Bring It free essay sample

As a toddler, my grandpa would take me into the city each St.Patricks Day to watch Irish dancers perform in the local festival. They would dance along to the fiddles and accordions, giant wigs bouncing about, and their dresses glinting in the blaring stage lights. I would stand and stare, affixed on every move. Ever since then, I was hooked. My grandpa would continue to take me to this festival every year, as well as finding any other performances throughout the year. This was my only dip into the world of Irish dancing, until November of 2006. I began my Irish dance lessons, only for the pure enjoyment and, quite frankly, obsession of a 7 year old. All I wanted was a sparkly dress and a flouncing wig. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. About a year after I began my lessons, I was ready for competition, in which I did exceptionally well for an 8 year old beginner. We will write a custom essay sample on Bring It or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page I began competing more, moving up in the levels. I found myself dancing more and more, even practicing my steps down the halls of school and empty grocery store aisles. But finally, I was nearing the completion of my toddler-dream, I wanted that bouncing wig and the stunning dress. I worked hard, practicing between other activities such as school and church. I had to win each of my seven dances before I was able to get what I wanted. Competition after competition, everything but firsts. Seconds, fourths, thirds, even fifths, but no firsts. I began to slow down in my practicing, my self-esteem dropping and the sight of my dreams clouding over with doubt. My friends all got their dresses and wigs before I had, and I slowed even more, having nobody to support me in that level. Dance became a chore, I didnt want to practice, and I would make up excuses so I didnt have to attend classes. I did this for months, but one day, my dance teacher said something that changed my outlook. Bring it. These two simple words changed my take on my dancing about a year ago. I started practicing more and more again, the feeling of obsession and love for dance flooding back into my life. I wanted to go to dance again, and I was dancing around everywhere, like I had done when I was a young beginner dancer. My competitions improved tremendously, and I won all seven of these qualifying dances within a few months, all because of my new positive outlook. Through this experience, I have learned the truth of having a positive outlook on life. I have applied this to everything I do; dance, school, emotions. I strive to keep this positive outlook, and I encourage others to do this along with me. As I near graduation, my dance career will come to a close, but this outlook should continue. I want to keep this lens as I go away to college and begin to study, so that, even through the tough times, I can keep my head up and be successful in everything I do.

This Boys Life Essays

This Boys Life Essays This Boys Life Essay This Boys Life Essay Tobias Wolff Memoir Tobias Wolff opens up his Memoir with the image of him and his mother fleeing to find a better life in the Old West. Tobias wants to start from a â€Å"blank page† and decides to go as far as changing his name to Jack. Tobias feels guilty and unworthy and has extraordinary desire to transform himself into the boy he fantasizes about being. Tobias wants to be the privileged, independent boy that he describes himself as, in his letter to Alice, â€Å"I represented myself to her as the owner of a palomino horse named Smiley who shared my encounters with mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and packs of coyotes on my father’s ranch, the Lazy B. When I wasn’t busy on the ranch I raised German shepherds and played for several athletic teams† (Wolff 13). â€Å"Jack† is determined to impress Alice with his made up image of himself as a: free, self-relying adventurer, talented, and decently wealthy boy; all of which Jack isn’t, nor possesses. Jack does not own a horse, and the most adventure he has ever underwent, was the time he tried to find uranium under piles of rocks. More than anything Jack wants to have a loving father and a real family. His biological father, Arthur Wolff, lives separate of the family in Connecticut; Arthur even ended all of his Child Support payments for Jack which were critical for the survival of the family. Jack’s family does not have enough money to buy or support a German shepherd so there is no possible way he could have raised one. Lastly, even though Jack is a semi-athletic kid, he never continues with the sport/activity that he picks up and usually ends up dropping it after some time. Jack does not attempt to realize that this image of him is a fantasy, and can only keep dreaming of transforming himself into the charming young man he so heavily desires to become. Eventually Jack begins to live in his â€Å"untrue† fantasies because it is the only thing that provides him with stability in his otherwise extremely unstable life. In changing his name, Jack feels that he is one step closer to becoming more like his idealized image of himself, and one step further away from his father, Arthur, who has until now, caused Jack and his mother nothing but troubles. â€Å"I didn’t come to Utah to be the same boy I’d been before. I had my own dreams of transformation, Western dreams, dreams of freedom and domino, and taciturn self-sufficiency. The first thing I wanted to do was change my name† (Wolff 8). By changing his name, Jack would be further away from his father and closer to the ideal image he has ecreated for himself. Jack’s feelings of guilt and unworthiness are motivators for his dreams of becoming that â€Å"hero† kid he so heavily desires to become. Jack wants to try and adopt his father’s responsibilities and provide for his mother and somehow bail them out of their poverty and unhappiness. Jack is still a small boy however and their situation is far away from his grasp. In order to feel self- sufficiency and happiness Jack ignores reality and begins to fabricate his â€Å"heroic† image. Jack’s life in Chinook hit an all-time low. As Jack sets out on his early morning paper route, he feels oppressed by the predawn darkness and is reminded of other absences in his life, especially now that he is on his own, â€Å"The absence of light became oppressive to me. It took on the weight of other absences I could not admit to or even define but still felt sharply, on my own in this new place. My father and my brother. Friends. Most of all my mother† (Wolff 99). It is interesting to see how Tobias uses â€Å"absence of light† as a symbol to show that he is undergoing days of darkness. Tobias isn’t literally in the dark, but he is isolated from everyone he loves: his brother, father, friends, and especially his father. Jacks loneliness is intensified by Dwights cruel methods of punishment and ceaseless criticism of his every move. The scornful criticism that Dwight doles out does not hurt Jack as deeply as he intends. In time, Jack becomes somewhat immune to Dwights cutting remarks and eventually they seize to even hurt, â€Å"All of Dwight’s complaints against me had the aim of giving me a definition of myself. They succeeded, but not in the way he wished. I defined myself by opposition to him. In the past I had been ready, even when innocent, to believe any evil thing of myself. Now that I had grounds for guilt I could no longer feel it† (Wolff 134). Jack understands that Dwight wishes to change Jack with â€Å"helpful† criticism, but Jack despises Dwight so much that he undercuts and opposes everything Dwight says. Jack cannot bring himself to believe that the criticism is true. In criticizing Jack, Dwight is trying to redefine him, but Jack is too strong to believe Dwights insults and â€Å"helpful suggestions†. Tobias Wolff does a very nice job at closing up his Memoir and making the reader feel as if it was complete. Tobias Wolff speeds up the last chapter and combines it all into a very small section. In this section the reader learns: that his father has gone insane, Dwight gets arrested for almost strangling Tobias’s mother, Tobias gets kicked out of Hill, and enlists in the army. Suddenly this momentum seizes and again the memoir begins to come to a graduated pace. Tobias continues his Memoir by introducing this quote, â€Å"When we are green, still half-created, we believe that our dreams are rights, that the world is disposed to act in our best interests, and that falling and dying are for quitters. We live on the innocent and monstrous assurance that we alone of all the people ever born, have a special arrangement whereby we will be allowed to stay green forever† (Wolff 286). The memoir thereafter changes perspective and again continues from where we left off, Tobias just sold Dwight’s guns and is heading home feeling happy and self-satisfied. Tobias leaves the pawnshop with a huge sum of cash believing it would last him for months. Tobias imagines his family reunited again with his brother, mother and father. He also envisions himself with good grades, being the captain of the swimming team, and the school embracing him with arms. Tobias feels happy and self-satisfied because as he says, â€Å"In this world nothing was impossible that I could imagine for myself. In this world the only task was to pick and choose† (Tobias 287). Tobias can keep dreaming that everything will be perfect: he will become wealthy, his family would reunite, and his education/talent would be immense. Tobias understands that he isn’t living in the real world and is only dreaming, but he doesn’t want to let go of this utopia where everything is perfect and nothing can cause him pain. Tobias continues driving home self-satisfied and happy with Chuck. Going back to the introductory quote, we can see how eventually Tobias realizes that almost all of his dreams did not come true, and he finally began to separate reality from fantasy. He realizes that as a kid he was still â€Å"half-created†: didn’t know what he wanted to become, what he was going to do with his life, and what his purpose was. Tobias also understands that not all dreams can become reality and life does not always give you flowers; it can be harsh and cause many hardships, unlike whereas in your dreams everything is ideal. Tobias also finds out that life did not predetermine him to become someone famous or well known, but he simply became a plain soldier who serves in the military and eventually goes to Vietnam. Tobias can’t stay â€Å"green† forever, meaning that he can’t keep searching for who he really is, can’t keep dreaming of being ideal. He must begin to act in the real world and let go of his fantasies.

