Mahatma Gandhi Essay

Mahatma Gandhi Leadership Style The Father of the Nation is now being held up as the master strategist, an exemplary leader, and someone whose ideas and tactics corporate India can emulate. Gandhi reinvented the rules of the game to deal with a situation where all the available existing methods had failed. He broke tradition. He understood that you cannot fight the British with force. So he decided to change the game in a fundamentally different way. He unleashed the power of ordinary people, inspired women and men in the country to fight under a unifying goal. Resource constraint did not bother him. That was the motivation. Gandhi’s leadership style is being termed as ‘follower-centric’ and one that took into account existing conditions before determining the strategy. Gandhi advocated having leadership styles that were dependent on the circumstances. When Gandhi was in South Africa, he launched his protests in a suit and a tie. But when he came back to India, he thought of  khadi  (handspun and hand-woven cloth) and launched non-violent protests on a greater scale, It shows that Gandhi’s leadership style was situational leadership style. A Quote from the book: Count your chickens before they hatch by Arindam Chaudhuri â€Å"Mahatma Gandhi’s example to me is a perfect case of adopting styles to suit the culture. The country today stands divided on whether what he did was good or bad†¦ I just know one thing: there was never a leader before him nor one after him who could unite us all and bring us out in the streets to demand for what was rightfully ours. To me, he is the greatest leader  our land has ever seen. It is ‘Theory ‘I’ management’ at its practical best: productively and intelligently utilizing whatever the resource you are endowed with,† says Chaudari.

Guilded Age Presidents essays

Guilded Age Presidents essays Some presidents names you can recognize right away while others you may never have heard of. Rutherford B Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, and Benjamin Harrison are all largely indistinguishable presidents that reigned in the last half of the nineteenth century. They are known as the lost presidents. While nothing monumental happened during their presidencies, they still contributed to the growth and success of the United States, some more than others though, and I found it difficult to rank them due to their low profiles. I chose Grover Cleveland as having the best overall performance out of the presidents of this time for many reasons. First, because he was the only president to serve two non consecutive terms and that says to me he was well liked by the people. If he was president in 1885-1889 and then again in 1893-1897 that shows that people missed his leadership and re-elected in 1893. Secondly, he used his veto power 584 times. He was not afraid to go against the popular vote and against the people if he did not believe in it. Cleveland also went against strong railroads and took back land that did not belong to them. Finally and most importantly, the reason I chose Cleveland first was because he maintained the treasury gold reserve during the depression. Grover Cleveland was the back bone of the Monitory System, which is still in use today. Who knows where we would be if he did not keep it strong. My second choice was Benjamin Harris. I chose him to be second because he signed the Sherman Antitrust Act which protects against companies forming monopolies. Although I am not a business expert, I know that forming Monopolies can make a business too strong and powerful. For example, companies like Microsoft are always being accused of being a monopoly. The Sherman Antitrust Act or variations of it are still being used today and without it companies would have the ability to change pri...

