John Steinbeck of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck called his novel about migratory farmhands during The Great Depression. The title Of Mice and Men is Steinbeck alluding to Robert Burns’ poem â€Å"To a Mouse â€Å". Burn states â€Å"the best laid plains of mice and mean oft go awry â€Å". Therefore there are many reasons why this quote can relate to the relationship of George and Lennie and also others of this book. Here are my three main reasons why this quote is the main idea of the story and why Steinbeck’s message is true about the real world. First of all, the simplest reason is that George and Lennie’s best laid plans went awry. Lennie and George want to work on the ranch in the hopes of making enough money to buy their own farm, where they can be independent and in charge of their own destiny and rabbits. With the certainty of payment, it seems the pair will get what they’ve hoped for all along. While this is something we can call the plan stage, it has a bit of a twist, hinted at by the way George tells Lennie and us as the reader of their dream. The story of the little farm, with the rabbits and vegetable patch and so on, is less like a plan and more like a fairy tale. The dream-like unreal quality of their dream doesn’t assure well for the hope that it will ever come true. Lennie and George learn that Candy would like to live on the farm, too; he can even offer three hundred dollars toward its purchase which is his life support money. Everyone is very excited at the possibility of the dream actually coming true. With the entrance of Candy’s money into the story, it seems like the dream could come true after all. Candy has three hundred dollars to contribute, and George even knows the couple he’d buy the land from. As Lennie smiles to himself about the possibility of the ranch, Curley is on the prowl for his wife and a fight. He thinks Lennie is laughing at him or wants to fight him and begins to punch the big guy. Lennie is horrified and does nothing until George urges him to fight back. Lennie promptly reduces Curley to a crying little man with a mangled hand. Slim makes sure Lennie and George are protected from getting in trouble, but it’s clear that working on the ranch will be a lot more complicated from now on. Lennie accidentally kills his own puppy, and then accidentally kills Curley’s wife. If Curley was waiting for Lennie to slip-up, he needs to wait no longer. Though Lennie doesn’t at all mean to kill Curley’s wife, this act pretty much decides his fate. Any promise of safety or happiness he had on the dream farm is over. Now we’re certain Lennie will have to pay for what he’s done, one way or another. George realizes that if Lennie is to go with any dignity or comfort, it’s up to George to take his friend out himself. Although this means the literal destruction of Lennie, in killing his friend, George gives Lennie the happiest ending he could have. George has to face the sarcastic loneliness of the open road. George describes to Candy the life he’ll have without Lennie: it’s a future made of whorehouses and pool halls – places where lonely men stay lonely. Worse than just losing a friend by accident, George’s act seems to kill any last hope that the loneliness of the open road could ever be beaten. Without Lennie, George has nothing that makes him different from the other sad wanderers. He’s lost his best friend, and along with losing Lennie, George has also lost his dreams. The plan become very awry obviously. Secondly, Steinbeck's characters are often powerless, due to intellectual, economic, and social circumstances. Lennie possesses the greatest physical strength of any character, which therefore establishes a sense of respect as he is employed as a ranch hand. However, his intellectual handicap undercuts this and results in his powerlessness. Economic powerlessness is established as many of the ranch hands are victims of the Great Depression. As George, Candy and Crooks are positive, action- oriented characters, they wish to purchase a homestead, but because of the Depression, they are unable to generate enough money. Lennie is the only one who is basically unable to take care of him, but the other characters would do this in the improved circumstances they seek. Since they can not do so, the real danger of Lennie's mental handicap comes to the fore. Lastly, Most of all Steinbeck clearly believes The American Dream cannot always be considered as happiness, love, peace, etc. This is his message to the true real world. In my opinion Steinbeck is saying that sometimes the things you plan don’t succeed and what you think is truly your life longing it turns out to be your worst nightmare or not the real destiny of your life. It’s the thinking man, who can look backwards and forwards, that suffers the most from the awful things he’s done. The last verse is a nice way to think of Lennie and George’s respective fate. Whatever happens to Lennie is done, but George is left to spend the rest of his future thinking of his past deeds. OF Mice and Men Essay By:

Fdi in retail in india

As India has liberalized its single brand retail industry to permit 100 percent foreign investment, we take a look at the regulatory issues and legal structures pertinent to establishing operations In this new dynamic market. That India should be well on the radar for foreign retailers was recently supported by A. T. Kearney, whose 2011 Global Retail Development Index ranks the nation as fourth globally. India's retail industry is estimated to be worth approximately USS411. 8 billion and is still growing, expected to reach USS804. 06 billion in 2015. As part of the economic liberalization process set in place by the Industrial Policy of 1 991 , the Indian government has opened the retail sector to FDI slowly through a series of steps: The Indian government removed the 51 percent cap on FDI into single-brand retail outlets in December 2011, and opened the market fully to foreign investors by permitting 100 percent foreign investment In this area.It has also made some, albeit limited, progress In allowing multi-brand retalllng, which has so far been prohibited In India. At present, this Is restricted to 49 percent foreign equity partlclpatlon. The specter of large supermarket brands displacing traditional Indian mom-and-pop stores is a hot political issue in India, and the progress and development of the newly liberalized single-brand retail industry will be watched with some keen eyes as concerns further possible liberalization in the multi-brand sector.In this article, we discuss the policy developments for FDI in these two retail categories, with a focus on the details of the multi-brand retail FDI discussion paper and related policy developments. FDI In â€Å"single-brand† retail While the precise meaning of single-brand retail has not been clearly defined In any Indian government circular or notification, single-brand retail generally refers to the selling of goods under a single brand name. Up to 100 percent FDI is permissible in single-brand retail, subject to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) sanctions and conditions mentioned in Press Note 3[8].These conditions stipulate that: Only single-brand products are sold (i. e. sale of multi-brand goods is not allowed, even if produced by the same manufacturer) Products are sold under the same brand Internationally Single-brand products Include only those Identified during manufacturing Any dditional product categories to be sold under single-brand retail must first receive additional government approval FDI In slngle-orana retall Implles tnat a retall store wltn Torelgn Investment can only sell one brand.For example, if Adidas were to obtain permission to retail its flagship brand in India, those retail outlets could only sell products under the Adidas brand. For Adidas to sell products under the Reebok brand, which it owns, separate government permission is required and (if permission is granted) Reebok products must then be sold in separate retail outlets. FDI in †Å"multi-brand† retail While the government of India has also not clearly defined the term â€Å"multi-brand retail,† FDI in multi-brand retail generally refers to selling multiple brands under one roof.Currently, this sector is limited to a maximum of 49 percent foreign equity participation. In July 2010, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the Ministry of Commerce circulated a discussion paper on allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. The Committee of Secretaries, led by Cabinet Secretary Alit Seth, recommended opening the retail sector for FDI with a 51 percent cap on FDI, inimum investment of IJS$IOO million and a mandatory 50 percent capital reinvestment into backend operations.Notably, the paper does not put forward any upper limit on FDI in multi-brand retail. Immediately following the release of this discussion paper, the shares of a number of retail companies in India grew; domestic retail giant, Pantaloon Retail gained 7 percent on the sam e day, while Shoppers Stop, an Indian department store chain and emerging retailer, gained 2. 9 percent. The long-awaited scheme has been sent to the Cabinet for approval, but no decision has yet been made.There appears to be a broad consensus within the Committee of Secretaries that a 51 percent cap on FDI in multi-brand retail is acceptable. Meanwhile the Department of Consumer Affairs has supported the case for a 49 percent cap and the Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry has said the government should limit FDI in multi-brand retail to 18 percent. In terms of location, the proposed scheme allows investment in towns with populations of at least 10 lakh (1 million), while retailers with large space requirements may also be allowed to open shop within a 10 kilometer radius of such cities.Our view is that while we do expect further liberalization towards foreign investment in the multi-brand sector, this is highly unlikely to be gazetted until after the next elections, due to be co mpleted towards the end of 2012. Any additional liberalization of this market will therefore depend on the political make-up of the next government. Government â€Å"safety valves† on FDI There is concern about the competition presented to domestic competitors and the monopollzatlon 0T tne oomestlc market Dy large Internatlonal retall glan ts.Ine Inalan government feels that FDI in multi-brand retailing must be dealt with cautiously, iven the large potential scale and social impact. As such, the government is considering safety valves for calibrating FDI in the sector. For example: A stipulated percentage of FDI in the sector could be required to be spent on building back-end infrastructure, logistics or agro-processing units in order to ensure that the foreign investors make a genuine contribution to the development of infrastructure and logistics.At least 50 percent of the Jobs in the retail outlet could be reserved for rural youth and a certain amount of farm produce could be required to be procured from poor farmers. A minimum percentage of manufactured products could be required to be sourced from the SME sector in India. To ensure that the public distribution system and the Indian food security system, is not weakened, the government may reserve the right to procure a certain amount of food grains.To protect the interest of small retailers, an exclusive regulatory framework to ensure that the retailing giants do not resort to predatory pricing or acquire monopolistic tendencies. Benefits of FDI in multi-brand retail Soaring inflation is one of the driving motives behind this move towards multi-brand etail. Allowing international retailers such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour, which have already set up wholesale operations in the country, to set up multi-brand retails stores will assist in keeping food and commodity prices under control.Moreover, industry experts feel allowing FDI will cut waste, as big players will build backend infrastructure. FDI in m ulti-brand retail would also help narrow the current account deficit. Additional benefits include moving away from an industry focus on intermediaries and Job creation. Moving away from intermediary-only benefits There is broad agreement on the need to improve efficiencies in the household trade of consumer goods. Competent management practices and economies of scale, joined with the acceptance of global best practices and modern technology, could immensely recover systemic competence.Like their foreign counterparts, Indian customers are entitled to receive quality products, produced, processed and handled under a hygienic environment through professionally-managed outlets. Speculative apprehensions that small retailers will be adversely affected are not reason enough to deny millions of consumers access to roducts that meet global standards. Furthermore, todays intermediaries amid producers and customers add no value to tne products, aaalng nugely to Tlnal costs Instead.By tne time products Tilter tnrougn various intermediaries and into the marketplace, they lose freshness and quality, and often go to waste. However, intermediaries garner huge profits by distributing these losses between producers and customers by buying products at low prices from producers, but selling at extremely marked-up prices to consumers. In an unbalanced system that incorporates multiple intermediaries simply for logistics, nly intermediaries benefit.With organized retail, every intermediate step – procurement, processing, transport and delivery – adds value to the product. This happens because it uses international best practices and modern technology, ensuring maximum efficiency and minimum waste. Organized retail enables on-site processing, scientific handling and quick transport through cold storage chains to the final consumer. Once modern retailers introduce an organized model, other vendors, including small retailers, would mechanically copy this model to improv e efficiencies, boost margins and stay in business.Organized retail would thereby bring more stability to prices, unlike the present system where hoarding and artificial shortages by profiteering intermediaries push up product prices. Job creation Despite predictions from some analysts that millions of Jobs would be lost due to FDI in retail, it may in fact be the other way around. With the entry of branded retailers, the market will increase, creating additional employment in retail and other tertiary sectors. Given their professional approach, organized retailers will allot some quantity of resources towards the training and development of the resources they mploy.This effect of branded retailing can already be seen with the Bharti-Wal-Mart collaboration, which has Joined forces with state governments to open training and development centers in Amritsar, Delhi and Bangalore, preparing local youth for Jobs in retail. Training is entirely free and more than 5,600 local youth have al ready been trained. Retail Jobs don't require higher education or highly specialized abilities. No threat to kiranas (mom-and-pop stores) The Indian retail industry is generally divided into organized and unorganized retailing: Organized retailingOrganized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by licensed retailers, those who have registered for sales tax, income tax, etc. These include corporate-backed hypermarkets and retail chains, and also privately-owned large retail businesses. Unorganized retailing Unorganized retailing refers to the traditional forms of low-cost retailing, for example, local Klrana snops, owner-operated general stores, paan/Dee01 snops, convenlence stores, hand cart and street vendors, etc.The question of whether or not organized and unorganized retailing can peacefully co-exist is a primary concern. While the Indian retail sector is still heavily weighted towards unorganized retailers, which occupy 97 percent of the market, organized retail is g rowing quickly. But with a mere 7 percent of the market, organized retailers are unlikely to drive kiranas (local grocery stores) out of business. Indian retailers simply lack the deep pockets and in-depth field expertise required to be on a par with global models.However, the presence of foreign retailers through Joint ventures and other means could speed up the process of transforming India's retail trade. Considering that small stores offer customers quick doorstep delivery and even credit xtensions – conveniences that no organized retailer in India has so far matched – local, unorganized retailers will likely retain a sizeable market share. The example of China demonstrates clearly that increased FDI in retailing does not necessitate the complete closure of local retailers.China first allowed FDI in retail in 1992, capping it at 26 percent, while India capped FDI in single-brand retail at 26 percent. Only in 2004 did China finally permit 100 percent FDI and local C hinese grocery stores have since grown from 1. 9 million to more than 2. 5 million. Organized etail has Just 20 percent market penetration in China, despite a 20 year lapse since the initial introduction of FDI. According to the proposed state regulations, the minimum FDI would be IJS$IOO million and retail stores would only be allowed in cities with more than one million people.Front-end operations would be allowed only in states that agree to authorize FDI in multi-brand retail. It will also be mandatory for retailers to source at least 30 percent of the value of manufactured goods, barring food products, from small and medium-sized, local enterprises. Such terms will serve as ample safeguards for small retailers. Farmers and small producers will benefit in the long run from better prices for their products and produce, while consumers receive higher quality products at lower prices, along with better service.The advantages outweigh the disadvantages of allowing unrestrained FDI i n the retail sector, as successful experiments in countries like Thailand and China demonstrate. In both countries, the issue of allowing FDI in the retail sector was first met with incessant protests, but allowing such FDI led to GDP growth and a rise in the level of employment. Moreover, in the fierce battle between the advocates and opponents of unrestrained FDI flows in the Indian retail sector, the impact of the consumer on the outcome of these policy changes has been largely disregarded.Consumers will ultimately respond to the incentives of convenience, price, variety and service. Thus, the Interests 0T tnose In tne unorganlzea retall sector will not De gravely unaermlnea; rather, the choice to visit a mega shopping complex or a small retailer/sab]imandi is purely left to the consumer, whose tastes are complex and constantly changing.

