Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Harvard Business Review Article - Volkswagen Case Analysis...

1) What is your assessment of the new process for managing priorities at Volkswagen of America? Are the criticisms justified? Is it an improvement over the old process? The new process that was instituted to prioritize IT projects at Volkswagen of America is very well organized. It takes an IT project and looks at it from multiple aspects, from business to IT. It also allows for several departmental entities to play a more active role in tying in business objectives with stated benefits of the IT project. As stated in Applegate, â€Å"IT governance is the effort to devise an overarching and integrated approach, addressing broad themes such as operating performance, strategic control, risk management, and values alignment.† (Applegate, 403) In†¦show more content†¦The old system caused IT projects to be viewed as a cost to the company rather than impact to profits. The new system shifted this focus and made IT and business more inline. â€Å"Increasing evidence points to the fact that organizations with effective IT governance consistently generate better returns for their shareholders than equivalent organizations with ineffective I T governance. (Applegate, 412) As Applegate puts it, the change in the IT governance at Volkswagen has allowed them to shift the focus of IT from a cost to a revenue driving function. They are able to cut costs by forgoing IT projects that don’t align with the overall business plans. As well as putting the focus on IT projects that provide the most impact to the bottom line. 2) Who controls the budgets from which IT projects are funded at Volkswagen of America? Who should control these budgets? Should the IT department have its own budget? The budget for the IT projects was set to $60 million; this budget was capped by the parent Volkswagen group in Germany. There clearly is not enough in the budget to accommodate for every project that IT comes across. In that sense theyShow MoreRelatedAdvanced Corporate Finance4303 Words   |  18 PagesUniversity of Puget Sound School of Business and Leadership BUS 434 Advanced Corporate Finance Professor Alva Wright Butcher Tues-Thurs 11:00-12:20 McIntyre 107 Spring Semester 2012 Office: McIntyre 111 I Phone: 253-879-3349 FAX: 253-879-3156 Office Hours: T-Th: 1:00-1:50 Wed: 9:30-10:30 And by appointment Note that I am always willing to schedule additional office hours by appointment. I check email frequently, so that is also a goodRead MoreIt Management Essay6676 Words   |  27 PagesChapter 1. The Information Systems Strategy Triangle Chapter Overview This chapter presents a very simple framework, the Information Systems Strategy Triangle, which links business strategy with organizational strategy and information strategy. The chapter describes this model, and builds on several other popular strategy models and organizational models. The goal of this chapter is to make sure every student has a basic understanding of both strategy and organizations (in many managementRead MoreSocial Responsibility, Consumerism, and the Marketing Concept4723 Words   |  19 Pagesresponsibility of business is the concomitant diminishment of free consumer choice. Moreover, this obstruction of consumer discretion is the inevitable consequence of presumptions of consumer irrationality. Thus, while groups such as consumerists have often criticized marketers explicitly for rejecting notions of consumer rationality, these same groups and sentiments have forcefully promoted the social responsibility of business and the societal marketing concept as advancements in business thought andRead MoreVolkswagen : The Outrageous Corporate Scandal Of 20152000 Words   |  8 PagesVolkswagen: The most outrageous corporate scandal of 2015 There is a very fine line between what is morally right or wrong. As a student of this subject, I believe it all depends on a company’s ethical conduct that how likely it’s going to perform in the long run (Bob Worcester, 2007). The ‘week 4’ assignment enabled me introspect myself and bring out some of the core ethical values which I believe are inherited by me and should be inculcated by all business leaders. These core ethical values areRead MoreRoot Metaphors as an Aid to Understanding Organizational Behaviour3097 Words   |  13 Pages2011). Case study In 2001, Volkswagen instructed Bentley to raise annual production within five years from 1000 to 10,000 cars. Bentley introduced the Bentley Production System (BPS) based on lean manufacturing and kaizen principles. Employees were rebranded as ‘Bentley Associates’. They had â€Å"to look at every line, every seat cell and every sub cell, at every line operation as part of the implementation† (Remaking the legend, 2007). The machine metaphor appears to be relevant, in this case boundariesRead MoreVolkswagen Do Brasil - Driving Strategy with the Balanced Scorecard7296 Words   |  30 PagesrP os t 9-111-049 REV: DECEMBER 20, 2010 ROBERT S. KAPLAN RICARDO REISEN DE PINHO Volkswagen do Br rasil: Driving Strategy with the Balanced Scorecard d op yo kswagen do Brasil (VWB), studied the color-coded charts and d Thomas Schmall, CEO of Volk indicators on his wall. The data sh howed financial, customer, process, and employee p performance through end-of-year 2008. Schmall a his management team had introduced the Balance Scorecard and ed in 2007 as part of aRead MoreManaging the International Value Chain in the Automotive Industry60457 Words   |  242 Pagesvaluechains 3. Bestpracticesandoptionsformanagingtheinternationalvaluechain Glocal value creation in the Volkswagen Group: Moving toward greater decentralization of production and development 1. TheVolkswagenGroup’snewglobalstrategy 2. TheconfigurationofproductionactivitieswithintheVolkswagenGroup 3. TheconfigurationofRDactivitieswithintheVolkswagenGroup 4. Theconsequencesofdecentralizingvalueactivities Speaking with Ralf Kalmbach, Roland Berger â€Å"ThecRead MoreTows Analysis8613 Words   |  35 Pages1 The TOWS Matrix --A Tool for Situational Analysis Heinz Weihrich*, Professor of Management, University of San Francisco This article has two main purposes One is to review general considerations in strategic planning and the second to introduce the TOWS Matrix for matching the environmental threats and opportunities with the company s weaknesses and especially its strengths. These factors per se are not new; what is new is systematically identifying relationships between these factors andRead MoreThe Globalization of Markets6962 Words   |  28 Pagesweapons for blood in the name of Islamic fundamentalism? II In Brazil, thousands swarm daily from preindustrial Bahian darkness into exploding coastal cities, there quickly to install television sets in crowded corrugated huts and, next to battered Volkswagens, make sacrificial offerings of fruit and fresh-killed chickens to Macumban spirits by candlelight. f During Biafras fratricidal war against the Ibos, daily televised reports showed soldiers carrying bloodstained swords and listening to transistorRead MoreAnalyzing Multinational Enterprises1970 Word s   |  8 Pagesstrategy considers companies as independent national firms Hybrid international strategy: Hybrid international strategy is gaining benefits from the combination of both global integration strategy and host country focus strategy. SWOT ANALYSIS OF MNE’S ADVANTAGES OF MNE’S To the host country: The host country is benefitted in several ways when a MNE plans to set up subsidiaries. There is a transfer technology and capital in the host country, this is helps the host country