Agressive behavior in adolescent 12-18 Research Paper

Agressive behavior in adolescent 12-18 - Research Paper Example Since not all parents follow this technique as they are becoming quite busy in their own lives, they fail to discipline their children and their children continue to operate in an aggressive manner. Parents need to ensure that the techniques used for disciplining purposes are not very harsh as children may view continuous harsh treatment as unfair and they may react to these techniques in an aggressive manner. When children may react in an aggressive manner and parents even try to discipline this behavior by implementing harsher punishments, child will become more aggressive. Another theory that provides insight regarding aggressive behavior among teenagers caused by poor parenting is the strain theory. The strain theory asserts that individuals adopt aggressive behaviors because they fail to attain goals, which they value to be positive for their wellbeing (Cullen, 2013 p.148). In the case of teenagers, they put great value on being loved and cared for by their parents. If parents fail to provide love and affection to children, the child’s expectations are not met and thus he becomes aggressive. Hollist confirms this theory and cites that according to a study, huge portions of juvenile delinquents are those who were coercively treated at their homes (Cox, 2011, p.100). When parenting style is coercive in nature, the bond between the child and the parent becomes weak and due to this, the children become involved in the act of externalizing their problems. For example: a child might have witnessed divorce occurring between his/her parents and due t o the anger of divorce, the child may be involved in picking fights at school. Amato asserts that the rate of divorce in the American society has elevated and huge number of children in various households witnesses their parents fighting with each other (Fine, 2013, p.43). Due to this, a child may perceive that he/she is the

International expansion proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International expansion proposal - Essay Example The company is wholly owned by publicly traded Limited Brands Company; operating 1,017 company-owned stores and 18 independently owned stores, with annual sales of $6 billion and an operating cost of $1 billion as of 2012. The company has hierarchic system of governance with Sharen, Jester Turney as the CEO and President of Victoria’s Secret Megabrand and Intimate Apparel while Lori Greely as the CEO of Victoria’s Secret stores. (Website:www.victoriassecret.com/victorias-secret-sport). Victoria’s Secret intends to diversify its market by opening new branches in China; the world’s most populous country with population of over 1.35 billion people, second largest country in the world by land area after Russia and a socialist country espousing communism (Meng, 2011). Economically, it is the second-largest economy in terms of nominal Growth Domestic Product [GDP] totalling approximately $8.227 trillion by 2013 as per International Monetary Fund [IMF]. Reasons f or expansion to China To tap into the growing market of the China’s women population 48.73%, and demographic distribution of 13.3% and 42.8% on 0-14 years and 15-59 years respectively. Tap into the industrialization advantage in China to reduce cost of production Maximize profitability with the competitive exchange rate To maintain the competitive standards of Victoria’s Secret and brand image as a global outfit To tap into China’s skilled and multi-talented fashion designers, workforce, view point and knowledge to ensure growth as a company To tap into China’s economic wellbeing and favourable trading environment Tap into China’s favourable climatic environment and Sporting culture of basketball, tennis, swimming and martial arts Internal Analysis Value Victoria’s Secrets has with time strengthened value on its products starting with lingerie to diversify to sporting attires, swimming costumes, bras, panties, sleeping gowns, clothing and sh oes. The launch of â€Å"PINK†, a new lingerie line targeting 15-22 years old with products such as underwear, sleepwear, loungewear, beauty products and accessories; will create value in the new Chinese market more so through their product lines such as Angels, Very Sexy and Body by Victoria, intended to transition buyers into more adult product lines. The competitive exchange rate of the dollar and the Chinese Yuan, gives the company a competitive advantage of price and cost leadership giving the company capability to mitigate threats in the market (Barney & Hersterly, 2010). Rarity The uniqueness of design and the PINK product line creates the competitive advantage in the Chinese market coupled with the new accessories and fragrance lines which will match with the economies age distribution. The company’s customer service experience coupled with loyalty cards promotions and effective marketing strategies such as their catalogue, sporadic arts in fashion publications and referrals/word of mouth will help conquer the new market. In addition the company has employed social media marketing with incorporation of sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest account; expanding its website to feature behind-the-scene contents of its catalogue, in the Victoria’s Secret Direct, which are the strategies we can apply in the new market to lure the youthful and techno-savvy population. Imitability Most of the products by the

Critically examine the distinctions between explanatory and Essay

Critically examine the distinctions between explanatory and constitutive theories of International Relations, illustrating your argument with insights from a variety of theoretical perspectives - Essay Example Papp (2002) expresses that the profound insight into this discipline, different theories have been advanced by the scholars of this discipline. These theories not only help understand relations among the nations but also provide a complete framework of body for effective governance of the states and deal world politics at large. These theories include Realism, Neo-realism, Liberalism, Neo-liberalism, Constructivism, Idealism, Liberal Internationalism, Marxism, Functionalism and Post-structuralism etc which mark their existence as dominating thought of international system ever since emphasis on this discipline’s has been laid upon. According to Donnelly (2000), these theories endeavour to provide a conceptual framework to comprehend the basis of relations among the nations. In connection with asserting their actuality and validity, these theories take into account various assumptions for establishment of conceptualisation which have become mandatory under all circumstances for a profound insight into international relations. Before going further, a look at these concepts which seek their origin from these theories is all the most necessary. They are Nation-state, Balance of Power, National Interests, Elements of Power etc. they draw their birth from this theoretical system of body. Importance of these theories can be understood from the fact that without a conceptual framework of these theories, understanding world politics through international relations’ concepts was not possible. Keeping aside all other theories, for instance Waltz (1979), current debate on distinction between explanatory approach and constitutive approach in international relations will be deal by this paper. These approaches were taken into consideration for the classification of the international relations’ theories. In a practical perspective the realism is major participant in