In reality Britain is not a meritocracy, this is due to discrimination and labelling. It is a capitalist economy

In reality Britain is not a meritocracy, this is due to discrimination and labelling. It is a capitalist economy. The type of stratification system used in Britain is the Class System, which divides society into a hierarchy of unequal social groups based on their occupation this defines whether they are working-class or middle-class. However, the social divisions are not clearly separated. The class system is an open society, social mobility is possible across the social hierarchy on the basis of personal achievement, from which you can gain achieved status. However, there are obstacles to social mobility including prejudice, labelling, discrimination, racism and sexism. Lack of Educational achievement can also be an obstacle. Conjugal roles are the roles played by a male and a female in a marriage or cohabiting relationship. The inequalities in social class between the working-class and middle-class exist in the conjugal roles played in the family. Traditionally the roles played by the male and female were very different. For example the male did the DIY and the ‘manly' jobs and the female took care of the more domestic jobs like housework and looking after the children. They had segregated conjugal roles. These roles are the gender stereotype of what is expected of us even today. However, we have seen a shift from segregated conjugal roles to joint conjugal roles where the male and female do similar tasks. This idea of joint conjugal roles is called ‘The Symmetrical Family' (Young and Willmott). Statistics have shown that more men are choosing to become ‘house-husbands', the ‘New Man'. The reversal of the traditional roles normally occurs where the women earn more than the man, and it is financially practical to swap roles. The importance of female partners earnings gives them more equality to men as they agree to the housework and are then encouraged with the housework. This shift has been seen mainly amongst middle-class couples, other reasons for this are that middle-class men have been encouraged to stay at home by shorter working hours and improvements in living standards and material comforts in the home because they can afford them. Working-class suffer from material deprivation and cannot afford these material comforts. Young and Willmott (1975) argued modern home-centred families have increasingly more joint conjugal roles. More geographical mobility also meant a decline of the traditional extended family network so there is no longer the pressure of the extended family on the woman to act, as a housewife and stay at home like tradition. Those couples who moved to new areas because of work and re-housing during industrialisation tend to have joint conjugal roles and have loose-knit social networks. Each male and female are less likely to have their own friends and relatives outside the family. They tend to rely on each other more for support, leisure and spend more time together and share domestic responsibilities. Those couples who have close-knit social networks (traditional working-class) tend to have segregated conjugal roles. Each partner has their own network of friend and relatives. The man and woman tend to be less socially dependant on each other than middle-class symmetrical families. Our primary agency of socialisation is our family. Working-class parents are continually teaching their sons and daughter differently to each other, teaching the gender stereotype on conjugal roles through gender role socialisation, so that inequality between men and women continues to exist through future generations. It could be argued, the middle-class have different values which mean they have different attitudes towards who does what domestic tasks. However, the ‘New' working-class (argued by Goldthorpe et al) arguably have become more like the middle-class due to embourgeoisement (Marxist theory devised by Karl Marx) and this includes their attitudes towards conjugal roles. However, evidence still shows that the majority of women still perform the domestic tasks around the home (the gender stereotype), even though they have paid jobs outside the home. The number of hour's women spend on housework is calculated at around 50-60 hours per week compared to men who do an average of 1.6 hours (newspaper article, sociology review, ‘Back to the Future' by Madeline Leonard). Feminists believe that this is a dual burden and there is a role conflict for women. Anne Oakley believes this, she is a feminist she also believes that we live in a patriarchal society. Feminists say that men may appear to be the ‘New Man', however they usually perform the more enjoyable side of the domestic work, like playing with the children, instead of the more routine jobs like cooking and cleaning which are performed mainly by the women.

