‘Friends’ and the play of ‘Neville’s Island’ Essay

The hit sitcom ‘Friends’ started ten years ago when we were first introduced to Monica, Rachael, Phoebe, Chandler, Ross and Joey and today I am going to compare the sitcom of ‘Friends’ with the play of ‘Neville’s Island’ which was written by Tim Firth. Neville’s Island is not only a play. It has also been recently made into a film starring Timothy Spall, Martin Clunes, Jeff Rawle and David Bamber. ‘Friends’ on the other hand was written and still remains for television and for the past ten years it has been broadcast over the Atlantic to millions of eager viewers both in America and the U.K. In America ‘Friends’ is broadcast over the television network of NBC compared to the U.K where it is received through Channel 4. When we first observe the film of ‘Neville’s Island’ we are introduced to four businessmen, who, when their boat sinks, find themselves stranded on a small island, called Rampsholme in the middle of the Lake District’s Derwent Water. The Four Characters in Neville’s Island are on a team-building weekend, they are Neville, (Jeff Rawle), has become the elected Captain of the group, who then proves he is unfit for his position when he leads the team in the wrong direction. He does his best to maintain order in the group’s arguments, and works well as a go-between as he proves to be very reasonable with his fellow peers, and he seems to be the most adjusted member of the group to ‘island life’, He is dressed in an Anorak and wears glasses. He tries his hardest to keep the peace between Angus and Gordon, (Timothy Spall) who is extremely sarcastic towards his fellow peers and seems to pick up on every little flaw in their character, whi ch later show him to be a bully, his cruel sarcasm gives us many funny moments throughout the play of Neville’s island, such as â€Å"all Christians are like Radio hams†. Gordon seems to have many rants at his fellow colleagues most of which result in â€Å"handbags at dawn† style tension between him and Angus, (David Bamber) whom at the start of the play; he comes across as a good-natured person who is full of optimism. Angus seems to have dressed out of the camp shop side of his wardrobe so to speak as he is dressed constantly in cagoules, anoraks and knitted hats. Angus turns out to be a bit sad as he seems to bore everyone stiff, with his numerous attempts at cracking jokes. Also, later in the play where all hope seems to have to been lost he suddenly reveals a hidden sausage, which in the heating of proves to be very funny. He may also later have hindered the groups rescue as he seems to have bought the entire stock of a camping shop and told nobody about it, his shopping list includes a 18-inch knife, climbing rope†¦and for some reason unbeknown to his fellow standees†¦..a dinner suit! Roy, (Martin Clunes), is a born-again Christian who has an un-kempt appearance. Roy has recently returned to work following a prolonged breakdown, after the death of his mother, Lucy, he literally hangs onto his sanity and Gordon’s rant about how old people only become religious because ‘they are scared stiff, and there just grabbing, grabbing, grabbing at the rope, and no-ones holding the other end’ doesn’t help either as this near-enough sends Roy into a relapse, and he disappears into the undergrowth with an 18-inch knife, so the group fear he may do something to harm himself, but later he is found, sat up a tree wearing only his underwear, but after he returns the knife to Neville, they fear he may take his own life again as Angus’ almost ‘mile’ long piece of rope has gone missing, and they think he may hang himself†¦ he also reveals to Neville that he helped his mother to end her own life†¦Roy is also a keen birdwatcher, and he takes his time on the island to observe a rare falcon, and is called among st many other things by Gordon†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Doo-lally’ ‘Friends’ is all about 6 friends who all live in the same block of apartments in New York, the show takes us through their individual strengths, weaknesses, problems and goals†¦most of all their intertwining relationships with each other. The characters in friends are Joey Tribbiani – (Matt Leblanc.) Joey is broad-shouldered, wide-eyed and thick-headed. Joey comes from New York and is a lover who has had many partners. Joey is a not-so-good actor who never has to play-act being a good guy or a better friend, but he wants to hit the big-time as an actor. He is cheeky, and most of his jokes are sexually orientated, followed by hand gestures. Joey is sarcastic. Chandler Bing – (Matthew Perry) Wise-cracks, and sets off development in characters & storyline. Chandler appears to be over-qualified at work and he seems to be afraid of wife Monica. Chandler gives really bad advice. Ross Geller – (David Schwimmer) Ross is the personification of an intellectual geek as he is an expert in Palaeontology. Ross is still looking for love after 3 divorces. He has always loved Rachael. Ross is quite nerdy, and (most of the time) sticks to the rule book. Rachael Green – (Jennifer Aniston), Rachael comes across as an IT/ Daddy’s girl. She dither’s a lot, and is meant to be with Ross, even though they have drifted apart many times. Monica Geller Bing – (Courtney Cox Arquette) used to be a high-school fatty, but now has slimmed down to obsessive and cleaning mad Monica. She is a good sister to Ross and a friend to everyone. After marrying Chandler, Monica seems to have made him find his maturity. Phoebe Buffay Hannigan – (Lisa Kudrow) a hippie chick who has led a traumatic life, her mother killed herself, her stepfather went to prison, and she lived on the streets for some of her life. She drives people mad with her out-of-key folk songs that she writes with her guitar. Phoebe can be quite dippy, but she is kind-hearted, a good spirit, and seems to take everyday as it comes. She near enough floats around and I think would have fit in perfectly in the 60’s. – Very off-the-wall. The sitcom of friends is set in New York and it appears to be aimed at the younger generations of the 90’s and 00’s, this is mainly caused by its humour and that the characters themselves are very young. In comparison to this the play of ‘Neville’s Island’ is set in a remote island in the middle of a lake in the Lake District and its characters are all middle-aged around 40 years old and ‘Neville’s Island’, I think can appeal to all ages as the comedy and mishaps that occur between the four characters of Angus, Roy, Gordon and Neville could almost happen to anybody of any age. The four men in ‘Neville’s Island’ are all executives of a water company and they have been sent on this team-building exercise. The friendships in either drama are very different, as the 6 friends in ‘Friends’ are all immensely close and after being so for ten years they appear to have a love for each other which comes with a bond that makes their friendships so special to them, even though the group is half men, half women apart from sexual tension between Monica and Chandler, Ross and Rachael this appears to not affect their friendships whatsoever. These bonds of friendship could not be more different than in the play of ‘Neville’s Island’ by Tim Firth as the four colleagues seem to have been forced to be together and this creates lots of tension between them particularly with Roy and Gordon with his rants about â€Å"all Christians are like radio-hams†. The four colleagues seem to be each putting up with each other constantly and we get a sense that if they had not worked in the same workplace, these four individuals would never had considered becoming friends with e ach other. The Two drama’s of ‘Friends’ and ‘Neville’s Island’ have been written in the same decade and they include many moral issues and information about current affairs for example the mood of ‘Friends’ was slightly changed for a while during the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World trade centres. The home life/lifestyle has affected the personalities of all the characters in either drama such as Phoebe is slightly mad and sometimes eccentric. This may have been caused by her circumstances as a child as her mother killed herself, her stepfather went to prison, and she lived on the streets for some of her life. In ‘Neville’s Island’ we see Gordon who appears to bully most people he sees by picking up on every flaw in their character and using it as ammunition against them, Gordon appears to be in denial as in fact he is very lonely but refuses to admit this. There are many themes/issues that arise from the two dramas of ‘Neville’s Island’ and ‘Friends’ such as Status; in ‘Friends’ the 6 characters stand almost as individuals and they respect each other because of it and apart from minute outbursts from such characters as Monica giving rants about â€Å"Crummies†, but this is simply a part of Monica’s character and does not distinguish her as having more power over fellow friends. In contrast to this there is use of Status/Power in ‘Neville’s Island’, and this comes mainly from the character Gordon bullying people and bossing them about. Gordon is not however the chosen leader of the group, who is Neville but Gordon, underestimates his given authority on the island and simply does what he wants and says what he wants regardless of their feelings. Gordon always makes sarcastic and negative comments about his fellow colleagues; this makes him feel superior and p owerful to the rest of the group. Friendship is a key theme in both pieces of drama as in ‘Friends’, the entire purpose of the sitcom is to display the friendship between the 6 characters however ‘Neville’s Island’ meddles with the idea of leaving work-place politics behind in order the group of them to survive, whilst on the island though we realise that this group of colleagues don’t actually like each other and seem to have been forced into this team-building weekend. There are many relationships in both pieces of drama, some sexual but some arise form tension and the clash of personalities like that in ‘Neville’s Island’ between Roy and Gordon. Gordon is convinced that Roy is faking his religion for attention/acceptance and goes on many rants about this for example when he tells Roy that â€Å"all Christians are like radio-hams†. Gordon continues to cause tension between the group when there is a clash of personalities between Angus and himself as Angus is constantly trying to tell jokes, but none of them are funny as Angus often gets the joke mixed-up, this irritates Gordon even further, and he reached the height of his irritation when he discovers that Angus seems to have an entire camping shop worth of supplies in his backpack, along with climbing rope, an 18-inch machete†¦and even a 3-piece dinner suit! Gordon continues to irritate Angus by simply picking on him, but this ends when Gordon accuses Angus’ wife of being adulterous and that right now she is â€Å"screaming in ecstasy on the bread shelf in Sainsbury’s†. Relationships in ‘Friends’ that are of a sexual sense come from Ross and Rachael as since the beginning of the series they have been attracted to each other and after 3 divorces Ross seems to have found his perfect match, this applies to Rachael; and in the final episode Ross and Rachael finally get together. Another relationship in the sitcom ‘Friends’ comes from Monica and Chandler, they get married and later find out that they cannot have children so in the final series they have a surrogate mother and she agrees to give them her baby, but when the baby is being born in the final episode they find out that instead of one baby, they are having twins. The two remaining friends who do not get it together are Joey and Phoebe, there has never been an attraction between them and Phoebe marries a man called Mike and becomes Phoebe Buffay-Hannigan. Co-operation plays a big part in the play of ‘Neville’s Island’ by Tim Firth, the entire purpose of the team-building is to bring the four characters together as a team, so that they can co-operate together in this or any environment, but this proves difficult as the four colleagues are completely incompatible and in the end simply get on each others nerves. The characters in ‘Friends’ co-operate completely with each other, they help each other out in any circumstances and they work together perfectly. The social context of the sitcom ‘Friends’ by David Crane takes us through an entire decade of events through the years of 1994 -2004. ‘Friends’ is set in the city of New York and focuses on city life and the glamorous lifestyles of 6 friends in ‘coffee culture’ which is centred around their meeting place – a coffee house by the name of ‘Central Perk’. The social context of ‘Friends’ takes us before, during and through the aftermath of the 11th September attacks on the World Trade Centre, which all Americans including the characters in friends come out of this very patriotic. The Sitcom of ‘Friends’ focuses more on the social lives of the friends rather than their work places, this is mainly shown through Chandler as we get a sense that he is successful in his job, but this is shrouded in mystery as we never find out what he does or indeed what his workplace looks like. A convention of an American sitcom is that it shows Americans in an ‘ideal’ lifestyle and there is no hint of poverty or depravation and they appear to be at the higher ‘middle-class’ and American viewers hope to aspire to this. These conventions are used in the sitcom ‘Friends’. ‘Friends’ is filmed in a studio and no-matter-what shot is used, we never get to see that elusive ‘other wall’ in contrast to this in the play ‘Neville’s Island’ the weather appears to mirror the emotions of the characters, this is pathetic fallacy, and instead of being filmed in a studio, ‘Neville’s Island’ is filmed in a natural environment on location. ‘Neville’s Island’ is set in the 1990’s and in a rural setting as the entire play occurs outdoors. ‘Neville’s Island’ is set in the time where John Major from the conservative party was Prime Minister, and the negative attitudes towards the situations used through Gordon mirror that of the time as John Major was trying to shake off and fight Margaret Thatcher’s â€Å"Everyone for themselves† view. ‘Neville’s Island’ is a black comedy as it uses the juxtaposition of morbid and farcical elements to give a certain effect. The humour within ‘Neville’s Island’ is created because of the contrasting characters and the way that they interact with each other. Each character has their own individual sense of humour; Gordon possesses a sarcastic, negative and almost child-like sense of humour. Angus’ jokes are more centred on farcical subjects that when told aren’t very funny at all, but they appear to have been funny in Angus’ head as he laughs at his own jokes a lot. Roy doesn’t really have a sense of humour as he appears to be too wrapped up in his religion, but sometimes he can appear to be quite argumentative and almost psychotic. The sitcom ‘Friends’ is also centred on comedy and the humour is directed at and centred on the characters. The characters all respond differently to different situations but comedy is usually created by the use of facial expressions, accents, off-the-wall comments and the immense use of timing and pauses. From both plays there are many ideas that I would like to experiment with and include in my improvisation unit of â€Å"Stranded†, such as * Being stranded * Comedy/Sarcasm * Characters, with similarities to that of Neville’s Island and friends * One of the characters has a secret. * Tension * The types of characters that have been created for example Joey’s use of timing and comments, Monica’s obsessiveness, Phoebe’s eccentrics, Roy’s almost psychotic state of mind and his belief in religion or Gordon’s sarcasm and use of negative comments. The themes used within these two dramas, for example I have decided to base my â€Å"Stranded† improvisation work to create a piece that is focused on a shipwreck, like that of ‘Neville’s Island’. The different social settings have interested me and I understand how they affect the piece, we have decided to set our drama on a ship that is in the middle of the Irish Sea and it is full of escaped convicts/murderers that steal the boat and hold its occupier hostage, who for coincidence the criminals know, They are all Irish.

