Monday, September 30, 2019

Spykar

The company The Spykar story started way back in 1992, when Mr. Prasad Pabrekar led by ambition ventured into fashion apparels and accessories to make use of his vast repertoire of technical knowledge in processing of denim garments. He started the company with the firm belief that the best investment for the Co. was Human Capital, starting with a just a handful, and slowly built up a company with over 150 employees. He gave them the best possible infrastructure to work within, resulting in a strong & dedicated team.The company is based on strict code of ethics which is evident in its dealing with all its partners; namely employees, trade associates, vendors and the like. Its accent on the quality of its products has been unwavering right from its inception. It has always strived to produce a product, having a global appeal. Denims are the core of the company's business. This has been facilitated by the company's in-house processing unit and gives the company the competitive edge in consistently producing denims of international quality.To continuously innovate, and to bring new styles, cuts and fabric to the market, the company has a team of young and dedicated designers and merchandisers, who are extremely aware of the latest trends in the international market. The company experiments a great deal on new styles and accessories, making them trendy and accessible to the Indian consumer. Since Spykar designs specifically for Indian audiences, it has the best fits and designs in its repertoire. In 1994, Spykar moved beyond denims and introduced Helium's, a collection of cotton casual wear.This was followed by Forays in 1996; a brand with an attitude positioning that caters to the after-office leisurewear segment. SPYKAR products are available at over 500 MBOs across the country, apart from the large format stores like Shopper's Stop, Globus, Lifestyle, Pantaloons, Pyramids, etc. and at the Exclusive Spykar Jeans outlet at Ahmedabad, Ghazi bad, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nasik, New Delhi and Pune. Spykar Jeans currently has 99 Exclusive Brand Outlet and plans to increase that number to 150 by the end of 2008.To mark its foray in the international arena, Spykar has also opened its first exclusive outlet at Glades Mall, London. The brand has always focused on the u: th and their aspirations and built up the product portfolio accordingly. All its marketing efforts are targeted at making the brand relevant at all times to this discerning audience. Strategic Intent The company is committed to being the first choice casual wear brand of the youth. The company’s brand does not have a fixed definition but has always been relevant to the u:th and also to the changing market dynamics.The company’s brand building activities will continue to maintain the premium positioning and make it one of the most inspirational, trendy and obviously the most sought after brand. The Company is compliant, eco friendly, socially responsi ble, evolving, profit oriented, always people-centric and doing justice to those who work for it. Though professional and passionate; the people will have their professional and personal lives aligned. First to the Brands Credit/Milestones Achieved.We revolutionized Cargo's in the country with the very non-conformist look and its innovative presentation. We broke all norms of how a pair of pants should be sold. Rolled and tied by a canvas strip and stocked in this form on the shelves – it defied conventional norms and challenged tradition. Target audience who identified with this Rebellious approach lapped-up the product and yet again Spykar scored in turning the table upside down. We sold nearly 70,000 pants and cargos with not even 60% of the demand fed.To cut the monotonous complacency of basic 5 pockets we stylized denims as flamboyant blues. This fashioned persona of denims was introduced as Actifs (Spykar's Fashion Denim Collection) with 5 fits – Stern, Rebel, Ma verick, Recruit & Renegade. USP Endeavor sustenance as a premium fashion wear brand, providing total casual dressing for the u:th's complete fashion needs. The entire offering is fashion and hence radical at times. The single line to sum it up is Spykar jeans: 18 till I die (ever young).Advertising – Frankly one of the reasons why Spykar has clicked so well is that it has not done much advertising and restricted itself to the Print Media and the occasional Bill Board. I believe that if a Brand overexposes itself than it loses it’s value and if it has just the right amount of advertising and has some good â€Å"mouth-to-mouth† advertising then it actually becomes more â€Å"hep and cool† as in the case of Spykar and this is all the more important on a brand like which is trying to appeal to the 17-25 age group, i. e. , Spykar.What makes it Click – The major thing that makes Spykar click is that it goes adding and bringing in new trends every now and then. They had that shiny jeans I told you about around 6 months back and 3 months back they got the Polynosic short shirt and the maverick wash and now they have the Contrast Stitching Cargoes. Innovation and new trends are what are most important in Garment Business. Without that you are going nowhere except downhill. The best example for this is Wearhouse. For those who do not know this is a retail chain from Bangalore. How the Spykar Franchise OperatesThe Spykar franchise wants to retain its position as the premium casual wear choice of the young generation. The garments retail franchise does not like to associate its brand name with a fixed fashion definition. The  retail services business keeps a close watch on the changing dynamics of market. T The Spykar franchise involves in brand building and other promotional activities, which are needed to maintain its leading position in the garment industry. The retail services business ensures that all its operations are eco-friend ly, people-centric, socially responsible and profit oriented.The garments retail franchise has literally revolutionised the cargo wear industry in India. The retail services business presented cargo materials in an innovative fashion by providing a non-conformist look to it. The Spykar franchise dared to break all conventions regarding the sale of pants. The introduction of the unique cargo style by the garments retail franchise was actually a challenge to the traditional concept of pants. Another milestone in the history of the Spykar franchise was the incorporation of the garment company by name Span Apparels.The quality services offered by the retail services franchise in the field of garment industry were acclaimed by declaring it as the Best Casual Wear Brand of the Year in 2006. The Spykar Franchise Excels in Denim Manufacture The Spykar franchise has been offering fashion wears and accessories since 1992. The retail services business was founded by Prasad Pabrekar who wanted to make use of technical knowledge in processing jeans garments. The garments retail franchise was set up with the belief that human capital as its best investment.The quality service offered by the Spykar franchise slowly resulted in the enhancement of the number of employees. The functioning of the garments retail franchise is strictly based on a code of ethics. It is the absolute adherence to this code of ethics, which has helped the retail services franchise in ensuring smooth relationships with its trading partners, employees, vendors etc. The Spykar franchise always ensures that its employees are provided with the best possible infrastructural facilities in order to enhance their productivity.The garments retail franchise wants a dedicated team of employees who are all committed to the core values of the company. The retail services business has been offering garments of uniform quality standards from the very beginning. The garments retail franchise assays to come out with qu ality dress materials that are of global standards. The Spykar franchise has its focus on the manufacture of denims. The Variety of Products of the Spykar Franchise The in-house processing unit of the Spykar franchise strives consistently to produce denims of international quality.The garments retail franchise keeps on innovating new styles by experimenting with cuts and fabric patterns. The vibrant team of young designers of the retail services business is well updated on the latest trends in denim fashion. The Spykar franchise has introduced many accessories which have become trend setters in the Indian market. It was in 1994 that the garments retail franchise dared to introduce Helium's in the Indian market. These cotton casual wears of the Spykar franchise were well accepted. The success story of helium’s made the retail services franchise experiment Forays, which was a unique collection of leisure-wears.The Spykar franchise has got its outlets opened in all the major Ind ian cities. The garments retail franchise presently has seventy eight exclusive outlets. The retail services business aims at increasing the number of outlets to 150 by 2008. The Spykar franchise has also ventured into the international market by opening a store in London. All the marketing efforts of the garments retail franchise aims at ensuring that its brand name does not lose relevance and its designs are not described as ‘gone out of fashion

Sociocultural Influences on a Person’s Attitude Towards Physical Exercise and Heath

Sociocultural Influence’s on a person’s attitude towards Physical Exercise and Health. Humans are by nature social beings. In trying to determine what makes us feel fulfilled, psychologists have found that a feeling of social connection or relatedness is near the top of the list of what we need to experience. We appear to be happiest when we successfully connect with others. Much of what we say and do is motivated by a desire to appear likeable, to gain social approval, to solidify group membership, to manage self-image, or to gain social support.Sociocultural factors that influence a person’s attitude towards Health and Physical exercise can be classified into three groups. They are * Self-presentation * Social Influence (social norms and persuasion) * Social support Self-presentation The number one most influential factor on how sociocultural influences do have on one’s attitude towards health and physical exercise. Self-presentation is where a person tr ies to influence others on the perception of their own image.People make many different attempts to manage how others’ view them because other people control many of the things we want to obtain, such as friendship, financial resources, or career advancement, we strive to gain others’ approval or avoid rejection. In exercise and physical activity settings, these attempts to present ourselves favourably may have either positive or negative effects on our strivings to be physically active. For example, Tim is slightly overweight and has dietary habits that aren’t exactly the best and decide to join a gym.Tim doesn’t want to go and run on the treadmill next to a super fit world class athlete because his figure and athletic ability are notably different and he doesn’t wish to embarrass himself. We see in this example that Tim has this idea that because he isn’t the same as the super fit world class athlete that he isn’t healthy and theref ore he is reluctant to exercise because he’s afraid of embarrassing himself. It’s people like Tim that are changing who they are and what they are trying to achieve because of either the public opinion or their friends opinion.Self-presentation is a major factor in influencing a person’s attitude towards health and physical exercise and the way they general perceive themselves in amongst the group or the community. Social Influence Following in contributing factors that influence a person’s attitude towards health and physical exercise is Social Influence. Social influence is when an individual's thoughts, feelings or actions are affected by other people’s opinions. If you have ever been in an audience at a large musical or theatrical performance, you may have noticed that the audience tends to clap in unison and stop clapping at the same time.You may have even started to clap when no one else did only to feel foolish and quickly stop clapping. Wha t you are experiencing in these situations is the power of social influence – specifically, social norms and conformity. Social influence can be defined as a real or imaginary pressure exerted by others that shapes our behaviour. While self-presentation describes our actions or attempts to project a positive image to others, social influence describes the pressure exerted by others to influence our action.In exercise and physical activity settings, there are numerous examples of the power of social influence. Joining a fitness club because other friends pressure you join, or your teenager’s desire to buy the latest pair of basketball shoes because Michael Jordan wears them and touts them on commercial television are both examples of the power of social influence. Social Support Finally, the last group called Social Support. Social Support provides reassurance and/or assistance, information or feedback through contact with other individuals or groups.People do not exerc ise merely to look good in other’s eyes or because we have been persuaded by others to do so. Sometimes people exercise because they obtain social benefits from physical activity participation. An example would be Fiona is out running on her own and feels vulnerable and exposed and feels like everyone else watching is laughing at her. She joins a gym group that runs regularly and finds comfort in the fact that she isn’t the only person who may be struggling. The frequency or type of social contacts may have a strong influence on the general well-being of the person as we see in the example.As a whole, physical activity participation appears to be nurtured when there is a socially supportive atmosphere or when participants perceive social support when striving for their exercise goals. Plus having feedback from others that boosts their self-esteem helps and allows them to have the opportunity to find a group in which they feel comfortable and are supported emotionally a nd tangibly and are able to obtain useful guidance or advice from other exercisers, friends, family, or exercise leaders.In conclusion, the contributing factors mentioned above have a significant impact on the entire health spectrum. Emotional, Physical, Mental, Spiritual and Social aspects are all affected in how sociocultural factors influence a person’s ability towards a healthy lifestyle and staying physically active. Bibliography: Title Pgs 1, 2,3,4,5 Sydney Distance Education High School, PD/H/PE 2013 PD/H/PE Second Edition Textbook, 2009 by Oxford University Press (copyright)