Reflective cycle Essay

I will reflect on an incident that occurred during my shift to develop positive attitude towards nursing informatics. In this reflection, I am going to use Gibbs (1988) Reflective cycle. This model is a recognized framework for my reflection. Gibbs (1988) consist of six stages to complete one cycle which is able to improve my nursing informatics and learning from the experience for better practice in future. The cycle starts with description of the situation, analysis of the feelings, evaluation of experience, analysis to make sense of experience, and conclusion of what else I could have done and also action plan to prepare if the situation arose again. However, Siviter (2004) explains that reflection is about gaining self confidence ,identify when to improve, learning from own mistakes and behavior, looking at other people perspectives, being self aware and improving the future by learning from the past. In my context with the patients, it is important that the nurse incorporates nursing informatics to improve health care delivery. However Hebda and Czar (2009) defines nursing informatics as the use of information and computer technology to support all aspects of nursing practice, including direct delivery of care ,administration, education and research. Nursing informatics involves the use of computer based information system which according to Stair and Reynolds (2008,pg 4) is defined as a set of interrelated components that collect ,manipulate, store and disseminate data and information and provide a feedback mechanism to meet an objective. Description I had just reported from the four months maternity leave and during the shift changeover, I was informed by my colleagues of the new method of requesting for investigations online and that I was to see the team leader to take me through the process. I heard my colleagues discuss a lot on how the new system was consuming their time and since it had been made a hospital policy they had no choice than to adhere to it. This did not sound interesting to me as I did not even have computer literacy and wondered why the institution had changed the system. I shied off from seeking help from my team leader since I did not want to be embarrassed for not being a computer literate. I decided that I am going to use the old method and when I am asked,I will defend myself and say that I did not know about it. Unfortunately, the team leader did not realize that I had just reported from long leave and needed updates or maybe she waited for me to take an initiative to seek for updates from her as it always happens when one comes back from long leave which did not happen. During the doctor’s rounds, one of my patients had some request for investigations and because the phlebotomy rounds had already taken place, one of the doctors obtained the blood from the patient and left for me to charge and send it to the laboratory. I decided to give the health care assistant the specimen to take to the laboratory hoping that the laboratory technicians would charge it as they had always done before the introduction of the new system. During the exit round, the doctor inquired on the report and when I called the lab they said that I was supposed to check from the computer. Since I did not have any computer literacy, I pretended that I was checking but the doctor got impatient and decided to check by himself. On checking, the doctor found that the specimen was never charged and so could not access the report. On calling the laboratory technician, it was reported to the doctor that the specimen was discarded because it was assumed to be a reject since they had not found the details online. The doctor got so upset with me and insisted that I should explain to the patient what happened so that he could obtain more specimen. I got so confused because I didn’t have the exact words to tell to the patient. I then gathered courage and told the patient that the specimen obtained earlier was not enough for the investigations requested and that we needed to obtain more specimen.at first, the patient could not understand but after a second thought, she gave the consent and the specimen was obtained. This time round the doctor lost trust in me and decided to charge by himself and gave a health care assistant to take the specimen to the laboratory. Feelings On reflection of the incident, I felt so embarrassed because such things are not supposed to happen to a senior nurse who is supposed to be giving guidance to the junior nurses. I also felt irresponsible for not seeking help from my colleques on charging the patient’s specimen and that I had not taken the initiative to see the team leader to give me the updates that occurred while I was away. I felt empathetic for the patient and blamed myself for not taking the proper action. I also felt at my level I needed to have computer literacy because that is what hindered me from seeking help. The American Nurses Association (2007) states that the experienced nurse builds up on the competencies required for practitioners using basic computer skills to information regarding the patient and has to be proficient in her/his area of specialization. The doctors, and other nurses felt upset for my action. Evaluation Good points. After the incident, it made me think of how I would have handled the situation and how important computer & information literacy is to me and other healthcare practitioners. Selvasekaran (2008) defines computer literate health care provider as that who has basic understanding of the computer hardware, common types of software and different ways in which software application can be used in patient care environment. Association of college and research libraries (2002) defines information literacy as the ability to recognize when information is needed as well as the skills to find, evaluate and use needed information effectively. Bad points. It was a shame that my negligence of seeking information led to the waste of patient’s specimen leading to waste of time in obtaining the results. It also caused more pain to the patient since the patient needed to be pricked again and this added extra stressors to the patient who was already stressed by her illness. The other bad point is that the laboratory technician discarded patient’s specimen instead of calling the ward for it to be charged. Analysis I wondered why the institution had changed from the old system of requesting for investigations, I then remembered that earlier I had read from a book on the importance/benefits of nursing informatics in a healthcare setup which included: †¢Improved access to information. †¢Error reduction & improved communication. †¢Decreased redundancy on data entry. †¢Convenience. †¢Decreased time spent in medication administration & documentation †¢Increased time for client care †¢Facilitation of data collection for research †¢Improved record security †¢Improved quality of care and patient satisfaction (Hebda and Czar 2009 pg 37). I then realized that the old method did not have the above qualities and so the institution opted for the new system. In this case there was ignorance of seeking information due to lack of computer and information literacy. Maybe I would have given the sample to my colleagues who were well informed to charge. I also could have called the laboratory technician and inform that the specimen had not been charged. It is good that I finally learnt from my my mistake and that the second sample drawn was charged and results acquired. However, having no computer literacy & information literacy does not make my action acceptable. Conclusion. My reflection of this event explores how important nursing informatics is in a healthcare set up and that all the healthcare providers should have knowledge on nursing informatics. The whole issue was embarrassing and I felt that instead of just sending the specimen and assuming that the lab technicians will charge, I would have given it to my colleagues to charge or inform the laboratory technician that I was not able to charge the specimen & hence helping them to take an appropriate decision instead of discarding it. Also instead of shying off from seeking the information on the new system from the team leader, I would have gained a little knowledge from my colleagues on how to operate the computer and then boldly proceed to the team leader for more information. This showed that I was not wise enough. According to American Nurses Association (2007) wisdom occurs when knowledge is used appropriately to manage and solve problems. Results from understanding and requires human effort. However, If I had availed myself for the information, this mess would not have happened. Action plan. In order to prevent the incident from happening again, it is important that when I come back from a long leave, I should take the initiative to seek for updates from my colleagues and also the team leader taking in account the sensitive issues like this one.I should also seek help from my colleagues of things that am not certain of so as to prevent unpleasant incidences from happening. The action I took after the incidence was to write an incident form so that others could learn from my mistake. I also sought the information on online investigation request from my colleagues and team leader and also enrolled in computer classes so that I could have enough knowledge on computer literacy since the information I got from my colleagues and team leader was so particular and only concerned requesting of investigations and obtaining reports.i also called laboratory technicians and informed them to always call the ward before discarding patients specimens. I have learnt that there can be many positive learning opportunities from the mistakes we make. Reflection can sometimes show your shortcomings and this can be an excuse not to reflect, but by taking negative incidences positively you can turn around & change yourself for the better. I am now computer and information literate. References: American Nurses Association. (2007). Scope and standards of nursing informatics practice.Washington: American Nurses. Association of College and Research Libraries. (2002). Information literacy competencestandards for higher education. Retrieved in November 18, 2002, fromhttp://www.ala.org/acrl/ilintro.html#ildef. Gibbs (1998). Learning by doing. A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further educatingunit. Oxford: Oxford polytechnic. Hebda, T., Czar, P. (2009). Handbook on informatics for nurses and healthcare professionals.(4th ed.) . Pearson: New Jersey. Selvasekaran, J. (2008). Essentials of computer for nurses. (2nd ed.). Mumbai: Jaypee brothers. Siviter, B. (2004). The student nurse handbook. Philadelphia: Baillere Tindall. Stair, R., Reynolds. (2008). Principles of information systems. (8th ed.).Boston: Thompsoncourse technology.

Business Ethics Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Ethics Case Study - Essay Example Business ethics can be varied for different businesses. But it is important for a business to include good ethics. Further, the concerns of business ethics also encompass issues related to the ‘social responsibility’ of business. In this context, ethical theories and principles are relevant in terms of providing adequate insights to the managers on important matters of protecting the overall corporate environment. Ethical theories emphasize the primary objective of reaching ethically correct business decisions. In order to direct the organization to success and gain more competitive advantages, each ethical theory follows a common set of goals known as ethical principles. There are various ethical frameworks used in business that are discussed briefly in the following section. The requirement of an ethical framework is considered relevant for organizations since they are now a significant part of the society and culture. With the ongoing globalization movement in the corporate world, the concept of a multi-cultural workplace is a familiar thing for most organizations. As people from various cultures, societies, communities and working backgrounds assemble under one roof, the cases of unethical conducts, as well as other disapproved performances, are being reported on a more frequent level. The requirement of ethical frameworks is highly demanded in order to make important decisions on determining what is right and what is wrong, what is ethically acceptable or unacceptable for the employees as well as the organization. In other words, an ethical framework should be constituted on the basis of certain ethical values such as justice, responsibility, reasonableness, respect, and safety of workers. The ethical framework is effective in constructing a healthy and cooperative organizational culture.

The Archetype of women portray in movies throught the decades Movie Review

The Archetype of women portray in movies throught the decades - Movie Review Example The changes in the damsel in distress archetype can be easily traced through the various versions of the Cinderella story as presented by what would become Paramount Pictures but in 1914 was the Famous Players Film Company, that produced by Walt Disney in 1950 and the more modern version of â€Å"Ever After† starring Drew Barrymore. By comparing and contrasting key elements of each story, a picture begins to emerge of the differing ideologies of each time period as well as differences regarding intended audience. In the earliest film, Cinderella is seen to be living with her stepmother and two older step-sisters without any true mention of the missing natural parents. Following the traditional story, Cinderella spends her days cleaning up after her vain and spoiled sisters and step-mother and her evenings sitting in with the cinders to keep warm. She earns the fairy godmother’s help with her kindness to an old, crippled woman who shows up at her door in spite of the cru el treatment the woman gets from the step-mother and step-sisters. A tangential concern here is how this expectation for young women to be kind to the destitute compares with Snow White’s treatment (another Damsel in Distress archetypal figure) in which the young woman is poisoned for her pains. Cinderella, though, earns a chance to meet the prince while she is out gathering wood for the fire and the two fall in love immediately. The story sticks pretty close to the storyline that would be made popular by Walt Disney 40 years later with the exception that Cinderella must also complete tasks given her by the godmother before she can be dressed for the ball. These are easy tasks, including gathering the pumpkin, the mice and the rats to serve respectively as coach, horses and servants, but they are something Cinderella actually has to go and accomplish before she can receive the godmother’s gift. In keeping with the times, it was not unusual for people to find animals su ch as mice and rats living in close proximity to their homes, and it is not surprising that inside the house is where Cinderella finds and captures the mice and the rats she will need. Cinderella is a true working girl, too, not squeamish about dealing with these animals and accustomed to the hard labor of a housemaid in an age without automatic machines available to make the work easier. This is a much harder story than that told by Walt Disney in 1950. Here the step-sisters have become as unfortunate in appearance as they are in spirit. They are both obviously mean and spiteful even to each other. Cinderella’s role here is the same, to struggle as housemaid under these sisters and an even more demanding step-mother, but the house is much grander and Cinderella’s accommodations are more comfortable although still poor. While she is still expected to do all of the work, her animated clothes don’t look nearly as poor as that of her earlier live-action counterpart and the animals that live in her house are friends rather than vermin. This is made clear as the birds, dog, horse and mice all exist apparently to serve her desires because they are all, to some degree, in love with her as well. In keeping with the mood of the times in which new inventions were being made that made women’s housework much less of a chore, Cinderella is rarely seen