Cafe de Coral Marketing Paper Essay

1. Introduction Background information This marketing plan is base on the quick service restaurant in Hong Kong market and the Cafà © de Coral Group is focus in this plan. The Group was incorporated in October 1968, it is principally engaged in the food and catering industry as largest Chinese quick service restaurant group, maintaining a publicly recognized leadership position in the mass-market, quick service restaurant chain business, with vertical and horizontal diversification towards the food services, food processing and distribution, catering and hospitality sectors in Hong Kong. It has prospered through the concept of customer oriented by increasing the environmental, product and services qualities. Besides, it combines the Chinese and Western food cultural in order to create the fashion of fast casual dining for health and nutritional lifestyle and provide a modern and warm experience for the customers. 2. Current Market Situation 3.1 Market Analysis Cafà © de Coral is a major Chinese quick service restaurant chain in Hong Kong. Following is an overview of the potential in the catering market and a specific review of the fast food restaurant market. (a) Overview of the opportunities in the catering market * Hong Kong probably is the most welcomed tourist attraction in Asia. By the forecast of the World Tourism Organization, Hong Kong is the fifth most frequently visited destination in the world, accounted for 57 million  visitors per year by year 2020 (InvestHK, 2012). * The majority of tourist population is come from the Mainland China (InvestHK, 2012) and this would probably flavors the Chinese style cuisine or catering services. * The persistence of inflation in Hong Kong may induce the demand of fast food instead of ordinary or luxury cuisines. (b) Specific review of the fast food restaurant market * There are 15,757 fast food shop establishments in Hong Kong, hiring for 41,319 people (InvestHK, 2012). * According to a survey sponsored by Mingpao and conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong(2011), Cafà © de Coral acquired the titles of â€Å"most mentioned catering brand† and â€Å"most beloved catering brand† among the three major fast food chains (namely Cafà © de Coral, Maxims and Fairwood). * Cafà © de Coral is keeping expanding its market share in both catering market and specifically the fast food market. In year 2010, Cafà © de Coral has expanded its market share in fast food market successfully to 24.8% and in catering market to 4.6%(Commercial Radio, 2010). 3.2 Company Analysis The Group was incorporated in October 1968 and went public in July 1986 on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, which was the first of its kind at the time of listing. In October 2001, it was appointed as one of the top 200 constituents of The Hang Seng Composite Index Series. After 42 years of development, it has become the market leader in the Hong Kong fast food industry with over 24.8% market share in the Quick Service Restaurant segment and 4.6% of the total dining out industry in Hong Kong. Its business operation spans over 2 continents with more than 300 operating units in Hong Kong. Over the past years, the Group advanced in strides in profit performance and in its business dimensions. The continuous business growth records over the years speak for itself, recording multiple growths in terms of market capitalization, turnover, profits, employees and net assets value. The Group’s market cap increased by over 20 times, turnover by over 19 times,  profit by over 14 times and net assets by over 51 times since listing, with a dedicated workforce of 6,500. 3.3 SWOT Analysis 2.3.1 Strengths (a) Product Diversity The Group’s menu regularly rotated to maintain a variety of choices and to meet the taste and budgets of customers. Products on menu range from western cuisine to traditional Chinese dishes. New and seasonal products for each time segment are introduced regularly. (b) Strong Advertising â€Å"A Hundred Points of Excellence† has been the commitment to customers and is now a household catch phrase. As part of on-going campaign to strengthen the Cafà © de Coral brand, proactive advertising campaigns are launched on a continual basis. Through the campaign, the brand image has been further enhanced by positioning Cafà © de Coral as a place not just for best taste and value meals but also a popular meeting place for all walks of life. 2.3.2 Weakness (a) Relatively High Selling Price The food price of Cafà © de Coral is high in generally by comparing with the local style cha chaan teng and fast food restaurant in Hong Kong. This makes a comparative disadvantage for the Group. (b) Bad Public Relation In 2010, Cafà © de Coral has offered its staffs that they must forfeit their paid lunch break of approximately 45 minutes a day, a net cut in their pay. Political parties, unions, religious groups and students’ unions of universities, had organized and boycott Cafà © de Coral. After that, Cafà © de Coral had label as â€Å"Too Acrimonious†. 2.3.3 Opportunities (a) Individual Visits The number of individual visitor from mainland China keep increasing, and most of the visitors from mainland China flavor the Chinese style cuisine or catering services like Cafà © de Coral’s dishes. (c) Inflation in Hong Kong The persistence of inflation in Hong Kong may induce the demand of fast food instead of ordinary or luxury cuisines. As Cafà © de Coral maintaining a publicly recognized leadership position in fast food chains which benefits from increasing demand of fast food. 2.3.4 Threats (a) High Rental Cost The rent in Hong Kong is almost the highest among the world. According to the report of SingTao, about 40% of production cost is rental cost. And the rental cost keeps increase every year by 30% to 50%. Some of the restaurant cannot afford the high rental cost and go bankrupt in recent year. (b) Price of Ingredient Increase Under persistence of the appreciation in RMB, the price of food ingredient keeps increasing. According to the report of SingTao, the price of food ingredient increasing by 25% which is 35% to 45% of the production cost. 3.4 Competitor Analysis There are two major direct competitor in Hong Kong include Maxim and Fairwood. And there are some other indirect competitor including international chain fast food restaurant, Chinese restaurant, local style cha chaan teng, etc. Fairwood’s quick service restaurants serve mainly Chinese food. Its menu is frequently changed with seasonal favorites. Despite its Chinese predominance, its menu is enriched by the adoption of Western dishes that have been carefully redesigned to suit local tastes in order to enhance its  attractiveness. Also, Fairwood’s philosophy has always been to provide a wide range of good quality Chinese and Western cuisine at affordable prices in a bright, clean and modern ambience. Maxim’s quick service restaurants are bringing to customers a variety of quality dishes, a new interior and comfortable dining environment. Also, Maxim’s philosophy is â€Å"Whole-Hearted Mission† that is to surprise, delight and inspire customers with a unique dining experience. International chain fast food restaurant like McDonald, KFC are indirect competitor of Cafà © de Coral. These types of fast food restaurant are western style, usually with French fries and hamburger. Their target customers are general public with different nationality and culture. And they are especially focus on young people market. Chinese restaurants are focus on the middle age and elder market. They provide traditional Chinese dished like dim sum for customer. They are not position as quick service restaurant and they provide a place for customer eating slowly and chatting with family, friends and co-workers. Local style cha chaan teng are focus on low-mid income working class market. They are quick service restaurant provide affordable dishes for customer. The envirnment of cha chaan teng are crowded and noisy which is not suitable for having a relaxing and comfortable dinning experience. 3.5 Customer Analysis 2.5.1Market Segments (a) Segment A – Visitor from China: The segment consists of visitors who are Chinese residents and having a Chinese style eating habit. (b) Segment B – Family: The segment consists of people who usually have dinner outside and do not cook their dinner at home with small family size. (c) Segment C – Teenager and young adult: The segment consists of people who ages are between 15 and 45 and they enjoy gathering with friend. 2.5.2 Bases or variables of Segmentation used (a) Geographic Segmentation: Geographic segmentation divides the market of Hong Kong into group base on the variables of â€Å"Region†. Since the target customer of Cafà © de Coral are local low-mid income working class and visitor from mainland China, public housing estate and shopping plazas are preference in this segment. And the groups which segment out from the market are luxury residential areas and mid-level area. (b) Demographic Segmentation: â€Å"Age† and â€Å"Family Size† are the key variables used in this segment. As Cafà © de Coral adoption of Western dishes into the menu and have fusion of Chinese and Western food cultural which is suitable for the teenager and young adult, ages are between 15 and 45, and elder people do not prefer in this type of dishes. So â€Å"Age† is selected as a key variable. As most of family in Hong Kong are small in size and some of the family do not like to cook due to the hustle and bustle city live in Hong Kong. These families prefer having dinner outside and Cafà © de Coral offer them a moment of leisure, relaxation and warm experience to go with the delicious dishes. So â€Å"Family Size† is selected as a key variable. (c) Psychographic Segmentation: â€Å"Income† and â€Å"Lifestyle† are the key variables used in this segment. As the consumer behaviors and preferences of food will be affected by income. Local low-mid income working class will choose quick service restaurant with  affordable price due to the hustle and bustle city live in Hong Kong as a place of meeting place with friends and co-workers. So â€Å"Income† is selected as a key variable. As Hong Kong is an international city, people prefer a modern experience with fusion of Chinese and Western food cultural. Cafà © de Coral creates a fashion, health and nutritional dinning lifestyle for customers to gather with friends with warm and joyful experience. So â€Å"Lifestyle† is selected as a key variable. (d) Behavioral Segmentation: â€Å"Benefits† is the key variable used in this segment. As city life in Hong Kong is hustle and bustle, convenient and speedy are very important factors for customer to choose a restaurant in order to save their time. Also, Cafà © de Coral prospered through the concept of customer oriented by increasing the product and services qualities which make Cafà © de Coral publicly recognized leadership position in the mass-market. 3. Target Market And Positioning 3.1 Recommended target market Teenager and young adult are recommended as a target market. Since teenager and young adult enjoy gathering friends in restaurant and prefer a wide range of good quality dishes at affordable prices and a bright, clean and modern ambience. As Cafà © de coral adoption of Western dishes into the menu and have fusion of Chinese and Western food cultural with the fashion of fast casual dining for health and nutritional lifestyle and provide a modern and joyful experience for customers, it is suitable for Cafà © de Coral to focus on teenager and young adult market. 3.2 Recommended position As teenager and young adult are selected as target market, Cafà © de Coral is  recommended to position as a diversified, health and energetic quick services restaurant. Since teenager and young adult are keen on having new experience, diversified dishes can satisfy their wants. Also, teenager and young adult are caring about their body shape, appearance and style, health and energetic dishes can satisfy their wants and fulfill their perception. 4. Market Objectives 5.6 Build up a diversified, health and energetic brand image In order to build up a diversified, health and energetic brand image, Cafà © de Coral can make some advertisement in the internet and invite some young artist and singer to promote the new image. Cafà © de Coral can have some seasonal theme interior design for different western festival and play some soft but popular songs. This enhances the attractiveness of Cafà © de Coral as a good choice for young people gathering with friends. 4.2 Design more new diversified, health and energetic menu The menu may have more high fiber and low fat dishes which fits the image of health and energetic. Also the menus can have different seasonal and festival theme in order to satisfy the wants of diversification for young people. Also, Cafà © de Coral can provide more meal plan for friends instead of only provide individual meal plan. References Cafà © de Coral, 2012 http://www.cafedecoral.com Eastweek, 2011. http://dev.eastweek.com.hk/index.php?aid=19412 InvestHK, 2012.http://www.investhk.gov.hk/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2012.07-foodservice-en.pdf Mingpao, 2011.http://marketing.mingpao.com/hkbrand/cfm/other.cfm?html=10c Commercial Radio, 2010.http://www.snb.hk/page/zh-tw/snb_report.aspx?ItemId=264449 Min Wage Research,2010. http://minwageresearch.blogspot.hk/2010/11/ongoing-cafe-de-coral-debacle.html