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Global Citizenship

Chapter 5 Social Inequality: Any difference in the treatment of people based on age, race, gender, etc.Social Stratification: Refers to the large hierarchical arrangements of large social groups on the basis of their control over basic resources (main forms include: class, gender and race/ethnicity)a) Dominant group: Characterized by a disproportionate share of power, wealth, social status and health care b) Subordinate group: Has limited access to power, resources and social statusPower: The capacity to control resources which allows structures of dominance and subordination to be createdPrivilege: Gained through unearned power that gives dominate members advantagesBarriers: Visible or invisible obstacles that prevent or limit people’s access to resources, opportunities and benefits of membership in society (i.e. visible: public spaces that are inaccessible to persons with physical disabilities, and invisible: immigrants having limited access to job opportunities)Ideology: Ro oted in history and are maintained through social structures that dictate the order of our society (i.e. women’s position is to be a nurturer, a caregiver and a weak subordinate to men)EQUITY VS. EQUALITY Equity: A framework that allows us to pursue economic and social justice for minority groups in society Equity differs from equality in that treating everyone ‘the same’ may in fact pose barriers Though a policy or practice may be applied equally to all, it may have a discriminatory effect Equity focuses on fairness and refers to fair access to resources, opportunities and outcomes, and pays attention to how power is working in society and challenges unfair systems and practices Equality fails to consider history, current contexts and circumstances of individuals and groupsChapter 6 Social action: Involves a group doing something to make the world a better place and is something that anyone can participate inPersonal social action: A day-to-day life decision tha t creates an impact on the world (i.e. recycling, donating, making environmental changes in your home, volunteering, join a community organization, etc.)Social change: Achieving an alteration at any level in society to create a more just and fair situation for a specific individual or group of peopleActivist: Someone who takes a social action in order to attempt to make a social changeSocial Entrepreneurship: Businesses that aim to create social change through their regular practice, using business principles and market economics (i.e. Paintbox Bistro: uses the business of a restaurant in an underpriveliged area to improve the quality of life of people in Regent Park through the love and enjoyment of good food)1) Micro-level: Focuses on working with individuals or PRIMARY GROUPS trying to remedy a problem that affects them (i.e. turning to family or friends for help writing a resume helps to fight unemployment at an individual level)2) Mid-level: Focuses on working with SECONDARY GR OUPS such as communities or committees to ensure local change (SIMON’S EXAMPLES: YMCA and ‘Skills For Change’ – two services in place to assist communities to better themselves through recreation and the building of career skills)3) Macro-level: Focuses on working collectively as groups at the INSITUTIONAL or SYSTEMATIC LEVELS on changing issues at their root cause (SIMON’S EXAMPLE: Pride Toronto – aims to fight for the equality and acceptance of gays worldwide)Fair trade: A trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions and securing the rights of marginalized producers and workers (MACRO-LEVEL CHANGE)Grassroots: Locally based, volunteer-run, formal non-profit groups (i.e. community organizations, joining or volunteering for non-profits or getting involved in politics – SIMON’S EXAMP LE: ‘Stop the Cuts’ – a group rallying against Rob Ford’s budget cuts)SOCIAL JUSTICE VS. CHARITY Charity: A not for profit organization which people give donations (whether financial or volunteered time) that aims to aid social, cultural and environmental issuesSocial justice: A concept based upon the belief that each individual in society has the right to equal civil liberties, equal opportunity through education, economics, etc. and aims to address the root cause of said issues in order to fix them permanentlyCharity alleviates the symptoms of an issue, leaving the root cause unaddressed (can be seen as a temporary fix to a social issue)Charity is giving a poor person some food or clothing, while social justice advocates change in the economic system so that people have more employment and housing opportunities, in order to better feed and clothe themselvesSIMON’S EXAMPLE: Daily Bread Food Bank is a CHARITY that treats symptoms by providing food t o the hungry (mid-level social change) The Stop Community Food Centre treats symptoms and root causes by educating community on food issues, lobbies government and encourages social action amongst food recipients (mid and macro-level social change)Video Examples of Social Change 1) Remix Project: A creative center made for underprivileged youth who want to express themselves through music and/or design that gives them the resources and tools they need to channel their talent (An example of a social justice)2) Idle No More: Aboriginal movement that brings light to issues such as false treaties and oppression in Canada for hundreds of years3) Tom’s Shoes: Provides a child in the developing world with a new pair of shoes for every pair of shoes their company sells (An example of a social entrepreneurship)Chapter 7 Citizenship: A concept that implies membership or identity in a wider community along with a set of rights and responsibilitiesGlobal Citizenship (CENTENNIAL DEFINITIO N): â€Å"Recognizing that we must all be aware of our use of the world’s resources and find ways to live on the earth in a sustainable way. When we see other are treated without justice, we know we are responsible for trying to ensure people are treated fairly and must have the same equitable opportunities as other citizens of the world. We must think critically about what we see, hear and say, and make sure our actions bring about positive changes†Global Citizenship (OXFAM CENTENNIAL DEFINITION): The importance of learning about â€Å"how the world works economically, politically, socially, culturally, technologically and environmentally†Globalization: The increasing economic, social, cultural and political connections that are forming across the world and our awareness of them (includes expansions of institutions as well as cultural developments and exchanges) Spread of corporations and their powers worldwide, labour is cheap, rich countries profit immenselyE conomic globalization: The concept of large companies and money moving easily around the world, whereas people cannot (i.e. Mexicans illegally entering the U.S. for work)Alternative globalization: Social movements designed to take action at a global level against globalization (i.e. Amnesty International, Greenpeace, World Social Forum Conference (where various grassroots groups connect and discuss similar issues and goals for their organizations)Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A legal charter document that highlights the basic human rights all world citizens possess (Designed to create equality and compassion among all people)Notes From Lecture Slides Racial inequality: A certain ethnicity experiencing unfair judgment or social treatment based solely on their raceInstitutionalized racism: Unfair treatment of immigrants within social structures and institutions such as the government, the police force, schools, churches etc. (i.e. police profiling, immigration detention)Econo mic inequality: Capitalist societies allow for profits to stay at the top of the job ladder amongst people who hold positions of power, which results in an inequality among lower level workersGender inequality: Inequality amongst women and men in the workplace – women earn 81 cents for every 1 dollar men earn in CanadaGendered violence: Violence based specifically towards either gender (more common in patriarchal or misogynistic forms towards women by men, i.e. domestic violence, ‘rape culture’)Colonialism: The political control of people and territories by foreign states (often results in racial superiority, implementation of their customs, traditions, beliefs, etc.)Imperialism: A general system of domination by a state (or states) or other regions or the whole worldInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) IMF & World Bank required changes in order to give loans to pay debts Cut spending on state services (education, health, etc.) Sold off public companies to corporati ons, which open borders and markets the corporations