Competitive Strategies Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Competitive Strategies - Research Paper Example This paper concentrates on competition between two rival companies, Coca Cola Company and PepsiCo, and the strategies they employ to make sales and increase profits in the soft drink industry. How PepsiCo corporate cultures differ from Coca Cola Company The strategies that the two companies use differ in their method of advertising, search for new markets whether globally or nationally, and uncovering market niche that they can they control easily. Pepsi controls the youth markets for soft drinks in America while Coca Cola concentrates in the others. Coca Cola went global and seized a new market, which Pepsi has been unable to penetrate. These companies also employ the method of cutting costs. Coca Cola uses a lot of money for advertisements compared to Pepsi, which uses relatively a low amount. This helps Pepsi cut costs even though it makes huge profits. These companies also use anti-competitive practices such as exclusive dealing. Pepsi and Coca Cola companies exclusively supply c ertain businesses enterprises with their products and ensure that the rival’s products are not sold (Capparell, 2007). Advertising is crucial as it helps draw attention to a product and enables in the recognition of a company. Coca Cola and Pepsi companies have engaged in many advertisements across the globe in a bid to promote sales of their products (Moses & Vest, 2010). To a certain extent, Coca Cola and Pepsi have produced advertisements with common themes emphasizing on having fun but have continued on different courses over the years (Foster, 2008). Coca Cola leans towards an emotional position of branding while Pepsi maintains an energetic, music-oriented and humorous strategy. Pepsi’s advertisement strategy appeals to a younger audience since they largely use celebrity endorsements thus helping Coca Cola focus on the older generation. Coca Cola’s advertisement strategy ensures that the theme focuses on the global aspect, therefore, attracting a wider arr ay of consumers. Pepsi started its global campaign in 2012, therefore, has not been able to target consumers globally (Emerald Group, 2006). In order to keep pace with each other, both companies have employed different tactics that have seen an increase in sales and profit margin. In order to induce demand for its soft drinks, the Pepsi Company utilizes a pull strategy, employed in its distribution channels. However, this strategy concentrates on the younger generation, which is the main target market for Pepsi. As compared to Coca Cola, Pepsi’ product positioning controls the youth market in terms of demographics. The two companies constantly have to come up with new marketing ideas that help them capture their target markets (Johnson, 2013). How competition has benefited the rival company Due to the intense competition between these companies, innovations have been introduced to give each company an advantage over the other. The two companies have introduced a wide range of new products, which are sold at premium prices. PepsiCo has introduced alternative beverages such as Gatorade and Aquafina, which are sold at high prices. The brands bring high profits to the company due to customer’s brand loyalty that has been built over the years. Coca Cola also introduced numerous alternative beverages brands and they have made profits competing with PepsiCo, as some consumers prefer their products to the other companies (Thompson, 2012). Competition between PepsiCo and Coca

Forms of and Influencing Factors on Informal Entrepreneurship in China Dissertation

Forms of and Influencing Factors on Informal Entrepreneurship in China - Dissertation Example Since the end of Cultural Revolution in China, the informal entrepreneurs occurred before reform and through the 80’s, consisting of very small-scale activities in retail and services such as street vendors. Some of them achieved success beyond their expectations. But for most, business was a means of subsistence. However, with the development of economy in China so far, motivations for many informal entrepreneurs are not only subsistence-related; but also their informal activities are directed at maximizing their business’s profit. Allen (2002) claims that since China officially became a member of the WTO in 2001, and has agreed to undertake additional economic reforms, the market is freer, and the key to the country’s success lies in its fast-growing ‘informal’ sector. Therefore, there has been increasing interest in researching the types of informal entrepreneurship and the factors that have led the people to do it in China. 1.1 What is informal entrepreneurship in China? However, what is the informal entrepreneurship of China? Allen (2002) defines this sector as all firms or individuals not controlled by the government or publicly traded. Informal entrepreneurship is a vast term that includes self-employment, and private enterprises employing the unregistered migrant workers. unlike the formal entrepreneurship that is subject to the regulation and management by the government, and is encouraged, supported and managed by the government (Tsinghua University, 2006). ... What are the main types of informal entrepreneurship in China? 2. Why there are lots of people choosing to do this in China? Both of these questions will be researched by combining the unique contextual conditions of China, as well as the government policies and regulations. for instance, the largest population is one of the most important factors to be concerned as it increases the needs of people to be addressed by the government and encourages people to find alternate means of earning money since the number of jobs is limited.  Additionally, it is very interesting that almost all studying abroad Chinese students have always reflected on the same problem: they are complete strangers to the lifestyle of people in Europe because there are less and less ‘informal stores or street vendors’ in the European countries, especially at night, they miss China so much. Thus, it seems the demand of ‘informal business’ is quite large and sustainable in China since m any businesses are operated 24/7 thus providing the consumers with more flexibility in terms of approaching the informal entrepreneurs. The aim of this research project is to provide a theoretical base within Chinese context and special nation conditions of China in order to help foreign practitioners as well as local entrepreneurs to gain a deeper and more practical insight into Chinese informal entrepreneurship environment. 2.0 Literature Review This section reviews the literature to discuss what numerous authors, scholars and researchers in the past have said about informal entrepreneurship in general and that in China in particular. Topics discussed in this

Concert Reaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Concert Reaction - Essay Example As a music genre, Rock music originated as ‘rock n roll’, and rapidly undergone transition under influences of such genres as Rhythm and Blues as well as Country music. Rock is generally centered on the electric guitar, and the songs encompass a wide range of themes. Note that currently there are numerous sub-categories of rock music, examples of which include Pop rock, Blues rock, Jazz rock, Progressive rock-typical of Kansas, to name but a few. According to the artist, Kerry Livgren, this song had no specific religious aim during its composure, even though it carries a religious undertone. The artists though, became an evangelical Christian in 1980, and this partly explains why he chose the carry on title, which again depicted him as the wayward son. The introduction of this song is marked by a cappella vocals that makes it a favorite song for Rock DJs who prefer talking less when the music is playing. The song as a sweet melody and harmonious tone that not only encourages an individual, but also sets one in the mood to feel light at heart. It is characterized with between medium to high resonance, with good use of symphonic influences. Additionally, the song portrays the artist as having high degree of instrumental skill, and explores simple time signature of 12/8 in the opening riff that repeats every three bars. What I generally found amazing in this song is the ability of the artists to incorporate meaningful message into this song. The lyrics are quite reflective, self-searching and seem to attempt to explore some elements of spiritual questions worth thinking over. This is another song by the Kansas band that was written by Kerry Livgren. Apparently, the song was inspired by a book he read, in which the line â€Å"For all we are is dust in the wind† caught his attention. The words got him thinking of the true value of material possessions, that in the long run, all the wealth and material possessions

Trifles by Susan Glaspell. NO SOURCE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Trifles by Susan Glaspell. NO SOURCE - Essay Example This scene stresses on how delicate can be the line between finding out something and staying unknowing. By this time the audience (or the reader) already figures out the motive of the murder, so feels cleverer than heroes of the play. It happens, because we’re shown both worlds: an emotional world of woman’s intuition and a reasonable world of man’s deduction. Men are trying to investigate the murder using logic, looking for evidence like most detective stories teaches us to do. And yet, they’re missing a part of the puzzle – the most important detail. Ladies also do their own investigation, though unconscientiously while helping men. They look at the puzzle from the emotional side, thinking about Mrs. Wright’s live with Mr. Wright (the murdered man), considering if she was happy in this house and if Mr. Wright was a good husband. It feels like they’re lead by some kind of sensual stream, rather than by thinking reasonable thoughts. The decision they make to hide the dead bird is also an emotional decision: it’s against the law to hide evidence, but women sense that will be a right decision. And they come to it together. Both of them are lying in the same way to protect the other woman, again without previous agreement. Just as they instinctively lie about a cat has eaten the