Free African Americans Essay

The Antebellum period had a huge impact on the free African American people. The Antebellum period is the time that is pre-Civil War and post-War of 1812. The United States was expanding to a more powerful nation and slavery was the biggest industry in their economy. During this period of time, African Americans had to deal with many obstacles/adversities as free blacks in all regions of the United States. The regions known as, in the northern, upper south, deep south, and far west regions of the United States was where the free African American encountered different and similar situations and experiences. Throughout history the north always was known as the first region that freed slaves. The northern states didn’t us the same economic methods as the southern states and the far west. They adopted a new way of making money. According to The African American Odyssey, â€Å"Between 1860, a market revolution transformed the north into a modern industrial society. † This new method changed economy for the north until present day. This was a new age of industry and the production of factories. Slavery was not needed as much as the southern states where they had good sun to cultivate and profit from crops such as cotton. Even though this new method lightened the idea of slavery in the north, the freedom for blacks was still limited. Whites did not want to deal with blacks so they enforced new black laws in which resulted in the segregation of school, communities and any other public uses. Free black men had limited voting rights where they barely had any rights to vote. Most of all these black laws impacted the employment level to a low gradient for the free blacks in the north. This battle for employment had many negative impacts on free Black’s ways of life. Families were tarnished under the pressure of providing for their families with the scarcity of jobs. They enforced fugitive slave law where the white slave masters can hunt and recapture runaway slaves from the south. This made life difficult and filled the free blacks with fear because they were more prone to be wrongfully enslaved. Like the south the whites did not want to deal with blacks whatsoever. Irish immigrants were taking all the jobs away from the blacks many blacks had unskilled jobs such as being barbers and shoemakers. The free African American upper south region did have similar experiences as the north but much more were different. Though they shared similar churches family businesses and fraternities the upper south was still separated by the idea of slavery and the different economic methods. The impact of slavery created different communities. The free blacks in the north lived with other free Blacks while in the upper south; the free Blacks lived with slaves. The fugitive slave laws had a bigger impact on the upper south than the north. The free black was definitely more prone to be enslaves. Many sheriffs would harass and arrest free blacks randomly on profiling them as runaway slaves. They did have a tool known as free papers that was proof for their freedom. But these papers were useless most of the time because they constantly had to be renewed. These free papers impacted the everyday life of African Americans because they had to make sure that their papers weren’t stolen, lost, or tarnished. The free Blacks had fewer freedoms. They could not vote at all and they had problems going outside at night. They could not congregate in groups and had no rights to bear arms. Life as a free Black person was tougher than the north because of the low employment rates downgraded again due to the Irish immigrants taking their jobs. Their jobs were different during the antebellum period. Many people were maids and servants and washers. Upper south institutions where tarnished and almost did not exist. Black churches were overran by white ministries and left the black ministers with no opportunities to practice on their careers. Schools were almost absent. They were low funded whereas many blacks in the upper south were left uneducated. There were no schools and no jobs which gave success to the whites on preventing the advancement of the free blacks. Unlike the north and the upper south, the Deep South barely had any free blacks despite the fact that the population of African Americans in the Deep South was enormous. There were many incidents of racial mixing with slave owners and the female slaves. Diversity was there but slavery still kept their children enslaved. They usually had a choice to buy their way out of slavery. Many of the free slaves did not have their own separate identity from the white slave owners. Many of the free blacks were just like the whites. They were accepted in the churches. Many wealthy free blacks were educated due to the establishment of private schools. Unlike the north and the Upper South, they had better skilled jobs such as carpentry and tailors. Many whites began to overlook the success of the free African American In the Deep South and made it even more impossible to live. Unlike the North, Upper South, and the Deep South, the Far West absolutely did not want anything to do with free Blacks. The black laws in the Far West were made to ban all free Blacks from settling in their region. The Gold Rush of 1849 resulted in the migration of many White and free Black men to settle out west in states like California and Oregon. The Far west was known to be more multicultural and have multicultural communities. Many blacks had the same jobs of that the free Blacks from the regions had except for the gold mining. Many Blacks prospered from gold. Slavery was a huge propaganda in the upper south and the whole south in general. It was a reality that all African American whether free or enslaved could not avoid. The northern states were gradually enhancing their advancement in the idea of acceptance and coexistence with the Whites in the US. The north had at least a bit of a head start for the search of equality in the U. S. The conditions of living might have been similar and different in many ways but this time all came to an end once the fugitive slave laws were enhanced. Many free African Blacks were enslaved and wrongfully accused to be slaves. The new laws were undisputed and changed the Blacks’ idea of freedom and fight for equality Work Cited Hine D, The African American Odyssey (2011). Combined Volume, 5th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Lamo to the slaughter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Lamo to the slaughter - Assignment Example As regards the giggle, she seems contented of her actions. When Patrick arrives home, one can witness that something is wrong from several instances. This is demonstrable by the way he gulps his whisky in one swing (Dahl 28). In addition, he declines the offer of food from Mary (Dahl 30). Patrick says â€Å"this is going to be a bit of a shock to you.† This news might entail information about a break up. Mary could not accept the message. She acts as if she is striving to please Patrick. When Mary realizes that she has murdered her husband, the same astound her. Mary strives to act normal by having a make-up. She then goes to the grocery in order to fool Sam that everything was normal in the house. In this sense, Sam would easily act as a witness to her favor. She then goes back to the house and wails whereby police officers and detectives come in to address the scenario. The police’s investigation of Patrick’s death is bias in the sense that they believe an external party would have been responsible for the same. There is cheese and pork lying on the floor. Mary Maloney is holding Patrick’s body as she cries. In addition, Patrick’s body lies on the floor while facing the roof. There are signs of blood on Patrick’s head. The first witness is Mary Maloney. She reports that Patrick acted quite normal and drunk his usual whiskey. She says that she placed pork in the oven and went out to look for vegetables. When she retreated in the house, she found Patrick lying on the floor. Thereafter, she realizes that Patrick