The Basics of Telescopes

The Basics of Telescopes Sooner or later, every stargazer decides its time to be buying a telescope. Its an exciting next step to further exploration of the cosmos. However, as with any other major purchase, theres a lot to learn about these universe exploration engines, ranging from power to price. The first thing a user wants to do is figure out their observational goals. Are they interested in planetary observing? Deep-sky exploration? Astrophotography? A little of everything? How much money do they want to spend? Knowing the answer to those questions will help narrow down a telescope choice. Telescopes come in three basic designs: refractor, reflector, and catadioptric, plus some variations on each of the types. Each has its pluses and minuses, and of course, each type can cost a little or a lot depending on the quality of the optics and the accessories needed.   Refractors and How They Work A refractor is a telescope that uses two lenses to deliver a view of a celestial object. At one end (the one farther away from the viewer), it has a large lens, called the objective lens or object glass. On the other end is the lens the user looks through. It is called the ocular or eyepiece. They work together to deliver the sky view. The objective collects light and focuses it as a sharp image. This image gets magnified and is what the stargazer sees through the ocular. This eyepiece is adjusted by sliding it in and out of the telescope body to focus the image. Reflectors and How They Work A reflector works a bit differently. Light is gathered at the bottom of the scope by a concave mirror, called the primary. The primary has a parabolic shape. There are several ways the primary can focus the light, and how it is done determines the type of reflecting telescope. Many observatory telescopes, such as Gemini in Hawaii or the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope  use a photographic plate to focus the image. Called the prime focus position, the plate is located near the top of the scope. Other such scopes use a secondary mirror, placed in a similar position as the photographic plate, to reflect the image back down the body of the scope, where it is viewed through a hole in the primary mirror. This is known as a Cassegrain focus.   Newtonians and How They Work Then, theres the Newtonian, a kind of reflecting telescope. It got its name when  Sir Isaac Newton dreamed up the basic design. In a Newtonian telescope, a flat mirror is placed at an angle in the same position as the secondary mirror in a Cassegrain. This secondary mirror focuses the image into an eyepiece located in the side of the tube, near the top of the scope. Catadioptric Telescopes Finally, there are catadioptric telescopes, which combine elements of refractors and reflectors in their design. The first such telescope was created by German astronomer Bernhard Schmidt in 1930. It used a primary mirror at the back of the telescope with a glass corrector plate in the front of the telescope, which was designed to remove spherical aberration. In the original telescope, photographic film was placed at the prime focus. There were no secondary mirror or eyepieces. The descendant of that original design, called the Schmidt-Cassegrain design, is the most popular type of telescope. Invented in the 1960s, it has a secondary mirror that bounces light through a hole in the primary mirror to an eyepiece. The second style of catadioptric telescope was invented by a Russian astronomer, D. Maksutov. (A Dutch astronomer, A. Bouwers, created a similar design in 1941, before Maksutov.) In the Maksutov telescope, a more spherical corrector lens than in the Schmidt is utilized. Otherwise, the designs are quite similar. Today’s models are known as Maksutov –Cassegrain. Refractor Telescope Advantages and Disadvantages After initial alignment, which is necessary to have the optics work well together, refractor optics are resistant to misalignment. The glass surfaces are sealed inside the tube and rarely need cleaning. The sealing also minimizes effects from air currents that can muddy the view. This is one way that users can get steady sharp views of the sky. Disadvantages include a number of possible aberrations of the lenses. Also, since lenses need to be edge supported, this limits the size of any refractor. Reflector Telescope Advantages and Disadvantages Reflectors do not suffer from chromatic aberration. Their mirrors are easier to build without defects than lenses are since only one side of a mirror is used. Also, because the support for a mirror is from the back, very large mirrors can be built, making larger scopes. The disadvantages include ease of misalignment, the need for frequent cleaning, and possible spherical aberration, which is a defect in the actual lens that can blur the view. Once a user has a basic understanding of the types of scopes on the market, they can focus on getting the right-sized one to view their favorite targets with. They can learn more about some mid-range-priced telescopes on the market. It never hurts to browse the marketplace and learn more about specific instruments.  And, the best way to sample different telescopes is to go to a star party and ask other scope owners if theyre willing to let someone take a look through their instruments. Its an easy way to compare and contrast the view through different instruments. Edited and updated by  Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Sociocultural influences on conflict resolution and post-war Research Paper