Schumpeterian Growth Model And Convergence Theory Economics Essay

Schumpeterian Growth Model And Convergence Theory Economics Essay The Schumpeterian model, developed by Aghion and Howitt (1992) is an economic growth model that includes technological improvements, or innovation. This leads to the process of creative destruction where the advancement of new technologies renders the old obsolete. To give a theoretical example, colour mobile phones have replaced the old black and white ones in stores. Also the advancement of mobile phone technology could mean less need for wrist watches or cameras. This is based on the work pioneered by Joseph Schumpeter (1950) where innovators are the drivers of economic growth. He popularised the use of the term creative destruction or Schà ¶pferische Zerstà ¶rung. The efficiency frontier, used interchangeably with technological frontier, is based on growth with technological progress. It describes how technological implementation affects the growth rate of countries depending on their relative level of technological development. An industrialising country is far behind the frontier so has a large advantage by adopting the technologies of wealthier countries. As the economy moves closer to the frontier the effectiveness of this practise is abated. Hence policies that are effective in one economy could be detrimental in another depending on their level of industrialisation. This has implications on the theory on convergence. If a country is positively investing in RD they should be able to maintain economic growth. The way a country converges and if convergence is possible depends party on its comparative level of development and in part on its economic policies. Hence the Schumpeterian theory is that of club convergence. there are different lev els of convergences; a country moves towards the same frontier to that of his technological peers. This paper looks at the basic model of Schumpeterian growth and then applies it examine why growth rates differ across countries. The remainder of the paper is set out as follows: section 2 provides a brief literature review, section 3 presents the model. An application of the Schumpeterian model is looked at in section 4 where the effect of technological advancement is used to examine the technological frontier. Section 5 is an empirical testing of the model including the efficiency frontier is looked at in section 4. Section 6 looks at convergence due to technological advancement. and section 7 concludes and suggests areas for future research. Section 2: Literature review Majority of the work in this field has been undertaken by Aghion and Howitt. They developed the original model and have released a number of papers, together and corroborating with others, that expand the model. They have also done work on the technological frontier. Acemoglu has also published a prominent amount of literature in this field. Barro and Sala-i-Martin (2004) have provided a good algebraic model which is replicated in the next section. Jones (1995), Young (1998) and subsequently Dinopoulos and Thompson (1998) have developed neo-Schumpeterian models to remove scale affects. Empirical literature testing the accuracy of the model is rare, especially for countries outside the EU (excluding the USA). Most empirical literature discovered is testing other theories within the context of the Schumpeterian growth model. Zachariadis (2002) gives an overview of previous empirical literature and finds that most conform to the Schumpeterian model. He then does his own analysis and concurs that an increase in technological progress has a positively affects the growth rate of output. Teixeira and Vieira (2004) examine the relationship between productivity and human capital in Portugal. They find the pattern conforms to the Schumpeterian model of creative destruction. A problem with the literature is that they all use statistics on patent approval as a measure of technological development. The Schumpterian growth model is concerned with technological improvement in general, not just new innovations, so in this case imitation could also be included. The problem is that it is difficult to find data on imitation rates in an economy. Xu (2000) attempts to solve this problem by using data on the rate of technology transfers from US multinational enterprises to both developed and developing economies. Empirical literature also tends to focus on the USA, whom is at the forefront of the efficiency frontier. This could result in an underestimation on the effects of RD on growth because there is no effect from technological transfer at the head of the frontier. Once again Aghion and Howitt are prominent researchers in the field of Schumpeterian convergence. Howitt (2000) provided a framework which was later developed into a model (Howitt Mayer-Foulkes, 2004). Krugmans paper (1994) was seminal in literature on growth accounting, an early paper on Schumpeterian convergence. He argued the miraculous growth rates experience by the Soviet Union and in Asia were simply a product of large scale increases in input. There must be technological change for growth to be sustainable. Section 3: The model In the Schumpeterian growth paradigm, growth in driven by technological change. Here new technologies replace the old in a process described as creative destruction (Durlauf, 2010). In this model we assume new technologies are completely substitutable for the old ones. So as new technologies are invented they completely drives out the old technology from the marketplace. Innovation leads to a higher level of output being achieved for a given level of capital and labour than was previously possible which enables the economy to transcend the law of diminishing returns (Weil, 2005). Figure 1 in the appendix shows the law of diminishing returns where the purple line indicates the higher output possibility with technological improvement. The country acquires this new technology either through innovation or imitation. There are three players in the model: producers, innovators and consumers (Barro Sala-i-Martin, 2004). Innovators perform RD in order to develop new technologies. Those that are successful receive monopoly rents from the product due to patents. Note that the latest innovator has a efficiency advantage compared to the previous innovator but he has a disadvantage compared to the next. This is because the latest innovator is able to expand upon past knowledge in his creation of new technologies. This is shown in Figure 2. The successful innovator has the right to sell his idea to a final good producer, at this stage the profit stream to the previous innovator is terminated. The model makes several assumptions about the producers. There are a fixed amount Ñ products in the economy of varying quality. Each new producer is different from the old producer. So when innovations are made the old producer receives no more profit and the new producer takes over the market. Therefore the industry leader has the first mover advantage. The duration of dominance in the market is random (Barro Sala-i-Martin, 2004). The products are placed on a quality ladder, as shown in Figure 3. There are Ñ different goods of quality K. An improvement in a certain good corresponds with a movement up the ladder, an increase in K. Figure 4 shows the quality ladder for an individual product. Here we can see that duration between quality improvements and the size of quality improvements are both random. An incomplete, simplistic version of the growth model is as follows: in an economy with a fixed amount Ñ products, output is given by Yi = ALi1-ÃŽÂ ± .à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœNj=1 (qKjXij)ÃŽÂ ± where Yi is output in industry i, given A is the technology parameter, L is labour input and qKjXij is the quality, K, adjusted amount of the jth type of intermediate good X in industry i. If P is price, a firm maximises profit with Yi wLi à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœNj=1 Pjxij Demand for product X equals the marginal cost of production Xj = L. [AÃŽÂ ±qÃŽÂ ±Kj/Pj]1/(1-ÃŽÂ ±) The monopoly profit, à Ã¢â€š ¬Kj, for the innovator is the difference between the price of the product and marginal cost of production à Ã¢â€š ¬Kj =(Pj -1)Xj If Zj Kj is the flow of resources (as in figure 1) and à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ is random then an innovator faces probability of success pKj = Zj Kj.à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Kj and with ÃŽÂ ¶ as a parameter equal to the cost of doing research à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ is equal to à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢kj = (1/ÃŽÂ ¶). q-(kj+1).ÃŽÂ ±/(1-ÃŽÂ ±) which is an endogenous variable (Barro Sala-i-Martin, 2004: 321-22). The consumers are interested in consuming the latest good. If ÃŽÂ ¸ is a constant representing the elasticity of marginal utility, in other words the willingness to substitute and (r à Ã‚ ) is a marker of growth over time then household consumption grows by ÄÅ  /C = (1/ÃŽÂ ¸).(r à Ã‚ ) The interest rate can be defined as a function of profit flow, ÃÅ'„à Ã¢â€š ¬, the cost of doing research, ÃŽÂ ¶, and the probability of success r =( ÃÅ'„à Ã¢â€š ¬/ÃŽÂ ¶) p So the amount of resources devoted to RD in sector j at k quality can be defined as Zkj = q(kj+1).ÃŽÂ ±/(1-ÃŽÂ ±).(ÃÅ'„à Ã¢â€š ¬ rÃŽÂ ¶) Hence aggregate RD spending is à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬ËœNj=1 Zkj= qÃŽÂ ±/(1-ÃŽÂ ±)Q.(ÃÅ'„à Ã¢â€š ¬ rÃŽÂ ¶) Q is the aggregate level of quality improvements. The growth rate of Q is equal to ÃÅ'†¡Q/Q = ( ÃÅ'„à Ã¢â€š ¬/ÃŽÂ ¶ r).