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 82

Essay Example Gang and Mafia system prevail and flourish due to drug users as they act the source of all problems related drug trafficking. It is easy to locate the availability of drugs in a school, community and society. The frequent usage has prevailed not only due to swift drug marketing, but also through media which pictured the drug users tough and courageous. This negative impact and message was worldwide and because of which curiosity and attraction of drug usage grew especially among youngsters. Many high school and college students have been involved in its marketing as it makes the earning effortless and swift for them which, consequently promotes gang culture in schools and prostitution among young girls. Bullying in educational institutes has become a common phenomenon lately, which should be eliminated. I personally feel the unpleasant affects of bullying are disastrous and continual of it will produce uncountable psychological problems in everyman of our nation. The victims of bullying suffer to great extent. Bullying exists in many form which are verbal, physical, and psychological and recently a new popular mode; known as cyber bullying. The reasons of which vary, but stereotype behavior and bias, remain the source of it. The increase in violence and peer pressure impacts adversely on a pupil’s life. They feel alone, ensnared, distracted, troubled and perilous. Thus, lack of confidence heightens and their capabilities shrink, which results in low scores. Kids bully due to numerous reasons, violence or negligence at home, frustration due to any deficiency, lack of role model and undue sway, racial biases and conduct turmoil. Bullying affects both the parties negatively it not only harms the victim but, also the abuser as they both are under the process of maturation. Bullying has a long lasting effect on a person’s life. The terrifying and humiliated moments of bullying; haunts a person until the end of his life.

Discussion Board 6-1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Discussion Board 6-1 - Assignment Example the trend of masturbation and orgasm in children and adolescent, and puberty in adolescents is important to counselors as they are able to understand certain sexual anomalies that may appear in children and adolescents as they grow. According to Rathus, Nevid and Fitchner-Rathus (2014), human beings tend to begin masturbating at early stage of development. The practice tends to continue through adolescence to adulthood. Depending on the response of the immediate society to a masturbating child, adolescents or adults may exhibit sexual passiveness or activeness. If parents of a masturbating child punished, scolded or warned the given child against masturbating, the child may grow knowing that the practice is bad and may end up not exploiting their sexual abilities. This may lead to sexually inactive adolescents with retarded sexual interest or desire. Having such knowledge may help a counselor track the beginning of particular sexual abnormalities. Rathus, Nevid and Fitchner-Rathus (2014) report that human begins begin to experience orgasm as early as during infancy to childhood, adolescence and to adulthood. Having this background knowledge is important to help a counselor dealing with clients experiencing abnormal orgasmic response trace, identify possible historical causes, and find appropriate solutions. Understanding puberty and related processes as happens among adolescents is a special issue that a counselor needs to know about human sexual development. As mentioned by Rathus, Nevid and Fitchner-Rathus (2014), puberty defines the basic onset of adolescence. Adolescence prepares individuals for adulthood encounters. Puberty and adolescence usually trigger impulsive sexual feelings that may lead to inappropriate sexual behaviors. Counselors need to understand the process of puberty during adolescence to be able to help troubled adolescents face and overcome problems and embarrassments that usually characterize the

Pret Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pret - Essay Example Currently, there lies the presence of 295 shops of the company in the world and the majority of them are located in the United Kingdom. The annual turnover of the company is approximately 380 million Pounds (Pret A Manger, 2012). The company formed 22 new stores or shops in the year 2011 and is likely to open more 20 to 30 stores in the year 2012. It does not possess any franchisee while performing its business operations. Moreover, the company bears a strong custom in order to develop its working personnel. In this context, it desires to invest profoundly towards the advancement of its employees by a considerable level (Pret A Manger, 2012). In the paper, a complete analysis about the various major difficulties faced by Pret A Manger that include particularly the supply as well as the demand issues will be taken into concern. Furthermore, few business strategies have been provided in order to assist the company to overcome the major problems related to supply and demand issues while performing its business operations. Impact of Demand and Supply Factor in Business Organisations The factors of supply along with demand are observed to be one of the most influential factors, which affect the business working as well as performance of any organisation. The aspect of demand is described as the willpower and the capability of the customers to buy a specific product and the notion of supply is defined as the capability of the business to deliver the various products to the customers according to their demand. In relation to the restaurant industry, the commencement of Great Recession imposed a severe as well as a sudden impact upon the business performances along with sales of the restaurants. In this regard, it has been observed that before the start of the Great Recession, the major factors that include easy financing and presence of market participants ultimately fuelled towards raising the number of new restaurants, which resulted in maximum supply which exceeded the demand (Petev & et. al., 2011). Problems for Pret A Manger One of the major problems, which had been faced by Pret A Manger in recent times, is about the investigation made over its frozen chicken, which the company used in its food labelling. It has been observed that the frozen chicken which was utilised by the company was actually shipped from Brazil. However, this aspect was not properly communicated through the labelling of the product. In response, the co-founder of the company, Pret A Manger named Julian Metcalfe stated that the sandwiches of his company are made with fresh products and the company always concentrates upon making the products with preservative free ingredients. He also added that unlike his business market competitors, his company makes sandwiches daily and they are never kept overnight. Thus, it can be stated that the company faced a major problem in relation to sustainability issue that has been recognised in its frozen chicken labelled fresh products (Telegraph Media Group Limited, 2012). The other significant issue that had been faced by Pret A Manager is about the complaint against one of its products i.e. tomato soup which contained huge quantity of salt that might lead towards the diseases of high blood pressure and hypertension. This particular issue has ultimately affected the commitment that has been made by the company in order to deliver fresh as well as natural food to its valued customers (Mail Online, 2012). Furthermore, the company might face

E-Business- Transforming Customer Contact into Revenue Essay

E-Business- Transforming Customer Contact into Revenue - Essay Example This will just not suffice in today's selling world. One-time sales will generate revenue and help attain monthly targets, but what then E-Business is revolutionizing commerce. With transfer of data at one's fingertips, it's imperative for business houses to maintain customer database for the present and future development of business. Over the decade, business houses shifted their focus from automating back-office operations to customer relations. This move could be seen as a move in the right direction. This helps improve retention of customer database considerably and most importantly, these 'point solutions' add tactical value by encouraging customers to use this feature through the internet to make purchases1. Selling-Chain Management helps both the salesman and prospective customers identify their needs; it covers all aspects of a process-cycle, right from a customer's initial inquiry to delivery. Such powerful software thus helps minimize expenses in a relative term and improve profits. This paper takes a look e-Business solutions can help realtors transform customer contacts into revenue. 'Point Solutions' refers to details available at any point of time to a salesperson in negotiating with a customer. Product and price lists, inventory to advice on product availability and deliveries, will clear the way for better objection handling and doubts to close a business deal. An important feature of e-business is that every aspect of the sales process is considered critical to obtain a successful order. Internet Relationship Management (IRM), a personalized sales platform does just that. It assists in servicing potential customers as an interactive module, and deriving revenue. How does this happen IRM acts as the front-office of a company. IRM is interactive software that has provisions for free e-mail, discussion boards, and up-to-date product content2. As a realtor, IRM could address questions normally put up by customers regarding sales and mortgage of property, project development cost and time, structural features and so on. A customer who can avail all required info rmation through such software will undoubtedly be impressed and order. Legal opinions, blue-prints, property purchase and lease agreements, mortgage details and price listing will help make a customer more than confident of making a firm decision. Also the fact that the internet helps reduce process time will benefit the realtor in concluding sales early and efficiently. 4.0 Conclusion An important aspect of a sale is identifying customer needs. A customer's requirement is a prerequisite in a successful sale. IRM is essentially a sales platform that allows customers to log in to a company's website and retrieve valuable information that may be not available with sales staff. IRM allows customers the benefit of addressing their queries directly to the respective heads of departments, thus eliciting valid and genuine information. This task reduces uncertainties and customers find it easier to take decisions. However, an important aspect of e-Business is that, all information available on the website must be kept up-to-date and the system must be user-friendly. 5.0 References 1. Dr. Ravi Kalakota & Marcia Robinson, Identifying the Problem: Disconnected Front-Office Systems, Page 2-3, e-Business 2.0, Roadmap for Success,

Marketing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Marketing - Assignment Example Westwood (2006) states that with innovation and marketing being driving force of most organizations, the brand manager does the following: †¢ Supports in driving innovation of new strategies of marketing in communication industries, †¢ Assists in leading the improvement of developing new products for the brand. Major duties in this role include new product ideation and exploratory, insight mining, presentation as well as development of results of marketing concept with senior management, developing packaging design, developing claims and interfacing with other departments of the organization throughout all stages of developing new products. †¢ The brand manager also partners with and motivates a wide-ranging cross-functional overall team of market R&D, research, finance, sales, package design, operations and engineering to enable breakthroughs along with game-changing advancement to the market. To accomplish this, the brand Manager requires highly motivated individuals with strong creative, analytical, interpersonal and problem-solving skills. †¢ Brand manager manages customer relations. With management of customer relations, he communicates with organizational customers during the many phases of the process of purchasing the products. †¢ The brand manager controls the marketing mix. Marketing mix entails all tangible fundamentals that enable marketing of products of the organization. These include organizational employees, facilities, the products themselves, the selling process, the cost strategy and process of advertising and promotion