Friday, September 27, 2019

English Language Skills for Academic Study Essay

English Language Skills for Academic Study - Essay Example Conversely, the possibility of all the income going to one person denoted as having a Gini coefficient of 1 (Minton, 2012).Global inequality is demonstrated through income gaps that have been witnessed between individuals, where the gap between the rich and the poor has drawn closer. Therefore, income inequality has a negative effect on economic growth. Intensive Global Inequality Apparently, income equality as an extra ordinary economic development is not based on the United States of America only. Other countries in the world such as Britain, Canada, China, India, and even Sweden have experienced an increase in the national economic share to around 1 % (Cleaver, 2013). Similarly, one of the world’s famous magazines, Forbes has argued that in the United States of America, there are around 421 billionaires, Russia has 96, China has 95 and India has 48. In addition, Santiso & Blommestein, 2007 argues that the world richest man is a Mexican who is worth approximately $ 69 Billio n, the largest building belongs to an Indian among other economic income disparities. In a general sense, the concentration of wealth has become part of a wider disparity in the in income distribution. This is arguably true because some parts and groups of people do not receive the share of resources. This leads to negative economic growth. Consequently, the income gap has continually varied in most countries in the world for the last three decades. For instance, the Gini coefficient in the United States of America has gone up to almost 30% from 1980 with coefficient ranging at 0.39. In China, the coefficient has increased by 50% reading at about 0.42. In the same way, Sweden has increased by around 25% read at 0.24 Gini coefficient (Jubis, 2013). However, in contrast to this, Latin America has been named as the world unequal continent since it has experienced a down ward trend demonstrated through the sharp decline of the Gini coefficient (Dicken, 2010). In light of such deliberati ons, it is correct to argue that the income gap leads to negative economic growth. This assertion is true because people with low income would not be in a position accomplishing all their needs. Income Inequality as the ‘Delay Factor’ to Recession Recovery It is argued that income inequality has become a barrier or a slowing factor towards the recovery of the great recession. A recent debate economic contraction has given a vivid picture on the level of income inequality in the economic development. In light of this, two liberalist economists have given their contribution toward this debate (Stevenson & Duch, 2008). According to Stigliz, the economic inequality is preventing the recovery of the global recession due to numerous reasons. To begin with, the liberal economist argues that the middle class is not capable of giving support to consumer spending, which has driven the growth of the economy for the longest period (Stevenson & Duch, 2008). For this reason, most peo ple in the United States of America cannot manage to pay education for themselves and their children. Moreover, Stigliz articulates that the enormous lack of income from the middle class has led to the lack of tax payments a situation that is associated with frequent and more severe cycles of income inequality (Jubis, 2013). It is apparent that with low income, some people would not be able to revive any economic activities within

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Leading and Managing in Organisations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Leading and Managing in Organisations - Essay Example The key to effective time management is planning ahead. I need to plan my time well by considering all activities and allocate time to each activity accordingly. The main issue with me was that I was experiencing increased work overload and pressure, which caused considerable anxiety and stress. This was because planning was completely lacking in my self-management. After I started planning my activities, I realized how much work I actually had and how much I was able to complete. I also tend to postpone activities that are of little interest, which later became a burden. I had to avoid procrastination in order to save time (Corttrell, 2003). Another key learning was prioritizing my work. I learnt how to prioritize my work based on its importance. Upon reflecting on my previous actions, I realized that I was in the habit of attending to important tasks first, and avoid others; this process seemed never ending. By prioritizing and planning, I will be able to complete all tasks. Another important aspect in effective time management is to avoid wasting time or to avoid activities that take up time. I realize that I have the habit of helping others too often, which takes up much of my time. I need to learn to say no in a polite manner and decide when to help others. By setting timelines to certain activities such as meetings, discussions etc, I will be able to avoid wastage of time. Sometimes, talking and discussing less has better impact on activities than too much of talking (Cottrell, 2003). Problem solving is an important activity that everyone faces; it is more important for people in the leadership roles. I make decisions very quickly. In case of issues, I feel stuck at some point or the other. However, sometimes my decisions do not work. Reflecting upon these patterns of my decision making, I realize that the decision making

Motives for European expansion in Africa in the 19th Century Essay

Motives for European expansion in Africa in the 19th Century - Essay Example The reliance of these nations on raw materials for industries damaged the balance of trade forcing the countries to seek other sources of raw materials and cheap labor. Competition from newly industrialized nations such as Germany forced other European countries to seek expansion into Africa. Europe started by establishing trading relations with African leaders and encouraged the rulers to trade exclusively with them and not any other nation. At first, the European traders had no interest expanding into the interior of Africa. The partnership was such that the African rulers had assured them of a constant supply of slaves from the interior. However, the rapid expansion of industries in Europe made the colonialists look for more supply of raw materials and cheap slave labor from Africa. The European industries and economy depended particularly on West Africa for development. The palm oil developed from Africa was in high demand as an industrial oil in Europe. There was greed among the Europeans for greater profits and economic growth. The greed meant intensifying and increasing industrial production that meant expanding deeper and deeper into Africa. European conquest of Africa was majorly driven by economic motives and the desire to increase economic growth back in Europe. The Europeans realized that by conquering Africa, they could secure a very cheap supply of raw materials hence success and overall economic prosperity at home. The economic conditions in Europe in the 19th century fueled the scramble for Africa.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

3 dyadic interview and appellations of concepts Essay - 2

3 dyadic interview and appellations of concepts - Essay Example However, I realized that they are much conserved and the information that they gave was not complete. Despite this, when giving their answers they were cool, calm, and collected. My focus was to know X’s interpersonal relations. This relates to the way they are able to interact with others as well as the extent to which they express their feelings as well as personal reaction to situations. When communicating with others X is very brief and precise, not that he is cautious of his words but at some point, he seems to lack the words. His expressions are not fully complete. However, he demonstrates clarity in the way he communicates. I talked with him concerning his ability to communicate with others. In this, he was very categorical that he finds it difficult to initiate conversations with strangers. Not only is this his predicament, but also maintaining a conversation with a stranger is a daunting task to him. Despite this, when communicating with a person he is conversant with , he pointed out that he is very free and can communicate for long time without any breakdown in communication. I yearned to know more about his interaction with family members and friends. He pointed out to me that have been with a single parent, who is his mother. Therefore, he points out that there are some things that he is not comfortable sharing with the mother. Being the only child, he has no option rather than learn from friends. His scope of friends is relatively small but his friends are very close to him. He demonstrates a deep sense of affection and does not take relationships lightly. He tells me that he has a girlfriend whom they spend a lot of time together. They have been together for the last three years. He tells me that his mother was initially opposed to the idea but she came to appreciate. As the conversation went on, he was easy going and could explain his answers in much more details compared to the

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Analysis of databases and IT Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Analysis of databases and IT Resources - Essay Example The organizations use the databases to decide the way forward of the organization. The decision making in the organizations should be derived from the analysis of trends in the database – the Big Data. The databases are reliable if they have been designed properly and the captured and stored information contained in them is accurate without redundancy and anomalies. The databases facilitate the analyst to manage the data in whatever the way the analyst wants but keeping in view the constraints of the design of the database. The document presents the details of the above mentioned my viewpoints on why and how much the decision making of the organizations should be dependent on the results obtained from the databases – the Big Data. Every organization deals with information regarding products, people including employees, customers, prospective benefactor(s), who (might) protract organization’s functions and services. Moreover, each and every decision from solving a particular problem for deciding the future of an organization is based on availability, accuracy and quality of information. â€Å"Information is an organizational asset, and, according to its value and scope, must be organized, inventoried, secured, and made readily available in a usable format for daily operations and analysis by individuals, groups, and processes, both today and in the future† (Neilson, 2007). In computing, the organizational information is neither just bits, bytes saved in a server nor limited to client data, the hardware and the software that store it. A data or information to which an (large) organization deals is too huge to control it manually and a process of gathering, normalizing and sharing that information to all its stakeholders. It might be difficult to manage this imperative huge information manually; moreover, the manual maintenance of information might not be reliable and accurate. Therefore, I believe that the organizations should use data bases for decision making be driven by ‘evidence’ derived from analysis of trends in the huge database. This is the reason that databases are formulated and high in demand. A database facilitates to store, handle and utilize implausible diverse organization’s information easily. A database can be defined as â€Å"collection of information that is organized so that it can easily be accessed, managed, and updated† (Rouse, 2006). Keeping in view the above facts, it can be stated that the crucial information needs to be accurate and stored correctly in reliable storages for its enduring usage. The database is one of the best storage mechanisms that are reliable as compared to the manual management of data. But, the quality and accuracy of data are too critical and fundamental for a database developed/maintained by any organization; either the database is developed for achieving a small goal with limited scope or it is a multi-billion dollar information system. It can be said that the value of data is directly proportional to the quality of data. It is one of many reasons that an inadequately designed database may present incorrect information that may be complicated to utilize, or may even stop working accurately. Therefore, the

Monday, September 23, 2019

Letter to school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter to school - Essay Example A calm and serene environment promotes and stimulates the inquisitive mind of a student. The company of knowledgeable and learned colleagues is an invigorating factor which encourages a student to learn by discussion and sharing. Staying in the main campus also saves a lot of time spent in commuting to and fro, which can be devoted to studious pursuits. Access to the campus library is another factor, where one can find all the pertinent books, journals, newspapers and articles for quick reference. All relevant departments are also within a stone’s throw and one can seek help of the faculty as and when required. I have adequate experience as a student as I come from a family with educational background. My father obtained his Ph.D. from the United States. Although I am of Korean descent, I was born in America and am well versed with the American way of life. My experience after serving in the army has matured me beyond my years and I understand the sanctity of a healthy educational pursuit. Although I don’t have the necessary credit, I am sure I will fulfill any deficiencies within a short period if I am given the opportunity to shift to the main campus. I have already established my residence nearby and there is no problem in sustaining myself in a congenial manner at the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Project Manager Status Report Essay Example for Free