[qÃŽÂ ±/(1-ÃŽÂ ±) 1] If we algebraically substitute the above equation into the the consumption growth equation, allowing for r =( ÃÅ'„à Ã¢â€š ¬/ÃŽÂ ¶) p we get the growth rate ÃŽÂ ³ ÃŽÂ ³ = [qÃŽÂ ±/(1-ÃŽÂ ±) 1] . [( ÃÅ'„à Ã¢â€š ¬/ÃŽÂ ¶) à Ã‚ ] 1+ÃŽÂ ¸ . [qÃŽÂ ±/(1-ÃŽÂ ±) 1] We can see growth increases with economic profit flows, ÃÅ'„à Ã¢â€š ¬, and quality enhancements, q, but decreasing with the cost of research, ÃŽÂ ¶, and the utility parameters à Ã‚  and ÃŽÂ ¸ (Barro and Sala-i-Martin, 2004: 91, 327-31). The basic model has been expanded upon in recent literature. Aghion et al (2001) relaxes the assumption that the monopoly rent receiver will cease to innovate while he receives the rents. In this model there are two firms in an industry so the rent receiver must continue to innovate in order to keep up with the industry leader. This is important because leap frogging is not possible in this model and competition is important for growth. I was unable to find empirical testing of this framework but the assumptions made are more realistic to the real world. For example, when Nintendo invented the gameboy in the 1990s, they did not wait for the competitors to develop hand held gaming devices before they made improvements to the original gameboy. The paper also proposes that a small level of imitation is always good for growth because it encourages competition. Contrastingly, large levels of imitation is detrimental. This issue is explored further in the next section. Aghion et al. (2005) introduce credit constraints into there model. In reality poorer countries are restricted in how much they can imitate because they do not have enough money. Poorly functioning financial institutions or markets limit the flow of credit to potential entrepreneurs. Another line of research was pioneered by Jones (1995) we he brought into light the problems with assuming scale affects. Scale affects arise because the in the classic Schumpeterian model, Aghion and Howitt (1992) assume productivity will rise as the population increases but this has not been empirically supported (Durlauf, 2010). Aghion and Howitt (1998) acknowledged the correction to their model and have also incorporated growth effects into their new model. Dinopoulos and Thompson (1998) have also based work on Jones model by modifying the welfare effects. Section 4: Efficiency Frontier The Schumpeterian model describes growth due to technological progress. The productivity parameter is shown as a change in technology between two periods. If ÃŽÂ ¼n is the frequency innovations take place, ÃŽÂ ¼m the frequency of implementation and ÃŽÂ ³ is a multiple of the new technology we can write the productivity parameter as At+1 At = ÃŽÂ ¼n(ÃŽÂ ³-1)At + ÃŽÂ ¼m(At-At) and we can describe the growth rate,g, as the percentage change in productivity between the two periods (At+1 At)/At g = ÃŽÂ ¼n(ÃŽÂ ³-1) + ÃŽÂ ¼m(ÃŽÂ ±-1-1) where ÃŽÂ ±-1 = At/Äâ‚ ¬t (Durlauf 2010: 232). This leads us to the theory of the technological frontier. The country at the forefront of the frontier is the most technologically progressive economy, which has typically been the USA (Griffth et al. year). The distance of a country to the frontier impacts the effectiveness of adopting technologies and policies on growth. This is used to explain the experience of the slowdown of european growth after the 1970s. It cannot be explained by the Solow model as Europe had much higher levels of savings (Aghion Howitt 2006: 270). An alternative explanation is the lower frequency of technological implementation in Europe meant the continent could not keep up with the USA in terms of growth during the technological revolution during the 1980s. The technological frontier is captured algebraically by à £ = ÃŽÂ ¼m/(g + ÃŽÂ ¼m ÃŽÂ ¼n(ÃŽÂ ³-1)) which is the steady state value of at (Durlauf 2010: 233). Gerschenkrons theory of backwardness is incorporated into the model above. Gerschenkron (1962) proposed that relatively backwards economies could achieve high levels of growth by investing RD into imitating technologies of the advanced countries. Relating it to this model, economies far behind the frontier could move closer to à £ by enabling a large increase in ÃŽÂ ¼m because it is quicker to mimic technologies instead of inventing new ones. This result is true for OECD countries (Griffith et al 2000: 893) At the lower stage of development countries are advantaged by implementing anti-competitive policies that would encumber growth at later stages of development. For example, having many state owned enterprises means lower competition. This means an economy should not rely on investment based strategies for a prolonged period of time, at later stages of development they should start to encourage innovation instead. Investment based strategies are those that protect certain indus tries, foster strong relationships between firms and workers and between firms and banks, and encourage high levels of savings (Acemoglu et al 2006: 38-9). The German and Japanese economic model is an example of this. Although perhaps not the best example as both economies also place importance on innovation. Figure 6 shows the relationship between distance to the frontier and barriers to competition. This confirms that the closer a country is to the frontier, the more detrimental barriers to competition are to growth by the significant negative coefficient in all estimates for this relationship. The relationship between distance to the frontier and low barriers on growth is less negative and not significant (Acemoglu et al. 2006: 42-43). Most papers find tacit knowledge to be an important factor when adapting technologies. In this case location and close relationships with developed countries is important because the information can be easily passed on. An example was given in Grif fith et al (2004: 883) of when the British supplied the Americans with jet planes during the Second World War. The planes had to be redrawn to comply with American standards, a process which took ten months. Even once a country has sufficiently developed institutions or a high level of human capital it could still be at a disadvantage because it does not have the knowledge implicit in other regions. In the case of USA versus European economic growth, one aspect not covered by the model is that Europe is made up of many different countries with different attitudes. Hence fiscally responsible nations like Germany need to make up for large spending nations like Greece and Hungary. Countries like France and Sweden have highly developed social welfare systems, which impede growth, while the US welfare system is notoriously poor. On the other hand the social welfare systems can also play into the Schumpeterian model. For example, firm entry and exit rates are far lower in Europe, partly because Europeans tend to be more cautious in entrepreneurship and failure is not as heavily stigmatised in the US (Verheul et al 2002: 230). Firm turnover is part of creative destruction. Note that high entry and exit rates are only important at the head of the frontier. As described above, they should be low when a country is far behind the frontier, consistent with anti-competitive behaviour. The importance of technological progress for growth is seen in the examples of the Soviet Union in the 1950s and the East Asian miracle in the 1990s. These countries moved rapidly towards the frontier during their respective years of growth but it was unable to be sustained and they never reached the frontier. The high growth rates have been found to have resulted from large scale increases to input (Krugman, 1997) in other words from government investment and growing populations. The governments failed to successfully switch to innovation strategies and the growth rates faltered. A similar phenomenon appears to be unfolding at the moment in China. Once the population growth rate starts to decrease it remains to be seen whether they can continue to sustain their economic growth. An government then faces the problem of when to switch from policies promoting catch up growth to those enabling competition. Acemoglu et al. (2006: 64) has derived an algebraic model capturing the point where an economy should switch strategies The turning point is a function of ÃŽÂ ¼, innovation incentive, ÃŽÂ ´, anti-competition and à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾, the fraction of government subsidised investment. This equation also incorporates the spillovers, cost of the investment, the skills of the entrepreneur and the amount of high skilled agents in the economy. The full model is explained in Acemoglu et al (2006). If the economy were to transfer before the turning point was reached it would lose the advantage of backwardness and also may not have industries developed enough to compete globally. On the other hand if it remains in the investment stage for too long it may risk falling into the non convergence trap. Growth levels stagnate because total factor productivity is not increasing with the global standard. The problem with this model is that it is simplistic. There are many factors hard to capture in economic model. An example is poorly developed countries tend to have high levels of corruption. Powerful business leaders could influence the decision not to switch away from the investment strategy. In the case above with the Soviet Union there were political problems hindering growth when communism fell. Another problem is that the communist destroyed large amounts of resources with their inefficient techniques. Large amounts of land became in-arable due to pollution and untapped oil became inaccessible. Natural resources or geographic local could also affect growth. For example the EU has great benefits to member countries. There could be problems mobilising the population from rural to urban areas such as in Africa. Sociologist literature places emphasis in a national psyche that influences economic growth. This is common in entrepreneurial literature when examining regional motivatio nal difference but discredited somewhat in economic literature. The example previously used in this paper is that America is more entrepreneurial because of its emphasis on individualism and willing acceptance of change. This is a reason for their strong growth. The empirical testing of the above framework is looked at in the next section. Education is another important factor to consider in growth models. Does higher human capital result in economic growth. One might assume with a highly educated population there is greater likelihood of successful innovations. Yet as described in the above scale effects literature this is not automatically true. A country with a basic primary and secondary education may advance in the earlier stages of development but there are diminishing returns to scale as the country progresses towards the frontier. For countries near to the frontier a greater emphasis must be placed on tertiary education. Table 1 shows the educational attainments of 5 large OECD countries. USA and Japan both have relatively high levels and France has been quite low. Table 2 shows Japan and the US have had the highest levels of productivity growth over the period and the Netherlands was low. The amount of total patents shown in Table 3 shows a different ranking. The USA and Japan still at the top but Germany has also performed highly. France and Netherlands have granted a far lower amount of patents. These figures are too superficial to make any conclusions and further research should be done on this issue but it seems tertiary education is unrelated to patent number but could be one of many contributing factors towards productivity growth. It might be useful to look at increases in education rates and compare it to increases in patent rates to see if tertiary education has an affect on innovation when close to the frontier. Section 5: Empirical evidence There have been examples of data from various countries conforming to the Schumpeterian model of growth, as a