Improving of Leadership Skills by Learning English for International Case Study

Improving of Leadership Skills by Learning English for International Students to be Ready for Graduate Programs - Case Study Example Different Supports Needed to Improve the English Language Skill In order to enhance the English language of the students for the purpose of preparing them for their graduate program at the University of Regina, certain support is very much essential from the viewpoint of the students. The most important forms of support that the graduate students need are academic acculturation and that of English support. In terms of English support, the students have already acquired a brief knowledge regarding the subject topic of English but still the students need certain consequential refining in their skills based upon English i.e. either grammatically, in terms of vocabulary or through any other ways (Crown, 2003). In this connection, it has been observed that most of the students face certain difficulties in particular aspects that include integration of quotes in essays, formatting and effective lead-in to the quotes. These are certain specific areas in which the students must improve which would help them a lot for their graduate programs in the long-term (Crown, 2003). Moreover, the students need to develop themselves in the area of their critical thinking that would help them to improve their English language. The aspect of critical thinking is regarded as the capability to imagine clearly and rationally. It includes the capability to greatly focus upon independent as well as reflective thinking. There lie various useful functions of critical thinking that might help the students towards enhancing the medium of language i.e. English for their graduate program (Lau & Chan, 2012). The various useful functions of the aspect of critical thinking include understanding the coherent interrelation between the conceptions of the subject topic, recognizing, generating as... This report approves that the teachers as facilitators assisted as well as supported the students and the learners by delivering several skills and capabilities which ultimately helped the English learners or the students to enhance their several aptitude skills such as writing and listening. Moreover, the facilitators also assisted the students or the learners to acquire a brief idea regarding various cultural aspects along with learning several diversification related facets that prevailed in the classroom. In addition, the facilitators assisted the students to learn vocabulary, resolve grammatical errors along with capably write various assignments, projects and proposals that ultimately helped the students or learners to complete their graduation program successfully. The aspect of learning English is very much essential in order to raise as well as to enhance various skills and capabilities such as English writing, reading and listening. In order to improve the above discussed s kills, the students or the learners have to learn English by a considerable level. This essay makes a conclusion that from the overall analysis it can be said that by learning English, the international students can enhance their leadership skills by a significant level. Various barriers as well certain wide gaps were faced by the students or the English learners while learning English but the teachers as facilitators played a major role in order to overcome those barriers and gaps. Along with the major part played by the teachers, the introduction of ESL program or course also can help the students or the English learners to acquire a broad view regarding English which ultimately would help them to progress their writing, reading and listening skills and capabilities.

Business Studies LocationBreakeven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Studies LocationBreakeven - Essay Example Also inventory would not need to be stored thus stock holding costs would also be reduced. (Unit 88) Having the suppliers close by is important, having the customers nearby also matters. The business revenue directly depends on the location which is easily accessible to the customer. Also it should be at such a place where the flow of customers is high or the population density is high so that the business product is exposed to the customers as much as it can. The transport network plays a vital role in selecting a location. The raw materials need to come via a transport route. The customers have to visit the storefront and purchase the product. Therefore the road network in the immediate vicinity needs to be good. Furthermore the location should be at such a place where train/ship/plane network is close by so that connectivity to local and international business centres is maintained. (Business Review, 2003) The actual piece of land selected for locating the business needs to be seen from the cost point of view as well. There should be room for future expansion. For customer storefronts, spacious land with space for car parking is sometimes required. The geological stability of the land area also needs to be considered as well as the knowledge of high seismic activity zones near the area. The use of Greenfield and Brownfield sites are being increasingly used in the UK. (Unit 88) Labour For a new business finding an area where skilled labour is available is also one of the factors to be considered since the skills required for the job are not always available in the locality. For an existing business moving to another location has the problem of persuading the existing employees to start coming to the new facility. They might have to relocate their homes, or change their office hours due to traffic etc. which might cause inconvenience. (Business Review, 2003) Government Influence The government of some counties may give incentives, like low priced land, to businesses to locate in some areas. The government may want to keep industries only in industrial areas and give incentives such as subsidized land and labour rates etc. (Unit 88) Image Most storefronts bank on the type of area where they are located. For a branded store, having an outlet in the posh area of the city makes sense. Thus a business wanting to create an impression and keep its status high in order to charge premium prices from the customers would need to locate in expensive localities. (Business Review, 2003) Hassle of Relocation When the business moves to a different area, a certain bit of disruption is caused to the business activities. The suppliers may not want to come to the new location. The employees would have to change their routine or even relocate themselves. The

Exam Habits Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exam Habits - Research Paper Example deed, both the parents and the teachers have a desire for students to perform well, however, they provide little guidance on determining the most appropriate learning techniques that would work to enhance educational outcomes (Barrass, 2002). Based on this perspective, this paper examines Exam habits are determined by the learning techniques that students engage. There are various principles that comprise the states of learning. First, an individual must be in the right state of mind. Knowledge is impacted when a particular individual makes an effort towards learning. An example of such an aspect involves the learner to have positive expectations towards the learning process (C.E., 1988). Secondly, is that there must be a variety of ways of input. Some individuals learn better by using numerous input methods. This involves aspects such as asking of questions during the learning process. In the different states of learning, there are four main stages of competence. The first stage is that of unconscious incompetence in which an individual is mot in a position to understand something while at the same time does not recognize the lack of such understanding. In learning, it is essential that one understands the need for understanding for effective learning. The second stage is that of conscious incompetence. This stage involves one individual who does not understand concept although such individuals know of the lack. This state of learning involves making mistakes, which is an integral part in effective learning as long as one is able to realize the mistake and make adjustments (C.E., 1988). Conscious competence involves the state of an individual having critical understanding of an issue. An important aspect at this stage is the need for concentration. Concentration is important in learning as it enhances better understanding of concepts. The last stage is unconscious competence, which involves the state of an individual having practiced a skill and therefore,

Marketing Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Marketing Management - Essay Example Therefore, to prevent others from preying on a new product idea, entrepreneurs must seek legal protection for their great ideas. One can seek nondisclosure agreement to protect trade secrets. Similarly, there are other legal protection mechanisms such as patents, registered design, trademark, copyright and licensing among others that can be used to protect unique ideas. The nature of the product will determine the most appropriate protection measure to be taken. This paper explores suitable legal protection mechanisms for Smart Control, branding and evidence of viability. It also gives justifications for the choice of the product’s target audience. Methods of Legal Protection Available for Smart Control Patents The first appropriate legal protection choice available for our product, Smart Control is patenting. A patent refers to a legitimate monopoly issued by the government to an entrepreneur for specific time coverage (Rowland & MacDonald 2005). Patents prevent other people from commercially benefiting from other people’s product ideas, manufacturing methods as well as product functioning. A patent will be more suitable for safeguarding Smart Control because it can usually protects a product from a wider perspective compared to copyright (Galler 1995). It will disclose to the public how Smart Control works while disclosing the extent of protection to our product. Being a novel, important and inventive step, Smart Control qualifies for patenting. However, the company will need to conduct patent search to establish the products legibility for registration and avoid adverse legal issues in future. Licensing The second available option is licensing. Smart Control being an intellectual property, can be commercially exploited by television manufacturing companies as well as other devices it is designed to operate. Smart Control’s patent may be sold or mortgaged. Consequently, licensing will enable the company to allow licensees to exploit our i nvention for a fee (Lindberg 2009). Licenses can be a crucial revenue source for us. Trademark Trademark will identify and distinguish Smart Control from other similar products. Unlike copyrights, trademark law may prohibit developing similar product, which may confuse the public. As such, trademark protection will be more suitable for our product compared to copyright (Lindberg 2009). Trademark law will protect our unique mark effectively. Trade Secret Nondisclosure agreements and trade secret protection protects a new idea from being stolen by competitors (Anderman 2007). Smart Control being an iphone compatible app can easily be stolen by iphone producing companies to better their products. Trade secret protection will help to protect Smart Control from being illegally exploited by iphone companies that would wish to partner with us to deliver superior products to the consumer. Management of Brands Contemporary advertising majorly focus on brand management. Brand management refer s to the techniques aimed at establishing, promoting, and protecting the integrity of a given brand (Kapferer 2008). Commercial advertisement messages usually appeal to customers to buy a particular brand and not any other by claiming superiority. Branding eliminates any notion about the possibility of a product being generic. According to Wood (2000), brands are fundamental product differentiation strategy and must as such be managed strategically. Strategic brand management (branding) commence only after a

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING assignment 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING assignment 4 - Essay Example To some, one thing could be different form another, to someone else. They precisely have different set of requirements which help them to conceptualize what they think is true. The point when emergency changes have to be made to systems they can be modified in the requirements document using a suitable process model. The model to be employed is the spiral model. The process activities involved in maintaining the consistency between the requirements document and the system implementation are: The spiral model is best to be used as it keeps on circling and thereby steps in all the phases of software development life cycle including system implementation and requirements documentation gets implemented. It makes the system consistent by circling every time a change takes place in the software and traveling all the phases so as to make it organized and complete. It is the best model to accommodate the changes in the business environment and document it for future reference.

Climate Change in Saudi Arabia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Climate Change in Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example The world is witness to considerable variation, in respect of sources of energy. In addition, there is an increase in the number of energy choices being provided to the various countries of the world. These efforts are the outcome of energy, security, economic and environmental concerns. All over the world, there has been a gradual changeover, from an economy based on fossil fuels, to on that depends on sustainable forms of energy. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia presents an extremely informative case, in this regard. It is one of the largest oil exporters in the world and is home to 25% of the world’s oil reserves. Of late, this country has been making serious efforts at urbanization and industrialization. This nation receives a large amount of sunlight and enjoys considerable wind resources. However, these renewable energy resources have not been adequately exploited. The concerns over the climate and conventions of the United Nations stand to hinder the economic progress of Saudi Arabia. This kingdom will be required to adopt alternative energy sources and eschew the use of traditional fossil fuels. The UN insists that the kingdom will have to adopt innovative technologies such as solar power for its energy needs. The economic growth of Saudi Arabia has slowed down to an appreciable extent, on account of the global economic slowdown. Saudi Arabia has the largest oil reserves in the world, and it had made enormous profits by drastically increasing the price of oil, in the recent past. Consequently, it is not seriously affected by the current economic crisis. The insistence of the developed world to reduce the consumption of carbon-based fuels has drawn a sharp reaction from the Saudis.