Should public funding be used to provide early childhood education to Essay

Should public funding be used to provide early childhood education to all children - Essay Example However, this fact notwithstanding, the following analysis will consider the extent to which governmental funding of early childhood education would be a net good or an overall net bad from educational, economic, and societal standpoints. As a function of answering such a broad question, it is the hope of this particular author that the reader will be able to draw a more well rounded answer to a question that would otherwise evoke a rather emotional response from the perspective shareholders within the process as well as the taxpayers that will ultimately be left holding the bill regardless of what particular approach is engaged. By analyzing these determinants, it is the further intention of the author that the pros and cons of such a broad and overarching funding will be made manifest and allow the reader to come away with a rather clear understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of such a system might be. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, one must integrate an understanding and appreciation for the economic constraints that universal government sponsorship of early childhood education would portend. ... As a function of understanding the means by which the United States government ultimately operates, one comes away with the understanding that the elected representatives are responsible to the shareholder citizens with regards to the legislation and proposed budget. In this way, it is easy to see how, regardless of current budgetary shortfalls, a large enough response from the electorate would force the hand of the federal government to act in a way to provide such services to the electorate. Naturally, in doing so, this would have a strong negative impact upon other vital functions of the government, to include many other forms of needed social programs; perhaps Medicaid, Medicare, and/or Social Security funding (Hart 64). As such, it is necessary for the reader/researcher to consider the fact that without exponentially raising tax rates, it will be impossible to seek to add a broad new level of government services without directly robbing from one program to help to pay for anothe r one. From the educational standpoint, the application of universal childhood education can have a massive benefit to the further development of educational standards within the lifetime of the student and can serve to provide a sound basis upon which the educators involved can seek to build. Within the current system, only some shareholders within the student body have the opportunity and/or the means to engage within childhood education. Although this should not be seen as a definitive disadvantage, the fact of the matter is that it provides an unequal footing upon which the first few grades must integrate with the students. A level of basic assumption cannot be provided with relation to what has been covered and what has not. In

Final paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 12

Final paper - Essay Example PRview strategies include: PR View Company has to establish a strong network of Chinese in Los Angeles and Beijing. The company must look into ways of improving their services to its customers so that they end up feeling served and satisfied. When customers are contented with the services, they are offered they will consequently generate word of mouth recommendation to other people, and this will help the company make more clients. PRview has been able to attract more customers in both los Angeles and Beijing since it was founded. Therefore, the company must retain its hub in both Los Angeles and Beijing. The two cities serves a vast population of people when the company establishes its roots in these two cities then it will be of constant clients. The company has to split its operations between the two offices in Los Angeles and Beijing to maintain its presence and draw even more customers. PRview is a website company that tries to reach out to customers who have PR cases to be solved. Since the company is first accessed and can be researched online, therefore, the website acts as the main tool of marketing PRview. Therefore, the company must constantly put itself in the pace to win more customers through sight and information put in the website to attract more customers. The company must use it as a tool for business advertisement (Cooperrider & Sekerka, 2006). PRview website and blog must be under constant maintenance to push the companies brand to the limit. Since the company reaches most of its customers through the website, PRview has to make use of the only tool it has to convince its clients hence, rebranding of the website will keep the company at a competitive edge in the market and attract clients. Another strategy that can be used by PRview is the use of cost-effective alternatives. The company must transform itself into an agency that can accommodate the customers

The Benefits of Healthy Eating Essay Example for Free

The Benefits of Healthy Eating Essay Food is the key to life. We need food for the basics of everyday life to pump blood, move our body, and think thoughts. We can eat to live well, live longer, and extend the quality of life. Eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures. It is also a powerful way to enhance or impair your health. Most of us are aware that food choices are important to health; very few people truly realize that foods can promote health. Western medicine is so focused on treating disease that prevention is often ignored. Part of disease prevention is making sure you are eating foods that are healthy and nutrient dense. To function to the best of our body’s ability it requires balance and harmony. The best place to start is with healthy eating. The benefits of healthy eating are exceptional and there are many far- reaching health advantages and gains that cannot be overlooked. Healthy eating practices are important in shaping lifelong behaviors, as well as affecting ones’ health and wellness. Harvard School of Public Health challenges us all to follow a healthy foods diet to see how it can make a positive impact on your health. Vegetables and fruits are clearly an important part of a good diet. Most everyone can benefit from eating ore of them, but variety is as important as quantity. No single fruit or vegetable provides all the nutrients you need to be healthy. The key lies in the variety of different vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean proteins that you eat daily(Vegetables And Fruits: Get Plenty Everyday,  ). Everyone from a small child to a mature adult requires a healthy eating habit to be physically in peak form. The food you eat can influence how you feel and how you look they can affect your health. The health benefits associated with healthy eating include maintain a healthy body weight, lower blood pressure, ower cholesterol, healthy blood sugar levels, and a decreased risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. These health benefits will also allow you to have more energy, think more clearly, and have an improved quality of life. Your body runs on fuel in the form of food, and if the fuel you put in your body is not high grade, you should not expect your body to give you peak performance. To keep your body running to the best of its ability, it is up to you to feed it healthy foods (Covelli, 2011). As noted in the book Eating Well For Optimum Health Weil, 2000, p5), â€Å" healthy eating is the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. † Hippocrates advised people to â€Å"let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. † Healthy eating is not just about extendin g life but about extending the quality of life. It is probably the easiest and most important way in which you can keep active and shield yourself from the many diseases that have become more common, as we grow older. By eating healthy you will boost your energy levels, improve your bodily functions, help to improve your immune system, get better sleep, and even have more radiant skin. Who does not want to feel more energetic and lively? You will be able to manage more tasks and more importantly, you will live life to the fullest. I do not know about you but having radiant skin sounds wonderful, instead of having gross cellulite. What you put on your plate, day after day, will play a major role, along with your genes, in determining whether you will live a long healthy life or succumb to a heart attack, a stroke, type 2 diabetes, or cancer. If you look closely at all diseases, one thing pops out at you; they are all reversible. In addition to supplying the basic needs of the body for calories and utrition, a healthy diet should also reduce risks of disease and fortify the body’s defenses and intrinsic mechanisms of healing. Even small changes in your eating habits can make a big difference in your body and the way you feel. A healthy diet leads to a better performance of the body and mind. What you put into your body not only affects your physical well being, but also can impact your psychological well-being. Foods influence mood and contribute to both positive and negative feelings. Therefore, making healthy good choices can contribute to a variety of improvements to your mental and sychological well-being. Eating a healthy, well balanced diet has been shown to impact a number of mental health conditions positively. It can help reduce the negative symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, reduce depression symptoms, reduce anxiety, and reduce chances of bi polar episodes. The typical â€Å"Western† diet that is high in sugar, processed foods, and alcohol tends to aggravate these disorders. According to Andrew Weil, MD (2012), many studies link specific nutrient deficiencies to suboptimal brain function and mental / emotional health. The most important by far is the lack of omega-3 fatty cids. These special fats are critically important for mental health. The body needs regular daily intake of adequate amounts of both EPA and DHA, two long chain omega-3 fats. Low levels of DHA might increase the chances of developing dementia. The lack of vital nutrients in our diet can be responsible for exacerbating the symptoms of some pre existing mental health conditions. Keeping your brain sharp and functioning at its best can make you feel better about your abilities as you age and will help you remain active, which can also help reduce your chances of experiencing depression. Following a healthy ating regime leads to engaging in a lifestyle that is fulfi lling, beneficial, and might possibly offset the desire to change any other harmful habits. Our bodies and our minds are connected. Stress can take a toll on our physical health. By understanding that unhealthy eating causes more stress on our bodies and how that impacts our health, we can begin to take steps to laying the foundation for complete health by changing our eating from unhealthy to healthy. It is important to know how eating healthy and unhealthy foods affects your body. The brain is one of the most important organs in the body to keep well ed, and a healthful diet is essential to keep it running at full capacity. Your brain cells require twice as much chemical energy from your diet as any other cell in your body. When you are eating unhealthy it hinders brain function and causes reduced self-esteem, stress, foggy thinking, mood swings, and confusion. If you are not eating nutrient rich foods most of the time, your brain cannot produce substances required to maintain a healthy mood. The foods you eat can have an immediate impact on your mood. Certain foods trigger neurotransmitters in the brain that can reduce stress and promote calmness. Eating foods high in vitamin D, serotonin, folate, B3, and B12 are excellent for your emotional well being. When you are feeling emotionally well you are also able to handle stress in a positive manner. Choosing foods healthy and nutritious can give you a sense of control and allow you to feel proud of yourself. These increases in positive feelings for yourself and improvements in your appearance can result in your overall self esteem. The foods you eat now can result in good or bad health in the future. As Dr. Gillian McKeith (2006), has said many times in her book and on her television show â€Å"You Are What You Eat†. Healthy eating simply means having foods that aid in the growth of the body, improve many functions, provide protection from diseases, and help in building a strong immune system. To eat healthy is much easier than you think. Taking small simple steps that together add up to a huge leap forward in your health. Diet has a special significance among lifestyle factors in that people have total control over it. Being able to function better is something that everyone wants to see happen in their bodies. You are only as healthy as the natural world in which you live. The gains from ealthy eating are tremendous and more than worth it. So go ahead follow a diet full of healthy foods and see how it can make a positive impact on your health and life. References Covelli, G. (2011). How Eating Healthy amp; Unhealthy Foods Affect Your Body. Retrieved from http://www. livestrong. com/article/41294-eating-unhealthy-foods-affects/ McKeith, Dr. G. (2006). You Are What You Eat Vegetables and Fruits: Get Plenty Everyday. (). Retrieved from http://www. hsph. harvard. edu/nutritionsource/vegetables-full-story/#bottom_line Weil, MD, A. (2000). Eating Well For Optimum Health Weil, MD, A. (2012). Spontaneous Happiness