closer fit than captured by the Solow model. Venturini (2010) have taken data from the US economy. He has expanded the model to include ÃŽÂ ´, the rate at which ideas become obsolete. He finds only a weak fit to the Schumpeterian model but acknowledges that this could be to do with a bias formed from the underlying assumptions of the framework. Teixeira and Vieira (2004) find the Schumpeterian model fits the case of regional Portuguese data. They estimated an econometric model of human capital, firm productivity and firm failure rates. The main finding is that regions with higher levels of income and human capital have higher failure rates on average, a process of creative destruction. Clydesdale (2007) finds the Chinese economic growth is hampered by not engaging a technological enhancement strategy. The Chinese economy is restricted by being overly ridgid and too special ised, making change difficult (Clydesdale, 2007: 71). Recent Chinese growth has been found to be resultant from a large scale increase in the quantity of inputs rather than from improvement in input quality. Historically this has not been a sustainable method of growth, for example the former USSR. Zachariadis (2010) used a neo-Schumpeterian model to estimate an RD steady state on the US manufacturing industry. He empirical evidence that scale effects do not exist in Schumpeterian growth (Figure 6). Between 1957 and 1989 levels of RD remained constant as did technological progress despite an obvious increase in population (Zachariadis, 2002: 569). The main finding in the paper is that RD has a strong positive affect on patent rates and is probably a cause of growth. Although most papers rely on data on patents to estimate technological progress, Xu (2000) measures technology spillovers from US multinational enterprises on 40 different countries. He finds that technology spillovers have a positive affect on productivity growth as long as they have met a certain level of human capital accumulation. This means countries that are relatively undeveloped like Brazil. These results are consistent with the findings of Aghion and Howitt (2006) above where developed countries have a greater emphasis on tertiary education and therefore a greater ability to innovate. Poorer countries need to reach a certain level of knowledge before they can successfully adapt technologies. As they move further towards the frontier the emphasis must shift to innovation in order to keep growing. Positive affects on productivity are still felt in the poorly developed economy but from other causes (Xu, 200: 479). Griffith et al (2000) made a study in OECD countries on the effe cts of RD imitation in catching up to the efficiency frontier. As with Zachariadis, Griffith et al. find an affect on patents from RD. They also find human capital affects innovation and imitation but international trade does not have a significant affect. Figure 7 was taken directly from their paper. TFPGAP is a measure of distance to the frontier and robust standard errors are in parentheses. Column 1 shows a positive, significant relationship of technology transfers on productivity growth, and in column 2 they introduce the effects of RD growth, also significant. In column 3 the level of RD and the relationship between RD is positive. The greater the distance to the frontier, the greater the chance of technology transfers to positively affect RD and growth but only at a ten per cent significance level. Aghion et al (2005) theoretically and empirically test the importance of financial development on convergence. This paper examines the role of financial development in supporting or hindering technological progress, the main force behind economic growth. Figure 8 shows average financial development and per capita GDP. There is a positive relationship between the two factors. There is no longer a positive affect of financial development on growth once a country reaches approximately a 39 per cent level of development, which is the level of Greece (Aghion et al 2005: 190) Section 6: Convergence Convergence is the concept that all countries will move towards the same economic growth rate. Convergence is theoretically possible because of the advantage of backwardness Gerschenkron (1962). Pritchett (1997) found that over the past 140 years that while the major economies moved towards convergence, there has been an overall divergence between the rich and the poor. This is the main idea driving the section on the efficiency frontier. First countries most mobilise resources, as seen with the large scale increases in inputs. They most also develop economic and financial institutions able to withstand and support prolonged growth. Technological progress is the last stage of convergence. This is the newer theory of club convergence (Howitt and Mayer-Foulkes, 2004). Based on Schumpeterian growth theory, countries move towards different steady states determined by their level of development. The richest countries benefit from technology transfers amongst each other but the poorer grou p must reach the appropriate level of human capital to be able to support advanced technology first. Global convergence begun in the later stages of the industrial revolution where European countries and the new world countries: USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand began to move towards similar growth rates (Pritchett 1997). However the poorer countries were not able to match such progress. In fact the opposite happened; during the period 1870 to 1990 the ratio between rich and poor went from 8.7 to 45 times the GDP per capita (Krugman, 1997: 11). Howitt (2000) theorised that while countries are making positive investments in RD they should eventually converge to the long run growth path . This is because innovations in other countries can be easily adopted as long as the country has the appropriate underlying institutions (Howitt, 2000: 830). Hence we have club convergence as shown in Figure 9. Growth path A represents those countries investing in modern RD and at the forefront of the efficiency frontier. Line B are those countries in the catch-up stage who have not reach reached the innovation stage of development. This could be a representation of countries such as the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China), or the eastern tigers of the 1990s. Countries that are growing rapidly but that must make a structural and political change before they are completely industrialised. Line C are those countries that started far behind the rest and are too poorly developed to start converging and, though they are growing, are classified third world countries. Countries that are not investing at all in RD would be a flat line along the x axis. This is probably only the experience of remote amazonian tribes and other communities removed from the modern world and so are not included in the model. Mayer-Foulkes (2000) proposes there are five clubs of convergence, experiencing divergence between groups. The richest group has the highest average steady state growth. Of the five groups, three describe different levels of development. In Mayer-Foulkes (2000) model development is defined by level of income, to represent propensity to innovate, and by average life expectancy, to show the level of human development. Groups 1, 3 and 5 represent high, medium and low levels of development, respectively. The other two groups, 2 and 4, are transiting to a higher level of development. Figure 10 shows the geographic locations were groups members are situated. This is mostly what is expected above except the BRIC nations are not in the one group. India for example is in group 4 (Mayer-Foulkes, 2002: 8). Interestingly Argentina Uruguay are in the highest group. and Latin America dominates the third group and the lowest group has only two non African members. Note that Eastern Europe has not b een included. Three groups have been recognised as existing outside the model: the ex-Soviet countries; other countries that were previously, or are currently socialist; and countries that are mainly oil-exporting. These groups experience a different growth pattern to the rest of the world and so are not converging to any of the steady states in other groups. In this model the economy produces a single good Zt with output dependent on the input of intermediate goods i at date t, denoted by x(i)t and à Ã¢â‚¬  , a parameter representing the non-technological aspects of total factor productivity Zt = à Ã¢â‚¬  L1-ÃŽÂ ± à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ «o1 At(i)1-ÃŽÂ ±xt(i)ÃŽÂ ± di The probability that an entrepreneur innovates, ÃŽÂ ¼, is increasing with the skill level of entrepreneurs, St, the productivity of the innovation, ÃŽÂ », and the quantity of inputs, zt. ÃŽÂ · is the Cobb-Douglas exponent of skills in innovation and Äâ‚ ¬t+1 is the global frontier. Such that and the division by the global frontier represents the fact that as technologies become more advanced innovation becomes harder (Howitt Mayer-Foulkes, 2004:8,10). Note, this last assumption may not be realistic because inventions such as the steam train, electricity and computers have resulted in large increases in innovation. St = à Ã¢â‚¬ ºAt where à Ã¢â‚¬ º is the entrepreneurs level of education. It follows that the equilibrium rate of innovation is As at = At / Äâ‚ ¬t the local human capital level is compared to the global standard and the difficulty of coming from behind is captured in the equation. Greater values of At mean the country is at an advantage. Howitt and Mayer-Foulkes refer to this as the absorption affect (2004: 11) because the probability of innovation is proportional to the skill level. Diving the national factors by the world growth rate gt implies an increase in growth globally hinders the rate of innovation. These are important because it represents the countries ability to effectively incorporate new technologies into its own economy, thus the basis of the club convergence model. A low value of at implies a disadvantage of backwardness. Hence a countrys productivity can advance in to ways; independently or towards the global standard On average At+1 = ÃŽÂ ¼tÄâ‚ ¬t+1 + (1-ÃŽÂ ¼t)At dividing both sides by the world productivity in the next period yields In this case there is no absorption effect, so Gerschenkrons (1962) advantage of backwardness would apply (Howitt Mayer-Foulkes, 2004: 12). In the above section the USA was acknowledged as the efficiency frontier. The USA is still a country, therefore the productivity rate of the efficiency frontier can be written as ÃŽÂ ¼tUS = ÃŽÂ ¼US.atUS 1 + gt The growth of the USA would be the world growth rate. In this case gt = à Ã†â€™ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¼tUS where à Ã†â€™ is a spillover affect from similarly advanced countries, line A in Figure