The rule in Salomon v Salomon & Co [1897] AC 22 has been described as Assignment - 1

The rule in Salomon v Salomon & Co [1897] AC 22 has been described as one of the corner stones of English Company Law. Discuss the rationale and impact of the decision on company law - Assignment Example Furthermore, through the extension of the advantages of incorporation to small companies, this case of Salomon manages to promote fraud, and the evasion of certain legal obligations. This article explains the impact that Salomon vs. Salomon has had on companies and corporations. On a general perspective, the judgment by the House of Lords was a good decision. This case is recognized all over the world as a good authority, regarding the principle of a corporation being a separate legal entity. Under this case, the House of Lords firmly established that after incorporation, a new and a separate artificial organization comes into existence. Under the law, a company is a distinct person, and it has its own personality, which is separate and independent from the people who created it, invested in it, and those who direct and manage the operations of the company2. From the principles established in this case, the duties and rights of a corporation are different from the duties and rights of the directors, members, or the stakeholders of the corporation. These people are always obscured by the concept of the corporate veil, which normally surrounds the company. A corporate veil refers to a legal concept which is responsible for separating the personality of that of a corporation, from the personality of the shareholders of a corporation. Furthermore, this personality protects the managers and shareholders of a corporation from personal liability of the company’s debts, and any other obligation that the company may face3. However, this protection is not impenetrable or iron clad, and this is mainly because the court can rule that the activities of a company are not conducted as per the provisions of the legislation that guides the operations of a company, or the managers or shareholders of a company were engaged in carrying out illegal a ctivities. Based on these facts, the courts may hold the

Adam Smith vs. Samuel Smiles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Adam Smith vs. Samuel Smiles - Essay Example According to Smith, this entailed a non-interference or hands-off approach by authorities/governments towards private enterprise. His postulates were geared towards advocacy for the establishment of a laissez faire trade policy both on the local and international scene. Samuel Smiles is another free thinker whose postulates on the economic wellbeing of the society heavily echoed Smith’s postulates almost a century later. Smile’s notion was based on the need for enhanced self-actualization and development, which would ultimately lead to a more vibrant individual and societal economic prosperity. Adam Smith was focused more on self-interest and Smiles focused more on morality. This paper seeks to highlight both authors’ arguments with relation to economic liberalism before and during the industrial revolution, and how their focus influenced their works. Economic liberalism can also be regarded as fiscal liberalism because it entails the freeing up or giving a free reign to all matters pertaining to financial activities both at the individual and societal level (Perry, Peden & Von Laue, 2006). The basic aim of economic liberalization is to eliminate the involvement of organizations and institutions in making economic decisions that affect people’s economies.... He attributes the age’s productive powers and increase of quantity of work to three aspects or circumstances. He argues that division of labor enhanced every worker’s ingenuity, it saved time and the great number of machines that facilitated and abridged labor, enabling man to do the work of many (Perry, Peden & Von Laue, 2006). Division of labor also enhanced what Samuel Smiles attributes to failure of society because division of labor encouraged selfishness and individualism. These attributes according to Smiles did not do much in terms of developing societal economies, but encouraged in its stead a culture that bred social vices. These vices negatively impacted on the economic development of communities and nations. Individualism and the self-centered approach towards economic liberalization that Smith advocated for during his time did not help a lot in terms of improving the wellbeing of society. Samuel smiles on the hand, lauds division of labor as a great benefact or to the development and realization of capitalistic ethics. Smiles postulates that true growth in an individual and society in general is only possible through the spirit of genuine self help at a personal level. According to Smiles, no amount of intervention from institutions and legislation can contribute to individual advancement if the individual is not willing. Too much guidance and direction from government policy only leads an individual to exist in a helpless state (Perry, Peden & Von Laue, 2006). This is because they get used to the situation where everything is done for them, and they have no control of their decision-making in life. The prosperity of a nation is dependent upon the sum of individual uprightness, industry and energy just like national

Develop MPI Essay Example for Free

Develop MPI Essay First, in today’s global economy, many companies are vying for a presence in the global markets. There are several ways to gain entry into a foreign market but many questions must be answered first to make sure there is a return on investment or an exit strategy. In the Foley Company case, Joanne has to determine what are her Company strategies advantages and disadvantages of entering Brazilian market for soybeans harvesters: First, she has to determine whether the Company is considering a standalone entry or entry through alliances. This could be a pivotal point in their decision because on one hand the lack of experience with foreign manufacturing operations could prove to be costly in a standalone entry for example. But as Mr. Osborne point it out this is also a â€Å"too good to lose† market, so an equity-base method of entry through alliances seemed to be a none-starter for Foley Company. But eventually, Ms. Poe has other options to consider for entry strategies: Contract Manufacturing, Licensing, Franchising or Exporting. Contract Manufacturing Contract manufacturing has a flexibility element to it as an entry method as it can be used as an added value to other method of entry. This is a major advantage. Ms. Poe could recommend this option in conjunction with franchising for example. Contract Manufacturing would also give the Foley Company a new look at the market in Brazil because the company has not seen this aspect of business in Brazil. Here, the company could focus on RD and other improvement to its machinery to gain competitive advantage. The advantages of this method of entry could be: low capital required, low risk, manageable exit strategy, easy to structure and direct the process. The disadvantages of this method could be: the Company could lose some control due to lack of international experience, difficult to account for the cultural and differences in quality of work and standards, locally accepted practices can be hard to gauge when selecting vendors of supplies of parts etc. can be a problem for a new entrant in the market especially when there is potential for major capital investment. Licensing Licensing method of entry for companies could be reinsuring for the Foley Company because the Company would be able to legally protect its assets  while in the process conducting market establishing its name in Brazil. But this is more to prepare the â€Å"field† by licensing its rights and expertize to local companies conduct to business on its behalf. The important elements here are protection by the local regulations. The advantages here could be: Less hurdles to enter in case of import complexities in Brazil, fast entry into the market, no capital upfront required to establish a presence. But the disadvantages could be: Decrease in sales (not fully engage yet), culture differences and interpretations, and more importantly, the licensee could collaborate with competitors or become competitors themselves which would complicate future deals in Brazil. Franchising By recommending franchising a method of entry, Ms. Poe could emphasize the fact in this case rapid expansion, where a franchise would maintain a business relationship with Foley Company which would grant it the right to distribute its soybeans harvesters using Foley’s brand in exchange for a fee. The creation of a network of owner operated dealers would increase its market share and expanded territories. Less advertising programs and costs, market penetration at high rate, brand equity. The disadvantage of this method of entry could be the cost of engaging locals by Foley Company and potential lack of connection between the company goals in US and it Brazilian counterpart might cause frictions because the local might not be fully vested into the â€Å"bigger picture†. My recommendation would be: Wholly Owned Subsidiaries: Like many Companies, The Foley Company could establish itself fully in Brazil. This would give the company ownership through wholly owned subsidiaries. This method would allow Foley Company to gain control over manufacturing operations and any profits centers completely without sharing with any potential partners. The drawback to this method of entry would be the high initial investment. There can’t be guarantees here because of other intangible like politics, social, economical facts can complicate matters sometimes. But in the long-run, this method of entry which can be done through Acquisition or Greenfield investment (building entirely new facility), would yield many advantages for the company, for example brand equity, increase its competitiveness in the market. With the right  synergies, the economic benefits, in my opinion would outweigh the costs while expanding the market. References http://www.coursesmart.com/SR/7071808/0077496191/331?__hdv=6.8 https://blackboard.neu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2239043_1%26url%3D Buckley, P.J., and Casson, M.C. 1998. Analyzing Foreign Market Entry Strategies: Extending the Internationalization Approach. Journal of International Business Studies: 539-561.

Animal Motif on Macbeth Essay Example for Free

Animal Motif on Macbeth Essay Shakespeare uses animal motif extensively to convey to the audience Macbeth’s thoughts and also to reflect the progress of the plot in general. In scene i and iii of Act III, horses are mentioned repeatedly. Before delving into these scenes, it is important to note the role of horses previously: recently, Duncan’s fine, well-bred horses turned wild and ate each other. In scene i, Macbeth urges Banquo to his horse: â€Å"Hie you to horse† (III, i, 34) and in scene iii, the murderers that Macbeth hired become conscious of Banquo’s presence: â€Å"Hark, I hear horses. † (III, iii, 8) The horses epitomize the witches’ prophesy that fair will be foul and foul will be fair. Horses that are meant to facilitate transportation (constructive) are now destructive. This change in the influence of horses reflects the deep degree to which disorder and confusion extend in Scotland now. On a few occasions, Macbeth uses an animal to directly describe his feelings. He does so in scene ii, right after he provokes men into vowing to murder his friend Banquo, by saying his mind is â€Å"full of scorpions† (III, ii, 36). Indeed, like venomous scorpions, Macbeth is now fully engaged in harming others. Another example is when Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that they â€Å"have scotched the snake, not killed it† (III, ii, 13), an indication that Macbeth does and will not feel his position is secure until Banquo is killed as well. It is also worth noting that even though Macbeth is referring to Lady Macbeth’s earlier serpent motif (I, v, 64), Macbeth is comparing the snake to Banquo, while Lady Macbeth compares the snake to Macbeth. This change seems inappropriate, since Banquo does not seem to possess the characteristics that snakes are typically associated with: slyness. Macbeth is in fact deceiving himself into thinking that Banquo is as cunningly treacherous as himself, as is shown in his soliloquy when he thinks: â€Å"[Banquo] chid the sisters† (III, i, 56). During Macbeth and Banquo’s first encounter with the witches, Banquo clearly states that he †neither [begs] nor [fears their] favours nor [their] hate. † (I, iii, 60-61) It was Macbeth who criticized the witches of being â€Å"imperfect speakers† (I, iii, 70) and demanded to know more. Macbeth is deluding himself into thinking negatively of Banquo to justify himself for murdering his friend, to rid himself of guilt. This effort is in turn a stage of Macbeth’s transformation of losing conscience and becoming one who is full of only greed and ambition.