Monday, December 23, 2019

Problems and Prospects of Marketing - 6358 Words

International Journal of Business and Management September, 2009 Problems and Prospects of Marketing in Developing Economies: The Nigerian Experience Sunday O. E. Ewah Alex B. Ekeng Department of Business Administration, Cross River University of Technology Ogoja Campus, Nigeria Tel: 80-5901-4300 Abstract The study takes a holistic view of some of the problems facing marketing in developing economies, such as low marketing education, preferences for foreign products and low patronage for non-essential products, high cost of production, inadequate infrastructures. Others are few competitive opportunities, excessive government regulations and interference, political instability and civil unrest. Despite these problems, there are†¦show more content†¦187 E-mail: soniewah@Yahoo.com Vol. 4, No. 9 International Journal of Business and Management Developing countries are characterized by high birth and death rates, poor sanitation and health practices, poor housing, a high percentage of the population in agriculture, low per capita income, high rate of illiteracy, weak and uneven feelings of national cohesion, low status rating for women, poor technology, limited communication and transport facilities, predominantly exports of raw materials. Others include political instability, low savings and low net investment, military or feudal domination of state machinery, wealth in the hands of a very few, poor credit facilities, prevalence of non-monetized production, wealth sometimes exported to save in developed countries, civil unrests such as in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, and a host of others (Onah, 1979). Therefore countries with these kinds of peculiarities find it difficult to develop their marketing potentials. There are equally conditions in an economy that favour and compel the full application of marketing activities to a chieve the objective of growth and profit, while there are conditions which do not favour, or make nonsense of it (Alatise, 1979). Therefore the essence of this study is to critically look at those immediate problems that inhibit marketing and also visualize those factors that give hope forShow MoreRelatedProblems and Prospect of Marketing Petroleum in Nigeria15386 Words   |  62 PagesPROBLEMS AND PROSPECT OF MARKETING PETROLEUM PRODUCT IN NIGERIA: CASE STUDY OF NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM CORPORATION (NNPC) BY ADEKEYE ADEDAMOLA OLUWABUSAYO MATRIC NO: 06/66MC020 A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITYOF ILORIN,NIGERIA.IN PARTIAL FUFILMENT OF THE AWARD IN B.SC (HONS) JUNE 2010 CERTIFICATION This research work entitled â€Å"problem and prospects of marketing petroleum product in Nigeria:Read MoreLivestock Feed Marketing in Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects3981 Words   |  16 PagesLivestock Feed Marketing In Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects Author Md. Mahbubar Rahman Assistant Professor Department of Marketing University of Rajshahi Bangladesh E-mail: mm_rahman69@yahoo.com Livestock Feed Marketing In Bangladesh: Problems and Prospects Abstract: The present study is basically an attempt to identify the problems and prospects in livestock feed marketing and to give suggestions according to that. The study reveal that there is acute shortage of quality and quantityRead MoreAn Overview of Direct Response Marketing Essay866 Words   |  4 Pages Direct response marketing is a marketing effort aimed at driving immediate action from specific action from the targeted audience. Such action could be an opt-in mail, calling to a provided phone number, clicking a link or buy the suggested product. It differs from mass market which simply reminds prospective customers of the existence of products and services for them to purchase. It runs on the idea that the more times clients see a particular ad, the more they are likely to buy. Direct responseRead MoreModule : Relationship Marketing ( Bmkt311 )952 Words   |  4 PagesModule: Relationship Marketing (BMKT311) Assignment: 2 - Question 4 (a), (b) Name: Tendai Kahuni PIN: P1593507E __________________________________________________________________________ Question: (a) Define the term customer share marketing (5) Customer share marketing is about getting the most out of your customers through the development of an orderly, outbound marketing plan that is designed not only to retain customers but also grow the customer share, ie increasing the amountRead MoreThe 5c S Of Effective Content Marketing1127 Words   |  5 PagesThe 5C’S of Effective Content Marketing Content marketing is probably something that you’ve heard before, but if you haven’t, you should start learning about it! This marketing approach can help you create and distribute valuable and pertinent content to captivate and maintain a well-defined audience. Also, its primary intention is to change and enhance consumer behavior. But the question is, what makes content marketing different? Well, traditional marketing has become less and less effectiveRead MoreWhy I Don t Take The Leap Of Faith Essay1454 Words   |  6 Pagesabout the late in which they hate their job and how they would love to start a business instead? Yet at the end of the conversation you ask them what are you waiting for and they look at you with a blank face looking at you as if your nuts. The problem is that we want something but then we tell ourselves of all the things that could go wrong or what might not work out. We fill our minds with all the negative things and its little wonder that we then don t take the leap of faith. If all you do isRead MoreThe Importance of Prospect Profiling in Sales Management1005 Words   |  5 PagesThe Importance of Prospect Profiling in Sales Management Prospecting is the first stage in the personal selling process and is defined as the sellers search for and identification of qualified buyers. Potential prospects come from a variety of sources, including existing customers, personal contacts, directories, computerized databases, trade publications, and trade shows. Prospects may respond to advertising by placing a telephone call or writing for more information. Such responses, called inquiresRead MoreDoes Your Digital Marketing Blueprint Have The Power Influence On The Business Landscape? Essay1408 Words   |  6 PagesDoes Your Digital Marketing Blueprint Have the Power to Impact the Business Landscape? By Logan Nathan | Submitted On October 20, 2014 Recommend Article Article Comments Print Article Share this article on Facebook Share this article on Twitter Share this article on Google+ Share this article on Linkedin Share this article on StumbleUpon Share this article on Delicious Share this article on Digg Share this article on Reddit Share this article on Pinterest Expert Author Logan Nathan When clientsRead MoreContent Marketing : Changing How Companies Approach Prospects And Existing Consumers973 Words   |  4 Pagesin with the new. Content marketing is changing how companies approach prospects and existing consumers in the customer life cycle. The purpose of content marketing is to â€Å"create awareness, generate leads, and convert leads into customers.† However, don’t make the classic mistake of assuming that everyone who visits your site is ready to purchase your product or service. Research shows that 96% of people visiting your website aren’t ready to purchase. Content marketing plays an integral role inRead MoreHow The B2b Lead Generation Report1204 Words   |  5 PagesThe 2015 B2B Lead Generation Report found that â€Å"generating high quality leads is still the top issue for 59 percent of marketers.† Identifying qualified prospects is an ongoing responsibility for companies. And it shouldn’t be taken lightly. Most B2B purchases involve large sums of money, multiple decision makers and several months. Because the stakes are so high for your customers, it’s important to build trustworthy relationships and to create a streamlined sales process. The B2B industry

Sunday, December 15, 2019

American Beauty 2 Free Essays

American Beauty Jessica Jackson (Thompson) Interpersonal Communication Alfred Wilfong November 19th, 2011 I chose to watch the movie American Beauty. I have seen this movie previously, and enjoyed watching it again. An interpersonal conflict that I identified in the movie was between Kevin Spacey’s character Lester and his wife Carolyn, played by Annette Bening. We will write a custom essay sample on American Beauty 2 or any similar topic only for you Order Now In chapter nine of our text, Daniel Dana suggested four factors that must be present for a disagreement to be considered a conflict: two parties are interdependent, both parties blame the other, on or more of the parties are angry or emotionally upset, and the parties’ behaviors are affecting their relationship with each other and others. (Dana, 2011) Carolyn was very ambitious and Lester was having what one would call a mid-life crisis. They both had very poor communication skills. Given they were married they were interdependent, they blamed each other for any and all issues in their relationship, they were both angry, and their behaviors were not only affecting their relationship with one another, but their relationship with their teenage daughter, who seemed to loathe her parents. They both handled their conflict differently. Carolyn began to have an affair with a business rival. Lester, after black-mailing his boss, takes a job at a fast food joint, starts lifting weights, and obsesses over his daughter’s friend. As I stated earlier they did not communicate well with one another. At dinner if they weren’t yelling at each other they were speaking to each other at all. Outside of intense couples therapy they needed to work on empathizing with one another. Lester should have told his wife about being laid off, and they could have worked through that trial together. Carolyn should have never had an affair, and instead expressed her frustration with Lester and they could have worked through her frustrations, together. Their hostility and conflict was just growing in the movie. It never seemed to lessen. They had no positive feelings in their conflict as well. They usually responded to anger with anger or anger with silence. Lester, Carolyn, and their daughter need to communicate more effectively. They can do this by listening to one another needs, empathizing with one another, and responding effectively. How to cite American Beauty 2, Papers

