Similar increases in receipts were also registered, as reflected by the rise in the regionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s market share increase from 4.1% in 2000 to 4.5% in 2005. The contribution of tourism to economic growth and development is reflected in the form of exports since it represents 40 percent of all exports of services, making it one of the largest categories of international trade (UNWTO, 2006). In 20005, the tourism sector accounted for 3 % to 10% of the GDP of developing countries (UNWTO, 2005). Consequently, it is not surprising to imagine that tourism can be a viable export-oriented economic growth strategy for bringing jobs and development to the people and help in the reduction of abject poverty. Despite its increasing importance in African economies, however, tourism has attracted relatively little attention in the empirical literature on economic development. Studies examining cross-country rates of growth and development have largely focused on the contributions of exports from the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, rather than those of the service industry. Even those that explicitly examine the tourism sector in developing nations are primarily concerned with estimating and forecasting tourism demand and income generation via the multiplier process (Sinclair, 1999; Bezmen, 2006). In a recent study of the economic growth performance of Greece, Dritsakis (2004) shows that tourism has a long-run economic growth effect. Using Spainà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸s economic data, Balaguer and Cantavella-Jorda (2002) confirm the validity of tourism-led growth hypothesis for long-run economic performance. Oh (2005) for Korea, Tosun (1999), and Guduz and Hatemi (2005) for Turkey have also found empirical support for the tourism-led growth hypothesis. Similarly, employing the convergence approach based on Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1992a) type analysis, Proenca and Soukiazis (2005) examine the impact of tourism on the per capita income growth of Portuguese regions and draw the conclusion that tourism can be considered as an alternative solution for enhancing regional growth in Portugal, if the supply characteristics of this sector are improved. While Cunado and Garcia (2006) also find some evidence of conditional convergence toward the African regional average (for Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Uganda, and Zimbabwe) and the U.S. (for Cape Verde, Egypt, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Tunisia), the coverage given to the contribution of tourism has been scant. Comparing the relative growth performance of 14 tourism countries within a sample of 143 countries, Brau, Lanza, and Pigliaru (2003) document that tourism countries grow faster than all the other sub-groups (OECD, Oil Exporting, LDC, Small). Many developing countries have thus started to consider tourism as an important and integral part of their economic growth and development strategies as it serves as a source of scarce financial resources, job creation, foreign exchange earnings, and technical assistance (Sinclair, 1998; Dieke, 2004). The spending of international tourists positively impacts the economic growth of African countries. a 10 percent increase in the spending of international tourists leads to a 0.4 percent 13 increase in the GDP per capita income. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), Sub-Saharan Africa offers a considerable potential, not only for seaside tourism, but also for environmental and ecotourism, cultural tourism, sports tourism, and discovery tourism. However, this potential remains largely untapped. In economic impact of Tourism, Daniel J. Stynes gives an adequate illilustration of how tourism impacts an economy. He explains as follows: A simple tourism impact scenario illustrates. Lets say a region attracts an additional 100 tourists, each spending $100 per day. Thats $10,000 in new spending per day in the area. If sustained over a 100 day season, the region would accumulate a million dollars in new sales. The million dollars in spending would be distributed to lodging, restaurant, amusement and retail trade sectors in proportion to how the visitor spends the $100. Perhaps 30% of the million dollars would leak out of the region immediately to cover the costs of goods purchased by tourists that are not made in the local area (only the retail margins for such items should normally be included as direct sales effects). The remaining $700,000 in direct sales might yield $350,000 in income within tourism industries and support 20 direct tourism jobs. Tourism industries are labor and income intensive, translating a high proportion of sales into income and corresponding jobs. The tourism industry, in turn, buys goods and services from other businesses in the area, and pays out most of the $350,000 in income as wages and salaries to its employees. This creates secondary economic effects in the region. The study might use a sales multiplier of 2.0 to indicate that each dollar of direct sales generates another dollar in secondary sales in this region. Through multiplier effects, the $700,000 in direct sales produces $1.4 million in total sales. These secondary sales create additional income and employment, resulting in a total impact on the region of $1.4 million in sales, $650,000 in income and 35 jobs. While hypothetical, the numbers used here are fairly typical of what one might find in a tourism economic impact study. A more complete study might identify which sectors receive the direct and secondary effects and possibly identify differences in spending and impacts of distinct subgroups of tourists (market segments). One can also estimate the tax effects of this spending by applying local tax rates to the appropriate changes in sales or income. Instead of focusing on visitor spending, one could also est