Non organic growth strategy

Non organic growth strategy Abstract : As microfinance industry has been growing rapidly, in many places the market of this sector becomes relatively mature and lies in competitive situation. Some of microfinance institutions start thinking, exploring and doing non organic growth strategies. This paper presents the idea of non organic growth strategies in microfinance whether through strategic alliances or mergers and acquisitions which can be a choice for achieving rapid growth and expansion. One of the key success factors in doing such strategies in microfinance could be the comprehensive assessment to the similarities and differences of organizations characteristics, such as their structure and culture. BACKGROUND In the recent years undoubtedly that microfinance has become a diverse and growing industry. This sector has been attracting many eyes for several reasons. One of the reasons can be said that on one side microfinance business is not only based on financial motive, but also on other side used as means for social development, as many called double bottom line principal. Many microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been placing and operating the business in the area where there has been potential market of microenterprises and low-income households. Consultative Group to Assist The Poor (2010) , broadly defined microfinance institution (MFI) is as an organization that deals with the provision of financial services mainly for the benefit of the poor. These organizations vary in their legal structure, mission, and methodology. Generally there are four categories of microfinance providers, namely informal, member-owned organizations, NGOs and Formal financial institutions ,such as Regulated MFI and Commercial Bank (Helms, 2006). All categories of those microfinance institutions are struggling to grow and survive in the arena. As the market is facing the maturity and fierce competition, many microfinance institutions keep trying to expand their portfolio by providing financial services to a larger number of clients while at the same time fulfilling an MFIs social mission. Some of them explore to alternative means for reaching rapid growth by formulating and doing better strategies. They have been trying to adapt non organic growth strategies whether through doing strategic alliances or mergers and acquisitions. Generally speaking in the world of business, we have been witnessing with a lot of examples of many firms achieving growth by creating alliances/collaboration with other parties and mergers and acquisitions. Both strategies are common done by many firms in the world since these can help the firms to covering each own weaknesses and combining each own different resources as well as facing challenges much more powerful. But in microfinance those two kind of strategies are still newly developed. In authors opinion, the issue of non organic growth strategy chosen by MFI whether they want to decide to do strategic alliance/collaboration or merger and acquisition is interesting due to the fact of unique characteristics of the players in microfinance arena as mentioned above. For example, we find that Microfinance Formal Financial Institution (MFIF) comparing to Microfinance NGO is more financially oriented rather than socially. In MFIF, the organization goals are always associated with the financial indicators and sales indicators. Whereas in microfinance NGOs are closely related to the non financial changes, particularly in the social changes of community, such as household income changes, effects of loan to women empowerment, health etc. These differences are very important to be understood considering that the differences inherent to those two institutions will affect to the successful or the failure of doing non organic growth strategic. Therefore,this paper presents the idea for MFIs, mainly for MFIF and Microfinance NGO types, in choosing such non organic growth strategies, whether they want to create a strategic alliance or merger and acquisition. The structure of this paper will be presented as follows : Section 1 provides the background regarding to authors opinion to raise the issue of non organic growth strategy in microfinance. The section 2 elaborates the conceptual background about the definition of strategic alliance and the merger and acquisition, and points out motives and diffrences behinds these strategies as well as the explanation of success keys. Then institutional features of players in microfinance arena is presented in the section 3. In the section 4, we try to give the idea to answer the question which strategy chosen by MFIs based on the different characteristics of those non organic growth strategies and distinctive features of microfinance institutions as explained in section 2 and 3, and thi s section leads to the conclusion as section 5. At the end references are appeared in the section 6. The limitation of this paper is not addressing the issue of alliances or mergers and acquisitions between MFIs which formed in informal and member-owned organizations or cooperatives. This paper only focuses on the basic idea of doing alliances or mergers and acquisition for MFIFs and NGOs form and doesnt explain quantitatively in details. Conceptual Background The words of organic growth and non-organic (external) growth are common known in the corporate growth discussion. Organic growth is usually defined as a companys growth rate excluding any scale increases from takeovers, acquisitions, or mergers. Growth of this type is also referred to as a companys core growth. Organic growth is generated, for example, by selling more product (services as well) to current customers, selling product to new customers, or selling product at a higher price ( Dalton and Dalton, 2006) .Whereas non organic growth obviously can be defined as a strategy to obtain companys growth through alliances, mergers and acquisition and takeovers. Many firms decide to do alliances /collaboration or merger acquisition to survive and to grow rather than to run business relying on the individual efforts. These non growth strategies are done by many firms to form powerful energy in managing difference resources owned by each party. As Zhiang et al (2009) notes that resources are heterogeneously distributed across firms, therefore some important internal resources can be obtained from external sources via inter organizational relationships such as alliances, or by engaging in mergers and acquisitions. Compared to internal development or organic growth, strategic alliances as well as mergers and acquisitions strategy is a much faster way to build organic capabilities. Strategic Alliances A strategic alliance is defined as an arrangement between two or more independent companies that decide to carry out a project or operate in a specific business area by coordinating the necessary skills and resources jointly rather than operating on their own or merging their operations (Dussauge et al,1999) . It can be a contractual arrangement to collaborate on one or all levels without any intended change in organization legal structure (McCarter, 2002). Strategic alliance occurs for a certain period of time whether short or long time. According to Koza and Lewin (1998), there are two main motivations for the decision of doing alliances, namely exploitative and exploratory. Exploitative means that in the agreed alliance, each party seeks to leverage their own resources and capabilities in order to enhance revenue or reduce cost, whereas exploratory each collaborating party willing to create new opportunities, markets, product and technologies. From the conceptual point of view, Sudarsanam (2003) lists some factors potentially conducive to successful alliances: Each party should bring complimentary skills, capabilities and market to the alliance Market overlap between partners should be minimal to avoid conflict of interest Alliance should be based on balance of business strength and ownership interest among partners The alliance must have a degree of autonomy with strong leadership and continual commitment and support The alliance must build up trust and confidence between the partners and not depend only contractual right and obligations Divergence of management styles and corporate culture must be handled with sensitivity, and a new common style and culture distinct. Merger and Acquisition Merger and acquisition is defined as the combination of two companies or firms to achieve certain strategic and business objectives forming a great significance transaction not only to the companies but also to many constituencies, such as share holder, workers, managers, competitors, communities as well as the economy as whole (Sudarsanam, 2003). Schoenberg (2003) notes that firms often use mergers and acquisitions in order to achieve such diverse strategic goals , for example, increasing market power, expanding to new product markets or geographical territories, or gaining access to valuable resources. From this point, even though it seems we can see that strategic alliance and mergers and acquistions have the similar purpose but we noticed that mergers and acquisitions may create some different change concerning the business, organization, ownership and legal status in the result company. Furthermore, Damodaran (2002) describes the term of merger,consolidation, tender offer, acquisition and buy out as all parts of merger and acquisition parlances, and a firm can be combined by another firm by 5 ways : Mergers , when a target firm become part of acquiring firm and stockholder approval needed from both firms. Consolidation, when target firm and acquiring firm become new firm and stockholder approval needed from both firms. Tender offer, when firm continues to exist, as long as there are dissident stockholders holding out. Successful tender offers ultimately become mergers and no shareholder approval is needed. Acquisition of asset , when target firm remains as shell company, but its assets are transferred to the acquiring firm and ultimately target firm is liquidated. Buy Out, when target firm continues to exist but as a private business usually accomplished with tender offer. There are several and diverse motives for mergers and acquisitions, Johnson et al (2005) grouped under three headings. They are environment, strategic capability and expectations: Environment. The need to keep up with a changing environment can dominate thinking about acquisitions. Some major aspects which influenced the changing environment are the need of business speed, competitive situation and deregulation. Strategic capability. Achieving cost efficiency, developing innovation and learning organization are some reasons behind mergers and acquisitions in many industries. Expectation. In some ways, stakeholders have highly expectation and interest to give insight for the growth of company. In this case, mergers and acquisition may be perceived by many stakeholders as a quick way to deliver companys growth. Mark and Mirvis (1993), from their research have summarized that one of the key success for establishing the desired combination between two companies is the assessment of two sides companys structures and cultures. They suggest that in mergers and acquisitions efforts, each party should be proactive in the pre combination phase; planning and preparation are integral to success when companies join forces At least there are different aspects to be taken into account carefully in steering a combination toward the successful path: purpose, partner, parameter and people. But it doesnt end up to the planning and preparation. The most important thing to be taken into account for achieving successful mergers and acquisitions is post-merger combination. All these efforts may help to overcome the most commonly cited reasons for failures: conflicting corporate cultures, over estimation of synergies, inadequate due diligence, slow/poor post-merger combination and poor leadership or management ( McCarter, 2002) The Differences From the explanation about two kinds of non organic growth strategy above, we can note the main difference between strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions. It