Saturday, December 7, 2019

Retail Restrictions and Product Licensing †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Retail Restrictions and Product Licensing. Answer: Introduction: The essay consists of a wide discussion regarding the factors that attracts the tourists in New Zealand. The factors are the motivational factors, the resistance and the facilitator factors. The essay further concentrates on the analysis of these factors. New Zealand always had remained an attractive tourist place. Every year there are lots of tourists found in New Zealand. New Zealand has always turned out to be safe and enjoyable place for the tourists. The vision of the tourism department of New Zealand has remained to motivate the tourists to come back to New Zealand by managing the systems properly so that it influences the quality of the experience of the visitors. It facilitates the tourists with the best quality and services. New Zealand as a place is safe for the tourists. The governmental measures taken for the safety and security of the tourists are extremely well organized. The major purpose of the essay is to focus on the factors that motivates the tourists to visit New Zealand and attracts them to visit the place innumerable times. The motivating factors of the New Zealand are to target the visitors and encourage them to visit the visitors to come back to New Zealand and it targets the new group of visitors as well. The motivating factors are different for all the visitors (Witten, et al., 2013). It varies from person to person. The taste of every individual is different for every place, so is their taste. The visitors choice plays a huge in choosing a place for their visit. The Environment acts as a big motivational and facilitating factor in case of tourism. The environment of a place includes those entire things that are created by humans. These factors include the hotels, restaurants, casinos and the shopping places. Apart from this the operational sectors are one of the most important in any tourism spot (Wilkins, 2014). It includes the availability of transport, the wide range of accommodations, and the food services that are available. It also includes the variety of the facilities of entertainment and e vents. The facilities of exploring different places and the chance to experience certain adventures plays a major role in making a destination popular and a preferable destination of the tourists. Another factor that is important is the in this case is the factor of hospitality. The tourists expect that they will get warm and comfortable treatment in the place they have gone for visit. The tourists expect warm greetings which is a major factor of the spirit of hospitality (Sun, Ryan Pan, 2015). Facilitator factor New Zealand is a place that satisfies all the above mentioned requirements. All the places in New Zealand have always remained a place which had good social environment. A good social environment always motivates the tourist to visit the place (Witten, et al., 2013). The cultural environment of New Zealand has always been rich. The tourists always felt safe in New Zealand. The scenic beauty of New Zealand has been attractive enough to motivate the tourist to visit New Zealand several times (Sun, Ryan Pan, 2014). The other facilities like the entertainment facilities and the shopping areas are well developed in New Zealand. There are many shopping spots in New Zealand that attracts the tourists. The outskirts of New Zealand is even more developed. The accommodations are of wide variety and range. The accommodations in the hotels in New Zealand are safe and they are of a standard quality. The hotels that are located in posh areas in New Zealand are expensive and the hotels in the subu rb areas are reasonable compared to the other hotels. Even the people in New Zealand are homely and they are offer proper hospitality to the other tourists. The people of this place are having a homely nature. Their behavior is warm which makes the tourist comfortable (Rashbrooke, 2013). There are many tourist attractive places in New Zealand which is rich in scenic beauty and it is nature crafted. The scenic beauty of New Zealand is so rich that it looks as if it is designed for a movie set (Pearce, 2015). When it comes to adventure New Zealand is full of areas of sports that are adrenaline-fueled. The major attraction in this genre is water rafting, jet boating, heli-skiing, skydiving and mountain biking. The Fiordland National Park protects the most extravagant scenery of the world. This is known as a dramatic landscape which carves the famous fjords like the Milford, Dusky and the Doubtful Sounds (Mandic, et al., 2015). This place is attractive as the visitors here get a chance to explore and experience the beauty of the offshore islands, virgin rainforests, the craggy mountain peaks. Apart from this the Bay of Islands is another attractive tourist location in New Zealand. The Queenstown, Lake Taupo and the Tongariro National Park, the Roturua, the Abel Tasman Na tional Park and the Mount Cook national park are some of the attractive tourist spots in New Zealand. This justifies the place of being a good environmental tourist destination (Mason, 2015). There are many attractive shopping destinations in New Zealand that is a major factor of attracting the tourists (Doscher, et al., 2014). The tourists are attracted towards shopping in any tourist destination. The famous destination of shopping in New Zealand is Tannery, Kina, Vesta, Zambesi, Royal Jewellery Studio and many other such markets that offer authentic New Zealand jewellery and other gift items which include the paintings, glass art and even books in some region. It is one of the major attractions in New Zealand (Mandic, et al., 2015). Another factor that adds up to the attraction of the tourist in New Zealand is the accommodation. The accommodation options in New Zealand are huge in number. The standards of accommodations are of wide range and variety. It is generally higher than the other countries. It ranges from five-star hotels and resorts to normal friendly bed and breakfast home-style accommodation at a reasonable range. It is designed in such a way that all types of tourists can afford it (Carroll, et al., 2015). It has wide types of accommodations like the beach houses bungalow accommodation, the accommodations in luxury hotels, the accommodations in home-style which are known as the bed and breakfast style of accommodation (Sun, Ryan Pan, 2014). There are also accommodations in boats and cruise, in Heritage houses as well as in holiday parks and campsites. There are more styles of accommodations that have been invented and it has been launched in New Zealand. This has been specially designed for the tour ists. This feature of accommodation in New Zealand is good enough to attract the tourists (Brimblecombe, Liddle O'Dea, 2013). Resistance factor New Zealand has been reviewed as a top holiday destination. It is a well organized country. The politics and the governmental policies of a country is an important factor of the development of a country. The government of New Zealand is well structured and it is well organized which makes the place safe for the people (Brenholdt, Haldrup Urry, 2017). This has a great impact on the tourism of a place. New Zealand has the tourism agency of its own. The purpose of the agency is to promote the country as a destination place worldwide. The ministry of tourism data predicts a certain percentage of annual growth in the tourism in New Zealand with an annual increase of more than 4 million tourists to be reached in the year 2016 (Papadimitriou, Apostolopoulou Kaplanidou, 2015). New Zealand is thought to be the most demanding tourist destination because it has a lot of activities like the sightseeing, adventure tourism, tramping and camping. The New Zealand Cycleway is one of the most attrac tive activities that are designed especially for the tourists. This act as one of the most facilitator and motivator factor that influences the choice of the tourists of New Zealand as travel destinations (Ashton, 2014). The climatic condition of New Zealand is favorable for the tourists to visit in New Zealand. The transportation is well organized which acts as a leading resistance factor of the place (En.wikipedia.org, 2017). Therefore to draw a conclusion of the essay few reasons can be mentioned which shapes the expectations and behavior of the potential tourists while considering traveling to New Zealand. There are few reasons which can be mentioned as to why people should choose New Zealand as their travel destination. The New Zealanders are known to be naturally warm and friendly to others. They are known to be hospital to the tourists. The tourists receive a friendly smile wherever they travel across the country. The tourists receive a warm welcome from the native people. The climate of the region acts as a resistant factor to the tourists. The climate of New Zealand is favorable for the tourists to visit New Zealand. There are four distinct seasons in the region and there is not extreme hot and cold found in this place. The climate of New Zealand is favorable in the entire year to explore the region. The place is safe for the tourists. There is low amount of crime in New Zealand. Moreover there is no lethal creature found in New Zealand therefore the fear of getting bitten is not there. The tourists can explore without the danger of getting bitten. The culture plays a major role in making a place attractive and desirable for the tourists. The culture of New Zealand was actually originated by the native people of the region. Today New Zealand is a fascinating mixture of cultures who mingles and thrives in a peaceful yet vibrant society. In the end this can be concluded that New Zealand has a refined history of promoting the tourism and is referred as the oldest national tourism organization in the world. According to many researchers New Zealand has always remained one of the highest rated tourist destinations. The above mentioned factors acts motivates the tourists and it acts as the resistance and the facilitating factors for the tourists. These aspects are enough to attract the tourists in New Zealand. References Ashton, A. S. (2014). Tourist destination brand image developmentan analysis based on stakeholders perception: A case study from Southland, New Zealand.Journal of Vacation Marketing,20(3), 279-292. Brenholdt, J. O., Haldrup, M., Urry, J. (2017).Performing tourist places. Taylor Francis. Brimblecombe, J., Liddle, R., O'Dea, K. (2013). Use of point-of-sale data to assess food and nutrient quality in remote stores.Public health nutrition,16(7), 1159-1167. Carroll, P., Witten, K., Kearns, R., Donovan, P. (2015). Kids in the City: children's use and experiences of urban neighbourhoods in Auckland, New Zealand.Journal of Urban Design,20(4), 417-436. Doscher, C., Moore, K., Smallman, C., Wilson, J., Simmons, D. (2014). An Agent-Based Model of Tourist Movements in New Zealand. InEmpirical Agent-Based Modelling-Challenges and Solutions(pp. 39-51). Springer New York. En.wikipedia.org. 2017 ().Tourism in New Zealand. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_New_Zealand [Accessed 17 Nov. 2017]. Mandic, S., de la Barra, S. L., Bengoechea, E. G., Stevens, E., Flaherty, C., Moore, A., ... Skidmore, P. (2015). Personal, social and environmental correlates of active transport to school among adolescents in Otago, New Zealand.Journal of science and medicine in sport,18(4), 432-437. Mason, P. (2015).Tourism impacts, planning and management. Routledge. Papadimitriou, D., Apostolopoulou, A., Kaplanidou, K. (2015). Destination personality, affective image, and behavioral intentions in domestic urban tourism.Journal of Travel Research,54(3), 302-315. Pearce, D. G. (2015). Destinations: Tourists' Perspectives from New Zealand.International Journal of Tourism Research,17(1), 4-12. Rashbrooke, M. (Ed.). (2013).Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis. Bridget Williams Books. Sun, M., Ryan, C., Pan, S. (2014). Assessing tourists' perceptions and behaviour through photographic and blog analysis: The case of Chinese bloggers and New Zealand holidays. Tourism Management Perspectives,12, 125-133. Sun, M., Ryan, C., Pan, S. (2015). Using Chinese travel blogs to examine perceived destination image: the case of New Zealand.Journal of Travel Research,54(4), 543-555. Wilkins, C. (2014). The interim regulated legal market for NPS (legal high) products in New Zealand: The impact of new retail restrictions and product licensing.Drug testing and analysis,6(7-8), 868-875. Witten, K., Kearns, R., Carroll, P., Asiasiga, L., Tava'e, N. (2013). New Zealand parents' understandings of the intergenerational decline in children's independent outdoor play and active travel.Children's Geographies,11(2), 215-229.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Professions for Women Essay Example