Project Manager Status Report Essay Provide a quick executive overview of the status of the project in this section It is intended for high level management so it should not get too much into the details of the project. However, it should highlight anything specific, which should be brought to their attention. The Scope/Schedule/Cost/Quality table above is a quick way to present a color coded dashboard for the status report. Typically a variance of +/- 5% will warrant a yellow cautionary color and +/- 10% will warrant a red warning color. For a project which needs tighter control +/- 2% and +/- 5% are used for these thresholds; whereas, other projects with less strict control may use 10% and 20% variances. The percent complete here should be the percent completion of the entire project. For any constraint which is yellow or red this section should contain brief explanation the reason why. Example: The project schedule is 7% behind schedule due to inclement weather which has affected the installation of the fiber optics throughout the campus. This should not affect the project completion date as crews are planning to make up the time by working weekends and extended hours next month. The project risks is red due to the inclement weather and servers which were delivered last month werent configured with the correct hardware specifications. The impact of the inclement weather on the schedule will be mitigated by having crews make up the time by working weekends and extended hours next month. Currently we are working with the server vendor to resolve the server hardware configuration problem. The configuration delivered will not handle the work load of going live in two months; however, it is sufficient for development and testing activities scheduled prior to going live. Once you have finished understanding this section you can just highlight the directions and example and place your specific information for your team’s weekly report. Work Planed for Last Month For this section you can copy the Worked Planned for Next Week section from last weeks status report and paste it into this section. Work Completed Last Week In this section you should provide a highlight of work performed and milestones and/or deliverables met during the past week. Work Planned For Next Week Provide an overview of the work being performed during the next week and any milestones or deliverables you expect to meet. Open Issues This section should contain a list of open issues along with their status. Open Risks This section should contain a list of all open risks (risks which have occurred, or are on the verge of occurring). Deliverables and Milestones This section is a quick table, which shows the status of the project milestones and deliverables. The first column is for the name of the Milestone or Deliverable as its in the project plan. The next column is the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) number, this makes it easier to find the milestone/deliverable in the project plan (You will create WBS numbers when you create your Work Breakdown Structure form, so for now you can just leave this blank). Planned is the planned date according to the approved project plan, the forecasted is the date you expect and actual is the actual date the milestone was met or deliverable was delivered. The status is a simple one or two word status such as; completed, on schedule, behind schedule, accepted, etc. Milestone WBS Planned Forecasted Actual Status Deliverable WBS Planned Forecasted Actual Status Open Change Requests Use this section to track all changes to the project and report the status of those changes. Tracking of changes starts with the request for the change, tracks the approval status and ends when the change is added to the project, the project plan and schedule update and it has become a part of the project. (You can create your own change request numbers) EXAMPLE Change Request Name Change Request Number Request Date Current Status Add xyz Functionality CR55043 3/14/20xx In Review by Change Control Board Add Redundant Servers CR55012 2/17/20xx Approved and Being Added to the Project Plan Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Many managers turn right to this section as it provide a clear view of the status of the project according the earned value metrics. In your project you need to decide which metrics to monitor, but be sure not to include too many as you may end up providing the same information but in different forms. We like to track SV, SPI, CV and CPI in the layout below. Next to the schedule and cost headings you should state whether the project is ahead of or behind schedule and over or under budget. Notice we left out the word on it is highly unlikely that you. If you like you can also include a paragraph at the beginning of this section presenting the earned value results in verbose. IF a budget is involved you will need to include information in this section: Schedule Project is Ahead of/Behind Schedule Schedule Variance (SV):$xxxx Schedule Performance Index (SPI):x.xx Cost Project is Over/Under Budget Cost Variance (CV):$xxx Cost Performance Index (CPI):x.xx

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Concepts of Death in Medicine