MIS Related Issues

MIS Related Issues ASOS.com MIS RELATED ISSUES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Despite the spectacular dot-com bust a few years ago, the Internet has markedly changed the way we do business. (Reynolds, 2004, 78) Conducting business in the digital economy refers to the use of Web-based systems, on the Internet and other electronic networks, to accomplish some form of e-commerce. Networked computing is helping some companies excel and is helping others simply to survive. Generally, the collection of computing systems used by an organization is defined as Information Technology (IT). In the developed countries, almost all medium and large organizations use information technologies, including e-commerce, to support their operations. IT, in its narrow definition, refers to the technological side of an Information System (IS); it includes the hardware, software, databases, networks, etc. An IS collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and disseminates information for a specific purpose. It processes the inputs (data, instructions) by using IT and produces outputs (reports, calculations). It includes people, procedures, facilities and it operates within an environment. MIS refers to the management of ISs and it raises a lot of concerns, such as global, e-commerce, software system choices, ethical, social and operation strategy issues. (Turban et al, 2001) The aim of this paper is to examine five selected MIS topics and analyze specifically one or two of the occurring issues of each topic; then, connect these issues to the ASOS.com enterprise. The paper begins with a brief observation of the background of ASOS.com. Initially, the selected topics and issues, derived from relevant literature, will be described. Next, a discussion of whether each issue is a problem for ASOS.com or not is presented. Furthermore, a reflective paragraph follows. The paper ends with the conclusion section and the references. ASOS.com Asos.com, is the UKs largest online-only fashion and beauty store, attracting over one million visitors a week. Its name stands for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"As Seen On Screen and it was chosen to show the brands intention, to supply the public with outfits similar to the styles of celebrities. Asos.com targets 16 to 34 year olds; it offers womens fashion, menswear, accessories, jewelry and beauty products. It provides potential customers browsing its content, with a number of unique features. For example, individual catwalk model videos of most clothing items on the site, and a fashion blog, which is frequently updated with articles relating to celebrity and entertainment. Asos.com is greatly admired for its large variety of fashion and beauty goods and for the speed at which it keeps up with the latest fashion trends. (http://www.asos.com/) Asos.coms headquarters are located in Camden Town, in North London. The company was launched by Nick Robertson in 2000. Since then, the online company has seen significant growth. Over Christmas season of 2008, it reported a 100% increase in sales and for the financial year ending 31 March 2009, it reported a revenue of  £165,395,000. Asos.com is being run by a board of three directors and two non-executive directors. It is a PLC, quoted on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) part of the London Stock Exchange. AIM is not as strict in its rules as the main market; it therefore, helps smaller companies to raise capital through the sale of shares. Asos.com chose to use the web channel, since researches have shown that online sales have been increasing faster than any other sector. It has targeted young people, for these represent around 60% of online shoppers. To attract them, it offers a diverse range of brands and products. Above all, it offers a pleasurable shopping experience, by ensuring that the website provides much more than a customer would expect from a shop. The site, also, provides more choices, competitive prices, new styles and, above all, convenience. While growing, Asos.com has developed a more complex structure. It has worked hard to keep up with changes in technology. The website is being kept up-to-date by constantly adding new products and product lines. Moreover, Asos.com uses other communication channels to drive growth. These include a monthly magazine of 116 pages and an e-mail newsletter that is being sent to 1.8 million users each week. In addition, it distributes PR pieces in other publications and encourages word-of-mouth recommendation. (http://www.asos.com/) GLOBAL MIS/RISKS Designing websites for a global audience The designing of successful web-sites that present information about products and services is a relatively recent occupation, which introduced new issues and challenges that designers were called to face. It is well-known that some web-sites seem to be more efficient than others. They are more often visited and more purchases occur. Very little is reported in the literature on web design and the evaluation of the factors that formulate a successful web-site. However, many studies have been made, in order to empirically test the features, often mentioned by trade journals and vendors, as being critical to design a successful web site. The roles of a web-site are many and important; some of them are: marketing research, marketing tool, public relation machine and means of payment. Web sites are basically an interface between the costumer and the firm. The web sites are being designed in order to facilitate organizations, to carry out business activities by using Internet technology. On their web sites, each organization promotes and sells its products or services, provides catalogs, technical support and obtains useful feedback from its consumers. (Udo and Marquis, 2001/2) According to Udo and Marquis, there are eight factors that contribute to the design of an effective web site: * Download Time (response time) * Navigation * Graphics Usage * Interactivity * Cohesion * Consistency * Use of Frames * Amount of Advertisements (Udo and Marquis, 2001/2) According to Tilson, R. principles like simplicity, satisfaction (feedback) and versatility (flexibility) are also very important in designing e-commerce sites. In fact, Tilson describes eight factors, with which the designer achieves the following: * Simplicity: doesnt compromise usability for function. * Support: user is in control with proactive assistance. * Obviousness: makes objects and their controls visible and intuitive. * Encouragement: makes actions predictable and reversible. * Satisfaction (feedback): creates a feeling of progress and achievement. * Accessibility: makes all objects accessible at all times. * Versatility (flexibility): supports alternate interaction techniques. * Personalization: allows users to customize. (Tilson et al, 1998) Asos.com has very successfully designed its website for a global audience. As already mentioned, the website offers to potential customers a large variety of unique features, such as catwalk videos, a fashion blog, a diverse range of brands and products, a pleasurable shopping experience, competitive prices, new styles and convenience, in order to attract more users and set itself apart from other similar websites. The company tries to keep up with changes in technology by frequently updating the website, which is also kept up-to-date by constantly adding new products and product lines, according to the latest fashion trends. Its global success has been recognized through many awards such as: % Sep 2002: E-commerce awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Highly commended % Feb 2005: More Magazine Fashion Awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Most Addictive Online Shopping % Oct 2008: Aim Awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Company of the Year % Nov 2008: Company High Street Awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Best Online Shopping % Mar 2009: Cosmopolitan Online Fashion Awards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Best Online Retailer (http://www.asos.com/) E-COMMERCE AND ITS ISSUES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Electronic commerce is taking off both in terms of the number of users shopping, as well as, the total amount of people, who are spending via Internet based transactionsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . (Tilson et al, 1998) E-commerce is gaining importance rapidly, in todays business environment. The practice of e-commerce has been in existence since 1965 and has attracted the interest of many pundits. Most companies accepted and adopted the e-commerce technology faster than any other technology in the history of mankind. The reason is that the benefits are plenty; by creating a web site they can be seen all around the world, reach out to new customers, have lower transaction costs, meet their customers expectations and needs, provide new services and products and therefore, remain competitive. (Khan, 2008) E-commerce presents enormous opportunities for both consumers and businesses in the world. The self-service enabled by it, allows consumers to conduct a wide-range of activities. They can access thousands of online sites and purchase anything, from groceries to books, cars, credit-cards and loans. As Mark Hurst stated: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Its ease of use, its ease of use. Why doesnt the industry get that?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  (Andrews, 1998) Legal and Ethical issues in E-Business Internet technology has posed new challenges for the protection of individual privacy. Computer information, regarding Internet users, is generated every day through credit card purchases, telephone calls, magazine subscriptions, video rentals, mail-order purchases, banking records and local/state/federal government records. If this information is put together and minded properly, it could reveal a users credit information, driving habits, tastes, associations, political interests and much more. It is possible to record many online activities, including which websites a user has visited, which newsgroups or files he has accessed and what items he has purchased over the Web. Some organizations use this information to better target their offerings. Others monitor the Internet usage of their employees to see how they are using company network resources. A new data analysis technology called NORA (non-obvious-relationship-awareness) offers even more powerful profiling capabilities to the government and the private sector. NORA can take information about people from sources like employment applications, telephone records, customer listings and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"wanted lists, and correlate relationships to find obscure hidden connections that might help identify criminals or terrorists. Cookies are another noteworthy issue. Cookies are tiny files deposited on a computer hard drive, when a user visits certain websites. Cookies identify the visitors Web-browser software and track visits to the website. When the visitor returns to the site, the website software will search the visitors computer, find the cookie and know what that person has done in the past. Then the site can customize its contents for each visitors interests. There are several more ethical/legal concerns occurring from the use of IT. For example, another issue is the protection of intellectual property such as software, digital books, digital music, or digitized video. It is extremely difficult to protect intellectual property, when it can so easily be copied and distributed. In addition, there is the matter of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"spam messages and the computer theft/fraud (stealing personal credit card information). (Laudon and Laudon, 2005) Asos.com guarantees privacy and security over credit card purchases for the website visitors. There have been strong movements from the political view to protect the Web users privacy and security. Additionally, the online industry has preferred self-regulation to privacy legislation for protecting consumers. In 1998, the online industry formed the Online Privacy Alliance to encourage self-regulation to develop a set of privacy guidelines for its members. The group promotes the use of online seals, like TRUSTe, certifying websites adhering to certain privacy principles. There has also been created an additional industry association called Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) to develop its own privacy policies to help consumers opt out of advertising network programs and provide consumers redress from abuses. On top of the legislation, new technologies are available to protect user privacy during interactions with websites. Many of these tools are used for encrypting e-mail, making surfing and e-mail activities appear anonymous, preventing client computers from accepting cookies etc. Asos.com plans to use such activities in the short-run, to ensure its visitors privacy. (Laudon and Laudon, 2005) SOFTWARE SYSTEM CHOICES To buy off-the-shelf packages or develop from scratch The acquisition of new software and hardware can bring dramatic applications that will change an organization. Managers must be prepared to make risky acquisitions that will have a significant impact on the firm. There has been some movement towards outsourcing and strategic alliances