Sociocultural influences on conflict resolution and post-war reconstruction - Research Paper Example A good example is the United States election and especially the 2008 elections that pitted president Obama against senator McCain2. The nation has found itself in a reconstruction program in both Afghanistan and Iraq in the aftermath of its anti-terrorism missions in the said countries. Elsewhere, there have been various peace-building projects, national building programs, political mediations and other post war and conflict reconstruction programs that are being undertaken by international bodies like the United Nations and other regional or supranational agencies. However, such efforts have not always been smooth and have been met with a lot of challenges both of logistical and ideological nature. The ever-changing global environment that has meant that the approach for conflict resolution and reconstruction has had to be varied has further compounded this situation. A major driver of this dynamism has been the constantly shifting international relations3 in what has been summed up by many scholars and foreign policy analysts as the â€Å"clash of civilizations†4. This paper will closely examine one of the major factors that has influenced post war and conflict reconstruction in the world today – socio cultural constructs. ... However, other nation building programs in the world shall also be mentioned for the purposes of providing a clearer picture of how socio cultural factors have been a major influence on post war reconstruction and conflict resolution. Most conflicts in the world have been down to the strategies that have been involved. By looking at the socio-cultural influences on nation building efforts, this paper will enable the appropriate formulation of strategies to tackle the dynamism in the global environment that has been largely pushed by this factor. With rising clamor for democracy among nations that were formerly communist in nature, there have been numerous conflicts that have come with such adjustments and this has sometimes led to intra and international tensions that have resulted into conflicts. The Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts These two countries have seen a lot of instability that dates back to a century with Afghanistan facing a larger share of this conflict. To begin, the U.S – Iraqi conflict dates back in the year 19905 when the country’s tyrannical forces led an invasion on its neighbor, Kuwait. The United States was at the forefront of resolving this conflict by demanding an immediate withdrawal of Iraqi troops from the Kuwaiti soil. President George H Bush decided to use military intervention after diplomatic efforts from the United Nations did not bear any fruit and this worked. Regardless of the intervention, internal conditions in the Saddam Hussein led state was worsening. There were concerns by the international community that the regime was oppressing the minority, developing both biological and mechanical weapons among other violations of human rights and

Volcanoes and other Igneous Features Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Volcanoes and other Igneous Features - Essay Example The hanging wall slides going up past the footwall. The pushing forces that cause reserve faults are compressional which tries to thrust both the sides together. In a reverse fault, the hanging wall is the part that moves upward. Reverse faults are also occasionally called thrust faults. The term thrust fault is used to classify a fault with plates under the ocean. These kinds of faults can instigate more damage and destruction than strike-slips faults. The massive Sumatra earthquake in 2004, which cracked the biggest fault length of any documented earthquake, is an example of a reverse fault earthquake. The second type of fault is the normal fault, in which the pressure force that causes it is tension. The hanging wall moves downward as the footwall slides past it, going up. The forces that generate normal faults pull both sides apart, or extensional. Although it is termed a normal fault, a normal fault is not the most frequently occurring out of all the other types of faults. The term normal refers to the propensity for the movement of this type of fault to follow the direction of gravity. Examples of a normal fault are The Cabrillo Fault and The Great Rift Valley of Africa. Meanwhile, strike-slip faults have walls that instead of moving up or down move sideways. That is, the slide happens alongside the strike, unlike dip-slip faults, which occur up or down the dip. In these faults, the fault plane is typically vertical, thus, there are no hanging walls and footwalls. The pressure forces causing these faults are horizontal, moving both sides past each other. The San Andreas Fault that runs through California is an example of a strike-slip fault. The majority of mountain ranges on Earth have been formed because of the compression along or within tectonic plates. Massive areas of bedrock disintegrate into blocks by faults. Landforms such as mountains, ridges, hills, valleys and lakes are occasionally created when the

U.S. foreign policy on Mexico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