Concepts of Death in Medicine Hufsa Ali The concept of death is one that has been shrouded with mystery and wonder for as long as humans have lived and died. The understanding and implications of death have varied greatly across eras and cultures. Historically, there has been little consistency in the understanding of the concept of the event of death, the moment at which one is dead. The Oxford English Dictionary defines death as â€Å"the end of life; the permanent cessation of the vital functions of a person [] or organism[2].† This definition, while precisely written, leaves considerable ambiguity about the diction of the definition itself. It is uncertain what is meant by â€Å"life† and â€Å"vital functions† of a person or organism. Further, one may question whether the vital functions of humans as persons differ from those of humans as organisms. Is death a process rather than an event? If so, when does it begin and end, and when is it appropriate to declare death? Is it possible that a human m ay experience two deaths, death of the person and death of the organism? If so, which death is relevant to medicine? In this paper, I will review the evolution of the definition of death in the Western world in the context of advancing medicine, and explore the implications in relation to organ donation. The philosophical examination of human death has concentrated two underlying questions: what is human death, and how can we determine that death has occurred?[3] The first question addresses the concept or definition of death, while the second concerns developing the corresponding standards: criteria and clinical protocol to be used to declare death. Examples of the answer to the first question include death as the functions of an organism or human death as the irreversible loss of personhood (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2011[4]). Examples of answers to the second questions include the cardiopulmonary standard, the whole-brain standard, and the cerebral standard. It was not until the last century that seeking answers to these questions became the source of a painstakingly complex on-going debate about death, personhood and medicine. Prior to the advent of the stethoscope in the 19th century, cessation of breathing marked the occurrence of death (Daroff)[5]. Then, the loss of pulse became the characterizing event (Jennett, 2001). The Fourth Edition of Black’s Law Dictionary was published in 1951, reidentifying the occurrence of death as the â€Å"cessation of life, defined by physicians as a total stoppage of heart of the circulation of the blood†¦Ã¢â‚¬ [6][7] in the United States. The definition of death (particularly the distinction between death of the body and death of the person) was not relevant because the death of the brain and the rest of the body tissues occurred concurrently. Cardiopulmonary failure inevitably led to irreversible loss of all brain functions, and the irreversible loss of all brain functions quickly led to cardiopulmonary arrest. The issue of distinguishing between cardiopulmonary failure and brain function failure was not clinically relevant until the invention and widespread use of mechanical resuscitation and ventilation devices[8]. A stopped heart could now be restarted and blood could be oxygenated without functioning intercostal and pleural muscles, after the tissues of the brain had began ischemic necrosis[1]. Although they were still occurring, the functions of circulation and respiration were being performed by mechanical respirators and defibrillators. While this did not meet the criteria for death as defined in 1951, it is important to note that such patients would have met the criteria for death as soon as the use of life-support machines was discontinued. Essentially, this meant that either death could be reversed, or that death could be delayed well beyond the failure of vital organs. This also meant that a body with irreversible loss of brain functions could be indefinitely kept â€Å"alive.â €  This highlighted the distinction between neurological failure, and circulatory and respiratory failure. During the 1950’s, several physicians around the world began to recognize the futility of continuing treatment for patients who had lost all neurological functions. In 1954, a neurologist practicing in Massachusetts, Dr. Robert Schwab, noted this while examining a comatose brain hemorrhage patient who was on a respirator. â€Å"The question was, ‘Is this patient alive or dead?’ Without reflexes, without breathing and with total absence of evidence of an electroencephalogram, we considered the patient was dead in spite of the presence of an active heart maintaining circulation. The respirator was therefore turned off and the patient pronounced dead.† In 1959, four French neurologists came to the same conclusion. However, they some of them preferred the term coma dà ©passà ©, meaning â€Å"beyond coma† (Mollaret, 1959)[9]. This was the prognosis of certain death, they argued, but not did not meet the criteria for death itself. Schwab disagreed, stati ng that death of the the death of the nervous system would be death of the patient. In 1963, he proposed criteria to consider certain patients dead in spite of continuing cardiac function: loss of reflexes, a flat EEG, and apnea[10][2]. Over the next five years, he reported having treated 90 such patients. None of them survived and autopsies showed that every one of them had pervasive tissue necrosis in their brains. His findings went on to greatly influence the legal and medical redefining of death. Meanwhile, there were developing concerns about the futility of extensive, expensive medical care for patients whose deaths were imminent and inevitable. In 1957, Pope Pius XII proclaimed that physicians were not obliged to give â€Å"extraordinary† treatment in such cases[11]. In 1962, psychiatrist Frank Ayd published a paper in which he contended that there was a moral obligation to withdraw care when death was inevitable. In 1965, THe American Medical Association held it’s First National Congress on Medical Ethics and Professionalism to detail guidelines for end-of-life-care.[12] As the initiation of the transition from heart to brain criteria for death, the field of organ transplantation was developing. The first successful kidney transplant was performed between live twins in 1954 by Dr. Joseph Murray. Eight years later, Dr. Murray performed a kidney transplant from a cadaver donor. In the years following, liver, lung and heart transplants were performed, using organs from cadavers. Most of the recipients died soon after the surgery. There was the idea that â€Å"live donors† would improve the chances of survival, but physicians were weary about using vital organs from patients that were â€Å"alive† by cardiopulmonary criteria, even if they had lost total brain function. The ethical standard regarding organ retrieval is the Dead Donor Rule (DDR), which prohibits organ vital procurement from donors that have not yet been declared death. This limits possible sources of organs to cadavers that still have salvageable tissues and organs. As medica l technology prevented more and more â€Å"deaths† through advancements in life-support technology, it also accelerated the demand for organs of dead donors, as the capacity to perform successful transplants increased. This growing concern for organ transplantation sources, coupled with the futility of having â€Å"hopeless† patients on artificial ventilation and resuscitation created a climate that facilitated the major change that occurred at the end of the 1960s. In 1968, an Ad Hoc committee was formed at Harvard University to address the â€Å"ethical problems created by the hopelessly unconscious patient[13].† The committee developed criteria similar to the concept of â€Å"coma dà ©passà ©.† Patients who met the criteria[3] would be considered essentially dead, but not actually dead. The final report was titled â€Å"A Definition of Irreversible Coma: Definition of Brain Death.† While this report didn’t explicitly realign the definition of death to brain-based criteria, it outlined appropriate standard of care for comatose patients whose deaths were inevitable and imminent. It was never said outright, but they implied that the death of the brain is the death of the patient, and hinted that the cardiopulmonary criteria for death were obsolete[14]. On the same day as the publication of the Harvard report, the 22nd World Medical Association (WMA) met and announced the Declaration of Sydney. The declaration distinguished the gradual process of the death of cells and tissues from the death of the patient. â€Å"Clinical interest lies not in the state of preservation of isolated cells but in the fate of a person [] the point of death of the different cells and organs is not so important as the certainty that the process has become irreversible.† While it has been overshadowed in the United States by the Harvard report, the WMA’s declaration was the first major committee distinguishment between the death of the body and the death of the person. Throughout the 1970’s, widespread acceptance of the implied Harvard definition grew among the medical community. State legislatures and courts began legally recognizing some form of death based on brain-criterion, although there was little consistency among the criteria across jurisdictions. In 1971, Mohandas and Chou (neurologist and psychiatrist, respectively) published their â€Å"Minnesota Criteria,† based on autopsy discoveries that identified the destruction of the brain stem as the cause of brain death. Thus, the requirement for the EEG was eliminated[4]. Because both respiratory control and consciousness originated [15]in the brain stem, the loss of brainstem function equaled death of both persons and organisms. In the UK, the criteria for brain death was tweaked to exclude the EEG requirement, which meant a patient with detectable cortical activity would be dead in the UK and alive in most of the US. The President’s Commision for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research was formulated in 1979 to clarify brain death and other biomedical ethics issues. The committee published a report in 1981 that provided a clearer and more practical definition of death than the previous, conceptually ambiguous ones that had been used before. The commission reasoned that death occurred when the â€Å"body’s physiological system ceases to constitute an integrated whole[16].† Because the brain functions as the â€Å"great integrator and regulator,† the death of the organism occurs when the total brain functions are lost, and the organism disintegrates to a collection of it’s parts. As a result, the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) gave both brain-based and circulatory-respiratory-based criteria a â€Å"separate but equal† status in the eyes of law and clinical care. In the United States, death could now be det ermined by the â€Å"irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions† or â€Å"irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain.† While the UDDA recognized the whole brain standard as a means to determine death, it did not specify the neurological test criteria to be used. It also did not specify the amount of elapsed time required before stopped circulation can be considered irreversible. Different hospitals, providers, and associations used varying sets of tests to determine death. In 1995, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) attempted to standardize the clinical protocol used to determine death using brain criteria. Tests to be performed were similar to the Harvard report criteria, without the EEG requirement and the 24-hour repeat was left unaddressed. While the UDDA and AAN’s guidelines have brought consistency to the clinical process of determining death, there has been widespread disagreement about the criteria of death itself. The traditional criteria for determining death, the cessation of heartbeat and breathing, have been updated by the UDDA. The circulatory-respiratory standard holds death as the irreversible cessation of circulatory-respiratory function. Leaving aside the implications of word â€Å"irreversible,† this definition may still not be entirely accurate nor practical. Rather than changing the reality of the nature of death, life-support devices and other technologies of modern medicine have shined a light on an aspect of the process of death that was not visible before. Before the possibility of mechanically and artificially continuing respiration and circulation, the failure of these processes were associated with the occurrence of death. However, after such â€Å"death† could be reversed and put off indefinitely, it became apparent that the onset of cardiopulmonary failure was not the moment of death, but simply indicative of death. As Bernat, Culver and Gert argue, heartbeat and regular breathing usually indicate life, but they do not constitute life (Bernat, Culver, and Gert 1981)[17]. â€Å"Life involves the integrated functioning of the whole organism.† Brain-based criteria better suited this understanding of life because the brain is responsible for much regulation of the entire organism. Thus, including brain-based criteria to declare death is seen as an â€Å"update† to the previous understanding of death, not a complete overhaul of it. The transition to brain-based criteria is nowhere near free of criticism. For some, one of the most obvious flaws in the logic behind the brain-based criteria for death was its basis on the idea that the brain is the sole organ responsible for integration of the organism as a whole. If death is defined as the irreversible loss of functioning of the organism as a whole, then only after the complete cessation of all whole-body integrating functions may a patient be considered dead. While the brain plays the biggest role in integrating interdependent functions of the body, somatic integration is a holistic phenomenon that involves organs and tissue systems throughout the body. Immune responses, regulation of blood glucose levels, and hematopoiesis are regulatory functions that can continue to occur without the entire brain (Shewomn, 2001)[18]. Therefore, if the definition of death is understood to be the end of the existence of the organism as an integrative whole, then the death of the whole brain does not necessarily mean the biological organism has died. Brain-based criteria may have been a step in the right direction, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. The significance and necessity of the brain may lie in another aspect of it’s function; one that cannot be attributed to any other part of the body: personhood. The brain is the origin of human thought, reasoning, consciousness, emotion, and self-awareness. If the entire brain is dead, than the human person is dead, even if the human organism continues to live. Another problem with the development of brain-based criteria is again unrelated to the concept itself, but how it came about as standard of care. The ethically dangerous notion that the climate of evolving medical innovation, particularly organ transplantation, had influenced and driven the acceptance of whole-brain death is a very concerning one. When the Harvard committee met to discuss brain death in 1968, they seemed to be concerned about two things: the futility of spending resources on patients with no chance of recovery, and the idea of wasting the organs of these patient’s bodies. Their main focus of concern seemed to not be the well-being of the patients at hand, but protecting the physicians who would withdraw care from patients that would previously have been considered alive. Without the redefinition of death, doctors would have been morally responsible for the death of such patients. Officially, the reason the Harvard committee cited for their efforts was to free up resources spent in vain on untreatable patients. Murray, who was on the committee specified that the primary concern was the dying patient, and that organ transplantation was â€Å"distinct and unrelated,† ()[19] However, many have been skeptical of this separation, arguing that the motive for changing the definition of death had everything to do with organ transplantation. Neurosurgeon Richard Nilges, calls attention to the fact that respiratory and other life-support technologies had been in use for nearly two decades before the hasty formulation of the Harvard committee, and no one had so loudly expressed the urge to end such care. Instead, he points out, that the Harvard committee met less than a year after the first successful heart transplant surgery.[5] Based on the heart-lung criteria of death at the time, the act of removing the heart from a â€Å"live† patient on life support w ould have been the cause of death of that patient. Nilges suggests that a second, underlying reason for changing the criterion of death was the underlying motivation behind the Harvard report: providing organs for transplantation. This situation was an ideal one for organ transplant advocates, because it was an â€Å"opportunity to tailor the definition of death to fit the moral acceptability of transplanting living hearts. Taking a beating heart from a body is not equivalent to taking innocent human life if ‘brain dead’ individuals are ‘defined’ as already dead.† Interestingly, Nilges is not against the idea of using brain-based criteria for death in organ donors. Rather, he disagrees with the way this criteria is practiced. His experience working with such patients and organ transplant teams has left him with disdain towards the practice of organ transplantation. In his paper titled â€Å"Organ Transplantation, Brain Death, and the Slipper Slope: A Neurosurgeon’s Perspective,† Nigles proposes a causal relationship between the changes in the understanding and practice of death declaration to the desires of the insatiable transplant advocates. He recalls trying protect his dying patients from transplant teams, who he compares to hungry vultures eyeing a small, dying animal. He criticizes the unofficial leeway allowed when diagnosing whole brain death, pointing out that over 20% of patients declared dead on brain-based criteria actually had brain activity detectable by an EEG. Save for the finale: [HANS JONAS: uncertainty about border b/w life, death[20]] [1] Necrosis, death of tissue, can be caused by ischemia, insufficient blood supply to those tissues. Brain tissue is among the body’s most sensitive to ischemic hypoxia, and is the earliest to die. It is possible for the rest of the body to regain function after a period of time without oxygen, but the brain to have lost it permanently. [2] Schwab’s criteria were: loss of reflexes (dilated and fixed pupils, no elicitable reflexes, and no independent movements), a flat EEG (electroencephalogram detecting no electrical activity in the brain), and apnea (inability to spontaneously breath). [3] Harvard report criteria included the following: (1) deep coma, no withdrawal from painful stimuli, (2) cranial and spinal arreflexia, (3) apnea, persistent after disconnected from ventilator for 3 minutes, (4) flat EEG, no detectable electrical brain activity, (5) exclusion of hypothermia or drugs, which may sometimes cause false-negatives in the above tests, and (6) evaluation repeated twice, 24-hours apart. [4] The brainstem is the pathway through which the brain (cerebrum and cerebellum) sends and receives signals to and from the rest of the body. If the brain stem is dead and all brainstem functions are lost, then the communication between the brain and spinal cord is severed. A body of a patient with a dead brain stem is functionally equivalent to that of a patient with whole brain death. Thus, any electrical activity in the cerebrum is not going to affect the outcome of tests of the rest of Harvard criteria. [5] The first successful heart transplantation was performed in December of 1967. The committee developed their criteria in August of 1968, a mere eight months after the heart transplant. [1]Write later [2]Cite oxford english dictionary [3]either cite Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Definition of Death [4]Written 2007, revised 2011. Review? [5]Fix citation [6]Cite this [7]Black Laws Dictionary, 1951. 4e [8]cite source: either de goergia, stanford, or daroff [9]#8, De Geogia [10]cite swchab, from de georgia, pg 674 [11]Citation needed [12]another someone talks about this conference, but says something more relevant. [13]cite: beecher. (From De Georgia, 674. bottom left. [14]cite this [15]use a different word. Plagiarism [16]cite this: de georgia, #48, 49. pg 676 [17]cite. (stanford encyclopedia, 1. mainstream view) [18]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11588655 [19]Murray, letter to Beecher, calling for committee formulation/meeting. De Georgia # 26, pg 675 [20]#40 De goergia, pg 676