can be said that creating strategic alliances is not as difficult as mergers and acquisitions. It is because of making the mergers and acquisition work successfully is complicated process which involves not only putting two organizations together but also involves integrating people of two organizations with different cultures, attitudes and mindsets (Mallikarjunappa and Nayak, 2007). Meanwhile, in the strategic alliances, each company is still independent and it seems to need less effort in term of cost and time. Therefore, Reuer (1999) differentiates alliances and merger and acquisitions in four dimensions which strategic alliances may be preferred: Infeasibility: acquisition may not be feasible for regulatory, political or legal reasons. Information asymmetry : the partners have access to different information sets making it difficult to value their relative contributions Indigestibility: post mergers and acquisition integration of the acquirer and the acquired firms poses problems so severe as to prevent value creation from the acquisition. When indigestibility is substantial, alliances can be attractive because they allow companies to link their resources selectively. Even when acquired assets can be divested this alliance advantage remains. Strategic flexibility: it is more important than commitment of the partners. Now, how we relate this conceptual background of those strategy into the idea of impelementing these to the microfinance industry. However, we should better know the two kind of institutional features of microfinance as explained below. Institutional Features : MFIFs and MFI NGOs As mentioned in the previous page, there are some players in the microfinance arena and they obviously have different characteristics. However, there are basically two main different characteristics in the discussion about players in microfinance industry, namely for profit or financially oriented, and non profit or socially oriented The financially oriented institution, mainly private enterprises/ companies, could be Microfinance Formal financial institutions (MFIF) such as bank and regulated MFI or non bank financial institution. Mean while the socially oriented institutions, most of them are NGOs. What makes different between two types of MFIs? It may be better to look at a table presented by Estallo et al (2006) indicating the differences between private enterprise and NGO types: All these factors make different structure and culture of those two organizations. In the case of MFIs, another important distinctive feature between private MFIFs and MFI NGOs is concerning with the ownership. As Lauer (2008) stated that ownership structure is one of the critical issues to consider in the specific context of each type transformation of such institution. MFIs ownership structure encompasses the ensemble of mechanism by which stakeholders define and pursue the institution vision and mission and ensure its sustainability. Alliances or Merger and Acquisitions ? As whole, from the conceptual background section, we have seen that strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions might have some similarities and some principally differences. In other section, we have also already known the main difference characteristics of the microfinance players. Then now it raises a question how does an MFI choose a choice between two? MFIF NGO Alliances There have been some evidences that alliances can help the collaborative firms or institution to expand its business. Strategic alliances are able to scale up access to financial services in rural areas in term of the outreach to new clients and markets as well as the introduction of new products (Gallardo et al, 2006). Rondinelli and London (2003) noted that Alliances, in fact, may be the only option for companies interested in accessing the knowledge held by (NGOs), since internal development of such expertise may be too costly, inefficient and time-consuming for most companies and merger with or acquisition of an (NGO) is highly unlikely. While Kramer and Kania (2006) also stated with a similar view that nonprofits often have much deeper comprehension to solve the social problems, which enables them to help companies determining comprehensive strategies and set more ambitious and goals. Strategic alliances are also important in the public sector as a means of addressing particula r social outcomes (Johnson et al, 2005). This also could happen in the alliance MFIF-NGO. Dahan et al (2009) gives examples of MFIF NGO strategic alliances. HSBC Amanah (HSBCs global Islamic banking division) has partnered with, an international development and relief organization, the Islamic Relief, to provide financial services to Muslims in accordance with Islamic Shariah law. Another example is In Dominica. MasterCard builds on an affinity card relationship with Banco Popular Dominicano and Asociacion para el Desarrollo de Microempresas, Inc. (ADEMI), a micro and small-scale lender .This partnership is aimed at providing unbankable entrepreneurs using MasterCard-ADEMI- BancoPopular Dominicano credit cards to withdraw cash and to pay utility and other bills in order to support the micro entrepreneurs in Dominica to run their business. However, this does not close the possibility of the combination between MFIF and NGO in mergers form. For example, McCarter (2002), gives two mergers between MFIF with NGO. In Nicaragua, the Interfin, a licensed Nicaraguan financier, in January 2000 merged with NGO Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) Chispa microcredit program, forming Financiera Confia. Another example in Guatemala, there was a merger between Bancasol, a local commercial bank, with ACCION Internationals affiliate NGO to form Genesis. Meanwhile in 2007, Sonata, a start up MFI in Northern India purchased of Jeevika Livelihood Support Organization to expand its microfinance operation (Tiwari and Chasnow, 2009). Mergers and Acquisitions between MFIF and MFIF or between NGO and NGO As stated on the previous page, making the mergers and acquisition work is complicated process rather than strategic alliances, but this doesnt mean that this strategy is far away from success. Mergers and acquisitions can be used by MFIs to create new capability to survive and achieve significance growth. Mergers and acquisitions are not only about the combination between two organizations which merely based on financial aspect but also the structure and culture of two organizations combined. It takes much more energy, cost and time. It may be the similarity of structure and culture of organization used as a good starting point to think about mergers and acquisitions in the arena of non growth strategy of MFIs. So doing MFIF-MFIF merger or NGO-NGO mergers is more appropriate combination than creating strategic alliances. However, it doesnt mean that MFIF-MFIF strategic alliances cannot be implemented to reduce the competition tension. There are some examples mergers and acquisition in the microfinance industry around the world as summarized and showed in the annex of this paper. Conclusion As the microfinance sector matures, non organic growth strategies mainly strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions can be a choice for achieving rapid growth and expansion in microfinance. Of course, this effort actually is not easy to be implemented. But it is also not to say that making work such strategies is impossible to be realized. By analyzing the differences between two non organic growth strategies above as well as the different characteristics between MFIF and NGO, on the one hand we may conclude that strategic alliance will likely to be considered for both rather than mergers and acquisitions. However, this does not close the possibility of the combination between MFIF and NGO in mergers and acquisitions form. A strategic alliance between MFIF and NGOs is less effort in term of cost and time but still can result in the growth of the organization. On the other hand, mergers and acquisition can also be created for combining MFIF with MFIF or NGO with NGO. Some evidences showed that the similarity of the structure and culture of those organizations can be used as the good starting point to do mergers and acquisition. It is very important to be considered because mergers and acquisitions are not only about the marriage between two organizations which merely based on financial aspect but also the structure and culture of two organizations combined. One of the key success factors for the future microfinance non growth strategy should be based on the assessment of characteristics of the similarities and differences of organization (i.e structure and culture) before choosing strategic alliances or mergers and acquisitions strategy. For those microfinance organizations who intend to do a non growth organic strategy but both of them have highly different structure and culture, it may be a strategic alliance is more suitable to be created. But in the case, there are some similarities in term of organizations characteristics, merger and acquisition could be an option. REFERENCES Dussauge, O, Garrette B and Mitchell W (1999) Learning from Competing Partners: Outcomes and Duration of Scale and Link Alliances in Europe, North America and Asia, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 21, pp. 99-126. Damodaran, A. (2002), Investment Valuation , Tools and techniques for determining the value of any asset (2nd ed) , John Wiley and Son, New York. Dalton, D.R., and Dalton, Catherine M. (2006). Corporate growth: our advice to directors is to buy organic. Journal of Business Strategy, Vol .27 No.2, pp. 5-7. Dahan, Nicholas. M., Doh.Jonathan.P, Oetzel.J.,and Yazji.M.,(2009), Corporate-NGO Collaboration: co-creating new business models for developing markets, Long Range Planning. Estallo, Maria de L .A .G , Fuente., Fernando .G.D.L, and Miquela, C.G (2006), The Strategic Social Map of Nongovernmental Organization, International Advances in Economic Research, Vol.12 pp.105-114. Gallardo, J.,Goldberg,M. and Randhawa, B.,(2006), Strategic Alliances to Scale Up Financial Services in Rural Areas, World Bank Working Paper No.76, The World Bank, Washington D.C. Helms, Brigit. (2006), Access for All: Building Inclusive Financial Systems, World Bank, Washington DC. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2005), Exploring Corporate Strategy. Text and Cases. Seventh Edition. Prentice Hall. Koza,M.P.,and Lewin A. (1998), The co-Evolution of Strategic Alliances, Organization Science, Vol.9,pp 255-264. Kramer, M. and Kania, J.,(2006),A New Role for Non Profit , Stanford Social Innovation Review, Vol.4 No.1 pp.32-41. Lauer, K., (2008), Transforming NGO MFIs: Critical Ownership Issues to Consider, CGAP Notes No.13. Marks.M.L, and Mirvis.P.L (1993), Making Mergers and Acquisitions Work : Strategic and Psychological Preparation, Academy of Management Executive, Vol.15 no.2 pp.80-94. McCarter, E. (2002), Tying the Knot: A Guide to Mergers in Microfinance , Catholic Relief Services. Mallikarjunappa, T., and Nayak,P., (2007) Why Do Mergers and Acquisitions Quite Often Fail? Association of Indian Management Scholars, Journal of Management , Vol.15 no.2 pp.80-94. Reuer,J.(1999), Collaborative strategy : The Logic of Alliances , Financial Times, Mastering Strategy series part 2. Rondinelli. D.A, and London, T.,(2003), How Corporations and Enviromental Group Cooperate : Assesing Sector Alliances and Collaborations, Academy of Management Executive, Vol.17 No.1 pp.62-76. Sudarsanam. S., (2003). Creating Value from Mergers and Acquisitions : The Challlenges, Prentice Hall, England. Schoenberg R.(2003). Mergers and acquisitions: Motives, value creation, and implementation. Oxford University Press: Oxford. Tiwari, A., and Chasnow.M.,(2009) ,A Closer Look at Consolidation: The Sonata-Jeevika Acquisition, Center for Microfinance, Insitute for Financial Management and Research, Chennai, India. Zhiang (John) Li, Haibin.Yang and Bindu, A (2009), Alliance Partners and Firm Partnership Resource Complimentary and Status Association, Strategic Management Journal, Vol.30 No.9 pp: 921-940. http://www.cgap.org/p/site/c/template.rc/1.26.1308/, Last accessed: March 18, 2010