U.S. foreign policy on Mexico - Essay Example U.S. foreign toward its Mexico can be analyzed as driven by promoting free market reforms and enforcing market prohibitions. This means tightening controls over prohibited cross-border economic flows and at the same time promoting a borderless free trade area.U.S. drug and immigration control strategies focus primordially on curbing the foreign supply and secondarily on identifying the sources of demand: consumers of drugs and employers of migrant workers. In a nutshell, US efforts have confronted the demand side of the problem--America's inherent dependence on both.As US scramble to beef up border controls on Mexico, puny efforts are given to tide down the powerful economic forces that drive so many Mexicans to illegally enter the United States. The Border Patrol can only do so much by making life much harder for illegal border-crossers. The underlying push-pull factors that motivate illegal labor migration remain stronger than ever. On the pull side, important sectors of the U.S. e conomy, such as agriculture and the garment industry, rely on illegal workers. The US government crackdown on employers using illegal aliens is weak, poorly designed, and minimally enforced.The first priority should be to raise and enforce labor standards. Genuine enforcement of existing workplace rules such as the implementation of minimum wages, overtime, and environmental, health, and safety regulations will make it difficult for employers to engage in the exploitation of workers, hence, denying them their most important incentive to hire illegal labor. These efforts should especially target sweatshop employers who are despicable for their abuse of workers and disregard of labor standards. This strict emphasis on raising labor standards by tightening workplace controls would contribute toward addressing the root of the problem than simply tightening border controls. US domestic efforts on the pull side is combined with initiatives to address the conditions in growth of small-and medium-scale labor-intensive industries in rural regions, where most of the job displacement is occurring. These measures require active state intervention in managing the economic transition in the countryside rather than the current laissez-faire approach. The Mexican government had no strategy for handling the millions of workers who are being displaced as a result of market reforms. However, the United States has a strong interest in cooperating with Mexico to devise and promote development programs and social safety nets that minimize the incentive for workers to cross border to the US. Multilateral institutions like the World Bank can assist these efforts by including migration concerns centrally into their programs. The IMF and the World Bank have not considered migration issues in their policy management. Indeed, many of the market-based reforms they support end up fueling migration both in the short and medium term. The main goal of the NAFTA is to spur economic development so that migration pressures will be reduced in the long run. The US can help Mexico manage the difficult process of economic restructuring by helping it cope with the mass displacement of Mexican labor. This requires active government involvement rather than faith in market solutions. The market solution tends to be that of exporting the labor surplus to the United States. For example, Mexico can be encouraged to increase the minimum wage to begin closing the wide wage gap between the two countries. The United States and Mexico can unite to slow down the growth of the border region, since this area has traditionally served as a magnet for northward migration. The United States can encourage Mexico to implement its agricultural reforms to encourage the people to stay in the country. The US can help Mexico through tax incentives and financial and technical assistance. The Mexico experience shows that the free market reforms can also free up the drug