similarities and differences in ancient civilizations :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ancient civilizations have a lot of similarities and differences. The two civilizations are the Aryans and the Shang. The Aryans ruled over India from 1500 B.C. to 1000B.C. The Shang ruled over china from 1750 B.C. to 1122 B.C. The Aryans and Shang had similarities and differences in writing, religion, and Technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many similarities and differences in writing in the Aryans and Shang dynasties. The Aryans used Sanskrit as their method of writing. The Shang used a method of making symbols for almost every word and the symbols would look like what the word meant. The Shang later used calligraphy. Modern Chinese is still related to the ancient character system, which had no alphabet and still doesn’t.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many similarities and differences in religion in the Aryan and Shang dynasties. The Aryans and Shang both had polytheistic beliefs. The Shang mainly worshiped a god called Shang Ti, which meant lord on high. He was the god who ruled over all other nature gods. The Aryans also believed that there was one god who created everything referred to in an important hymn. Both dynasties made sacrifices to their gods. These sacrifices were very important to their religions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many similarities and differences in technology in the Aryan and Shang dynasties. Both the Shang and Aryans had a lot of farmers. Farming was a very important part of their lives. They both used methods of irrigation. They used farming to their advantage by using what comes natural to their area and trading with other areas. The Shang discovered many metals such as tin and bronze and you can see that they used these very much in their art pieces.