to reduce the time required to develop vital applications. Buying instead of making is one strategy to bring change more quickly in the firm. However, the purchase decision is one that usually warrants advice from systems professionals. Software can be bought from a large number of companies. Manufacturers of large computers often sell proprietary software for them, especially operating systems. Companies like Computer Associates sell a great deal of software for large-scale computers. The main attraction of buying of-the-shelf packages is to avoid having to develop a custom system. Custom programming is expensive and time-consuming; therefore, when a package is available, it should be considered. The major advantage of using a package is cost savings. The package developer expects to sell a number of packages to recover the investment in developing it. The cost is thus amortized over a number of users. The cost to the developer though is usually higher than the development of a single application would be, since the package must be general enough to be used by a number of customers. This increased generality makes the package larger, more complex and often less efficient to operate than an application specifically developed for a single application. (Henry and Lucas, 2000) The à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"make or buy decision is always a difficult one for management. The availability of new technologies in the marketplace and a movement by firms to get back to their core competencies, have led many companies to select the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"buy option. Because of the high cost and long time required to develop software, most managers look first at whether they can buy existing software and modify it, if necessary, to avoid programming an application from scratch. (Henry and Lucas, 2000) (Henry and Lucas, 2000) Asos.coms managers had to face all these difficulties in order to make a decision of whether to develop their own custom system or buy existing software and modify it, according to their needs. They could have depended upon outsourcing to develop and operate their applications, or choose to retain part of their IT functions and to partially outsource some activities, which I believe would be the best decision for the company. Unfortunately, there isnt much information in the Asos.com website of how the organizations software systems were developed. ETHICS / SOCIAL ISSUES Information ethics relates to standards of right and wrong in information processing practices. Organizations must deal with ethical issues relating to their employees, customers and suppliers. Ethical issues are of high importance, for they have the power to damage the image of an organization and to destroy the morale of the employees. Ethics is a complicated area, since ethical issues are not cut-and-tried; they vary between people, cultures and countries. What may be regarded as ethical by one person may be regarded as unethical by another. (Turban et al, 2001) Displacement of employees with Information Technology IT offers many benefits to the organizations. A key benefit of IT is for example, the reengineering of work; it provides operations with many benefits such as elimination of production waste and reduction of operating costs. On the other hand, redesigning business processes could cause millions of employees to lose their jobs. As Rifkin (1993) said: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"We will create a society run by a small high-tech elite of corporate professionals [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] in a nation of the permanently unemployed. (Laudon and Laudon, 2005) Some argue that relieving bright, educated workers from reengineered jobs will result in their replacement to better jobs in fast-growth industries. However this does not apply to unskilled, blue-collar workers and less well-educated, old managers. Consequently, IT has created new ethical dilemmas, in which one set of interests is pitted against another. For example, many of the large telephone companies in the USA are using IT to reduce the sizes of their workforces. Voice recognition software reduces the need for human operators by enabling computers to recognize a customers responses to a series of computerized questions. Competing values at work are, therefore, developed and groups are lined on either side of a debate. Companies argue that displacing employees with IT is ethical, since they have the right to use ISs to increase their productivity and reduce the size of their workforce, in order to lower expenses and remain in business. The employees that are being displaced argue that their employers have responsibilities against their welfare and that their displacement with IT is unethical. (Laudon and Laudon, 2005) Asos.com, as an online corporation, occupies much less personnel than traditional fashion and beauty industries. The company hires high-educated, IT experts to run the operating software and keep the companys website updated with the most innovative features. Displacement of employees with IT is not an issue for Asos.com, although, the latest movement of businesses moving into the digital economy, could be an issue for less and less workers are needed. STRATEGY AND IS / INITIATIVES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Competitive Advantage is at the core of a firms success or failure. (Turban et al, 2001) Ensure continued, powerful Competitive Advantage Computer-based ISs have been enhancing competitiveness and creating strategic advantage for several decades. A competitive strategy is defined as a broad-based formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be and what plans or policies will be required to carry out those goals. Through its competitive strategy, an organization seeks a competitive advantage in an industry. A Competitive Advantage represents an advantage over competitors in some measure such as cost, quality, or speed. A strategic IS can assist an organization to gain a competitive advantage through contribution to its strategic goals and the ability to considerably increase performance and productivity. (Turban et al, 2001) M. Porters competitive forces model is the most popular framework for analyzing competitiveness. It is used to develop strategies for organizations, with the purpose of increasing their competitive edge. Porters model identifies five major forces that could endanger an organizations position in a given industry. These forces are: 1. The threat of entry of new competitors 2. The bargaining power of suppliers 3. The bargaining power of customers 4. The threat of substitute products or services 5. The rivalry among existing firms in the industry (Turban et al, 2001) Asos.com is an online-only corporation; this fact alone provides the company with a strong competitive advantage over its (traditional-clothing-stores) competitors. Asos.com possesses a competitive advantage, mainly, in a matter of cost/expenses, since it doesnt own stores and doesnt occupy vendors and other kinds of staff (cleaning staff, security, etc.) For Asos.com, Internet technologies offer very powerful tools that can increase success through traditional sources of competitive advantage. For example, apart from low cost, Asos.com has an excellent customer service and superior supply chain management. Low costs contribute to more advantages such as competitive prices and supreme quality for the companys products. Consider and Decide IT Strategy: be a leader, a follower or an experimenter Strategic management refers to the conduct of drafting, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its long-term objectives. IT contributes to strategic management in many ways. For example, it can contribute through innovative applications, competitive weapons, changes in processes, links with business partners, cost reductions, relationships with suppliers and customers, new products and competitive intelligence. Porters model identifies the forces that influence competitive advantage in the marketplace. Managers are interested in the development of a strategy that aims to establish a profitable and sustainable position against these five forces. To accomplish this, a company needs to develop a strategy of performing activities differently from a competitor. There are many different strategies that managers can choose, according to which copes best with their operation. Some of them are the following: Cost Leadership Strategy: Produce products at the lowest cost in the industry. A firm achieves cost-leadership in its industry by thrifty buying practices, efficient business processes, forcing up the prices paid by competitors and helping customers/suppliers reduce their costs. Differentiation Strategy: Offer different products, services, or product features. By offering different-better products companies can charge higher prices, sell more, or both. Niche Strategy: Select a narrow-scope segment (niche market) and be the best in quality, speed or cost in that market. Innovation Strategy: Introduce new products and services, put new features in existing ones, or develop new ways to produce them. There are many other strategies such as Growth, Alliance, Operational Effectiveness, Time Strategy, etc. (Turban et al, 2001) Asos.com has tried to implement Niche strategies. It has chosen a relatively small market segment (it targets consumers aged 16 to 34) in the clothing/fashion and beauty industry and it has tried to be the best in cost, quality, and speed of the deliveries (same day delivery service through the use of MetaPack delivery management software and CitySprints SameDay Courier solution). Given that it is an online enterprise, and it can therefore keep expenses low, it demonstrates very competitive prices and a very wide range of products and brands. It also maintains high standards of quality for its products. (http://www.asos.com/) REFLECTIVE PARAGRAPH I believe that the main lesson learnt here is that the use of IT has many benefits, but also many drawbacks. IT and the use of information systems can bring rapid change to organizations, enhance productivity and reduce costs. A firm established on the World Wide Web has countless advantages, which is why most medium and large organizations and even small ones create a website. In contrast, numerous concerns derive from the exploit of IT. Global, software system choices, e-commerce, strategy and IS initiatives, and ethical, social and political, are only some of the subjects that raise a great deal of issues. However, there are many options to be considered for the use of IT and most of the matters can be resolved. CONCLUSION To conclude, a brief observation of the background of ASOS.com has been given. The five selected MIS topics have been examined and the occurring issues have been analyzed. Moreover, a discussion of whether each described issue is a problem or not for ASOS.com has been presented. Finally, my reflective thoughts have been outlined, in the reflective paragraph. Last of all, mentioning that in the 21st century we find ourselves living in the age of computerization, is essential. There is plenty room for future development of IT and IS. Information and Communication Technologies for Development, for example, refers to the application of Information and Communication Technologies within the field of socioeconomic development or international development and its concept is intimately associated with applications in the developing nations. It is concerned with the direct application of IT approaches to poverty reduction. Information and communication technologies can be applied either in a direct (their use directly benefits the disadvantaged population) or in an indirect sense (facilitates the improvement of general socio-economic conditions). In many indigent regions of the world, legislative and political measures are required to facilitate or enable application of information and communication technologies. References Andrews, W. (1998) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“At Far Too Many Sites à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Buyer Be Lost Appliesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ , Internet World, Vol. 98, Issue 6 Henry, C. and Lucas, Jr. (2000) Information Technology for Management, McGraw-Hill, 7th edition, Ch. 15-17 Khan, K. M. (2008) Managing Web Service Quality: Measuring Outcomes and Effectiveness, Information Science Reference, Ch. 1,3 Laudon, K. and Laudon, J. (2005) Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, Prentice Hall, 9th edition, Ch. 5 Reynolds, Janice (2004) The Complete E-commerce Book: Design, Build and Maintain a Successful Web-Based Business, CMP, 2nd edition, p.76-79 Tilson, R., Dong, J., Martins, S. and Kieke, E. (1998) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Factors and Principles Affecting the Usability of Four E-commerce Sites, Proc. Of the 4th Conference on Human Factors and the Web Turban, E., McLean, E., Wetherbe, J. (2001) Information Technology for Management: Transforming Business in the Digital Economy, Wiley, 3rd edition, Ch. 1, 2 Udo, Godwin J. and Marquis, Gerald P. (2001/2), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Factors Affecting E-commerce Web Site Effectiveness, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Vol. 42, Issue 2, 10-17 The ASOS.com web-site: http://www.asos.com/