Professions for Women Essay When your secretary invited me to come here, she told me that your Society is concerned with the employment of women and she suggested that I might tell you something about my own professional experiences. It is true I am a woman; it is true I am employed; but what professional experiences have I had? It is difficult to say. My profession is literature; and in that profession there are fewer experiences for women than in any other, with the exception of the stagefewer, I mean, that are peculiar to women. For the road was cut many years agoby Fanny Burney, by Aphra Behn, by Harriet Martineau, by Jane Austen, by George Eliotmany famous women, and many more unknown and forgotten, have been before me, making the path smooth, and regulating my steps. Thus, when I came to write, there were very few material obstacles in my way. Writing was a reputable and harmless occupation. The family peace was not broken by the scratching of a pen. No demand was made upon the family purse. For ten and sixpence one can buy paper enough to write all the plays of Shakespeareif one has a mind that way. Pianos and models, Paris, Vienna and Berlin, masters and mistresses, are not needed by a writer. The cheapness of writing paper is, of course, the reason why women have succeeded as writers before they have succeeded in the other professions. But to tell you my storyit is a simple one. You have only got to figure to yourselves a girl in a bedroom with a pen in her hand. We will write a custom essay sample on Professions for Women specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Professions for Women specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Professions for Women specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer She had only to move that pen from left to rightfrom ten oclock to one. Then it occurred to her to do what is simple and cheap enough after allto slip a few of those pages into an envelope, fix a penny stamp in the corner, and drop the envelope into the red box at the corner. It was thus that I became a journalist; and my effort was rewarded on the first day of the following montha very glorious day it was for meby a letter from an editor containing a cheque for one pound ten shillings and sixpence. But to show you how little I deserve to be called a professional woman, how little I know of the struggles and difficulties of such lives, I have to admit that instead of spending that sum upon bread and butter, rent, shoes and stockings, or butchers bills, I went out and bought a cata beautiful cat, a Persian cat, which very soon involved me in bitter disputes with my neighbours. What could be easier than to write articles and to buy Persian cats with the profits? But wait a moment. Articles have to be about something. Mine, I seem to remember, was about a novel by a famous man. And while I was writing this review, I discovered that if I were going to review books I should need to do battle with a certain phantom. And the phantom was a woman, and when I came to know her better I called her after the heroine of a famous poem, The Angel in the House. It was she who used to come between me and my paper when I was writing reviews. It was she who bothered me and wasted my time and so tormented me that at last I killed her. You who come of a younger and happier generation may not have heard of heryou may not know what I mean by the Angel in the House. I will describe her as shortly as I can. She was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming. She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life. She sacrificed herself daily. If there was chicken, she took the leg; if there was a draught she sat in itin short she was so constituted that she never had a mind or a wish of her own, but preferred to sympathize always with the minds and wishes of others. Above allI need not say itshe was pure. Her purity was supposed to be her chief beautyher blushes, her great grace. In those daysthe last of Queen Victoriaevery house had its Angel. And when I came to write I encountered her with the very first words. The shadow of her wings fell on my page; I heard the rustling of her skirts in the room. Directly, that is to say, I took my pen in my hand to review that novel by a famous man, she slipped behind me and whispered: My dear, you are a young woman. You are writing about a book that has been written by a man. Be sympathetic; be tender; flatter; deceive; use all the arts and wiles of our sex. Never let anybody guess that you have a mind of your own. Above all, be pure. And she made as if to guide my pen. I now record the one act for which I take some credit to myself, though the credit rightly belongs to some excellent ancestors of mine who left me a certain sum of moneyshall we say five hundred pounds a year? so that it was not necessary for me to depend solely on charm for my living. I turned upon her and caught her by the throat. I did my best to kill her. My excuse, if I were to be had up in a court of law, would be that I acted in self-defence. Had I not killed her she would have killed me. She would have plucked the heart out of my writing. For, as I found, directly I put pen to paper, you cannot review even a novel without having a mind of your own, without expressing what you think to be the truth about human relations, morality, sex. And all these questions, according to the Angel of the House, cannot be dealt with freely and openly by women; they must charm, they must conciliate, they mustto put it bluntlytell lies if they are to succeed. Thus, whenever I felt the shadow of her wing or the radiance of her halo upon my page, I took up the inkpot and flung it at her. She died hard. Her fictitious nature was of great assistance to her. It is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality. She was always creeping back when I thought I had despatched her. Though I flatter myself that I killed her in the end, the struggle was severe; it took much time that had better have been spent upon learning Greek grammar; or in roaming the world in search of adventures. But it was a real experience; it was an experience that was bound to befall all women writers at that time. Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of a woman writer. But to continue my story. The Angel was dead; what then remained? You may say that what remained was a simple and common objecta young woman in a bedroom with an inkpot. In other words, now that she had rid herself of falsehood, that young woman had only to be herself. Ah, but what is herself? I mean, what is a woman? I assure you, I do not know. I do not believe that you know. I do not believe that anybody can know until she has expressed herself in all the arts and professions open to human skill. That indeed is one of the reasons why I have come here out of respect for you, who are in process of showing us by your experiments what a woman is, who are in process Of providing us, by your failures and successes, with that extremely important piece of information. But to continue the story of my professional experiences. I made one pound ten and six by my first review; and I bought a Persian cat with the proceeds. Then I grew ambitious. A Persian cat is all very well, I said; but a Persian cat is not enough. I must have a motor car. And it was thus that I became a novelistfor it is a very strange thing that people will give you a motor car if you will tell them a story. It is a still stranger thing that there is nothing so delightful in the world as telling stories. It is far pleasanter than writing reviews of famous novels. And yet, if I am to obey your secretary and tell you my professional experiences as a novelist, I must tell you about a very strange experience that befell me as a novelist. And to understand it you must try first to imagine a novelists state of mind. I hope I am not giving away professional secrets if I say that a novelists chief desire is to be as unconscious as possible. He has to induce in himself a state of perpetual lethargy. He wants life to proceed with the utmost quiet and regularity. He wants to see the same faces, to read the same books, to do the same things day after day, month after month, while he is writing, so that nothing may break the illusion in which he is livingso that nothing may disturb or disquiet the mysterious nosings about, feelings round, darts, dashes and sudden discoveries of that very shy and illusive spirit, the imagination. I suspect that this state is the same both for men and women. Be that as it may, I want you to imagine me writing a novel in a state of trance. I want you to figure to yourselves a girl sitting with a pen in her hand, which for minutes, and indeed for hours, she never dips into the inkpot. The image that comes to my mind when I think of this girl is the image of a fisherman lying sunk in dreams on the verge of a deep lake with a rod held out over the water. She was letting her imagination sweep unchecked round every rock and cranny of the world that lies submerged in the depths of our unconscious being. Now came the experience, the experience that I believe to be far commoner with women writers than with men. The line raced through the girls fingers. Her imagination had rushed away. It had sought the pools, the depths, the dark places where the largest fish slumber. And then there was a smash. There was an explosion. There was foam and confusion. The imagination had dashed itself against something hard. The girl was roused from her dream. She was indeed in a state of the most acute and difficult distress. To speak without figure she had thought of something, something about the body, about the passions which it was unfitting for her as a woman to say. Men, her reason told her, would be shocked. The consciousness ofwhat men will say of a woman who speaks the truth about her passions had roused her from her artists state of unconsciousness. She could write no more. The trance was over. Her imagination could work no longer. This I believe to be a very common experience with women writersthey are impeded by the extreme conventionality of the other sex. For though men sensibly allow themselves great freedom in these respects, I doubt that they realize or can control the extreme severity with which they condemn such freedom in women. These then were two very genuine experiences of my own. These were two of the adventures of my professional life. The firstkilling the Angel in the HouseI think I solved. She died. But the second, telling the truth about my own experiences as a body, I do not think I solved. I doubt that any woman has solved it yet. The obstacles against her are still immensely powerfuland yet they are very difficult to define. Outwardly, what is simpler than to write books? Outwardly, what obstacles are there for a woman rather than for a man? Inwardly, I think, the case is very different; she has still many ghosts to fight, many prejudices to overcome. Indeed it will be a long time still, I think, before a woman can sit down to write a book without finding a phantom to be slain, a rock to be dashed against. And if this is so in literature, the freest of all professions for women, how is it in the new professions which you are now for the first time entering? Those are the questions that I should like, had I time, to ask you. And indeed, if I have laid stress upon these professional experiences of mine, it is because I believe that they are, though in different forms, yours also. Even when the path is nominally openwhen there is nothing to prevent a woman from being a doctor, a lawyer, a civil servantthere are many phantoms and obstacles, as I believe, looming in her way. To discuss and define them is I think of great value and importance; for thus only can the labour be shared, the difficulties be solved. But besides this, it is necessary also to discuss the ends and the aims for which we are fighting, for which we are doing battle with these formidable obstacles. Those aims cannot be taken for granted; they must be perpetually questioned and examined. The whole position, as I see ithere in this hall surrounded by women practising for the first time in history I know not how many different professionsis one of extraordinary interest and importance. You have won rooms of your own in the house hitherto exclusively owned by men. You are able, though not without great labour and effort, to pay the rent. You are arning your five hundred pounds a year. But this freedom is only a beginningthe room is your own, but it is still bare. It has to be furnished; it has to be decorated; it has to be shared. How are you going to furnish it, how are you going to decorate it? With whom are you going to share it, and upon what terms? These, I think are questions of the utmost importance and interest. Fo r the first time in history you are able to ask them; for the first time you are able to decide for yourselves what the answers should be. Willingly would I stay and discuss those questions and answersbut not to-night. My time is up; and I must cease.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Definition and Examples of Putative Should in English