How can drama help shy students gain more confidence Essay

How can drama help shy students gain more confidence? 1) Studying drama at school can be a positive, life-enhancing experience for children. It can improve confidence and help to combat (ÃŽ ºÃŽ ±Ãâ€žÃŽ ±Ãâ‚¬ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ »ÃŽ µÃŽ ¼ÃŽ ®ÃÆ'ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€¦ÃŽ ½) shyness, which many young children struggle with. However, many claim that if performing is taken too seriously it can make children too competitive, stressed and diminish (ÃŽ ¼ÃŽ µÃŽ ¹ÃÅ½ÃŽ ½ÃŽ µÃŽ ¹) their confidence if they are not successful. This could make them less likely to thrive in (ÃŽ µÃâ€¦ÃŽ ´ÃŽ ¿ÃŽ ºÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ¼ÃŽ ®ÃÆ'ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€¦ÃŽ ½ ÏÆ'ÃŽ µ) social interactions with school friends and work colleagues later on in life. 2) Confidence is vital for young people who need to excel (υπΠµÃ Ãâ€žÃŽ µÃ ÃÅ½) in higher education and in the workplace. One way children can improve their confidence is to study drama at school, as it can help combat shyness and help to develop social skills. Drama can improve a child’s confidence because once they get used to performing in front of an audience, they will feel more able to speak out in other social situations. 3) Studying drama enables children to relax and have fun in social settings, which is vital for improving confidence. It also provides a perfect setting for children to make friends as they will have to work together in a team, which calls for increased communication. Children can then foster (ÃŽ µÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¹ÃÆ'χÏ ÃÆ'ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€¦ÃŽ ½) these relationships outside of the classroom. On the other hand, drama increases competition in children and serves to diminish their confidence if they are not successful. Drama is a competitive subject because children will compete for the best roles. This can lead to children becoming overly competitive with their peers and stressed if they fail to win a role they wanted. This failure can also make a child feel rejected and worthless and could damage their self-esteem (ÃŽ ±Ãâ€¦Ãâ€žÃŽ ¿ÃŽ µÃŽ ºÃâ€žÃŽ ¯ÃŽ ¼ÃŽ ·ÃÆ'ÃŽ ·) and confidence THROUGH DRAMA A STUDENT CAN become another – explore a new role – try out and experiment with various personal choices Drama allows students to communicate with and understand others in new ways. are less likely to have difficulty SPEAKING IN PUBLIC will be more PERSUASIVE in their communications will be better able to put themselves into others’ shoes and will have a more POSITIVE, CONFIDENT SELF IMAGE. Participation in Dramatic activity requires SELF CONTROL and DISCIPLINE Students in Drama will learn to WORK TOGETHER, to cooperate Are practical lessons just as important as theoretical lessons? How important is it for students to learn life skills at school? Education should be skill based rather than knowledge based. Knowledge is of no use without a skill to apply it. A student can get a good knowledge by just reading but skill to apply the knowledge can only be achieved by practice. Skill based education is better as it is useless if we have knowledge but do not have the skill to apply it and fulfill our goal. Many people are knowledgeable but if they are skilled as well , they can get employment and have a good life but if we only have knowledge its useless without a skill to apply it Some schools have debate and public speaking clubs and classes. In your opinion, how important is it for students to take part in activities like these? Debating skills raise children’s confidence and self-esteem, and it has to start early. Teachers need to work smarter. Using students’ natural talent of arguing and challenging authority, we can channel (ÃŽ ´ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€¡ÃŽ µÃâ€žÃŽ µÃ ÃÆ'ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€¦ÃŽ ¼ÃŽ µ) student energy into a positive learning assignment (Ï„Ï ÃÅ'πΠ¿ ÃŽ µÃŽ ºÃŽ ¼ÃŽ ¬ÃŽ ¸ÃŽ ·ÃÆ'ÃŽ ·Ãâ€š). Debates offer that natural way for teachers to facilitate (ÃŽ ´ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ µÃâ€¦ÃŽ ºÃŽ ¿ÃŽ »Ã ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€¦ÃŽ ½) analytical thinking. Classroom debates enable students to work cooperatively, brainstorm ideas, develop vocabulary and read to support an opinion. Students are taking notes to summarize, to question, and to clarify (ÃŽ ´ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ µÃâ€¦ÃŽ ºÃ ÃŽ ¹ÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¯ÃŽ ¶ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€¦ÃŽ ½)information. Students are identifying the main idea, deleting less important information, categorizing, and labeling information. Questioning allows students to explain and to explore additional facts for clarification purposes. These comprehension skills are essential for students to become competent readers and writers linking debates directly to the entire curriculum.Debates allow students to become more proficient in speaking, researching, reading, and writing skills, and they promote reasoning as well as communication skills. I believe that public speaking and drama should be compulsory in schools, because it would benefit the confidence and self-esteem of young people.Drama and Speaking provides confidence, ability to express opinio ns and beliefs.

About Elephants... Essays - Elephants, Elephant, Gaja, Circus

About Elephants... Essays - Elephants, Elephant, Gaja, Circus About Elephants... Somewhere in eastern Canada, there is a place where elephants live. Elephants seem to enjoy the place where they live, they even seem to enjoy the cold weather. During winter, elephant wants to go in the freezing, icy water; the male breaks the ice to swim in the water. The elephants seem to have a protection against the cold; it could be the fat that keeps them warm. So elephants adapt very well, even in the cold winters of Canada, the thermostat can go below minus twenty degrees Celsius. This place in eastern Canada, it is like an oasis, who would think that in Canada, there are elephants. Charlie Gray is the trainer but also the friend of the elephants, for him it is not just a job, but a passion. When he saw an elephant for the first time, he was fascinated and he stood up in front of the elephant when his parents were gone. Charlie Gray always feeds the elephants before going to bed, an elephant always sleep wake up, because otherwise the elephant will die of choking, because of his own weight. The elephant is the biggest mammal on the continents. An elephant can walk twenty miles a day. Like the human, the elephants need free time to socialise, with the other elephants by going in a lack. During spring, the elephants always have visits but during the winter there is no income so some elephants go to the circus with Mathieu Daley Mathieu is an eager apprentice. The circus, which goes Mathieu and Calvin, is situated in Montreal. Calvin, who is an elephant, loves to travel, like any other elephant. Calvin and Mathieu are partners, Calvin can stand up on his two legs, when Mathieu is on Calvin heads, and they can many other things. It is nice too see someone who enjoys very much his job.