Friday, September 20, 2019

PESTEL Analysis of the Chinese Economy

PESTEL Analysis of the Chinese Economy There is no doubt that nowadays globalization brings opportunities for companies to expand their business activities easily to take advantages of other countrys growth through investing activities. However, before investing to overseas, a company should make a careful examination of the country they are intending to invest in especially the industry related to their investment. Examining the relationship between risks will help to measure the risks the company has to encounter and the information is actually helpful for company in decisions making. Based on factual country information and financial analysis, this assignment will point out main factors that will impact Soundtech Technologys general business activities when it starts business in China producing low cost sound system for budget cars called Superaudio. This assignment will start with China background information and then six factors in PESTEL model these include political, economic, social, technology, environment, and legal will be presented. In addition, Soundtech Technologys financial overview that includes financial factors as well as sensitive analysis will be conducted based on the data given. Lastly, some recommendations will be make to help Soundtech Technology in making investment decisions. 1. China background informations Area: 9,596,961 sq. km Population (July, 2010): 1,330,141,295. Annual growth rate: 0.494 % Ethnic groups: Han Chinese is 91.5%, ethnic minority and other nationalities are 8.5%. Religions: Officially atheist, Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Christian is about 3%-4%, Muslim is approximately 1%-2%. Languages: Mandarin is also called Putonghua is the main language in China, plus many local dialects. Government: Communist party-led state. GDP is $4.814 trillion (2009) Per capita GDP is $3,678 (2009) GDP real growth rate (2009): 8.7% Natural resources: mineral is plentiful including coal, petroleum, mercury, iron ore, natural gas, tin, tungsten, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite, antimony, aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium. Moreover, China is the worlds largest in hydropower potential. Agriculture: China is one of the worlds largest producers of rice, wheat, potatoes, corn, peanuts, tea, millet, barley; commercial crops include cotton, other fibers, apples, oilseeds, pork and fish; produces variety of livestock products. Types of industry: China is focusing on mining, ore processing and others mineral such as iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals. Consumer product is one of the nation strongest industries. Transportation, electronics, telecommunications equipment as well as commercial space are major sectors. Trade: Exports (2009) $1.194 trillion: electrical and other machinery, including data processing equipment, apparel, textiles, iron and steel, optical and medical equipment. Main partners (2008) United States 17.7%, Hong Kong 13.3%, Japan 8.1%, South Korea 5.2%, and Germany 4.1%. Imports (2009) $921.5 billion: electrical and other machinery, oil and mineral fuels, optical and medical equipment, metal ores, plastics, organic chemicals. Main partners (2008) Japan 13.3%, South Korea 9.9%, Taiwan 9.2%, U.S. 7.2%, Germany 4.9%. Undoubtedly, the electronics is the one of the leading industry in Chinas manufacturing sector. Sales revenue from Chinas electronics and IT industries (not including software) is estimated approximately $772.8 billion in 2008, reaching a growth of 28.3% over 2007. According to a statistical report by Chinas Ministry of Information Industry (MII), sales revenue of Chinas electronic information industry from January to April 2008 increased by 20.5% over the same period of last year. EE Times-China and ESM-China Market Research Dept predict that from 2006 to 2008, Chinas electronics industry will maintain a CAGR of 25.5% (global sources.com). 2. PESTEL analysis An analysis of Chinas Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal factors is essential to the strategic management and implementation of the project. The positive and negative effect on the projects initiation and development will be pointed out through the analysis of the external factors. 2.1 Political factors 2.1.1 General information Currently, China Government is ongoing to promote rule of law. After the Cultural Revolution, a legal system to restrict of official authority and revolutionary excesses has been developed. In 1982, the National Peoples Congress issued a new state constitution that emphasized the rule of law under which even party leaders are theoretically held accountable. Since 1979, when the drive to establish a functioning legal system began, more than 300 laws and regulations concerned about economic areas have been promulgated. In the 1990s Legal reform became a government priority. Legislation designed to modernize and professionalize the nations lawyers, judges, and prisons was issued. The Chinese constitution and laws provide for fundamental human rights, including due process, however in practice these are often ignored. In addition to other judicial reforms, the Constitution was modified in 2004 that include the protection of individual human rights as well as the legally-obtained private property, but it does not clear about how some of these provisions will be implemented. Since this modification, there have been new promulgations in bankruptcy law and anti-monopoly law, and modifications for both company and labor law. Although additional safeguards to citizens have been provided in new criminal and civil laws, previously debated political reforms, including expanding elections to the township level beyond the current trial basis, have been put on hold. 2.1.2 Recent political events Since Tiananmen, 13 rounds of human rights dialogue between the U.S and China has been conducted. In May 2010, the most recent round was taken placed; topics were turned around religious freedom, the rights of labor, freedom of expression, rule of law, the discrimination of race, and multilateral cooperation as well. A foundation to continue these rounds in the future was adopted by The U.S. and China leading to unanimous approval for the next round of dialogue in China in 2011. The meetings in Lhasa on March 10th 2008, marking the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising turned violent, and led to protests and unsecure state throughout Tibetan areas and others surrounding provinces. The army and police force monitored strictly Tibetan areas for the safety of the 50th anniversary in 2009 and 51st in 2010 and security was tightened in the border with Nepal. Armed uprising was ongoing when ethnic violence broke out in Urumqi in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region on July 5, 2009. Security control significantly increased in Urumqi and its surrounding areas and as the result some mosques in Xinjiang were closed. As of early 2010, Urumqi was still under a heavy police control and most Internet and international phone communication were totally cut off. In recent years, riots have been happened in China that has created the unstable condition for foreign companies investment in China. However, China Government has taken strict measures to prevent and stop this situation that creates safe environment for foreign investors. 2.2 Economic factors Chinas economy has been reformed and opened since 1978. A more pragmatic thinking on many political and socio economic problems has been approved by the Chinese leadership and therefore the role of ideology in economic policy has been partly reduced. China has transformed its economic into the market-oriented that positively impact not only on China but also on the world. These economic reforms China has implemented over the past 2 decades have profoundly affected both individual initiative and entrepreneurship. As the result the poverty has been significantly reduced and the average income has reached to highest level ever seen. At the beginning of 2010China is ranked as the second-largest economy in the world after overtaking Japan to capture this position. An average economic growth has been sustained over 9.5% for the past 26 years. In 2009, its economy reached to $4.814 trillion was about one-third the size of the U.S. economy. The high economic growth along with higher nationa l income growth may boost demand for Soundtech Technologys products this is big opportunity for the firm to develop its business. In the 1980s, the combination of central planning with market-oriented reforms were tried to implement in order to increase productivity, living standards, and technological quality but not lead to negative effect on inflation, unemployment, and budget deficits In addition, Chinese Government pursued agricultural reforms, dismantling the commune system and introducing a household-based system that provided peasants greater decision-making in agricultural activities. Besides that nonagricultural activities like village enterprises in rural areas were also encouraged. Similarly, the government promoted more self-management for state-owned enterprises in order to increased competition in the marketplace, and create opportunities for Chinas domestic enterprise directly contact with the foreign ones. On 20th June 2010, Chinas central bank set the Yuan exchange rate at higher level after committing to increase the flexibility of exchange rate of its currency. Reference exchange rate of the day was set at 6.7980 Yuan on USD 1 its strongest level since September 2008, up 0.43% compared with the level of 6.8275 Yuan on 21st June 210. A stronger Yuan would make Chinese exports more expensive, help redress trade balances and bring some reliefs to foreign manufactures struggling to complete. The increase of Yuan exchange rate creates disadvantages for Soundtech Technology when they export their products to overseas markets because it raises the price in term of foreign currency. Especially, in recent years the cooperative relationship between China and Singapore have been improved within related global and regional organizations such as the ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). At the same time, both China and Singapore have conducted beneficial cooperation and put efforts to offer training sessions to a third country and to help their companies or enterprises explore and exploit the world market. The 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic corporation between China and Singapore is marked in year 2010 as well as the event of Chinas participation in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA). By taking advantages of all the opportunity from the partners, China is ready to work with Singapore to lift bilateral relations to a new level and bring more substantial benefits to the citizens of both countries. For this reason, China Government always makes the best condition to welcome Soundtech Technology to invest in China. 2.3 Social factors With a population officially over 1.3 billion and an estimated growth rate of 0.494%, China is very concerned about its population growth and has attempted with mixed results to implement a strict birth limitation policy. The governments goal is to stabilize the population in the first half of the 21st century, and 2009 projections from the U.S. Census Bureau are that the Chinese population will peak at around 1.4 billion by 2026. It can be said that China has huge population that supply to the market a profuse workforce which is an opportunity for Sountech Technology to expand its business in China. Another affecting factor that can be considered is the trend of employment with relation to the unemployment level. The current unemployment rate in China in January 2010 is 4.3% which demonstrates that this project would help the society and in turn the economy by creating positive job opportunities. Source: tradingeconomic.com Recently, China Government has increased the minimum wages. On 1st April Guangdong increased the provinces minimum wages by an average 13%. Moreover, the southern China province produces about 13% of Chinas economic output, the most among the countrys 32 provinces. Minimum wages in the capital city Guangzhou reached to 860 yuan increased $120 per month from 780 yuan, Wages of other cities in the province would also get a boost, with those in some inland cities up nearly 18%. China Government has increased the minimum wages that is a challenge for Sountech Technology because they have to paid more for labor costs that will decrease business profit. 2.4 Technological factors Chinese science strategists realize Chinas greatest opportunities in technology fields such as computers and biotechnology, where creates a chance for China to make innovation in these areas. It cannot be denied that a dense network of trans-Pacific contact have been built by most overseas Chinese students that will boost the cooperation between U.S. and China scientific in coming years. The U.S. space program is regarded as the standard of scientific modernity in China is held annually. Chinas small but growing space program is national pride of China when its third manned orbit was totally successful in September 2008. Technology Agreement is the model for bilateral cooperation between The U.S and China in science field. In April 2006 the Science and Technology Agreement was extended by a 5-year agreement was signed. The agreement which includes approximately 60 protocols, memoranda of understanding, agreements, and annexes, is considered as the longest-standing between U.S.-China accords. The agreement encompasses cooperation between U.S. and China in variety fields like marine conservation, renewable energy, and health. Besides the U.S China also has close relationship with Japan and the European Union in science and technology cooperation. Based on the data supplied by the State Development Planning Commission, during the Ninth Five-year Plan period from1996 to 2000, China has significant technological development. 50,000 projects have been set up under the Spark Plan. Started in 1986, these projects were actually a technological program in order to enhance the IT level in rural areas. Since 1996 a total of CNY192.9 billion has been invested in the Spark Plan in which CNY3.5 billion was from the Governments Funds, CNY41.9 billion were from loans of banks and CNY147.5 billion from private and other social sectors. Since 1996 the Chinese government has invested CNY3.19 billion in the industrial sector to develop technical innovation projects. In addition, since 1999 the government has been focusing on technological innovation of State-owned enterprises by spending CY19.5 billion worth of treasury bonds A number of districts for high-tech development have been established for researching and developing technological purpose. For example in 1996 the Silicon Valley was built with an CNY101.5 billion investment in the infrastructure construction. Up to now there have been approximately 17,000 high-tech enterprises operating in those districts, with the employees more than 2.2 million. 2.5 Environmental factors Undoubtedly, along with Chinas rapid industrial development are the serious negative impacts on environment these include increasing pollution and decreasing natural resources as well. In 2007, China became the worlds largest emitter of carbon dioxide and other gases leading to greenhouse. WTO conducted a report on the quality of air in 272 cities worldwide, pointed out seven out of the ten cities that are the most polluted in the world were in China. In addition based on Chinas own evaluation, two-thirds of the 402 cities which have been air polluted two-thirds of them moderately or severely so. According to environmental report, there is water polluted in almost all of the nations rivers to some degree and half of the population is lack of clean water for daily life. By some estimates, there are approximately 300 million people have to use contaminated water for drinking every day. Water scarcity also is considered as an issue; taking severe water scarcity in Northern China as an example that is actually a serious threat to sustained economic growth. Thus, the government has been working on a project for delivering a large-scale of water from the Yangtze River to northern cities, including Beijing and Tianjin. Some research estimate pollution costs hold the Chinese economy from 7% to 10% of GDP per year. Currently, like any Government, Chinas leaders are increasingly paying attention to environmental problems in the country. Realizing the important of environmental protection, The State Environmental Protection Administration was officially upgraded to a ministry-level agency, the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 1998. Recently, Chinas environmental legislation has been strengthened and some progress in stemming environmental deterioration has also been made. China took part the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development in 2005, which unites industries and government to implement common strategies together that reduce pollution and global climate change. Campaign about pollution control was great invested that a factor contributing to a successful Olympic Beijing 2008, though some of the benefits were just temporary in nature. Thanks to these campaigns the quality of air in some cities has been improved recently. It can be said that China is participating actively in climate change talks as well as other multilateral environmental negotiations, especially discussions about how developed countries deal with serious environmental issues that help developing countries to a greater extent. China has signed the Basel Convention about transporting and treating hazardous waste; the Montreal Protocol about the Ozone Layer Protection and other major environmental agreements. As long as China is huge country thus water scarcity is regarded as a big issue that also is the projects disadvantage. Besides that, climate change is considered as one of the major systematic risks for Soundtech Technology because climate change is affecting how companies operate and the products they offer. 2.6 Legal factors 2.6.1 Laws support foreign investors In order to encourage foreign companies to invest in China, China Government has gradually set up a relative complete law system. In 1979, The Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures was published. 20 years later, the Chinese government has promulgated and issued a series of laws and statutes about the establishment, operation, termination and liquidation of foreign-invested enterprises. The main laws and regulations include the three basic laws à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ The law on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, The Law on Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures, and The Law on Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprises; detailed rules for the implementation of the three basic laws; The Company Law of the Peoples Republic of China; The Income Tax Law of the Peoples Republic of China for Enterprises with Foreign Investment and Foreign Enterprises; Interim Provisions for Guiding Foreign Investment; Industrial Catalogue for Foreign Investment; Interim Pro visions Concerning the Investment within China of Foreign-invested Enterprises, Provisions Regarding the Merger and Separation of Foreign-invested Enterprises, and Liquidation Measures for Enterprises with Foreign Investment. These provide legal bases from which to guarantee the independent operation rights of foreign-funded enterprises and to protect the legitimate rights and interest of both domestic and overseas investors. Currently, the Chinas government is considering its existing laws and statutes in accordance with the model of the WTO. It has abolished certain obsolete laws and regulations, and will gradually revise the laws and regulations that are incompatible with the rules of the WTO. 2.6.2 China Tax Regime Tax law is one of the most important issues that SoundTech Technology needs to understand as the tax regulations have a direct impact on STs business activities. China is known as one of the most attractive incentives packages in Asia. Tax incentives and other facilities for the manufacturing sector are provided for in the Promotion of Investment. The data below demonstrates the tax that a medium-size company must pay or be withheld in a given year, as well as measures of the administrative burden in paying taxes. These measures include the number of payments an entrepreneur must make; the number of hours spent preparing, filing, and paying; and the percentage of their profits they must pay in taxes. 2.6.3 Procedures to starting new business in Malaysia When foreign investors want to set up business in China, they have to wait for approval from the Government for a long time. The challenges of launching a business are shown below which include the number of steps entrepreneurs can expect to go through to launch, the time it takes on average, and the cost and minimum capital required as a percentage of gross national income (GNI) per capita.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Essay --