Definition and Examples of Putative 'Should' in English In English grammar, putative should is the use of the word should in contexts that indicate surprise or disbelief, or that refer to the occurrence (or possible occurrence) of some situation or event. This usage differs from the should of obligation (i.e., the mandative should). As noted by Randolph Quirk et al., putative should (also called emotional should) occurs in that clauses after expressions of emotion (sorrow, joy, displeasure, surprise, wonder, etc.), and is often accompanied by intensifying expressions such as so, such, like this/that, ever, or at all (A Comprehensive Grammar, 1985). In addition, putative should  occurs in subordinate clauses as an alternative to the subjunctive after expressions of suggesting, advising, etc.: They insisted that I (should) stay the whole week (Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar, 1994). Putative should is more common in British English than in American English. Also Known  As:  emotional  should, attitudinal  should, hypothetical  should, subjunctive  should Examples Major Green gently nodded and then briefly glanced through the same porthole, behind which the Earth lay static and diminutive, no bigger than an average football. The oddest thing for me is that people should be living there at all! he exclaimed on a softly humorous note. (John OLoughlin, Millennial Projections, 1983)It is surprising that you should find this practice shocking, since you French cut off the heads of your King and Queen. (Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia, 1941)I know its a little strange, a little bit of a contradiction, that a far-seeing place should also be a basement place, but thats how it is with me. (Stephen King, Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Scribner, 2000)It seems a great shame you should have to pay for what Albert and Clara did. (Arnold Bennett, These Twain, 1915)It is sad that you should talk such nonsense, and sadder that I should have to listen.(Ferdinand Canning Scott Schiller, Studies in Humanism , 1912) Peter Walsh, who had done just respectably, filled the usual posts adequately, was liked, but thought a little cranky, gave himself airs- it was odd that he should have had, especially now that his hair was grey, a contented look; a look of having reserves. (Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway, 1925) Adjectives With Putative Should The adjectives anxious, eager, and willing are followed by a thats are appropriate, essential, important, vital. Adjectives which can be followed by a verb phrase in the thats are afraid, angry, hopeful, inconceivable, odd, sad, sorry, surprised, surprising. (Ilka Mindt, Adjective Complementation: An Empirical Analysis of Adjectives Followed by That-Clauses. John Benjamins, 2011) Factual Should In most of its uses, should is to be found in contexts which are either counterfactual (as in You should be in your office at this time of day, which presupposes ...but you are not in your office) or tentative (as in You should give up smoking, which contains a presupposition approximately paraphrasable as ...but Im not sure you will give up smoking). In some cases, however, should is used in contexts which- at least apparently- contain no negative implication. These contexts, which may be called factual, seem to contradict the hypothesis that -ed always expresses a presupposition of unreality. (Most factual uses of should concern what is often called putative should- see, for instance, Quirk et al...The coincidence of the two categories, however, is only partial.) (Paul Larreya, Irrealis, Past Time Reference and Modality. Modality in Contemporary English, ed. by Roberta Facchinetti, Manfred G. Krug, and Frank Robert Palmer. Walter de Gruyter, 2003) Jespersen on Emotional Should We may use the term emotional should for the use of should in passing a judgment of an emotional character (agreeable or disagreeable surprise, indignation, joy) on some occurrence which may, or may not, be a fact. A sentence like Why was the date omitted? is a mere factual question, but Why should the date of the document be omitted? implies wonder and, possibly, some suspicion of the purity of the motives. Compare further: Where the divell should he learne our language? (Sh.). Why should they try to influence him? [I see no reason] Someone asking for you. Who should ask for me? Similarly, these examples show use in clauses: It is not good that the man should be alone (AV). It was quite natural that the Russians should hate their oppressors. Why should she have done so, I can hardly tell. It is strange that she married (or has married) such an old man merely states the fact; It is strange that she should have married such an old man lays more stress on the strangeness by using the imaginative should in the clause. (Otto Jespersen, Essentials of English Grammar. George Allan Unwin, 1933) Also See Conditional Clause  and  Conditional SentenceConfused Words:  Should  and  Would