Religion and International Relations

Religion and International Relations Introduction Religion (noun): the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. In modern times, religion isn’t just the belief and worship of a supernatural entity. It is a way of life. Since birth, children are indoctrinated into their parent’s religion. Traditions, practices and values, both positive and negative are taught till they become common fact. Religion permeates into the lives of people completely and seamlessly. Given its pervasive nature, it is unsurprising that religion affects relations between people and on a larger scale relationships between nations. This project analyses the effects of religion on the international scale. Through case studies, it will highlight the advantageous as well as detrimental role of religion in maintaining peace between countries. The article will not focus on the various conflicts/ peace processes themselves, instead, it will detail the religious background, the issues and proposed solutions. Case Study 1: Jerusalem and the Israel – Palestine Conflict Background to the Conflict: Jerusalem and other holy sites of the Middle – East are holy to the three major Abrahamic religions namely – Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Historically speaking, there have been multiple conflicts over the ownership of these locations. The most famous being The Holy Crusades. In modern times, this has continued into the Israel – Palestine conflict. The roots of the conflict lie in the late 19th and early 20th century. This period saw the rise of nationalist movements amongst Jews and also amongst Arabs. Both movements wished for a sovereign state for their people, in the region. It was also a time of large scale Jewish immigration into the region. Jews were escaping the chaos caused by the Russian Revolution and later the Holocaust during WW2. In 1920,Haj Amin al-Hussein emerged as the leader for the Palestinian Arab Nationalist Movement. The man saw the Jewish Nationalist Movement and Jewish immigration as the primary enemies to his goal. This led to large scale riots and violence between the two sides. Sporadic bursts of violence continued till the start of WW2. Post WW2 tensions arose due to the large scale immigration of Holocaust survivors. This was fuelled by the stories that were coming out the Holocaust. The support resulted in Jews attacking on the Arabs as well as the British Administration. In 1947, the British Mandate approached the United Nations to provide a solution to the problems in Palestine. The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine proposed a division of territory on the basis of religion. The area was to be divided into three parts. An independent Arab state and an Independent Jewish state while Jerusalem and Bethlehem remained under UN control. Jews were dissatisfied by the loss of Jerusalem but accepted the decision. However it was vehemently opposed by the Arabs. This led to eruption of a Civil War in the region. Jews in the region were conscripted into an army. With British aid, they annexed territories to form modern day Israel. The Conflict: In 1948, The Israeli Declaration of Independence was signed officially declaring the State of Israel as an independent nation. Since then the region has been under multiple wars and conflicts. The Arab nations surrounding Israel universally opposed its existence. They trained armies and rebels to conquer the nation. In 1967 during The Six Day War, Israel occupied areas of Palestine beyond its borders. Including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israelis have since started settling in the region. Despite multiple attempts at peace the standing issues of the conflict could not be resolved. From 2005 onwards the Hamas organisation gained prominence in Palestine. The fighting in recent years occurred due to rocket attacks coming from both side of the Gaza strip. The Standing Issues: Jerusalem Jerusalem is the most major issue. Both sides claim ownership of the city. As stated previously Jerusalem is of great significance to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam being an important and holy city for all of them. For Judaism in particular Jerusalem is the holiest city in the world. It is the former location of the Jewish temples on theTemple Mountand was the capital of the ancient Israelite kingdom. It also contains the Jewish holy site, The Western Wall and the Mount of Olives. Hence the Israelis are unwilling to part with the city. For Islam, Jerusalem is the site ofMohammads Night Journeyto heaven, and theal-Aqsa mosque. For Christians, Jerusalem is the location ofthe Crucifixion of Christand theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre. Presently, Israel considers the complete Jerusalem as part of its sovereign region. Jerusalem also is its capital. No other nation in the world accepts this Holy sites Both sides have concern over the treatment of their holy sites under the other’s control. Historically these concerns are founded, as both sides have banned worshippers while they were in control of the region. The treatment and possible vandalism of the sites under opposing rule is a concern as well. Proposed Solutions: The most globally accepted solution is a Two State one. Since the conflict is religious in nature, it proposes splitting the region based on religion. With Palestine being comprised of the West Bank and Gaza Strip while Israel consists of the rest of the region. This would ensure that demographically Israel will have a Jewish majority with a significant Arab minority. While Palestine will have an Arab majority with a small Jewish minority. Jerusalem would serve as the capital of both nations. With the Arab part under the control of Palestine and the Jewish part under the control of Israel. Israel has expressed concerns regarding safety to this plan. As the region has been under multiple terrorist attacks, it believes that having a border so close to Palestine would increase the risk to its citizens. Case Study 2: Islamic Terrorism Islamic terrorism comprises of terrorist acts done by people in the name of Islam Ideology: The term Jihad features a prominent role in militant Islam. Jihad literally translates to â€Å"struggle† or â€Å"resistance†. Based on context and writing. This can have multiple interpretations. Peaceful interpretations include â€Å"struggling to follow the way of God†. However Jihad also has a military sense, it calls for the defence and expansion of the Islamic state. Defensive Jihad is considered an obligation of utmost importance for all Muslims, while expansionist Jihad is optional. The ideology of Islamic terrorists insists that they are initiating a defensive Jihad against the West. Terrorists believe that the Western society and its policies are actively anti – Islamic. As such they insist that their actions are in defence of their religion. The terrorists point out what they believe is a continuing war between Christianity and Islam. A war that started from the Crusades. By framing the fight as defensive, they appear to be a victim rather than an aggressor, and give struggle the very highest religious priority for all good Muslims. Many of the violent terrorist groups use jihad to fight against Western nations and Israel. Most militant Islamists oppose Israel’s existence. Another major aspect of terrorist ideology is the belief that Muslims have deviated from true Islam and must return to â€Å"pure Islam† as originally practiced during the time ofMuhammad. â€Å"Pure Islam† can only be reached by applying a literal and strict interpretation of theQuran and Muhammad’s commands. The original sources should be interpreted individually and Muslims simply should not follow the interpretations of Islamic scholars. Interpretation of the Quran from a historical, contextual perspective is corruption. In addition militants, scholars, and leaders oppose Western society for what they see as immoralsecularism. Terrorists claim that free speech has led to the proliferation ofpornography,immorality,secularism,homosexuality,feminism etc. ideas and concepts that they oppose. Conflicts: Due to their ideology, Islamic Terrorism has been in multiple conflicts throughout the world. In addition to this, Islam has had traditional rivalries with many religions. Including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism etc. further increasing the issue. Some of the various conflict zones are: Country Main religious groups involved Type of conflict Afghanistan Extreme, radical Fundamentalist Muslim terrorist groups non-Muslims The traditional base of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It was liberated by a joint military effort. However the Taliban is rising again and fighting continues. Iraq Kurds, Shiite Muslims, Sunni Muslims, western armed forces By mid-2006, a small scale civil war, primarily between Shiite and Sunni Muslims started. Presently, the country is in another civil war against the ISIL Kashmir Hindus Muslims Kashmir has been a contested region since the formation of India and Pakistan. Kurdistan Christians, Muslims Periodic assaults on Christians occur Middle East Jews, Muslims, Christians Israel has always been a target of religious conflict. Thus Middle East remains as a volatile zone Pakistan Sunni Shi’ite Muslims Mutual attacks, and periodic strikes by Taliban. Somalia Wahhabi and Sufi Muslims Sufi Muslims moderate version of Islam are fighting followers of the Wahhabi tradition of Islam. Thailand Buddhists Muslims Muslim rebels have been attacking southern Thailand. Solutions: As such there is no uniform solution for Islamic terrorism. The locations and grievances of each conflict are extremely varied and cannot be uniformly addressed. The terrorists also enjoy support due to the economic and social conditions of these regions. However generic solutions to address parts of this issue exist such as: Establishment of humanitarian centres to help people socially. Mobilisation of religious leaders to publicly oppose these actions and remove the militant support base. Case Study 3: The Tibet – China Conflict Background: The Tibet – China conflict is a historical and geopolitical debate. Both sides claim sovereignty of the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetans insist that they have largely been a historically independent nation, and believe the Chinese occupation to be illegal. While the Chinese claim that Tibet was a part of Chinese administration until it was annexed by the British Raj to act as a buffer between India and China and after the Raj withdrew, the Chinese were able to regain their territory in 1951. The conflict also has an ethnic and religious side. The ethnic aspect comes from the fact that the Tibetans of the Tibetan Plateau are a minority to the Han Chinese majority of China, Secondly most Tibetans are Buddhists, while religion is banned in Communist nations like China. The Chinese government has a history of persecuting religions, especially those that have widespread popularity like Buddhism has in China. Widespread persecution and the exile of the Dalai Lama have only fuelled the clash. Present Day Scenario: Tibet did not participate in international organisations like League of Nations in the early 20th Century. As such it is unable to provide sufficient evidence for its sovereignty and independence. China maintains an extremely strict stance and prevents outside intervention. However there have been known cases of genocide against Tibetans and Buddhists in particular. Also development and growth in the region seems to affect and benefit only the Han Chinese immigrants. Solutions: The most accepted solution seems to be to provide Tibet with more autonomy and freedom while keeping it under Chinese rule. This would ensure an end to religious persecution while also allowing more inclusive development in the region. Scholars also agree that the Dalai Lama must be allowed to return from exile and be an active part of the peace process. The Dalai Lama has a great influence in the Tibetan region and would be able to reassure and appease hardliners. Case Study 4: Role of Christianity in Nazism and the Holocaust During his rise to power, Hitler realised the political significance of Christianity and Christian Churches. To this effect, the Nazi party started the promotion of â€Å"Positive Christianity†. Positive Christianity differed from Christianity in many ways. Modern day historians agree that despite his claims, Hitler was anti – Christianity. He used â€Å"Positive Christianity† to justify his actions and his power. Throughout his rule, Hitler called the Nazi cause as Christian. At the same time, he utilised the historical rivalry and hatred between Christians and Jews. To justify this, â€Å"Positive Christianity† openly rejected any Jewish involvement in the Holy Bible. It: Rejected the Jewish-written parts of the Bible(including the entire Old Testament) Claimed Christ was Aryan and not Jewish Opposed the existence of the Catholic Church Promoted national unity, and wanted to put all Protestant Churches under a single national Positive Christian Church It emphasised Christ as a â€Å"positive† preacher and warrior against institutionalized Judaism Hitler also used Christianity in his justification for the Holocaust. Claiming he is continuing Christ’s work by eliminating other races. Religion as a Peacemaker Historically, religion has been a cause of conflict. However religion can also be the cause of peace. Most religions in the world advocate peace. The use of violence is advised only as a last course in defence. Even the concept of Jihad in Islam is used mainly for defending the Islamist nation. Religion can be used to eliminate the very cause of conflict itself, as opposed to merely stopping the fighting while the issues remain unaddressed. This is especially true under the following conditions. religion is a significant contributor to the conflict religious leaders on both sides wish for peace Religious leaders are of particular importance in this approach as they are trusted and respected by their communities. This enables them to: A leverage against those opposing peace Generate local, national and international support for peace Ensure promises are kept at a local level Emphasise on the maintenance of morality and humanity in peace Conflicts can be addressed by: Interfaith dialogue and interaction to address issues Proposing a solution that can address the religious and ethnic needs of both sides as a compliment to diplomatic negotiations e.g. solutions proposed for the Israel – Palestine conflict Establishment of religious peacekeeping centres in strife torn regions like Iraq etc. By this method it is possible to mobilise religion into a peaceful force that can end wars that are not only religious in nature but of other origins as well. References Beginners Guide to the Israeli Palestinian Conflict (a video available on YouTube) A Brief History of the Arab-Israeli Conflictby Jeremy Pressman BBC News reports on the Israel Palestinian Conflict ReligiousTolerance.org Conflict Over Tibet: Core Causes and Possible Solutions By Dustin Stokes â€Å"Religion and the Holocaust† by Richard E Smith â€Å"The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity† by Richard Steigmann-Gall Religious Contributions to Peacemaking: When Religion Brings Peace, Not War