Heraclitus Heraclitus was born approximately at 540 B.C, He is one of the aristocratic families of Ephesus, near Colophon. Heraclitus had a reputation as a deliberately obscure thinker. Heraclitus often referred as â€Å"The Dark† due to the darkness of his writings. Even though there is no adequate English translation of the term â€Å"Logos† based on the writing, it can be seen that the logos was interpreted by Heraclitus as â€Å"The word of God† â€Å"Unity in Oppositeness†. Due to the fact that it is the controlling, magnificent force within nature, Heraclitus could simply classify it (Logos) as the mind of God. The fundamental dogma of Heraclitus’s orderliness is the allegation that there is a balanced structure of the solar system and that this structure establishes and maintain the stability of the universe. In order to understand what is â€Å"Logos† one should have a soul (Seeing, Hearing, Perception). It is said by Heraclitus that God is always better than men. Unity in Opposites could be interpreted as even though there are things which are the total opposites of each other, they are still able to unite in one unity. For example, Sea could be considered as two things, Sea could be the most pure water for fishes, yet sea water could be the most polluted water for men. For fishes it is drinkable and sanitary, while for men it is undrinkable and deleterious. (Fr. 61) Moreover, looking further on Heraclitus â€Å"Logos† we can say that he thinks that antithesis/opposites make unity. For example, God is day night, winter summer, war peace, satiety hunger (Fr. 67). In this writing, it is safe to say that Heraclitus considered fire as the most fundamental and important element in this world. Heraclitus strongly believes that fire is the most essential com... ...equilibrium is a place where everything is constantly changing. Hence, the idea of fire. Based on this paradigm now we could possibly understand why in the first place Heraclitus uses fire as the most suitable metaphor for the logos as fire never stays in one form, it is always changing. It is probably based on the same reason why Heraclitus likes the nature of river as the river is always changing, new water will continuously flows through replacing the old one, and it will remains the same for a very long period, probably forever. Moreover, still in the coverage of the previous theory, Heraclitus expanded Anaximander’s idea of the interaction of opposites. Heraclitus views that the animosity between all the opposites’ things in this world is actually universal; it never end. In fact, animosity might be the reason behind why we could have justice and equilibrium.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Women of The Color Purple Essay -- essays research papers

In the novel, The Color Purple, there are three main characters who demonstrate meaningful traits of women. Celie, the main character, is the most important of the three. She is influenced by other characters in the novel and is inspired to let herself seek their virtues. Celie's two friends, Shug and Sofia, are both strong women who teach Celie how to achieve the happiness she desires.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sofia is a woman with authority in her life. Her life has been a constant struggle and can no longer endure conflict. She is strong physically and that gives her confidence in herself. The only opinion of any value to her is her own. Sofia is very upset with Celie when she tells Harpo to beat her and she reveals to Celie details of her painful past. 'All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my brothers. I had to fight my cousins and my uncles. But I never thought I'd have to fight in my own house. I loves Harpo. God knows I do. But I'll kill him dead before I let him beat me.'; (42). Sofia can no longer tolerate this kind of abuse and she thought that when she married Harpo she had finally escaped it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Later Celie admits that she told Harpo to beat her because she is jealous of Sofia. Celie is jealous because Sofia can fight back and she knows she can't. Sofia tells Celie how she feels sorry for her because Celie reminds her of her mother and how she never could stand up against her father. Just seeing Sofi...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Amiri Baraka- Black Arts Movement