Friday, November 22, 2019

Assess The Importance Of The Political And

Military Considerations That Led The Ussr Towards The Invasion Of Czechoslovakia In August 1968. Essay, Research Paper The Novotny government in Czechoslovakia fell in December 1968 due to miss of economic reforms unsolved political jobs of the Slovak portion of the state, and Novotny s failure to cover with turning clash between the government and the state s intellectuals and pupils. Dubcek was appointed the new president, nevertheless during the Prague Spring, the reforms that were brought in by the new leading began to present many jobs. Although, harmonizing to several beginnings, Moscow felt it necessary to present some economical reform in Czechoslovakia, one of the most faithful Warsaw Alliess, the extent to which the Spring went proved excessively far for the Orthodox leaders of the Soviet Union. After seeking to set force per unit area on Dubcek to do him hold back the reforms, USSR came to the concluding determination # 8211 ; invasion. On August 21st Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Warsaw Pact troops. This essay looks at the state of affairs that developed in Czechoslovakia during the memorable Spring of 1968, and focuses on the factors that eventually pushed USSR towards occupying one of its Alliess. Behind the invasion were sets of considerations, political every bit good as military. I will measure the importance of these considerations in the essay. When in the winter of 1967 Novotny invited Brezhnev to assist him against resistance within Czechoslovakia, Brezhnev washed his custodies off the matter, stating: It s your concern. The relaxed attitude at this phase suggests that Moscow felt it was clip to present some reforms in Czechoslovakia in order to overhaul the state where, under Novotny the economic system had atrophied and the morale had sunk. A few yearss after Brezhnev s visit the rebellion against Novotny s government came into the unfastened at a Czech Central Committee plenum. Shortly thenceforth, at the plenum of January 3-5, 1968, Alexander Dubcek replaced Novotny as party secretary. It is interesting to look at the inquiry of new leading in Czechoslovakia, to what extent did USSR support it? Alexander Dubcek was an vague forty-six-year-old Slovak party official, brought up and educated in USSR. Harmonizing to P.J. Mooney Dubcek s lineage was faultless. Moscow was happy with Dubcek s assignment, even though his aspiration to regenerate the party was known, Brezhnev sent his praises. It seems instead dry that Moscow supported the new government, nevertheless yet there was no grounds that Dubcek was be aftering to liberalise the Czechoslovak political system every bit much as he did. Dubcek was seen as a loyal party member, and the communiqu that followed the meeting of Brezhnev and Dubcek in Moscow in the terminal of January 1968 radius of the full individuality of positions on all inquiries discussed. In my sentiment at this point non even Dubcek imagined where the reforms would take and how rapidly the state of affairs would develop. The new leading had to confront multiple jobs, it had to fulfill the demands of the intellectuals, pupils and other progressive groups within Czechoslovakia, while at the same clip guarantee the Soviet Union of trueness and show consciousness of the extent to which the reforms will travel. Dubcek fell between two stools. He sought to happen balance, sing the internal state of affairs he promised there would be no return to administrative methods of regulating. At the same clip he tried to reassure those who concerned about the weakening of rules of socialism by stating them the new government would non travel excessively far. On the 23rd of March the Soviet concern at the tendency of events was expressed to Dubcek and his co-workers at the Dresden conference. This was an exigency meeting of the Warsaw Pact members ( excepting Rumania ) , as the Alliess felt the menace of Czechoslovak reforms to the common policies of the Warsaw axis. One of the factors that particularly alarmed USSR was that Dubcek hinted at more Czechoslovak independency in foreign personal businesss, which meant that Prague would seek better dealingss with West Germany. USSR besides expressed concern over the undermentioned developments: the call for alteration of censoring, an addition in the function of Parliament ; talk of a socialist market economic system and a greater inner-party democracy. Brezhnev saw all these developments as playing into the custodies of the West, and possibly even suspected some Western engagement in the Czechoslovak personal businesss. This was a major political concern, as Western influence could sabotage the ideological integrity of the orbiter states. As Brezhnev put it: Imperialism has attempted to weaken the ideological-political integrity of the working people in socialist states # 8230 ; The communiqu of the Dresden Conference stressed the danger of militaristic and Neo-Nazi activity in West Germany and the demand to transport out practical steps in immediate hereafter to consolidate the Warsaw Treaty and its armed forces. Besides came a clearly expressed warning to Czechoslovakia, the conference members stated that it was expected of the new Czechoslovak leading to see farther advancement of socialist building. Dubcek was besides advised to seek fiscal assistance from the Warsaw Pact Alliess, instead than developing economic dealingss with West Germany. Dubcek had received the first warning from the Soviet Union. Nevertheless he continued to advance freedom of address and radius of the demand to do the party the retainer and non the maestro of the people. Argument widened and one issue led to another as the political onion was unpeeled bed by bed # 8230 ; Novotny was replaced by Svoboda on March 29th a new president who supported Dubcek. Another warning came from Moscow, this clip non merely from Brezhnev, but besides from the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Semyonov, who stated that unless Dubcek and Svoboda maintain, order Russian military personnels would step in. On 31st March of Soviet Minister Marshall Grechko, who empowered 35 000 military personnels in the state to enforce soldierly jurisprudence if necessary, arrived at the Red Army central office in Czechoslovakia, underscoring this menace. Harmonizing to J. Steele in March Brezhnev still hoped that Czechoslovakia s Communists would barricade the unsafe tendencies themselves, provided they were cognizant of the failing in their ain ranks. This position was certain to alter after the Czechoslovak Central Committee approved of the Action Program on May 5th. If the Soviet leaders did get down by trusting that detaining tactics would decide the Czech job, they obviously were disabused of this thought in early April, when the Dubcek government s new action plan was adopted. This plan, approved after a hebdomad long meeting provided new warrants of freedom of address, broader electoral Torahs, more power for parliament and authorities versus the party setup, greater range for non-Communist groups, and other economic and political reforms. It was a 60 page papers entitled: Czechoslovakia s Road to Socialism, released in a drumhead signifier on April 9th. The Action Program confirmed Moscow s frights. USSR approved of order above all things, hence the state of affairs in Czechoslovakia appeared so unsafe. It was unpredictable. Up to this minute, the Soviets maintained a cautious attitude towards Czechoslovakia, the imperativeness kept quiet about the state of affairs. The Action Program though was regarded by the Soviet leaders as a unsafe going from orthodoxy that finally might endanger the footing of party s legitimacy everyplace, the Soviet Union included. It became clear that to halt reforms, USSR would hold to take a harder base on the issue. Dubcek and his followings weren t commanding the state of affairs, at least non in the manner Kremlin felt it needed to be controlled. On April 12th for the first clip the imperativeness commented on the state of affairs. Pravda condemned right-wing surpluss that allegedly were demoing up in Prague. Already at this point, USSR felt threatened by the extent of reforms taking topographic point in Czechoslovakia, though at foremost there was a certain grade of support for the new leading, Moscow was longer certain about Dubcek s purposes and felt the demand to somehow act upon the state of affairs in Prague. The Czechs realized the demand to pacify Moscow s uncertainties, and Dubcek went to Moscow in early May. The followers was said by Josef Smirkovsky ( Chairman of the Czech parliament ) : We must understand the frights of the Soviet Union which has in the head non merely Czechoslovakia, but besides the security of the whole socialist cantonment. Even so, the Soviet companions declared [ on Dubcek s visit to Moscow ] that they do non desire and will non interfere in Czechoslovakia s internal personal businesss. Possibly Czechoslovakia was acquiring the incorrect feeling from the Soviets, nevertheless I believe that Czechoslovakia at this phase should hold started moving more carefully, Kremlin s base was obvious by mid-May. Czechoslovakia had received adequate intimations and warnings from USSR, but all was ignored. Harmonizing to P. J. Mooney: despite Czechoslovak protestations, it must hold looked to Moscow as though Czechoslovakia was traveling the manner of Hungary in 1956. Brezhnev and his co-workers did non take long to make up ones mind that they might hold to step in by force. It is non known precisely when this determination was reached, nevertheless several factors indicate there were vacillations within the Soviet party about what attack to take towards Czechoslovakia. On May 17th Kosygin ( the Soviet Prime Minister ) visited Dubcek for a ten-day work-and-cure meeting at Karlovy-Vary, while at the same time Marshall Grechko was run intoing for a six-day unit of ammunition of conversations with defence functionaries in Czechoslovakia. T.W. Wolfe believes Kosygin s surprise visit and his desire to measure the current state of affairs suggested that at least some elements of the Soviet leading were still hopeful that Dubcek could be prevailed upon to asseverate stricter party control over the reform motion, saving USSR from intercession. However P.J. Mooney has a different sentiment on this. Kosygin visited Prague to discourse the strengthening of the Warsaw Pact, or closer control over Czechoslovakia. Moscow continued following a two-track policy. Pressure was exerted on Czechoslovakia to decelerate down reforms, and at the same clip USSR was fixing for the invasion. By the terminal of May it was announced that Warsaw treaty manoeuvres would take topographic point on Czechoslovak district in June. This helped USSR to prove evidences during June and July, and became a major force per unit area tool. However reforms continued. On June 27th, National Assembly voted to get rid of censoring, one of the cardinal promises of the Action Program was now realized. Equally good as that the same twenty-four hours a pronunciamento naming for more extremist reform was published: The 2000 Words. Harmonizing to T.W. Wolfe, The 2000 Words confirmed the Soviet fright of what would go on to the imperativeness one time censoring was abolished and no longer fell under the control of the party. He besides states that June 27th can be identified as one of the major turning points in the Soviet response to Czechoslovak reforms. From the early yearss of July throughout the balance of the month, Moscow mounted a steadily intensified war of nervousnesss against the Dubcek government, against the background of military moves which implied that the Soviet Union was fixing for an armed intercession should the Czechs persist on their democratisation class. June was followed by a period known as the July Crisis. On July 11th an article by I. Aleksandrov was published in Pravda, assailing The 2000 words as grounds of activation of right wing and counterrevolutionary forces in Czechoslovakia and pulling a comparing with the state of affairs that developed in Hungary in 1956 naming for Soviet intercession. As USSR became more disquieted about the state of affairs, it was decided to show the concerns in a signifier of a written warning. Along with Bulgaria, East Germany, Hungary and Poland on 15th July a missive was written turn toing the Czechoslovak leading: we can non hold to hold hostile forces push your state off from the route of socialism and make a danger of Czechoslovakia being severed from the socialist community. The ideological evidences for intercession were prepared # 8211 ; Czechoslovakia was the concern of the whole socialist cantonment. The missive besides laid accent on Party s loss of control of mass media. The Warsaw Letter served as an unambiguous warning. It was one of USSR s concluding efforts to supercharge Czechoslovak leading into decelerating down the reforms. This was followed by a demand from Moscow for an immediate meeting of the full Soviet Politburo and the Czechoslovak Presidium. However, due to the fact that the West was going aware of the state of affairs the political considerations were going more apparent. Brezhnev couldn T afford to follow a soft policy towards a rebellious satellite state. At the clip of the Cold War USSR had to be seen as a major power with strong support of the Warsaw Pact Alliess. Besides sing the development of the Sino-Soviet relationship throughout the 1960ss and USSR s loss of influence in Albania, Kremlin had to be careful non to free more communist Alliess. Harmonizing to Edmonds USSR politically had every ground to be concerned at the consequence on the universe communist motion. Poland and Eastern Germany put the Soviet Union under force per unit area. The leaders of these states, Gomulka and Ulbricht, insisted on USSR s intervention into Czechoslovak personal businesss, as they were worried about the consequence the reforms had on their governments. It was decided to keep a meeting in Cierna on July 29th. Harmonizing to beginnings, the Czechs displayed solidarity and support for Dubcek s government. Moscow s computation that the Czech leading will check under force per unit area and ask for USSR s intercession proved to be incorrect. It was agreed that USSR would retreat the military personnels from Czechoslovakia in the close hereafter. This took topographic point in Bratislava on August 3rd. The leaders of the Warsaw Pact spouses met to back on the armistice reached in Cierna. However the diction of the Bratislava conference was woolly and the meeting resolved nil. Issues discussed were really general, hence the readings of the meeting were different for both sides. The Czechs left Bratislava experiencing they convinced the others of their trueness to the Warsaw Pact, believing their sovereignty was assured. The Bratislava declaration was a papers which the Czechs could construe as a licence to go on their reform plan. Yet USSR got a really different understanding. They hoped the Czechs would hold the reforms, puting up a pro-Russian disposal. If that failed, they would ask for Russians to decide the state of affairs by collaring Dubcek and his protagonists. Equally good as that they were trusting the party would re-gain control of the imperativeness. Though at one point it may hold seemed USSR gave in to Czechoslovakia, and the universe had witnessed another David-over-Goliath triumph, the Soviet Union was shortly to interrupt the semblance. On August 10th the proposals for revising the legislative acts of the Czechoslovak Communist party were published, excusing the rights of the minority to province its positions in public after a bulk determination had been reached. Edmonds believes that this in the eyes of Orthodox Communists was the offense of factionalism. How could this be allowed in a system where public sentiment prevailed that of an person? The political and military considerations that were supercharging Kremlin became excessively apparent. Ignoring the Cierna and Bratislava conferences, the Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia on the dark of August 20-21st. In my sentiment, one of the primary factors that USSR was bothered about was the fact that Czechoslovak reforms were floating out of the party s control. Harmonizing to Steele, Dubcek and his co-workers had shown neither the will, nor the finding to command the developments. USSR ever had influence and control over the Warsaw Pact states, reforms were neer allowed to travel excessively far. It was clear that the further the Czechoslovak system alterations, the harder it will be to change by reversal it, and one time re-gain control of the state of affairs. There was besides the menace that extremist groups in Czechoslovakia will seek independency from the USSR. This in bend could sabotage the Soviet repute in the whole universe. This brings us to the undermentioned factors behind the determination to occupy. USSR was put under force per unit area non merely by the strategic place vis- -vis the West, but besides the sentiments of the whole Communist cantonment. China strongly criticized USSR for deficiency of control over the state of affairs, and leaders of Poland and East Germany suggested Soviet Union s intercession, before things got out of manus and reforms spread all around the buffer provinces, the so called Domino theory. Steele believes that Moscow couldn t afford another desertion. Equally good as that the consequence on the government within Soviet Union itself was hard to foretell. Each new development in Czechoslovakia increased the trouble of keeping the line against reform at place. At the same clip, the statements against the invasion remained weak. There was the likely consequence that the invasion might convey on the other communist parties in the universe. China at this point was already out of the inquiry, so the lone power that could be concerned was Cuba, and Castro was excessively dependent on USSR anyhow. There were the Communist motions in the West, but none of these were strong plenty, or truly recognized. The inquiry of possible Czech opposition # 8211 ; in Hungary 1956 a batch of Russian lives were lost. Yet Czechoslovakia was different ; there was no traditional hostility towards the Russians, neither the desire to contend. Besides, after Cierna and Bratislava conferences the Russians could occupy utilizing the component of surprise. This is where military considerations come in. Sing as Warsaw Pact manoeuvres had been continuously in advancement since July, the monolithic invasion of Czechoslovakia could be conducted successfully. Finally came the concern about West s reaction. The Russians calculated that if the invasion would hold any consequence on vitamin D tente or the negotiations with US about the decrease of strategic weaponries ( which were to come near in the hereafter ) , this would be really ephemeral. Czechoslovakia remained in the Russian domain of influence. At the point US was more concerned with the war in Vietnam, and the elections that were to come that twelvemonth. Although at that place seemed to be a portion of vacillation among the Politburo members, the determination to halt the reforms by force was reached. Looking at the factors that led USSR towards the invasion, possibly this was no surprise. It seems like there wasn T truly an option, particularly taking into the history the immediate fortunes that led to it. The Soviet leading chose to fall back to repression instead than to bow to reform.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Political Parties and the Electoral Process Essay