The Impact Of Competition Policy Business Essay

The Impact Of Competition Policy Business Essay These days, different businesses are involved in different kind of activities, so different kinds of people are involved in starting those businesses initially. Mainly, there are three types of organizations that need to be considered here. These are Public Sector Organization Private Sector Organizations Voluntary Sector Organizations The main purpose of public sector organizations is to provide all the essential public services and to use the resources of a country for the best benefit of its community. Private sector organizations are owned and run by private individuals who may take the form of sole traders, partnerships, companies and franchises. Main objective or purpose of private sector business organizations is to make profit, increase their market share, and maximize the sales and to trigger continuous growth. On the other hand, voluntary groups are not owned or governed by individual people however some individuals will take the responsibility for ensuring that organization is on track of its purpose and is doing what it is set up to do. Main purpose of these types of organizations is to try to help particular type of people and such type of organizations must achieve a breakeven for survival. As far as my case study is concerned, Anglo American has an economic purpose of making profits, social purpose to provide returns to the society and environmental purpose to minimize the bad effects on the environment. Different Stake holders As we talking about the stakeholders of Anglo Americans, first comes employees. Employees of Anglo Americans enjoys respect and employee empowerment from company they are trained in way to perform their duties positively in the best interest of the company. Company with different kind of incentives and benefits motivate employees for better performance as a research and development company of medicine. As far as communities are concerned Anglo American makes a valuable contribution to the society and community. Such as compliance with the law and regulatory framework plus compliance with the ethical standards and fulfilling the human rights by providing jobs to the economy. Suppliers are one of the most important stakeholders of every business organizations as the bargaining power of suppliers can create problems for business. So for the smooth working of every company strong and long lasting relationship between suppliers and business organizations plays a Vitol role. Anglo American s has a diverse supply chain management which fulfils the health and safety and quality standards of the organization. Responsibilities and strategies Anglo Americans identifies its stakeholders and contact with all stakeholders who have a legitimate interest in the projects. Talking about communities as a stake holder of the organisation, the strategy of Anglo American is talking to the local communities in aligning their aspiration needs. Anglo American aims that where they operate proper benefits should be taken from their presences. It benefits to the communities as stakeholder of the organization results in socio economic development, as it provides employment opportunities to the local community which helps in the development and progress of peoples life style. It works in Sustainable environment concern about the health and environmental issues which cause problem to the community as well as environment. Anglo American believes on safe working process which ensures sustainability. Talking about shareholders, Anglo American fulfils the responsibilities of shareholders through well defined channels. For example by securing the ir interest and investments by showing them the progress and development of company through regular dialogs and fulfils the statutory requirements. This progress is communicated to the shareholders and investors through a range of reporting documents such as annual reports and accounts and report on sustainability. Talking about government as a stakeholder, it interacts with government in a legal and regulatory framework of country. The organization fulfils its responsibility by paying tax to the government and by giving the entrepreneur opportunities and helping the government in achieving revenue transparency. Task 3: The impact of competition policy and other regulatory mechanisms on the activities of Anglo American The competition policy in the UK economy is currently based on the Competition Act 1998, Enterprise Bill 2002, Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC) as well as other regulatory mechanisms including the Companies Act 2006, the regional policy, industrial policy, enterprise strategy, training and skills policy and so on (Sloman and Stucliffe, 2003). The impact of UKs competition policy on Anglo American, for example, would be: To restrict it from monopoly formation; American wont be able to set up its own prices and have to go with the market price of the products. Make managers more efficient and effective Since competition will be high, managers will have to come up with more innovative solutions to achieve an edge; give improved quality at low costs; Since, Anglo American is involved in mining work used by different economies; it has to keep costs low while maintaining quality. increase consumer choice, in short, augment the consumer and shareholders interests (Fernando, 2011) Different Market Structures and determination of Pricing and Output Market Structures with Pricing and Output determinants How market structures determine the pricing and output decisions of businesses The market structures and the pricing and output decisions are illustrated in the diagram below (Sloman and Stucliffe 2003): Demand Supply Curve http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Supply-and-demand.svg/240px-Supply-and-demand.svg.png Market prices are determined according to the shift in demand or supply. If the demand shifts to the right, a higher price and higher quantity is set, this is the new market equilibrium price. Moreover, pricing decision also depends on market structure. For instance, firms undergoing perfect competition have to set the market determined prices and are known as price takers. While firms operating in monopolist environment have this differentiation advantage and it makes them capable of setting their own prices. Such firms usually target the niche market. The way in which market forces shape organizational responses Majority of the decision making of organizations depends on the market forces including: Demand and Supply of the product: The key point that answers the questions of what, how and for whom to produce depends on the demand and supply in the market; leads to allocation of scare resources in a profitable manner (Lowson, 2002). For example, if Cadbury has to decide which type of chocolate to produce, it will look for the product where demand is high and divert majority resources in producing that particular chocolate. Elasticity of demand and supply: Pricing and output decisions are also affected by the responsiveness of the quantity of demand of the product to changes in price, known as the elasticity of demand and the responsiveness of the supply as well (Lowson, 2002). For example, an organisation providing bus travel services might tend to charge higher prices at the peak time of the demand for buses, as people will consume the service to get to their destinations, no matter what the price is. In case of supply, if the cost of oil increases which causes their total cost of one unit to rise, they may reduce their production. Economies of scale: A phenomenon where increase in output lowers costs therefore, giving firms the incentive to produce more as it would consequently lead to higher profits (Sloman and Stucliffe, 2003). Consumer expectations and actions: Promptness in foreseeing and reacting to consumer demands will always be a significant element of competitive advantage for firms and cannot be ignored when making major decisions (Chang, 2005). For example, the Apple Company might determine the expectations of its consumers and innovate a product accordingly. The short run and long run phenomenon: The short run period is where at least one factor of production is fixed; whereas in the long run all can vary, thus affects the decision making or response of firms, for example what machinery to use. (Sloman and Stucliffe, 2003). Employee skills/technology/processes: As globalization has taken, it is imperative that every firm takes advantage of it to achieve competitive advantage in the market and attain its strategic goals. For example, businesses can do this by providing employees with the latest skills and knowledge that would allow them to perform their job effectively and efficiently as well as streamline all the processes/activities of the organisation by using improved technology and methods (Dessler, 2007). How the business and cultural environments shape the behaviour of an organization A business operates within an environment where both are inter-reliant and constantly interact with one another. The factors determining the business environment are shown below (Fernando, 2011): Factors forming the business environment Economic: For example, if a new economic policy is set, the firm must adjust the functioning of their organization accordingly; Technological: if new technology replaces the existing one, the firm must consider streamlining their processes in order to benefit the organization; Legal: if a legal policy comes into existence, the firm must analyze how to comply with the new policy; or using processes, activities or technology. Environmental: Trend has been set towards having business operations that are environmentally friendly as required by the government, in order to assist in the controlling of global warming and being socially responsible. Therefore, it is believed to be the duty of businesses to amend its behavior in line with the environment in order to run successfully (Fernando, 2011). Social/Cultural: The cultural environment on the other hand refers to the influence on the behavior of the organization by the cultural factors of the environment it operates in, which are beyond the control of the organization. The way culture may impact a business is asserted below (Trehan and Trehan, 2010): What type of product to produce, its price, packaging, promotion and place Consumers preferences, beliefs, attitudes, values would affect the product development for example, McDonalds does not serve beef in India. The attitude towards work or the internal culture of the organisation for example, the attitude of employees towards a diverse organisational environment. The labour workforce division at the organisation, for example whether both men and women should be employed or should majority of men be working and other decisions related to recruitment. The ethical guidelines to follow in every process of the business. The element of communication and dialect so there is effective communication of the organisation within, as well as outside the organisation with customers, suppliers and so on. Task 4: 4.1 The significance of international trade to UK business organizations The UK is positioned as the fourth most open economy in the world. The importance of international trade to businesses operating in UK including the mining Industry (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, 2011): Technological improvements lowering communication and transportation costs; innovation of business products and services. Helps these businesses to build larger networks in terms of customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees and other stakeholders. Transfer of capital at low costs therefore consequently leading to growth opportunities, better and streamlined processes and activities Transfer of intellectual assets; ideas; skills; tacit knowledge Employment creation; improved training processes; better and improved skills, knowledge and behaviour of employees Increase in investment enticement; growth of investment; greater shareholders Increases competition, making it products better and more consistent with the competition; offer better value and choice of products International trade gives an opportunity for the organizations to expand and outsource their businesses, reaching a wider market as well as lowering costs. Moreover, UK products/services are now exported to many other countries increasing their overall revenue. 4.2 The impact of global factors on UK business organizations The global factors impacting UK businesses and the way they will impact them is explained below (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, 2011): The economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are being seen to grow rapidly. This could be seen as a threat to the businesses operating in UK as competition for them would get tough or it could be seen in positive light as being viewed by the UK government currently, where it intends on building strong ties with these countries. Globalization and global growth will provide these businesses with better market opportunities to develop and expand and building on export markets as well. US regulatory environment and litigation risks however, may cause businesses to be affected negatively. Potential synergies may develop between UK businesses and businesses of other countries. Mergers and acquisitions may take place giving organizations an opportunity to have sustainable business growth and target a wider market. Can take advantage of the opportunities provided by the World trade Organisation (WTO). The UK government is also functioning to persuade the EU to implement a more tactical, organized and continuous move towards lobbying on market entrance and business issues, particularly through the High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue established in 2008. Much scope to develop by exporting to Commonwealth countries. Capitalize on opportunities present in developing economies by outsourcing businesses and hiring labour. The impact of policies of the European Union on UK business organizations The various policies undertaken by the European Union (EU) and their impact on UK businesses are as follows (Sloman and Stucliffe, 2003): The Climate Change Act which has set target for the UK of reducing carbon emissions. To help meet this target, the EU introduced various policies. This would impact the business organisations in terms of their productivity or in terms of the kind of machines they use. Moreover, non compliance with these policies may also impact the businesses in a negative way such as building on an unfavourable image of the business. Regional Policy of the EU which endows with grants to firms in destitute regions thus, helping such businesses to improve in terms of sales, profits, activities and so on. Monopoly and restrictive practice policy putting restrictions on those businesses that are operating in more than one state for example Tesco. Adjustment of tax rates causing considerable differences in VAT taxes among member states. Thus, for example, Sainsburys will have to charge different VAT rates in different states. Social Policy requiring businesses to implement specific health and safety, employment, equal opportunity policies in their organisations and non compliance may cause the business to suffer. Other policies may include exchange rate policies; policies to comply with the legal framework of UK businesses and policies of meeting certain standards for long-term operations.