The Black Arts Movement Experience The spirit of the 1960s’ Black Arts Movement is captured in Amiri Baraka’s â€Å"AM/Trak,† which addresses the theory of the underlying relationship between art and culture. This simple theory of how culture works and how art reflects and influences the culture that produces it was the whole purpose of the literary movement led by Baraka. In order for one to understand their own experiences, they must acknowledge what factors have influenced how they have shaped their lives.By doing so, they will self-consciously discover and create themselves. The basis of Baraka’s poem, â€Å"AM/Trak† illustrates the defining concept of the Black Arts Movement; the notion of creating identity influenced by experiencing racial and social alienation. The development of a modernized black culture is continually drawn to question because there are many outliers that can influence the basic fundamentals of experience. â€Å"What make s experience such an important concept for Baraka is how it frames the relation between the individual and the collective†(Punday 782).The Black Arts Movement was a period of an assembled reaction against several things including the Korean War, capitalism, and the assassination of Malcom X. Although Baraka incorporates these historical events into â€Å"AM/Trak†, the history of the Beats is approached more by expressing an individual’s reaction, rather than a single technical change or influence of history on society. The appreciation of the degree of exposure from an artist or individual models how the Beats linked the identity of black culture to specific trials and tribulations.A desirable relationship between culture and society is a focalized theme in African American literature, but has been obliterated by the constant severance between historical transitions and the lack of ethical alertness (Quayson 1). Isolation of the African American population from w hite America has been influenced by harsh racism and inequality for several centuries. Although the discrimination thrived for thousands of years, the collective attitude towards the relations of the past began to deviate into a different outlook in the 1960s.The black community began to celebrate an emphasized change when exercising their self-proclaimed freedom of personal expression to improve social and economic conditions of the African American community (Yost 2). In order to establish a distinct black identity against the social reality of separation, they incorporated music, literature, and other forms of art as a way of advocating their presence not only in the United States, but the world.Baraka captures the true meaning of the new scholarly awakening with the influence of the Beat-generation by describing John Coltrane in â€Å"AM/Trak†, in which he uses a distinct style of writing to portray not only the life of the artist, but specific annotations of his music. T he musical embodiment of his work prevails that he was undoubtedly a major contributor to the spirit of the 1960s’. By analyzing Coltrane’s passion and transformation during this decade with extreme expression and struggle against racism, â€Å"AM/Trak† is brought to life: Trane was the spirit of the 60’sHe was Malcom X in New Super Bop Fire Bahhhhhh Wheeeeeee . . . Black Art!!! (152-155). The poem is a clear representation of not only the musical development of John Coltrane’s career and repressed life, but also the importance of how African-American musical expression extrapolates the expectations and contributions of individuals under the pressure of alienation (Quayson 3). According to literary critic, Henry Lacey, Baraka uses imagery to encompass the variety of ways the poem portrays the inspiring musician to be the â€Å"interpreter of the Black experience† through his music (Lacey 14).The different stages of achievements, hardships, a nd responses during Coltrane’s life are a direct narrative of the same ones produced throughout the history of the Black American life. There is an undeniable similarity of technical elements displayed in Amiri Baraka’s writing that support the same individualist revolution. One painful aspect of the African American experience begins with the lack of consciousness influenced by authority and pressure. Baraka begins the second section of the poem by describing the early experiences of Coltrane’s career in a very degrading fashion.The mood of the poem immediately digresses when Baraka mentions the names of alto saxophonist, Johnny Hodges, John Burks Gillespie, and Eddie Vinson and Blues vocalist, Big Maybelle (Lacey 15). Amiri even incorporates an allusion from Langston Hughes poem â€Å"Jazzonia,† in which he writes †Trees in the shining night forest† (Lacey 16). The tree is used as a direct reference to the lack of originality Coltrane embodi es while he works with the Joe Webb Blues Band, followed by Miles Davis.As the poem continues, the depression of the main character develops into a substance addiction and even an abusive relationship with a fellow musician, Davis. In fact, Amiri uses the word â€Å"honk† to symbolize the repetition of his continued unimportance at performances and as cry for help in the only way he knew how to; musical expressionism. It was not until Coltrane could accept his past and everything he had learned, that he could regain full consciousness of his true identity and potential future as a great musician.Similarly, the Black Arts Movement began in spite of depression and the constant repetition of haunting racism. More specifically, the death of civil rights activist, Malcom X, hindered Amiri Baraka’s determination to reform the presence of the African American culture in the United States. Consequently, the African American culture endured a period of recovery, as did Coltrane . Coltrane quest to continue searching for his identity as a musician began again by joining Thelonious Sphere Monk, co-founder of bebop, in part four of â€Å"AM/Trak† (Lacey 18).Baraka’s disjunctive mood swings represent how Coltrane conveys his emotions with Monk’s unique style of expressionism and unexpected musical transitions to understand music on a deeper level. Which then leads to the entire Be-bop movement. Coltrane uses this time as a period of regaining consciousness of the experiences that have shaped him. There was nothing left to do but be where Monk cd find him that crazy mother fucker duh duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh duh duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh duh duh-duh duh-duh duh duh duh uh Duuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh (71-80). At first glance, the lines representing Monk’s compositions differ from any syntax or vocabulary used in the previous allusions. Baraka uses the distinct sounds of Monk’s work in a disjunctive manner that can only be approach ed if read aloud. When read aloud, the simple word transforms into a series of playful melodies. â€Å"Trane stood and dug / Crazy monk’s shit,† provides substantial evidence that the short time spent with Monk, Shadow Wilson, and Wilbur Ware had a lasting impact on John Coltrane’s career.In fact, it also suggests the sources essential to his success in music were also responsible for shaping his identity despite past alienation and struggle. Similarly to many African Americans during the Blacks Art Movement, Coltrane was allowed to completely expose himself. â€Å"This was Coltrane’s College. A Ph motherfuckin d / Of Master T Sphere† (100,104). As Amiri Baraka wrote the poem, he also established symbolism that the reader may relate to exemplify Coltrane’s efforts to battle several obstacles.Accordingly, in American society graduating college and especially receiving your PhD is one of the highest accomplishments recognized in our country. U tilizing this metaphor near the end of section four not only summarizes his success, but also leads the reader to question, ‘What’s Next? ’ because of the lengthy section that follows. â€Å"AM/Trak† undergoes another mood change as section five introduces the destructive forces of class struggle and maintaining true identity after being exploited by the public.Although the poem portrays the hardship of life of a musician and inspiration leader, Lacey refers to Coltrane as the â€Å"prophetic voice of his age† (Lacey 18) or as described in the poetry â€Å"A man/ black blower of the now† (121-122). However, Baraka does not immediately persuade the reader to believe that Coltrane has collectively reshaped the Be-bop movement and the black cultural identity; he forces them to establish an answer themselves based on their individual experience after reading the poem.Based on the dynamics of writing style portrayed in the poetry, Coltrane influen ces future musical generations to come with the creative features within that clearly influenced the Black Arts Movement within the text, the validity of the following quote by literary critic, Joyce A. Joyce, â€Å"An understanding of Negro expression cannot be arrived at without a constant reference to the environment which cradles it,† can be useful in making a final decision as the reader. Amiri Baraka continues the poem by concentrating the rest of the text on his own impression of Coltrane’s influence on the Blacks Art Movement, musicians, and society.He precisely acknowledges the relationship between the collective and individual response to the end of the revolution of identity and creation of the reputable quartet: â€Å"Jimmy Garrison, bass, McCoy Tyner, piano, Captain Marvel Elvin / on drums, the number itself-the precise saying / all if it in it afire aflame talking saying being doing meaning (169-171). The quartet inspired the African American community t o become believers and to preserve their true identities despite social alienation and harsh racism.If the band expressed their opinions and identity freely, then the entire black culture should have possessed the same rights without limitation as well. Fortunately, at the end of the poem, the Black Arts Movement was reflected as the turning point in accepting cultural identity; a representation of their contributions that shaped the historical experience. But did the Black Arts Movement really change â€Å"black† and â€Å"white† cultures and criticism? Literary critic, Joyce A. Joyce disagrees with the idea that white America has changed its attitude toward the African American population.Although there has been a significant transformation in the merger of black literature and white literature in our society through out the past century, African Americans are usually forced to adopt the mainstream values and lifestyles of those of in the modern American society. Joy ce disassociates Black literary criticism with mainstream analyses because African Americans have a unique duty to express their own ideas without a predetermined and uniformed consciousness based on culture or even color (Joyce 339-341).The poet’s opinions remained somewhat vague until the narration of the poem alters from Trane to Amiri Baraka, the poet himself. His vulnerability exposes his current condition and state of mind when recollecting his wearisome life compared to Trane’s portrayed personal anecdote expressed in his music: ( I lay in solitary confinement, July ‘67 Tanks rolling thru Newark and whistled all I knew of Trane my knowledge heartbeat and he was dead They saidWhen Baraka was confined in prison for the Newark riots of 1967, Lacey notes that â€Å"the poet attributes his survival to the memory of Coltrane’s music† (Lacey 19). As the poem concludes, Baraka decides to choose life over death because he is influenced by character of his own work of art and the actual inspirational of the power of his music. Most scholars would agree with Gayle, Jr. claim that, â€Å"The question for the black critic today is not how beautiful is a melody, a play, a poem, or a novel, but how much more beautiful has the poem, melody, play, or novel made the life of a single black man?How far has the work gone in transforming an American Negro into an African-American or black man? † (Joyce 340). This is perhaps an attempt to illustrate the fact that both the artist lives are surrounded by changes revolved around freedom of expression through art and alienated culture. Without enduring these experiences, good or bad, the identity of an individual cannot be defined, nor the basis of an individualistic black culture. Work Cited Lacey, Henry C. â€Å"Baraka's â€Å"AM/Trak† Everybody’s Coltrane Poem. Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review. 1. 1-2 (1986): 12-21. Print. Joyce, Joyce A. â€Å"The Black Canon: Re constructing Black American Literary Criticism. † New Literary History. 18. 2 (1987): 339-341. Print. Punday, Daniel. â€Å"The Black Arts Movement and the Geneaology of Multimedia. † New Literary History. 37. 4 (2006): 777-794. Web. 7 Dec. 2011. Quayson, Ato. â€Å"Self-Writing and Existential Alienation in African Literature. † Research in African Literatures. 42. 2 (2011): 30-45. Web. 1 Dec. 2011.