Political Parties and the Electoral Process - Essay Example Apparently, the two major political parties receive massive support due to the ideologies (Levendusky, 2009). Consequentially, the two leading parties in the US are the democrats and the republicans. They have been dominating the political scene of the United States for years and have since amassed massive support in regard to their presidential candidates. The two parties hold contrasting views of different ideologies which receive prevalent attention. Therefore, the two parties either choose to take a liberal view of ideologies or settle on the conservative view of ideologies. The liberal view states that abortion is a legal action that is taken by women as citizens of the United States. They state that women are human beings who have the right to make decision in regard to their lives. Therefore, they have legal choice of using abortion to control their lives as it is open to all the citizens. On the other hand, the conservative view states that immorality is not acceptable (Ashbe e, 2004). As a matter of fact, they state that abortion is immoral and should be banned. In this particular view, the politicians think that abortion is an infringement of the right to life since the unborn child is a form of life. The second point of contrast is the issue of gun control (Levendusky, 2009). Gun control is a prevalent issue in the United States since many people would wish to own guns for security reasons. Since the government issues licenses for individuals owning guns, there is need to have restrictions and control on the issuance. On one side, the liberal view of ideologies states that there should be high restrictions of gun control. As such, there should be a number of laws that should restrict the ownership of guns. Inclusion of stringent laws would reduce the bizarre incidences that occur due to gun ownership. On the other hand, the conservative politicians insinuate that there should be less restriction on the gun control issue. The third issue that draws att ention in the two leading parties is the issue of taxes (Levendusky, 2009). Taxes affect all the citizens of the country and should be considered with utter keenness. On one side, the liberals think that taxes should be high and progressive. Higher taxes will give the country more revenue which will be used for development. On the other hand, the conservatives state that taxes should be lower and progress at a lower rate. This will not affect the citizens as the taxes will not have dire effect on their income. Lastly, the two political parties differ on the issue of gay marriage. For example, the liberals state that gay marriage should be legalized. On the other hand, conservative politics state that gay marriages are illegal. Key reasons why third parties have never been successful at the presidential level Though there are third parties in the United States, they do not seem to give an impressive performance in the presidential elections. This has been attributed by a number of re asons. First, the two leading parties have been clinching the presidential office. As such, the parties have had the advantage of holding the office and pushing their candidates to get a better place in the upcoming elections. On the other hand, the third parties have not had such an advantage. Secondly, the ideologies of the two leading parties are steadfast. The two leading parties take a stand in the prevalent issues in the country and expound on the strategies they will use in solving the situation. This

Monday, November 18, 2019

Modernization Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Modernization Theory - Essay Example Modernization theory states that it is progressive processes whose descending in the society is inevitable. Additionally, the argument follows that the modernization theory as occurs is a desirable development, which entailed the processes facilitating development in the regions where it occurred. According to the theorists, the processes of the modernization theory constitute three varied waves of occurrence. The first wave of the procedural development occurred in the early 20th century. The core happening was the attempt to diffuse the western culture, their technological innovations and the individualized communication styles as superior (Billet 36). The suggested developments were highly selective and addressed the factors of materialism and superiority innovations. This wave of the modernization theory followed the assumptions that with respect to economic development, mass media is the channel to promote the global diffusion of the technical and social innovations essential to the modernization of those societies. Another variant produced in this wave focused on literacy and culture development. It stated that the communication would facilitate literacy and additional skills and techniques that encourage the state of mind towards favourable modernity (Inglehart & Christian 65). This variant encouraged the thinking that an imagination is the alternative of life beyond the traditional ways. Lastly, this wave embodied the need to establish national identity development.

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Sole Proprietorship Essay Example for Free

Sole Proprietorship Essay The sole proprietor is an unincorporated business with one owner who pays personal income tax on profits from the business. With little government regulation, they are the simplest business to set up or take apart, making them popular among individual self-contractors or business owners. Many sole proprietors do business under their own names because creating a separate business or trade name isnt necessary. Sole proprietorship is also known as proprietorship. There is no separate legal entity created by a sole proprietorship, unlike corporations and limited partnerships. Consequently, the sole proprietor is not safe from liabilities incurred by the entity. The debts of the sole proprietorship are also the debts of the owner. However, all profits flow directly to the owner of a sole proprietorship. The benefit of the sole proprietorship is the tax advantage. The disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is obtaining capital funding, specifically through established channels, such as equity (selling shares) and obtaining bank loans or lines of credit. As a business grows it often transitions to a limited liability company (LLC) or S Corporation. Ease of Formation Prospective business owners need not file any special forms with state, local or federal agencies to start a sole proprietorship. When registering the new business, as is necessary for all new businesses, the owner must state that he plans to run a sole proprietorship. This requires no special fees. Some states require the owner register a DBAdoing business asdocument with the office of secretary of state. Control Sole proprietors have full discretionary control over operations and business decisions. They decide when to hire employees, what to pay them about minimum wage and when to let them go. The business owner controls all financial decisions associated with the business and receives all of the business profit. He decides how or if to save or reinvest the money. The owner can choose to close, sell or transfer ownership at any time. Taxes Sole proprietorships owners file a one or two page form with the Internal Revenue Service called a Schedule C along with their personal income tax return. This schedule requires a simple listing of revenues and expenses. The owner may deduct automobile, office and other expenses from his income tax return under the supervision of a certified tax professional. Personal Responsibility for Business Debts Creditors can hold owners of sole proprietorships legally responsible for debts associated with the business. In addition, business related debts incurred by employees become the responsibility of the owner. Creditors may seize the owner’s home or other personal possessions as remedy for a defaulted loan. Those planning on starting a high- to medium-risk business may want to opt for a limited liability corporation or partnership structure. With this structure, business owners keep their personal property separate and it cannot be seized in the event of a business failure.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Major League Baseball :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In early May 2002, a ban that the management of Major League Baseballs’ Seattle Mariners imposed requiring non-admittance of any fan wearing a tee shirt saying, â€Å"Yankees Suck† was finally lifted. Telling the Seattle Mariner fans that the word â€Å"suck† was offensive and had no place in a family atmosphere, was out of line to many. The backlash from the fans was overwhelming to the point that Mariners management had no choice but to lift the ban. The ban caused three major backlashes: It angered season ticket holders, it told the fans that the first amendment could be twisted at the ballpark, and it tried to strip fans of team spirit and pride. Mariner management ignored the minor uprising as long as possible until the ban reached near boiling point levels. Things have since settled down in Seattle, but hopefully Mariner management will not try a stunt like the ban anytime soon.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Being a season ticket holder means a great deal to fans who love going out to the ballpark. When a security guard at the front gate doesn’t allow entry because of a tee shirt the ticket holder is wearing, to say it would cause the ticket holder to be angry is an understatement. If purchasing season tickets doesn’t guarantee entry into the stadium merely on the fact that some people find the word â€Å"suck† to be offensive was a travesty to season ticket holders. As a matter of fact, the word â€Å"suck† is being used by children today than in most the Mariner management’s lifetimes. Telling grown up fans to act as management wants to is fascism in a corporate disguise. When someone buys a ticket it is expected that the buyer is to act like a civilized human being, but don’t make up new standards for the fan to abide by.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first amendment is what makes America work, so when Mariner management tried to tell fans they couldn’t wear a belief on a tee shirt, it sent mixed messages to the fanbase. It is well known what words are truly obscene in today’s world, but the word â€Å"suck† has not been truly offensive since â€Å"Ozzie and Harriet† was still on prime time. To say that the fanbase would be offended without taking a census of some sort or another was censorship in a way. A fan wearing a shirt with the f-word not being let in is different than a fan wearing a â€Å"Jesus Rules† shirt in.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Hitler vs. Napoleon

Historians have noted the similarities between Napoleon and Hitler for years.   Both were charismatic dictators who established regimes in times of war and had ambitions of European domination.   Both were enormously successful but short-lived in their enterprises.   For these and other reasons, Napoleon is easily comparable to Hitler.   This essay will explore this comparability in terms of their national achievements, conquests, nationalism, origins, legacy and military/political maneuvers. Though now popularly viewed as a despot, Napoleon, like Hitler, contributed many positive elements to his native country.   He codified French law, particularly the Civil Code, replacing the Ancient Regime’s 360 local codes.   He also implemented lycees, secondary schools that were meant to instruct future leaders of France.   Hitler, by comparison, instigated in Germany one of the largest booms in civil advancement and industrial expansion the country has ever witnessed.   Like Napoleon, military growth accounted for much of the economical improvement. Napoleon’s strategy of conquest is also very similar to Hitler’s.   Both had aims to one day bring all of Europe under their control, and just as Napoleon abandoned campaigns in Britain and ended his career in the Russian wastes, so too did Hitler.   Napoleon attacked Russia from an almost impregnable position of advantage in 1812, assaulting a country that posed no overt threat.   Hitler did the same in 1941.   It is possible both were suffering from the hubris, or excessive pride, of their successes. Whatever the case, Napoleon was definitely known for his nationalistic pride of Corsica (and France), much like Hitler for his German heritage.   The Bonapartists saw themselves as inheritors of the French revolution, and Napoleon’s efforts to expand the empire were tireless.   He forbade his conquered countries from expressing their own national heritage, which may have later led to a rise in nationalism in those territories.   Most notable of these territories was Germany, whose nationalistic rise Hitler augmented to preclude the inclusion of Jews or any non-Ango ethnicities. Both Napoleon and Hitler came from relatively humble origins.   Napoleon was born in Corsica, a possession of France.   The son of a moderately successful attorney, Napoleon received a fair education but carried an Italian accent that would set him apart from the higher tiers of French society.   He began his military career as an artillery officer, not considered a desirable command at the time.   Hitler, similarly, was not wealthy in his youth.   He lived a bohemian life on minimal wages, never completed his high school education, and scratched by a living as a failing artist.   But like Napoleon, Hitler would transcend his unspectacular origins, leaving behind a considerable mark on their cultures and the world. Napoleon’s legacy is evident in his Code, his invention of the modern military conscript, and his innovations on warfare.   Under Napoleon, corps took the place of divisions as the largest military unit, cavalry increased in importance, battles became more decisive with broader attack fronts, and armies focused on the annihilation of enemy armies as opposed to out-maneuvering them.   He is thought to have spread the Revolutionary philosophy throughout Europe, manifested in the nation states that rose in Italy and Germany. His Napoleonic Code, however, is the innovation for which even Napoleon knew he would be most known.   Hitler’s contributions are, by contrast, negative.   He is responsible for taking anti-Semitism to a national scale, implementing the Nazi Party (which still exists today in various forms), and propagating fascism and intolerance as natural products of his military and political strategy. Indeed, Napoleon was very similar to Hitler in regard to political/military strategy, as well.   Both leaders used aggressive strategies in the acquisition of land and both suppressed revolts of the peoples their regimes oppressed.   Napoleon was known for his efforts to put down a major Haitian slave revolt and, in 1801 France, to re-establish slavery after its post-Revolution ban. Likewise, Hitler is notorious for his persecution of the Jews, his anti-Semitic tirades that won him enormous favor among vast demographics of the German population, and his supreme execution of suppression and extermination, the Holocaust.   While their strategies show similarity, Napoleon’s do not equal Hitler’s in terms of sheer ferocity and nationalistic fervor.   