Free Essays on Nicomachean Ethics

In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he expresses his opinions on the basis of thought through eudaimonia and arete. Eudaimonia is the goal of human conduct, or telos in Greek. In English, Eudaimonia translates into happiness, but Aristotle uses it as a well being through prospering and flourishing. To achieve this â€Å"prospering and flourishing,† one needs satisfaction of a job well done. Arete is excellence in fulfilling a function, also known as an ergon. Aristotle finds arete, or a virtue in all objects, animate and inanimate. Aristotle explains his view of the â€Å"chief good† throughout the Doctrine of the Mean, through the comparing and contrasting of virtues and vices. Aristotle begins Nicomachean Ethics with an explanation of the â€Å"chief good.† This good is presented by him through thoughts and theories of the Doctrine of the Mean. He states that all men who are in search of the good and knowledge of â€Å"the good† have a profound influence on life. He then writes how a good man, sets goals for himself on a specific task. This experience in the function of the task gives self satisfaction. An example used by Aristotle is a sculptor who participates in the art of sculpting. The end result of his sculpting is a beautiful piece of artwork.... Free Essays on Nicomachean Ethics Free Essays on Nicomachean Ethics In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he expresses his opinions on the basis of thought through eudaimonia and arete. Eudaimonia is the goal of human conduct, or telos in Greek. In English, Eudaimonia translates into happiness, but Aristotle uses it as a well being through prospering and flourishing. To achieve this â€Å"prospering and flourishing,† one needs satisfaction of a job well done. Arete is excellence in fulfilling a function, also known as an ergon. Aristotle finds arete, or a virtue in all objects, animate and inanimate. Aristotle explains his view of the â€Å"chief good† throughout the Doctrine of the Mean, through the comparing and contrasting of virtues and vices. Aristotle begins Nicomachean Ethics with an explanation of the â€Å"chief good.† This good is presented by him through thoughts and theories of the Doctrine of the Mean. He states that all men who are in search of the good and knowledge of â€Å"the good† have a profound influence on life. He then writes how a good man, sets goals for himself on a specific task. This experience in the function of the task gives self satisfaction. An example used by Aristotle is a sculptor who participates in the art of sculpting. The end result of his sculpting is a beautiful piece of artwork.... Free Essays on Nicomachean Ethics In Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, he expresses his opinions on the basis of thought through eudaimonia and arete. Eudaimonia is the goal of human conduct, or telos in Greek. In English, Eudaimonia translates into happiness, but Aristotle uses it as a well being through prospering and flourishing. To achieve this â€Å"prospering and flourishing,† one needs satisfaction of a job well done. Arete is excellence in fulfilling a function, also known as an ergon. Aristotle finds arete, or a virtue in all objects, animate and inanimate. Aristotle explains his view of the â€Å"chief good† throughout the Doctrine of the Mean, through the comparing and contrasting of virtues and vices. Aristotle begins Nicomachean Ethics with an explanation of the â€Å"chief good.† This good is presented by him through thoughts and theories of the Doctrine of the Mean. He states that all men who are in search of the good and knowledge of â€Å"the good† have a profound influence on life. He then writes how a good man, sets goals for himself on a specific task. This experience in the function of the task gives self satisfaction. An example used by Aristotle is a sculptor who participates in the art of sculpting. The end result of his sculpting is a beautiful piece of artwork....

Accounting Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Accounting Theory - Essay Example The accounting theory that would be relevant in relation to this article would be the implementation of accounting application that the company might use so as to revive from the crisis. In other words, it can be said that the positive accounting theory would relate well to this article. Another issue in reference to accounting theory that would also be relevant is the stakeholder theory. Both these theories would assist in focusing on the problem of the company and facilitate to develop measures that would help the company recover from the current crisis.According to Freeman & Et. Al. (2010), stakeholders tend to manipulate the disclosure of a company’s financial information to a significant extent. It was also claimed that the theory of stakeholders influenced the moment with regard to the declarations pertaining to the earnings. Evidence was found regarding the matter that managers try and manipulate the insights of their particular shareholders pertaining to the performanc e of the firm. Thus, it can be said that a company should implement and alter this theory in a way which would help the company to determine a decision regarding â€Å"creative accounting† without being manipulated. In this case, the Suncorp Company underwent a dip in its annual profits but it still maintained to hit a high of four-week in its share prices. It was fundamental because the company maintained a fair practice regarding its management operations and in disclosing its financial information.... Thus, it can be said that a company should implement and alter this theory in a way which would help the company to determine a decision regarding â€Å"creative accounting† without being manipulated (Freeman & Et. Al., 2010). In this case, the Suncorp Company underwent a dip in its annual profits but it still maintained to hit a high of four-week in its share prices. It was fundamentally because the company maintained a fair practice regarding its management operations and in disclosing its financial information. However, it was studied that reporting was not the sole phenomenon in accounting related to stakeholder manipulation. Stakeholder groups even strongly manipulated the standards that were to be laid down in respect to international accounting. It was also said that though the groups did not enjoy complete authority in ascertaining the standards but few stakeholders yet displayed a higher degree of manipulating capability (Freeman & Et. Al., 2010). In case of positive theory of accounting, justification is given regarding the operations of the business with no recommendations as to how the operations need to be (Schroeder & Et. Al., 2010). Positive accounting theory establishes the opportunistic way in which a business operates so as to increase the wealth of the individuals concerned with the business. This theory assists in adopting the accounting procedures. Positive accounting theory is known to forecast that organizations require look for methods that would help to support the owners’ interest with the managers’ interest of a specific organization. This would require the preparation of proper financial statements as well as monitor and audit them. Thus, positive accounting theory would facilitate in identifying the proper accounting

Management of information technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management of information technology - Essay Example The organisation at the very beginning will need to explore all avenues where electronic information systems are required to manage information better. All departments should be consulted to arrive at common consensus for the need. At various levels the thought process may come to a halt due to various factors. We shall identify and explore a few. Management Issues - An organisation need to answer the question of management of the IT resource if it proceeds with the investment. An IT resource like a supply chain management software is required to be handled by a staff of experienced IT professionals who are also aware of the core business processes of the organisation. Failure to do so will result in incorrect reporting of information and ultimately lead to mismanagement. Organisational Issues - At an organisational level investment in IT could bring out some structural as well as financial issues. An organisation will need to consider its core business requirements, investor interests and well as financial implications while considering a potential investment in IT. Technological Issues - Technological issues if not planned for may derail an entire project at the implementation stage. Overlooking CTQ (critical to quality) parameters can result in doing more harm than good. Let us now look at the various issues that may arise when an organisation may invest into IT. At a management level, there may well be numerous issues. Lets look at a few which might be more common. Administration - While an organisation may want the most sophisticated software available in the market, it however needs to answer management related questions before proceeding. The organisation needs to see if it has the work force capacity to handle such a shift. Does it have the required people with necessary skill set to successfully implement and support the technology If not then who would manage this technology Many technology vendors have come up with their own solution to this issue since it is the most common and is certain to arise. While most vendors would offer specialised training to an organisation's staff, few also offer to provide dedicated staff to the organisation for day to day administration of the product. Organisations also recruit IT staff to manage the acquired product if the data is sensitive. For example an organisation would definitely would want to have an IT employee specializing in the technology in question if it is financial in nature or deals with the organisations product. If the product is unique in the market, maintaining a dedicated resource becomes all the more important. Security Issues - "Managers, consultants, IT professionals and customers believe that they have finally discovered what makes organizations work: knowledge---that invisible force that propels the most successful companies to stock market values which far exceed the visible assets of their financial balance sheet". (Borghoff & Pareschi 1997, p.835) Since technology investment deals with data which in the hands of certain individuals translates into Knowledge, protecting it is very important. An organisation may answer the security management question by restricting access of the technology to individuals on a need to know basis. This will ensure that those