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Fear Is Inevitable

Change is inevitable, no one can avoid it, but the way you deal with the change and the emotions that come along with it can alter the outcome of the change, either in a positive of negative way. This comes under the aspect of change, known as fear. We are always fearing change, fearing how and what its going to change our path in life. You will find that inâ€Å"The Book Thief† by Marcus Zusak and â€Å"Rain Man† by Barry Levinson both explore how if we fear change or push it away, it wont get you anywhere the change will always happen. I have also shown my aspect of change through my visual representation. You can have the power to alter the way you percieve change you can fear it, or push it away. But you can also accept the change. If you go with the change, you might even be able to percieve the change in a more positive and accepting way, changing it from a negative situation to a positive situation. For example in my visual representation, there is someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, if they take on a positive outlook and want to help themselves by getting treatment, the outcome is more positive. Acting in a certain way can almost defnately help to change your situation of change into a positive one, just like how in the film rainman Charlie adapts to raymonds need for his t. v programs so he doesnt fight this and buys raymond a portable t. v. Accepting the change is also explored through the book theif, when leisel accepts max the jewish fist fighter into her family, Leisel looking at this change in a positive way lead her down that positve path as she had now formed a loving bond with him, as he has in some respects morphed into a surrogate brother for leisels dead brother. The alternate way you can percieve change is to fear change and fight against it. In my visual representation if you did decide to fight against this cancer and almost tell yourself that it isnt happening,will get you no where, because no matter how you look at the diagnoses you still have canceer and the healthier option would to deifnately go and get treatment. Fearing change is understandable, as it is something that will change who you are and where you are headed as, charlie from rainamn discovers. Charlie fears the change that Raymond might make on his life, as he cannot connect with him due to his disability. Charlie's way of displaying his fear of this is to act out and get frustrated at his brother on many occasions, as he comments â€Å"You know what I think Ray? I think this autisticism is a bunch of shit! Because you can't tell me that you're not in there somewhere! † Acting out, and getting frustrated was soon realised by Charlie that he was scared of facing the reality that this was his brother and he had to accept him for who he is and there for accepting the change and getting over the fear. The main fear displayed in â€Å"The Book Thief†, is central to the character of Max the Jewish fist fighter the Hubbermanns were hiding from the Nazis. They feared that they were going to loose this important person who had just lifted their life. Fearing this change wasn't the best thing that they could have done, if instead they had just gone with this change realising that he would have to leave him at some point would have maximised their time with max. My visual representation illustrates that change can be percieved in two different ways leading you down two completely different paths. If you see the massive change of being diagnosed with cancer in a more accepting light, you will head down the positive path. Although if you see this change as something your stuck with and nothing can help you and you wont let anything of anyone help you, you are pushing this change away and not accepting it. By doing this you are more than definitely not going to help yourself and will head down the negative path. My visual representation explores how just by changing your attitude towards the change, the outcome can vary massivly.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

Civic Efficacy essays

Civic Efficacy essays Civic efficacy to me means knowledge about history, geography and cultures of the US and the world. It means knowing the constitution, the legal and political systems and current events. Civic efficacy is about having values and attitudes. It means Developing a reasoned commitment to public values of this society, being able to deal with conflicts, having basic human rights and protecting those rights, Developing reasoned loyalty to this nation , Bonding with other humans, and treating oneself and others with respect. Civic Efficacy also means to study and to have skills in certain things, it means to participate in discussions and group activities, last but not least it means to have intellectual skills. Social understanding is knowledge of social aspects of the human condition, how they have evolved over time, the variations that occur in differing physical environments and cultural settings, and the emerging trends that appear likely to shape the future. Citizens who know this or do this are good and effective citizens. They know about there past they know the difference between right and wrong. They know about the world around them. They arent blind to the things that go on in this day and age. They use past problems to solve future ones so they dont make the same mistakes. Knowing and following civic efficacy and having a social understanding means youre a good citizen in this country. It also means youre a responsible citizen. Every citizen should learn civic efficacy and each citizen should have a social understanding. I volunteered to be a D.A.R.E role model. Basically we met with 5th graders and talked about high school, drugs, and alcohol. I realized its important to teach little kids at a very early age about whats right and wrong and how to be a good citizen. I remember being a little scared before I started talking to the kids, because I knew ...

Monday, November 4, 2019

Challenges to the pharmaceutical industrys blockbuster-driven business Essay

Challenges to the pharmaceutical industrys blockbuster-driven business model, and the effectiveness of GlaxoSmithKlines strategies for meeting these challenges - Essay Example Scientific innovations take unexpectedly long periods to record progress or profits, which is pulling back the pharmaceutical industry’s blockbuster-driven business model (Antonijevic, 2013, p. 4). Many pharmaceuticals that launched blockbuster models between 1995 and 2000 were the outcome of discovery events began between the 1970s and 1980s (Ding et al., 2013, p. 426). Pharmaceuticals made these efforts to commercialize the upsurge of scientific understanding that had been growing for two decades. Recent scientific developments such as increased amounts of screening and genomics have raised output but their effect is yet to be felt at the bottom line. In the meantime, numerous pipelines guarantee just single digit rates of growth following the expiration of patent effects. Increases in development costs pose as another challenge for pharmaceuticals’ blockbuster strategies (Shore, 2012, p. 116). Declining success rates, higher medical expenses per patient, and the need to carry out bigger tests to gratify increasingly strict regulatory barriers cause increases in development costs. Recently printed surveys indicate that the general expenses for an effective medication increased more than twice during the 1990s, reaching $800 million, counting capital expenses (Dubey and Dubey, 2010, p. 182). While R&D is turning out to be less productive, this data is conservative, particularly for extremely competitive blockbuster groups. As a result, rises in development costs could have caused a much more significant blow to blockbuster-driven business models before the 2000s. The deterioration of patent protection contributed significantly to the collapse of blockbuster-driven business models among pharmaceuticals (Rickwood, 2012). Patent challenges included briefer durations of exclusiveness that raised competition from rival commodities that get FDA approval

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Google Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Google Technologies - Essay Example Google also has an unofficial slogan ‘Don’t be Evil’ (Google Investor Relations, 2012). The Trimble 3D Warehouse (previously known as Google 3D Warehouse), is a supplementary website for Google SketchUp. This is a website where modelers can download, share and upload 3D Models (3D Warehouse, 2012). The inauguration of this 3D powerhouse was on April 24, 2006. Modelers can use this website to do many things such as upload a collection of 3D models; moreover, its users can also detect certain patterns through algorithm to create similar looking models. Separate models can be observed in 3D right from the Internet browser. According to PC World,  3D Warehouse lets users lacking significant artistic inclination to make and crowd 3D models (Preston, 2008). According to The New York Times, 3D Warehouse had become a virtual "dictionary" of 3D vocabulary. The virtual 3D workshop is so powerful that it suits film making, for instance; people can find detailed three-dimensional virtual models of famous building structures, all over the world. Even a street in Alabama has virtual set that can be used in the movies. With potent search and design tools, high-definition pictures of any bridge in the world can be incorporated into common visual dictionary for later usage. This is not a dictionary of words, but of pictures, readymade images. And these ‘words’ from the 3D vocabulary can be used to make movie. All needed parts can be mashed up with a snap of the finger. 3D Warehouse is such a powerful tool that it makes up a nice collage of image database, and this serves as a unique grammar for image-motion. This tech product from Google has everything good about it. It is such a great tool for tech-savvy, web designers and electronic artists; they can have tons of fun while working with it. The only bad aspect I see is that professional